What's Cooking Wednesday?

Today was a test. I just want to start with that. I've had a rough one. So, I needed a really phenomenal piece for my What's Cooking Wednesday segment. I think it's safe to say I found one. It was easy, it was fun, it was scrumptious.

Last week, whilst scrolling through my Tumblr, I found this little gem:

A beauty, no?

Awesome! And, the directions were right there! It was perfect. Bought myself a white cake mix, a box of food coloring, and a stack of plastic cups. Now, before I go any further, I need to tell you about the food coloring. I found NEON. Neon food coloring. So totally rad. I was very excited to try it out. It worked great! I will point out that it's a little more pastel rather than neon, but to have purple and pink was super duper fun. Back to the cake... I just made it according to the directions, and poured an even amount into the cups. Then I dropped the batter into my cake pan all Jackson Pollock like and... ta da!! Tye Dye cake! Bake it, frost it, and you've got yourself a beautiful and groovy dessert. I didn't add the mustache, however. I think they're fun, and I am tickled by the fact that they're a bit of a trend right now, they're just not quite my style. Unless you're Captain Hook, and that's a horse of a different color.

Mine wasn't quite as pretty, but I'm still very happy.

Good times! I had so much fun with this cake. Maybe looking forward to it for almost a week added to the excitement. All I know is it was yummy and I had a good time. What more could a girl ask for at the end of a trying day?

What's Cooking Wednesday?

Apple cinnamon tarts! Sort of. Don't get me wrong, they were tasty. They just weren't the best thing I've ever concocted. Although, they were very easy, and I would definitely recommend them as a breakfast food. Here's how I did it:

It all starts with a simple can...

I started by squishing the cinnamon rolls flat. Really smushing them. Then, I stretched them out as far as possible, making sure not to rip any holes. If I did stretch a hole, which happened more than once, I just pinched it closed. Now that my cinnamon rolls were pancake flat, actually... even flatter, I placed them on the cookie sheet. I lined the baking sheet with foil, just in case. I opened up a can of apple pie filling and plopped one apple chunk and plenty of goo (forgive me for not knowing the culinary term for "apple pie goo") on each roll. Then I just folded them over and pinched 'em closed. Done! Tossed those puppies in the oven for about ten minutes at 400 degrees.

Upon pulling them out of the oven I learned that cinnamon roll dough doesn't like to stay closed. Each and every one of them popped open. However, it was only a little. They really didn't look too horrible. Kind of like little apple cinnamon tacos. They were great too! I added the icing that came with the Pillsbury package, and my family and I pigged out on "apple cinnamon tarts" the whole evening. The roll was golden brown, the cinnamon was just right, the apple was sweet, and the goo was... gooey. All of which harmonized perfectly.

What's Cooking Wednesday?

Yes. I am quite aware that it is Saturday. But, I'm not one who does things the "normal" way. There isn't much fun in that. Also, my internet was out.

On to my kitchen experiment...

I traveled most of the day, and needed something which didn't require a grocery store visit, and could be done in about fifteen minutes. In the freezer, I found these bad boys:

I cannot recommend these enough

I also had a lovely can of cherry pie filling. Now, I know it was borderline cheating, but I put my hands together and made little cherry tart-like creations. And, I'll tell you what, they were some of the tastiest things I've ever concocted! Absolutely divine. All of them were gone in about twenty minutes.

And so simple! You just thaw the puff pastry, cut it to the size you want, add the pie filling, and pinch it closed. Bam! You're done. Bake it and you've got yourself the easiest, yummiest, tartlets in all the land. I slit tiny lines in the top, because they always look like that in Disney movies, which made them so pretty. I'm a firm believer that when something is pretty, it tastes better. Presentation is very important.

I'll be repeating this recipe as soon as I can get my hands on more of that puff pastry. So delicious. And, be sure to sprinkle a little sugar on them too, before you put them in the oven. That way, they sparkle. Who doesn't want their food to sparkle?!

Finding something so wonderful and so simple really made my week. My family enjoyed them, and they quickly brought some delight into our hectic day. Oh! I just thought of how great they'd be with tea!

What's Cooking Wednesday?

I've recently started a new habit of cooking and/or baking something new on Wednesdays. And, while today's project didn't turn out awesome, I feel the need to share the experience anyway. I chose something, for normal people, that would be rather simple. However, I forgot how often I have problems in the kitchen. I'm really not very good. A number of factors contribute to my lack of culinary skill... lack of training, laziness, being too easily distracted... I could go on. Also, I have an uncanny ability to burn myself when cooking. If it's possible, it'll happen. But, I digress... Today's recipe was Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies.

Awesome!

I found the recipe here at Picky Palate. I encourage all of you to check it out. You won't regret it.

Now. Being a simple recipe, I figured I couldn't go wrong. Well, I could. And, I did. Remember the easily distracted problem I mentioned? Whilst mixing, I completely forgot about the "add two eggs" direction. Yeah... whoops. So, I'm mixing along, happy as a clam, and I'm noticing the consistency of my dough is rather dry. Too dry. So I think to myself, "Kim... you didn't really measure the butter super carefully, you probably don't have enough. Let's add a tad more, just to be safe".

Probably shouldn't have done that.

I did, though. It worked too! Until I remembered what I forgot. >Insert self loathing eye roll here< What do I do now?! I shrug my shoulders and add the eggs anyway. They'll be fine, right? In the oven they go.

No. No, no, and no. My cookies are flat, except where the Oreo is, and the edges are much too crispy. Very sad. Very sad indeed. Quite the cookie catastrophe. I haven't tried to eat one yet. I'm saving that adventure for tomorrow. Don't want to pack it all into one day. I'm sure they taste fine, they're just not that pretty. Very aesthetically unpleasing.

Oh, well. I tried. I may have failed, but I gave it a go. That in itself is a victory. Hopefully next week's challenge will be less... challenging.