Sweet is as Sweet Does

There are some days when I feel productive enough to write a 100 page book in a day.

Then again, doesn't everyone?

Yesterday was one of those days. Okay, I didn't really do anything productive, TBH, except bake some brownies. Which I didn't capture any photos of. A pity too, because I had almost no mistakes making it. I seriously need a camera.

That was a quick topic shift.

I usually bake things I've baked previously when no occasion is occurring. Strangely, when a bake-worthy occasion pops up, I try my best to make something I've never done before, and that usually results in a mess. I remember a few months ago in June, I made cake pops for my sister's end-of-eighteen-months-online-course party. They were okay, but I wasn't really prepared, and some of the cake pops broke up. At the party, I put them on top of the fridge, and some girl saw them and asked me for one. So I took the Styrofoam block down and held it out while kids pulled out the cake pops. They were gone in seconds. And the best thing about it was, my best friend took the best one I made -- my first one. And she liked it!

Anyway, back to real life. I forgot what I was going to talk about.

Oh yeah. Well, yesterday, I made some perfect butterscotch brownies. As y'all may know, I baked these previously twice before. Once in 2009 for a 4-H state fair, and once last year for a potluck. The recipe is so easy, it's hard to mess up. There are a reasonable amount of ingredients, and an even more reasonable amount of directions. The only 'bad' thing about this recipe is that you have to sift 2 and 1/4 cups of flour. No sweat, I guess. I've gotten used to sifting. And actually, it's sort of fun.

#brag #justkidding

I like how the tissue paper is pink for me :] By the way, that yellow sticker is supposed to stand for second place, but I got first place, but they ran out of first place stickers :[

The version I did last year was the only one I drizzled with chocolate. You can never go wrong with chocolate, but these brownies are so perfect they don't NEED chocolate. (Additionally, they are very sweet, so chocolate would put you on a hyper level of high.)

Ew they look kinda uncooked in this photo

The one in the book looks more yummy

The Story of Productive Yesterday
At about 9:54 AM, I took out two sticks of butter to soften. At the time there were some sweet potatoes in the oven, so I put the butter sticks on the stove. Which was a bad idea because the sticks kind of melted.

Wait. Why do I even mention my mistakes?

So that they don't get passed on. Yeah. Okay. Just never get impatient when it's time to bake.

Then I took out the butterscotch chips baggie and cut it open and ate some. AHHH so sweet. Butterscotch chips are like, my favorite kind of chips. White ones smell funny, and chocolate is too common. Butterscotch hits right in the middle, just like me. (and they're sweet just like me)

Well, as I waited for the butter to soften more, I measured everything out, as usual. then I mixed the butter and sugar together, then I added the eggs, then I sifted the flour, then I prepared the wrong pan, and then I folded in the chips.

Then the problem occurred.

See, the recipe told me to prepare a rectangular pan. And I did, but when I put the mixture in it, it all didn't fit. And I thought to myself, "How in the world did it ever fit in before?" With an internal sigh, I prepared a square pan and pressed the mixture in there. It fit, thankfully. Then I pushed it into the oven and cleaned everything up. I was kind of rushing because I had three friends talking to me at the time. But I managed to do all the dishes and clean the table. I was rather proud of myself. And that's what I mean by Productive Yesterday.

The End.

My brother ate too much, which kind of bothered me, but he said they were good. And that's what I'll take as payment. :]

Optional to Read!! Life Updates:

December 20: My last session of archery at the masjid. Went to somebody's graduation party. Played dodgeball after a halaqa at the masjid and got sore all over.

December 21: No karate session, unexpected. Bought a graphing notebook for brother.

December 22: Had guests over. Cleaned to the death.

Thank you for reading!! :]

N

Bad Choices

On December 12, my dad, sister, and I went shopping. Everything was on a good sale. I plopped a bag of light brown sugar in the cart, and I was so happy that the morsels were on sale, too! I got a bag of everything: white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and dark chocolate chips. From there, I knew, the next thing to be mixed up in my house was going to feature one of those many chips.

Well, not just one chip, of course. One kind. Know what I mean?

Now, before we get into any stories of baking calamities (which is what always happens), I'm going to have to entertain you with a life story. This one's gonna be good.

December 12-14th marked the three days of an AlMaghrib class called Deception. It was an in-depth study of Shaytan/the devil. I didn't know why I wanted to take it, but I knew why I wanted to take it. (My mind is so contradictory.) Things like these scare me yet they interest me at he same time. Sometimes I think I have a second mind. After all, I do have two brain halves. My dominant mind is the one I'm used to, but this other mind makes me think 'Do I really not know the reason behind that?' or 'Did I really not do that?' etc., and I really hate this other mind because it makes me feel and look like I'm not telling the truth when I actually am.

