BIRTHDAY CAKE!

In honor of my mother's birthday I decided to make her a cake! I used the recipe from the side of a carton of  heavy whipping cream. One might be skeptical about using a recipe about from the side of a cream carton,  but it turned out really nice. Following the instructions was easier than I anticipated. Everything mixed well together and got into the baking pan without  hitch.

After the baking is when the fun began. I love decorating food, so after letting the cake cool, I made whipped cream. I took the heavy whipping cream and whisked it. I separated it into different bowls and then added food dye. While decorating I decided that whipped cream wasn't the best frosting to decorate with. It started to melt and dripped over everything. Halfway through I put it in the freezer so it would stop melting.


                                                                               
                                                                                                                 

Before

After

                                                       

I surprisingly did quite well with the cake. It tasted good and turned out, more or less, the way I wanted it. The next step is making more difficult desserts! Yum.

After an hour of hard work, it came out really well. The end result was a very happy mother and a great way to end a birthday.

Pasta with Alfredo Sauce

This endeavor was quite an adventure of which I gathered I have no patience for cooking. I was hungry, so I decided I was going to make pasta with Alfredo sauce. I boiled some water and then put the noodles in. While I was waiting for them to cook I started the make the white sauce. I looked up a recipe online for a simple way to make the sauce. After successfully putting in the milk and butter, I started to have trouble with the flour. No matter how long I cooked it, I couldn't get out the clumps. Once I had given up on making the sauce, I turned back to the boiling noodles. They never seemed to be ready. I kept checking them, but they never seemed fully cooked. At one point I finally gave in and just drained the noodles and put the Alfredo sauce on top on them. They didn't taste horrible, but they were average at best. It was a success in the case that I didn't starve.

I need to learn the art of cooking before I am hungry so I am not so impatient. I also learned, after the fact from my mentor, to sift the flour into the pan so it does not clump. Good advice to know for next time I try to cook a sauce that includes flour. Overall, it's more experience that I get and one step closer to my goal of becoming a better cook.

Chinese Stir Fry

 

My first step toward chef mastery! For dinner tonight I cooked Chinese Stir Fry; I liked the idea of my first cooking experience having to do with Chinese food. I must say that it is a favorite of mine. So I started with bell peppers, onions, ginger, and Yaki Soba noodles.

First, I chopped up the onions, bell peppers, and ginger. I added sesame seed and olive oil into the pan. Then I added the chopped ingredients into the pan and sauteed them for a few minutes. It was hard making sure that the  ingredients didn't burn. It was also difficult to tell when they were soft enough. Next, I added the Yaki Soba noodles. While I was taking them out of the package, my father told me to "Massage them. Love them... like they are going to love your stomach later." That way, the noodles would be separated before I put them in the pan. This might have been my favorite part of cooking tonight. 

After adding the noodles, the cooking process became a little scarier. The steam after adding water to the pan scared me: I wasn't used to such a reaction. Plus, my lack of coordination didn't help when I stirred  the noodles. Throughout the process there were numerous noodles that escaped onto the stove top with my not so great stirring skills. Also, my lack of experience did not help with the timing of how long the noodles needed to few minutes, the noodles were ready.

My finished product! It was quite good, but then again, my standards for food are not quite  gourmet. I don't have much of a developed pallet, but I think I did great for my first try. Some things I hope to work on are my technique and gathering experience to judge the readiness of the food in a certain amount of time. I'm excited, and ready to learn recipes and become a better cook. I can't wait 'till I can just whip out some great food for my friends and family to enjoy. 

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Special thanks to my Dad for giving me step-by-step instructions. I know it was difficult for you to watch  me mess up and not take over. Thanks for your patience.