Let the games begin!

• Baking and/or cooking something new once a day
• Organizing, cleaning and re-vamping our hometown basement

For Serious Baking Business

Parchment Paper = treated paper that can be used in the oven.

• It will not burn (although it did take me a long time to get up the courage to try it out. After all, intuitively we know that paper burns);
• It’s great to line cookie sheets and cake tins so food doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan;
  It makes cleanup a breeze;
• You can make them into pouches and steam bake dishes. Fish fillets do exceptionally well this way. Just add some herbs and spices, seal the pouch and bake. You can even add rice to it to create an all-in-one meal. The French call it en papillotte. In the comments, someone asked where they can find unbleached parchment paper. So for the environmentally friendly folks, you can buy it at Whole Foods or on line at Amazon - click here - unbleached parchment
• Substitutions - tin foil/aluminum foil
  Do not use waxed paper or plastic wrap – they will melt! Although waxed paper can be used to line cake tins as long as all the waxed paper is covered. In other words, fine for cake batter, not fine for cookies.
  

Tin foil = also called aluminum foil or foil wrap.

• It’s a great substitute for parchment paper as a liner for cookie sheets (I wouldn’t use it to line cake pans though); this makes it so easy to quickly swap pans for large amounts of cookie making.
• Works quite well to wrap things like meat loaf, lasagna leftovers…solid foods like ribs, chicken, etc. It will even do well in the freezer, although I favor zip lock baggies myself.

Plastic wrap = sheer clingy wrap, primarily used to store food in the fridge.

• I love this particularly for keeping homemade pesto fresh and green and ice cream free from frost for long periods of time. All you have to do is make sure the wrap is touching the surface of the food. It seals out all excess moisture that’s usually trapped in the air between the food and the lid.
• I also have used this to create a form for David’s favorite meat loaf, for example, that has three layers. You line the loaf pan with plastic wrap, because it’s so flexible and molds to the shape so easily. Pour in half the meat loaf filling, then a layer of cooked spinach and top with another layer of meat loaf. Then flip the whole thing over onto a tin foil lined cookie sheet with a lipped edge, coat it with your favorite steak sauce or mustard and bake. The meat loaf will keep its shape and get brown and crispy all over.

Waxed paper = wax coated paper

• I personally only use this to cover vegetables that I want to steam in the microwave. It’s amazing. Just put your veggies in a dish, add about 1 tbsp water, loosely cover with waxed paper and heat on high for a few minutes. You’ll have perfectly steamed vegetables every time.

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[Thank you AskRuth! http://askruth.blogspot.com/2006/03/parchment-paper-tin-foil-waxed-paper.html]

On doors that will be closed but never locked

Baking.  Tumblr.  Family trips.

I’m going to Graduate School and attempting to be an RA (you have committees, duty nights, residents to plan event for and care for, building wide events, and more).  I can never seem to stress enough how much just those TWO things are.

One of the RA training sessions had us write our time commitments on bricks.  If this was last year I’d need way more than the 6 given for all my extra-curriculars and hobbies.  This year?  The plain number of the bricks decreased to three but the amount of work within those was so much more in depth.  It’s intimidating.

Baking-I’ll come back to you.  I hope to have some time to at least bake for staff birthdays (I’ve gained quite the Betty Crocker reputation all across campus).  It’s a hobby I need to be okay putting aside for 1 year.

Tumblr-I’m not sure about you.  This has been a source of breaks, downtime, and expression.  It has always been a source for deep breathing and an outlet for creativity.  I apologize for, more than likely, having to peace for awhile.  I may contribute my own pieces but it’ll be much less community catching up or being interactive with individual ones I love.

Family-I’ll do the best I can.

I’m going to do this.  I’m giving up some personal prized possessions to make it through a year I know I will be intrigued in but struggling to stay afloat with the commitments I have.  I hope never to lose my smile and sense of self.

Day 16 - What are your favorite things to do, when you aren’t in class or studying? (Sports games, parties, etc.?)

Top: Baking (Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Strawberry Shortcake cookies, Peanut Butter Banana Cupcakes, it goes on).  Currently it’s be more cooking actual meals (still fun) this summer because I don’t have a meal plan and actually need to feed myself real food.

The Rest: Sightseeing and going to free/discounted events around Philly, arts n’ crafts, happy hours!, volunteering (at hospitals, the zoo, or for pediatric organizations)

Heck Yeah Tumblr Challenges!: 30 Day College/University Challenge