Anyway, the class was probably THE best AlMaghrib class I ever took. That exam isn't going to intimidate me!

The only boring part about the class was lunch time. I preferred sitting in class, laughing at jokes and understanding stories. At lunchtime, the whole classroom was empty because everybody was at restaurants eating burgers and pizza. I/we just had fruits, power bars, and Chex Mix. While eating a power bar, I analyzed it and guessed how it could have been made. (It was chocolate covered.)

So. To the point. I don't really remember what sort of life story I was going to tell you. (Which is why I shouldn't leave a blog post alone for more than a day.)

Aren't they just fab? (No. They're not.)

I have a question for you after you analyze the photo. Do those look like oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies to you?

No?

I didn't think so.

I never should have let my sister choose what I was going to make. That was a bad choice. She made a bad choice. Bad choices lead to more bad choices. I should've known.

Well, anyhow. Mistake report coming up.

There are hardly any places to catch a good patch of sunlight in this house/apartment. [Bleh, I'll call it a house.] The windows are blinded [literally], and the living room has a sliding door that is also blinded. I prefer curtains and windows, man. I DON'T CARE IF THEY'RE SO LAST CENTURY.

Anyway, I brought that up because I like to let sticks of butter soften in the sunlight. Because 1. Patches of sunlight are so pretty. and 2. It's faster. x3

Fortunately, some sunlight was streaking in the kitchen on top of the dryer, so I placed all the sticks of butter there. After leaving them there for about half an hour, I checked on them and they were still hard as stone, or so I thought until I poked them. Okay, a tad squishy. However not enough to fulfill my expectations. I unwrapped them and put them on a plate. That would work, right?

...right?

Detected hesitation tells you NO.

At least, I'm hoping so.

The recipe told me 1 1/3 cups of unsalted butter, softened. After taking them out I thought, "That's quite a lot." But I couldn't argue with the recipe, of course. (I can't argue with most things/people.)

The recipe also called for 1 1/3 cups of sugar, AND 3/4 cups of brown sugar. (If you measure these out, you'll see how much this is.)

Time was running away like a cheetah, so I dumped the fuzzy sticks of butter with the sugars and mixed 'em up. Not sure if the butter was a problem, but most likely. Ugh! I need to seriously take my baking seriously! Remember this important piece of advice from Mum, "Always take the butter out an hour before you want to bake."

Okay, I got distracted by the word 'Mum' because it reminded me of something. Egh.

When my sister was helping me spoon the batter on the cookie sheets, she said, "When something's wrong with the cookies, it's either because there's too much sugar or there's too much butter."

Guilt twisted inside me.  

But, that's what the recipe said! my other mind protested.

Shut it! my dominant mind argued.

Heh, said my face.

[Nothing] said I.

There was too much sugar and there was too much butter. No matter, The batter looked like this.

DO NOT EVEN TRY FEIGNING THAT FACE OF INNOCENCE, BATTER

 Beautiful, no?

No? Yeah, I feel you.

I like the background, too

Such natural lighting

Moving on to the process of cooking these little troublemakers. Like I mentioned before, I hate making drop cookies. It's messy. I hate getting my hands dirty. It's okay if everything else is dirty, but not my hands. NOT MY HANDS. EVAH.

Anyway, how do drop cookies even get your hands dirty. Because, somehow, the spoon handles get dirty and I have to touch them in order to use them.

My hands aren't typing what they're supposed to type. (-_- that sentence needed like 3 corrections -_-)

Every time I dropped the dough on the sheet, the cookies turned out flat and hideous and the extremity of golden brown.

much oven

 Yep. Like that.

My sister made some of the cookies. She rolled up little dough balls. They turned out like cookies with rounded tops, but flat bottoms, but much perfecter than those shown above. They brought tears of joy to my eyes, because they were so beautiful. So I made the rest of them like that.

There are about 3 of these in the cookie jar right now. I tried to eat one with milk this morning, but the milk was sour. :( And I usually have milk as a wake up drink. :( (Actually I have it as an everything drink XD)

This post is really late, so, buh-bai.

N

They Are Awesome The Brownies

This is by far one of those pictures where my hands look just beautiful.

"http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/11/fudgy-brownies-recipe.html
heavenl;y let's make it tomorrow"

A message I received from Big Sister on December 7th.

My reply?

