Friday, July 02, 2010

Quiz Time

Lazy Kate  tagged me for a little quiz a while back. I loved reading her answers, and since I haven't made much knitting progress lately, I thought I'd go ahead see how boring I sound.

1. What's your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can't be bothered to be adventurous) ?
I have a hard time with just cooking up something really fast. I'll either fix a great, well-planned meal, or my husband will end up fixing "Scoobie Snacks," which are basically quesadillas with refried beans and sometimes some chicken. I probably make cilantro pesto pasta most often in a pinch, but it still takes a little effort. It's definitely Kai's favorite, and Russ and Paige like it quite a lot too. They obviously don't have a cilantro aversion. OK, and when I'm really, really worn out, I ask Kai to get us something on one of his almost daily runs to Taco Bell. I'm a little ashamed to admit the fast food thing, but sometimes Taco Bell just hits the spot.

2. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mmmmm, not sure still. I've been a teacher for nearly twenty-five years, not an occupation that I ever intended to do in the first place. I'm not shy, but I'm an introvert in a lot of ways, so a hundred teenagers in your face every day can be a pain.  I've grown to embrace it though. I guess I'd like to be a writer., so I could work in my pajamas. I'd like to write about food and food-related experiences, like eating out in fancy restaurants in L.A. (even though I hate getting around in L.A.) or some European metropolis.

3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)
I just read The Big House, A Century in the Life of an American Summer House, which I really enjoyed, and I'm kind of reading A Cook's Tour, which I've read before. I'm planning to read A Passage to India this summer and maybe another classic that I haven't yet read. For an English teacher, I'm not that great of a reader. I love books, but I'm a browser. If a book doesn't grab me, I won't make the effort to struggle though it.

4. How do you relax?
I spread out on our love seat, and browse through blogs and I have to admit that I "farm" on Farmville, although I think I may be outgrowing that...maybe after I fill my nursery barn, ha, ha. ...And, of course, I knit!

5. What color are the interior walls of your home?
I love the color of our walls. Our living room is sand-colored above a chair rail and kind of a mocha below. The entryway is two-toned too, with light shades of green. As you can see from my previous blog post, our kids' bathroom is blue; Paige's room is eggplant, and Kai's is "Cornhusker" red. I've been trying to decide on a change in our bedroom since it's just boring beige right now. I'm thinking pink although Paige thinks I shouldn't do that to Russ. He's man enough to take it, I think.

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Chocolate chip cookie dough. I make great cookies, but the dough, after it's been in the fridge for a while, is soooo good.

7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?
I need a lot of sleep, but I don't always  never get enough during the school year. I usually don't get to bed before 10:30 or 11:00, and get up at 5:00 three mornings a week to run. The other two days of the work week, I get up around 6:30.

8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?
I'll sometimes spend hours looking at blogs, and other times I'll go weeks without doing much reading. I've gone months without blogging in the past. I'm usually most interested in reading blogs if I'm in a blogging mood myself, and am looking for even more inspiration. It's kind of an unpredictable thing for me.

Here's my chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's basically the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from Cook's Illustrated, and it's practically no-fail. Enjoy!


Chocolate Chip Cookies

In a large mixing bowl, mix together,

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted in the microwave (I don't always bother doing this, but the cookies are better when I do.)
1 egg, plus one additional egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla

In a separate bowl, mix together,

2 cups flour, plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. soda

Add to wet ingredients.

Add chocolate chips.

Bake at 325 degree for about 13 minutes. Let sit on the pan for a minute of two before moving to a cookie rack.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love these little peeks into other people's lives!!

ImplausibleYarn said...

Yay for cookie dough, I think that chocolate chip cookies are far more superior before you bake them off. eaten by the spoonful... Or brownie batter...

Thimbleanna said...

Very fun! I've never tried cc cookies with melted butter -- I'll bet they're yummy!

Tracy said...

Such fun to learn these things about you! Great reading... and love the sound of the colors in your home. And thank you for the recipe...mmm... cookies!--in my best Cookie Monster voice ;o) Happy Days ((HUGS))

JayJay said...

What a neat quiz! I may use it in my blog, since I am low on ideas.

Thanks for the recipe! I just saw Christopher Kimball in real life (the editor of Cook's Illustrator and one of the hosts of America's Test Kitchen). He was interviewing one of my favorite vendors at our local farmer's market! What small world, huh?