Giving up potato chips for a year (day 42)

Forbidden yumminess

Yes, I know. WHY ON EARTH WOULD I GIVE UP POTATO CHIPS FOR A YEAR?!  To be honest, I have no idea...well, I do.  I made a secret deal with Gouda (God + Buddha) that if I got a specific something, I would give up chips for a year. And since Gouda held up their/his end of the bargain, I had to hold up mine.

And let me tell you - it's tough. To be plain honest, it sucks. (I'd use other, less, socially acceptable words, but I'm forcing myself to uphold certain standards).

You might be thinking, of all the things in the whole, wide world, why potato chips? Well, the reason is because potato chips are probably my favourite food in the whole, wide world.

I love potato chips.  From the crinkly sound of the bag to the awesome crunch of thick, rippled chips, in sour cream and onion flavour (though right now, I'd settle for a bag of plain old kettle chips), I love everything there is to love about potato chips.

The problem is, potato chips are everywhere. From grocery stores, to meetings, to my parents' OWN kitchen (thanks, Faja Man), I am constantly forced to exercise my teeny, tiny willpower. And when that doesn't work, the bargaining begins.

After all, what constitutes a potato chip? *Technically*, Cheetos, Ringolos and onion rings AREN'T chips. But every time I pick up a bag of these *technically-not-chips* products, I'm wracked with guilt. So I end up not eating them.

And yes, I am aware this pain and suffering is self-inflicted.  But that doesn't mean you can't feel bad for me.

So the next time you eat a potato chip, think of me, and maybe have another one in my honour.  (Though maybe not in front of me).

Holiday season get-togethers

Scallops w/salmon mousse in balsamic reduction

One of my favourite things about the holiday season is getting together with friends and family. It doesn't matter if you don't see each other often - as soon as you get together, the conversation picks up where you last left off.

Mushroom risotto

Last night, I had dinner with my friend M and her husband the Food Fella. I was treated to a number of yummy dishes, including, scallops topped with salmon mousse in a balsamic reduction, mushroom risotto, and chicken with roasted and grilled veggies in a espagnole sauce (see pretty pics!).

Chicken in espagnole sauce

Over wine, dinner, dessert and then more wine, we talked and caught up on each others' lives.

The holidays give all of us the perfect excuse to get back in touch. If you haven't already, reach out :)

The perfect chocolate chip cookie

There's something comforting about warm chocolate chip cookies, especially going into the holiday season. And while I don't have the biggest sweet tooth in the world, I definitely love the smell of them.

In the last year or so, I've tested 13 chocolate chip cookie recipes, but my favourite recipe by far is this one by Martha Stewart (seriously, she's a genius). Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, these cookies have (IMO) a perfectly balanced texture.

I found the original recipe waaaaaaay too sweet, so I played around with the amount of sugar used.  Below is the recipe with my notes.  Also, I find this recipe actually yields about 26 or so cookies instead of the 20 or so listed.

Another idea: substitute 1/2 the chocolate chips for semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

Happy baking!

(Reminder: make sure your eggs and butter are room temperature)

Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (reduced to 0.75 cups)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (reduced to 1/3 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
- Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
- Add vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low.
- Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Using a 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until golden around edges but soft in the middle, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.