"Don't look at the stuff I +1 please
lol"

We did end up making them however, on the day after. December 8th. They were... err... rather delightful.

Delightful for a while, yes. Then, I guess the sugar overload took over.

I was chatting with one of my friends at the time, and I asked her if she wanted pictures, and she said "that would be great!" (with multiple '!'.) So after my sister took pictures and sent them to me, I showed them to my friend, and she said, "WOW THEY ARE AWESOME THE BROWNIES" (hence the title of this post) (#yodatalk) and I was like ':3 Meknows.'

Anyway, these don't look AT ALL like the ones on the website, and I'm assuming that's just because it was made by me. Yep. Things like that, always happening when I'm involved. Anyway, I made the brownies, and my sister made the frosting. I could sense a lot of upcoming lack of health, but I follow the rules of recipes, so I took no action.

They were finished on December 10, I believe. The day after I was terribly sick. I wanted to have some, but I was still sick, and refused to take any risks.

The weather is warming up, but that is an entirely different story for an entirely different time.

N

The Reason Why You Don't Click on Random Links

My mom told me to check my Google+. So I logged in and checked my notifications. It was one of my expectations: a recipe that, of course, I was going to make. I read through it and let out an internal groan.

Remember my last post, the one where I talked about my folding problem? I had no idea whether my mom was trying to make me feel bad or encouraging me to keep trying folding. Whichever it was, the word 'fold' in that recipe yanked my heart down. I couldn't fold. Let's rephrase that. I CAN'T fold. That's the real reason my closet is so empty. Joking. That was a lame joke.

Anyhow, my mom told me that she didn't even read the recipe, which triggered my whole body to go and facepalm a wall.

However, one day, my sister suggested we make it. She told me to begin and tell her to come only when the folding had to be done. (My sister has much more experience in baking than I do.) So, everything went well. We baked the brownie part first, poured the butter cake over it, blah, baked it, blah blah. Then, when we took it out and cut it, BOOM! The cake exploded.

'Kay, it didn't, but it was something close to that. Apparently, the cake hadn't been cooked completely through. Butter cake batter oozed like blood from a wound out of the butter cake part of the cake. It flowed out slowly, just like my tears would have if I'd felt like crying. Fortunately, the flow shocked me, not saddened me. My sister put it back in the oven and went to take a shower. (TMI much) She didn't set the timer, so I was supposed to watch over it. So I looked at it and poked it with a cake tester shaped like a chef. (We call him "the Man")

Nothing stuck to him, which meant the cake was done. I took it out, didn't burn myself, and remembered to turn off the oven. (I usually forget) I looked at the place where the flow had come from, and there was no flow. (I find this description fairly disturbing)

I told my sister to take pictures. She actually listened.

One of the slices unaffected by the flow

One of the reasons it failed: the milk.

We did have milk. About ten tablespoons left. It looked okay. But it did not smell okay. Therefore, it was NOT okay. I substituted with some chocolate almond milk we happened to have, fortunately. Still, my sister was mad at me. Then, she came to me saying that spoiled milk is okay to consume if it's cooked.

Well, she didn't exactly use my sophisticated wording, but she said something like that. That made me feel a little better, but it was already in the oven.

I'm probably going to try and make this again (hopefully I learn to fold by then). And with that I conclude today's rant.

Oh wait. That's for Rant Files...

-N

Really, Me? BLC Update

So I read over my post last night, and I thought, "Wow, really, N. Post pictures of that creature you created? Nah."

By the way, BLC stands for Buttermilk Lemon Cake. Anyway, there were quite a lot of problems with that cake. First of all, one of the sticks of butter was not completely softened, so it caused some trouble during the mixing. Then, as I was pouring the rather watery mixture into the pans, I saw some chunks of it in there. As I scraped the rest out, a huge chunk of butter-and-whatever appeared, and I was like, OMG. There was nothing I could do because we were really rushing and I hadn't showered yet, so I let it go. #frozen Then, when I took the cake out, it looked like a total disaster and part of it was burnt and I couldn't even get it out of the pan. It didn't even rise. When I cut it and took a piece out, the bottom was rubber-like. It was squishy but tough. Kinda like a really breakable eraser.

What I lined the pan with was another story. We didn't have parchment paper, so I used wax paper. I didn't think that would cause any problems, but unfortunately it did. It burnt and the cake stuck to it. What I learned was that parchment paper doesn't stick; wax does. What a huge waste of beautiful lemons. I'd like to try again, but not until I've caught up with homework (heehee).

We need a new Bundt pan.

So, yes. There you go.

N

Buttermilk Lemon Cake Attacks Once Again!

