Update!

Since I am back in k-grad and will be for a while, I will now be here to accept packages! But please please let me know if you are sending something so that I can be on the lookout.

In other news, I read HP 6 in 3 days. Holy cow that book was good. I'm re-watching the movies too as I go and just watched HP 3 again this morning. JK Rowling knew what she was doing. I will most definitely have to go to Harry Potter world when I get back to the states. Since I am now home for the next while (until Sept. 4th or 5th I think...I have an HIV/AIDS training seminar to go to then), I hope to be able to explore my city some more and start cooking. I told you that I would post pictures of my cookie baking experiment...so here you are :)

The recipe from Babushka's cookbook. Ukraine does not have brown sugar...

Ingredients...it took FOREVER for me to find and shop for all of these ingredients. I eventually had to ask about the baking powder which is in the bigger blue packet that says TICTA on it. The smaller blue packet is vanilla powder.

My cute new red plastic bowls (set of 4 for 15 greiven...aka less than 2 bucks!). Also bought my red spatula for 10 griev...a little over $1.00.

broken up chocolate bar

Also called for chocolate shavings (when I was shaving the chocolate...it started melting in my hands. Note to self: freeze/refrigerate the chocolate before baking!)

the first batch before...

ha, and after. Fail.

Some of the cookies were edible, others were not. I experimented with each little batch whether the toaster oven needed to be hotter/cooler, whether both burners (top and bottom) should be on the whole time vs. switching halfway through...each time it was a guessing game. I will master these cookies sometime during my 2 year stint here in Ukraine :)

I halved the recipe BTW. The half recipe probably made 3 dozen cookies so I definitely didn't need to make 6 dozen. For all of the baking experts who read my blog, please please please give me any hints with chocolate chip cookies :) Halfway through the process I added more baking powder and flour, which I think are the wrong things to add. Think it's supposed to be baking soda...whoops :) but they were still edible after that. They would in fact poof up more in the oven then but deflate as soon as they were taken out. I also think that 200 grams of butter is a little too much. They were SO greasy. Look at the pan in the picture...

I have however managed to make homemade tortillas somewhat successfully. I didn't document the process as well though...

giant mess. inside my ziploc bag is the room freshener which served as my rolling pin...remember? :)

the poor tortilla I had to throw away because I didn't want to burn down my kitchen :(

I have yet to do anything productive today other than sit on the computer...so I think I may look through the cookbook and decide what I want to try and make. One of these days, I'll eventually gather enough guts to make chicken of some kind. You can bet that that process will be documented :) Lydia's first time touching raw chicken...priceless. Happy Saturday!