Saturday cooking

Today I am cooking a series of recipes that I've started to collect.

Dinner: BBQ chicken (courtesy of food network), baked potatoes, & asparagus

From Barefoot Contessa, the sauce consists of:
-1 cup tomato paste
-1 cup cider vinegar
-1 cup honey
-1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
-1 cup Dijon mustard
-1 cup soy sauce (bought the cutest little Kikkoman soy bottle today at the market.)
-1 cup hoisin sauce
-2 tablespoons chili powder
-1 tablespoon ground cumin
-1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes (i chose to opt out of the flakes)

The aroma was delectable as the sauce was simmering in the pan on a low flame. I mean the kitchen just smelled like barbecue waiting to be spread and licked off meat. The windows were open, and the cool breeze leaking through the kitchen was just another reminder of how much I love this season. It was like the heat from the stove balanced with the cold outdoors, making my sweatshirt and Ugg slippers just perfect. The liquids bubbled to the top of the pan, and the thickness of all the other sauces blended to a nice dark brown mixture, subtle spices slowly becoming one.

After the sauce was done, I graciously poured over the chicken, set to marinate for three hours. Yum.

Dessert: Devils Food Cookies, courtesy of Family Circle Magazine
-1 cup semi sweet Ghiradelli (your brand choice) Chocolate
-1/2 cup copped toffee
-1 cup chopped pecans
-1 box devils food cake mix
-2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup hot water/coffee

This consistency is thick because of the small amounts of water and oil required. I recommend not running a blender through the mix, but wash your hands and get chocolate dirty...or else your machine will go kaput. I speak from experience, as I had to throw mine out about an hour ago. I started to use my fingers, and 3 minutes into shaping cookie portions I looked like a four-year-old child who sticks their hands in something too big to tackle. Chocolate was everywhere and really, I couldn't move my hands because all fingers were being held captive. Thus, I asked mommy dearest for help. Lesson: Always have backup.

The cookies look delicious, and I can't wait to enjoy one after din din. They're pretty big, but all moist and sweet-looking.

I say to my grandma, "The chicken is a cookin' and the cookies are in the oven"
Her response, "Boy you really have a bug up your ass."
Point: my family is lovingly scared to have me in the kitchen. I drop things, often.
Example: As I was preparing the ingredients on the counter the top tomato paste can fell into the pre-poured cup of cider vinegar, which then spilled all over and down the steel island. Whoops. Haha when I'm in the kitchen I sometimes get a giddy-ness I only feel when hungover. Everything is funny, but you're the only one who finds it funny...you follow me?

A few years ago I sold desserts to various friends, family, their families, for a few extra bucks around the holidays. It worked out pretty well, cheesecakes and chocolate balls stuffed with coconut and frozen condensed milk filled homes with smiles and sticky fingers.

I want to test a lot of newly discovered dessert recipes and maybe market them to the same group of people I used to sell to; make their holiday eating, simple, stress-free, and delightful. Food with homemade love and klutzy but cautious hands.