Category: cooking

4 Easy Holiday Cookie Recipes

Leave a comment

Making Christmas cookies for a crowd, or hosting a holiday party? These easy, bigger-batch recipes mean more cookies and less work! If you are not huge on baking like me, you want to make some simple cookies that taste good and don’t require professional baking skills to make. Here are some of my favorite easy Christmas cookies that once-a-year bakers like me can make.

  1. The Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie: Only takes about 30 minutes total to make, these cookies are called the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies for a reason. And that reason is people eat them immediately after looking at them.

Ingredients: 1 cup of butter (softened), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons hot water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped walnuts

HOW TO MAKE IT

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

-Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

-Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned

2. Peanut Blossoms: Takes around 40 minutes to make. It’s an easy cookie with the easiest “decoration” possible. Just remember, the chocolate goes on the fully-baked cookie. Not on the raw dough.

Ingredients: 1 cup shortening, 1 cup penut butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration, 2 (9 ounce) bags milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

HOW TO MAKE IT 

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

-In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

-Bake for 10 to12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven, and immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie. Allow to cool completely; the kiss will harden as it cools.

3. Reindeer Cookies: Takes around 40 minutes to make. If you want a good cookie, and you’d want people to feel a little festive when they see them, these Reindeer Cookies are what you need!

Ingredients: 1 cup butter, (softened), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup smooth peanut butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 72 small pretzel twists, or as needed, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or as needed

HOW TO MAKE IT

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

-Beat butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir flour and baking soda into creamed butter mixture until well incorporated.

-Roll dough into 36 balls. Flatten each ball and shape into an upside-down triangle. Press two pretzels into the two top corners of each triangle for the antlers. Press two chocolate chips into the center of each triangle for the eyes, and one chocolate chip or M&M on the bottom of the triangle for the nose. Arrange cookies on baking sheets.

4. Melted Snowman Cookies: Takes around 2 hours to make but so worth it! These cookies are perfect for  dressing up ready-made sugar cookies or refrigerated dough from the grocery store.

Ingredients: ICING (4 egg whites, 8 cups confectioners’ sugar, or as needed, 1/4 cup lemon juice, or as needed) COOKIES (24 sugar cookies, 24 large marshmallows, 1 (.75 ounce) tube black decorating gel, 1 (.75 ounce) tube orange decorating gel) OPTIONALS (75 silver nonpareils, or as desired, 1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel, 1 (.75 ounce) tube green decorating gel)

HOW TO MAKE IT 

-Beat egg whites lightly in a large bowl using an electric mixer until frothy. Slowly beat enough confectioners’ sugar into egg whites to make icing that will hold shape; blend in lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.

-Arrange cookies about 1-inch apart on a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread icing onto each cookie, allowing icing to drip over edges to look like melting snow.

-Grease a microwave-safe plate. Place 1 marshmallow onto plate.

-Microwave marshmallow until it starts to puff up, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place marshmallow on the edge of 1 cookie while the icing is still wet to look like a melted snowman. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and iced cookies.

-Decorate ‘melted snowmen’ by piping ‘twig-like arms’ using black decorating gel on the icing. Make ‘coal eyes’ and a ‘mouth’ on the marshmallow using black decorating gel. Make a ‘carrot nose’ under the ‘coal eyes’ using orange decorating gel. Make ‘coat buttons’ by arranging silver nonpareils down the middle of the icing. Make ‘scarves’ or ‘bow-ties’ using red decorating gel or green decorating gel.

-Allow cookies to fully dry before removing from waxed paper, at least 1 hour.

So hopefully now if you struggle at baking like I do, these recipes can help you out in the holiday season!

4 Easy, Cheap and Healthy Hostel Meals

Leave a comment

Throughout my time abroad, I am always traveling. We all know that traveling is expensive, but there are many ways to save money, especially when it comes to food. A lot of people believe that staying in hostels is “sketchy” or “cheap”, but now days, there are many hostels that are nicer than many hotels. One of the best amenities when it comes to staying in a hostel is the guest kitchen. This means you can cook your own meals saving you a ton of money rather than eating out for every meal, which can really add up. Sometimes, thinking of something easy as well as healthy to make can be difficult. Especially when you are traveling, you don’t know what you are going to be able to find at the supermarket. With that being found, I have found a few recipes to make while staying in a hostel. All of them are made with easy to find ingredients that are healthy and are simple to make!

  1. GRILLED CHEESE, HAM, AND TOMATO SANDWICH: Sometimes hostels serve breakfast so if yours does, try and take some bread, ham, and cheese back to your fridge so you don’t have to go out and buy it yourself. If this is the case, all you would need to buy is some veggies like tomato. You can even take out the ham to make it vegetarian.

Kitchen tools needed: Frying pan and oil, sharp knife, spatula (or get creative with what you’ve got)
Ingredients:2 slices of bread, Ham and cheese slices,Tomato, sliced

HOW TO MAKE IT:

 -Make a sammie with all of the ingredients and throw it on the frying pan.
– Turn over once. Welcome to some gooey goodness, with a bit of protein and veggies.

2. PERSONAL PIZZAS: If you are with a group of people, have everyone contribute by buying one ingredient/topping for the pizza. Cooking the pizza could also be fun when cooking with a big group! Even if you are not with a group, see if other people in the hostel want to join!

