I read recipes. I thumb through cookbooks while spooning up my cereal every morning. I’m mesmerized by food blogs when I’m bored. I look at the recipes, I look at the pictures, and sometimes I’ll make the food they show. I have a very, very long list titled “Recipes” bookmarked on Firefox, and I will probably never attack it. However, my plan is to evaluate the recipes I do make, both from blogs and cookbooks.

I find food blogs both interesting and annoying. It’s so easy to spend hours on end staring at the computer screen, drooling over the delicious cake in front of me. I can almost taste it. Did you know that most people who go to food blogs never make any of the food they see? That probably means someone who is reading this is never going to make any of the food they read about on this blog, but hopefully this little nugget of info encourages you to get cooking. Staring at food definitely isn’t as good as eating it.

The reason I’ve started this blog is because I find the comments sections of the blogs I follow discouraging-- whenever I comment, I never get a response. Therefore, the last time I had a problem with a recipe and was left hanging, I found a solution to the problem on my own. Here, I will share my solutions to problems I’ve had from recipes, as well as alternative ways of doing things, and if I think a recipe is worth the effort.

I’m going to start off the the ubiquitous mug-cakes/mug-cookies. Those desserts that are said to be “delicious and easy to make in individual portions.” This “chocolate chip cookie in a cup” is from a blog called Number 2 Pencil.

Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Cup

To make:
    Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a mug. Add 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, a squeeze of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and one egg yolk. Mix with a fork until “soupy.” Add a scant ¼ cup all purpose flour, mix, and then add 2 tablespoons chocolate chips. Heat in the microwave for approximately 60 seconds. Voila.

                                      



Improvements:
    I do not think anything can change the quality of this “cookie” other than making a real cookie.

Opinion:
    If you haven’t had dessert for a long time or are desperate, go for it. Otherwise, not worth the ingredients. It does not taste like a good chocolate chip cookie. It is a bit cake-like, and the flavor is a little off. Nothing is better than a real chocolate chip cookie, and real chocolate chip cookies do not take that much effort or time to bake.
    I’ve read reviews of chocolate cakes in a mug and other similar items, and they’re never good, so I’ve never made one. This cookie had mostly good reviews, though, so I decided to try. It’s not awful, but it’s not worth it either.