Simply Piee

Light Winter Snack [Honey Wheat Pizza Dough]

2012-01-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

A new year with new goals. After my trip from Hong Kong and Taiwan this past December, I am suddenly motivated to learn to read Chinese. My other goal is to engage in a healthier lifestyle, which includes more water intake, exercise, and a better diet.

On a different note, it's been cold in San Francisco. (Yes, it's not freezing temperatures, but us Franciscans have a low tolerance for "cold".) The best way to deal with it is to cook a dish that will keep me warm and warm up the kitchen as well. The idea: homemade pizza.

For my pizza, I made a honey wheat pizza dough. I used mozzarella cheese, fennel, fuyu persimmon, and Italian sausages for toppings. The lovely light licorice flavor flavor mingled with sweet ripen persimmon with spicy sausages was the perfect combination.

If a pizza stone isn't available, use a cast iron skillet to bake a pizza for the perfect crispy crust.

Note: The secret to a crispy crust without a pizza stone is to use a cast iron skillet. It handles the heat extremely well and is nonstick once seasoned so it's perfect for pizza making!

Honey Wheat Pizza Dough
Serves 1 for a meal or a snack for 2

Ingredients
1/4 cup water
1/2 heaping tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp honey
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

Directions

Add honey into the water and microwave for 40 seconds. Dip a finger in and if it feels like a hot shower then it's at the correct temperature or 110°F if you're OCD about precision.
Add yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes.
In another bowl, add flour, olive oil, and salt. Make a hole in the middle and pour water in. Use a spoon and mix everything together.
Knead by hand for 7 to 10 minutes until smooth. Grease a bowl, place dough in bowl, and cover with saran wrap. Let it rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it doubles in size.
Preheat oven to 500°F and place cast iron skillet in oven (pizza stone or baking sheet).
Roll out dough and add desired toppings.
Bake for 5 to 10 minutes until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbling.

Light Winter Pizza

Toppings
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 persimmon, diced
half a fennel, sliced thinly
1 hot Italian sausage, cooked and sliced
olive oil
sea salt
Mozzarella cheese, grated

semolina flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 500°F and place cast iron skillet in oven.
Divide into 4 pieces, which will make 3.5 inch pizzas. Sprinkle semolina flour on counter to prevent dough sticking to the surface. Roll out dough.
Brush with olive oil and a couple shakes of sea salt. Sprinkle on garlic, persimmon, fennel, and sausage evenly on pizza. (Remember: less is more. Too many toppings and the pizza will get soggy). Last step, sprinkle a thin layer of cheese.
Transfer to cookie sheet with semolina flour to prevent sticking. Go to oven and tilt the cookie sheet so the pizza slides onto the heated cast iron skillet. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until crust is browned. Use a metal spatula to retrieve the hot pizza. Slice and enjoy.

Eek! Baking for Someone Else! [Apple Bars]

2012-01-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

For the last three years, I've been experimenting and baking goodies for my loved ones and special family occasions. I didn't mind sharing the love even if the recipe didn't turn out the way I wanted. It was all a learning process. How else am I suppose to improve?

I suppose after three years, I have developed a reputation for myself. My boyfriend constantly praises me and always tells his coworkers and friends what I make and shares the goodies with them. My grandma and aunt make requests every couple of weeks for their favorite cake. My family is the hardest on me. They either like it or don't and they make it known to me about how they feel about my latest creation.

Since my sister started her full-time job at an accounting firm, she has been attending happy hours, office parties, and events. Earlier this month, she discovered that there was going to be a holiday dessert party and asked if I would be willing to make her something. I immediately said, "Yes" and came up with apple bars. I thought a dessert that wasn't too sweet and easy to handle with fingers would be a good choice, because I figured that most people would bring cookies and cakes.

I tested out the recipe and it was the hit with the family, but that didn't matter the night before the desert was due. I was nervous and anxious, because I wasn't sure if my sister's coworkers would enjoy it. I was also worried because it was my sister's reputation on the line not just mine! I didn't want her coworkers to think that she brought a crap dessert to the event. In the end, I over-worried and she told me that her coworkers enjoyed it and loved how it wasn't too sweet.

Apple Bars

Note: It's a multi-step process, but everything can be easily put together in a couple of hours. Most of the time is spent baking. I have organized the recipes in the order steps to complete. It starts with making the filling, then crust, praline, and the topping last. We make the filling first so it has time to cool down, then the crust. While it is in the oven, we make the praline and topping. Once the crust comes out of the oven, we break the praline into pieces and assemble all the components for the final bake.

Filling
adapted from Dorel

Ingredients
4 cups diced apples (approximately 4 apples), 1/2 to 3/4 inch sized pieces
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP granulated sugar
4 TBSP cornstarch
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup water

Directions

Sprinkle lemon over apples in saucepan.
Add sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix well.
Microwave water for 2 minutes and add to pan. Turn heat to medium low. Stir mixture until thickened.
Remove from heat and cool.

Crust
adapted from Foodgal and Oishi Food

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 1 1/2 TBSP powdered sugar
8 TBSP butter, in pieces
1/8 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325° F.
Combine flour and sugar until mixed. Add butter and mix with fingers until crumbly.
Press into a 9 inch square pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Increase oven temperature to 375° F.

[Optional] Praline Topping

Note: I highly recommend this step because it provides an additional layer of complexity.

Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

In a skillet, sprinkle sugar evenly across the surface. Turn the heat to medium low. As the sugar starts melting and turning color, swirl the sugar around. If necessary, use a wooden spoon to stir in the stubborn sugar pieces that aren't melting.
When it's the color of dark amber, take it off the heat and pour onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Quickly tilt the cookie sheet so the praline spreads into a thin layer.

Topping
adapted from Joy of Baking

Ingredients
1/4 cup flour
1 TBSP granulated sugar
2 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 heaping tsp cinnamon
large pinch of salt
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 TBSP butter, in pieces

Directions

Add all the ingredients in the bowl except butter and mix with a spoon until evenly mixed. Add butter and pinch with fingers until crumbly.

Assemble

With the baked crust cooling, crack the praline into small crushed pieces with your hands and sprinkle praline on top of the crust. Add a layer of apple filling (about 3/4 inch thick). Sprinkle topping evenly over the surface.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
Allow it to cool to room temperature before cutting into bars.

Appreciation [Boston Cream Pie]

2011-12-26T00:26:00.000-08:00

Appreciation is showing that we care and value someone. As a teacher, working with kids bring joy when they accomplish a milestone. At a preschool level, I work with not just the children, but also their parents. It's a packaged deal and sometimes we have different opinions about discipline methods and expectations. It's my job to help the parents understand that what we do is intended to help children learn and grow. When we bump heads, I fear that I may have stepped on their toes too much so when the holidays roll around and parents go out of their way to purchase gifts of appreciation, it makes me so happy, because I know that what I do is of value to them.

The Christmas much like Thanksgiving is about showing those around you that you care about them. I brought this cake to dinner and it was a hit at Thanksgiving. All I can say, is Thank You Joy of Baking! You're magical. I made a large 9-inch cake for the dinner, but for photography purposes a mini one was made.

The components are easy to put together. The pastry cream can be made the night before, the cake in the morning, and assembled a couple hours later after the cake cools.

Holidays, Whoo!

2011-12-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Wow. The year has certainly passed by quick. I've been so busy that I didn't realize it's nearly a new year and I have to pack! I'll be going on vacation, but I have scheduled a post to appear on Monday to keep you company!

Happy Holidays and Have a wonderful New Year! See you in 2012!

Delicious, but Ugly Series #2 - [Cheese Pancakes]

2011-12-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

I like simple and quick when I'm craving for a snack. Ever since I discovered Vanilla Garlic and his damn posts about delicious cheese he consumes, I've been craving cheese. I specifically wanted crispy melted cheese and these pancakes satisfied my craving.

Aiiiyaaah. Overexposed image. [insert sad face]

Cheese Pancakes

adapted from Use Real Butter

Note: This is based on Use Real Butter's green onion dough and instructions. The best part, no measurements are needed and you can health it up with whole wheat flour.

Ingredients

1:1 ratio of whole wheat to all-purpose flour (or only all-purpose flour)

water

sea salt

pepper

grated cheese (Mozzarella, Cheddar, or Parmesan. Or a mix of the three)

crushed garlic (I used a garlic press)

Directions

Put desired amount of flour in a bowl. For one, I use about 1/2 cup of flour. Start with 2 tablespoons of water. Mix and if it's still too dry. Add more water by teaspoons and continue mixing. If too much water is added, simply mix in a bit of flour. It's the right consistency when the dough is slightly sticky to the touch. Knead for 5 to 10 minutes until is soft and smooth. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Take 1 1/2 to 2 inches ball of dough and roll out as thin as you can. Sprinkle a bit of garlic evenly on top. Then add salt, pepper, and cheese evenly on surface as well. Leave about 1/2 inch of untouched dough along the edge.
Start from the bottom and roll upwards so it forms a long cylinder. Start with one end and roll inwards so it starts looking like snail or cinnamon roll. Press down with the palm of your hands so it flattens the snail. Roll the dough as thin as you can. This is important, because if it's too thick you'll get burnt cheese and raw dough.
Sprinkle cheese on top and press into the dough with palms of your hand. (Scroll to bottom to see visually what I'm referring to)
Heat skillet over low heat. It's ready when water is sprinkled and immediately sizzles. Don't add oil to the skillet. Once the pancake is added to the pan, the cheese will release enough oil to prevent it from sticking. Place a pancake in skillet, you know it's ready to flip when the cheese on top begins to melt. Flip pancake. Wait 40 seconds and check to see if the bottom is nicely browned.
You're done. Serve with apple slices. A different form of cheese and crackers!

Step #4 Sprinkling cheese and pressing into pancake

Dessert for Two #2 - [Caramel Coffee Panna Cotta]

2011-12-01T00:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I'm taking the bus or waiting for someone, I start brainstorming. Flavors, cakes, cookies, and other elements explode and collide into beautiful colors. Once in awhile, a brightness will outshine all the other fireworks going off and I know it's the one to test out in the kitchen.

This is one of those ideas. In highschool, Starbuck's Caramel Frappuccino was the "thing" to spend my allowance on. At least two days a week, I would purchase a tall frappuccino and enjoy the sweet combination of caramel, whipped cream, and caffeine. After awhile, I grew out of it. It stopped tasting as wonderful and it started to taste one dimensional. It lost its "wow" factor.

With a carton of heavy cream and milk sitting in the fridge, I thought a coffee panna cotta sounded perfect, but what if I elevated it by adding caramel. It's the sophisticated version of Starbuck's Caramel Frappuccino in dessert form.

Caramel Coffee Panna Cotta
adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Note: For extra Starbuck's awesomeness, garnish with caramel sauce and whipped cream. =)

Serves 2 to 4
(depending on the size of your glasses)

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole milk
3/4 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 TBSP sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp instant coffee powder

Directions

In a bowl, sprinkle gelatin over milk. Let it soften while making caramel.
Microwave heavy cream for 30 to 45 seconds until warm to the touch. Set aside.
Sprinkle sugar in a pot over medium low heat. When the sugar starts liquefying, turn the heat to low. As the sugar turns into a dark amber, remove from heat and let it turn into a dark chestnut brown. If the colors stops, return to stove top over low heat. When the desired color is achieved, add warmed heavy cream and salt. If lumps form, dissolve over low heat.
When caramel is smooth, add whole milk and coffee powder. Keep the heat on low and allow the mixture to warm up. When the gelatin dissolves, remove from heat. Whatever you do, do not let the mixture boil.
In a heatproof bowl, put a strainer on top and pour the mixture. Let the mixture come to room temperature or put it in the refrigerator for 20 to 25 minutes.
Once the mixture cools, give it a good stir and divide it into glasses of your choice. (I have used shot glasses, martini glasses, and ramekins).
Let it firm up in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Garnish with shaved chocolate or fresh whipped cream and caramel sauce.

Bees and Pumpkin [Pumpkin Truffles]

2011-11-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

Letters appear across the screen as my fingers tap at the keyboard. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a shadow darting around. I take a look and notice a large bee crawling around the entrance to the hive. Several more bees fly in and out of the hive. A few fall down and their tiny insects legs struggle to crawl across the ground. Their wings flutter, but it does not carry them in the air. The end is near, my friends.

If you're questioning why I am heartless and destroying pollen loving insects, the bees decided to make a home out of my house walls. Yes, in between my walls. If I put my ears against the wall, I can hear low buzzing and chewing noises.

I intended to make this post Thanksgiving related, but life happens and you get to hear about it instead. I never heard about Pumpkin Truffles until I read Blunder Construction's post. The idea of a pumpkin pie in truffle form was ingenious and I ran with the idea. I added some twists that I read from Eat the Love's pumpkin pie post. I loved his idea of cooking down the pumpkin puree to intensify the flavor and adding caramel to add another layer of complexity.

I had the boyfriend bring these treats to share with his coworker. They loved the initial crack from the dark chocolate outer layer with a creamy ginger pumpkin center.

Pumpkin Truffles

Inspired by Eat the Love & Blunder Construction

Note: (1) The ginger flavor is pretty pronounced. If you aren't a fan of ginger, reduce it to 3/4 tsp. (2) If you prefer sweeter chocolate, use 2 cups chocolate chips + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil to coat the truffles.

Servings 28 to 30

Ingredients

1 cup (220g) pumpkin puree

6 sheets (99g) graham crackers

1/2 cup (50g) sliced almonds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp vanilla

dash of nutmeg

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

2 TBSP heavy cream

1/8 tsp salt

150g dark chocolate

Directions

In a skillet, cook pumpkin puree over medium low heat for 7 to 10 minutes. Stir frequently and stop when the puree has reduced by half and the color has darkened. Transfer the puree to a clean bowl.
To the pumpkin puree, stir in cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Microwave whipping cream for 10 - 15 seconds to warm it up.
In a pot, over medium heat add sugar. Watch the sugar. When it first turns into amber, turn the heat off and let the residual heat heat continue cooking the sugar. When it stops turning color, return to the stove top to slowly heat it up again. Stop when it's a dark chestnut brown and it's smoking. Once the desired color is achieved, add heavy cream. Continue stirring as you pour the cream in. If caramel hardens, turn the heat on low and stir until smooth.
Mix the hot caramel into the pumpkin puree.
In a food processor, process the crackers until it's a fine powder. Set aside 2 tablespoons for garnish. Do the same with the almonds, process it into a fine powder. Mix both together in a bowl.
Add the pumpkin mixture into the dry powder and mix well.
Form 1 teaspoon sized balls with your hands and placed on a cookie sheet lined with waxed or parchment paper. Cover with saran wrap and allow it firm up in the freezer for a couple of hours.
Melt chocolate over a double boiler. When nearly melted, take the bowl of the heat and let the residual heat melt the rest. Drop a pumpkin ball into the chocolate and use a fork to pick it up so all the excess chocolate drips away.
Place on parchment paper, garnish with reserved graham cracker crumbs, and allow it to cool. Store in fridge.

Thanksgiving 2011 + A Simple Pasta Dish to use up Leftover Turkey [Turkey Pesto Linguine]

2011-11-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

With both kitchen doors closed, I turned on the heater and let the warm air wake me up in the gloomy kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. I didn't mind waking up early to make my Boston Cream Pie. I started with the pastry cream, followed by the sponge cakes. While the cakes were baking, I moved a table next to the window in the living room to get what light I could from our cloudy SF morning to take photos of the pumpkin truffles I made last night. Mid session, a high pitched beep-beep distracted me. My timer. I ran from the living room to the kitchen to check on the cakes. Perfect: lightly browned and a flat surface. After getting the cakes on the cooling rack, I packed up six shiny round truffles, grabbed my purse, and ran out the door.

Thirty minutes later, I arrived at my boyfriend's work place and shoved the truffles into his hand. Rambled about how it's pumpkin and to ask his coworkers to taste test for me. He tried asking me some questions, but I cut him off and said I need to get going and finish my cake and mashed potatoes for dinner.

After I arrived home, I immediately made ganache and assembled the Boston Cream Pie. Peeling potatoes was my next task. I managed to get the potatoes in boiling water and set up my next photo shoot: a mini Boston cream pie. Done. Time to return to the kitchen and finish mincing shallots, and squeezing and zesting a lemon. Another beep went off and it's time to drain the potatoes. Done. Time to mash and add warm milk and butter. Fold in shallots and lemon juice and zest. Glancing over at the clock, I realized it was 4:30 PM and I didn't eat anything all day except for a cup of milk in the morning

Strangely enough, I didn't feel hungry. I felt relaxed and happy, because I created dishes that I was proud of. I love hectic days centered around preparing food for people that I love. Later that night, my family and I brought pumpkin truffles, a Boston cream pie, candied yams, and lemon shallot mashed potatoes to my Auntie's house. She had roasted turkey, a side of nuo mi fan, and crab salad waiting for us.

A confession: My favorite part about Thanksgiving Day isn't the actual dinner, but the next day when my mom makes jook (rice porridge) with the turkey carcass. Oh god, orgasm in mouth. Another way to use up leftover turkey is to make a simple and easy turkey pesto pasta dish.

Turkey Pesto Linguine

Note: You can easily replace ground turkey with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. Simply shred 2 handfuls of turkey, add the seasonings, and heat it up in the skillet. Set aside and continue with Step #2.

