The Cooking Ninja

Thoughts are funny - it comes and goes just as it pleases... one minute I was all inspired with so many things to say and to write for my blog... then about 10 minutes later, poof! It's gone, just like that. Euh? Hello? Inspiration please come back! I'm not done with you yet. You hear me? Obviously not! Boo!

I wonder how professional writers work when they are not inspired to write their books or storyline? As much as I command my brain to feel inspired, it's like coaxing a dead battery to come back to life. At least a battery can be brought back from the deads with some juice. Well, I certainly can't shock myself with that kind of juice, I would certainly get a flat liner and worst, get badly burnt. No no no, that cannot work. So what can I do to get myself inspired... I'm still searching - haven't yet been able to pin-point exactly what inspires me. Sometime it's really something simple like watching children playing and laughing, or watching snow flakes falling from the sky - simple kind of pleasure. Other times nothing helps at all.

Like this morning, I was just playing a brain-dead (as Pierre calls it because it's not only addictive but it drains your brain juice) online game like Bejeweled, out of the blue all the emotions, thoughts, recent conversations hit me just like that making me smiles and laugh at my childhood memories & fantasies that I have somewhat forgotten; reminding me what it was like to be a child the same age as my daughter. And those thoughts reminded me of my recent conversations with my Little One that cracks me up with tears and laughter. So how does one gets to note all these thoughts down before they disappear in the thin air? If you do have a solution to that, please share your secret with me.

For the time being, I'll just content myself of dreaming up a thought writing cap that can automatically records downs my stories whenever they cross my mind. With a USB plug to download directly onto my PC, please!

Like my forgotten thoughts, I made these delicious oatmeal cookies a few weeks before Christmas and had forgotten to blog about it. So here it is. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies (with raisin, dark chocolates & walnuts)

Makes : approx 57 cookies (small/medium)

Ingredients

• 180 g plain flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• 140 g caster sugar
• 100 g dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 170 g butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 170 g oats
• some raisins, dark chocolates & walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180°C (350°F - gas mark 4).
2. In a big bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, sugar & dark brown sugar together.
3. In another big bowl, cream butter, eggs & vanilla together until fluffy. At the beginning, it will look like everything is separated and not coming together. Just continue whisking. It will blend together after awhile and become fluffy.
4. Stir in the flour mixture until just blend.
5. Fold in the raisins, dark chocolates & walnuts.
6. Bake it for about 11 - 13 minutes or until it's lightly golden on top. Turn your tray at mid cooking to even out the browning of cookies.

The Verdict

They are so good - fragrant, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Just the right sweetness. Pierre, who doesn't like oats at all, seems to be devouring it with great gusto like a cookie monster. LOL! Little One is also helping herself to another and yet another of these cookies.

The great thing about an oatmeal recipe is that we make different combination of nuts, dry fruits, chocolates or spices to our liking.

Notes

It is important to know your oven well when baking. My oven heats up fast after a while, so I only need to bake my cookies for 11 minutes and it is done. If your oven is not very hot, bake it longer or at a slightly higher temperature.

For creaming the wet ingredients, alternatively you can cream the butter alone until fluffy first, then whip in eggs and vanilla.

If you are adding a lot of raisins, please reduce slightly amount of sugar from the above recipe or else your cookies will be very sweet.