Failsaur

 He's supposed to be a dinosaur. Obviously he didn't turn out quite as hoped.

That .... creature .... was going to be a Christmas gift for one of my nephews (who I will call "Mouse"). He's a T-Rex, although you can't really tell. He looks more like a rooster. I was also going to make a blue long-neck dinosaur for Mouse's little brother (who will be called "Little Brother" on this blog), and a green stegosaurus for my other nephew (who will be known as "Alaska," yes these names have meanings, but they're for me to know). Neither of those dinos even got cut out.

I haven't used a sewing machine since seventh grade, where I made a really really ugly pillowcase. I've never followed a pattern. I've never made a pattern. I've never made a plush.

I decided, two days before Christmas, to attempt to do all these things.

Obviously it ended badly.

I did learn some things: (1) I kinda suck at pattern making, because I don't know what I'm doing, (2) Plushies are hard, and (3) I really, really need to make Christmas presents a few months in advance - just in case.

The nephews will be getting dinosaurs, they'll just be getting them late ... Probably sometime in January or February 2010. I'm glad I bought waaaay more fleece than I needed for these guys ... I think I'll be using nearly all of it.

Cupcakes Hate Me

A couple of days ago, I tried making cupcakes again. This time, I tried to make these Chocolate Chip Cupcakes from Bake or Break. They ended up .... bad.

First off, they taste weird. I think they are a bit too strong on the vanilla front, where Tene claims that they're overloaded with waaaaay too much butter. Which I can certainly understand, since I'm pretty sure there's too much butter too.

Second, they cooked weird. My cupcake pans are covered in the topping.

Finally, they were greasy. Like, dripping with grease. Was really gross.

No idea what went wrong with them, and I may try them again sometime, but for now .. these are in my "not good cupcakes" box.

Volcano Cakes

So here's a silly and exciting cooking adventure, since there's nothing else here.

I had a get-together with a lot of my friends back in May, and decided I wanted to have cupcakes there. Stephen and I went and bought the ingredients that were needed to make a recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream. It was the first time I had made cupcakes, and I was trying to do my best to follow the directions. However, the cupcakes ended in disaster, becoming instead "Volcano Cakes." A messy version of the tasty cupcakes.

The first problem that I can point to as potentially being a problem were the baking cups used, which were foil and didn't require a baking pan (but needed a cookie sheet underneath them). They probably weren't the problem at all, but it was something that I wasn't used to (I've only ever seen paper baking cups used), and so thought could be a potential problem.

Another problem which likely effected the taste of the cupcakes (I didn't actually eat them when they were completed, as they appeared to be very burnt) was that we used a sweetened cocoa powder rather than an unsweetened cocoa powder. Of course this would have only made them sweeter - and wouldn't have necessarily been a problem.

However, I know I tried my best to get the recipe as close to correct as I could, and followed the directions implicitly. Still, while cooking the cupcakes, I realized something was going wrong when they weren't raising like they were supposed to. They also seemed to be taking far too long to cook - which is why they ended up burnt, I think.

The second thing that went wrong happened when making the frosting for the cupcakes. Both Stephen and I overlooked the fact that the frosting (as any frosting would) called for Confectioners sugar. We instead used regular sugar. The result was very crunchy frosting-like stuff.

All in all, it was an exciting adventure, and one I hope to never, ever, repeat.

Delicious Cookies

I found the recipe for these cookies over at Bake or Break. To break in the new stove, I decided to make the recipe for "My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies." Now, these are also the first cookies I've made in ... well ... years. I think they turned out quite well.

:pic:

I modified the recipe slightly, but tried to keep with the original as much as I could. Here's a reprint of the recipe, with my modifications.

Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2½ cups uncooked regular oats
• 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 ounces milk chocolate candy bar, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Beat butter at medium speed in a heavy-duty mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugars and beat well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to butter mixture and beat well.
4. Process oats in a food processor until finely ground. Add to butter mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolates and pecans.
5. Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly on baking sheets. Then, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

In my version, I left out the pecans, and replaced the candy bar with extra chocolate chips (I ended up adding about an extra ½ cup). I also made a huge mistake - I left out the salt. The cookies were delicious anyway, which means they'll be even better next time I make them (when I can add salt). I'm glad about this, but I do feel a little silly for having left the salt out (I remember reading and rereading my printed out recipe, thinking - and saying - "It's so weird there's no salt in these!" I guess that's a recipe reading fail on my part.)
Regardless, these were some delicious cookies. I hope to make them again.