Two Awesome *Butterless* Cookie Recipes

As promised, here are the recipes to the two types of cookies I made this afternoon (it took me 3 hours to bake 56 cookies...is that normal??) I actually started baking as soon as I got up...a full 10 hours of sleep sure does wonders...

Pictures were taken by my sister..who promptly ate half a plate of cookies as she snapped away. Oh well, they were meant for her anyway... (I tried to get her to wake up to the smell of fresh-baked cookies, but she woke up too soon...darn. Next time!)

Spring Break Cooking Challenge

Helloooo
Well, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I am going to learn how to cook....even without a recipe card in front of me. I've always said how I love cooking, how it's my hobby, blablabla but...I never DO it. I haven't made anything by meself since Grade 9 foods class. So, this Spring Break I am going to learn to cook a full meal by myself, AND wash the dishes. Won't that be a sight to see? :)
I haven't got an exact plan or anything, just a bunch of recipes I've wanted to try for ages and one goal: to cook dinner for my family on the last evening of Spring Break. No wait, I've got one more goal: to find an awesome butterless cookie recipe, because I hate the guilt that comes with eating a lump of butter and suger. Oil and sugar is so much better, at least in my world.
So far, so good. I've made two types of butterless cookies (the first was my own recipe, made up from a mish-mash of researched cookie recipes. It was kind of a Chocolate Cake Mix Cookie...straight out of the oven it was pretty good but after a day not so much. The second, I just finished baking. Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies! THESE were AWESOME. I forget where I got the recipe from, so I'll post it up once I find the blog. Fresh out of the oven, piping hot and with a crisp crust...MMMM). I've made chocolate pudding too, which was a nice, cool treat to have instead of ice cream. I've also learned how to make Korean omelette things, Korean egg custard, and doenjang jjigae (Korean miso soup); I do this by watching my mum cook while she explains what she's doing, not by a recipe, so it's really fun. No measuring. Heh.

My sis took some photos, but she's being lazy and doesn't want to put them into her computer at the moment, so they'll be up later with the cookie recipe I guess.

One other thing I've been doing a lot of is browsing food blogs...and boy, are there some awesome people out there! Food blogs are fun to drool over :P

Just Kidding- Sonnet

cartoon: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUivhati6M_e3Cg5moizEb4AEcS_ULXNR8BNw5N-KXXDMpbtV3P6Mfjc_hrLn9xoo291ku9iTCwiCb4Ys6XeDxeJpCNyZr3uYnQRa7xlvG51oF2Gg7l6sc9KrAj0i38AGRTmw4QAtc9Yn3/s1600/broken-heart.jpg

I know that a couple lines don't really work...they sound a little weird or the grammar is off. But it was a sonnet piece, so it was pretty hard to find the right rhymes and make sure the iambic pentameter was right. And I also don't like the ending because it seems a little cliche and cheesy...but it was like, 2 in the morning and it was due the next morning so I had to just go with it.

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend...the weather cleared up a little earlier so I was happy :)

And the cartoon was just cute...and kind of fit with the poem.

-------------------------------------------------------------

That half-smile you sport when it’s all just jokes,

I know so well now; should not be surprised.

Yet it appears, and happiness evokes;

I discover it’s hard keeping disguised.

No matter how much I try to go sleep,

I cannot seem to keep my eyes to shore.

Your jokes have touched too far and much too deep

Each time you make me laugh, it hurts the more,

Since I know you don’t ever really mean

The sweet things you say to me when we meet

Are not to be felt, only to be seen.

To be with you is rather bittersweet.

Yet I’m not so unhappy; my torn heart

Will find another; from you, grow apart.

Hope for Japan

I'll bet that by now, almost everyone's heard about the massive earthquake that hit Japan this weekend. 8.9! And afterschocks are still occurring. I saw some footage on the news, and boy, it's pretty bad. Cracks as wide as people have appeared on roads and sidewalks, highways have split and made wall-like barriers, stores are complete messes, books and electrical appliances were shaken off shelves, and where the tsunami hit, it's awful. Masses of cars have piled up in parking lots, and boats and ships have been overturned. Part of a bridge fell into the water, along with a few cars. A boat full of prechool children was rescued, and many others are being rescued at this moment. People in their neighbourhoods go around picking up corpses and lay them all out in one area to be buried later.

I found it admirable that no one stole anything from the unattended stores or went completely hysterical. These people were quite calm and practical. For instance, a sky train full of passengers was stopped and a warning was broadcasted. They were told to not leave the train until the shaking stopped, and they did exactly that; no one screamed crazily or anything. They just all waited until someone came up into the train and let them off. I guess a lot of them would be used to it, since Japan is in the Ring of Fire, where earthquakes are rather frequent.

But what's really scary is that (I think) 4 nuclear power plants are in danger of full/partial meltdown and thus leaking radioactivity. Their cooling systems didn't function properly. I believe one of them have already started to leak. Now THAT'S scary, because it has many terrible aftereffects that not only include cancer but birth defects and such. People are also saying it may reach Canada as well.

I'm just really worried about an aunt I have who lives in Japan with her two sons. As of now, they seem alright, but I really want to send over a package or something. Do you think it would reach them in time though?

Let's just all take a moment to pray for the Japanese...it doesn't matter if you're religious or not, just send your thoughts to them because I believe that at least one person will hear you.