Andie's Kitchen: Cookie Experiment with Mom

My mom found a recipe for Chocolate Macarons a few weeks ago after being inspired by her first trip to Amelie's French Bakery in NoDa. This recipe is not your everyday kitchen supply recipe. It required some specialty items.

After ordering a new cooking scale and purchasing almond meal, we picked a day to make the cookies. That day was today.

For those of you who know, my mom and myself are very experienced bakers. Not only am I experienced with practice, but I have learned all the food science about what is going on and how to make things turn out well. The point of telling you that we are experienced is to emphasize that we were not ready for what lied ahead.

Things we discovered today: almond flour does not equal almond meal... both can be used, just I believe almond flour is easier since it is finer - sifters definitely are important for any kitchen - and boiling sugar to a specific temperature is very difficult without a cooking thermometer. (I had to melt the sugar into solution three times before I could get it to stay in solution so I could add it to the egg whites.)

But, since we are PROS despite all difficulty and time consumption on these little cookies they tasted amazing! I am not fully convinced that they are worth that much time, in fact when my mom suggested it would be faster next time I commented that I didn't love them enough for there to be a next time. However, some time has passed (several hours) since I made that comment and I believe that I can master the art of the Chocolate Macaron eventually. Once the cookies were cooled and the ganache was set and it made that little bite of heaven I realized that they were indeed worth my time. Practice will make perfect.

Here's a picture of our first batch Chocolate Macarons. Next time expect even better!

That was Andie's Kitchen: Cookie Experiment with Mom. Stay tuned for more fun adventures in Andie's Kitchen!

Fall 2013: Jammed Plans

Today everything was so nicely planned out.
Leave at 11. Arrive at school by 11:30. Print articles and homework assignments. Go to the gym and read articles. Eat Lunch. Go to class at 2.

Well, I left late... at 11:40. So, I should have arrived at school by 12:10. When I arrived there was not a parking spot in sight. This has never happened before. While I searched I decided to go ahead and get gas, to try again after. I finally found a spot by 12:20. Wow was I behind.

Reschedule: Print articles and homework by 1. Go to the gym and read articles. Eat Lunch. Go to class at 2.

The printer in the library (there is only one mind you at this tiny library) is jammed. Printing one page every 45 seconds to a minute. Well, I may have decided after 15 minutes that it was time to cancel who ever's print job that was. Selfish? I'm not sure, we were all waiting and she was printing blank powerpoint slides. My guess rookie freshman mistake.

Guess who's off to the gym at 1:10? Me! But, even with the jammed plans I still get to finish everything I sought out to accomplish today. Feeling good about it :)

This was Fall 2013 Jammed Plans. Stay tuned for more silly stories.

Fall 2013: Fresh Start

During the Spring 2013 semester my blog site was heavily neglected. The semester was busy and my ideas on what to share were low. But, this Fall 2013 semester I am planning to fall into my blogging and writing style. I hope to share informative details about health and nutrition, experiment with you guys in the kitchen, tell my silly stories of everyday life, keep you updating on my extremely busy schedule, and let you follow me as I shadow several different dietitians! This semester will be an adventure to the fullest! I'm excited to have you along for the ride! One this I ask is for feedback :) Blogging is so much more fun when I feel like everyone is engaged and cares... and will miss me if I don't continue to write!

To start off the Fresh Start of the semester here is a quick flash of my first full week of the semester!

17 credit hours. Afternoon classes. Obesity Seminar. Sports Nutrition. Accounting. Nutrition Education aka 480. Medical Nutrition Therapy and Lab. Many upon many Heroes episodes. Peter Petrelli is my favorite. Sylar is my roommate's... but it's more of a Zachary Quinto/Spock love I am convinced. Massage. Karate. Raised to Life Baptism volunteering. Moussaka. Grapes. Exhaustion. Planning a missions trip to Thailand with 8 other people. MarsHill and Summit Sermons (you should go listen). Getting myself ready for the rest of the semester!

This was the first episode of Fall 2013. Stay tuned for more interesting topics and stories to come!

Souptober: The Soup Game

Hey! So, I know that I have not been showing you my wonderful soups and that they have grossly accumulated! Instead of creating all of them individually I decided to create a fun game for you guys!

Match the Soups! Below are a list of the names and then the pictures are scattered, see if you can guess them all correctly!

See if you can match them all correctly!

a.  Beer-Cheese Cauliflower soup
b. Tomato Basil
c. Chili
d. Squash Corn Chowder
e. Russian Pumpkin Soup
f. Chicken Noodle Soup
g. Jumbalaya
h. Spinach Cannelini


1.











2.











3.













4.













5.













6.











7.

This was the last episode of Souptober. Stay tuned for more new fun Topics coming Fall 2013!