Baking, cooking, computers

I just made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and they are delightful.


In other news, Evan and I discovered that the reason it seemed like the overheating had gotten worse is because it has. My computer's fan isn't running at all, which explains a lot. So I've ordered a new one for $50 and Evan is almost certain he'll be able to install it for me. The intense heat of the computer killed my hard drive so I just had to buy a new one of those for $100 and have Evan install THAT. Also, my battery is pretty much shot, so unless I want to use my computer plugged in all the time, I'm gonna have to invest in one of those too. The heat killed that part too. Evan is pretty sure that the rest of the computer should be fine. He was saying that if it doesn't work, it generally won't turn on, there's no gradual for the rest of the parts(sort of). But he doesn't know if it's affected the life of the computer, so it might not last as long as I'd like it too. I'm still going with fixing it though, because a couple hundred bucks is a lot cheaper than a grand, which is what a new one would cost(i'm not buying some shitty PC again, I'll buy a new Mac and take better care of it for my next computer). The good news is that my new hard drive is 3 times as much memory(320 GB) so that'll be nice to have.

Other things I've baked lately:
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins but I substituted brown sugar for white, butter for the oil, did a whole cup of pumpkin(which I baked and pureed myself the other day), and heavy cream for the water. I also didn't have any cloves, so left that out, and I forgot the chocolate chips but didn't even realize it until I'd eaten two of the delicious delicious muffins.

I also made Pumpkin cookies the other day but now I can't find the recipe I used. Oh dear. The people who were at my Halloween Party will vouch for their deliciousness.

What else have I been making...? Oh! I made Chicken Tikka Masala from scratch on Tuesday night! I got the recipe from the Co-op monthly advertisement. I'll type it out so you can make this too! I'm sure it would work just fine with tofu, or just leave the "meat" out of it, and pour the sauce over rice and veggies.

To make the marinade:
Combine 1 cup of plain yogurt with juice from half a lemon, one teaspoon of fresh chopped ginger, 2 teaspoons of black pepper and one teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and salt.
Place 2 pounds of boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into one inch chunks, into a glass or metal bowl, add the marinade and refrigerate overnight.

To make the sauce:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 serrano pepper, diced [i substituted some jalapeños from my garden]
2 tablespoons garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon each of garam masala [i found this at the co-op in bulk, so I'm sure you can find it wherever you live, too!], ground cumin, paprika, and coriander
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup tomato sauce, plain
1 cup heavy cream

In a 6 quart sauce pan [or 5 quart soup pot, in my case], heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, serrano pepper, garam masala, cumin, and coriander and saute 3 minutes more. Add the tomato paste and simmer 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and heavy cream and simmer 15 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, in a heavy skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the marinated chicken, stirring often. Add the cooked chicken pieces to the warm sauce and mix well. Serve over basmati rice.