Roasted Shiitake and Portobello in Basalmic

Going to a potluck with both omnivores and vegetarians, I had a meat item lined up but was stuck on what vegetarian item to offer. Enter: half a box of baby portobello mushrooms lying in the fridge after a pasta escapade. - and so, the dish for that night was born.

I tend not to use measurements, but I've approximated them when I can.

Ingredients:

Half a box of baby portobello mushrooms

Handful of shiitake mushrooms (added for texture)

Half a red onion

1 tsp sage

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp basil

1 1/2 tb balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper

olive oil

1) Wash mushrooms, pat dry, and place in an oven-friendly

pan (casserole dish, baking dish, etc.)

2) Mix herbs and olive oil in a bowl

3) Drizzle mix over mushrooms then add some salt and pepper on top

4) Roast at 350 degrees for ~20 minutes

5) Slice red onion into rings and cook them briefly in a frying pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper

6) Take mushrooms out of bake pan, leaving oils and juice behind

7) Mix mushrooms and onions on a dish

8) Mix up bake pan oils and juice with basalmic vinegar, and pour over dish

Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Cookie Recipe #1

Created a new cookie recipe - mainly because I couldn't remember the one I made with a friend of mine. Turned out pretty good straight out of the oven. It'll probably be more biscuit than chewy or soft when I eat one (or five) tomorrow though.
(Yields 18 cookies)
Bowl 1, mix following:
1.25 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
Bowl 2, mix following:
1 egg
1 stick butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c white sugar (I used a smidge less than 1/2 c)

Mix bowl 1 into bowl 2 gradually.
Stir in chips (I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips)

Bake at 375-400F, depending on your oven

National Flags made of food. Yum! India looks especially delicious.
http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/09/08/national-flags-made-out-of-food/

Creme Fraiche Scone w Strawberries

Bought some creme fraiche at Trader Joe's, mistaking the round container to be one for soft cheese. Silly rabbit.

After some thought, I decided to make some scones for breakfast. A little on the dry and crumbly side. Also a tad sweet - will reduce sugar next time.

Peets Sweets

Decided to give Peet's chocolate chip cookie a go today. Good chip dispersion, pretty good dough, but not terribly memorable other than the fact that the whole cookie tasted like coffee. The coffee aroma permeating the store must have somehow seeped into the cookie and confused my senses.

Turned out that the highlight, food-wise, was actually the reduced fat berry peach scone. I remember when Starbucks first entered the Hong Kong market, American scones were hard triangular things - nothing like what I experienced today. The triangular morsel was delectably soft and bread-like, not overly sweet, with an appropriate dispersion of raspberries and peach slices. Simply delicious.

Vegan - are you sure?

Popped into the Whole Foods on 4th St between Folsom and Harrison to get some naan bread and ended up lingering in the baked goods section. There was another guy there who was also there contemplating his cookie fix. Apparently, they used to have really good chocolate chip cookies but according to him, the person who used to bake them passed away, and he wasn't a fan of the new ones. While cookie goodness can be quite subjective, I thought I would give the vegan one a try instead of the usual.

Compared to most vegan baked goods, this was surprisingly un-mealy and un-bland. Chewy in texture, but a little more tough than I would like on a regular basis. Easy to eat because while it doesn't taste as good-for-you as most baked goods, but it also doesn't taste rich.

One Big Cookie

This is not a cookie. This is a meal. When I first walked into Tart to Tart I almost walked right back out as I didn't see a chocolate chip cookie in their baked goods section - or so I thought. Once the friendly lady approached me, I felt compelled to ask for a cookie and then leave once I got the expected "no, sorry." However, the lovely lady whipped out a monster of a cookie that may well be the size of my face.

I couldn't stop exclaiming about how big it was. I told her I wasn't sure whether I could finish it but she laughed, saying that that was what the last guy said and, well, "you never know."

The cookie was crisp and dry but kept its shape well. The dryness had a slightly chewy texture of a cooled homemade cookie rather than the crumbling mess I had at another location. The dough to chip ratio was good for me and it was less sweet and buttery than Specialty's, which is probably why the last guy managed to finish it in one sitting. It was fairly addictive but I harnessed my discipline and put some of it away in a zip-lock bag. While the cookie wasn't too rich, I would probably feel rather sick if I finished it in one sitting. Especially considering I'm generally more of a savory person.