Serves 1

Ingredients
2 handfuls of ground turkey
1/2 tsp dried minced onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp fish sauce

1 serving of linguine/spaghetti, cooked
4 to 5 handfuls of baby spinach, washed
3 to 4 TBSP pesto

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, place ground turkey in the skillet and flatten with a spatula. Wait 2 - 3 minutes until it's brown and crispy. Flip the turkey meat over onto the other side and wait another 3 to 4 minutes. When it is cooked thoroughly, break into smaller pieces with a spatula and transfer it to a bowl.
In the same skillet over low heat, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of pesto to warm up.
When it's sizzling and you can smell the pesto, add the spinach and pasta. Add the cooked turkey when the spinach is semi-cooked. Toss the ingredients together and serve. Garnish with some grated Parmesan cheese.

NYC recap [Hawthorn Tea Recipe]

2011-11-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

Warning: This is a photo intense post. If you just want the recipe, scroll all the way to the end.

When I visited New York last month, I was on a foodie adventure. Forget about the sights, it was all about the food. Why visit landmarks when there is a chance that a food establishment might close before you're able to visit again? I did visit a couple of landmarks... Rockefeller Center, High line, Charging Bull...that's about it...However, my friends and I did enjoy second and third lunches and dinners. Oh, shopping was a part of our day as well.

View from On Top of the Rock

Rockefeller Center

Shaved Iced Shop: So light and fluffy with awesome toppings. Perfect on a hot day at Hester Street Fair.

This is indeed crack. I ate it for breakfast and I was in heaven. (Yes, it is super sweet, but the crust, filling, and texture went so well together that the sugar rush wasn't even an issue)

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

il laboratorio del gelato: mango

This was my 2nd dinner. I tried the wasabi tonkotsu ramen and the broth had a hint of wasabi...oooh sent me over the edge. The ramen could use some work...it wasn't that chewy and the order wasn't piping hot.

Over-rated. Expensive and the pizza lacked the "wow" factor.

Nuts @ Times Square (get the pun?). Those nuts4nuts carts are crazy addictive. I LOVED the cashews. I bought some to nom at the airport.

Onya: I know you can't see the udon, but the fresh udon was chewy and full of flavor. SOOOOO goood. You see all the tempera crisps? yah, self-serve so I piled it on.

Prosperity Dumplings: it doesn't look like much, but 5 potstickers for $1 tastes amazing. You can't complain about them when it's that cheap, yo.

Mmmm....fresh takoyaki balls

High Line was gorgeous, but People's Pop made the visit even better. I had the golden plum pop and it was full of plum-y goodness with hints of ginger and plum flesh. I NEED to go back to NY for some more of this!!

My friend ordered the grape shaved ice. (that's his hand over there). It was pretty interesting watching the guy scrape the ice from that ice block.

One of the most memorable moments was eating at Xi'an noodles...the noodles were wonderful and everything the reviews says it is...but what stood out for me was their hawthorn tea. It tasted like hawflakes in liquid form. WTF. Mind blowing. (It's the equivelent of Startucks's apple cider...apple pie in liquid form. Say what?) I fell in love. I had NO idea that hawthorn came dried and one could make a tea out of it, it became my mission to brew tea when I returned home.

HELLO noodles.

Typical asian plating, but the chewy noodles with the spicy cumin lamb sauce was a great combo. My tea on the upper left helped kill the tingling sensation from the spicy sauce.

When I arrived back home, the first thing I did was drop by Chinatown to purchase dried hawthorn to brew tea.

The brand I use.

Dried Hawthorn for Tea.

Dried Longan

The Tea. P.S. Please excuse my dirty window in the back ground

Hawthorn Tea (sweetened with longan)

Note: This version is much tarter and less sweet than the store version, but I prefer it that way. If you prefer it sweeter, add some rock sugar. The great thing about making Chinese teas is that you can eyeball everything, but I did weigh out ingredients for those that work better with exact numbers (and I just wanted an excuse to use my scale).

Serves 1

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups water
25g or 1/2 cup or 2 small handfuls of dried hawthorn
30g or 1/4 cup or 1 handful of dried longan

Directions

Boil water in a pot.
While water is boiling, rinse hawthorn and longan a few times and let it soak in water for 10 minutes. Rinse again.
When the water is boiling, add the drained ingredients into the pot. Turn down the heat and allow it simmer for 30 minutes.
When finished, it should be lightly sweetened by the longan. If you prefer it sweeter, add rock sugar. You can drink the beverage hot or cold.

If you can't eat it, practice your photography skills. [Pumpkin Bar Fail]

2011-11-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

I've been gorging on junk food since my trip to NYC. In an attempt to eat "healthier," I thought that I would create a hearty pumpkin bar for breakfast. The results: bland, creamy, and dense bar with an odd texture. Epic fail. Since I couldn't let the food go to waste, I took some photos so the "bar" served some purpose during it's lifetime.

I find the stringy fibers of the pumpkin gorgeous.

Oooh, dead looking bars.

On the outside, you're hot....on the inside, you're ugly. Why? =(

3 Types of Cookies From ONE Batch of Cookie Dough. Whooo! [Chocolate Snaps]

2011-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Snaps

I went down to Anaheim this past weekend for Blizzcon 2011 and I nerded it out! LOVED D3 and I cannot wait for it to come out. It's going to be AMAZING!! Hello to all the future monks and demonhunters!

After my last post on Oct. 15, I realized that I was finally out of photos to upload. Wow. I didn't anticipate that happening. Since I've been busy with interviews and vacations this past month, I have been missing my kitchen time. Maybe that's why I lost 2 pounds this month? Today, I decided that I would finally bake chocolate snaps! On my way to the store to purchase butter, my brain started firing off different combinations that I could make with the dough. I ended up with chocolate, strawberry, and peppermint.

The recipe worked great for me! The cookies came out light and crispy. The plain chocolate was good, but the peppermint was a winner for me. It only beat strawberry because...well, peppermint > strawberry.

FYI: The photos are different from my usual style, because I wanted to experiment. Let me know what you think. =)

Strawberry Chocolate

Peppermint Snaps

Chocolate Snap Cookies
adapted from In Jennie's Kitchen

Makes 66 cookies

Note: I understand that my measurements are a mix of grams and cup/spoons, which is confusing. I should explain that those are the measurements I used. As we all know, weight and cup/spoons can vastly differ even if the recipe claims the amount is similar. For example, the original recipe called for 1g or 1/8 tsp of salt, but when I weighed the amount of salt, it was insane so I decided to use 1/8 tsp instead. I also decreased the amount of sugar used in the original, because I don't like my cookies too sweet and the amount of brown sugar was too much for me. So I opted for 4 TBSP brown sugar instead of the original 62g, which fits MY tastebuds. The adjustments works for my palette and I'm sure the original is great as well. Please visit In Jennie's Kitchen for the original recipe.

Ingredients
129g all-purpose flour
6g cocoa powder
3g baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
86g bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, softened
50g sugar
4 TBSP brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together.
Melt chocolate chips in 30 to 40 second intervals in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly.
In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Pour melted chocolate and beat for 1 minute, until well-mixed.
Add flour mixture. Mix until flour is just incorporated. Beat on high for 30 seconds. The dough resembles thick cake batter.
Spoon coined sized cookies onto cookie sheet, spaced 1 inch apart. I used a small spoon that scooped between 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of dough.
Bake for 11 to 14 minutes.

Other flavor combinations
Strawberry Chocolate
1/2 cup of dough
4 TBSP freeze dried strawberries, crushed

Mix dough and crushed strawberries together in a separate bowl. Spoon onto cookies sheet and top each cookie with a bit of strawberry crumbs.

Peppermint Chocolate
1/2 cup of dough
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Mix together and spoon onto cookie sheet.

I can't wait for the holidays. [Molasses Oatmeal Raisin Cookies]

2011-10-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

My first memory of oatmeal cookies were the ones my mom made. She didn't use real butter, halved the sugar, and added extra oatmeal. The results were super crispy granola like cookies. I didn't enjoy them at all.

Then I had my first taste of store brought oatmeal raisin cookies and I nearly fainted. You mean oatmeal cookies weren't always crispy? They weren't always hard and lacked sweetness and butter? You mean oatmeal can ACTUALLY taste delicious? Talk about a reality check.

It turns out that my favorite ones are chewy oatmeal cookies filled with raisins and cinnamon. If I crave for sweetness, I definitely would bake my white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies. That's an orgasm right there. I went to the bookstore recently and found a molasses oatmeal raisin cookies recipe. I love the aroma and flavor profile of molasses so I knew I had to try the recipe.

This recipe is a winner if you enjoy the taste of molasses, spices, and chewy cookies. If Thanksgiving and Christmas had a cookie as a mascot, this would be it. From the first taste, it brings back the memories of the holidays.

Molasses Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
adapted from a cookie book from Border's (shame on me for not writing down author/title)

Note: There is a hint of salt in the cookies. If you don't enjoy that, lower the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
6 TBSP molasses
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup walnuts/pecans, chopped
1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cream butter and sugar.
Add molasses and eggs. Mix thoroughly.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add to creamed mixture.
Stir in oats, nuts, and raisins.
Drop teaspoonfuls of cookies on a baking sheet, spaced 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 minutes.

I'll be back. raWr

2011-10-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my lovely blog, I have not forgotten about you! Life has simply occupied my time. I have recipes waiting to be published...Please be patient!

Keep it Simple. [Cinnamon Raisin Pretzel Sticks]

2011-09-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

Raisins are delicious healthy morsels that I can't get enough in my baked goods. I love the sweetness and chewiness they provide. I already have a default raisin bread recipe that my family enjoys. I don't care much for it, because it contains whole wheat. Bleech. Today I decided to make something for myself instead of catering to my family's taste buds.

Wow. This creation was right up my alley. Chewy pretzels with yummy raisins and a hint of cinnamon sugar. What more can I ask for? Actually, there is one thing. This creation certainly isn't as moist as the original recipe. I suspect it's because the raisins weren't rehydrated so it absorbed all the moisture from the dough. In the recipe below, I suggest that the raisins be given time to rehydrate.

Cinnamon Raisin Pretzel Sticks
adapted from SugarLaw

Note: These pretzels are chewy with a hint of cinnamon. It's not overwhelmingly sweet so if you have a sweet tooth, double the amount of sugar/cinnamon mixture for sprinkling.

Ingredients
1 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup of raisins, sprinkled with water and allow it to sit for 30 minutes

1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar

3 TBSP baking soda
3 cups hot water

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in water and pinch of sugar for 10 minutes.
Mix flour with cinnamon until evenly distributed. Add sugar, salt, canola oil, vanilla extract, and yeast. Knead until combined, a few minutes.
Make a ball and flatten it into a pancake. Sprinkle half of the raisins on there and fold the dough several times to incorporate the raisins into the dough. Repeat this step one more time with the rest of the raisins.
Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
When dough has risen, pinch into 6 portions and roll into a long strand.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Stir baking soda until dissolved. Dip Pretzel in mixture for 15 seconds. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (mix 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp sugar).
Bake for 8 minutes or until browned.

Do you have another voice in your head? [Candied Walnuts Recipe]

2011-09-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Toasting walnuts.

Regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, my mom's voice is in my head telling me what to do and giving her critiques of me. She's harsh. Often times, I hear "You're not good enough" or "What's the point of that? It's useless." The voice in my head is never positive. Without realizing it, I have carried this voice with me throughout my years and I don't think it's done me any good. Yes, it's kept me out of trouble, but my confidence and self-esteem is shot. Trying activities or engaging in situations outside of my comfort zone is terrifying and my first thought is always that I'll fail. To get past that point and start chasing my dreams is difficult. I can often feel her unhappy gaze on the back of my head. I am accustomed to following my mom's shadow and I often struggle to come up with what I want and not what she thinks I should do.

I love watching sugar suddenly turn into liquid form.

My current job situation brings me joy, but she doesn't approve of it. I'm still trying to figure out how to find a happy medium for myself and for my mother. Despite the negativity, I still love her and I show it to her by making food whether is baking or cooking her a meal.

Recently, we had leftover salad ingredients so I decided to create a gourmet salad with garlic bread. I know my mom loves walnuts so I can candied it. She fell in love with the candied walnuts and said it was her favorite part of the meal.

Mom's salad: egg, onions, cranberries, candied walnuts, & mixed greens with sourdough garlic bread.

Candied walnuts.

Candied Walnuts

Note: I don't like my walnuts too sweet, but feel free to the increase the sugar up to 40g (3 1/2 TBSP).

Ingredients
50g (1/2 cup) raw walnuts
30g (2 1/2 TBSP) sugar
pinch of salt

Directions

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Toast walnuts in a skillet over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Toss occasionally to prevent burning. Toast until hot to the touch and crispy.
When the walnuts are done, put it in a bowl.
In the same skillet, add the sugar and salt. Keep the heat on medium until the sugar starts melting and turning into a light tan. (A Tip: Swirl the pan so the sugar melts evenly and turns color uniformly) Lower the heat to low. When it turns into a darker shade, add the walnuts.
Mix well and let it take on a dark amber before pouring the walnuts onto a parchment paper.
Allow the walnuts to cool then break into pieces.
Best if used within the same day.

Can't wait for next year's camping trip! [Simple Cracker Recipe]

2011-08-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

Our backyard for the weekend.

The damage to the cans with our arsenal.

When my boyfriend first told me about the camping trip, I was reluctant to go and I made a huge deal out of it. I was worried about bugs, safety, and being clean. My mind was on "Let's think about everything that can possibly go wrong and worry myself to death." About 2 weeks before leaving, I wasn't stressed about the trip anymore and I was ready to go. The night before leaving, I was excited and could barely sleep.

Fire in her natural beauty.

Wow. The camping trip from this past weekend was amazing. I never thought I would have so much fun outdoors. I didn't worry at all. I went with the flow and it felt great to be away from civilization. I jumped from a rock into the water and nearly froze my butt off. I started shaking like chihuahua. Now, I know why those tiny things shake so much. We also found a secluded hillside and shot at beer cans and paper targets. The best part was chopping and splitting firewood. It's a great way workout I tell ya! And there's nothing more satisfying than getting the perfect hit so that the firewood splits all the way down to the bottom so the two pieces fly in opposite directions. Gorgeous.

The food was a carnivore's dream. We had so much. There were patties, sausages, drumsticks, wings, ribs, and bacon. Meat in every single meal. The amount of meat I consumed was enough to last me 2 weeks. I certainly wasn't used to the protein intake. By the second day, I wasn't pooping right. The only veggies I had a chance to eat was a tiny bit of green beans, broccoli cheese, and a lot of salad mix.

Hamburger for lunch.

Pasta, green beans, and chicken (still on the grill) for dinner.

Sausage sandwich for lunch.

My last photo of our trip. Lake Spaulding.

On our drive back home, I was already brainstorming food ideas for the next trip like grilled corn, baby carrots, and crackers. We had four bags of chips that we killed, but I think some homemade crackers next time will also do us some good.

Simple Cracker Recipe

Note: I did not come up with this recipe. I found it online 2 years ago, but I did not bookmark the URL. Please let me know who the original author is if you know.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBSP olive oil
4 TBSP water
1 tsp seasoning (My favorite to use is curry powder)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix 1 cup flour, salt, and oil.
Add 3 TBSP water and seasoning. Mix well. Add more water or flour until it makes a compact ball.
Roll out thin.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.

How to cut pasta by hand (a step-by-step picture tutorial)

2011-08-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the year is August when the big back-to-school sale occurs. I love that $1 can buy me an insane amount of supplies. I have bought notebooks, filler paper, and folders for 1 cent. Today I managed to purchase two glue sticks and one 4 oz. school glue for 50 cents.

When I was in elementary school, my parents didn't buy me over priced Crayola or Lisa Franks school supplies. Instead, I used off brands that worked just as well and I learned that you don't always need the name brand. As a result, I feel strongly about improvising to get the job done instead of buying tools for every single task.

Since I don't make pasta that frequently, I never purchased a pasta machine. When it comes to cutting the pasta, it's a painstaking task that takes between 30 minutes and an hour depending on the batch. I use a knife to cut so the dough bunches up, tears, and gets stretched out.

One day when I was ripping paper by creasing the edges, I thought, why can't I do that with the pasta? The technique I'm about to show you is all about creasing and ripping so the process is faster and more efficient with minimal effort and time.

Roll out the dough.

Using the edge of a pastry scraper, put pressure into the pasta dough and slide/drag the pastry scraper down to create a line in the dough. It doesn't need to go all the way through the dough.

When you have finished "drawing" lines, gently pull the noodle away from the rest of the dough. It should break away easily -- like tearing paper with a perforated edge.

Whoo. The batch of completed noodles.

Magic [Chocolate Mousse from Water and Chocolate]

2011-07-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Magic. The art of using illusions to make the impossible a reality. I thought that I would do my own magic trick in the kitchen with only chocolate and water to create mousse. What? Trust me; it works.

When I first heard about this technique, I was skeptical. I had the impression that mixing water and chocolate would ruin the $10 bar of chocolate. It turns out that mixing melted chocolate and water and then whisking vigorously will cause something to happen to the water molecules, which in effect stabilizes the chocolate and creates the mousse-like texture.

This was a fun experiment. It's mind boggling to see the liquid mixture suddenly thicken and resemble a creamy mousse. Once the mixture reaches the desired consistency, it has the exact texture of mousse. However, if you let it sit for more than 30 minutes, it will firm up and take on the texture of ganache. The flavor is of pure intense chocolate. Because the mousse texture doesn't last long, it's best if made prior to serving.