Hey guys! Hope you all are enjoying your break. I have absolutely no classes today. Just homework. English homework. I absolutely ADORE my English homework. It's very easy and fun, though a bit challenging at some times. Everyone gets writer's block at some point.

I nearly forgot why I made this post. Today I'm making Buttermilk Lemon Cake, again! It's for a bunch of people tonight. We're going to a Thanksgiving dinner thing. I don't really know why they're having it because Muslims don't celebrate Thanksgiving. I guess they feel like they need the break. But if someone brings turkey I'm going to scream because we should have nothing to do at all with the actual Thanksgiving customs. That is, of course, unless people like turkey.

It's almost December. After some calculations, I discovered that I'm supposed to finish Algebra II on February 18, 2015. Somehow I missed four weeks of it and I'm twenty lessons behind. So that's all I'll be torturing myself with over the weekend. :P Honestly though, if my future job is to be an author, I don't need algebra at all! Maybe minor if I make money, but why would I need to insert quadratic equations and radical signs in my life? I saw this awesome thing somewhere on Google+ (I think). It was like, "Who needs algebra? We're only going to need to find the x if we become pirates." At that, I pointed both my pointer fingers at the picture and said, "UH-HUH! TRUEDAT!"

Kidding. I did that in my head.

My mom is making spring rolls at the moment, and when she's done, I'm gonna bring the cake to action. This cake calls for a glaze, consisting of 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 3/4 cups of confectioners' sugar. I wanted to try making the cake with oranges instead of lemons this time, but my sister suggested I make the glaze with oranges. So that's what I'll be doing! Oh, here's the downside of it all. We got rid of our Bundt pan because it's messed up, and our tube pan leaks (I don't know why we kept it). As a result I must use a pound cake pan. I don't really fancy those, but it's okay, if there's no other option.

Another idea is whirring up in my mind. Ignore it. *ignores idea*

Well, while we wait for Mother to finish the spring rolls, I will tell you a little about my life since I last posted. I got sick two Fridays ago, and I'm partly okay now, but my sister refuses to be near me in case I breathe on her. Which, unfortunately, is going to have to happen. Sorry, sis. Maybe another time. ;D Also, I finished reading Rick Riordan's The Sea of Monsters. Very good. Now I have to read the first book of the new Warriors series, although I'm not very excited about it. I don't care at all about the dawn of the Clans. I want to know how ThunderClan lives on under the eye of Bramble. (SPOILER ALERT!!) Yesterday. I watched Goosebumps: The Ghost Next Door. That movie still scares me, even though I know what will happen. I watched Dumbo too. And, um... that's probably all I should give you guys. Oh wait! There's no archery or calligraphy club this week. That's the only downside of this darned Thanksgiving break.

OMG. I just forgot a really important thing I wanted to say. Oh yeah! I wanted to talk about pumpkin pie!

Wait my mom is done! I'll catch you later!

I am back after 2 hours, possibly. The cake made me feel so horrible about myself that I had to eat a spring roll to make myself feel better. I have no idea what to do, what to think. I have just insulted cake nation.

Errr...... I'll update with  pics later maybe.

N

Folds - Mistake Report

I haven't been here in so long... I missed my little HSBCI. Well, here I am again, and of course, I post here only when I bake stuff. I baked two things recently (of which I can remember, of course).

On Tuesday I baked a cake that everyone loves, called Everyday Chocolate Cake. And today, I baked a cowpoo cake.

You read correctly - cowpoo.

I have no idea why I keep calling it that. It was from this book called Chocolate and Baking. It's on page 52. It's called Chocolate Walnut Cake. It totally failed! I had the correct ingredients, did everything properly. I even thought I did the folding correctly -  apparently, I did not. Folding was all that messed the cake up. My brother called it a sponge that'd been dried out for a long time. My mum didn't want to finish the last bits because it tasted nasty. (And actually, it does.)

The frosting was pretty nasty too. I guess 'cause I beat it on high speed last minute because there were large butter chunks in there. Hehe.

Here's the recipe. If you make it and it turns out perfectly, I'll kill you and ask you for your secrets and pictures, if you took any.

