Cooking

I've always had a closet desire to be chef. Well, maybe not so closet, but, as careers go, culinary arts has gone without being pursued. Somewhere along the lines between middle school and high school, I wanted to be more health oriented and got it in my head that all chefs would ultimately be grossly obese and I should take a different path. Sidenote- some thoughts seem so logical until you actually express them. Anyway. Now everything I'm interested in has to do with the market and money, which I do legitimately like. However, every time I watch Stranger than Fiction, and it's the part where Anna Pascal is talking about dropping out of Harvard to make the world better by making cookies, I always, always think, "I don't want to go to school anymore. I want to make people happy with cupcakes, too!" But let's get real- the idea of opening up your own business hoping people like your cookies better than other people's is slightly daunting. This is the plan- because I do think having a degree is a good idea. I will graduate, gain some business experience/save my money while working some sort of real job, and then, by and by, the real job will be phased out by a sandwich and cookie shop. Perfect. Not wholly credible, but still nice.

I feel like this post should be summed up with my chocolate chip cookie recipe, which is always my fall back whenever someone does me a favor. ("Please? I'll make you cookies. Ok thanks!")

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 375

1 cup (2 cubes) softened butter (not totally melted though, it does weird things)

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups loosely packed flour

2 1/2 cups / a bag / however many you want of chocolate chips

Mix the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the eggs. Then add the baking soda, salt, and flour. The dough should be soft and all hold together, but not stick to your (clean) finger if you touch it. Stir in the chocolate chips and bake for like 9-10 minutes at 375.

When I was at school, I would probably only bake half of the dough and the rest would be eaten, by my roommates, with spoons. I personally prefer cookie over dough, but whatev.

Oh- and tonight I used a combo of muenster and cheddar cheese when making grilled cheese, with just a dab of pesto- delish. Did I copy Zupas? Yes. Was it really good? Also yes.