The kitchen's a disaster area, but I had fun today ...

[Little Bit]

For whatever reason, I woke up quite early this morning, took dad his juice, brushed the cat, got myself bathed and dressed, and had a cup of coffee and read a bit of my novel to start the day. By the time I'd finished my coffee it was only about 7 o'clock, so I pulled out the cookie dough left from yesterday, and baked a few more little gingerbread cut outs, and mixed up a batch of Mint Meltaway cookie dough, and set the rolled out dough in the fridge to chill.

By that point, it was lunchtime, so I made us a few chicken sandwiches, browsed the net a while, and then got back in the cookie groove, and even made the exterminator guy a plate of cookies to take home when he came by on his rounds.

Eventually, I realized I needed to head out to the grocery store, and while I was there, I got the brilliant idea that we should have a rib roast for supper. Baked potatoes and the roast were shortly underway, when I got the even more brilliant notion that we needed a few cupcakes in the house to help ease the temptation caused by the growing pile of 'not to be touched yet' holiday cookies on the dining room table.

Out comes my new copy of "Small Batch Baking" and lo and behold, once the roast came out of the oven, I had 4 tidy little "Just Plain Good Cupcakes" (or something like that, yellow cupcakes, in other words) ready to go in the already hot oven.

The only part of the plan that didn't work was the icing, but the icing called for cream, which I didn't have, and whatever I did was NOT the right move if you want spreadable/edible frosting for four little cupcakes. (It is actually edible, but more like fudge than frosting. Hmmm ... . it's beginning to sound a little bit tempting.)

Anyhow, we've now eaten supper, cupcakes and all, and there's a huge pile of dishes and pans to be washed, but I can't help feeling pleased with my day.

I did manage to empty the dishwasher before supper, so at least there's that one chore already done.

Anyone else have a happy adventure of a day?

[PattyG]

What fun! I do this almost every Sunday...bake, cook, putter! LOL I love being in my kitchen! I did put on a pot of beans with ham hocks and hubby made chili.

Glad you had such a productive day! :)

[Aubergine]

Anna, i loved your story, and truthfully laughed out loud - i think at the cupcake-making decision part. i'm down with bronchitis, so i have not had a busy nor productive day, but i needed and enjoyed that laugh.

[gabbyh]

Anna,

I loved your story also...I spend most Sundays puttering in my kitchen, which I especially enjoy, since I didn't have one for almost 2 years:D

AND, I'm waiting for my copy of Small Batch Baking to come ;-}

~Gail

[Vicanddi]

Anna, you had a busy day! I baked some today, my first holiday baking of the year. I made the cranberry chocolate chip biscotti from CL...it is my favorite! I should have made a double batch, though, as Vic has already been working his way through them! I also mixed up a batch of chocolate chip shortbread cookie dough, which is in the fridge until tomorrow. Next, I'm making molasses crinkles.....after I somehow manage to get the pork chops in the oven. I have a pile up of dishes in my kitchen as well, so I can empathize with you :rolleyes:

Dianne

[Mimeea]

Wow, Dianne! You didn't mention that you were that busy when I came by today! I've been wanting to try the molasses crinkles, you'll have to post how they turn out.

On another note I didn't make too big of a mess in the kitchen today, but I did just about clean out TJ's. The cashier girl was in awe when she saw my over-filled basket. And the thing is, I only went in to buy a bit of flour, butter, and sugar for my cookie making adventure this coming week, but I ended up with quite a bit more than expected. I will be making about 18 plates of cookies though, so I'm sure I'll have my own disaster come Wednesday.

[Little Bit]

I'm glad to share the fun of it. :D :D :D

Mercifully, the dishes are all done, so now all I have left to do is wipe down the counters and put away whatever I missed.

In other good news, I resurrected the icing. I think I added too much butter originally, and then tried to compensate by mixing in some powdered sugar. (that's how it gained a too-dry-for-spreading fudge-like texture)

When I went back, I could NOT just toss it out, so I added a few drops of half and half, and stirred. It's a bit too soft, but actually frosting-like now.

The bad news is, of course, that I now have frosting for several cupcakes, but only one cupcake. Guess I'll be baking something else tomorrow, lol.

I'm trying to figure out how to persuade dad to eat the last cupcake. Hmmm ... . (He ate a much bigger supper than usual, so may not actually want anything else til midnight, by which point it may well be too late, lol.)

[susan_foster]

Weekends are usually when I do my cooking as well - but I took this weekend off. Pretty much was forced to - my freezer is full, & I am out of storage containers! Oh well - I'll be working off of my frozen meals for a while - which is not a bad thing, overall.

I am pretty pleased with myself - I'm keeping a spreadsheet for the recipes I've tried this month. Finally kicked myself into doing it - so I can truly join in in the recipe reviews at the end of the month!

Decided against making Christmas cookies this year - just didn't get myself organized enough before the holidays. And there were so many great recipes - I kept changing my mind as to what I should make! I do have a batch of biscotti in the freezer that I made last weekend. Going to defrost them, and bring them into work on Monday - and let the hoardes descend on them!

As for what I did instead of cooking? Cleaned out my closet - which was in desparate need of doing. I cleaned out the bottom of it, which was a chore - have two shopping bags of shoes to donate, and 3 bags of dry cleaning - and I still have to finish going through my clothes! The fun part of the whole thing was lining up my shoes - they are all in rows. Now I just have to make it a habit to keep them that way. And as many shoes as I have, I have to get one more kind - my brown casual shoes need to be replaced.

Susan

[Canice]

Anna, that sounds like such a nice, satisfying fall day! I love days like that. :)

[MISSINDI]

No cooking here yesterday, except for a plain old pot of spaghetti. Spent the day shopping, trying to tie up some Christmas recipients. I'll bet my livingroom looks like your kitchen though ... with the dishes swapped for shopping bags! :) Tonight is going to be a big cooking night though ... making a few batches of cookies, and dinners for two clients. My kitchen will join your ranks shortly. ;)

[Little Bit]

I unloaded the dishwasher this morning, and had to laugh.

I washed all sorts of stuff, but only two actual plates, three or four saucers, every measuring spoon and cup in the house, all the spatulas and tongs ... . What an odd assortment.

It isn't often that I bake cookies AND prepare a roast, and then make cupcakes, (though I do sometimes make rolls). :)

[pmmahan]

The worst part is the clean up. And i don't have a dishwasher. :(

I did a lot of cooking Sat. - I tried Nigella's My Favorite Cookies recipe from the NY Times that someone reviewed here. Pretty tasty! Then i cooked for the week and froze half of everything I made. I made the All American Chili (Cl 1/02 or 03). Enchiladas de Pollo (CL 08/01) and Pasta with Butternut Squash and Bacon (CL 03/04). What a mess when I was done, but oh, well, i've got lots of good food for the week now and for when we come home from our trip to VA on Sunday.