Chocolate Walnut Cake from Chocolate & Baking, page 52

4 eggs
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 3/4 ounces dark chocolate, melted
1 1/4 cups finely chopped walnuts

Frosting:
2 3/4 ounces dark chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp milk
walnut halves, to decorate

Method:
1. Grease a deep 7-inch round cake pan and line the base. Place the eggs and superifne sugar in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and foamy and the beater leaves a trail that lasts a few seconds when lifted.
2. Sift together the flour and unsweetened cocoa and fold in with a metal spoon or spatula. Fold in the melted butter and chocolate, and the chopped walnuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, or until springy to the touch.
3. Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Cut the cold cake into 2 layers.
4. To make the frosting, melt the dark chocolate and let cool slightly. Beat together the butter, confectioners' sugar, a milk in a bowl until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Beat in the melted chocolate.
5. Sandwich the 2 cake layers with some of the frosting and then transfer to a serving plate. Spread the remaining frosting over the top of the cake with a spatula, swirling it slightly as you do so to make a pattern. Decorate with the walnut halves and serve.

Good luck!!

N

This, That, and the Other, a Post Posted 30 Days Later :D

HI! I'm BACK! And I'm SORRY I haven't been UPDATING because I've been BUSY (yeah right) and I DON'T know WHY I'm CAPITALIZING EVERY OTHER WORD but I'd BETTER get to the POINT.

In my absence I baked a lot of things. There was this cake I made for Eid, and then these checkerboard cookies, and then these chocolate chip cookies that had too much sugar.

I feel like I did more than that. Maybe I did. I need to keep up on life updates in my virtual diary. The last time I updated my actual real book diary was 8 days ago. And I just went back to my blog called 'The Heart of a Human' and there are stuff I said about this place that I don't mean now. When I make friends in a new place, I automatically like that place. -_- Which is dumb considering all my friends can't live in the same place I am. So, correction - I like this place, but hate the house. Which is okay since I won't be staying in it for long, iA. I also used to hate the masjid/school because it didn't have any softie carpets like the one in my previous home. But, it's a school, man. Schools aren't comfy, although they should be. That sounds wrong, coming from a homeschooler. But where was I, anyway?

Oh yeah. I was going to talk about life updates. My sister and I recently began going to the sister gathering for youth every Saturday after Maghrib. We began around a month ago, and on the second week I made friends with my Quran classmates. The epic ones. And, tomorrow I have a competition that takes away my chance of going to archery class. And calligraphy class. (But that's okay since calligraphy isn't as exciting as archery.)

SO! Where was I - oh. Darn. The stuff I made. Yeah. This is a baking blog. I always get carried away when I write, and then when I take a break, I look at the post's title and then I remember what I was supposed to write about. So, without further useless paragraphs, here we go!

The Cake I Made on Eid
I don't think most of you know what Eid is (or what most of the words in this post are), but that doesn't matter because this is a cake we are talking about. Let's all go to the storyteller room.

'Twas the night before Eid Al-Adha,

when all 'round the Ka'bah,

all Muslims were praying,

remembering Allah.

Okay, actually, I'm not sure if the hujjaaj were going around the Ka'bah at the time. I don't know a lot about Hajj. #shameonme But, anyhow... I had burnt myself upon taking the cakes out of the oven (I always remember the times I cook through my injuries), and as they were cooling on the table, I was preparing to make the frosting. It only needed a stick of butter and a cup of powdered sugar. I blended those two together, but they only resulted in a bunch of tiny white balls of butter and sugar. I stared at them and I thought, "Hey, nice excuse for frosting." Just kidding. I read the recipe again and recalled that they needed some sort of extract. Namely vanilla extract. We don't use vanilla extract because we don't know what these people put in those bottles. There could be alcohol in them. So if we ever do buy vanilla extract, it's usually from a health/organics store. Anyway, I let the mixer blend again, and I washed my hands and let the excess water drip inside the mixer. Right away it began turning into a very fine icing. One that was somewhat too sweet. Once the icing was completed, it was time to ice the cake, and here I stopped. I always get so nervous when I have to frost or decorate anything, especially if it's something real. Graphics, fine. Deleting is possible. But glue, paper, cake, all that jazz, they're too precious. This paragraph is too long. I asked my sister to help me frost, and of course it took her some time to actually get up and leave the room, because, well, you know, I keep the room clean and she can't take her eyes off of my work. [Just joking] The cake was supposed to be sandwiching the frosting and some raspberry fruit spread. So my sister did the jam first and then she did the frosting, and I did the sandwiching (we should have switched jobs, because she didn't know how much jam to apply, and I can't be trusted holding a cake (or doing anything, rather)). BUT, we ended up with a fabulous cake, and I put it in a cake carrier and stuck that in the fridge. And, after we came back from Eid prayer the next day, we ate the cake. It was cold and hard. I always feel bad for the people who have to deal with the stuff I make because the stuff I make always look horrible, taste worse, and there's either too little or too much of it. Anyway, we finished the cake - hehehe. The end!!

