Baking LIVE!

Today Kira and I are making apple pie cookies.

It's an idea I had because one problem I have with all apple pies is too much fruit/not enough crust.  So now I've cut the fruit to crust ratio by an alarming rate so they are basically crust cookies with a tiny taste of apple. Like I said, it was my idea, but when I googled it I see someone else has already done it. That's where I got the picture.  Mine aren't done yet but I thought you should see a "this is how they should look" picture before you see mine.  I don't know how they are going to turn out.  I'm not following a recipe which would be fine if I understood baking at all, but come on, it was a pre-made crust and I just doused the apples with sugar and cinnamon.  It's not brain surgery.  Then I egg-washed the cookies after they were assembled and sprinkled them with more sugar.  The first pan is cooking right now and then we will test them to see what they need.  I'm thinking maybe on the next batch we will coat the crust with cinnamon/sugar before we put the tiny bit of apple in the middle. I'm baking them at 350 but they are smelling kind of burny.  I'll turn it down a bit.

So, while we're waiting what should we talk about?  

My tree is still up.  I hope Sam realizes that my leaving it up just because he wants it up for his birthday is an enormous gesture of love.

Kira is turning nocturnal.  She cannot get up in the morning and she cannot fall asleep at night.  Last night she was up until midnight and didn't get out of bed today until 10:30.

I think this might be my favorite week of the year.  It's a grown up year, no more surprises.  I like all the year-end wrap-ups except for the list of people who died.  I don't like January because it's starting all over again with a raw, unseasoned year. Ugh.  Didn't we just do this?  And then everyone is compelled to make it a great year with resolutions and empty promises about making so many self-improvements.  The last week of December you know how unrealistic those resolutions were and you are comfortable with the person you really are- the person who is okay with eating half a box of Cheez-its for lunch, or buying pants that actually fit instead of pants that you wish you fit into- and that is alright!   Come January first you will become delusional again and set some unreachable goals with ideas about being in the "best shape of your life" next December!  It's not going to happen.  Last year I told myself I was going to work out 350 times in 2011.  That leaves fourteen days of NOT working out.  That was CRAZY.  It's like I didn't even know myself, and after living with me for forty years I should have known myself better.  I was totally on track for about two weeks, but then I saw how stupid it was and didn't want to give up completely so I changed it to 300 workouts in 2011.  I stayed on track for about two months.  Then I stopped keeping track.  I don't know how much I worked out but I would guess it was about 150 to 175 times for the whole year.  Disappointing when you consider the goal, but not too shabby if I would have not made such a ridiculous resolution.  This year my resolutions are to like myself and be happy and live in the moment blah blah blah.  A bunch of stuff that can't be quantified so there will be no failure.

Oh, the timer went off!  I better check my cookies... Okay, I set the oven for 15 minutes and I just checked them and they don't look quite golden brown on the top yet so I'll leave them in for 5 more minutes.

Okay, I left them in for a total of 25 minutes.  This is what they look like:

Not bad.  Not quite as flaky as the picture from the website,  but they look good and they smell amazing.  Okay, now I'll try one.  Delicious.  VERY crusty without the overwhelming fruitiness of a pie.  I love them!

Let's see how Kira likes them:

She likes them.

We have another crust so she is going to make turnovers.  We'll have the turnovers for dessert tonight.  Sam and Mitch don't have to know about the six cookies Kira and I just inhaled.