Traditional Ghetto Dessert

When he was growing up, Ross's mom would make yellow cake cookies. Apparently it was an inexpensive easy dessert that she learned to make as an Army wife. Ross used to call his mom every couple of months and ask how to make them until I finally wrote it down in my cook book. A few times he just winged it--bad news. Over the years the cookies have really grown on me. I didn't used to like them until I discovered how wonderful they are after 10 seconds in the microwave (I prefer soft, chewy cookies.). Yesterday at Target I bought a box of yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines is apparently the Brown family brand of choice) and some chocolate chips. I think it might have been the first time I actually made them (it's a Ross thing). So here's the recipe if you want to try the Brown family traditional ghetto dessert:

Yellow Cake Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 c. oil (sometimes we use melted butter, but I was too lazy last night)
1 egg
chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Thoroughly mix first three ingredients
3. Stir in chocolate chips. Don't add too many...as I discovered last night, this makes it difficult to form the dough into balls.
4. Form dough into balls and place on cookie sheet
5. Cook for 10 minutes.

Cookies will be fluffy and soft when first removed from the oven. Allow them to cool about 10 minutes before removing from baking sheet--they will collapse and harden slightly. This recipe makes approx. 2 dozen cookies.

Bah-Humbug

Today we went out. I don't go to the malls at all in December. Today was a clear reminder why. Traffic was terrible. The stores were crowded. There were long lines at all the check outs (and we weren't even at the mall). Oh, and worst of all: Christmas music. I walked into one store to look for one specific thing. Christmas music was blaring. I left and went into the next store just to look around. The line to check out was lengthening down the side of the store and the same exact song was blaring in there. I left. Was I safe outside? Of course not. That shopping area has music piped into the parking lots! It was crazy. We came home without buying anything. I guess that's good.

After dinner we ventured out again. To Target. Ross wanted to pick up a digital converter box for the TV. On the way there and back we drove through the neighborhood and saw lots of Christmas lights. I actually like Christmas lights--at least ones done tastefully. What we saw was mostly crap. We did find a couple of houses on August St. that were really cool. They had their trees completely wrapped in white lights. It was a lot classier than all the trees that we saw with the bottom 3 feet hastily wrapped in lights (we saw blue, yellow, green, red, white, and multicolor stumps).

Christmas in Italy was so different. No Santa. Three days of everything being dead because everyone was home with their families. There are some things I do like about the holidays. All food: panettone, stollen, eggnog. I suppose I'll spend the rest of the month at home--eating cake and washing it down with eggnog. Ha!

Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse Chinoise

We have seen a lot of movies in the last couple of weeks (thanks mostly to the Roku). I put a Japanese anime film in the queue, and that turned out to be just plain messed-up. I watched Thunderbolt--a great old Jackie Chan film--with my parents, but unfortunately it was dubbed. I watched Caramel with my mom. It was a Lebanese movie about a group of women that work in a hair salon. It was very much like the French film Venus Beaute (institut). Ross watched an animated Hellboy movie on Monday. We have seen two movies at the dollar theater. Burn After Reading was strange. We didn't really like it. This week we saw Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. We didn't really like that one either. We can't complain though--going to the dollar theater is cheaper than renting a movie.

The best movie we've seen lately was Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. We both really enjoyed it. It inspired me to start reading again. I'm not kidding when I say that I read children's books. I haven't read a grown up fiction book in a long time (years). I checked the library catalog online and one of the branches has a book of Balzac's short novels. I went ahead and asked for it to be sent to my branch so I can check it out and read it. I still haven't finished the B.K.S. Iyengar book I checked out forever ago. Oh well, maybe I can finish chapter two (of four) and then give it a rest. If I finish the Balzac book maybe I'll feel like reading other books that they read in the movie. Maybe I'll turn back into the little reading machine that I used to be.

Oh Roku, I Want You!

So over the Thanksgiving weekend I tried out my dad's Roku box. My dad subscribes to NetFlix and my parents have been dowloading movies through them and watching them on the computer for a while now. The Roku box allows them to download the movie and watch it on their TV. It was so easy! I added a few movies to the queue online, then turned on the TV and selected which movie to watch. After 3 or 4 minutes of buffering the movie started. No problem. I couldn't tell it was downloading. We watched several movies over the weekend. Now I want a Roku box. First we'd have to get faster internet, and NetFlix, and a new TV (why not). Maybe we'll have all that by my birthday. Oh, Roku!

Thyroid paranoia

I'm sure most medical students get their TSH levels checked. Medical school syndrome symptoms parallel hyperthyroidism symptoms: nervousness, exhaustion, hair loss, increased bowel movements. And of course thyroid problems are the root of all weight issues. Haha. I had my TSH checked at some point hoping that a little pill would be the cure for my fatigue and extra weight. No such luck. My mom had hyperthyroidism and had her thyroid radioablated. She now has to take synthroid every day.
When I was home over the weekend I let my mom wash my hair. It isn't a pleasant spa-like experience. She scratches and scrubs my scalp as if it was going to be inspected. One speck of dirt or dandruff and she fails! My mom commented that my hair was falling out. I always lose hair when I wash it or when I brush it. I lose a lot, but I guess I have a lot to lose. So anyway, I kind of ignored her until I saw a huge clump that had come out. That morning I lost a lot more hair than I normally do. It got me thinking....hair loss, weight loss, nervousness, increased BMs. Am I hyperthyroid? Probably not. My heart rate at the dentist last week was 68. Slightly high for me, but completely normal. Still, maybe the next time I go to the doctor maybe I'll ask him to order a TSH and T4 level...just to make sure.

Tune Up

Bailey doesn't purr like other cats. Most of the time if she purrs you can feel it if you have your hand on her, but you can't hear it. When Bailey does purr audibly it is like a jalopy. Her purring is rough and uneven and doesn't last very long. This morning she was sitting on the bed next to my head and I could hear her purring. Normal smooth purring. Bailey is 9 and that is the first time I've ever heard her purr like that. It's like the old jalopy got a tune up! We'll see if it lasts.

Pumpkin Mousse

I made pumpkin mousse for the dessert party. Tejal wanted lots of moussey things, and I thought all week about how to make this. I whipped it up on the morning of the party and I was really pleased with how it turned out. Ross's sister likes all things pumpkin, so I made some for her this weekend. At the party I topped the mousse with crushed gingersnaps. It is good plain or with the gingersnaps.

Pumpkin Mousse

1 14 oz. can pumpkin
8 oz. mascarpone cheese
3/4 c. sugar
nutmeg
ground cloves
cinnamon
allspice
cardamom
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
crushed gingersnaps

1. Whip pumpkin, mascarpone, and sugar together for several minutes until sugar is dissolved and mixture is fluffy.
2. Add spices and mix thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl whip cream until stiff peaks form.
4. Fold whipped cream into pumpkin mixture.
5. Sprinkle crushed gingersnaps over the mousse (optional).

The photo doesn't make it look very appetizing, but I think it tastes pretty good.