Don't ask me why I/we cut it like that. And yes, it's floating above the rug and the chairs.

The Checkerboard Cookies That Mum Loved
Well, here you go, Mum. The post you've been waiting for. I love it when I get requests for blog posts. I'd probably be a bad YouTuber because I always need suggestions, and when I get them, I never DO 'em (until 30 days later, at least). But when I do them, I do a bad job. -_______-

The recipe was called Chocolate Checkerboard Cookies -- oh my cookies I just remembered something else I baked, yay!! Anyway, the recipe was simple (which is one of the reasons I chose to make it) because it required no sugar. At all. Just a few tablespoons of powdered sugar, and voila!!

I actually have a more important assignment to do that's due in three hours, but I can't leave this post because my memory's awful, and my writing sprees are hard to turn back on. BUT, I'll update this post when I finish the assignment. Hopefully it won't take long, because I'm supposed to write about the most vivid memory I can remember, be it good or bad. And I'm writing about a bad one because, heh. I mean, good stuff, happen to ME? Yeah, huh.

I sound so spoiled. Well, I'll check back when I do! [10:55 AM]

OKAY! GUYS! I finished the writing assignment. [11:47 AM] It was a little hard to figure out where to start because the paragraph should not exceed the length of one page. And as usual, I have a lot to say. If I KNOW what to write about (story from beginning to end), I can get it done in a much faster time than how I would get a novel done. -_- Ah, me.

Well, now that I'm here again, the story can begin again. I mean, it can proceed. Because I'm not sure you guys would want me to start from the beginning again.

As I was saying before the assignment called me, the recipe required no sugar. The dough was a little too fragile, 'cause it broke easy. I can usually tell what the texture of a cookie will be like if I know what the dough/batter feels like. Most of the time I'm right. The dough for this recipe was fragile, as I stated earlier, and me prediction was correct. The cookies BROKE. But they always do when I'm in charge. I don't know if you guys have watched my video on BROWN SUGAR COOKIES, but I hope you haven't. In that video, I smashed a cookie.

"She smashed a cookie." -My cameraman/My brother-

Again, I hope you haven't seen that video. It is the worst way of torture for me. (I don't like using that word. Just sayin')

I had to color one half of the dough, then freeze both doughs in the fridge for IDK how long. I have to check the recipe. But my mom's around so if I get off this chair she might steal the computer from me. And the -- TMI.

*waits for mum to leave the scene*

I did an awesome ninja move over the loveseat and grabbed the book off the shelf.

OKAY. I ended up switching computers because of... well, you know.

Anyway, I have to study a million things for tomorrow's competition. AGH! One more thing to add to my growing list of things I fail at...

Studying, Thing #1246.

Me, study? Ahahahaha. Look, this is what I have to study.

10th Grade
1)  IQRA Seven Surahs Book – Memorize Surah Rahman (Ayahs 1-25), meaning and tafseer by Abdul Nasir
2) When the Moon Split by Safi-ur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri – pages 163-320
3) Who gets Allah’s Mercy video lecture by Nouman Ali Khan
4) Diseases of the heart and their cures by Ibn Taymiyyah – Chapter 1

This is insanity!!

I can't win. Wish me luck though - I mean, pray for me. Halal-ly.

Back to the point! I freezed both doughs in the fridge for 1/2 an hour - wait, freezed isn't a word? I thought it was, for a moment. For real. Anyway, after that 30 minutes, I had to roll out the doughs into a rectangle, then stick them together with something called egg wash. I was too lazy to make it *hem hem* so I stuck them together just like dat. Then I cut the dough in half lengthwise, and flipped one half over to make a checkerboard design. I was supposed to use egg wash for that part too, but I didn't, which is probably why the cookies broke. Lol. Anyway, I sliced beautiful little checkerboards and baked them for ten minutes. They were delicioso. They just lacked in sugar.

And in strength. *watches cookie break*

The Cookies I Invented Myself, Merging One Recipe with Another
I was rather proud of these but not proud enough. I wish I had pictures, but I was home alone at the time and my camera is broke. (It's been broke since September 2013.)

I used a recipe from YouTube, which I will link later. The other recipe I used was from my blog, If You're Hungry and You Know It. (Adorable name, right?)

My leg hurts.

These I named PB and J cookies. I simply took the Cool Sugar Cookies recipe and flavored/colored one half of dough with one giant spoon of creamy peanut butter, and the other half with some jelly. The jelly was really hard and annoying to flavor. The jelly made the dough limp and more breakable, and sticky. I added a lot of flour, but the dough didn't change at all. So I gave up and dealt with it how it was. When I came to the part where I had to roll up the doughs into a log, the jelly dough BROKE, and I almost screamed, but I kept rolling because I had confidence.

