u/InSkyLimitEra

Recipe: https://www.number-2-pencil.com/perfect-single-serving-size-chocolate/

So, I had read that resting the dough for 24-48 hours in the fridge can improve the texture and taste of baked cookies. I decided to test that out by making a double batch of this recipe that intends to just make two cookies.

Unfortunately there was a huge methodological flaw: the confounding variable of temperature. The dough for the first half of the batch was room temperature, but the dough for the second half of the batch was at refrigerator temperature and I neglected to bring it to room temperature first for a better comparison. The latter came out extremely underbaked as makes sense for the same cooking time. I thought of throwing them back in the oven, but eh, I don’t hate cookie dough, and I ate it as is.

Guess I’ll never get into science school 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Recipe: https://www.budgetbytes.com/chorizo-sweet-potato-chili/

Yeah, so, there was no way I was actually going to do a dish with organ meats lol. That’s why I looked through my recipe collection for dishes that feature kidney beans! 😂 I only ate a bite of this because it was for my postpartum sister, but it was pretty good. I think I’d add more chorizo next time because I really enjoy being punched in the face with chorizo flavor. Chorizo is delicious.

Recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021588-smoky-lentil-stew-with-leeks-and-potatoes

Non-paywall recipe: https://www.justtherecipe.com/?url=https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021588-smoky-lentil-stew-with-leeks-and-potatoes

I’m playing Red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time, so this challenge was extremely timely. In RDR2, there’s a free stew that you can feed your character, Arthur Morgan, available around 12:30PM (in-game) every day. So making a chunky-looking beef stew was my initial intention. However, my sister just gave birth to my niece, and as a newly postpartum person she has a meal train going. And she saw what I put down as what I was bringing and asked me to change to a dish that doesn’t have beef. Well dang. Okay, so I made a lentil stew instead. Close enough. It still looks like something you might find in RDR2. 😂 I included a screenshot of the in-game stew for the heck of it.

Also, weirdest instruction ever: “Pin a bay leaf to each onion half using a whole clove” 😂

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pao-de-queijo-brazilian-cheese-bread.html

(Mods, please have mercy on me for posting this a couple hours after the 3 week grace period elapsed… life has sucked and I’m going to be making two more dishes this week to try to push to catch up 😬)

This is pao de queijo, a Brazilian cheese bread made with asiago cheese. Tapioca flour was the base. The batter made tons (way more than pictured). I picked this dish because Brazil and soccer are pretty intimately tied, and tiny muffins kind of resemble little balls. The texture turned out perfect, but the taste was a little plain for me. Maybe if I dipped it in something or buttered it I’d like it a little better.

Recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetarian-black-bean-chili-230632

Three cans of beans meant this was pretty well packed with fiber. The recipe was just okay, however. I have several better vegetarian chili recipes, so I probably wouldn’t make it again in favor of one of the others I have. Still, I did eat it all over several days, so mission accomplished in terms of feeding myself.

Recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025662-fresh-tomato-basil-and-prosciutto-pasta

Non-paywall recipe: https://www.justtherecipe.com/?url=https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025662-fresh-tomato-basil-and-prosciutto-pasta

Okay, so, mild cheating on this one. In May, my sisters and I threw a culinary celebration for my mom’s 70th birthday party with like 30 of her closest friends by sponsoring a food tour of the West Loop in Chicago. Okonomiyaki, tacos, Italian, all sorts of fun samples.

One of the guests gifted my sisters and me each a basil plant. And I thought, perfect, I have that gardening challenge coming up. And despite my sisters killing their plants off accidentally right away, I kept mine alive and thriving somehow for over a month.

But sadly I am three weeks behind due to stress and impending divorce and laziness and burnout and insert excuse here. And when I went out of town for about a week, I forgot to tell my STBX husband to keep my plant alive. So it died. Anyway, this dish with fresh basil is in memory of the plant I managed to keep thriving for over a month when my sisters killed theirs with their black thumbs immediately.

