Baking and Cooking

I think I spent a great part of the day in the kitchen today. I didn’t plan to, but it just kind of happened that way.

I finally got around to baking the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie (from May/June 2009 issue of Cook’s Illustrated). It takes more effort than a throw-together-the-ingredients-and-mix recipe, but the end result is definitely worth it. The cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside; a rich, toffee-like flavor; holds together (i.e., not crumbly) but not tough or hard; and the Ghirardelli chocolate chips are much better (not as sweet) than most other chips found in grocery stores.

After a bit of a break, it was back to the kitchen to prepare supper. Tonight’s main dish was Cauliflower Macaroni and Cheese. I also put together a green salad with more of the organic lettuce, celery, tomatoes, and a few greens from my AeroGarden.

Following supper it was time to make pie. I hadn’t planned on this at all but in today’s e-mail I found a recipe for Icebox Strawberry Pie (from Cook’s Country) that included what looked like an easy crust recipe. Instead of shortening, oil, and water the recipe uses butter and cream cheese. The filling uses frozen strawberries cooked down plus fresh ones folded in.

It is currently in the refrigerator waiting for the filling to set. We will see tomorrow how it all actually turned out.