Denis took me on my errands today so I made him some cookies tonight. One of his favorites are my oatmeal chocolate chip so I made my oatmeal batter with 100% whole grains, then divided it in two so I could make my own favorites, too. To his half (the back row) I added toasted walnuts and chocolate chips. To my half, I added toasted walnuts, diced prunes and figs. They are so delicious! We’ve already had two each so I’d better put them away. These are definitely going in my next cookbook, which I’m trying to work on but there’s never time! Mine have whole grains and extra fiber so technically, I could have one for breakfast, no? How about with a hard-boiled egg and a glass of milk? Never mind, it’s as rhetorical question – my kitchen, my rules. Cookies for breakfast!
We have a new video! It’s French Toast made with melted dark chocolate but before you judge, let me remind you that dark chocolate has many anti-aging health benefits. It’s full of antioxidants like polyphenols, the same ones found in red wine and green tea; and flavonoids, the ones found in blueberries, which can lower blood pressure and cholesterol. So I have not abandoned my standards of nutrition – this is a healthy recipe using whole wheat bread and no butter at all. We made the video yesterday with Damon working the camera, lights, and audio and when we were done, he sampled the French toast and wound up eating the whole thing. We then made a second version with Denis standing by to taste it. He ate the whole thing. It’s hard to describe how delicious this is but Damon said, “It’s yummy and chocolate-y… it’s like eating dessert.” Denis said, “Make more.” Click here for the video.
It’s been a long week and I needed something relaxing to do so I decided to make pie. What was I thinking? I could have chosen something easier like creating an algorhythm for computational approximations of seismic reflection and velocity analysis but noooooo…I chose to make a lemon meringue pie. So last night after dinner, I started by assembling all the equipment needed:
First, I had to make the crust and let it cool completely. It took over two hours to cool. Then I cooked the filling, topped it with meringue, and baked the whole thing again. By now, three hours had gone by. I removed it from the oven and of course, it had to cool completely before eating. I kept busy by washing the massive amount of dishes left behind, waiting for the pie to cool. I was dying for a slice but it was still hot. I took a bath… still hot. Did my nails… still hot. I tested some batteries, organized spices, sharpened some pencils… still hot. Finally I was exhausted and went to bed, feeling cheated, with no midnight snack. Denis was still up at 2 am and put it in the fridge. I only agreed to let him put it away if he promised not to eat any. (my kitchen, my rules) So today, we finally got to taste my lemon meringue pie. It was super good – the tart lemon filling balanced with the cool meringue – awesome!
*Note to lemon meringue pie-makers:
–Don’t make it at night.
–Don’t cut it until it’s completely cooled or you’ll be calling it a lemon meringue molten cake.
–Do it. There’s nothing like homemade pie… except good sex. No, I think the pie is better. Okay, pie, then sex.
