baked goods in August

So, I've been temping some days... but the days I'm not working I get bored sometimes. Since I'm my mother's daughter, and my sister's sister, this means I've been cooking. Baking, even, although if I were truly my mother's daughter I would refuse to turn the oven on as "it heats up the house."

Meh. I wanted cookies. Chocolate chip cookies, to be exact. We (or, for the sake of clarity *I* ate some of them) and Joe took the rest to work. This time I remembered to use the high altitude recipe and they actually looked like cookies, rather than wafers with lumps where the chips were. I haven't yet perfected them 100%, but we are getting closer.

Then I made brownies, again with the high altitude recipe. From a box, not very exciting.

This morning I wanted muffins-- so I got out How to Cook Everything. (When he says everything, Mark Bittman means it -- there is a recipe for Gefilte fish, yick). Anyway, so I'm tooling around in the Muffins and Biscuits section... when I find popovers!

I remember my mother making popovers when I was a kid and in my memory they are a light, eggy muffiny type thing, the perfect vehicle for Nutella, jam, butter or whatever spreadable goodness you want.

I worried a little about the altitude issue, but decided I wanted to try anyway. They didn't POP as much as I'd hoped and are kind of shrimp shaped, but turned out nice and chewy and browned:



NOT PICTURED: The three I already ate.

All in all, a success-- and a recipe I will be revisiting soon.

BTW, since I stopped measuring success by whether or not anyone else in my house wants to eat my baked goods, my success level has increased tenfold.