I think I should stop baking...! | Personal aka random :)

I have been trying to bake...I've tried baking apples to make apple crisps (that didn't turn out too well) and now I've tried muffins! Particularly blueberry muffins! I had a craving for some when I was with some friends of mine and decided that I was going to make them.

I actually had all the ingredients at home, so last Wednesday I made the batter (which smelt so good, by the way) and put them in the oven and cooked them. They came out looking beautiful:

...but, I guess 'beautiful' isn't synonymous with 'tasty'. 

:)

Josh and I tried some after our dinner and they are okay. They aren't so amazing that you'd eat the pan in one setting! 

I was pretty dissapointed. I followed the recipe exact (well, minus the flour, we had pastry flour so I used that..maybe that was the problem) - I'm thinking it's the recipe's fault. That sounds good to me. :) At least it makes me feel a little better. :) hehe

So I am going to try this again soon and hopefully they will be amazing in both look and taste!

Want some cilantro? | Random Post

I really like food. A lot.

Especially when you have garnishes on top that add so much flavor. Cilantro is one of them that I just love to put on top of things - enchiladas, eggs, burgers, etc. It's really good freshly chopped. Yum!

When I was hanging out with some friends the other day, I took these random pictures of cilantro. :) 

If you haven't tried cilantro, seriously...you're missing out.

And that's my random post for the week!! :) 

So upcoming soon is some pictures of some cute, CUTE kiddo's. Will be posting those probably next week! In the meantime, I might just take some more random pictures of food. :) hehe

Have an awesome Thursday!!

To put it nicely, baking is not my thing... | Personal

As you've seen from previous posts (read this post for a laugh) I'm not the best person to go to for cooking, baking, etc. I can cook. But when trying new things, sometimes it can be a train wreck. Or in this case a burnt smelling apartment. :)

I always have good intentions that go sour. 

So if you've read my previous post (about Bare Fruit) then you can see where this is heading. I decided that I wanted to try to make my own apple chips. I did some preliminary research online and found many recipes. It's very simple - just slice up your apples, put them on a *cookie sheet that is not non stick* and bake at 225 for one hour. 

Simple right? 

Yeesh. My simple situations turn too complex. Here is what mine looked like:

Now, I can somewhat blame this on my husband, as we went over to a friend's house randomly, and I was trying to get him to leave because of the apple chips in the oven, and when we got back they looked like this. But, then we later realized when doing batch #2, that I had the temperature wrong in the oven. 

Whoops! :)

My second batch wasn't burnt, but I didn't use a cookie sheet that wasn't a non stick. I couldn't even take the apples off the sheet to turn them over. The ones I could get off were pretty tasty.

Whoops again! :)

So next time (if there ever is a next time for me) I will follow directions better. 

That is my random story of the week. :)

Have a great weekend!

Whoops! Let me try this again... | Personal

This phrase, "Whoops! Let me try this again..." was constantly said a few days ago when I was trying to figure out how to make good Chai Tea. 

Why???

We were having a guest from South Asia coming to our home, and I wanted to give him a good cup of Chai. As most people know, South Asians, in particular those from Pakistan/India, LOVE chai tea. On our trip to South Asia, one of the families we met drank 10 cups of tea A DAY! Sick! Well, not to them, but that is a lot of tea, milk and sugar!!!

Anyways, so Josh and I went to the store and I strategically (as much as I knew to be) picked out two boxes of tea and some milk (I already had sugar at home).

Batch #1: So my first batch (using two tea bags) turned out okay...lol Josh was my taste tester (poor guy!). The first batch lacked the taste of tea.

Batch #2: So I tried a similar but different method, using two tea bags again. And AGAIN, it didn't taste like tea. Mostly milk and sugar. I guess if people like the weak (very weak) taste of tea, then this is perfect for you.

Batch #3: By this time, I realized that I needed to follow the directions on the box (GO FIGURE! Sometimes I amaze myself). :) This time I used 10 tea bags, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, and boiled it all together. It wasn't too shabby. Josh said it tasted pretty good. I felt pretty good about that.

Batch #4: This was the real batch that I needed to care about, because, our South Asian friend was at our house, expecting some decent tea. Whew. Talk about pressure! So, I prepare everything like I did for Batch #3, and then went to make sure everyone wanted tea. I walked in the room, and said, "I'm assuming everyone wants tea, right?" And our South Asian friend, with a surprised face says, "Yes, I would love tea. Can I have mine with no sugar?" 

Oh Crap. I thought in my mind. All I know is to make this tea with sugar. "Sure!" I replied enthusiastically, trying not to let on that his comment threw a wrench in my perfect plan.

After thinking for like 5 seconds, I decided to do his cup of tea the more "traditional" way (boil water, put the tea bag in the cup, pour the water over the tea bag, add milk, done). Everyone else got what I originally planned and all was well. At least I think. My husband affirmed me (thank you hun hun) and so did another one of our guests, but as for our guest from South Asia - I'll never know. lol

So, after my 4 batches of tea, I used 26 bags of tea. That is a lot of tea.

Now, if you come over to my home, you can have decent tea - hopefully this newfound skill will improve :) - and this time, I won't go through 26 bags of tea!

Have a great day!

Making Chapati!

The staple here in this country is rice and a bread called, "Chapati". Theoretically it's easy to make, but a girl like me has some trouble. :) I'll one day refine my skills to become a great Chapati maker.

The dough consists of flour, water and salt. Once you knead it into the correct consistency, you make little balls, roll them out, slap them in your hands a few times and then throw them on the skillet. Once one side has spent some time cooking, flip it, and let it cook some more. Then at some point, you put it on the open flame (like she is doing in the picture above). Once it gets some brown on it, it's finished. :) 

Before and after shots of the Chapati!

It looks difficult, but it's not that difficult. And it's tasty with curries and other meals. Yum! :)

Off to go work on my chapati-making skills! ;)