Cookie Comparison

So, it's Girl Scout cookie season, and I'm proud to say that I've certainly bought my share this year.  Given how much I move around, I have friends throughout the US, and many of them have scout family members or daughters, so of course I can't say no to any of them.

Many people may know (or not as the case may be), Girl Scout cookies are supplied by two different bakeries: ABC bakery and Little Brownie bakery, which means there are some regional differences in the cookies - taste, offerings, and in some cases, amount of total cookies per box.

Each bakery does differ a bit in their offerings of the cookies.  Little Brownie for instance offered Thank U Berry Much and Dulce de Leche, while ABC offered Lemonades and Mango Cremes.  There's also a small price difference of 50 cents.

There are also some naming differences, which always confused me every time I moved.  Samoas are also called Caramel deLites, while Tag-a-longs are also called Peanut Butter Patties (of course, depending on which bakery you purchase from).  My personal favorites are the Samoas/Caramel Delights, so this posting will mainly be a comparison of those two...

Samoas are put out by the Little Brownie bakery, while Caramel deLites are what ABC bakery calls them.  The differences go beyond the names...there are 2 more cookies in the Caramel deLites box, with some minor differences in the nutrition content (with both bakeries having 2 cookies as the serving size--ohhh if only one of them let me have 3 per serving :-( ).

BUT...the differences don't stop there:

 Left is the Little Brownie bakery, and right is the ABC bakery.  Little Brownie's Samoa is slightly smaller, and the taste is a little different.  Maybe dark chocolate for Little Brownie?  But, regardless, both are still very tasty!  Perhaps the differences are substantial enough to call them by different names.

But, whatever bakery your local girl scout troop gets their cookies from, they're still amazing cookies!  Enjoy Girl Scout Cookie season!!!!!

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza

Pizza is the best way to express your personality!  There is no wrong way to make a pizza.  From the type of dough to the sauce to the toppings every step of the way you can express your personality!  Most people find that the dough is hardest part, for me, it's actually the sauce.  Anyway, we'll go from bottom to top to make a healthy pizza!

This is all you need for this pizza.  There are some ingredients some people might find strange, such as wheat germ, but I assure you, it's healthy!

wheat germ

To start off with the dough---I like a nice whole wheat crust--but some wheat can be too "wheaty" for people, so I like to use honey instead of sugar.  So what do you need for this crust? 

Dough--

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup of warm water

2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 tsp salt

1 tbspn honey

I also added some spices to the mix...I added some garlic and some Italian seasoning to the crust dough for added flavor.

First you dissolve the active dry yeast in the cup of warm water for about 10 minutes.

While that is "proofing," mix together the wheat flour, wheat germ, and salt.

When the yeast is done proofing, pour the yeast mixture and the tablespoon of honey into your dry ingredients (flour, etc).  Mix together and knead for about 10 minutes.  If the dough seems too sticky, add some additional flour until the dough is elastic, but not too sticky.  This is when you add in your additional spices to the dough if you're using them.  Knead them in, and let the dough rise in a warm area for about 10-15 minutes and Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Once the dough has undergone its rise (it'll be about double the volume)--punch it down and knead it a little more.

I divided the dough into 2...it'll make about 2 10"pizzas if you like thin crust.

Roll it out into a circle (the best you can..because i stink at it), and let it rise for a few minutes more.  After it's second rise, put in the oven for about 5 minutes on 400 degrees.  Then you can put your sauce, cheese, and toppings on it and put it back in the oven for about 15 minutes.

Sauce--

I would pre-make your sauce so you're not waiting on the sauce to be done.  This is one of the few times when the bread will be done much  more quickly than some of your other items.  I personally like a sweeter sauce...tart sauce isn't the best for me...so here is a nice slightly modified recipe for some sweet sauce

28 oz of tomato puree (I prefer homemade puree, but you can buy a can of puree)
Grated Onion (about 1 tablespoon)
Grated Carrot (about 1/2 tablespoon)
Grated Garlic (about 4 cloves)
Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Parsley to taste
Salt (~1/4 teaspoon or to taste)
Ground pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Olive Oil

I prefer to grate the Onion, Carrot, and Garlic vice mincing it, because it gives it a smoother texture.

Heat the oil in a large pot.
Put in the Tomato Puree, then add all the other ingredients
Simmer for ~30-60 minutes depending on the texture you want
Viola..it's done

So, after the crust has been pre-baked for 5 minutes...go ahead and put your sauce on...layer on the cheese (as much or as little as you like) and add your toppings!  My favorite topping on pizza is pineapple (don't judge!).  PS--i definitely need to add more cheese!

Enjoy!

Ultimate Cheesecake--Grad Student Style

So, you love cheesecake, but are on a budget, what to do, what to do? Make one, of course! Amending Martha Stewart's recipe for New York Style Cheesecake, my friend and I tried to quench our thirst for the sweetness of cheesecake. How did we amend it you ask? Well, we left off the graham cracker crust, until all that was left was the cream cheesy goodness that is Cheesecake!

What was most striking to me about this recipe was the amount of cream cheese required for it--7 packages of cream cheese?!?! That's a lot of cream cheese--I thought that my heart was going to go into cardiac arrest when it saw that! But, alas, a baker must do, what a baker must do! It's all for the sake of the art, right? :-)

So, first things first, we creamed together all that heart-attack-inducing cream cheese, then mixed together the sugar and the flour in a separate bowl from the cream cheese. Then, gradually, we mixed in the sugar/flour mixture to the cream cheese. After that, you mix in the sour cream and vanilla. Finally, mixing the eggs in one at a time. In a buttered spring-form pan, pour in this mixture (in our case, we had no graham cracker crust).

After a very intricate baking process, including a foiled spring-form pan, a boiling water bath for the spring-form pan and two different baking temperatures, the cheesecake was finally ready to cool on a cooling rack. But wait---THERE'S MORE!!!! After it cools on the cooling rack, you can't eat it quite yet, it must be refrigerated for at least 6 hours, or over night, before you can eat it! And, voila--you have some wonderful cheesecake that tastes fabulous!!! If you have the time, try it at home, you won't be disappointed! Enjoy!!



Special thanks to my friend, who helped me through the process of baking my very first cheesecake! You know who you are...and the multiverse is with you ;-)

Georgetown Cupcake

Ever wait longer than 5 minutes for a cupcake? How about 30 or 40 minutes, or even an hour? Never? I said that, too. Recently there's been a surge of cupcakeries (or so they are called), and I've been very skeptical. How can a place stay in business only selling cupcakes? I never thought a cupcakery could be successful, much less that I'd be waiting in the cold winter wind waiting 30 minutes for one singular cupcake. That is until I encountered Georgetown Cupcake. There are two locations, the flagship store is located in Georgetown at 3301 M Street NW. Open Monday-Saturday 10 am - 9 pm and Sundays from 10 am - 7 pm, good luck finding a time when there isn't a line out of the door for one of these tasty treats.

Their menu is riddled with everyday cupcakes, daily specials, and even seasonal flavors ranging from Irish Cream Cupcakes in March to Holiday Lava Fudge in December and many many more. I myself indulged in a chocolate ganache cupcake that was so soft and fluffy. The icing was even rich and creamy! I was expecting your typical run-of-the-mill cupcake, with hard icing, but no, the icing was amazing! It was so good, that after walking around Georgetown, I returned for another cupcake - PB Fudge...another heavenly treat!

This skeptic highly recommends this cupcakery for those looking for a nice and sweet treat! If you're ever in the area, be sure to stop by--it's definitely worth the wait! On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best, Georgetown Cupcake receives, without a shadow of a doubt, 5 out of 5!