1. poached eggs - This was ok... I prefer boiled or fried i guess. The white had a weird texture, foamy-like.

2. hash brown potatoes - My hash browns don't stick together. What is happening?!

3. milk shakes - yum.

4. beef barley soup - pretty good.

5. focaccia- I'm not sure what focaccia is supposed to be like in real life, but I was under the impression that it was like a salty dinner roll, but flatter and wider, but definitely not a crusty bread.

6. mocha smoothies - This had a frozen banana. It was chocolate tasting.

7. easy risotto - I like the way the peas pop in your mouth.

8. broccoli and rice bake - Dece.

9. hot chocolate mix - I should never buy hot chocolate again cause this would be supa-cheap.

10. chocolate graham cookies - These cookies tasted really healthy, aka if someone gave them to me, I would probably choke them down out of politeness.

11. caramel sauce - I think they must not use real butter in store-bought caramel sauce, because this hardened upon touching the ice cream, but I think store-bought caramel sauce is flowy no matter what.

I also made, not from my cookbook, a mushroom potato soup, and a baked vegetables in olive oil w/ rosemary and thyme because I had to use up what was left of all the halves vegetables that I had used in my other recipes.

Week 5

The final panel shows how the weather was this weekend. Luckily the dog house has a lip on the roof.

1. Chocolate Crinkles - too sweet, not chocolatey at all. more decorative than tasty.

2. Baked Eggs - this was ok but the dishes were hard to wash. It was a mediocre egg dish.

3. Buttermilk Pancakes - normal pancakes

4. Buttered Spaghetti Squash - yum! but spaghetti squash is SO EXPENSIVE ($11 for 1 squash)

5. Spaghetti with Sauce - pretty average

6. Meatballs - too bready

7. Stuffed Mushrooms - These were ok, they look pretty fancy too.

8. Parmesan Potato Wedges - dry

9. Black Bean and Brown Rice Stew - didn't like the bean skins. were difficult to chew, and probably by nature of the black bean, nothing that cooking for longer could ever fix.

10. Baked Apples - these were ok. not a huge fan.

11. Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake - chocolate/sugar filling was good. cake part was gross.

12. Hummus and Cucumber Bruschetta - i liked this.

week 4

1. peanut butter blossoms - i don't like peanut butter cookies, but these were actually okay. sweet and light.

2. chocolate cake - a definite cakey texture as opposed to fudgy which is found in some chocolate cakes. topped with the creme fraiche frosting and strawberries in a shortcake like fashion. this was for my dad's 60th bday! it was great. this cake froze really well and was delicious frozen because the creme fraiche was like a sweet cream ice cream flavor. yum!

3. easy creme fraiche frosting - a little too sweet but good on this not-too-sweet cake.

4. macaroni salad - my mother liked this. i thought it was okay.

5. easy oatmeal batter bread - very soft, moist, difficult to remove from baking pan.

6. tomato saute - mozzarella cubes were replaced with paneer cubes. might have been better with mozzarella because paneer is a very stiff cheese. i liked it, but a little thyme-ey.

7. pizza dough - i hear that pizza is better with shredded mozzarella as opposed to cheddar. dough was good, but rolled out too thin, i like thick pan doughs.

8. ratatouille - i don't like bell peppers

9. mashed potatoes - i like mashed potatoes.

*insert* - fried noodles for sunday lunch made by my grandma. i made a smiley face with 2 quail eggs and an asparagus!

10. beef broth - tasted more like vegetable broth. could use more salt.

11. pan gravy for roasted meat - was very light due to beef broth's lack of saltiness. was ok for mashed potatoes.

12. carrot cake - carroty as expected. topped with cream cheese frosting, yum.

13. baked pastry tart shell - pretty good

14. key lime tart - too eggy, even though i love eggs. well i don't know. i've never had a key lime pie before so i don't know if it was abnormal, i always imagined key lime pie to have a jello-like texture.

15. pesto - sort of garlic heavy. would omit garlic the next time i make it because i don't like raw garlic.

More parties!

1. Chili - very liquid, more like soup. tastes vaguely Tex-Mex.

2. Marinated Cucumbers - I didn't really like these. The celery seed wasn't what I was expecting. I also broke two bowls, one of which I loved, making this. Now I am inclined to hate this dish.

3. Creamy Cucumbers - Yogurt and dill and cucumbers remind me of tzatziki. I also used a plastic container which is unbreakable.

4. French Bread Baguettes - chewy, holds moisture well. The holes were fine, I like a looser dough. Made good peanut butter toast, and I also used it for an apple-pork-onion burger bun.

5. Bruschetta - I don't like raw onions.

6. Buttermilk Coffee Cake - tastes like a spice cake. very nutmeggy.

7. Baked Potatoes - used to make the twice baked potatoes

8. Twice Baked Potatoes - yum, but would be better with bacon.

9. Caramelized onions - put into the mushroom stroganoff

10. Homemade Pasta - good flavor, easy to make but stiff dough was difficult to knead by hand. Need larger biceps.

11. Mushroom Stroganoff - sort of plain. i like its beef counterpart better.

12. Italian Cream Cake - received many compliments, a smashing hit. very light/fluffy - I haven't ever had to separate whites/yolks for a non-angelfood / sponge cake before.

13. Cream Cheese Frosting - YUM.

The last two photos feature my dog eating a baby pig leg, and my saturday lunch.