This is exciting!
How do I introduce myself to a blog? Do I start as I would with an average person? "Hello, my name is Lady Tish Toshington the Third and I enjoy collecting pomeranians and floral furniture"? Or should I maintain an air of mystery and aloofness and create an internet persona that is both infuriating and enthralling?
But I must remember that I am not thirteen.
And now I think - why don't I explain why I started blogging in the first place? That will surely give any reader who stumbled upon this blog an insight to my character! So as you can see, I took almost three paragraphs to decide this.
The story starts a way back. When I was a kid, I loved reading and I loved eating my mother's cooking. She would make all sorts of delicious things for us, treats that most people would only see at a wedding or birthday party. Thinking back, I always remember some buttery cake baking in the oven, or the gentle bubble of beer brewing, or someone trying to get me to eat a tomato.
My first cooking endeavor was with my slightly younger sister, and we had taken it into our heads to make a cake. Or slice, or some such tasty concoction filled with chocolate. Having grasped the basic principles, we decided the best things to go into this thing was flour, chocolate, sugar and water. There may have been milk and other ingredients involved, once my eldest sister caught us and tried to make amends. Either way, I remember the sheer joy of collecting the ingredients and hoping to turn out something delicious and chocolatey.
I remember it was quite crisp on the outside. We did add an awful lot of sugar. But my older sister said it was tasty, so I'll take her word for it.
Another huge influence on my cooking skills is/was my grandmother. She is the sweetest little old lady you could ever imagine, and she ran a guesthouse for most of my childhood. She would get up every day and cook her guests a breakfast from scratch, always willing to give something a chance. Start off with some cereal, move onto homemade bread with homemade jam, then finish off with some crepes with any filling of your liking. She would bake delicious treats for the guests and place them upstairs, all ready and waiting for me to steal and ferret them away in my room.
It didn't stop there. She loved to feed us. Her kitchen was bright, squeaky clean and always smelt of muesli, lemons and lamingtons.
I grew up on my family's homecooking. My mum always had innovative and tasty ideas to get us to eat and enjoy healthy food, my grandmother gave me some of the fondest memories I have, and my dad loves to cook from his garden.
I didn't really get into cooking until I hit college (that's year eleven and twelve for any of you living overseas). I'm pretty sure I can pinpoint the event that kicked me into it. I made a cheesecake for a friend's birthday. Nothing fancy, a baked lemon cheesecake with cream and blueberries. Simple and mouth-watering.
They loved it.
I was shocked. Okay, over-dramatizing. I was really surprised. They wolfed it down and my friend hide the rest in the fridge to devour later. I had been terrified of messing up, resisting the urge to crack open the oven and pacing back and forth. But no! I had a piece. I think I would have fought her for the rest of the cheesecake if I hadn't been overcome with relief. And pride. A whole lotta pride.
Since then I've been gradually doing more and more, but it was the discovery of food blogs that got me near fanatical about it. I knew you could find recipes on the net, and in a vague way knew people kinda, ya know, maybe, sorta...wrote about it? I found a recipe for a lime tart on what is now my all-time favourite blog. Awed, I began to explore. The blog was witty, thoughtful, interesting, and was something I quickly got sucked into! I could relate to her enjoyment of baking because I enjoy it so much myself.
And in a way, that ties into the other major influence in my life. My family has always been big readers. Starting from Enid Blyton, Sweet Valley and Babysitter's Club and working our way up to Agatha Christie, Tolkien and, alright, J.K. Rowling, we've always been involved with books. As in "read-at-the-table" involved. As in "read-in-the-car-until-we-make-ourselves-sick" involved. As in "sneaking-away-from-events-and-classes-to-read-in-the-bathroom" obsessed.
And from this was born a love of writing. I wrote a lot back in the day. Before the snowstorm I walked through every day to get to class blew away my pencil. And I've been missing it. I've missed sitting at the keyboard or snatching up a pen and paper and scratching down ideas. I've missed fleshing out characters and quietly laughing myself silly at how damn funny I am at three o'clock in the morning. I've even missed the writers block, banging my head on the desk because I can't form a character and reading over what I wrote in the wee early hours and realizing I'm not a hoot.
So these two kind of mushed together, and because I wanted somewhere to write down my recipes, this blog was born. Kicking and screaming.
I am posting now because I'm supposed to be studying for a mid-semester exam tomorrow and I'm procrastinating. Also because I just read a friend's blog and was inspired.
Which brings me to another point. (I am so good at putting stuff off!). As much as I'd like it to be, I doubt my blog will ever be the beautifully constructed portal to a dreamy, simple world that so many others seem to be. The ones that are filled with close-ups of blossoms or ripe tomatos, adorable and clean children and most of all, with gorgeously presented food. I've read the tricks of doing this, about lighting and editing and 'plumping up' food for display. (Keeping children clean is something that mystifies me, but I suspect you turn into a wizard when you have children.)
I would adore to be one of those blogs. Like their happiness is polished and any hardships that sail along are either comical or easily navigated (good heavens, how I extended that sea metaphor!). I know their lives are tumultuous and penny-pinching and they get embarrassed and shave various bodyparts the same as I do. I'm going to do my best, as there's so much to love.
Finally, in case you are still burning with curiousity about me, here are some simple facts.
- I live in Tasmania, and it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
- I am a music student at university. Remember, currently avoiding the exam study.
- I love gardening.
- I am a performer.
Well. May as well start this blog with a recipe!
Moist and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
What better way to start than with one of the most beloved snacks of all time? That sounds pompous. These are good! If you're watching your weight, cut down on the butter as these babies use a lot and it's very difficult to stop eating them. I also tend to add a little less salt, because clearly I'm fine with three quarters of a cup of butter but a teaspoon of salt makes me jittery. Pffft.
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tsp of salt
- 3/4 of a cup of butter
- 1 cup of brown/muscovado sugar
- 1/2 cup of white sugar
- 1 whole egg and one egg yolk
- 2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1) Preheat oven to 170C (325F). As our oven is fanforced, I usually drop the temperature down twenty degrees as a precaution against burning.
2) Sift together flour, salt and baking soda.
3) In a separate bowl, beat together butter and the two sugars, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. The mixture should be shiny and wet.
4) Beat the dry mixture into the wet mixture until combined. I use my little electric handbeaters for the job, and they work admirably.
5) Add the chocolate chips by hand and knead together. Using your (clean) fingers will make this much faster than a wooden spoon, allow for an even distribution of chips and will bind the mixture together more firmly.
6) Roll the mixture into balls, place them on a sheet of ungreased cooking paper and gently flatten them. Or, if you're like me, roll them into balls and flatten them between your palms, then place them. Keep a couple of inches between each one, depending on how big you like your cookies.
7) Bake for ten to fifteen minutes, or until cracks form on the top. The original recipe specifies waiting until they're just turning brown around the edges, but I like my cookies moist and I find waiting too long makes them a little dry for my liking. You can check the center of one, and if it has moist crumbs in the center, it's ready to come out.
Now, I don't know how many the original poster made, but one batch of these cookies can easily make up to sixty, depending on how big you like them. I usually get a loaded teaspoon of mixture and that produces many cookies, which is great for parties or if you have a cast of fifty to feed.
I think the addition of sultanas, walnuts or oats would make this recipe great - more filling and less guilt if you black out and wake up to find you've scarfed down two dozen. Or if you want to make it more naughty, white chocolate chips or swirls of nutella would be excellent.
You can also use basic gluten free flour, but be prepared for the mixture to spread a lot more.
