Well, the chocolate chip cookies did get made.
Though it was a process (isn't everything here? lol) and I don't like the way they turned out at all.
Plus, they leave this weird gacky thing in my throat where it feels like I have to swallow all the time. Yuck. No more for me. The in-laws, who seem to like them, can have them all.
Now... about how they turned out.
Flat, just like the snickerdoodles, only flatter if possible. And tasting way too much like salt and brown sugar.
About the flatness - I am going to test the baking soda tonight and see if that is the cause or not. Otherwise, I'm not sure, but maybe the oven temperature caused them to be flat? The oven is old as heck and I'm not used to baking with gas and my MIL doesn't seem to want me to use the oven thermometer that I have so I just have to bake at whatever temperature she thinks is right. Even though she's never made anything that I've been baking.
Also, she gave me a different sugar than normal. I'm used to using the regular kind for baking, the kind you put in coffee, etc., but this time she gave me what is more of a coarse crystal. I'm sure the taste of it is fine, and you can actually see the sugar in the baked cookie, which is kind of cute, but it also means that the sugar isn't as spread out in the cookie as it should be if it's in bigger lumps (I presume anyways).
And, I don't know, I just used the Toll House recipe like I always use, but these tasted like they had *way* too much salt in them. It calls for a teaspoon but I would only put in maybe 1/2 next time. Or maybe even a 1/4.
Aaaaaand, the brown sugar? Gross. The cookies totally flattened out and browned on the bottom, which I'm sure was due to the brown sugar. And I don't like the taste of it at all. I wonder how they would be with all white sugar instead of half white and half brown.
All in all, the production of making them, with my MIL "helping" and the way they baked in the oven - not fun and overall disappointing.
I don't think I'm going to bake anything else while we're here at the in-laws. I'm really frustrated to not have a kitchen, but it's even more frustrating to actually get to make something only to have everything always go kind of wrong.
The brownies I made here also didn't turn out well.
I don't know. The oven, the fact that the butter is not measured because you can't measure on the packages like we do in the States and there's no scale at the house. The pans used to bake in, which are very large oval cake pans as there are no rectangular or flat pans. Who knows.
Very much looking forward to moving and using an oven and kitchen that are mine.
Oh yeah, apparently there is no spatula here, so I had to pry the dried up browned bottom of the cookies up with a fork. Nice. There were many cookie Frankensteins.
On to more pleasant subjects, since I'm sure that's more than enough whining for now. lol
We took the mosquito net down that was over the bed so that we could wash it. I had known for some time that it needed to be washed because I accidentally brushed by it once wearing a white shirt and it left a big dust smudge on me. Eew.
So, we got the net down, took it into the shower and hosed it off. It was a bit of work but not really hard and except for one instance, where it fell off the wall hook and tried to break my head open, it went pretty well. Dried relatively quickly and was back over the bed within a matter of hours. All clean. It's amazing how quick the dust builds up here.
Also, I've read the operating manual for our new fridge. Woohoo! There's a piece of stimulating reading for you.
Actually, I did learn a few things about the fridge, like not to plug it back in right away if you move it, and some other things that I had no idea about.
The manual was in both Arabic and English, though whoever did the translation for the English missed out a bit in some places. There was only one place that was particularly bad and made absolutely no sense at all. Though there was a graphic there and I kind of knew what they were talking about anyways.
Here's what the nonsensical part said, "A barrier of door shelf of freezer to up direction."
:D
The fridge still needs a final wipe with some vinegar or something. Not sure when I'll be back at the apartment again. And I'd prefer to wait until we're done with having workmen in there and we're actually going to live there.
In other apartment news...
We are in the process of having a carpenter make a cabinet for underneath the kitchen sink.
He has taken the measurements and I guess he will start working on it, but I have no idea when it will be done. I am guessing it will be very simple so it shouldn't take too long.
I hope it looks okay. Hubby ordered it and I have no clue as to what it will actually look like.
On the one hand, it shouldn't matter, it's just a cupboard. On the other hand, I really would have liked to have been able to have a say in what it looked like. I'm going to be the one in the kitchen having to look at the darn thing and use it all the time.
Getting into an apartment really shouldn't be this difficult. Really. I'm sure there are marriages that break up over less than this. lol
And, as of today, we have been living with the in-laws for 5 months. FIVE months.
Sure it's nice to not be in an empty apartment all day or at night if hubby has meetings, and yet... well, you know...
Insha'Allah we will move before the end of the year.
4 comments:
hi there!
i know it can be so frustrating in a new country trying to find all the things and ingredients you need to make and bake all the things you like and want. i had (still do sometimes) all the same feelings as you do when i first came to belgium. (the ovens are different the baking things are different, the miik is different!) it is true, it is different - it is a different country of course. BUT KNOW that after you have time, time to be in the grocery and markets, and time try and experiment with and find things - you will be able to make the things you like and TONS of new stuff too. and before you know it a year will go by and all of a sudden you will find a sugar, right in front of your face and you will think OH MAN! that is what i have been looking for this whole time! and it will work - or even you will see and learn the best ways to deal with the dust. just wait till you are in your new place and start your "life" there on your "own". things still surprise me here and are just starting to make sense, sort of - 4 years later! xox - i think about you lots and read your blog all the time!
-michele
Hi Michele :D
Thanks... I know what you are saying is true - it takes time to adjust and learn things, especially with such a big change. And living with in-laws on top of a new country and culture and new foods and weather and everything else!
Sometimes I'm impatient and feel like I'm waiting for things to be like they were back in the States but things will never be the same here as there.
But I know that doesn't mean they can't be good, just different, and in some cases maybe even better.
And I am very much looking forward to experimenting in the kitchen! lol
I read several food blogs and get so many ideas. It's a little frustrating now to be kind of "stuck" but insha'Allah when we move things will be easier.
Come visit with the fam and I'll feed you all Egyptian style!! (with maybe some badly baked American treats as well, lol)
:D
I'm going to guess that both the butter and the oven temperature are part of the problem. I measured a stick of butter for you and one stick is 4 1/2 inches long and 1 inch tall and wide. That should help with the measuring. Oven temperature that is too cool will start cooking them before they have a chance to rise and then possibly get them too brown by the time they are cooked. Maybe the oven rack was too low also which might cook the bottoms too much. As for the salt, I don't remember my Toll House recipe having that much salt, though I'd have to check on that. I also think you have to use regular granulated sugar and not the kind you used which I would think would be more for garnishing or something. I also think my recipe for Toll House has 1/2 white sugar and 1/2 brown sugar. My mother uses dark brown, but I use light brown and like it better. Dark brown sugar is just too strong a taste for me.
It should all work better once you get into your own kitchen. Can't get worse, now, can it????
Hi Jane -
Thanks for measuring the butter! lol
I'm planning at some point to get a scale for the kitchen (hopefully sooner rather than later, as I'm keen to see the difference in baked goods when measuring instead of just using cups, etc).
And, yeah the oven here is a very very tiny affair, so I'm sure placement and temp had a role.
It seems we are making a pretty big move of stuff over to the new place tonight, and though our stove is not actually in our apartment, I think it will get moved up tomorrow (it's on the bottom floor somewhere and we're on the 4th floor with a broken elevator!).
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