A cake layered with this as the filling will certainly taste wonderful. You can also pipe this mixture out as decoration or fill cupcakes and cream puffs. So many possibilities....it's time for another experiment in the kitchen!

Chocolate Mousse made from Water and Chocolate
Recipe from Beyond Baked Beans
Video of Heston Blumenthal making it with an explanation

Ingredients (Original)
230mL Water
270g Chocolate, 70%

Ingredients (Adjusted to Serve 6)
100mL Water
117g Chocolate, 70%

Note: (1) It is very rich so less is more. (2) Be observant while whisking. It will quickly go from creamy to ganache-like, which is no good. (3) The best part: if you make an error, simply melt the mixture and whisk again.

Directions

In a pot, add water and chocolate. Have heat on low and stir occasionally until melted.
Gather two bowls. Fill one bowl with ice and water. Place another bowl on top and pour the chocolate mixture into the top bowl.
Begin whisking quickly. In approximately 2 to 3 minutes, the mixture will thicken up. Once it thickens up, decrease speed of whisking and stop when the chocolate becomes creamy and leaves a slight trail. If you over whip, it will stiffen and have a grainy ganache-like texture. To restart, melt it in a double boiler. Then begin whisking in an ice bath again.
Serve mousse in a small cup topped with fruits.
For best results, I recommend making the mousse prior to serving to retain the creamy texture.

Dessert for Two #1 - [Pavlova and Lemon Curd]

2011-07-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you only want to make enough dessert for two, but changing the ratios of recipes can be a headache. To help you out, this recipe was created specifically to feed enough for two individuals. (If you want a larger yield, you're S.O.L.) I present to you the "Dessert for Two" series.

I have always wanted to make pavlova, but didn't like that most recipes made huge pavlovas or many mini ones. Then I thought, why can't I just use 1 egg white and make a pavlova out of it? I took that route. The pavlova came out crisp on the outside and soft and pillow-ey on the inside. I paired the pavlova with lemon curd to cut the sweetness. Great Combo I must say! Topping it with blueberries was a winner.

Note: (1) Please excuse the awkward measurements of ingredients. (2) I used the left over yolk and half an egg for french toast!

Pavlova
adapted from Donna Hay

Ingredients
1 egg white
3 TBSP caster sugar
1/2 TBSP corn starch, sifted
1/2 tsp white vinegar

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Whip egg white to stiff peaks. Gradually add in sugar until shiny and glossy.
Mix in corn starch and vinegar until combined. Put mixture on parchment paper and make a slight indentation in the middle.
Reduce heat to 250°F and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. When you touch the pavlova, it should be firm to the the touch. Turn off heat and let it cool in the oven.

Lemon Curd

Note: To measure out half an egg, whisk the egg in a bowl so that the yolk and whites are combined. Option #1: You can either eyeball it with a spoon. Half an egg for me was approximately 2.5 - 3 TBSP. Option #2: If you have the time, take a scale and measure the egg. Split the egg into 2 equal portions.

Ingredients
half an egg
2 TBSP sugar
juice of 1 small lemon, strained to rid of pulp/seeds
1 tsp of butter

Directions

Whisk egg, sugar, and lemon juice in a heatproof bowl set above simmering water in a pot (or a double-boiler). Stir occasionally so the mixture doesn't curdle. Stop when it has thicken, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.
Add butter and stir. Strain the mixture.
Put saran wrap right on the surface of the lemon curd to prevent a skin from forming.

To assemble
Smooth lemon curd on top of the pavlova. Top with fresh berries. In my case, I used blueberries.

A rough weekend = A trip to the Farmer's Market [Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp]

2011-07-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

I was having a rough weekend so I decided to head out to the farmer's market at 9 a.m. to calm my mind. Navigating through the narrow pathways between the stalls, I craned my neck around passerbays to see the fresh produce. I noticed the usual summer fare: strawberries, spring greens, tomatoes, and cherries. As I was about to head out after purchasing 2 pounds of strawberries, I noticed rhubarb hiding at a small booth and my fate was sealed. I would be would be making rhubarb and strawberry crisp in a few hours.

I have never tried or touched rhubarb before, but I was surprised by how closely it resembled celery in shape and texture. The color is gorgeous as well.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp
adapted from Joy of Baking's Strawberry Rhubarb Tarts and Apple Crisp

Ingredients

Filling
1 lb rhubarb, cut into 1 inches pieces
1 lb strawberries, cut into 1 inches pieces
1/2 cup (or less depending how sweet your strawberries are) sugar
40g flour

Topping
70g flour
50g white sugar
55g brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into pieces
55g old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions

Preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix rhubarb, strawberries, and sugar in a large bowl and let it macerate for 30 minutes. Add flour and mix thoroughly.
In the meantime, combine flour, white and brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, butter, and oats in a bowl. With clean hands, pinch the mixture together until crumbly in texture.
In a 8x8 dish, pour the filling in and evenly spread the topping all over the surface.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow 30 minutes for the crisp to cool down before serving. I actually prefer the crisp the next day after it has been refrigerated.

Alice's Summerthing 2011 [White Chocolate & Dried Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies]

2011-06-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

Every year in June, we San Franciscans are blessed with Alice's Summerthing, a free concert in the park where well-known bands play. This year we had a great line up: One Republic, Michelle Branch, Matt Nathanson, Parachute, and Andrew Allen. For the last few years, JSB and I go to the concert if we have time, but we have one criterion. Good food is a must. We made pasta salad, mini-sandwiches, and jello in the past.

Because our other sister, K, was joining us and JSB had invited some friends, I decided that this year I needed to up my game. I decided on a potato salad for the main and white chocolate & dried cranberries oatmeal cookies for dessert. K contributed by making some beef jerky. JSB helped out by making grass jelly and a fruit salad.

These cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. The sugary creamy sweetness from the white chocolate works well with the tangy cranberries. Oh, and the addition of oats give the cookies the chew, which adds another texture. If you want a taste bud sensory party, these are for you!

White Chocolate & Dried Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies
Servings: 22 cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 heaping cup dried cranberries
3 oz white chocolate, cut into chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream butter and sugars (brown and granulated sugar) in a large bowl.
Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix well.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Pour the entire mixture into the wet ingredients and mix well.
Add oats, cranberries, and white chocolate and stir until incorporated. Drop tablespoon sized dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

What to do with Fennel Pesto? [Warm Avocado Salad or Shrimp Pesto Linguine]

2011-06-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

Our family went to a U-Pick organic cherry farm this past weekend. It was only $3.50/pound!! Half the price of the farmer's market!! The damage: 20 pounds = $70. The worst part: we (family of 5) finished all the cherries in 4 days. Yikes. Is it possible to get diabetes from eating too many fruits?

On another note, I thought I would show you some quick meals I made from using the fennel pesto.

Warm Avocado Salad

Warm Pesto Avocado Salad
Servings: 1

Ingredients
3 handfuls of spring salad mix
1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 an avocado, cubed
handful of homemade croutons
7 to 10 slices of Parmesan cheese
1 TBSP of fennel pesto or traditional pesto

Note: I like minimal amounts of salt and light sauce in my food. Feel free to add more pesto, salt, or pepper so that it suits your taste.

Directions
Add 2 tsp of butter or oil to skillet -- enough to coat bottom of pan. Allow oil to warm up, then saute the onions over high heat until slightly cooked. Store the onions in a separate bowl.
With flame on low, put pesto and stir it around to warm it up. Turn flame off, add avocados, stir it around to coat it in the pesto.
To assemble: put the salad mix on the bottom, top with onions, the avocado, and sprinkle with croutons and Parmesan Cheese.

Shrimp Pesto Linguine

Variation
Another recipe that uses pesto as well is my shrimp pesto linguine. It's similar to the warm avocado salad. Instead of using salad mix, cook 1 serving of linguine, toss with a bit of olive oil, and set aside. Pan fry 4 to 6 shrimps; set aside. Brown some onions, toss in the pesto sauce to warm it up, add in the avocado and linguine, and mix everything together well. On a plate, pour the linguine, avocado, and onion mixture in the center. Top with shrimp and fresh slices of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy~

How to pit Cherries with a Chopstick and Knife (step-by-step picture tutorial)

2011-06-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's the season where all the wonderful sweet cherries flood the markets. It's also the time where cherry desserts are popular and cherries need to be pitted. Before I came up with this technique, I used to halve cherries and dig pits out with my fingers. Not so pretty, but it worked.

Sometime last year, I remembered reading about using a chopstick to pit a cherry. I tried it once and the cherry was mangled with juice leaking everywhere. I figured that there had to be an easier way and I came up with this method. All you need is a chopstick, knife, plate, and cherries.

Note: I recommend "X-ing" all the cherries first then pushing them out with the chopstick to make the process go faster.

Mmm. The finished bowl of cherries.

Gather your tools: a blunt tip chopstick, knife, and plate. Don't forget your cherries!

Muahhaha. The victim: a ripe cherry.

Make a "X" with your knife on the bottom of the cherry. (NOTE: Watch your fingers! I almost nicked myself a couple of times.)

When you make your "X," make sure the incision goes all the way down to the pit.

Grip the cherry like so. Hold it firmly.

With the chopsticks, give a firm push through the top (where the stem used to be).

The pit should pop right out with minimal juice and flesh loss.

Sometimes pits have a hard time coming out so you'll need to help it along by digging from the bottom.

X marks the spot!

Done~ Enjoy your bowl of cherries!

I LOVE all Parts of Fennel [Fennel Frond Pesto Recipe]

2011-05-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

A trip to the farmer's market energizes me. I can't help, but walk with an extra bounce in my step as I wander from stall to stall. I drool and oogle at the bright vibrant greens that are calling out to me. The orange carrot with its fluffy healthy green glowing hair. Pearly white fennel bulbs that are unmarred along with tall fronds and stalks that scream "I'm healthy and fresh, BUY ME!" I can't help, but gather the carrots, fennel, and a couple heads of organic broccoli. I can't believe the gorgeous loot I obtained without effort.

As soon as I arrived home, I decided to roast the fennel as toppings for our salad. Since we bought organic fennel, I didn't want to waste the fronds and stalks. In the end, my mom used the stalk to make soup and I used the fronds to make pesto. When I googled "What to do with fennel fronds?", I was surprised that I could use it to make pesto. I gathered my ingredients, reached for my food processor, gave all the ingredients a whirl, and a lovely shade of green spread appeared.

A step by step tutorial with the full recipe written at the end.

Gather pistachios.

Grate Parmesan cheese. I got lazy and minced my cheese instead. >.>

Juice half a lemon, wash and rinse the fronds, and roughly chop up 3 garlic cloves.

Dump pistachios, cheese, garlic, salt, and cayenne in food processor.

Give it a whirl until it looks like this.

Put fennel frond in food processor.

With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil and stop it when it resembles a paste.

Use the fresh pesto to make a pesto pasta salad! Yums~

Fennel Frond Pesto
adapted from Recipe Interrupted

Notes: This recipe can easily be substituted to make traditional pesto. Replace 2 cups of fronds with basil and pistachios with pine nuts (This part is optional). For more ideas about what to do with the pesto, read this post.

Ingredients
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cups lightly packed frond
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced

Directions

Blend pistachios, garlic, cheese, salt, and cayanne pepper in food processor until mixture is minced.
Add fennel into food processor and drizzle in olive oil with the machine running. Stop when the mixture has the consistency of a paste and is spreadable. Add lemon juice to taste.

Use within a few days. For longer storage, wrap portions of pesto in saran wrap and store in freezer.

How to shorten the lifespan of your hand mixer. [Castella (Japanese Sponge Cake) Recipe]

2011-05-15T18:47:00.000-07:00

We recently acquired a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer at the school I work at. Excited by the new purchase, my coworker and I took it on a test run with our students. We made strawberry thumbprint cookies and egg white cake. I'm pretty sure I wet myself when I used the new tool to dominate the egg whites. It's a beast and I'd do anything to get one into my house. After the near death experience for my hand mixer during the creation of marshmallows, I thought about purchasing a stand mixer. After using and witnessing the speed, power, efficiency, and sexiness of a stand mixer, it's not an "if" anymore. It is a MUST!

Too bad I didn't have a stand mixer in my possession when I was making the castella sponge cake, because the technique this recipe required nearly choked the life out of my hand mixer. The hand mixer was agreeable, felt healthy, and worked well in the beginning, but at the 15 minute mark, the mixer began wheezing. By 20 minutes, it was begging for a break. When 30 minutes hit, the mixer was coughing, grinding it's motor, and running a high fever. Lucky for me, the batter reached the proper consistency before the mixer experienced a heart attack.

Was the near death experience with my mixer worth it? Yes. The cake was chewy and dense with a lovely scent of honey sweetness. It was a tad too sweet for me so I will probably cut down on the honey glaze next time or add matcha powder into the batter to help cut the sweetness. (I did mix some of the leftover batter with matcha powder and I loved the taste of it.)

Kasutera (Castella)
originally from JustHungry

My Notes
(1) Please read recipe completely before beginning.
(2) Please use a stand mixer if you don't want to shorten the lifespan of your hand mixer.
(3) If using a hand mixer, use the largest bowl you can find, the batter will expand considerably. Near the end, the batter was on the very edge of the bowl and bits of it was sloshing out.
(4) A 8x8 inch dish works fine, you'll have some leftover batter that can be baked in ramekins.
(5) A gallon sized Ziploc bag fits a 8x8 inch cake.

Ingredients
8 whole "large" (55g) eggs
300g (10.5 oz) raw cane sugar (In a pinch, use regular granulated sugar), plus a little extra sugar for sprinkling
200g (7 oz) all-purpose or bread flour (not cake flour), sift twice
100cc (about 1/2 cup, or 3.5 fluid oz) milk
4 TBSP honey, plus one extra TBSP. for the top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170°C / 340°F, or 150°C / 300°F if you're using a convection oven.
Cut the parchment paper so that it's large enough to fit the bottom and sides of the cake pan with a little excess. Fold it in until it completely covers the bottom and sides, leaving a little hanging over. (To make it stick to the pan, smear a little butter or shortening on the pan first.) Sprinkle a little sugar over the bottom, on top of the paper.
Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat.
Mix together the milk and 4 tablespoons of honey. It helps if you warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave.
Break the eggs into the bowl and whisk. Add the sugar. Start whisking this while holding the bowl over the pot of hot water. As soon as the mixture feels lukewarm to the touch, take it off the water and continue whisking. If it cools down again, put it back on the hot pot of water to warm it up. To get the best texture, whisk mixture on lowest setting; it took me around 35 minutes on the lowest setting. If using a stand mixer, take the bowl and whisk by hand while it warms up above the pot. Once mixture is warm, return it to the stand and whisk on low until cool, then return it back to pot.
Continue this process until the batter is thick and forms soft peaks when you lift up the whisk. Final test: write initials on surface with whisk and the batter should hold it long enough to be read before it disappears.
Whisk in the milk and honey mixture. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time, beating on lowest setting until there are no pockets of flour (you can also mix this part by hand).
Pour the batter to the very top of the pan. Bake in oven for approximately 45 to 50 minutes. Check by sticking a knife or toothpick in middle. If it comes out clean, it's done.
Five minutes before cake is done, mix together the 1 tablespoon of honey and a water, to make a glaze. Warm it up in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds.
As soon as the cake is out of the oven, brush the top with the honey-water glaze.
When it's cool enough to handle but still warm (about 15 minutes), lift it out of the pan, paper and all, and put into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and put into the refrigerator, for at least several hours. This step is critical to ensure the kasutera has a moist texture. If you let it cool to room temperature before putting it in the plastic bag, it will end up a bit dry.
To serve, use a very sharp knife to make clean cuts. Use only one cutting motion for each side of the cake. Do not use a sawing motion if you don't want an ugly edge to your cake.

The reason for why I go to baseball games. [How to make Roasted Garlic]

2011-05-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Garlic is my best friend. I love it in chunks, minced, whole, and even dried. Who cares?! Let me have garlic breath. I remember the first time I went to a baseball game with my dad and sisters and I didn't care much for the game. The best part of the day was when he took me to the $5 garlic fries booth and I was sold to the garlic devil. From that moment on, my favorite part of going to the ballpark was buying garlic fries not rooting for my team. Team spirit fail.

Then one day when I was out with my boyfriend for happy hour, I stumbled into another delicious garlic concoction that has been missing from my life: roasted garlic. Wow. Roasted garlic smeared onto a crispy baguette is simply divine. After I finished my happy hour snack, I promised myself that I needed to make some for myself in the future.

Roasted Garlic

Roasted Garlic

Note: I know most recipes ask you to take a whole garlic bulb, hack off the top, drizzle it with oil, wrap it in foil, and then dump it in the oven. However, I didn't want to use a whole bulb, which is why I suggested the use of garlic cloves.

Ingredients

garlic

olive oil

salt, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Take garlic cloves and cut off the top or bottom end.
Take a sheet of foil, put the cloves in the middle, and coat it in olive oil.
Wrap the garlic and pop it in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes. [To save on my electric bill, I often bake this along with roasted vegetables.]
Carefully unwrap the package and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery skin. It should slip right out. If desired, sprinkle it with salt.

