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.