They resulted pretty well, but they didn't taste that good. At least that's what I thought. I'm only one person.

The Cookies I Shared with One of My Classmates (And Gave Me a Rather Chronic Burn)
This recipe I took from the internet. We had chocolate chips and I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies, but there were so many recipes we had, and I was looking for a simple one. So I typed up 'simple chocolate chip cookie recipe' on Google search, and I found THIS.

My mistake in this recipe was that I used dark brown sugar. And, telling from the color and texture and taste of it, dark brown sugar melts much more easily than light brown, therefore it makes batter runny, and the cookies spread real flat out. My guess was right. (Shameful Note: We actually did have the correct type of brown sugar, but I was kind of rushing... as always -_-) --

I had one cup of chocolate hazelnut milk for breakfast, and that's all. Just saying. I better eat a lunch fit to feed four children. 

-- I burnt myself real bad on the middle and pointer finger of my left hand. And, of course, it was because I was rushing.

Okay. WHY WAS I RUSHING ANYWAY?! Because, that day was a busy one. I had to go to Quran class at 3 instead of 5 because I had a class that my mom made me go to that started at 7 and the teachers preferred us to go at 6:45 because of Maghrib time (yes they're Muslim) and I had rocks class, literature class, and history class.

I had to apply three ice cubes wrapped in tissue to my fingers. The pointer finger healed first, but the middle finger burn was worse. I didn't keep track of the healing, but it's fine right now.

I packed up some cookies to take to the masjid for my sister. (And a little extra for my Quran class friends lol.) I sat at the desk where nobody could see the contents of and put the ziploc bag of cookies inside. Then, my friends came, and one sat next to me. Near the time I had to leave, she asked me to give her two of the cookies and I was like, "K." I tried to make it as subtle as possible. Though I didn't actually have to because we had a sub teacher.

--

Thanks for reading! If there's something you actually want me to make, I'll do so! But I'm not a pro. (Pros don't burn themselves -_-) So nothing too complicated.

Keep on baking! Or doing whatever you're best at! Or doing whatever you enjoy most!

N

[1:01 PM]

One Bowl Brownies

Here is a review on One Bowl brownies, something I made yesterday that kind of turned out to be more like cake. :S I don't know what went wrong, but I have a guess. Anyway, before I get started on that mistake, I'm going to straighten everything out by showing you the recipe to One Bowl brownies.

1 pkg.  (4 oz.) BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate

3/4 cup butter or margarine

2 cups  sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup coarsely chopped PLANTERS Pecans

So first I was supposed to put the butter and chocolate in a huge microwaveable bowl, and then put everything else in there and stir, and put everything in the baking pan from there. But, I didn't. I don't know why. Anyway, after I heated up the butter and chocolate, I poured them on the sugar right away. I think that's what caused the brownies to not taste or look like brownies. I should have let the chocolate cool. The brownies came out as light brown and tasted like cake. Other than that, they were fine.

N

Budderrrr

There was a trash truck outside being loud.

Anyway, we finally bought butter, so I am going to bake something today, inshaAllah. I know this may be a bad decision, but I am going to make that caramel turtle thingy. 1. because I want to 2. because it's a holiday today and 3. because it may expire soon. :3

*some hours later*

The caramel turtle thingy is in the oven! LOL! I don't know why that's funny but I just made it funny so that means y'all have to laugh. Dem uncooked brownies looked really good. However I have a complaint to make. The batter tasted NASTY. I mean, not as yum-headed as usual brownie batter. And not as thick. So that's why you should never ever use box mixes. They're fake, and you guys know how I hate fake things. #makeup

Or do you.

But anyhow.

The timer says 14 more minutes. Yaa-haa!

Do you guys think I'm weird?

I'll be back.

(3:54 pm)

Oh I forgot to say. The mix didn't even NEED butter.

(3:54 pm)

(4:11 pm)

They're done! And they smell awesome! And they're not eatable yet. T_T

After they cool down and we eat some I'll have some pictures up here. They only took half an hour to bake.

*4 hours later*

They're finished and my sister wouldn't let me take pictures. I am sorry, guys.

N

[Q&A] I Weigh More Than 100 Cakes

*stares upwards*

What kind of TITLE is that, man? Did somebody get on my computer and write that while I was in the kitchen?! I'm calling my lawyer!

But actually, that title gives me an idea. How much DOES a cake weigh? And do I really weigh more than 100 cakes?

