12 ounces Chinese egg noodles
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 medium onion, sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 cups bean sprouts
2 cups bok choy, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 scallions, chopped

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the egg noodles, cooking until just tender.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
3. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water; drain well. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the skillet and fry the noodles in batches until golden and crisp. Remove from the skillet.
4. Add remaining oil to the skillet and fry onion and celery until lightly browned. Add the bean sprouts, bok choy, mushrooms and green pepper and toss to combine.
5. Toss the noodles with the vegetables in the skillet.
6. Combine chicken broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce and cornstarch. Stir this into the wok.
7. Transfer chow mein to plates and top with scallions to serve.

Makes 4 servings

2-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg, milk and vanilla.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Scoop equal portions onto a greased baking sheet and bake in the oven for 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 servings

We've been eating a lot of late lunches lately, which has made it difficult to want to make much of anything for an actual dinner. I know it's sort of repetitious, but there are many different noodle dishes that all vaguely seem the same to me, but all have different names from different regions, so I'm trying to figure them all out. This is similar to my curry dilemma and when this project is over with I can actually dedicate a week to trying a bunch of very similar recipes without worrying about accidentally repeating myself for this site. When I repeat myself, I'm going to do it on purpose!

Shannon wanted a noodle dish and made her recommendation. Since we haven't had it yet, I tried to figure out what makes Chow Mein chow mein. This is a really bare bones version as I really didn't have much of anything to add. In hindsight, one of us should've trekked to the grocery store and picked up some mushrooms, broccoli and chicken or something to really make this worthwhile. Still, it made a good base for all of the rooster sauce I squeezed all over it. I know it doesn't seem like there are any vegetables in it at all by the photograph, but I swear they're buried beneath layers of bean sprouts and noodles.

So, what makes chow mein? To my knowledge, it's the thin, fried noodles. This is going to be obvious to someone other than me, but I'm just figuring this stuff out. I was never a really big fan of Chinese food and now I'm quickly trying to familiarize myself with all of these dishes at the same time, so it's all kind of a blur. Having a wok really would've paid off again, because I ended up getting noodles all over the stove. There is an exceptionally large non-stick skillet that came with the apartment, so I used that to fry the noodles after I boiled them. This seemed to get the right texture and the sauce was simple enough, but again, I did miss the added vegetables and meat. I'll include a recipe with those, even though I excluded them. If nothing else, noodle dishes are always simple, quick and cheaper than take out.

Completely unrelated, I made some delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert. Since I think it is dangerous to keep a few dozen cookies in a studio apartment kitchen (unless of course you're into eating them all), I came up with the brilliant idea of giving some to my landlords. 4, to be exact. At least Shannon and I only ate 10 each in 2 days instead of 12. Ahem.