Why is it...

that recipes calling for evaporated milk, include in the recipe a note about how, indeed, you need evaporated milk and NOT sweetened condensed milk? Recipes calling for sweetened condensed milk often do the same thing.

Why is that?

The can sizes, in my experience, are different. The labeling is different. And, once you open the can, the milks certainly look different from each other.

Is this really such a common problem, that we need a warning in each recipe we come across that calls for one or the other? Has it even ever been a problem, except, perhaps, for when canned milk products were newly introduced to the general public? 

If I Didn't Have Running Water In My Kitchen...

It would change the way I cook. They way we eat. I think it would have to...

I'm thinking about this, because, at present, my kitchen sink (the faucet) is non-functional. 

I've been having  trouble with it for months, but it actually broke on Saturday. A "quick" trip to Lowe's (this "quick" trip involved a couple of  hours of driving time, because I don't live close to shopping), and it appears it's going to take another "quick" trip to Lowe's to once again have a functional kitchen faucet, and thus, running water, in my kitchen.

Why? 

I didn't actually go to Lowe's, my husband did, and the faucet he bought is obviously, to me, a return. The new (to us) Delta faucet is missing the piece that connects the sprayer hose to the other hose(s) under the sink. I think. I'm not clear on the details. But, I have been assured, that, because of the illogical design (and that's my opinion, not that of the person who did the assuring), we can't just bypass the sprayer, for now. We have to actually have the missing piece before we can complete the installation of the faucet and restore running water to my kitchen.

It just so happens we don't have any full-size paper plates.

I have a dishwasher, so I could just run that, and not have to wash dishes in the bathroom, right? No. Wrong. I have a portable dishwasher. I have to actually, physically, hook it up to the faucet. No kitchen faucet? No dishwasher.

I'm frustrated and irritated. The kitchen is a mess, and I'm avoiding it.

I didn't realize it before now, but I take running water for granted in my kitchen. I really, really, do.

I remember that my great grandparents, on my mother's side, never had a bathroom in their farmhouse. I wonder now if they didn't have running water in the kitchen?

A new-to-me food blog.

 The Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn

What a fun site!

Very, very, fun.

It's Never Too Early To Make A Wishlist...

Dear Santa,

I would like a scribe and a photographer.  

I'll leave cookies.

Carrie

P.S.  A tech person would be a nice stocking stuffer.

Blueberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have adapted, and perhaps adopted, too, the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Gold Medal Flour’s Alpha Bakery Children’s Cookbook.

• ¾ C. Sugar
• ¾ C. Brown Sugar
• 1 C. Butter*, softened.
• 1 Egg
• 2 ¼ C. Unbleached (all-purpose) Flour  
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 C. Dried Blueberries (My favorite dried fruit is Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand).
• 10 - 12 oz White Baking Chips or White Chocolate Chips (My favorite chocolate chips are the Trader Joe’s brand).

In a stand mixer (and no, having one is not necessary), mix together the sugars, butter, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Carefully add it to the mixer. Once you have a dough, mix in the dried blueberries and the white chocolate chips.

Scoop, with a small sized scoop, or a tablespoon, onto a stainless steel baking sheet. Press down lightly on each cookie with your fingertips. Don’t try to fit more than a dozen cookies on each tray.

Bake at 375 for about 6 minutes per tray. If the bottoms looks completely done, don’t worry about the tops. Let sit on the baking sheet for about 6 minutes before moving them to a baking rack.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

The blueberry flavor comes through better once these cookies are cool, or even the next day. I know, many cookies are best warm, but not these.

*If I make these again, I’ll try making them with unsalted butter. The original recipe calls for margarine or butter, and I always take that as my cue to use salted butter (margarine is usually salted). However, I think the salt in the butter doesn’t go as well with blueberries as it does with the other ingredients I’ve previously added to these cookies.

Don’t get me wrong. These cookies are good with salted butter, I’d just like to try making them with unsalted butter. 

Update, April 4, 2011

We've tried making the cookies with unsalted butter. Believe it or not, they tasted saltier than the cookies made with regular, salted, butter. I can now wholeheartedly say that I recommend salted butter for this cookie recipe.

Also, I originally called for 12 oz of White Chocolate Chips. It appears, I may have actually used a 10 oz bag of White Baking Chips (although they do contain cocoa butter, if that makes you feel better about it, I know that makes me feel better about it). So I've edited the recipe slightly.