Delicious, but Ugly Series #1 [Caramelized Rum Bananas and Peanut Butter Toast]

2011-05-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that making food look sexy is not one of my talents. It's no surprise that I have improved since the beginning, but making food look good is tough. I struggle to figure out what I want and often times, I don't KNOW what I want when I photograph a dish. All I know is that the dish tastes good and I want to document the recipe.

Sadly, on some days, my food looks more awful than usual. Thus, this debut: Delicious, but Ugly Series, which begins with Caramelized Rum Bananas and Peanut Butter Toast.

Delicious, but Ugly #1: Rum Bananas, Peanut Butter, and Toast

Caramelized Rum Bananas and Peanut Butter Toast
Serves 1

Ingredients
3 to 4 slices of sourdough baguette
peanut butter
1 TBSP of turbinado sugar
1/2 a banana, cut into thick slices
2 to 3 TBSP dark rum, to taste
cinnamon, optional

Directions

Toast sliced sourdough baguette in toaster/toaster oven.
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle 1/2 TBSP of sugar in pan and add bananas-- flat side down.
When sugar is bubbling and color is showing on banana (check by flipping a slice over), sprinkle the rest of the sugar and flip the rest of the bananas over to caramelize the other side.
When sugar is bubbling again and bananas are caramelized, add the rum (Be careful, the rum will sizzle violently.) and swirl the liquid around in the pan. Once it has stopped sizzling, turn off the heat and coat bananas in the sauce.
Take the warmed slices of bread from toaster, spread with peanut butter, and top with the bananas. Optional: Sprinkle with cinnamon. Enjoy~

- SimplyPiee

How to Make Croutons

2011-04-20T23:18:00.000-07:00

For reasons unknown, my ability to brainstorm by pen and paper is depressing. I sit at my desk or on the bus and I struggle to formulate my thoughts and sentences. The more effort I put into trying to construct ideas, the more tired I feel. Eventually, I fall asleep.

On the other hand, shove me on a seat in front of the computer, then miraculously my fingers move on its own. No guidance necessary. They effortlessly find their places on the keyboard and dance across until I have typed out all my ideas. Does this happen to anyone else?

My theory is that since I grew up in the computer age, I have trained my brain and hands to work efficiently as a pair when I'm typing thoughts out versus when I write with pen and paper. Because of this weakness, I have always done below average on standardized exams if they have an essay portion. My ability to spell words correctly without spell check is embarrassing. Ugh. This technology age is killing my intelligence. In an attempt to regain some brain cells, I've been reading more and writing in a notebook when I'm traveling.

Luckily for me, making croutons does not require intelligence. All you need is decent hand-and-eye coordination to cut bread into cubes and the ability to read the temperature on the oven in order to create a light crunchy delight.

Note: I enjoy croutons unseasoned and in tiny cubes. Feel free to add herbs or salt to amp up the flavor or making larger sized croutons. With larger sized croutons, you may need to leave the croutons in the oven longer.

My favorite bread to use is sourdough.

Croutons

Servings: unlimited

Ingredients
Bread, cut into small cubes (approx. 0.5 inch)

Bread knife
Foil/baking sheet

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Use a bread knife to cut the bread into cubes, approximately 0.5 inches. Cut off the crust if it's a crusty bread like french bread.
Place the cubes on a baking sheet or foil in one layer. Let it bake in the oven for 11 to 15 minutes, depending how brown you like your croutons.

Sick [Coconut Flan Recipe]

2011-04-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

I was fighting a bad cold when I updated last week. I finally healed up and was ready to put all my energy into writing a post. Suddenly, I fell ill again with only one 100% healthy day before my next ailment. These bugs that are attempting to kill me shuts down any desire I have to write or bake. Regardless of how much I sleep, I wake up in pain and tired. During the night, I get coughing fits that fills my mouth with phlegm (note: took me awhile to figure out how to spell this word >.> ) With me dealing with every day stress in addition to fighting an illness, inspiration is not in my vocabulary.

I made this for my family awhile back when I cooked them a 3 course dinner. Dinner was a breeze and they were looking forward to Alvin's Drunken Chicken. It was good, but it wasn't what we expected. The broth was too sweet for our taste so next time, I will cut back on the sugar and Miran. Other adjustments include upping the ginger and maybe add some chili for a spicy kick?

My favorite part of the meal was this coconut flan. I enjoyed the subtle flavor of the coconut mingling with the sweet caramel. Gosh darn, the flavor profile was on point. Because I didn't use up all the caramel, I poured the rest on a parchment paper and let it cool so it hardened into sugar shards. (Those were addictive). My only issue with the flan is the texture. It was dense and not creamy. I never tried flan before so I don't know the correct texture, but I know I overcooked it so I'm not surprised if that's the reason for the lack of creaminess.

Coconut Caramel Flan
From Steaming Basics by Orathay Guillamont

Ingredients
Caramel
7 TBSP (105 mL) water
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar

Flan
4 eggs
6 1/2 TBSP (97 mL) sugar
1 1/3 cup (325 mL) coconut milk
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk

Directions

Pour caramel ingredients (water and sugar) in a pot over medium heat and let it boil until it turns into a nice dark brown shade. Swirl pan around to distribute color (DO NOT use a spoon to stir). Once satisfy with color, immediately pour into ramekins.
Whisk eggs and sugar together.
Add milk and whisk well. Pour into ramekins.
Steam for 15 to 20 minutes (or less) depending on the size of your container. When the edges are set and the center is slightly jiggly take it and allow it to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, keep in the refrigerator.
Prior to flipping ramekin, run a knife along the sides of flan to loosen it. Then FLIP! Enjoy~

Soft Fluffy Pretzels

2011-03-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Sticks

My favorite part about baking goodies or feeding loved ones is creating something they truly enjoy. If they don't, I'll improve it and customize it to their taste. For example, I know JSB loves cinnamon and sugar topping, but only if I use granulated sugar. However, my mum and I prefer the crunch from turbinado sugar.When I make baked goods, I make sure to have some with granulated and others with turbinado to satisfy both of my favorite people. =D

Fluffy!~

Luckily, this recipe is easily customizable so that I can also make my boyfriend happy. He could careless for cinnamon & sugar, but he'll go bonkers for chocolate chips. I know he loves pretzels so I decided to make some chocolate chip ones for him too! I didn't think chocolate chips pretzels would taste that great, but the flavor floored me. The chocolate stayed gooey even after it cooled down. Gosh darn, it was great.

This recipe is one my favorites, because you can easily add flavors and the result is a soft chewy pretzel. What more can I ask for? And if you don't want a full pretzel, cut it into 1 inch pretzel bites or 3 inch sticks. They're great for parties. You have salted or plain ones to dip in mustard or make some cinnamon-sugar coated ones for the those that have a sweet tooth. Heck, add in some chocolate chip pretzels and the guests will die from happiness or raisins for the health conscious...See, there are so many possibilities.

Soft Pretzels
adapted from SugarLaw

Ingredients
1 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 TBSP white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP canola oil

3 TBSP baking soda
3 cups hot water

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in water and pinch of sugar for 10 minutes.
Mix yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt, and canola oil. Knead until combined, a few minutes. (TOPPING NOTE: If adding raisins or chocolate chips, add in a hand full and knead it into dough)
Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
When dough has risen, pinch into 6 portions and roll into a long strand. Twist into pretzel shape or cut into 1 or 3 inch sized pieces.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Stir baking soda until dissolved. Dip Pretzel in mixture for 15 seconds. Sprinkle pretzels with sea salt or cinnamon sugar.
Bake for 8 minutes until browned.

Magic Coffee

2011-03-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

When you work with children, you're bound to get sick every couple of months. I thought I had a strong immune system, but man, the germs that kids carry are devastating. I either feel off for a couple of weeks or I get hit hard suddenly...and sometimes both. To ease my suffering, I've been making ginger milk pudding, because the warm dessert and ginger soothes my throat and kills my craving for sweets in a fairly healthy way.

On days where I'm not sick, I enjoy a cold-brewed cup of magical coffee. I'm so glad I stumbled onto this recipe, because the cinnamon surprisingly compliments coffee quite well. For me, that's the "magic" aspect of it.

Non-fat milk sinks to the bottom of the glass. Not photogenic at all.

Magical Coffee
adapted from Food52 by ErinH

Servings: 1 Glass

Ingredients
2 1/2 TBSP of coarsely ground coffee
3/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
3/4 TBSP of sugar

Directions

Add all ingredients in a container. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
Let it sit in fridge over night and filter/strain the next morning.
Add ice (if desired) and milk.

DIY coffee strainer.

My Mom

2011-03-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

Chocolate chip cookies. The first time I saw them baked at home was when I was in elementary school. Back then, baking and cooking seemed so impossibly difficult -- only something my mum could accomplish. She used to bake chocolate chip cookies, white chocolate and macadamnia nut cookies, crossients, and biscuits. I thought she was the coolest mom EVER even though the goodies were premade dough from Pillsbury and Mrs. Fields (the cookie dough balls were so large that she halved them prior to baking).

Eventually she upgraded to baking goodies from scratch. I vaguely remember her baking a pumpkin pie. She also made several cheesecakes. Of course she cheated along the way by using premade pie crusts and tried to make it healthier by reducing the sugar and using reduced fat cream cheese. One time she wanted to make a chocolate cheesecake so she melted some chocolate only to discover that she used unsweetened chocolate so it was horrendously bitter. I remember she tried fixing it by added sugar. No matter how much sugar was incorporated, it still wasn't palatable. She ended up swirling it into a plain cheesecake and tossing the rest of the chocolate. But as a deprived child that rarely ate sweets, it was the PRETTIEST and BEST cheesecake ever. My mom made oatmeal cookies, but it was filled with oats and nuts with very little butter so it was extremely crispy like a granola in cookie form.

She was my mom and in my eyes, anything she made was gold and down right orgasmic. If you asked me now if I would enjoy her premade doughs, cheesecake, and oatmeal cookies, sadly, I probably wouldn't touch it. However, I can't blame her. Baking and cooking isn't a passion for her. It's a means to an end. It's part of her routine to feed her hungry family, because she loves us. There is one dish that she makes that I'll always love and it'll never change: it's jello filled with canned peaches. Omg. Pure joy.

Now on to the chocolate chip recipe that inspired me to write about my mom. This recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. Wow. It was pretty darn delicious. The extra butter seriously had the cookie melting in your mouth. The texture is everything I want in a cookie: crispy around the edges and chewy on the inside.

Chocolate Chips Cookies
from America's Test Kitchen

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli recommended)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) or 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted (optional)

Directions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12- inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.).
Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Banana Cake (Updated version 3.0)

2011-03-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

the frozen raspberries make my cake look sickly.

I'm always coming back to this recipe, because it can be a breakfast bread, a snack, or even a dessert when paired with vanilla ice cream. It's also flexible and forgiving, which means I can experiment and it usually turns out pretty well. I don't think I've ever followed this recipe to the T. It's always evolving and changing. I'm beginning to find combinations that I truly enjoy.

One of my favorite spins was when I added cream cheese filling. Omg, it was divine. Scrumptions. It was perfect. I made it on a Saturday afternoon before I went off to visit my boo. I stayed over at his place and decided that I would take photos on Sunday when I returned home. I returned home to a clear kitchen table. Yes. My lovely JSB and papa devoured the cake, all 3/4ths of it.

This new rendition wasn't loved by my fellow family members as much. I'm unsure of the reason, but my boo and I enjoyed it immensely. I gave him nearly half of the cake. He loved it especially the oomph from the chocolate chips. To me, this version reflects my growth in the kitchen. I'm adding new textures and elevating flavors compared to previous versions. The cinnamon sugar topping gives the cake a nice crunch when you bite into it and the addition of brown sugar and brown butter adds a subtle complexity to the flavor. Hell, I'm even putting more effort into plating, but I don't think my creative eye is working very well as shown in the photos. I'm trying here!

Man, that frozen raspberry is distracting. >.>

Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Banana Cake
Updated from this recipe

Ingredients
3 TBSP of butter
1/4 cup of brown sugar, packed
2 TBSP cinnamon apple sauce
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 egg
dash of milk
2 1/2 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
scant 1/4 cup of wheat germ
scant 1/4 cup of flax seed
scant 3/4 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
a hand full of chocolate chips

Topping:
1 1/2 TBSP of turbinado sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon (yes, I LOVE my cinnamon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Heat butter in skillet over medium heat. Swirl the butter occasionally. Wait until the butter turns into a brown shade with a nutty aroma, then turn off the heat.
Add butter to brown sugar. Mix. Add the applesauce, cinnamon, and egg to the mixture. Mix well.
Stir in milk, bananas, and vanilla. Combine.
Add in the rest of the ingredients: flour, wheat germ, flax seed, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix.
Gently fold chocolate chips into mixture.
Grease and flour an 8 inch pie/cake pan. Pour mixture in. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon and evenly distribute it on the surface.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when the cake is poked.

My attempt at plating with banana ice cream to accompany the cake. Not that pretty, but the ice cream was delish.

Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients
1 frozen banana, slices
1/4 tsp of cinnamon

Directions

Prior to freezing the banana, cut it into slices.
Put banana and cinnamon in food processor. Start the processor and eventually the banana will reach an ice cream consistency.

Options for flavoring: chocolate shavings, peanut butter, Nutella...the possibilities are endless!

Apple Juice Stixs

2011-03-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Awhile back, I mentioned that I was frugal in the kitchen. What I'm about to show you next is a tad embarrassing. There should be a limit on frugality, but nope. I know no bounds. In my last post, I posted a recipe on how to make Apple Puffs and I made a side note that one should reserve the juice from the filling. Why? To make these:

Apple Juice Stixs: Appl-ey and cinnamon-ny

Don't give me that look. Yes, it's not the most gorgeous creation. Yes, it looks rather unappealing, but I am very proud of myself. To create Apple Stix, I guesstimated everything. Did I know what I was doing? Not exactly, but I did have a purpose.

After I made the filling for the apple puffs, I tasted the juice and it was sickly sweet, but I didn't want to waste it. (Case evidence on being frugal #1) I pondered and munched on an apple puff as I tried to come up with a creative solution. A-ha! Candy!! It's so sweet, it would be perfect for candy. I didn't have enough juice to cover the bottom of the pot so I added a bit more sugar and water and started boiling away. I was aiming for the Hard Crack stage (300° - 310°F), but time was working against me. Stupid me thought that I could get the sugar to reach that temperature in 40 minutes. When 40 minutes hit, it was at the soft ball stage, and I didn't have time because I had a meeting to attend. I had two options at this point: it was waste it or let it cool down and see what I created. I opted for the latter.

My next dilemma. Where and how should I shape the 242°F sugar?? Aiiiyaaah. The only option: parchment paper. Lucky me and my need to keep all things, I had scraps of parchment paper that I stored in a container for moments like these where I didn't need large sheets of parchment paper. (Case evidence on being frugal #2). I carefully poured the mixture into the creased parchment paper and let it cool down.

Check out the texture!

The verdict: it's an extremely soft and chewy candy, because I only managed to get it to the firm ball stage. It definitely works your mouth and it's great for people that like to chew. The taste of the stix was surprisingly pleasant. It had a sweet aroma of apples with a hint of cinnamon.

Apple Juice Stix

Ingredients
leftover juice from apple puffs
sugar
water

Directions

If there isn't much juice left, add more sugar about 1/4 to 1/2 cup and enough water to cover the bottom of the pot.
Boil on medium high until the temperature reaches 245°F. (Next time, I'm going to try reaching the hard crack stage: 300°F to 310°F for a lollipop texture.) Mixture will appear dark brown almost burnt looking, but I assure that it's not.
Pour sugar into creased strips of parchment paper and allow it to cool. If mixture firms up too much during the pouring process, warm it up on the stove until it reaches a pourable consistency.

Super Easy Apple Puffs

2011-03-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

A pack of puff pastry has been sitting in my fridge since my n3rd party and it was about to expire this month. What's a girl to do when she is OCD about wasting food? Originally, I thought about making chicken pot pie with it, but my family said they didn't want to eat it. I brainstormed some more and decided I wasn't going to make anything for them since they wouldn't appreciate it.

Instead, I came up with some easy peasy snacks to fatten up my teammates at the school I work at. hahahah. [insert evil laugh] For our meeting, I made some cinnamon sugar puffs, which were delicious if you're a fan of sugar, cinnamon, and fat. mmmmmmm. With the rest of the puff pastry, I made simple apple puffs (similar to McDonald's apple pies, but with less fat, sugar, and calories.) Wooohooo~ Dessert without death. A win-win situation. These apple puffs are so easy to put together that a 5-year-old can make it.

Apple Puffs (aka wannabe McDonald's Apple Pies)

Servings: 9 puffs

Ingredients
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed, cut into 9 squares
1 granny smith apple, diced into small cubes
1 fuji apple, diced into small cubes
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 1/2 TBSP turbinado sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Egg wash: 1 egg + 1 tbsp of water

Directions

Heat apples and sugars over medium heat for 7 - 8 minutes until tender. Mix in cinnamon. Allow to cool to room temperature, approximately 30 minutes. [[NOTE: Reserve juice from filling, because I'll be posting a recipe about what to do with that soon.]]
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Roll puff pastry so that the square increases by 1/3 of it's original size.
Place 1 tablespoon of apple filling. Pinch edges together and place seam side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Brush egg wash on top of each puff. Cut 3 slits on top. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle each puff with some turbinado sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

2011-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

I think I'm in love. This necklace is too cute. The price tag? Only $24!! The seller: LuxeAdornments. Perfect for any baker and I think it's time to add that to my jewerly collection!

huzzah!

