No Chocolate Chip Cookies?!

I learn something new here everyday. Today, my lesson learned was about chocolate chip cookies, or the lack of them in London.

image from Brownie Box

Tomorrow there is a charity bake sale at work that I was signed up to participate in. Usually that's something I'm game for back home. Then I remember I don't have ANY baking supplies until my boxes from the US get here. With my dreams of homemade chocolate chip cookies dashed, I decided store bought cookie dough would have to do. I got to the local Tesco's to find nothing. So I hiked down to the GIANT Whole Foods on Kensington street. Surely they would have what I needed.  I asked them if they had chocolate chip cookie dough and they looked at my liked I had three heads. Then handed me a box of frozen puff pastry (um, not even close).

Slightly crushed, I walked over to the bakery ready to settle for store bought chocolate chip cookies. What did I find there? Four sad little choc chip cookies. With all my hopes of bringing anything to this bake sale tomorrow, I scooped them up, bought vanilla ice cream and made two ice cream sandwiches that are in my freezer right now. Sometimes you gotta know when to give up!

I have completely taking store bought cookie dough for granted. It is a genius invention. Pilsbury, Nestle, Tollhouse; please come across the pond!

Yabba Dabba Do

I often find that cooking for one can restrict me from experimenting in the kitchen. So with a snowy Chicago Saturday, I invited a few friends over to try my hand at flank steak with chimichurri sauce. Time to mix things up.

Really, the snow never stops.

First things first, I picked up some tulips to distract us all from the weather. 

Then, I swung by The Butcher & Larder for a Fred Flintstone size flank steak. This butcher shop was pricey but offers local and sustainable meat that was well worth it. I mixed up a garlic marinade then popped it in the fridge for a few hours.

While the steak was in the fridge, I got busy making the chimichurri sauce. It's a gorgeous green concoction from fresh cilantro, parsley, oregano and garlic. A few whirls around the food processor and it's ready to go.

Look how stunning that sauce is! I've been putting the leftovers on top of everything from salads to eggs. Yum.

Around 7 friends began to arrive and that's where the real fun started. My lovely friend, Grace, brought all the fixings for shrimp spring rolls. She laid out the assembly line and taught us how to roll them like pros. Well, maybe there were a few oddly shaped rolls but they were all delicious!

Success!

Now it was time for the main event, steak! I broiled each side of the steak for about 5 minutes then seared it on the stovetop for a final touch.

I let it rest for about 5 minutes while we refilled on wine. And then started slicing away. Somehow this Fred Flintstone sized steak got demolished pretty quickly.

I'd say it was a successful night. I will definitely whip this dish up again. It was shockingly easy.

Crazy Feta Dip

I'm a big fan of bringing my lunch to work since I never have time to go outside to grab something. It's certainly a wallet, and waist, friendly option to make something delicious at home. In the spirit of healthy living I try to make a lot of salads, but find they can quickly veer towards boring if you're not careful.

My secret to making any salad amazing... crazy feta dip! I had something like it at a restaurant once and experimented with it at home.

Everyone I share it with seems to love it, so I'm going to share it with you all too!

Ingredients:
1 block of feta cheese (not the crumbled kind)
1 lemon
1 jalapeño
2-3 cloves of roasted garlic
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

First, grab your jalapeño and garlic. Drizzle a little olive oil on each and pop it in the oven to roast. I usually put the broiler on and leave both in for about 20 minutes.

While that's in the oven, I move over to the feta block and start slicing it up.

Scoop that in to a bowl and zest that lemon whole. This part is my favorite because I never have enough reasons to use my microplane. After you have zested away, squeeze the full lemon over the feta.

When the jalapeno and garlic are slightly blackened, roughly chop both up and add to the mix.

Grab a fork and start mashing. I drizzle in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. You want the consistency to be a bit chunky but not big ole crumbles. I know, so scientific here.

That's it! Easiest thing to make. You can serve it with crackers or pita as a dip, but I like to add it to my salad. It gives it so much flavor with just a few simple ingredients. Over the past 4 months, I've had a weekly batch sitting in my fridge. It just makes everything better. Trust me.

French Cooking Lessons

This weekend I had a great little adventure at The Chopping Block. Have you ever wanted to cook a fancy meal, but just aren't sure where to start? I have and when I saw a Julia Child inspired class I couldn't wait to try it. The kitchen area was simply stunning. I want to have a kitchen like that!  As for the food, the cheese puffs were my favorite and pretty easy to make. The Beef Doube (beef stew) was also very tasty and we learned a lot of tips from the chef. Overall, I loved this place and can't wait to try another class.