I figured out how to make a cookie base out of cookies that are already made. OK, not high on the list of tres chic cuisine, but it worked in a major pinch. I was Jonesing for dessert. Wanted something sweet after this major dinner I made while we were on vacation. We stayed in this executive suite that had a full-on set-up for cooking. Only I didn't have quite all of the ingredients required to bake. So I winged it. I went to the snack dispenser at the end of the hallway. I got two packages of Famous Amos chocolate chips cookies. I also got a Snickers. I mashed the cookies up until they were crumbs, I mixed the crumbs with a 1/4 butter and 4 sugar packets from the coffee we had that morning (desperation, I tell you). I mashed the whole mess together, pressed it onto an oven-proof plate and popped it in the oven for 12 minutes at 350. The sucker actually worked. I couldn't believe it. Then I chopped the Snickers up and topped the born again cookie with it. Then I sliced up fresh strawberries and presto! Dessert. That is white trash cooking at its finest, I tell you.

Jeff and I are addicted to these marzipan chocolate rolls. They are the most amazing sweet treats a body could ever desire. It took a year-long stint in Norway to become proficient in an appreciation for marzipan. Now that I have that ability firmly within my reach, marzipan chocolate rolls are insanely, provocatively sumptious. And their brethren, the mocha chocolate macroons are nearly as addictive.

I always prefer homemade, but if yer gonna use boxed mix, Duncan Hines chocolate mocha cake mix rocks. Egads. 1 1/4 cups water, 1/2 cup oil, 3 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cardammom, beat til light and airy. Pour into a metal 9x13 cake pan, bake at 350 for 38 minutes. Here's where the real fun begins. While the cake bakes, beat 2 cubes of unsalted butter, 1 package cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar to sweeten. Again, beat til light and airy. That's the frosting. Scoop it into a pastry bag, use a star tip. Whn the cake is cool, take a 1.5 inch round cookie cutter and cut out rounds of cake. Split the rounds in half and splurt the butter cream cheese frosting in there. Throw 4-5 bittersweet choc chips in there, top with the upper portion of the cake round. Splurt another blob of pretty-looking frosting on top, pop one choc chip on top at a jaunty angle. ZING. There'ye have it. These little wonders are petite and delish and not too very difficult to make. Unfortunately, they all got eaten before a picture could be snapped.

Albacore tuna, minced green onion, wasabi mayonaise that I made with mayo & wasabi (duh), bleu, pepper-grinder medley. Mix. Shaved purple cabbage. Throw all together. Eat it UP. Lowfat alternative to double bacon cheeseburger from Babe's (which I actually haven't had in about 10 years but which I still fantasize about when I think about the word DELUXE). I'm not a fiend when it comes to lowfat this or that, but if I can make something taste delish and use a minimum of fattage in the mix, life is good. Soups are a forte. People think they're eating these decadent soups that really have these minimal amounts of fat. You eat a bucket of the stuff, feel like you're being so posh, lo & behold, the scale shows poundage loss. YippiY.

Microwave popcorn, lowfat (on the lowfat kick - have to be in a wedding in a month & a half). That was the snack of choice today. I don't know what I did in the time before microwave popcorn. I think I just went to the movies a lot. I like movie popcorn without that butter flavoring. I think the reason I like movie popcorn so much is because they use palm oil or some kind of artery-hardening stuff that makes the kernels taste so yum. Sad but true. Microwave popcorn. ::CRUNCH:: Good stuff.

Spicy double mushroom from Happy Garden. Yes. This is a good thing. All veg, some fat, some cornstarch, overall tasty treat over white rice. And don't forget the fortune cookie. Important.

I made this curry. Man, does it rock or what? It was excellent. I'm not one for attempting to make curry dishes from scratch. They never taste very good. Too much turmeric or somesuch. Anyway, I found this stuff at Safeway and it is so great, I can hardly stand it. I cubed an eggplant, diced some chicken breast (raw), chopped some yellow onion, and sautèed the whole thing up with olive oil. Cook until all lightly browned, add about 2 cups of water, let boil, add curry mix and voilà! Curry magic at your fingertips. I also made this rice. Mind you, I'm half Hawaiian, rice is like, oh I dunno, Wonder bread to some households. I've never not had white rice in my life. It's a state of being. Anyway, there was a blip of rice leftover from last night. I threw it in a pan with about a 1/2 c. H2O and a tsp. butter (yes, the real kind), salt and this peppercorn grinder medley that I ADORE made by McCormick. Anyhow, heat through and stir. Finely chop a handful of cilantro, and through it in the rice as you are about to serve. It was so meraviglioso. But then I love cilantro. Some people hate it. "Not I," said the blind man as a he took a hammer and saw. It was a strange mix of flavors, curry & cilantro, but that's how I get ides for cooking. I make it up, see how something tastes on its own merit and then tuck it in the back of my chef's head for future reference when I need a quickie meal. ::note:: rice dish an excellent use for that Chinese takeout box of rice that sits in the fridge for 3 days and then gets tossed because no one will eat it. Recycle. It's good for our landfills.