Science & Cooking

2011-02-26T23:59:00.000-08:00

I was in the middle of typing up an Apple Pie for Dummies recipe until I got sidetracked looking up items on Amazon, which lead me to a Science & Cooking series by Harvard on youtube. Since the lectures are between 1 hour and 2 hours long with 12 videos, I'm sure you can do the math and see how my blog entry was delayed. However, I'm glad I stumbled onto the video, because it's fascinating learning why certain ingredients and techniques work. All this knowledge opens up a whole new world to experiment in and let my creativity take over.

Click here to the youtube playlist.

But this video (also embed below) is my favorite out of the entire series. I never noticed the power of gelatin. The only gelatin in my world is Jello. This lecture opened my eyes and helped me see the possibilities of creating dishes through the power of gelatin. It's crazy how much science is part of cooking and how much it can help elevate a dish to the next level. PS Jose Andres is a great speaker -- made me laugh, but also informative.

Coffee Cake Redux

2011-02-23T22:42:00.000-08:00

I made this coffee cake awhile back with a minor adjustment. (aka I gave the cake a crust. >.> oops.) Despite running into the small issue, the cake was a hit. My family thoroughly enjoyed the intense coffee flavor. I've made it several times since then and always followed the recipe. However, this time around, I decided to put my own twist on it. I applied frosting, because I had cream cheese I wanted to use. The last few times I made the cake, I didn't enjoy the greasy taste and found it much too sweet. In an attempt to adjust the recipe to suit me, a lighter fluffy more sponge like cake was created, but with the same intense coffee flavor.

Coffee Cake
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
2 TBSP instant coffee
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
5 TBSP of butter
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk (I substitute with evaporated milk occasionally)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour pan.
Add coffee to water. Set aside.
Mix sugar, flour, and salt.
Melt butter in pot. Pour coffee into butter and boil for 10 seconds. Turn off heat.
Beat egg until thick and creamy.
Mix buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and soda until combined.
Add butter/coffee mixture to flour mixture.
Fold buttermilk/egg into mixture.
For an extra coffee buzz, add 1 to 1 1/2 tsp of instant coffee into batter.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until set. Allow to cool completely.

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

2011-02-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

JSB stealing a bite after I finished taking photos.

I have such frugal tendencies that many of my projects stem from leftover ingredients. I'm not saying that my projects are of low-quality. I simply have a strong need to maximize all the ingredients without wasting a single drop. It's a challenge that I give myself to complete.

Topped with a coffee toffee bean and instant coffee.

This masterpiece was one of my challenges. For awhile, we had a carton of whipping cream sitting in the fridge. Alas, it wasn't enough to make any fancy desserts that I've been wanting to attempt. What better method to utilize leftover heavy whipping cream than to make ICE CREAM!! Ice cream comes in all sizes and the only important aspect is the ratio. As long as I maintain it, there's no way that I can ~~fuck~~ (ahem...I mean mess) up. I love this recipe by David lebovitz. It's simple and tasty. I found it a bit too sweet for me so I reduced the sugar below. If I had Kahlua, I would add a tablespoon.Huzzah!

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream
Adapted from David Lebovitz (from San Francisco Chronicle)

Serving Size: 1 pint

Ingredients
1/2 cup condensed milk (I reduced the sugar, because it was too sweet)
3/4 cup brewed coffee
1/2 cup half & half (I used heavy whipping cream)

Directions

Whisk together condensed milk, coffee, and half & half (or cream).
Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
Freeze in ice cream maker.

Plate Fail.

2011-02-14T23:38:00.000-08:00

An adorable egg pan that JSB received for Christmas.

JSB gave me a bunch of pretty plates for Christmas and I've been itching to use them. Despite making an unappealing meal, it was still an excuse to play with the plates! Let's just say, beansprouts + fried egg aren't the most photogenic couple.

Happy V-Day, Mr. Egg and Ms. Beansprouts!

Gifts

2011-02-12T00:13:00.000-08:00

I remember when I first started to dapple in the art of baking and making yummy goodies. I was deathly afraid of letting anyway else try my creations except for my family and boyfriend. I didn't mind letting my family, because they're family...I don't have a reputation to keep. Besides, my grandma thinks everything I make is the greatest pastry or sweets ever. I didn't mind letting my boyfriend have a taste, because he had to love me even if what I made sucked. Beyond those selected few, I simply wasn't confident enough to let others try. Eventually, I worked up the courage to giving goodies to my roommates. Along the way, my sister passed my om nom noms onto her friends. Without realizing it, I grew confident and I began to thrive on the pleasure that others felt from eating my food or if they disliked it, I felt a strong need to create a treat that was better than the last. Even if someone enjoyed what I made, I still wanted to improve on it and make it better.

I didn't expect to grow this cocky, but I have reached a point where I'm starting to give baked goods as simple gifts. At the preschool I work, parents were generous and gave me gifts during Christmas. I felt bad not having anything to give them in return to show my appreciation. I decided on making them honey caramels and oatmeal raisin cookies. The parents that spoke to me about it asked for recipes! Boy, did that make me feel good! Whooo.

Honey Caramels
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup honey

Directions

Line a 9 by 9 inch pan with parchment paper.
In a medium, thick-bottomed saucepan heat the cream and salt until tiny bubbles start forming where the milk touches the pan - just before a simmer. Stir in the honey. Bring the mixture to a boil. Now reduce the heat to an active simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for about 15-20 minutes minutes or until the mixture reaches about 260 to 265°F degrees. Pour caramel in container and allow it to cool overnight.
The next day, cut caramels into pieces and wrap with parchment paper. Remember to oil your cutting utensil to prevent sticking.

Growing.

2011-02-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Wow. This leadership position is challenging and stressful at the same time. Ever since this position started, I've been dining on Froyo afterward as a treat. I can't say I dislike this position yet, but it's different from what I've done in the past. I've written in my resume how I've lead teams in group projects, but it's nothing compared to running a team and executing goals to meet the expectations of the clientele we're serving.

Despite the struggle from my first 3 session, I'm starting to find my groove. I'm starting to feel more comfortable leading both the class and my team. (Thank goodness.) I thought I would be nervous and anxious at every meeting for the rest of my life, but it feels good to know that I can grow and adapt. I'm waiting to see if I'll grow to enjoy being in a leadership position or if I'll be scarred for life.

Mini-Pumpkin Tart. I was experimenting with crust that day.

Sourdough French Toast

2011-02-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

I used to love french toast when I was younger. The egg soaked bread pan-fried to perfection and then drenched in butter and syrup. My gawd. Heaven, I tell ya. Then something dreadful occurred. I grew up. French toast ordered at a restaurant was too greasy, too mushy, and way too sweet for my palette. (Side note: why does that always happen? I used to love Kit-Kat, 100 Grand, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, but as an adult, it's BAD candy-- too sweet, too junky.)

Today, I created the perfect french toast for an adult palette. A french toast that holds it shape, a bit of sourness to cut the sweetness, honey in the egg mixture, and topped with powdered sugar for the right amount of sweetness. My favorite part about my version is the chewy crust from the French bread.

Sourdough French Toast

Ingredients

2 to 3 day old sourdough French bread (I used Boudins, 7 inch sandwich roll)
1 egg
2 TBSP milk
1 TBSP Honey
Butter
Powdered Sugar

**The batter is enough for half a sandwich roll**

Directions

Slice sourdough into thick 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices.
Whisk egg and milk together until combined. Tiny pieces of egg whites floating around is okay.
Microwave honey for 20 secs and add to egg/milk mixture. Mix honey until dissolved.
Have the batter in a shallow dish and dip slices in it. Approximately 5 secs on each side.
Heat a non-stick pan. Add butter. To test if the pan is ready, add a bit of batter and see if it sizzles.
Gently place slices in pan and allow it to sit undisturbed for 30 secs. Check and see if it's browned. If it isn't, let it sit for 10 more secs and check again. If it's browned, flip it over on the other side and allow it to cook for 30 secs. Check to see if it's browned. If not, allow it to cook longer and check again.
Garnish French Toast with raspberries and powdered sugar.

*I hate wasting so I made scrambled eggs with the rest of the batter.*

Candied Ginger (Crystallized Ginger)

2011-01-28T23:57:00.000-08:00

I'm on a ginger roll. My last couple of entries had a component of ginger and this entry also involves ginger. I gotta admit that ginger is one of my favorite spices. It makes for a wonderful dessert like my all time favorite: ginger milk pudding.

This recipe makes ginger the star, because it's the best way to munch on ginger while also satisfying my sweet tooth.

Candied Ginger (Crystallized Ginger)
From David Lebovitz

Ingredients

1 pound (500g) fresh ginger, peeled
4 cups (800g) sugar, plus additional sugar for coating the ginger slices, if desired
4 cups (1l) water
pinch of salt

Directions

Slice the ginger as thinly as possible. It can’t be too thin, so use a sharp knife.
Put the ginger slices in a non-reactive pot, add enough water to cover the ginger, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let ginger simmer for ten minutes. Drain, and repeat, simmering the ginger slices one more time. (Next time, I'm just going to simmer the ginger once...I prefer a stronger ginger bite)
Mix the sugar and 4 cups (1l) water in the pot, along with a pinch of salt and the ginger slices, and cook until the temperature reaches 225F (106C.)
Remove from heat and let stand for at least an hour, although I often let it sit overnight. Or if you want to coat the slices with sugar, drain very well while the ginger is hot, so the syrup will drain away better.
Store ginger slices in its syrup, or toss the drained slices in granulated sugar. Shake off excess sugar, and spread the ginger slices on a cooling rack overnight, until they’re somewhat dry. The sugar can be reused in a batter or ice cream base, or for another purpose.

Storage: The ginger, packed in its syrup, can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one year. If you’re concerned with it crystallizing, add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup or glucose to the sugar syrup at the beginning of step #3. If tossed in sugar, the pieces can be stored at room temperature for a few months.

I don't know if anyone is going to read this section, but I need to rant. Have you ever had a toxic friend? The one that brings you up and down and drives you crazy, but you can't seem to get away. You always seem to subject yourself to these negative encounters with this friend. The reason why you can't just cut the friendship is because it's family and you're stuck. Oye. What a dilemma it creates.

Ginger Tofu Cheesecake

2011-01-25T23:50:00.000-08:00

It's going to be a busy week for me. I have training, observations, meetings, and work to attend to. In some ways I am super excited, but I am also anxious. Anxious about how things will turn out and if I will meet the expectations I have set for myself. What can I do, but charge in and hope for the very best?

That's exactly what happened when I entered the Cathay Pacific Dessert competition. The premise is that they were looking for an Asian Fusion dessert to add to their menu...I thought long and hard and came up with ginger tofu cheesecake. Excellent idea in my mind, but it certainly was not a spectacular idea to to the judges. You know what really threw me in for a loop? The fact that one of the finalist was a lime ginger cheesecake. Really? really? I was mad for a good couple hours that night. In the end, my creative use of tofu wasn't appreciated. Hrmp. At least by not winning, I can share my recipe with the public.

The great thing about this recipe is the flexibility of it. If you want a lighter cheesecake, you have to use silken tofu and low fat cream cheese, but for a more traditional cheesecake, regular cream cheese and drained silken tofu is required.

Ginger Tofu Cheesecake

Crust

1 cup Graham cracker, crushed
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 TBSP sugar
pinch of salt

Ingredients

1 LB Silken tofu
For Lighter/creamy version: 12 oz light cream cheese & 4 oz regular cream cheese, room temperature
For Traditional version: 16 oz regular cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP lemon juice
6 TBSP of ginger juice
2.5 TBSP grated ginger
3 eggs, room temperature
3 TBSP flour
1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped finely (optional--for an extra zing)

Directions
Crust

In a 8.5 or 9 inch spring form pan, line base with parchment paper.
Crush graham crackers in food processor.
Melt butter.
Combine crackers, butter, and sugar
Press into 8.5 or 9 inch spring form pan.
Bake at 375°F for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.

Filling

Grease the side of the pan.
Drain and beat the tofu until smooth. (If traditional version, leave tofu in a dish with a plate over it for an hour and pour the liquid. Then beat tofu until smooth)
Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Add tofu and mix until combined.
Add vanilla, lemon juice, ginger juice, grated ginger. Mix and taste. Adjust flavors as necessary if ginger isn't intense enough.
Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix well.
Sift flour and fold. Fold in crystallized ginger if using.
Pour filling over crust.
Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until filling is set and slightly jiggly when pan is moved.
Turn off heat and allow it cool in oven for 60 minutes.
Remove from oven and run knife along outside edge of cheesecake.
Cool to room temp, cover lightly with foil, move to refrigerator, and allow it to sit for 24 hours.

Cilantro Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2011-01-20T23:30:00.000-08:00

om nom nom

Awhile back, JSB showed me a grilled cheese sandwich that had crispy cheese on the outside. Love at first sight. Since that moment, I can't go back to normal grilled cheese sandwiches. Damnit. In an attempt to kick it up a notch, I decided to add my favorite herb: cilantro. My gawd, it was heaven. Next time, I may add some garlic...or maybe tomatoes and basil? The possibilities are endless!

Check out the crispy cheese~

I discovered that writing these entries twice a week is motivating me to come up with new ideas so that I can't run out of material. It also helps center me so that I feel less stressed about all the tasks I must complete. I recently acquired a new position as a team leader and it's both frightening and exciting for me. I'm scared that I'll look like a fool or that I'm unable to motivate the team and classroom I'll be working in. My greatest fear is that I'll fail at the entire task and they'll have to terminate me. On the other hand, I'm excited that I will face my fear of public speaking, seeing what I can accomplish, and perhaps discover that I am actually good at leading.

I need a dress. boo.

2011-01-18T22:14:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the cucumber yogurt sauce so much that I decided to use it as a salad dressing as well. I must say, it tasted surprisingly well with pasta, turkey, broccoli, avocado, and grapes. (I <3 fruits in my salad.)

With my salad, I made a refreshing glass of ginger lemonade. Best stuff ever and simple to make. Juice from half a lemon, 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of ginger juice, sugar, ice, and soda or mineral water. Done.

On another note, I need to find a dress for a wedding banquet and time is running out...AHHHH~

A milestone.

2011-01-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

I reached a milestone today. I swallowed a pill at the age of 24. It took 4 glasses of water and I "accidentally" swallowed it so I am unsure if I can replicate the motions necessary to swallow a pill again. My mom said, "I should practice so I can swallow bigger pills when I'm pregnant."

Occasionally, JSB gets a sudden burst of inspiration and wants to create an elaborate meal from scratch. This time around, she made naan, tandoori chicken, and a cucumber dipping sauce.

In the beginning, I was apprehensive about the dipping sauce, because she said it was a mix of grated cucumbers, plain greek yogurt, salt, and pepper. Judging the ingredients, it seemed unappealing, but after the first taste, it was refreshing, light, and complimented the rest of the meal very well. The naan was good too. The chicken was okay.

Marshmallows

2011-01-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

I always thought a stand mixer was a waste of money. It's expensive, takes up up a ton of space, and it does everything that I can do. I prefer kneading and mixing ingredients by hand. If I needed to cream ingredients or whisk egg whites or cream, my handy dandy portable hand mixer can do the job perfectly. After considering these points, why would I need to buy the famed KitchenAid Stand Mixer?

Big and Mini Marshmallows

Then JSB and I encountered marshmallows and I finally understand why a stand mixer is a necessity. First of all, marshmallows require a lot of power especially near the end when it it thickens up and requires more strength to whip it. Our handy dandy hand mixer was doing a great job in the first 8 minutes of whipping, but as the 15 minute mark approached, the mixer was wheezing and coughing. The speed slowed down tremendously. In fact, only the mixture that surrounded the whisk was getting whipped -- the mixture touching the bowl wasn't even being agitated. In the last few minutes, I swear I saw bits of gray/blackish particles flying out of the mixer, but I can't be sure since when I tried to dig it out of the mixture I couldn't find it.

Lesson learned: A Stand mixer is necessary for this recipe.

JSB saw how the marshmallow was overpowering our hand mixer and told me to quickly pour the mixture out onto the pan...in the midst of her panic, she forgot to add the vanilla. The final result was a fluffy sweet mess that tasted of sugar and cornstarch.

Things I would change:

1) Use only powdered sugar instead of cornstarch, because the cornstarch left a weird taste on the marshmallows.

2) Remember to add flavoring. >.>

Marshmallows
Recipe from Alton Brown

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.
When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

For miniature marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Line 4 half sheet pans with parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the confectioners' sugar mixture.
Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round piping tip. Pipe the mixture onto the prepared sheet pans lengthwise, leaving about 1-inch between each strip. Sprinkle the tops with enough of the remaining cornstarch and sugar mixture to lightly cover. Let the strips set for 4 hours or up to overnight.
Cut into 1/2 inch pieces using a pizza wheel or scissors dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining sugar mixture and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

My First and Only BIG SNACK!

2011-01-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

I had a blast with JSB today playing monopoly and spending time with her. It's a rare moment that I appreciate. After she returned home from the dentist, she made me lunch while I worked on making coffee ice cream and raisin bread. When JSB shows me these warm gestures, it makes me feel fuzzy and warm on the inside and I really appreciate her efforts.

A long
     long
          long
           time ago...

