Rustic Tomato Mozzarella Tart

I tried to finish this post while I was stuck in Shanghai but then blogger seems to be a censored site. It's typhoon season in Hong Kong, so my flight was delayed. Ungh. We were put in some awful hotel and fed terrible food. Also, there was a sign in there that apologized for all the mosquitoes that were infesting the place! Ahh. Luckily, I'm not so prone to mosquito bites and I just figured out why...

Do Mosquitoes Love You or Hate You?
One in 10 people are highly attractive to mosquitoes so says a professor at the University of Florida. It's actually not dinner they want, but female mosquitoes (the ones that do all the work) need blood to develop fertile eggs and apparently, you've got to have some good blood for them to want  eggs to hatch in them. EW.. Now let's take a look at this list...

1. How much carbon dioxide do you emit?      

• I guess you wouldn't really know, but people who are heavier, preggers or have faster metabolisms tend to exhale more carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes are attracted to the gas apparently.

2. How sweet do you taste?         

• If you exercise quite a bit or sweat profusely, your perspiration contains lactic acid, octenol and other chemicals that mosquitoes love. Motion also gets their attention and you're emitting more carbon dioxide.

3. Are you goth? Or do you just like wearing black? 

• These buggers are highly visual and their first mode of search for humans is for dark colors.

4. How hot are you?          

• Your body temperature or warmth can make a difference. It's why they flock to pregnant women because of their extra body heat.

But then again, the American Mosquito Control Association said it could be that people who don't get bitten produce chemicals on their skin that make them more repellant and cover up smells that mosquitoes find attractive. So remember to cover up yourself with some DEET this summer! Luckily, I have my little brother who acts as my repellant. I guess I'm just not so tasty and he is (yay for me)!

Rustic Tomato Mozzarella Tart 

Makes one 9" tart

Savory Oatmeal Cookies - Parmesan & Rosemary

My friends know that I don't drink coffee, don't need to sleep much, don't need to take naps and I will function just fine. Jelly? 

But now I've started drinking coffee and taking naps because bubs does. It's like yawning. Napping is contagious. What I'm trying to get at is that...I have no idea...haha. I just wanted to say something about coffee before I introduce you to my factoid of the day. 

Factoid: Humans are Predisposed to Spill Coffee

In an experimental study conducted at UC Santa barbara, we apparently are just built to spill our drinks due to the way we walk, liquid sloshing engineering and other complicated dynamical phenomena :P They tested the extend of spills for various walking speeds and the liquid levels in the cups. So we spill coffee either by accelerating too much for a given fluid volume and generating a swirl in the cup by the way we walk.

So...when I spill my drinks at a bar, I shouldn't blame it on the booze? Haha

Anyway, I had 1/2 a block of cream cheese left after making the Jalapeño Cheese Poppers and wanted to use it before it went bad in the fridge. I love oatmeal cookies and I love savory and not too sweet desserts. So I stumbled across a recipe for savory oatmeal cookies. And I know cream cheese makes baked goods oh-so-fluffy. Also, we have tons of Rosemary plants growing next to the library at Georgetown, so I make bubs pick them up haha. So students at Georgetown, whenever you need some Rosemary there are sprouting all along NRB building and DML!

Savory Oatmeal Cookies with Parmesan & Rosemary

Loosely adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup cream cheese (or 1/2 cup sour cream, whatever you have left over)

1 cup flour
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 teaspoon rosemary (fresh)
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.
Pour into a medium size bowl 1/4 cup of water. Microwave that for maybe 30 sec so its warm. Mix in 1 cup of oats to it and mix it good. It should be pretty doughy and thick.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, sugar, egg and cream cheese. Add the oatmeal mix to this.

In another medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, fresh rosemary, parmesan, pepper).

Add the dry with the wet and gently fold until everything is incorporated.

Dollop about 1 tbsp onto a parchment paper lined baking tray and flatten then to 1/4 inch thick. Try to keep it roundish in shape (or not, however pretty you want to make it). Sprinkle on some more sea salt and crack some fresh black pepper over the cookies.

Decorate with rosemary leaves if you like again.
Bake 16-18mins.


Makes around 25-30 cookies.

These are pretty subtle tasting cookies with a sort of soft biscuit like texture. Great for mornings or afternoon teas!

Another variation would be to cut out the oatmeal and add 1/2 cup more flour for a crunchier and crispier cookie. Try dunking that in some balsamic vinegar reduction. HMMmm...

Great with some jam, honey or a smear of soft goat cheese!