Blogalag

HOT OFF THE OVEN: CHOCOLATE CHIP WALNUT COOKIES

 

I went to the store yesterday and bought a bag of walnuts because I want to try making a banana bread.  Then I looked at my pantry and saw that I have unsalted butter, shortening, flour, baking soda, eggs, sugars and chocolate chip morsels.  So I thought, why not make a Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies instead?

It has been a while since I baked cookies and surprisingly, I miss it.  I excitedly gathered and measured my ingredients.

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening (for that light and crispy texture)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups chocolate chip morsels (can be less or more depending on how you like it)

Don't forget to preheat the oven to 325F.

 

 

Once I got all my ingredients ready, I started making my cookies.

1) I creamed the butter, shortening, white sugar and brown sugar.

 

 

2) I added the eggs

FRENCH TOAST, YOUR ALL DAY BREAKFAST

 

I love all-day breakfast grubs.  I find comfort in them.  Speaking of breakfast, I consider French Toast as one of those all-day breakfast treats.  To be honest with you, I didn't really like French Toast the first time I tried it many many years ago.  So when Sir introduced me to it again, I gave it a shot and this time, I loved it!  I love the subtle spice of the cinnamon and that rich, moist texture of the bread.  The way Sir made it was just simple- whisk ingredients, soak bread, fry and serve.  I don't have any objection to that but I know that there's a way to make it restaurant-style.

So I surfed the web and watched a lot of versions of "how to make french toasts" in youtube until I found, what I think is, the best recipe.  I just did some modifications but basically followed the recipe.  Since I have a whole loaf of Texas Style bread (about 14 thick slices), I figured I could do a whole batch of French Toast!

Here are the ingredients:

Thick slices of bread (whatever bread you fancy)
4 eggs (2 eggs per 7 slices of bread)
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
unsalted butter for frying

 

First step: Whisk the eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and salt.  Make sure that everything is combined to form the custard.

 

Second step:  Once the custard is ready, soak the bread slices.  Make sure to really submerge them in the custard so the thick bread can drink all that liquid.  At this point, you need to preheat your oven to 400F.

SUNDAY NIGHT AT SAN FRANCISCO'S UNION SQUARE AND KING OF THAI

 

Our last stop, after Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square, was the gigantic Christmas Tree in Union Square.  We rode the F Train which took us to downtown San Francisco.  We got off Powell station and walked towards Geary Street where Union Square is.  The moment I saw the place, I instantly felt the Christmas vibe.

MY FIRST CLAM CHOWDER AT FISHERMAN'S WHARF

 

After enjoying the atmosphere in Pier 39, my friends took me to Fisherman's Wharf.  The walk wasn't that far and you'll barely notice the distance because the place is always busy which means a good time to people-watch.  They even have sidewalk entertainments such as musicians, painters, dancers and those men painted in silver to look like statues (I don't know what they're called but they scare me!).

SAN FRANCISCO'S PIER 39

 

After filling ourselves up in Gott's Roadside, my friends wanted to show me around Pier 39.  Since it's a very long walk from that part of the Embarcadero to Pier 39, we decided to take the Muni instead of grabbing the car from the parking lot.  Muni is what people in San Francisco call their Municipal Railway.  It didn't take long for our ride to arrive and in a few minutes, we were in front of Pier 39's towering Christmas Tree.