I decided a long time ago, If I couldn’t change something, I would be the best at it that I could. That was my take on my stay-at-home girlfriend situation. I couldn’t stop cleaning and I definitely couldn’t stop cooking, well, because we had to eat. But what I could change is how enjoyable it was. Not just eating the meal or dessert, but the actual process of preparing it. And to do that required time, which I had more than enough of, and creativity.
I literally spent hours scouring the internet for new recipes. If it looked somewhat delicious and I had most, yes most of the ingredients because I believe in improvising, I would try it. For the most part, all of the dishes came out well except that one time I tried making egg plant parmesan. That was not a good look.
Now that I am working, it’s something that I still try my hardest to hold on to. Yes, I kind of have to or else I will either starve to death or be forced to start eating meat again. I also do it to challenge myself. When you spend any amount of time doing the same thing over and over again, you quickly get bored. I had gotten bored of cooking and eating the same old boring meals. I still get bored sometimes so I force myself to shake things up and create something new or something I haven’t made in a while.
Last Thursday, I decided I would get my hands dirty and make some homemade alfajores, which are traditional Argentine cookies. They are made with dulce de leche, a caramel-like sauce and shortbread cookies rolled in coconut shavings and confectioner sugar. They can also be dipped in chocolate. When I studied abroad in 2008, I survived off of them, medialunas (sweetened croissants) and ham and cheese empanadas. The dulce de leche alone is the reason I gained 20 pounds. It was everywhere and in everything. It didn’t help that I would come home and take a spoonful of it and spread it on other cookies. Don’t judge me, it’s that yummy and super simple to make unless you burn it like I did. Twice. Don’t worry, I will teach you how not to do that.
What you will need:
– one can of sweetened condensed milk
This is about to be the easiest thing you have ever made. Are you ready?
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a baking dish. Cover it tightly with aluminum foil. Then place that dish into a larger baking dish and fill with enough water so that the water line is above the line where the milk is. Do not fill it all the way to the top because you don’t want the water to leak into the covered dish. Bake for at least an hour and a half peeking inside to see if the milk turned from a white color to the golden caramel-like color. Also, you may have to add more water every once in a while so keep an eye out for that.
That’s it.
Also, should you burn the sauce like I did, dig out the burnt parts. The sauce will be really thick and will not look appetizing so you will have to loosen it up. All I did was transfer the sauce to a pot on a medium heat and added a teeny tiny bit of almond milk until it loosened up.
Happy Hump Day!
