White mushrooms

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

a lot of chopping

A LOT of chopping. It definitely didn't help that the knife I was using was quite poor.

We started on the sauce/filling for the pies. It basically required us to fry up the mushrooms in oil, add in some flour, then slowly pour in the chicken broth.

Very slowly pour a cup and a fourth of chicken broth while stirring. This was definitely a 2 person project as I am still unsure of my own cooking prowess.

oh and a sprinkle of Thyme.

hmm... Thyme... what an odd name for an odd seasoning/spice. It really is a pain to pronounce. Makes me feel like a fool. "I think we put in too much time."

Regardless the filling turned out awesome.

The ever so glamorous Val catering plate was to measure out an approx. 6in diameter circle. 

Gotta slice little vents into the pie tops and brush on the beaten egg onto the tops as well. Definitely didn't have a brush so we used a fork.

and Voila!


I think it turned out really well. They were quite tasty.

Lazy Day

So this blog will be a combo of food and place exploration as it seems to be directed. 

In case you haven't figured it out, I've never really cooked before. So I'll be going a little slap happy with pictures and writing about my cooking adventures in Amherst while also adding in adventures in Holyoke. 

So to start things off with a BANG...

I made grits for breakfast.

MMMMMMMM GRITS

I also threw in a scrambled egg. Scrambled eggs is difficult. I spent a good 10 mins washing the skillet afterwards because I wasn't swishing it around fast enough or maybe didn't have the heat up high enough. D:

Next recipe might be more savory than sweet...

My Own Honeydukes Part II

Onwards to the filling!

This hot mess that you see before you is 1 cup of corn syrup (with a hint of vanilla flavoring apparently...) 

and bread crumbs (2 and 1/4 cups, supposed to be fresh)

This combo gave us this delicious looking animal feed you see above. 

There was also supposed to be rated zest and juice of 1 lemon but we couldn't be bothered to buy 1 lemon for a recipe being made by frugal (read: poor) college students working on a pre-agreed amount for the summer. 

Anyway, we rolled out the dough to make the bottom crust.

Previously we had rolled it out into 9 doughy discs (was going for 8 but I miscounted) because we interpreted the recipe differently. 

We assumed that a tart that served 8 people was 8 cupcake sized tarts for 8 people. It turns out it means one whole tart in a pie pan basically. So go us for not exactly following the recipe.

Lookin' Fab!

Anyway with our corn syrup and bread crumb mash we decided that half a bag of chocolate chips would be the most appreciated addition to this recipe. 

We also (quite literally) threw in some more confectioner's sugar.

Applied lattice work pie crust with the other half of the dough.

Then made mini pies of peanut butter and chocolate chips with the leftover dough. 

Jesus christ our kitchen was a madness after we finished up the tart.

But ... IT WAS AWESOME

We ate almost half of it once it came out.

Then almost annihilated it the next day with more friends