(say around Year 2010)

JSB surprised me with cinnamon sugar popcorn. That girl knows that I love my sugar and cinnamon especially Saigon cinnamon.

Bubble, my nickname.

Crispy popcorn paired with the caramelized sweetness of sugar and finishes with a note of cinnamon = my ultimate snack.

Om nom nom.

Even though JSB made me my ultimate snack, it's a tease, because there is a chance that it'll never happen again. Food requests will only encourage JSB to tease you and a reluctance to make it again. However, if I wait patiently and hope, there is a greater possibility that what I crave will appear again in my life.

Working hard on my note.

What I love more than popcorn are notes. Since JSB made me a "Big Snack," I demanded a note, because I always wrote her a note when I made her mini-snacks. Another difference between our snacks is that my snacks are too small for her while her portions are ginormous!! >.>

It's a New Year.

2011-01-03T00:10:00.000-08:00

and it's time to make some new commitments.

1) Post at least twice a week.
2) Start exercising.
3) Keep track of how much I spend on my baking/cooking hobby.

Interesting fact:
I posted 32 posts for both 2009 and 2010.

Nectarine Crepes

2010-11-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

Oye, I have completely forgotten how much time going to school full-time and working takes. Sure, I still have time to cook and take photos, but to take time out and write about what's important to me seems to have gone out the window. Any free time I have now is dedicated to friends, boyfriend, or family.

Boy, do I look yums.

Today, I learned that yogurt, brown sugar, and fruits used as a garnish is a bad idea. First, yogurt melts underweight and heat and does not maintain it's shape like ice cream. My nice scoop of yogurt melted into a mess when I topped it with a pretty nectarine (fail.) Second, brown sugar dissolves onto of yogurt. It looked cute sprinkled on top of the crepe, but couple minutes later, it melted into a gooey puddle. Seriously...way to ruin a perfect looking crepe.

I'm melting....

Disaster at its finest.

What happened was that I decided to make my middle sister nectarine crepes tonight as a goodbye sweet treat before she left for college the next morning. The nectarines were sauteed with brown sugar and cinnamon until it became syrupy. I made crepes as well. Both components turned out perfect. Since we had thick n' creamy vanilla yogurt in the fridge, I decided to garnish the crepe with it. It looked pretty and it tasted yums. I garnished an extra crepe for photos and left it alone for a couple of minutes to cook another crepe. When I came back to the model, it became a melted ugly mess. Waahhh. So i forced myself to finish eating that one and I made another less perfect crepe. Boo. Oh well. At least I have pretty pictures, right?

EAT ME.

Basic Crepe Recipe
Adapted from a recipe I copied from an unknown book years ago

1 egg
dash of salt
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 TBSP cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
Each pancake is approximately 2 TBSPs of batter. Cook one side until brown, flip, and cook otherside until colored.

Sauteed Nectarines

2.5 TBSP brown sugar
3 small yellow nectarines, sliced
Cinnamon, to taste

Directions
Pour brown sugar in pan. When it begins to melt, toss in the nectarines. Stir it occasionally and when the nectarines become tender and sauce has thicken, turn off the heat and add the cinnamon.

Assembly

Place crepe on plate.
Scoop some nectarines.
Fold crepe edges in so it becomes a roll. (Seam facing down)
Top with a dollop of thick n' creamy yogurt, whip cream, or vanilla ice cream. Sprinkle some brown sugar on top.
Enjoy~

Maintaining Friendship and Caramelized Potatoes

2010-11-18T22:49:00.000-08:00

One of my close friends from college moved to China about 1.5 years ago; it's been difficult trying to keep in touch. We emailed frequently in the beginning, but it eventually tapered off to an email response every couple days to weeks. I constantly reminded myself to reply to her emails, but something always came up so I told myself that I would do it the next day. Of course, I don't reply the next day and I continued to procrastinate. By the time I finally wrote a response, I had forgotten what I wanted to tell her.

About a month ago, I tried a new method of keeping in touch with her. I started sending her a pic-a-day through my mobile phone to her email. A picture is simple and doesn't require much writing and if i wanted to share some thoughts with her, I could include it in the picture email. I've been enjoying it so far, because it doesn't mentally exhaust me and I can keep up with it. It motivates me to appreciate the little things in life, because I have to find something to show her. It lets her know that I care and miss her and how much I want to spend an afternoon or night with her, chatting and being silly. I can't wait to save up money and fly out there to see her in the future.

P.S. My daily photos were such a hit that I reached my monthly text message quota two weeks ago. Oops.I can start sending her pictures again on Saturday when my plan resets. Whoo~

This recipe was inspired by a Korean banchan I had awhile back with my family. I made it for JSB and she enjoyed it.

Oven Baked Caramelized Potatoes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of red potatoes
1 TBSP (or more) canola oil
2 TBSP (or more) sugar
sea salt

Directions

Wash, peel, and cut potatoes into 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Boil potatoes for 8 to 12 minutes until just barely cooked. (Knife has difficulty going through potato)
Dry potatoes with paper towel and drizzle with olive oil until lightly coated. Line baking sheet with foil/parchment paper. Spread potatoes on sheet with space in between the potatoes.
Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
When potatoes are finished, keep them in the oven so they stay hot. Adjust temperature to 300°F.
In a pan, coat bottom of pan with sugar. Add more sugar if you like foods more sweet.
Wait for sugar to melt and caramelize, then add the potatoes.
Toss the potatoes to coat it in the sugar and sprinkle it with sea salt. Serve.

A poem and some photos.

2010-11-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

This past week in my child development class, my professor read us this poem:

Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."

"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher’s flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher’s.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher’s dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher’s
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher’s.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn’t make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn’t say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don’t you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don’t know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don’t know," said the little boy.

And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

This poem made me question how much of what I know and do was influenced by someone or something in the past. The scary part is that I don't even notice or realize the influence the objects or people had on me.

A lot of what I do in the kitchen is based on imitations of others and following recipes. I used to be so afraid of messing up and felt that I needed to follow the recipe in order to be good at baking that I rarely experimented in the kitchen. I have gotten over that fear and now have plenty of fun experimenting and "messing" up for the sake of improving and learning, which includes plating. I struggle with plating every time I make something. I have folders filled with pictures that show how much improvement I can use, but compared to my first photo, I'm a rock star now. Whooo!!

First picture I uploaded on my first post of my first food blog.

Cheese toast topped with onions and avocado ice cream

Potatoes sauteed with tomatoes and sausages. Garnished with homemade croutons.


Short ribs with rice and warm garlic butter beet salad.

Oven baked wings with quinoa and vegetables.

JSB's tilapia poached in mushroom stock. Garnished with Chinese chives and bamboo shoots.

I Run a Chinese Restaurant. (Homemade Pasta Recipe)

2010-11-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

There are two ways that I come up with a post.

1) Inspiration randomly appears throughout my day.
2) I stare at my list of unposted photos and see which one calls out to me.

Today happens to be option #2 and the topic of the day is "my attempt at a nice meal while my parents were out with their friends." The menu was homemade pasta dressed in edamame sauce (it was a thickened up version of the soup) with katsu tilapia and roasted peppers. For dessert, fresh homemade caramel apples.

I hired my sisters to work again at my 'family run Chinese restaurant without pay.' JSB worked on the roasted peppers and she had so much fun playing with the fire. In the beginning, I was frightened by the flying pieces of burning pepper skin that floated up towards the vent. I did not want to explain to my parents why our house burned down while they were gone for a couple of hours. lol.

The alien life form after taking the roasted pepper apart.

I set my other sister, Kay, to work on the pasta. I had her kneading, rolling, and cutting pasta for a good 2 hours. Poor Child; she had to suffer before she was allowed to eat. ^.^

All purpose flour and semolina flour.

Mixing flours with fork.

Cracking egg over pasta.

The well with the egg.

Kneading.

Dough with a smooth and elastic consistency.

Rolling out the pasta. Yes, I don't own a rolling pin.

Pretty pasta, thanks to Kay =)

I had the very important job of making the caramel apples. I was surprised by how easy the task was and how quickly everything came together. The first couple of apples I dipped weren't attractive, but I definitely improved with the last few!

Honey Caramel Apples.

At one point, Grandma stopped by and I invited her to stay and eat with us. As usual, she refused and claimed that we didn't have enough food to feed her. Lies. We had plenty. The truth is that she thinks we are unhygienic cooks and thinks my sisters are incapable of cooking. When she came over, I was in the middle of photographing the apples and pasta and I managed to snap a photo of my Grandma smiling. Best part of the day. =)

Evidence that JSB and I are in dire need of help when it comes to plating. Originally I had a pile of noodles on one side and the slab of fish on the other side of the plate. JSB decided to dress it up with green onion and cherries. It ended up looking like a treasure map. >.>

Find the treasure!

Italian Pasta
From Ciao Chow Linda

Ingredients

3/4 cup semolina flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs

Directions

Place flour on board and mix with a fork. Form a well. Add eggs in the center and whisk with fork until flour is slowly incorporated into mixture. (Add more flour if it's too sticky)
Knead for 5 minutes until it is smooth.
Allow the dough to rest for 30 to 45 minutes.
Roll out and cut into desired shape.
Boil for 2-3 minutes in salted water.

N3rd Party. fail.

2010-10-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Wow. Hosting a dinner party was a new experience. Deciding on a theme, planning a menu, preparing and cooking the dishes, and breaking out the camera to take photos were all part of my checklist. Guess what? None of it went the way I planned. NONE!!

First, the theme was "Nerd" done gossip girl style. Sounds sexy cute, right? I had an outfit in mind to change into after I was done cooking and prepping all the food, but I never got to the change-into-outfit part. I was running around making sure everyone and everything was alright. Luckily, none of my buddies dressed up except for the one that came up with the theme. ahahah. ^.^

I didn't expect to have so much fun planning and organizing a menu. (Of course, I had 2 buddies helping me out).

The Menu

Melon & Prosciutto

Bread with spinach artichoke dip

Spinach Salad with pecans and cranberries

dressed with vinegar

Chicken Le Cordon Bleu with a mushroom cream sauce

on top of pasta

Creme Brulee

Apple Crisp

Fruit Salad

I had the best time figuring out the ingredients and shopping. I always knew I enjoyed being organized, but I didn't expect to have so much fun doing it. I did make one change on the day of the dinner. The original appetizer was vienna sausages & pineapples. Gross. However, I managed to convince my friends to change it to melon with prosciutto with the help of JSB! yay!!! I nommed through the appetizers.

Originally, I wanted to do most of the shopping the night before, but my friends told me that it wasn't necessary and we could complete it the same day. I did an eyebrow twitch and they told me not to worry, but worry I did! It's a good thing I worried and purchased some ingredients on my own the night before. Dinner was suppose to start at 7, but we didn't get back to my house until 5:30 when we went shopping at 4 PM!! Talk about the stress I felt since I need organization and structure in my life in order to be at ease!!

(Anticipating chaos at night, I made my creme brulee and I prepped all the ingredients needed for my apple crisp before we went shopping. yay to thinking ahead!)

Oh gawd, prep work was when the nightmare began. First, our kitchen is tiny. Not a lot of workspace so only 2 people can prep at once. My buddy was in charge of the entree, but he was socializing so I ended up prepping for him. I had my sister making melon balls out of honey dew, cantaloupe, and watermelon. I had a family friend and my other sister making melon and prosciutto balls. After they completed the first task, I had them working on slicing bread and plating up everything. I seriously felt like I was running a Chinese "family" run restaurant outta my kitchen, meaning I slave them away with no pay. The only form of payment is food. lol.

I yelled at my friend to get his butt into the kitchen and get his dinner started, because it was nearly 7 and his chicken needed to be baked!! aiiiyaaaah. Paniiiic!! Of course, he is the type that thinks everyone runs on his time so he takes his time and tells me to relax. Another eyebrow twitch comes from me and I get started on the alcohol. I needed a drink.

All the appetizers and bread have been devoured and all the guests are hungry. Drinks are being made, jello shots are being passed around, and salad is served to hold off the hunger. Finally, food is served at 9:30 and as luck would have it there is NOT enough food for my buddies. Oyeee.

The worst part of the night was not being able to take photos of my creations. I was in the kitchen the whole night working on the food and cleaning up as we worked so I would have less to clean up later. The only photo I had was of my dinner and it is not a pretty photo either. ='(

What I have learned:
1) Buy all ingredients a night or two before the party.
2) Prep the majority of the ingredients the night before and in the morning.
3) Must have a dinner party again and see party 2.0 rock.
4) Finish cooking everything early so I can take photos!! =(
5) Theme? What theme? Forget about it, I want board game nights!!

Crash Hot, What?

2010-10-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

I've been writing so many essays recently that I haven't found the energy or inspiration to blog. I hate it. I miss having all the extra time to bake, take photos, and write about what happened. All I do now is bake, bake, bake, eat, eat, eat, sleep, sleep sleep, school, school, school, work, work, work, see the b/f, rinse and repeat. I've been so horrendous at writing that it took me 3 weeks to respond to my sweet dear friend that lives on the other side of the globe. Shameful.

Today, I leave you with a simple delicious potato recipe.

Crash Hot Potatoes
Inspired from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

Potatoes
Olive Oil
Sea Salt Salt To Taste
Black Pepper To Taste
Green Onion, chopped finely
Cheese

Instructions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.
On a sheet pan, line it with foil and place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with olive oil.
Sprinkle potatoes with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. Add the cheese and green onion and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt and crisp up.

Being around food makes me happy

2010-08-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

(Click photo to enlarge)

Lately I've been stressed worrying about my future. I currently work with children and I have a great time whenever I go to work. I laugh, I get irritated, and I love to see them smile and grow as a person. However, it's not something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life so where does that leave me? I've been researching about other careers where I can work with children, but the more information I find, the more confused and stressed I get. When that happens, I start reading food blogs and thinking about new dishes to make to destress myself. What does that mean? Does that mean my passion lies within food and not children? Or maybe the reason I enjoy being around food is because it's a hobby and not a job? So much to think about....

(Click photo to enlarge)

Pineapple-Banana Smoothie

Makes 3 cups

Ingredients

3/4 cups fresh pineapples, frozen
1 small banana, sliced and frozen
6 oz plain yogurt (or any flavor)
1/2 cup milk (or more)

Directions

Add all ingredients into the blender and blend away until it's to your desired consistency.
You may need to add more milk if the smoothie is too thick.

(Click photo to enlarge)

"Healthy" Deviled eggs

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 hard-boiled eggs
smidge of Dijon mustard for flavor
1 tsp green onion, finely sliced
1 tsp Parmesan cheese

Directions

Slice hard-boiled eggs in half.
Keep 1 yolk and toss the other.
Mix yolk with mustard, green onion, and Parmesan cheese.
Fill the egg halves with filling and enjoy!

Raspberry Banana Smoothie

2010-08-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

Back in the day (wow...way to make myself sound old), my typical after school snacks included munching on crackers, slurping up instant cup of noodles, gobbling up cookies, and drinking milkshakes and juice. Talk about sugar, sodium, and fat overload.

Since I've started blogging, my need to consume junk food declined rapidly. I think it's changed because it's much more fun to photograph homemade fresh foods than packaged foods. The best part about creating my own dishes is hearing my family telling me that they enjoyed with I made. And if they did not enjoy it, it motivates me to try again and again until they give me the seal of approval.

(Click image to enlarge)

Raspberry Banana Smoothie

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup banana, frozen
3/4 cup raspberries, frozen
1/2 cup milk (or more depending on the consistency)

Directions

Toss everything in the blender and blend away until its to your desired consistency.
You may need to add more milk to the smoothie if you find it too thick.

(Click image to enlarge)

Tomato Sauce and Oven-baked Wings (recipes)

2010-08-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful vacation this past week. It was relaxing and I got to spend quality time with my man. There was only one problem. I started getting cranky near the end of our trip. I was ingesting too much grease in my system and not enough fresh vegetables. It only took a vacation to remind me how much I love to cook my own food.

Basic Tomato Sauce
Recipe from The Amateur Gourmet
(the recipe below was taken from his book, but his website has a similar one)

Makes 4 Cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Spanish Onion (substitute: yellow onion), finely diced
4 garlic gloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 TBSP chopped fresh thyme (or 1 TBSP dried thyme)
1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
2 28-oz cans peeled whole tomatoes
kosher salt

Directions

In a 3-quart sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown (8-10 minutes).
Add thyme and carrots and cook for 5 minutes or more until carrots are soft.
With your hands, crush tomatoes and add them with their juices into the saucepan.
Bring to a boil, stir often, and lower heat. Simmer for 30 minutes or until sauce is thick as hot cereal.
Season with salt. Serve.

Notes:

Keeps for 1 week in fridge or 6 months in freezer.
I found the sauce a tad too salty for me, because of the sodium in the canned tomatoes. Next time, I may attempt to cook this sauce with super ripe fresh tomatoes to cut back on the salt.

Oven-Baked Chicken Wings

Serves as many as you want.

Ingredients

Chicken wings
Black pepper
Salt
Garlic Powder
Olive Oil

Directions

Rinse the wings and dry with a paper towel. Lay them out on a baking sheet.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Drizzle the wings in olive oil and make sure the wings are evenly covered in the oil. Liberally cover the wings in black pepper and garlic powder. Add a dash of salt on each wing and rub the salt into the wing (a wing massage if you will.).
Line cooking sheet/baking sheet in foil and lay the wings on it. Make sure to give ample space between each wing (about 1 inch of space).
Bake in oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the skin is golden brown.

