End of the semester clear out the kitchen cookie time.

Hello everyone, I apologize for my long absence from tastyface. I just turned in my thesis this morning and I now have a life and can resume cooking, eating, blogging, etc.

Another reason I have not been posting here is because of my relatively unfortunate kitchen and my lack of cooking supplies...Here it is in all it's glory:

Luckily I will be home by the end of this week and will have a much lovlier cooking environment.

Anyways, these cookies are a celebration of the end of my crazy semester and a good excuse to use up some of my oatmeal supplies before I head back to California. Oh yeah, and they are my new favorite cookie. Sooooo good. Try them!



Double Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from "Triple-Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies" in the December 2004 issue of Bon Appétit
(yields about 15 large cookies or 30 smallish ones)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 sticks salted butter, (I used margarine, earthbalance would also be awesome) room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (loosely packed) brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup slightly chopped dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
In a separate bowl mix together softened butter and sugars *note: you may think this whole salted butter thing is crazy, but it makes a HUGE difference. Even if you only do the 1/4 of a cup with salted do it. You owe it to yourself. *



Once smooth beat in egg and vanilla


Add oats and flour mixture to the wet mixture.

Chop up some cranberries and toss them into the mix along with the chocolate chips.



Stir!!


Grease your baking sheet (or use parchment paper) and dollop some nice big scoops of batter on there.

Cook for 13-16 min, until the edges are golden brown.

Take 'em out. Let 'em cool. See if they last through the night!

Oh where the time has gone

So it's safe to say that a ridiculous amount of time has passed since I've updated. However, I'm sure there's nothing much I've eaten lately that's worth mentioning. Dining halls are rather constricting. I do however have a veritable backlog of foods from winter break that I will some day get to.

So, to begin again,it's now May third, which means it is the third day of my month of veganism. So far so good, despite my entirely unrelated lack of sleep and long hours in school buildings. Now this means no more cheese, milk, eggs, etc. It will severely limit my dining hall choices, but I have faith that I will get by.

For one of my journalism classes, we have to meet for class in a Chicago neighborhood. While this involves waking up early and getting on the El, sometimes it has its perks, like riding on new trains. Another plus (beyond awesome stories and bizarre adventures) is that our class meets nearby this grocery store.

Twice now friends and I have stopped for a snack, which has ended up in eating mochi. It's comforting to have this grocery store to stop at, and reminds me quite a bit of home. There's an Asian market I frequent by bike and this, while much larger, still gives me the same feel, which late in Spring quarter can help a lot. And sitting on the El platform in the warm spring air, eating mochi with friends makes Mondays not so horrible.