Recent uptick in progress brought to you by Zepbound dose increase and impending divorce 🫠

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/angel-hair-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-goat-cheese-recipe-1943852

This is my second time using sun-dried tomatoes to refer to the sun. I made a similar dish for Beatles Week (“Here Comes the Sun”-Dried Tomato Pasta, as I recall). This is a different recipe and was also good. I forgot to take a picture of the spaghetti boiling step, but I think we all know what that looks like. 😂

Recipe: Previously downloaded from delish.com, now looks like it’s no longer on the website

I can’t read and I accidentally added an extra 1/4 cup of Nutella to the cake batter. Could be worse mistakes. Honestly I have no idea how this turned out. I’ve been having pretty bad appetite issues this past week and haven’t tried it yet. I hope my husband takes it to work or something.

Recipe: https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/goat-cheese-pesto-pizza/191087

I downloaded this recipe about 12 years ago when I was first learning to do basic things in a kitchen and was one of the first recipes I made living out of my parents’ house for the first time. If you can chop a tomato and spread it with pesto and goat cheese on a pre-made crust in 3 minutes, and your pizza is done enough in 12 minutes, you can complete this in 15 minutes (not counting oven preheating time)!

Recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/lamb-or-beef-shakshuka-5639034

Okay, so the egg whites made this not as symmetrical as it was in my head before I made it. 😂 But holy crap, this recipe was FIRE! Definitely the most delicious thing I’ve made in awhile. I’ve made the NYT “Shakshuka with Feta” recipe several times which is a vegetarian shakshuka, but this recipe blows it out of the water. Just so packed full of flavor. And for some reason my husband decided against eating it, so I got six amazing meals out of it all to myself. 😍

Recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/neapolitan-fudge/

I enjoy bringing fudges to work and sharing them with the emergency department. This was my first fudge that I brought to my new job as an attending (previously I made them for my residency hospital). It’s definitely a cheater’s fudge as essentially no cooking occurs besides melting chocolate and mixing and letting it sit in the fridge. Also, for some reason the recipe uses raspberry extract rather than producing a strawberry flavor to make the classic Neapolitan trio. Regardless, the fudge was well enjoyed and I was complimented both on the taste as well as the visual appeal of the tricolor layers. Can’t wait to bring them my next fudge!

Recipe: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/skordalia/

Don’t worry, the blender was for almonds, not potatoes! This Greek dip is like what you’d get if garlic mashed potatoes were a dip you eat with pita bread. My mom is 100% Greek, and I still have never been there!

Recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/steak-blue-cheese-bruschetta-with-onion-roasted-tomato-jam/

Delicious! I did use Chicago steak seasoning instead of Montreal (would have to look up what the difference even is). If I could self-criticize one thing, I cut the crostinis too fat and the steak chunks too large (or too cubed? Longer thinner strips might have worked). But otherwise, this was pretty tasty and makes plenty for leftovers or a party!

Recipe: Originally downloaded from Martha Stewart’s website, but it has since been taken down

I love lavender, but the balance here was a little off. I would probably use 1/2-3/4 of the culinary lavender as originally written (the recipe says 1/4 cup!!) to infuse into the milk. It just overpowers the honey too much. Good concept, but needs tweaking. Wouldn’t mind trying it again with that adjustment. Also, I learned that you have to be careful using honey as a garnish on something cold because it seizes up 😂

Recipe: https://www.recipetineats.com/arayes-lebanese-meat-stuffed-pita/

Although the recipe called these Lebanese, I found this recipe on a list of Syrian recipes, and Syria and Lebanon do share a border, so I’m sure it’s found in both. These were delicious seasoned meat-stuffed pitas with a perfect dip to match. Not fancy, but so easy. I’d totally make them again. I made a very similar dish for Egyptian week called hawawshi that I also enjoyed.

Recipe: https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/strawberry-moscato-layer-cake/

I try to make mostly new recipes, but this one I’ve made before and it was somehow much uglier even though this one is pretty unevenly frosted. I don’t have any aspiration to specialize in cakes so I haven’t ever really sat down with a whole ass tutorial to figure out how to properly decorate 😂

For this week’s theme I just picked a recipe that both would feed cake to my family and conveniently fit the springy, pink vibes that dominated the subreddit that week. (I’m catching up. 😬) I totally forgot to take a cross section picture but it was essentially identical to the picture included when I made it last time.