The Nerd Cooks

What follows is one of the yummiest ways I’ve ever encountered to cook halibut.  First, you make a heart-shaped packet out of parchement paper (good directions at: http://www.sundaysupper.com/folds.htm).  Then, you shred some zucchini and carrot, put some pesto on the fish, and drizzle olive oil and white wine over it with a bit of salt and pepper.  Fold it, then pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  An easy crowd-pleaser.  I would’ve taken pictures but I really just wanted to eat it, as did everybody else.  

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/parchment-baked-halibut-with-pesto-zucchini-carrots-10000001082470/

And, for desert, iced oatmeal cookies courtesy of smittenkitchen.com.  They aren’t the Quaker’s oatmeal cookies, that’s for sure.  I used whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and rye flour (because it was cheap and I was buying whole wheat anyway, otherwise I would’ve omitted it).  I also forgot to use nutmeg and cinnamon in the cookies (what!?  No nutmeg?  Blasphemy!) but found that the icing more than made up for the lack of flavor.  The sifting process is annoying, at best — my sifter clogged and I had to switch to a fine-meshed collander and, even still, I ended up saying “Screw it” and dumping the last half cup of ground oatmeal into the mixture without sifting it.  And after 45 minutes of sifting, I think it was warranted (and the cookies still turned out great).  I highly recommend the icing — it’s cinnamony and not too sweet.  

  http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/12/iced-oatmeal-cookies/  

Soon to come (because I know all three of you are just dying to know what I’ve been cooking): light and airy brown butter pound cake.  My first tentative trip into the world of grafting recipes onto one another in hopes of devleoping an even better recipe than the originals.  Wish me luck and come by for a taste test if you’re in the area.  =)