Merry Christmas

I was going to write a deep introspective blog tonight about me, my life, how I hurt the one I love, all that crap but I've just finished a drunken Christmas Eve dinner & I'm not too drunk to know what a bad idea that would be in my current condition so instead here are some pretty pictures I took today at my Aunt & Uncle's in Del Mar California, I'm spending Christmas here this year, which is fun!  

Cool People Alex Likes

I thought I would take this opportunity to promote some of my cool friends’ blogs, if I’ve left yours out, please let me know:
First my friend Thesy (Tay-Z) Surface’s Blog:

THESY SURFACE IN LOS ANGELES

From Blog Photos

Yenta in training Ms Lauren Rosenberg:

GOOD THING OR BAD THING? DISCUSS!

From Blog Photos

She's the woman in the picture but I bet you could figure that out.

Hey Lisette, it’s time to update your blog and come up with a snappier title:

LISSETTE SCHUSTER'S BLOG

Mr. SOKRATES FRANTZIS.  That’s some name, huh!

CALL ME SOKRATES

I love this picture.  Oh and BTW, he's the dude in the shot!

And Last But Far, Far from Least:

My long, long, longtime friend Steve Elzer has also writen a Blog about his weight loss:

The Facebook Diet: How I Lost Weight & Gained My Family by Making a Social Net Work

From Blog Photos

Steve's in the middle along with me and Larry Reynolds (No he doesn't make parchment paper). This might have been taken a few years ago.

If I've forgotten yours please let me know!

That’s a Wrap

For those of you who don’t know that’s a show biz term for the end of the day or film or whatever so I guess it’s an apropos subject for my last baking blog is…wraps!

First one is:

Parchment Paper

Okay I guess it’s not technically a wrap, more like a liner but it’s paper and comes on a roll so that’s good enough for me.  If you bake you MUST use this stuff, nothing sticks to it!  I use it to line cookie sheets, cake pans & pretty much anything else that goes in the oven.  When using it to bake cakes, brownies, etc you need to spray the paper with cooking spray so it peels off easily.  I’m showing you 2 different brands because they are a bit different.  The Reynolds Parchment is thicker and is perfect for baking cookies, oven fries and Hors d'oeuvre, anything that just goes on a sheet and into the oven.  Not only is it a non-stick barrier, but the thick paper soaks up some of the grease so the bottoms stay crisp instead of soggy.

The Wilton’s is thinner so it’s easier to use in baking pans, pour in something thick like brownie batter and the paper will mold to the sides of the pan. For cakes just cut a piece to fit the bottom and the spray the whole pan.

This is the time of year to stock up on parchment, some stores only carry it during the holidays and check around, there are lots of coupons to clip! You can also find it here:

Okay, so this is truly a wrap:

Glad Press'n Seal® Wrap

Before I go on let me give credit to my agent Neil Kreppel, it was his idea to add this to “Cool Stuff Alex Likes”.  This stuff is great; it sticks to almost everything, especially plastic. Regular plastic wrap tends not to cling to plastic too well, maybe it feels uncomfortable being so clingy to other plastics, maybe it needs some cultural sensitivity training.

Glad Press'n Seal® Wrap is available in both regular and freezer wraps, I never know if that really makes a difference, maybe just in price.

That woman I've mentioned previously; she didn't like Press'n Seal® Wrap.  Her father did, but not her, maybe that's why things went in the toilet with us or maybe I was just an idiot.  Yeah, you're right, it's the latter.

Gotta Have the Right Tools for the Job

I think that title sounds best in a Southern drawl.  Okay this is the last of the baking posts because the holidays are upon us & I’m getting bored writing about this kind of stuff anyway.  So here we go with my favorite baking tools:

First off you MUST have a stand mixer.  Those handheld jobs are a pain in the butt to use and you can’t add stuff while you’re mixing and they just don’t do as good of a job.  Ask any chef and there’s no doubt which stand mixer is the best

My KitchenAid Stand Mixer

From Blog Pictures

Aint she a beaut?  This baby’s about 20 years old and probably has at least another 30 to go.  You like that textured gray finish, I had to order that special, very macho, right?  What makes KitchenAid mixers great is not only are they built to last forever (and right here in the good olde USA) but their planetary action really mixes stuff great.  You can either get the tilt head type or the bowl lift type like I have.  I would recommend getting the largest size available, 6 quart, because a big one can do little, but a little one can’t do big (Whoa, does that make me a philosopher?).  KitchenAid mixers are available everywhere, just get it from whomever has it the cheapest, but remember if you get it at a Bed, Bath & Beyond store, not online, you can always get 20% off with their ubiquitous coupons. I guess a mixer's a beyond.

Where, Oh Where Has Alex Gone???

I had a physical today, now I just need a mental.  Here’s a list of my weights over from October 2002 to December 2009.  Not too shabby, huh?

