The Ultimate Ranking of the Top Ten Vegetarian Meals Served by Tufts Dining
If you’re of the herbivorian inclination like myself, and also particularly food motivated like myself, you probably like to plan out your meatless…
Well now that I’ve gone jumping off a mountain, I think it’s time for more parental-approved pastimes, like baking. When I’m at home, I love to bake. I like to eat the cookies/cake/cupcake, but baking itself is a good time.
One thing I learned from the pre-departure meeting is that they don’t have chocolate chip cookies in France. Chocolate chip cookies are a staple around my house (you’d be surprised how many friends you make when you have cookies), so I knew I had to make them in France. My family here eats really really well, but when I showed them the bag of tollhouse chips that I had brought with me, they (the son especially) were thrilled. I thought I would do it on the first or second day I was here, but stuff piled on, and there were people to meet, hikes to take, and homework to do, so I didn’t get around to it until now.
I’ve done a bit of cooking before this. My host mom went to Lyon for a week and left me and Paul (15) and Olivier (22, another student at a French university) here alone. I decided that I would step up and make dinner. I was super nervous, because cooking for people is nerve wracking, but cooking for French people is a whole different ball game. I decided to make a family favorite: spaghetti pie. It’s basically just pasta with sauce and ricotta cooked into a pie shape. My family likes to make it at home, so I figured why not here? It went over surprisingly well, but then I realized that I was feeding two boys cheese and pasta and there was no way that it would be anything but a success.
I also made zucchini bread for the family about a week ago. Zucchini (courgette) here are super cheap, so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I had my mom send me the recipe, but I didn’t follow it to the letter, instead just adding things until the batter tasted right. My family took it with them to a friend’s party, so I think it worked out well.
But today was finally cookie day. I had the recipe and I knew what to do. There were a few problems, like the lack of baking soda (they only have baking powder), and the fact that shortening doesn’t exist in France. Instead, I used copious amounts of baking powder and butter for shortening. The biggest issue was that they use grams here, and I’m used to cups. It was an extra step, but I used an internet converter and a food scale to try to get approximately the right amount of everything.
It didn’t mix up as smoothly as it does at home, but it tastes about right. Now, I’m a big proponent of chilling the dough to get a better cookie, so I’m leaving it in the fridge while I go on an overnight hike, though I did make a test batch. Sunday morning, I’ll finish the rest of them and hope for the best!
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