Apple Pie

So last night I spent the night at a friend's house and her dad decided he was going to teach us how to make an apple pie. We got out the cook books and gathered the ingredients and started to measure away. After mixing the ingredients into dough, we put it in the refrigeration to harden.

This is when we started the filling of the pie. we gathered out potato peelers and were ready to peel the skin off the apples. This was unacceptable, by her father's terms. He grabbed knives and gave us an in depth lesson on how to peel apples with knives. I was quite horrified of this. I am so clumsy and I knew this would end in disaster. But I found a hidden talent I didn't know I had, I am really good at peeling apples with knives. I cut it all in one long strand and didn't cut my finger off. I became the official apple peeler.

After cutting the apples into small slices and weighing them, I added the flour, cinnamon, an other ingredients. Once we finished the filling, we wen back to the pie crust. I took out the dough and split it in half. Half for the crust, half for the top of the pie. I learned the fine art of rolling out dough and putting it into the pie pan. I poured the apples into the dough covered pan and then rolled out the other half of the dough. Once accomplishing all of this, we made the side of the pie "pretty" - it wasn't really that pretty- and put our masterpiece into the oven.

It doesn't look like much, but I promise it was delicious!

Only after cleaning up did Miranda's father realize the pie wan't for everyone to eat, but a gift for another friend. I felt so bad that at 9 o'clock at night, after the first pie finishing, I decided I would make her father a pie to thank him for taking his time to teach us how to make apple pie and show him all that I had learned. I did the process over again, though we were out of lard and had to use vegetable shortening. Because of this the dough as really gooey and wouldn't harden.I ended up adding flour to try to make it less sticky. It didn't really help. after rolling it out and putting it on the pan, there were many rips. I decided it would still taste like pie, regardless of my poor patching job that I did with the crust. Finally, around midnight, it as done baking. We let it cool and then dug in. I think it was a job well done.

Chinese Chicken Salad and Apple Pie

Last night I made Chinese Chicken salad for dinner and apple pie for dessert. I must say it was quite delicious, though it took more time than I would have liked. May I begin by saying last night was not  good night. I was clumsy, and frustrated, and ready to give up on cooking. It first started with the chicken, I took it out of the plastic and put in under the faucet to wash. While doing this I managed to drop half of it down the garbage disposal. That's a rat way to start off, right? So after I got everything back under control, I put the sauce over the chicken and shoved it in the oven. Though this required help from my dear mother because I had no idea when the chicken was done. It ended up being way over cooked. I chopped up the lettuce and mixed the rest of the ingredients into the salad. Once the chicken was done, I cut it into thin slices over the salad.  I tossed the salad and it was ready to go, but ,of course, not before I dumped piles of it on the floor. I don't think I was gifted with good coordination.




While making the salad I made the apple pie. I made the dough and once again it was way too gooey and wouldn't harden. That was another frustrating aspect of dinner last night. Peeling the apples and cutting them into thin slices too much longer since I did it by myself this time. When rolling out the dough to make the crust, it tore in a couple places, which was disappointing. But everything ended up coming together and the dinner tasted great.




With the extra dough and apples, I made a pandowttie. I just put in the apples and ripped up the dough and placed it over the apples. Into the oven it went and this was the turn out. It was delicious.



Cooking is really difficult for me. I hate feeling like I just don't understand something, and I constantly feel that way when i'm cooking. I want to be comfortable cooking and baking, but it's hard when it's so discouraging when things don't want to work out the way they are planned. But I am starting to see a difference. I really like baking - apple pies that is - and with more practice, hard work, and time, I can see myself getting there. Getting to a place where cooking is something I can say I like to do.

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.