Kitchen tools needed: Oven, toaster oven, grill, or if you have to, a frying pan and oil
Ingredients:Pitas, pre-made pizza crust, or bread slices from breakfast, Tomato sauce, Any cheese or other toppings you like on your pizza

HOW TO MAKE IT: 

-Lay out your “pizza crust” and spread with tomato sauce.
– Cook your crust in your kitchen tool of choice for 2-3 minutes. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn!
-Take the crusts out and top them with whatever ingredients you want.

3. PENUT BUTTER BANANA SNADWICH: Perfect for quick and easy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack! Instead of a basic peanut butter sandwich, add the banana for some protein and extra flavor.

Kitchen tools needed: Knife
Ingredients: Bread (from breakfast), Peanut Butter, Bananas, sliced (you can also use strawberries or blueberries)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

– Spread peanut butter on bread.
-Slice banana and put on top of the peanut butter.
-Assemble your sandwich.

4: VEGETABLE STIR FRY: Although this one may be a bit tricky to find the ingredients depending on where you are staying, it is defiantly the healthiest option of the recipes. You can also add chicken or beef for some added protein.

Kitchen tools needed: Frying pan and oil, Sharp knife if cutting your own vegetables, Stovetop burner or hot plate, pot to cook rice, Spatula or spoon to stir vegetables
Ingredients: Frozen bag of assorted vegetables (you can find this at most supermarkets around the world, but you can always pick the veggies yourself), Brown Rice, Teriyaki or Soy sauce

HOW TO MAKE IT:

-Cook rice according to directions on package.
-While the rice is cooking, add oil to frying pan and bring to medium high heat. Add veggies and cook according to package. If you’re using fresh vegetables, slice them and cook on frying pan for 6-7 minutes or until slightly brown, stirring frequently.
-Add vegetables and cooked rice together, and top with sauce.

Heres a video I found on quick & easy hostel meals

Hopefully with these recipes you can save money while traveling, as well as eat a yummy healthy meal!

Mobile Journalism (MOJO)

Leave a comment

This week in class we talked about Mobile Journalism otherwise known as MOJO. There are many trends within MOJO that we should be aware of. The first is how high the demand for video is. This is because everyone now days is glued to their phones. People are now staying up to date on news via phone rather than watching it on TV. Another trend is the growth of social media. If your audience is on social media, they you too need to be on social media in order to stay interacted with them. Having quick and easy access to stream and post video content through your mobile device is a huge plus of MOJO. With that being said, it is easy to create content on the same platform that it is being viewed. Before today, the way we would stream media was through TV, radio, and books. Now days, content is multi-media and the key ingredient is your smartphone. Your smartphone can take pictures, record audio and video as well as editing graphics. These are all examples of mixed media content all through one device being your smartphone. Another trend is live streaming. Live stream is a trend that you are able to do within multiple different social media platforms, like Facebook live.

A facebook live video streaming from an iPhone.

Even major broadcasters are using livestream from their mobile phones.

One of the first live broadcasts through a phone.

Overall, mobile journalism is cost-effective, powerful, and in tune with the trends. When it comes to cooking, mobile journalism an easy way to help others when it comes to cooking. For example, all over YouTube there are cooking videos that allow others to learn different recipes by simply watching a video.

Example of a YouTube cooking video

Watching a video is a much easier way to learn how to cook rather than reading the recipe out of a cook book.

The Authentic Greek Salad

Leave a comment

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Greece. When it comes to food, the first thing that comes to my mind is of course the famous Greek Salad

 heres a picture of a traditional Greek salad

At home, I am always ordering Greek salads weather it’s for lunch, dinner, or sometimes I even make it into a wrap. Greek salads are a super easy and healthy meal to make at home, not just for when eating out.

here is an easy recipe to make an authentic Greek salad at home!

A Greek salad consists of a combination of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, olives and feta cheese, dressed in olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. However, I hate olives so I always either eat around them or ask for the salad without it. After I had experienced eating an actual Greek salad, I noticed a few differences from the salads I had been getting in America. First off, the salad I got in Greece had little to no lettuce. Even some of the restaurants I ate at didn’t even put lettuce in the salad. When I order a Greek salad in America it always has romaine as the lettuce base, even when eating at Greek cuisine restaurants. It was strange to me that in Greece they did not incorporate lettuce, because to my understanding that is the main part of a salad. I realized that when I was in Athens, the Greek salad I got had a small amount of lettuce, compared to when I visited Santorini, those Greek salads had no lettuce at all. Looking at the history of the infamous Greek salad, which is referred to as ‘Horiatiki’, which means village or peasant salad in Greek. A Greek salad is primarily a summer dish, and since lettuce only grows in Greece during the winter months a traditional ‘Horiatiki’ salad does not include lettuce. One thing that I love eating with a Greek salad is pita. Surprisingly, in Greece pita never was served with a Greek salad, but it almost always is when I order it in America. Some of my favorite places what I ate at while in Greece with bomb Greek salads where Mani Mani in Athens, and Vannilia in Santorini. I don’t think I will ever experience a Greek salad like I did in Greece itself. The main ingredient that really made the salad stand out was for sure the feta cheese. I hope I will someday be able to go back to Greece and be able to eat an authentic Greek salad again.