Adventures In Baking

Cooking- it's not really my kind of thing, but with our newly improved kitchen I thought I'd spend some extra time cooking in there... or something.

I'd say my approach to cooking/food preparation is similar to Cher's in the movie Mermaids which basically means combining ready-to-eat foods and assembling them in an aesthetically pleasing way.

In Mermaids, Cher plays a single mother in 1963 going through challenges with her daughters played by Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci.  Most of the meals she prepares are on a kabob or shaped like a star.

Sure, I can heat up foods that are already prepared, boil noodles, and pour cereal too but that's pretty much my range of "cooking".  Any attempt I made in the past at following a recipe for a bigger meal always turned out poorly.   Alex said it was probably my lack of patience and/or not following the instructions precisely- which is all probably true but I didn't care, I just hated the whole process.  In the end it worked out well that the man of my dreams enjoys cooking up yummy meals for us so my diet isn't just cheese and cereal :)

Anyway, I have found that there's one thing I can make successfully and that is cookies!  I guess that it's more in the baking realm but still counts right?


I'm not going to lie though, I use that Betty Crocker store bought mix (still counts as homemade) but there's one little change I make to the ingredients that I learned from a friend- and Melissa I hope you don't get mad I'm sharing it on the blog, I miss you and all of your knowledge-ness still!  This tip was so wonderful I've had a hard time keeping it to myself :) 

All you do is substitute the amount of butter with the same amount of shortening and your cookies will turn out so amazing, delicious, and pretty!  Cookies made with butter tend to spread out more because butter has a lower melting point.  All other cookies I made in the past with butter always looked burnt and icky, this shortening tip changes that!  I'm not sure on the nutrition stuff with shortening vs. butter but hey it's a cookie anyway so who cares.

Hope you enjoyed the post and let me know if you try out the shortening instead of butter too! 

Keeping in mind I don't cook/bake very often so experts out there please don't judge me :)  You can see the whole Mermaids movie here on You Tube (is that weird you can watch a whole movie on You Tube?) or check out the plot/info here. 

Anyone else remember that movie and the funny food? You gotta love Cher right?!?!