Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

So, I absolutely love to bake.

Now, why do I love to bake? Because it is something I know I am good at. I refuse to bake anything out of the box and/or use a premade crust. Everything I bake is 100% baked by Meli. Maybe except for the chocolate chips. Baking is easy because it's mindless work for me... I don't need to think too hard about what I am making. Just watch the ingredients and the amounts of each, and you're golden. And the chocolate chip cookies are golden too, ha. I bake when I'm feeling frustrated, anxious, nervous, bored, restless, ambitious, giving... the list goes on. We are having a housewarming bbq/party on Saturday, the 27th, and I will be baking for that, too! I'll be doing an easy recipe, because we are expecting a lot of people.

I haven't been adventurous with my baking in a while now... mostly sticking to recipes I am familiar with and tweaking them slightly. My most ambitious attempt within the past year were my Butterfinger Cheesecake Bites. They were divine. Who describes food as divine? If you tasted these, you can't help but say they're divine. Unfortunately, no one reading this or anyone else can attest to how amazing those bites were... I baked them for my EYA group, the Manitous, back almost a year ago, either September or early October. I need to recreate these scrumptious desserts soon.



I especially love this one recipe, Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, taken/adapted from VegWeb.com. It is an easy recipe to follow, with not that many ingredients, and it is easy to change it and add/remove some things. I have made everything from cookies, to brownies, to muffins with this one recipe. Right now, I am tweaking the Happy Vegan cookies, turning them from cookies into mini muffin-like cookies. Baking in a muffin pan makes them fluffier and softer, instead of crunchy. My first time using this oven at my new place. We'll see how it ends up! I am using Jessica's birthday gift as well (well one of them, anyway). She bought me a cooling rack, and only a baker would get excited about a gift like that, because I haven't had one in the past year since I moved away from California. This recipe is also easy because there are no ingredients in it that really require cooking. You could eat this batter raw and not have to worry about the eggs. It's dairy-free! Well mine sometimes don't end up dairy-free because of the chocolate chips I use. A few times, I have covered a few rolled up balls of batter with powdered sugar, and thrown them in the freezer. My sister particularly loved them this way, it was a delicious frozen dessert, great with ice cream.

Well. First time using this oven for my baking. Success! Hope the roomies and coworkers enjoy my cookies. I had to try one for myself, hence the half eaten one in the picture. Also, to show how the inside looks. Scrumptious.


Ciao, friends. =)

Been a little M.I.A... =)

Hi friends.

It has been a long time, hasn't it? A lot has happened since I last wrote! I can't even remember what I wrote last, it has been that long. I've finally returned... hopefully returning more consistently now that I'm getting settled in my new house! The most recent update first, I guess.

We moved! From Manayunk to Conshohocken. Jessica and I were tired of our hot apartment, 3 flights of stairs, and crappy parking that Manayunk had to offer us. So forget you Manayunk, we're leaving! So we moved to Conshohocken, into a beautiful house. Where the parking is magnificent and comes with little traffic thanks to avoiding the dreaded Conshohocken curve on the 76, because we no longer have to drive on it. Yay. It is a 3 bedroom + basement, a block of the main street called Fayette, which has a bunch of things to walk to, which was a requirement to move anywhere. Jessica took the master bedroom, Jason (our newest roomie!) took the bachelor pad basement, and I have a smaller room across from Jessica. Since I took the smaller room, I sort of get 2 rooms, because the 3rd bedroom is tiny as well. Though, it'll be more of a tv room/lounge for everyone. I just get the closet hah. Currently, my room is furnished with Ikea furniture, because, let's face it, everyone loves Ikea. I am still sleeping on a futon mattress because I cannot bring myself to spend tons of $$ on a bed just yet So for now, I'm on the floor. Though, I finally have a dresser and bedside table/book shelf. It is strange to finally unpack.. means I'm not going anywhere for awhile.

I've become pretty much a Philadelphian.. I was forced to become a licensed driver, get new car registration and plates, and new insurance.. all in Pennsylvania. My goodness.

In other news, I am a working gal, finally. The 2 months off were nice, but, let's face it, I don't do well with idle time, I need some stimulation. I'm on my 3rd week of work at Devereux... and so far, so good, I guess. I'm on the fence when it comes to if I am happy or not. I'm okay, settling for now, I guess. The job itself is working with adolescent females in a residential facility that have various behavioral and emotional problems. I am trying, but my co-workers aren't the best at training. So, we'll see how I do, I guess.

I visited home, [L.A.] over a month ago now, and it was a pleasant trip home. The 2 weeks flew by, and they were filled with a trip to Disneyland with a friend and cousins, and lunches with aunts and friends from all over. I even got to play soccer with my old soccer team, because they love me. It was exciting.

Let's seee. What else. I am just about a quarter of a century old. Birthday is this Thursday! For everyone that forgets my birthday back home... it's our area code! 8.18 =) Celebrating with a trip to Cheesecake Factory, because I want to splurge and enjoy cheesecake, then wandering over to our favorite Thursday hang out, Plaza Azteca, to enjoy some margaritas and karaoke!

So, that's all folks. Pictures of the house to come soon. For now.. I'll leave you all with this. =)