A new blog?

So... I'm thinking about starting a new blog. I know what you're thinking... you never ever write, why would you possibly want to start a 3rd blog?!? Well... this one is for me to be myself, be creative, vent, or whatever. The other one is just an (unfinished) chronicle of the two months I spent in the UK.... What I'm thinking for the third is a food blog. There's tons of them out there and they get lots of hits... I'd love to be able to make an income someday by selling my cakes, cookies, chocolate covered everything, and other delicious snacks. And what I really want to attempt to do - and I'm finding that this is really a niche that's still wide open bakery-wise - is bake for people with food restrictions... gluten free, low salt, diabetic, etc. I've mentioned this to a couple of my friends and, so far, everyone thinks its a great idea. So... now all I've got to do is work out a couple great-tasting recipes for each category.
AND I have my first chance coming up! My friend is allergic to gluten and her birthday is at the end of this month! So, I'm going to attempt to make her a yummy gluten free birthday cake :-) We'll see how it goes. Chances are, you might see a blog entry about it.
If anyone is reading this... what do you think?

Scotland Blogs

Scotland Blogs and Postings have been moved to their very own blog site! I figured this way I could continue on with my regular blogging here as I wish, or talk about anything unrelated or offtopic, without interrupting the Scotland Story! blog here: http://lauriesukadventures.blogspot.com/

Just take a couple deep breaths...

Oh wait. I can't. Why? Hmm, where to start? Well, I've had a chest cold since I got here (25 days ago)... it seems to be allergy-related since no one has caught anything from me, but who knows? I've never heard of allergies going to your chest before... So breathing in the air seems to be a bad idea. And taking a deep breath, well any extra lung activity seems to induce coughing fits... and after several weeks of this, I just can't cough anymore. So that's part of the reason. But, you know what? Even if I wasn't allergic to Scotland, I still wouldn't be able to breath easily here. Every resident of the UK smokes ALL the time! If you are outdoors, and there is another human being around you, chances are you will be surrounded by a cloud of cigarette smoke. And if you know me at all, you know there isn't anyone in the world that hates the smell of cigarettes (and is more sensitive to the smell) than I am. Gross. Luckily you can't smoke inside public buildings, but that doesn't stop crowds of people from polluting sidewalks, busstops, and entranceways... Ok, so maybe I'm being nitpicky. And maybe the smoke wouldn't bother everyone. Well, what about the B.O? Its very likely that I'm the only person in the UK who has showered everyday in June. What's up with the BO people? And the greasy hair? Take a shower! And while I'm on the topic of personal hygiene (even though I haven't gotten close enough to smell the effect of this yet, thank goodness!) what the hell is up with the teeth here???

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just Needed to post this right away. I haven't even finished making them all yet- there is currently a batch still in the oven, But I've made my famous choc chip cookies (the ones that just would NOT turn out right over the holidays) and I'm ecstatic to report that they've turned out exceptionally! They look good and taste even better!! So I don't know what went wrong at my mom's house in Dec - brand of ingredients, different oven, etc. But I do know that it wasn't my fault and I've redeemed myself as a choc chip cookie chef.

Home for the Holidays

Saturday my husband and I drove from TN to NJ to come home for the holidays. I've been excited for this time, in respect to blogging, since I was looking forward to writing about all of my holiday experiences. I'm the baker in the family, so every year the first couple days I'm here before the holidays, I park myself in front of the stove and churn out batches and batches of cookies, pies, and cakes. I initially was hoping to write a blog about all of the delicious desserts I made. Instead, I'm going to complain a little bit. I make chocolate chip cookies monthly at my house in TN. I always use the same recipe (having tried many different kinds in an attempt to find the best ever recipe) - Alton Brown's "The Chewy." Its awesome - the cookies are thick, gooey, chewy and delicious. So imagine my surprise when I made a batch here and pulled the first cookies out of the oven - thin, flat, hard, super dark cookies. NOT GOOD. So, of course I assumed that I messed something up and made another batch of dough. Again, the cookies spread and didn't really "bake," but instead just hardened... It was gross. So I went online to foodnetwork.com, found the recipe, and went straight to the comments to see if anyone else had ever had the same experience. I scrolled through the pages of 5 star comments until I came across a 1 star comment. It was from a woman who had made the recipe before and had them come out fine, but the last time she made them she got the same results I had! There was a response to her comment saying that this problem could possibly be caused by using cheap, store brand (Shop Rite brand specificially) butter. I was using Shop Rite butter!! So I took ALL the butter and went to shop rite to exchange it for brand name butter. I got back home, made another batch of chocolate chip cookies, and no luck. The same thing happened. I was so upset that I made a batch of Tollhouse recipe cookies and ate half of them! What a waste of time, ingredients, and money! I have no idea what was wrong - especially since I make these so frequently at home... Anyways, I've since made several more batches of the Tollhouse recipe, Spritz cookies, Ricotta cookies, and Oatmeal Raisin cookies - all of which have turned out just deliciously. Right now I have an apple cake in the oven. That's it for today though. I'll resume baking in the morning tomorrow.

This is my first ever blog and I was thinking that before I pour my heart out to cyberspace and tell all of my opinions, feelings, and random thoughts - there's something you should know about me. I am a cat person. Now you're wondering "why is she telling us this?" and "Are all of her blogs going to be about her cats?" Well, no I'm not going to write about my cats - that much. But I'm sure I'll mention them frequently since they are a big part of who I am and they always give me plenty to talk about. But the reason I mention that I love cats is because I think its very telling. In knowing that I'm a cat person, you can learn a lot about my character and who I am. And I think, actually, that I could tell the story of my life by describing cats I've known and loved - but I'll save that for another time. For now I'd like to introduce my current purrballs. I have three, all born in the same litter, all boys. Brothers. And if you know anything about social male cats, you already know that they're actually more like dogs in the amount of attention they demand. These aren't your stereotypical, stuck-up, independent felines. My cats are active, playful, social, friendly, cuddlebugs. (They're actually all sitting around me right now as I'm typing). So, first we have Merlin. He's the oldest and thinks he's in charge - he's also the most shy and most easily frightened. He's white with a gray wizards hat on his head. Next is Charlie. He is is orangey with cream stripes and, of course, a Weasley. (Ron's name having been already taken by my mom's cat). Charlie loves to cuddle. (Well, with me. He's not a big fan of my husband.) And he's always the first one to jump in bed next to me and claim his spot for the night! Finally, there's Nimbus. (Yes, another Harry Potter reference.) He's also quite the little storm cloud - he's full of energy and always running around or climbing something or chasing after his brothers. He's black and gray with stripes and spots. My boys were born on Feb 11, 2007 - wow they're almost two!! And they're BIG. At last weigh-in Nimbus was 12 lbs and Charlie and Merlin were 16lbs!! And, if you couldn't already tell - I'm completely crazy about them. But how could I not be? I can't go anywhere in my house without a trail of cats coming along. They make me smile and laugh on even my worst days and they love unconditionally. So now that you know a little bit more about me and my boys, I think I can start adressing real, important, issues. Like discussing what books I'm reading and reviewing recipes I've tried recently.