Hey, why does it matter how much a cake weighs, anyway? There is only one cake I know that has something to do with weight, and that's a pound cake. Why are pound cakes called pound cakes?

My guess has always been, "Maybe that's how much they weigh."

Well, that could be everyone else's guess too, but I guessed it first, so, yeah.

Hey, why not write a blog post on why pound cakes are called pound cakes? I'm bored anyway.

Let's turn this into a Q&A post. *sticks on Q&A label* *changes title*

WHY ARE POUND CAKES CALLED SUCH?

I know right? I've always wondered that too. Let's just sit back and wonder why, and watch the world progress in front of us. Here's some lemonade.

-.-

Maybe they are called such because maybe they were invented in England and maybe they were sold for a pound. Could be! *begins to research*

Okay. Here's some information. I'm right!!!!

The original recipe for pound cakes first appeared in English and American cookbooks in the 18th century. The recipe called for a pound of each of the important ingredients. That is why a pound cake is called a pound cake! A pound cake is made from equal parts of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. The French dudes called this cakes quatre quarts, which means four quarters.

It seems that's all you needed to know, and I've answered your question, so go away. Shoo.

Pound cakes are usually flavored with lemon or vanilla. The British like to add dried fruit and the French like to add chocolate. [The French have a better taste than Brits, lol. Just kidding.]

--

Seems like Q&A is over. Now I have a question to ask, and YOU are required to answer.

Can you make this cake and show me in a blog post, video response, email, or other? Khank yu.

SOURCES:
http://www.cookthink.com/reference/2465/Why_is_it_called_a_pound_cake
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/PoundCake.htm

By the way, thank you to the random person who gave me that rather offensive but interesting title. You deserve a pound cake.

N

Ups and Downs of Measuring

I use measuring cups when baking, because weighing scales are 1. inaccurate and 2. sooooo yesterday. Of course, everything has its disadvantages. Here are the pros and cons of using a weighing scale as opposed to using measuring cups.

Well, first of all, of course, I like to blab about my own experiences before I explain what I get from research. So, I'll take it from here--

Measuring cups are weigh better than a weighing scale any day. (#lamepuns) I mean, they're easy to use. You scoop 'em into the barrel of sugar or whatever and level off the excess with a knife or whatever. Weighing scales however are kind of hard to use, TBH. I was making this Malaysian dessert that had UK measurements and it was hard because 1. it was difficult to get the weight accurate and 2. the scale was BROKEN.

Laugh. Now.

And there's another reason which added to why it was a frustrating experience but it's unessential to this post so if you want to know you can comment for all I care.

I have a say against weighing scales, and no offense to those who are probably #1 fans of weighing scales and have posters of weighing scales in their bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, and maybe even walk-in closet.

So look here. Weighing scales are those kinds of thingies that require a screen and battery or whatever. Cups are complete plastic/metal/silicone. They don't need any battery. They just require manual use. There are just some things that don't require technology.

Oh my cookies, it's kinda late-ish and I haven't even done any research yet!! Cue research!! Cut rants!!

Hey, I could make a debate about this matter.

Okay, I just did some research and I realized something. We use measuring cups for wet stuff too, occasionally. We use them to measure things like shortening, chocolate chips, and brown sugar. Sometimes measuring shortening can be annoying. Sometimes, when the shortening is almost finished, I stick the giant 1 cup into the container, and all I get is more frustration. Why? 1. the cup's too big and 2. the shortening is in the little nooks and crannies of the container, which are impossible to reach with my type of measuring cup. Using a small spoon and weighing scale would be more efficient in this case. Also, shortening is oily and it sticks together. It doesn't fall apart, like sugar and flour. When the shortening container is full, the scoop is easy, but the amount scooped isn't accurate. You get a cup of shortening with a giant, unnecessary blob on top that you have to scrape off with a knife. It's not much of a problem, but it's pretty inefficient, especially if being on a cooking show is your future life plan. Also, do you ever have your brown sugar in annoying clumps that are hard enough to kill someone? (I am not kidding.) Yeah, well, since they can't be measured accurately using cups, why not use a scale? Those clumps lack perfect composure, but they do have a weight. Clumping doesn't render them completely useless.

That's about it. Any questions, please comment. Also, I will begin baking pretty soon, so you can comment what you'd like me to make, if you want. Simple stuff, though. Nothing like a big fancy frosted cake with strawberries. You can suggest something like...

"Warrior Cats cupcakes!"

*inconspicuous cough*

Thanks for reading, keep on feeding!

N