Peach Pie, my oh my!

Hey folks, I've just baked my very first pie, and it came out perfect! Sorry about the delay though, I've been a bit under the weather. Anyway I'm just drudging along, candy (my sweet dog) was very interested in the pie. She kept coming around and sniffing at it (which is the highest complement one can get from it). I've also been looking into my higher education, I'm going to Uni next year. My main debate is between a combination of history and anthropology (that can benefit my writing) or film (because part of me wants to be a filmmaker - a big part), any suggestions on how you choose? I've also finished writing a couple of short stories - I'm just going over the rough edges now. And now, the reason why you came here - my pie recipe:

first we make the Dough (and we do not eat the Dough): mix 2 cups of flour, 125 grams of butter\margarine, 1 egg, 1\3 cup of flour, some salt and 2-4 tablespoons of water. Put them all in a mixer (or mix by hand if you're built like shwartznegger) until it has a smooth texture. Put in the fridge for a hour (at least). After that you role the dough out (flour the rolling pin or whatever and the counter top) until it's thin, but not so thin that it breaks when you lift it. Put in pie pan.
Now we make the cream: slice and dice 2 large peaches (peal them, or buy canned), mix with 3 eggs, 1\2 cup of sugar the grated peal of a lemon and 3/4 cup of sweet cream. When it's completely mixed pour into the dough (gently - I managed to splash some around).
Bake at 350 for about an hour (the cream should be custard-like and the dough on the edges should be brown.
Allow to cool. Now slice 4 peaches (pealed) and put on top of the pie. Warm some jam (a little, choose one you like) with brandy and brush over the pie.
Congratulations, we've survived. Now you may eat, (a picture of the pie will be posted soon).

Onion soup & Tears

My parents are abroad for the week, and I'm alone in the house with my brother. For some reason, this is the week my dear brother decides to get sick and have a math test. Of course my mother assumes, that since I did my mathematics matriculation only three years ago, I remember how to help him, why wouldn't I? I hated math. Why does everything have to go wrong when my mother's gone? Because my mother is one of those people blessed by the gods. She never gets sick, and things always work out for her. True story, she was once stranded in the middle of the desert (her car broke down) and a limousine picked her up, and just happened to be going where she was going, and it wasn't some crazy freak. This also happened to be one of the only guys in Israel with a cellphone at that time (this was 8 years back). I, on the other hand, am not quite as lucky, although I have received the occasional discount for no obvious reason at pizza hut. The truth, taking care of my brother is not so bad, and he liked my soup. Now, I know I promised chicken soup, but I changed my mind, deal with it. Here's the (approximate) recipe for onion & tomato soup:

Melt butter (or olive oil) in a pot (or a wok). Take two large onions (or maybe three - depending on how fresh they are) and slice them thinly. Slice about three (or four, more then the onions) tomatoes. Fry (on a low flame) the onions and the tomatoes, until the onions are clear (about ten minutes), while stirring. Add two teaspoons of salt (you can always add more later), one teaspoon of dry mustard, and a dash of ginger. Stir some more. Add about four cups of water, and some pepper. Cover and wait for it to boil. Now you can add two tablespoons of soy sauce and\or one tablespoon of dry white wine (I forgot to, so I can't tell you what the results were). Let simmer for ten-fifteen minutes, stirring every now and again. Eat. It tastes quite good, and if you sprinkle mozzarella it tastes even better. Bon appetite.

My Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

My Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

The Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

Have any of you ever had a nightmare where a giant cookie was chasing you? I just had, and it was real! Well, not the part about it chasing me, but the giant part, and I definately felt it was making threataning gestures. I know Candy was mocking me about the number of kitchen appliances I used. I thought it would be a good idea to aquaint myself with all the kitchen appliances... Oh, who am I kidding, I used everything because I just didn't know exactly what to use. Candy just stood there and smirked, did you know dogs can smirk? She was supposed to be helping me! Of course all the incompetence in the world, still doesn't explain how I got cookie dow on the top cupboard. I didn't even go near that cupboard. As I mentioned before, instead of many little cookies I ended up with one giant cookie. This was after I was told to space them out by my dear mother. It still tastes delicous:

Mix 1 package of margerine (cream it, don't forget to cream it) with 3/4 cups light brown sugar and 3/4 cups white sugar. Beat 3 eggs with 1 teaspoon vanila extract. Mix eggs and margerine. Mix 2.5 cups flour with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix everything together. Greese pan. Spoon mixture onto pan - small amounts spaced out. Cook at 350 till it's brown and slightly soft, should take around 15 minutes (it took me longer because of the whole one large cookie deal). Let cool. Enjoy.

Don't forget to clean up, and don't try changing a cd while you're cooking. It's a bad idea - trust me. Next week is going to be chicken soup or pecan pie...

The way to a man's heart...

Is through his stomach, or at least so they say. So I decided I would learn to cook. The truth? I'm not really learning to cook because of my romantic situation (there is none), or because my grandma thinks it's very important (she does). I'm learning to cook because it's cheaper then buying out. Also, getting kind of sick of macaroni and cheese (the only thing I know how to make). Besides, at 20 years I should know how to cook something, no?
By the way, I have an assistant. Her name is Candy, and she'll be assisting me by cleaning up anything that drops on the floor, she's too old to clean up the counter. When Candy was younger, she helpfully ate a whole tub of butter which we forgot on the kitchen counter. Yes, she's a dog and I will supply a picture of her as soon as possible.

I've decided to try one new recipe every week. This week, it's going to be chocolate chip cookies (I'm a fan of the sugar rush, it stimulates the brain). Considering what happened last time I cooked, I'm sure it'll be entertaining, and I promise to share recipes (which I will conveniently steal from my mother and her friends). For those of you who are curious about what happened last time: I was 12 years old, and decided to make a microwave "can't fail" cake for Candy's B-day. It failed. I put two bars of margarine, I didn't melt them like I should. I added too much of everything else. Even Candy wouldn't eat the cake. It's a miracle the microwave didn't explode.