Fake Corn Soup and Failed Apple Tarte Tartin

2010-07-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

I love punking around with JSB. After my success with Mini-snack #1, she was excited for another surprised. I knew she was waiting for a gourmet snack in a larger portion. No way was I going to sit back and just let her freeload off of me.

I made corn soup and topped it with salmon and basil. She came home excited and devoured the snack and told me it was really good, but questioned where I got the corn from.

I told her the secret was canned corn. She gave me the "You-fed-me-what?" look and I had my ROFL moment.

Sadly, karma exists in this world. After I fed JSB the corn soup, my attempt at cooking an Apple Tarte Tartin failed miserably.

Instead of an impressive tartin, I ended up with a burnt mess.

Waaah! Sliiiiiime!! (Edamame Soup)

2010-07-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

I randomly stumbled upon White on Rice couple's edamame soup. I didn't think much of it until I read the recipe and realized how simple it was. All it required was a bit of sauteing, add the edamame and stock, simmer a bit, and blend it up. BAM! and you got yourself a soup.

My only mistake was using canned chicken stock, because it was too salty. If I had the choice, I would use homemade stock -- much healthier too.

Side note: my soup was on the thick side so I made pasta to go with it, which JSB devoured and complained that I gave her too little.

Edamame (Soy Bean) Soup
Recipe from White on Rice Couple

Ingredients
For vegetarians, use vegetable stock. For everyone else, use bacon and stock.

1 T Butter
1 t Sesame Oil
2 T Shallots, finely minced
1/2 T Garlic (2 cloves), crushed
1 1/2 T Ginger (2″ knob), finely grated or crushed
optional- 2 pieces Bacon, diced
1 pkg Soy Beans (16oz)
3 c Chicken or Vegetable Broth (add more for a lighter, more liquidy soup)
1 1/2 T Soy Sauce
fresh cracked pepper and thinly sliced green onion for finish & garnish

Directions

On medium heat, melt butter with sesame oil in a sauce pan. (If using bacon, omit the butter and fry the bacon and sesame oil till the fat is rendered) Add shallots, garlic and ginger. Sauté until lightly golden and fragrant.
Add soy beans, broth and soy sauce. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until soy beans are tender (how fast or slow you simmer will affect the thickness of the soup. It is always a good idea to have extra broth in case you boil off too much liquid.)
Put everything into a blender and puree until smooth. Return to sauce pan to keep warm. Serve with fresh cracked pepper on top of each bowl and the thinly sliced green onion. Add a light stream of sesame oil or a touch of sour cream or creme fraiche for extra tastiness.
If the soup is too thick for you, add more broth until it reaches your desired consistency.

Oh em Gee, the best way to use up lemons! (Lemon Bar recipe)

2010-06-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

Mom: "Piee, look at these lemons I bought!"
Me: "Hrmm?..."
Mom: "They were sooo cuuuute. Bright yellow and tiny with thin skins, and heavy too!"
Me: "Oh...they look nice...I guess I could use them to make something."
Mom: "NO! You may not."
Me: "Eeeh??" O.o
Mom: "You will make me FAT!"

Because I'm such an obedient daughter, I didn't touch the lemons for a week. No one else touched them either. I guess no one wanted lemonade. The lemons started wrinkling and the color began to dull. Since the lemons were deteriorating, I took it as a sign that the lemons needed to get used and abused. In other words, It's time to make Mom fat.

I decided to make lemon bars, because I adore the tangy, sweet, and lemony flavored filling on a nice shortbread crust. Coincidentally, I managed to use up all the lemons for this recipe too. yay. no leftovers!

I chose to halve the lemon filling, because in the pictures, it looked like there was a crapton of filling to crust ratio. I prefer a 1:1 ratio of crust to filling. I decided to do some research and found another recipe that I could use. I ended up combining 2 recipes to suit my taste, however, I borrowed more from Food Gal's recipe.

Lemon Bars
Adapted from Foodgal and Oishi Food

Ingredients
Crust

3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 TBSP of butter
Dash of salt

Filling

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup + 2 TBSP of lemon juice
1/3 cup of all-purpose flour

Directions
For the Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine flour and sugar in a bowl and beat until mixed. Add butter until the size of small peas. Press into a 9 inch pie pan.
Bake until crust is golden brown, approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Allow crust to cool to room temperature. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

For the filling:

Whisk eggs and sugar until smooth. Add lemon and flour. Pour onto crust.
Bake until filling sets, approximately 40 minutes. Allow the bars to cool to room temperature and store in fridge for a 1 hour before serving.
Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

Om Nom Nom Delicious White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

2010-05-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

I love experimenting, but sometimes I wish I didn’t. The problem is that I have fallen in love with my dad’s DSLR. I was experimenting to see how much of an effect it would have on my food photography. Wow. I could take a nice overview shot and still see the texture of my goodies. With my point-and-shoot, I had to get up close and personal before I could photograph the texture of my food, which often resulted in tight compositions.

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

You see my dilemma? I can’t go back to point-and-shoots anymore! I try to convince myself that I still need my point-and-shoot because it’s a good way to practice my composition skills...but the quality isn't the same. ='(

On a side note, these cookies were delicious. Chewy and moist with the crunch from the nuts. Mmmm…and the creaminess of the white chocolate melting in your mouth. Best combination e-var. My only issue with the recipe was that I found it too sweet so I reduced the sugar amount in the recipe below.

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

White chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Adapted from For the love of cooking

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 TBSP vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
2 4oz. white chocolate bar cut into chunks (approx. 1 3/4 cups)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
In another bowl, beat together melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until creamy.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just mixed.
Stir in nuts and white chocolate.
Drop by the spoonful onto baking sheet.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until edges look golden brown.
Cool on baking sheet for at least 4 - 5 minutes so the cookies can set before moving to a rack.

Oven-Baked Fries (Potato or Taro)

2010-05-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

Whenever I hear someone order a salad or diet soda along with their fries, big mac, or any high calorie fast food item, I die a bit on the inside. Psychologically, it makes you feel better, because you think, "Oh, I got my a side salad. That's healthy. Or I got diet soda, which is so much better than regular soda." But if you press the pause button and think rationally, the healthy side salad or diet soda doesn't cancel out the rest of your greasy meal. You are still eating overly processed goodies that lack nutrients.

Sadly, I am a victim of that sort of logic. When I have a craving for junk food, I try to satisfy it with a healthier alternative. This time I was dying for the crunch of crispy McDonald fries, but all we had at home were baby taros. I had the brilliant idea to oven-baked them, because it would be "healthier" and to eat a crapton of veggies with it. Oh, and a glass of milk.

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

I did learn one thing about baby taros. They aren't meant for baking, but I'm sure with the larger taro, it would work well for oven-baked fries. The problem with baby taros is that it becomes very mushy and soft after it's cooked compared to the larger variety that's still firm after it's cooked.

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

Oven-Baked Fries (Potato or Taro)
*this is a very flexible recipe.*

Ingredients

potatoes or big taro
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Wash, peel, and cut the potatoes (taro) into thin strips.
Toss the potatoes (taro) with salt, pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. You want to lightly coat the potato/taro in olive oil. DO NOT drown it.
Spread one layer of potatoes/taro onto a baking sheet. I lined it with foil so it would be easy clean up. Make sure there's space between each piece.
Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned and tender.

(Click Picture to Enlarge)

Super healthy delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

2010-05-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last year around my birthday, I made my own birthday cake. The cake was moist, sweet, healthy, and delicious and my family devoured it. However, they had one complaint: it was a bit too moist. As in, it was so moist that it was on the borderline of wet/mushy so I made a note in my notebook to make it firmer the next time I tried again.

Coincidentally, we ended up having too many ripe bananas around my birthday again this year. I pulled out the old recipe and made some adjustments.

The verdict: it was a major improvement from last time. It was so good that my grandma requested that I make more for her and said I was the best baker ever. Muahahah. I love my g-ma.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Adapted from Pink Peppercorn

Ingredients

3 TBSP butter
A heaping 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
2 TBSP applesauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
A dash of milk
2 1/2 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of wheat flour
a little less than 1/4 cup of wheat germ
a little less than 1/4 cup of flax seed
a heaping 1/2 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup of walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup of walnuts, chopped, (this is used as topping)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add applesauce, cinnamon, and egg to mixture. Mix well.
Stir in milk, bananas, and vanilla. Combine.
Add in the rest of the ingredients: flour, wheat germ, flax seed, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix.
Gently combine the chocolate chips and walnuts with the rest of ingredients.
Pour the mixture into an 8x8 inch dish lined with parchment paper.
Sprinkle the crushed walnuts (1/3 cup) on top.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes or poke the cake with a toothpick and see if it comes out clean.

A-Maizing Corn Snacks. NOT!

2010-05-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy morning and I'm feeling grumpy, tired, and hungry. I need a mood picker upper before I meet up my friend. I enter a store and wander through the aisles to the snack section. I select a package that reminds me of "corn nuts" because it says its a corn kernel snack.I pay for the package and walk to the bus stop.

My bad mood makes a turn for worse. My corn nuts-esque snack turned into what looked like half-popped kernels from a popcorn factory. What a disappointment. I was not expecting leftovers to be repackaged and sold. *sad face*

It tasted salty and I wasn't a fan of the texture. However, JSB loved it, because her favorite part about popcorn are the semi-popped kernels.

Bottom line: Avoid product unless you enjoy semi-popped corn kernels.

Mmm...Cinnamon Gluteus maximus (aka Cinnamon buns/rolls)

2010-04-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

I am one of those bakers that enjoy creating tasty treats, but do not gorge on what I create. For me, the process of creating and presenting the final product is my favorite part out of the cycle. I have very little desire to eat what I make. As a result, I often need to find ~~victims~~...err lovely friends to give my goodies to.

Cinnamon Rolls with cream cheese icing.

Cinnamon rolls was on my "to-make-and-give-away" list. I wanted to make small 3 to 5 bites sized rolls instead of the ginormous regular-sized buns so it would be less of a sugar overload. Because my family dislikes fat-filled diabetic causing goodies, I was forced to wait...and wait...and wait some more...until...

Some sucker requested me to make cinnamon buns. It all started, because I was teasing one of JSB's friends. She was telling me how her friend has been making banana muffins for weeks, because he always had ripe bananas at home. I told her to tell her friend to make some with cream cheese filling, because I've been craving for some banana muffins stuffed with cream cheese. Like everything else in life, nothing is free. He was reluctant to bake me muffins until I offered to make him anything in return. He excitedly choose cinnamon buns in <3 shaped. yeah....Cute, but I can't be caught flirting with high schoolers by making heart-shaped buns and sending wrong messages to teenagers. Yeesh, I'm gonna get my ass sent to jail.

After much thought, I settled on a recipe by Paula Deen. I planned on making smaller buns (approx 3 inches in diameter), which yielded about 30 rolls. I decided to make 2 toppings: sugar glaze and cream cheese icing.

Icing the buns.

Because cinnamon buns taste the best fresh out of the oven, I made the important decision to bake it in the morning for JSB to bring it to school. I made her three trays (1 cream-cheese icing and 2 sugar glazed).

Before cutting the rolls.

In order for me to have enough time in the morning to bake it, I made the dough the night before and shoved the dough in the fridge overnight.

Pre-rising.

After rising.

I woke up at 5:30 AM in the dark the next day to preheat the oven and to bring the dough to room temperature.

Fresh out of the oven.

While the buns were baking, I made the icing. As soon as JSB was ready to leave the house, I gave her three trays in a bag for her to bring to school and share with her friends.

Sugar glazed.

The verdict: her friends thought the buns were good, but not enough sugar (aka icing). Because pastry drenched in sugar puts me off, I intentionally lightly drizzled the icing on the buns. However, I forgot that highschoolers adore sugar and fat overkill. The high schoolers loved the sugar glazed rolls, but JSB and I preferred the cream cheese frosting.

Cinnamon bun side-view.

Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

Dough
1/4 oz package yast
1/2 cup warm water at 110 degrees Fahreinheit
1/2 cup milk at 110 degrees Fahreinheit
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup better, melted
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Filling
(I felt her filling was a bit excessive so I lowered the amount of butter and sugar)
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon (I used Saigon cinnamon)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.
Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.
Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

Sugar Glaze
Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp hot water

Directions:

Mix butter, sugar, and vanilla.
Add water until glaze reaches desired consistency.

Sugar glazed bun.

Cream Cheese Icing
Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients:
1 1/4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Whisk cream cheese until creamy.
Add milk until combined.
Sift in powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Cream cheese icing.

The Cheater's version of Cheesecake

2010-04-16T18:21:00.000-07:00

Have ever had the original cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory after dinner? Sweet, luscious, thick, and creamy with a crispy graham cracker crust to finish off the experience. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Don't deny it. After you have polished off the last bite of cheesecake, reality dawns on you. That thick slice of cheesecake was approximately 700 calories. The calories only increase with other flavors.

Talk about guilt. To satisfy my craving while staying within my calorie limit, I turned a cheesecake bar (stick) into a cheese"cake."

Confession #1: I over-baked the cheesecake....

So...I fibbed a bit. It's not a cheesecake, really, it's still a bar...the shape simply changed. Either way, it's light and delicious. It has about a 1:1 ratio of creamcheese filling to crust. It's awesome for a crust lover. I love the crust to death. It's not your traditional graham cracker crust, but a flour, sugar, and butter crust. Oh, you also have to adore vanilla. The vanilla aroma is intense! Mmmm...../swoons.

Confession #2: I went overboard with the plating.

Doesn't it look like someone died on my

plate? =(

Cheesecake Bar in Cheesecake Form
Adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients:

Crust
1/6 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup half&half or light cream
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
2 eggs
1/3 to 1/2 of a vanilla bean (depending on how stingy you want to be)
1/2 tbsp all purpose flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line pan with parchment paper or grease it. I used a pie pan for my cheesecake bar.
Cream sugar and butter until fluffy and smooth.
Beat in flour and salt until crumbly. Press mixture into the pan evenly.
Bake in oven for 15 to 17 minutes.
Combine sugar, half&half, and cheese until smooth.
Add eggs one at a time.
Add vanilla and flour.
Pour filling into crust and bake for 23 to 26 minutes until set.

Black + White = Fail (Cheesecake Brownie)

2010-04-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

When I attempt a recipe and it goes south, I die a little on the inside because I hate wasting precious ingredients. Perhaps, I should define "precious." All ingredients are precious in my eyes, including cheap items like flour and sugar.

I can complain all I want about wasting ingredients, but I can't do anything about it since the baking life cycle includes making errors and learning from it. No matter how many mistakes I make, I refuse to give up. Giving up means failure and my ego will never let that happen.You need proof? Check out my past brownie attempts. *angry face*

It looks fine here, but it's

all about the

angles.

What happened this time around with brownies? The usual happened. It hates me regardless of what I do. If it's brownie based, it refuses to bake in my favor. I ended up over-baking my cheesecake brownies. The brownie portion became a firm cake and the cheesecake layer was chewy with a thin crispy layer on top.

The "brownie" looks rather

lifeless, doesn't it?

The Tale of the Mochi Factory Nightmare

2010-04-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

The Tale of the Mochi Factory Nightmare

Location: My own home
Time: Lost forever.

My recollection of that night is rather blurry. I remember coming home after a day of volunteering and Kay coming back from college that same night. Other than that, the details are lost. Let me tell you. It was a rough night. I slaved for hours (literally). I started around 5:30 P.M. and worked until 7 P.M. Had a relaxing dinner with the family. Returned home where JSB ordered me to continue working. Kay came home around 10 PM and said she wanted to go out and grab a bite, because she didn't have dinner yet. JSB made a deal with Kay: we would accompany her to dinner if she worked at JSB's mochi mill. At one point, my eyes began to tear up, my fingers started aching, and I was starting to doze off in the kitchen. From what I recall, I didn't get to crawl into bed until 4 AM??

The worst part:

The next day when we were suppose to have fun, I had to help her deliver the goods. *sends DEATH GLARES to JSB*

Subplot:
This was JSB's project. It was a creative twist on the traditional mochi. Combining the smooth, sweet, and velvety ganache with the chewy texture of mochi was brilliant. There were 3 flavors: dark chocolate, white chocolate, and green tea (MY IDEA!). Her idea is similar to Betelnut's mochi, which is filled with Kahlua dark chocolate, milk chocolate Grand Marnier and white chocolate Amaretto. I find JSB's colored mochi much more interesting than the white cornstarch that Betelnut uses.

Since JSB is secretive about her recipes, I cannot share the love. However, I'll gladly show you the steps.

Dust the working surface with powder. We used cocoa powder, matcha, and cornstarch.

*Click picture to enlarge*

This is a two step process. The first process is covering the mochi in the powder and flattening it. When it's at the desired thickness, cut into squares. Covering your hands and both sides of the mochi with powder prevents the mochi from sticking to you.

*Click picture to enlarge*

The next process is dropping chocolate ganache onto each square. Followed by lots of pinching.

Finished packages for delivery. Yes, the packaging looks horrible, but it works. We made over 300 mochi that night.

Green tea mochi -- Close up. Why the chocolate cap? I used so much matcha powder that it was too bitter. The dark chocolate helped cut the bitterness. Besides, it looks much more attractive this way. Tiny moss balls. hahaha.