Date	Weight
Wednesday, December 09, 2009	161
Monday, December 01, 2008	212
Friday, May 30, 2008	221
Friday, December 21, 2007	233
Friday, November 30, 2007	230
Thursday, June 21, 2007	236
Thursday, November 30, 2006	236
Tuesday, May 30, 2006	238
Tuesday, April 04, 2006	239
Friday, March 03, 2006	240
Friday, October 14, 2005	244
Thursday, September 01, 2005	246
Thursday, February 10, 2005	245
Wednesday, December 01, 2004	238
Monday, July 26, 2004	242
Wednesday, December 03, 2003	240
Thursday, October 03, 2002	226
Here it is by weight:
Date	Weight
Thursday, September 01, 2005	246
Thursday, February 10, 2005	245
Friday, October 14, 2005	244
Monday, July 26, 2004	242
Friday, March 03, 2006	240
Wednesday, December 03, 2003	240
Tuesday, April 04, 2006	239
Tuesday, May 30, 2006	238
Wednesday, December 01, 2004	238
Thursday, June 21, 2007	236
Thursday, November 30, 2006	236
Friday, December 21, 2007	233
Friday, November 30, 2007	230
Thursday, October 03, 2002	226
Friday, May 30, 2008	221
Monday, December 01, 2008	212
Wednesday, December 09, 2009	161

Alex Like Cookies!!!

So I made a big batch of chocolate chip granola cookie dough last week and that presented some problems. I didn’t want to leave any opened packages of chocolate chips around and the Cacao Barry chips come in a two pound package so now I have about 10 pounds of cookie dough.
I like to let cookie dough sit for a few days before baking so all the flavors meld together and you can scoop well proportioned mini-balls of dough. I rolled the balled cookies in the sprinkles so they’d look festive. I took a bunch to my commercial agents today and the rest are in the freezer, until the next event. Here is the recipe, it’s from Epicurious.com.   Epicurious.com is part of the vast Condé Nast Empire which includes Vogue and The New Yorker and all that fancy-schmancy stuff.  I’ve adapted their recipe a bit, I hope Anna Wintour doesn't come over and kick my butt!

Granola Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 cups sifted White Whole Wheat Flour (Both King Arthur & Trader Joe’s make good flours, I think Trader Joe’s is King Arthur because these use to sell that brand & the bags look almost identical)

2 teaspoons baking soda (use a fresh box; c’mon they’re only a buck!)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 lb. unsalted Plugrá butter, softened (it needs to be softened, very important)
1 1/3 cup packed dark brown cane sugar
1 1/3 cup granulated cane sugar
 4 teaspoons Nielsen-Massey Vanilla
 4 large eggs room temperature lightly beaten
 4 cups Trader Joes Just the Clusters Maple Pecan Granola
(This stuff is just too good)

From Blog Pictures

(but make sure and check the nutritionals)

From Blog Pictures

(whack the bag a little to break up the big pieces)

1 lb Cacao Barry Mini Chips

Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat together butter, sugars, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then turn mixer to lowest speed, beat in egg until just combined, and then add flour mixture alternating with the granola and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Place batter in a high quality tight fitting plastic container & refrigerate for at least two days or up to one week.

When ready to bake, preheat a convection oven to 375°F. Using a very small cookie scoop (don’t buy a cheap plastic one) scoop out small scoops of dough. Dip the rounded tops in sprinkles if you want and place on a cookie sheet (not insulated, I don’t like those) covered with parchment paper and bake for about 7 or 8 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely & store in an airtight container. If you have left over dough, scoop out balls and place in a high quality tight fitting plastic container one layer at a time with wax paper between the layers and freeze. You can bake them from frozen it just takes about a minute longer.

Here’s The Dough:

From Blog Pictures

The Frozen Balls:

From Blog Pictures

The Final Product:

From Blog Pictures

Can I Have Your Fat?

That line is from “Caddyshack” one of my favorite movies and a substance I’m trying to avoid. But if you want to bake you need some sort of fat, usually butter, margarine or shortening. Here are a couple I like:
Plugrá European-Style Butter

From Blog Pictures

Plugrá European-Style Butter has less water than regular butter so stuff comes out much creamier, I’m sure there some fancy scientific reason, look it up if you care that much. Many markets have it but it seems to be cheapest at Smart & Final. Butter is considered the more gourmet choice and I like using it because I can’t eat too much, really I should eat no dairy, so it gives me a good reason to stop eating.

If you’re going to bake with margarine there are two things you need to know. First off you have to use hard stick margarine, you can’t use tub margarine, it won’t work. However most stick margarines still, even today, are chock full of trans fats. One good stick margarine without trans fat is I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Sticks.

From Blog Pictures

This stuff is quite good, quite inexpensive and available almost everywhere. Go here for a coupon. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Sticks are not vegan though, they have a small amount of dairy whey. There’s another brand that is vegan, it's a lot more expensive though.  If I try it and like it I’ll let you know.

Top Secret Mission

Sorry I haven’t written in a few days. I was working on a commercial the past couple of days but the director threatened all of us with bodily harm (no joke) if we said anything about the spot. After he made that rant, I mean announcement, he turned to me and “Alex how did you lose all that weight?” Could that not be cooler? He had lost a lot as well so I made sure to return the compliment. Kissing ass always helps!