Among the Realm

The word going around town is that you have a holiday movie ritual… is this true?

Yes this is true! I am not sure what day I will be able to do it this year but it begins with Home Alone, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, a revisit to some of the classics, and The Polar Express.

Are you going to be baking/cooking this Christmas season?

Yes! I plan on making 3 or 4 different types of cookies starting this weekend. I have been studying up at Americas Test Kitchen and Cooks Illustrated. There are some free recipes on Americas Test Kitchen but Cooks Illustrated requires a membership.

Here is what I plan on baking this weekend:

• Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies
• Big, super-nutty peanut butter cookies
• Chewy chocolate cookies
• Brown sugar cookies

I also plan on making this beer cheese/pretzel recipe.

Are you planning on going back to school?

Yes! I start school on January 20 at Cincinnati Christian University. I went there right out of high school and I have 3 years under my belt. I am going back to finish that out. I wasn’t planning on going back there but they part of the consortium with different colleges around the area. They just started offering their Information Technologies program. I only have 8 classes left at CCU and the rest will be at Cincinnati State. I am excited and nervous at the same time!

Are you a Mac or PC guy?

Its funny you ask that…I just bought a Macbook Pro <— click here to read the blog post about the day it arrived! I love my Mac. I will never be without a PC because of the field I am in but I am not forced to boot up my PC everyday and wait 10 minutes for it to be ready… and that is on a quad-core. Crazy I know!

Well that is all for now… go eat some cookies, drink some awesome tea, and watch a Christmas movie. Have fun!

I made my first pie today for a Christmas party. I have really been enjoying cooking and hope to explore more recipes as I get better at it. I have been reading the pioneer woman’s blog a lot lately and have been getting my recipes from her. I made her chocolate pie <—- click here for recipe. It was amazing but next time I think I am going to make my own crust. The store bought ones don’t cut for me. Enjoy the pics… and try not to eat the pie… its not real.

I like to get creative whenever I cook. Which led to me using my foreman grill as sandwich maker. I made this awesome pizza sandwich.

All the spices that I used. Basil, garlic powder, red pepper, and oregano.

All the other indgredients I used…chesse, butter, whole wheat bread, marina sauce, and pepperoni.

Butter both slices of bread like you would a grill cheese. I would make to sure cover every inch of the bread (as you can tell I didn’t do this).

Put the slice of bread with the butter side down and then add your marina sauce.

Add your spices… add them to your liking..it would be better to use fresh spices as well.

Add the cheese.

Add the pepperoni and finish it off by adding the other slice of bread butter side up.

Close the lid and set the timer for 5 to 7 minutes. I left it on for a toal of 7minutes.

Eat and enjoy!