*Click picture to enlarge*

Kids, this is what happens when you try to revive a harden white chocolate mochi. JSB *thought* she was being oh-so-smart by steaming the mochi to soften it. Instead, it died...it's guts leaked out like a cracked egg.

Kids + Ice Cream

2010-04-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

I groggily dragged myself out of bed. I stumbled down the hallway into the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast even though I'm already running 5 minutes behind schedule. I need the energy. I have kids I need to mentor when I get to work. I quickly get dressed, grab my bag, and run out the door to the bus stop. It's empty. The only thing I can do is wait. I see a bus in the distance coming towards me. I get on, arrive at the stop near the school, and hustle down the hill. When I get there, I don't see any of my lovely kids running around or hear any laughter or screams. Hrm, how odd. Oh well. I opened the door to the school. oh...the office lights are off. What's going on? Surprise, surprise. The classroom is locked. This sucks. I woke up early to a closed school for some unknown reason.

Pretty =)

What does that have to do with ice cream? Nothing at all. I needed to write out what happened to me this morning.

The ice cream concoction was an experiment. A mixture of leftover heavy cream from making truffles, egg, and milk. For the flavoring, I used Ribena Blackcurrent syrup. This experiment seemed like a great idea, but the result was not what I anticipated. The texture did not resemble ice cream. It was gummy and syrupy.

All I can say, enjoy the pictures.

How to...open a durian with your hands.

2010-03-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

What is a durian?

Durian.

A durian has a hard outer shell with many sharp spikes and have approximately 5 pods per fruit that's filled with 1 to 3 seeds per pod. A soft, creamy, and sweet flesh surrounds the brown seed. The durian is known for its distinct scent. To the fans, the durian has a sweet fragrant aroma, but to the unfamiliar, it has the scent of a gas leak.
Some are taught to open a durian with a knife, but a knife isn't necessary.

All you need are your handy dandy fingers. Before I begin, here are some important notes:

The riper the durian, the easier to open.
This method takes practice to perfect.
Good luck and have fun =)

Note: I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Knowing me, I will probably update the photos when we get another durian.

Can you find the line?

First, take a good look at the durian.
Select a pod and look for the spikes that are going in opposite directions.

Aha! Open sesame!

You have found the "secret" opening.

Oooh yeaaaah. Let me see your insides.

Pull on the area and you'll find the durian slowly opening up.

Mmmmm. Yums.

Spoon out the flesh.

Enjoy~

Brownie FAIL part 3.

2010-03-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

I don't know why my brownies continue to fail me. The last couple of times I've made it, they either turned into a cake or a cookie. This time was no exception. A wonderful (not really) cake was born. whoooo *note: scarcasm*

Here:

Here:

and Here:

Kill me now~ so I can stop obsessing over brownies. (please)

Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern

2010-03-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

I finally read Gluten-Free girl by Shauna James Ahern. I thought I would enjoy the book, but it wasn't captivating. I was bored. It felt repetitive. And if you're looking for recipes, don't bother. (There are only a few.)

Don't get me wrong, I think she's a great writer. However, if you follow her blog already, this book will bore you. Parts of the book are cut/pasted from the blog. yes. I am being serious.

Bottom line:
If you're looking for recipes, stick to her blog.
If you're new to gluten-free girl, read the book to get to know her, then head to the blog for recipes.
If you already follow her blog, don't read the book.

P.S. I admire her as an individual--her positive spirit and creativity when it comes to adapting recipes to be gluten-free. She is also an amazing photographer and writer.

Yahoooo! Tiramisu Success!

2010-03-11T23:28:00.000-08:00

Tiramisu.

Remember the last Tiramisu I made, everyone raved about it. To me, it was a failure, because I wanted to produce a flawless creation on my first attempt. (Can you tell that I'm a perfectionist?) I was disappointed and it was driving me nuts that I messed up. Since I didn't want to inadvertently commit murder by clogging my family's arteries, I waited a couple of weeks before I attempted Tiramisu version 2.0.

This time around, the tiramisu looked gorgeous with the silky smooth mascarpone filling.

Filling.

Despite my success with the filling, I made a minor error. I was stingy with the coffee syrup so the sponge cake wasn't soaked all the way through =( Wahhh.

Om nom nom nom.

Tiramisu
From Wolfgang Puck

Ingredients
Ladyfingers:
6 eggs, separated1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
1 cup cake flour, sifted
Melted butter, for brushing pan
Mascarpone Cream:
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Marsala (I used 2 Tbsp dark rum, in place of both marsala and brandy.)
1/4 cup brandy
2 pounds mascarpone cheese
Espresso Syrup:
1 cup espresso, hot
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I omitted lemon juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup grated bittersweet chocolate
Directions

Ladyfingers:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 12 by 16-inch baking tray. Line with parchment paper and brush again with butter.

In a mixing bowl, whip the egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until ribbony and light in color. Reserve. In another mixing bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and continue to whip to medium peaks. Sift the flour again. With a rubber spatula, fold half of the flour mixture into the yolk mixture. Fold in 1/2 of the egg white mixture. Then fold in the remaining 1/2 flour mixture. Lastly, fold in the remaining 1/2 egg white mixture. Pour the batter into prepared baking tray and with an offset spatula, carefully spreading the batter to fill the tray. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until done and golden in color. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Use as needed. This can be made up to 2 weeks in advanced, wrapped in plastic wrap and foil and stored in the freezer.

Mascarpone Cream:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Add the Marsala and brandy. Place over a double-boiler and cook until mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Continue to cook mixture for another 5 minutes, until the mixture resembles a thick paste (this is a sabayon). Remove from the double-boiler and cool mixture over ice bath, until room temperature. Whip the mascarpone cheese to soft peaks. Fold into the cooled sabayon until well incorporated. Use as layers in the tiramisu or as needed. Can be made up to 4 hours ahead.

Espresso Syrup:

Brew fresh espresso. To 1 cup of hot espresso, add the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Stir until dissolved.

Assembly:

Divide the sheet of ladyfinger into 2 (8 by 10-inch) sheets. Divide espresso syrup into 2 portions. Divide the mascarpone cream into 3 portions. To assemble. spread the first portion of the mascarpone cream at the bottom of a deep (8 by 10-inch) mold topped with 1 sheet of ladyfinger. Pour 1 portion of espresso syrup on to layer of ladyfinger until soaked. Repeat process. Lastly, top with the remaining mascarpone cream and cover with grated chocolate. Cover mold and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

A Taste of Cranberries

2010-03-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

When I was younger, I thought cranberries referred to the red pureed jelly that appeared every Thanksgiving. Then I was introduced to the dark intense red juice that was tangy and sweet. Another year, our family upgraded our cranberry sauce where actual chunks of cranberries were visible. This was seriously confusing for me. What are cranberries suppose to look like and taste? It didn't help that a couple of years later, my aunt gave me a packet of dried cranberries. I asked my mom what cranberries looked like. She didn't know. Talk about frustration.

As the years passed, I began to notice packages of fresh cranberries at supermarkets. Finally, this year, I decided to have some fun with them. I used the cranberries in an apple and cranberry crisp. Wow. The sour tang of the cranberries complimented the sweet fuji apples. The crispy sweet crust pulled everything together. Next year, I'm going have to make this again to celebrate autumn.

Apple Cranberry Crisp.

I used my default recipe by Joy of Baking. The only thing I changed was substituting the apples with 1 16oz bag of cranberries, 2-3 fuji apples, and a whole lotta sugar.

Oooh, condensed milk.

The next morning, I drizzled some condensed milk to help soften the sour bite. The condensed milk added an extra layer of creamy sweetness that complimented the crisp well. I've been thinking that next time, I should drizzle some caramel on top. Mmmm....I can't wait.

The final verdict: JSB and I loved it. However, our parents found the crisp too sour and poor K (my other sis) missed out.

Food styling. Fail.

Tiramisu used to scare me.

2010-02-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

I used to live in fear. Fear of failure. Fear of the unknown. Fear of feeling out of place. I was scared of so many things that I contained myself in a room and focused on school, because it was a task that I knew that I could accomplish. I was great at that. I knew that as long as I studied and completed my homework, I would do well. Failure wasn't possible.

When I first started dealing with my phobia of "fear." It was difficult. I found myself rationalizing why I shouldn't do something, because I might mess up. It was hard going against it, but I'm glad I did. There are so many things to try and obstacles to overcome.

Tiramisu, Version 1.0

Tiramisu used to be part of the problem. I was scared of wasting ingredients. I finally decided to tackle the fearsome cake that needed expensive mascarpone cheese. Everything was going well until I encountered the filling. Oh my...I royally messed up the cheese. It became grainy.

Lesson of the day: Don't beat mascarpone, it will destroy the creamy texture.

Other than that, the tiramisu's flavor profile was superb. Next time, I will dominate the CHEESE FILLING!!!

Close up of the poorly made mascarpone filling.

Stories and Breakfast

2010-02-15T16:52:00.000-08:00

I used to write stories when I was in high school. ~~Long teenage drama filled love stories about your typical plain Jane that attracts the wannabe bad boy.~~ Oops, I meant to say that I used to write long philosophical novels...

What makes me laugh is that my stories actually had a dedicated following of readers. I mean seriously, REAL people actually wanted to read my crap? When I read my stories now, they literally make me laugh-out-loud, because they're sooooo bad. Bad plot. Bad writing. Bad character development. Bad everything, but they're too funny to throw away.

Similar to my writing days, I am 100% confident that in a couple of years, I'm going to look back at my photography and think, "Wow, I've improved drastically." So it begins, the best photo from my breakfast "photo shoot":

Strawberry whipped yogurt, bananas,

and cocoa powder.

Rice Pudding, How come you taste funny?

2010-02-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

Since I've started blogging, I've become more open minded when it comes to trying new food. I suppose it feels hypocritical to call myself a "food blogger" when I don't want to expose my taste buds to new flavors and textures. Some things I've tried and enjoyed since starting this blog, include foie gras, raw oysters, and moonshine from Africa.

I can't say I regret trying new food, but there are some that leave a lasting impression. For instance, my attempt at rice pudding. I've heard great things about rice pudding so I was eager to try making some. I followed the recipe accordingly and didn't deviate from the directions. My finished rice pudding had a nice creamy texture.

Ohhh la la. Aren't you pretty?

However, as soon as I sampled my creation, my face contorted into a "wtf" face. Creamy sweet rice with flavorful raisins was not appealing to my taste buds. Despite not enjoying the dish, I will probably give it one more chance before I officially put it on my "I-will-never-try-it-again" list.

For those that are curious, I used this recipe.

Why do you taste bad? =(

Don't want to spend money on a pastry brush? Try this!

2010-02-01T22:15:00.000-08:00

Fresh Buns!

I'm sure these buns look familiar. I talked about them in my last post. However, I wanted to share something new with my readers (if I even have any) hahaha. I guess, in reality, all this writing is for me.

What I wanted to share was that you don't need a pastry/food brush to paint the egg wash on the buns. You won't believe the tool. I guarantee that every single person has this in their home. You ready?

It's...paper napkins! (or paper towels if your napkins aren't heavy duty)

Dip the napkin in the egg wash and brush it over

the bun like a normal brush.

Spread a thin layer all over the top.

And ta-da! You've accomplished the task without having to buy a new tool.

Hot Fluffy Healthy Whole Wheat Raisin Buns

2010-01-23T01:08:00.000-08:00

Fresh Raisin Buns.

I attempted raisin bread once before and it was a failure. I was afraid to attempt bread again until I saw this recipe, which inspired me. The buns looked so fluffy, soft, and delicious that I just had to try! I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be a hit with my family.

Additional proof that the buns were a hit: I wanted to have a bun for breakfast, but when I woke up. I discovered that all the buns were gone! Poof! No where in sight! It turns out that Miss JSB took the rest of the buns to school! I couldn't even test how long the buns would keep for.

Before Oven Time.

Whole wheat cinnamon raisin buns
From Toxo Bread

Ingredients:
2/3 cups raisins
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp hot water
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
4 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
Directions:
In a large bowl, let the raisins soak in the hot water for 10-15 minutes until they begin to get soft. This keeps the raisins plump and less likely to burn once they’re in the oven.
Add the milk to lower the temperature of the water, and then mix in the remainder of the ingredients. You may need to add a bit more flour because this dough is quite sticky. Stir until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead until it becomes smooth and supple, around 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and allow the dough to rise till approximately doubled, about 60 minutes.
*Note: If you like, you can incorporate a folding step halfway through this first rise. If you won’t be able to tend to the dough within ~an hour’s time, you can also place the dough in the refrigerator for the first rise and let the dough sit on the counter for ~15-20 minutes before proceeding to the next step.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (I used a wooden cutting board) and divide into 12 equal portions. I do this by gently flattening the dough into a rough circle, dividing the circle into 4 equal portions, and then dividing each of the 4 portions into 3 equal smaller portions for a total of 12 portions. Shape each small portion into a ball and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let the buns rise until puffy, around 30 minutes.
Brush the beaten egg on the tops of each bun – this egg wash will give the buns a glossy shine. You can apply two egg washes (once ~15 min before baking and once right before baking) if you like, but just be careful that there isn’t so much egg it pools at the bottom of the buns = burnt bun bottoms = bird and squirrel food (!).
Bake the buns in a preheated 350°F oven for about 20 minutes, until they’re light golden brown. Remove the buns from the oven, and cool on a wire rack before tearing them apart and savouring their deliciousness.

Notes:
I was surprised that I enjoyed this bread, because normally I do not like the taste of wheat. Because the bread is composed of both all purpose flour and whole wheat, it helps hide the wheat taste.
One improvement I would make is add more raisins, maybe 1 cup of raisins instead of 2/3 of a cup. I felt that there was too much bread compared to the amount of raisins.

Check Out the Glowing Golden Crust.

The Fluffy Interior.

Simply Piee

Light Winter Snack [Honey Wheat Pizza Dough]

Eek! Baking for Someone Else! [Apple Bars]

Appreciation [Boston Cream Pie]

Holidays, Whoo!

Delicious, but Ugly Series #2 - [Cheese Pancakes]

Dessert for Two #2 - [Caramel Coffee Panna Cotta]

Bees and Pumpkin [Pumpkin Truffles]

Thanksgiving 2011 + A Simple Pasta Dish to use up Leftover Turkey [Turkey Pesto Linguine]

NYC recap [Hawthorn Tea Recipe]

If you can't eat it, practice your photography skills. [Pumpkin Bar Fail]

3 Types of Cookies From ONE Batch of Cookie Dough. Whooo! [Chocolate Snaps]

I can't wait for the holidays. [Molasses Oatmeal Raisin Cookies]

I'll be back. *raWr*

Keep it Simple. [Cinnamon Raisin Pretzel Sticks]

Do you have another voice in your head? [Candied Walnuts Recipe]

Can't wait for next year's camping trip! [Simple Cracker Recipe]

How to cut pasta by hand (a step-by-step picture tutorial)

Magic [Chocolate Mousse from Water and Chocolate]

Dessert for Two #1 - [Pavlova and Lemon Curd]

A rough weekend = A trip to the Farmer's Market [Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp]

Alice's Summerthing 2011 [White Chocolate & Dried Cranberries Oatmeal Cookies]

What to do with Fennel Pesto? [Warm Avocado Salad or Shrimp Pesto Linguine]

How to pit Cherries with a Chopstick and Knife (step-by-step picture tutorial)

I LOVE all Parts of Fennel [Fennel Frond Pesto Recipe]

How to shorten the lifespan of your hand mixer. [Castella (Japanese Sponge Cake) Recipe]

The reason for why I go to baseball games. [How to make Roasted Garlic]

Delicious, but Ugly Series #1 [Caramelized Rum Bananas and Peanut Butter Toast]

How to Make Croutons

Sick [Coconut Flan Recipe]

Soft Fluffy Pretzels

Magic Coffee

My Mom

Banana Cake (Updated version 3.0)

Apple Juice Stixs

Super Easy Apple Puffs

Science & Cooking

Coffee Cake Redux

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream

Plate Fail.

Gifts

Growing.

Sourdough French Toast

Candied Ginger (Crystallized Ginger)

Ginger Tofu Cheesecake

Cilantro Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I need a dress. boo.

A milestone.

Marshmallows

My First and Only BIG SNACK!

It's a New Year.

Nectarine Crepes

Maintaining Friendship and Caramelized Potatoes

A poem and some photos.

I Run a Chinese Restaurant. (Homemade Pasta Recipe)

N3rd Party. fail.

Crash Hot, What?

Being around food makes me happy

Raspberry Banana Smoothie

Tomato Sauce and Oven-baked Wings (recipes)

Fake Corn Soup and Failed Apple Tarte Tartin

Waaah! Sliiiiiime!! (Edamame Soup)

Oh em Gee, the best way to use up lemons! (Lemon Bar recipe)

Om Nom Nom Delicious White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Oven-Baked Fries (Potato or Taro)

Super healthy delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

A-Maizing Corn Snacks. NOT!

Mmm...Cinnamon Gluteus maximus (aka Cinnamon buns/rolls)

The Cheater's version of Cheesecake

Black + White = Fail (Cheesecake Brownie)

The Tale of the Mochi Factory Nightmare

Kids + Ice Cream

How to...open a durian with your hands.

Brownie FAIL part 3.

Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern

Yahoooo! Tiramisu Success!

A Taste of Cranberries

Tiramisu used to scare me.

Stories and Breakfast

Rice Pudding, How come you taste funny?

I'll be back. raWr