sugar

Yet another rainy weekend in Sydney – which has both pros and cons! When it rains, there’s more time to bake which isn’t a bad thing. I now split it over two days – dough on Saturday and baking on Sunday. I’m not sure if it makes it more or less time consuming but it’s working so far!

This week’s cookies definitely have a very American, very soda fountain, almost 1950s-esque vibe. Two recipes are from Christina Tosi’s All About Cookies…and again one is from Chat GPT.

Christina Tosi’s cookies are some of my favourites- this week’s are Sugar Sugar Cookies and Nana Nilla Cookies.

The Sugar Sugar Cookies are SWEET. Like too sweet. Thomas liked them but he’s 8. And he loves sugar. They’re sugar cookies with sugar sprinkles and white chocolate chips. Like I said, sugar on top of sugar, flavoured by sugar, sweetened with sugar, sprinkled with sugar. But kind of fun, because of the coloured sugar on top and in them.

The other cookies, the Nana Nilla Cookies, are basically banana pudding cookies. Banana pudding is yummy, but not sure I love it in cookie form. Still, I had planned to bake them for ages (ever since I bought Nilla wafers earlier in the year) but hadn’t done it yet. I’m not sure how well liked they’ll be I’m glad I did them.

The last flavour is actually one of my favourite cookies I’ve ever baked. It’s Cherry Coke flavour. Cherry Coke is my absolute favorite soft drink. I LOVE it and used to have one every day growing up! I know it’s not for everyone but it’s MY personal favourite- so I asked ChatGPT to create a recipe for Cherry Coke Cookies….. And of course, like any faithful and loyal friend, it did. And they’re not bad! I went offscript and added a bit of actual cherry coke to the batter, which possibly made them too wet. The good news is that I can ask ChatGPT to tweak the recipe to include the liquid for next time.

ChatGPT called it a “ fun and nostalgic recipe that captures the flavor of Cherry Coke — fizzy cola sweetness, tart cherries, rich vanilla, and a hint of spice — all in a chewy cookie. Inspired by notes of: Cherry (obviously), Cola (vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, a hint of citrus), Slight fizziness or bite. This recipe mirrors those with cherries, vanilla, soft brown sugar (for caramel tones), a dash of cinnamon and optional cola glaze.”

I didn’t do the optional cola glaze but everything else (except the extra Cherry Coke dash) I followed exactly!

And to be honest, I LOVE Them. Not everyone will love these, but these are for me. Even if no one else likes them, I do. They’re a perfect blend of nostalgia, and my favourite flavours. They have a great depth of flavour from the almond, cinnamon, and chocolate, but also a nice sweet cherry pop from the maraschino cherries. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

So that’s the cookies for this week. It’s going to be a big week. We just celebrated our wedding anniversary, we have an interview for a high school, and my project at work is entering its final phases. Lots happening!

It’s been a pretty quiet week in the He Runs, I Cook household this week. Other than steak last night and possibly pork tonight, I haven’t cooked a thing– very rare! I haven’t even made it past Episode 2 of Masterchef Professionals so you know I’ve been busy!

Well, that and The Runner has been watching tennis all week.

When last I left you, we had just landed in Melbourne for a whirlwind, action packed weekend. Well… Melbourne was awesome! The Runner is tired of me saying this, because I probably said it about 100 times over the weekend, but I could easily live in Melbourne. It’s such a great city for lots of stuff- especially food. The Runner and I had a great time, he had the best Hot Chocolate of his life and I had the best sugar I’ve ever tasted.

No, Seriously don’t laugh, I did! It even looked yummy in the mini mortar sugar bowl and it was really sweet— don’t laugh at the blatantly obvious statement, but it was so sweet and so good! (It was at Cafe Vue on St. Kilda Rd if you’re curious)

I also had some super delish Croque Monsieurs (yes, plural, I had two in two days. Don’t judge me– you never see them on the menu in Sydney). We found a delightful little wine bar, Enoteca, in Fitzroy- a neighbourhood I LOVE! Both The Runner and I managed to avoid temptation on Ackland Rd in St. Kilda. I’ve never seen so many cake shops on one street, there were about 5 in a row, if not more and they all had windows piled high with yummy looking cakes. I think it’s where Hansel and Gretel got lost and the witch tried to fatten them up. I was tempted but I knew we had Mamasita planned for dinner and I didn’t want to ruin my appetite. Mamasita by the way was good– not sure it would have been as good if we had waited for 90 minutes but it was good.

The best part of the whole weekend…… The Runner let me go to Books for Cooks.

A word on Books for Cooks.

Overwhelming. Too much of a good thing is…

A combination of heaven and hell. Seriously, it was amazing but awful at the same time. Literally, for a cookbook tragic like myself it was just too much. I was overwhelmed, I didn’t know where to start or where to end or where to look. It was literally a whole store full of cookbooks….and it wasn’t just new books, it was a combination of rare books, new books, used books, anything and everything kitchen or garden or cooking related was there. (However, they didn’t have Spoonbread and Strawberry Wine so ha!) I think I nearly hyperventilated.

I felt like Alice in Wonderland but it was too much. I highly recommend it– as long as you have a few hours, thousands of dollars and no Runner reminding you that you have other places to be. In the end, I selected two books– one, totally quirky and random, and the other, I’ll probably actually use to cook….

Don’t ask me what made me buy The Dead Celebrity Cookbook. I think I panicked slightly in there….The Mexican Food cookbook has serious potential given my addiction to Mexican food, but there was so much in there, so much to choose from…..so many cookbooks, so little time.

So, in a nutshell, that was our trip to Melbourne. Thanks to The Blackman Hotel for being a lovely place to stay. We’ve now stayed at all three Art Series Hotels in Melbourne, and we love all three…. although there is some debate about what to do for next year. I loved our weekend away, and am looking forward to Australia Day Weekend this weekend…..I’m making Cupcakes!!!!!!! (BTW, you’re supposed to have Oprah’s voice in your head when you read that… try again) I’m Making CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!!!!! (Better!)

Oh yeah, and we saw some tennis too while we were there….an unknown player named Roger…. it was pretty good!