Childhood Favorites

Little house in the Big Woods

Any childhood classic

Harry Potter

Younger the more vivid. Food porn!

Made lines

Cup of tea

Unless It's chocolat

Namesake Milk & Honey

Yuzu: Tea & Jam

Quince: Jelly & Paste (Membrillo)

Fuyu Persimmon: Bundt Cake (x2)

http://www.foodlibrarian.com/2008/11/sunset-magazines-fuyu-persimmon-bundt.html

Some favorite ways to enjoy the Fuyu!

Slice Fuyu and spread with lime juice, salt, and chili powder. Eat with a slice of cheese or spread with peanut butter.

For an Autumn Salad, mix cubed Fuyu with grapes, pomegrante seeds, cubed apple, and pretty sliced green kiwi.

Top hot or cold cereal with little pieces of bright orange Fuyu.

Salsa is great when chopped Fuyu, onion, tomatillo, cilantro, and chili serrano are mixed together.

Smoothies can be blended using Fuyu, ice, lime juice, and milk. Sweeten if desired.

Syrup for hotcakes is delightful when peeled and chopped or blended Fuyu is cooked with butter and sugar.

Dehydrate thin slices of Fuyu to enjoy as a snack or to add to trail mix.

Fuyu Bundt Cake

An outstanding cake published some years ago in Sunset magazine.

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Preheat oven to 350.

Blend 2 tsp. baking soda into 3 cups of chopped firm Fuyus. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup soft butter with 1 2/3 cups sugar. Add 2 eggs, 2 tsp. lemon juice, and 2 tsp. vanilla and beat until fluffy. Stir in Fuyu mix.

Sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground cloves, 1 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. Stir flour into Fuyu mixture just until blended. Add 1 cup chopped walnuts and 3/4 cup raisins.

Pour into prepared bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 55 - 60 minutes or until toothpick tests clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Turn onto rack.

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/11/persimmon-bread/

Persimmon Bread

Two 9-inch Loaves

Using the higher amount of sugar will produce a moister and, of course, sweeter bread.

Adapted from Beard on Bread by James Beard.

• 3½ cups sifted flour
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 to 2½ cups sugar
• 1 cup melted unsalted butter and cooled to room temperature
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2/3 cup Cognac, bourbon or whiskey
• 2 cups persimmon puree (from about 4 squishy-soft Hachiya persimmons)
• 2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
• 2 cups raisins, or diced dried fruits (such as apricots, cranberries, or dates)

1. Butter 2 loaf pans. Line the bottoms with a piece of parchment paper or dust with flour and tap out any excess.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Sift the first 5 dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well in the center then stir in the butter, eggs, liquor, persimmon puree then the nuts and raisins.

5. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Storage: Will keep for about a week, if well-wrapped, at room temperature. The Persimmon Breads take well to being frozen, too.

St. Lucia Lussebullar (From Sweden, Love Kirsten)

Kitchen Thrift: Sour Cream & Carrot Pulp & Cream (Respectively)

sour cream chocolate muffins
http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2009/07/spiced-chocolate-muffins.html
carrot pulp bread muffins
http://askville.amazon.com/leftover-carrot-pulp-juicer/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=8940237
roll cake

Cooking Flurry: Hummus

Classic Hummus
Sweet Potato Hummus
Joy's Almond Butter Hummus
Nigella's Peanut Butter Hummus

Lesson: Kneading

Stretch

Overproof

third times a charm: japanese cream bread

1st Try: Fail

2nd Try: fail

3rd Try: less fail

baking flurry: chocolate chip cake, matcha souffle roll cake, mini-cheesecakes, starter

The wife and children of a family friend have been in town for a visit, and are returning to Shanghai tomorrow. After cooking up a mad frenzy to make them a healthy Asian brunch in waves, I whipped up these goodies.

1. Chocolate Chip Cake from "Tate's Bake Shop" by Kathleen King
http://measuringspoons.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/tates-bake-shop-giveaway-winner-chocolate-chip-cake/

2. Matcha Souffle Roll Cake from My Buttery Fingers from "Wa Sweet Recipe" by Fukuda Junko
http://mybutteryfingers.blogspot.com/2011/06/matcha-souffle-roll-cake.html

3. Mini-Cheesecakes from "How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking" by Nigella Lawson
http://mouthfulsofheaven.blogspot.com/2009/05/mini-cheesecakes.html

4. Starter for Japanese Cream Bread from Sotong Cooks from "Magic Bread" by Alex Goh
http://sotongcooks.blogspot.com/2010/11/japanese-cream-bread.html

improvised: tiramisu caramel apple cake trifle

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/moms-apple-cake/ http://fatandhappyblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/caramel-apple-trifle.html
tiramisu

banana bread

Banana Bread is sort of the ABCs of baking. It's what every baker teeths on. I love banana bread in all its incarnations, and I've spent years baking dozens of different recipes in search of the elusive "perfect" loaf of banana bread. My vote goes to James Beard's version, which is my go-to recipe. It's simple, basic, moist and chock full of yummy banana-ey goodness. I knew there was a reason he was so famous :).

http://www.jamesbeard.org/index.php?q=recipes/show/banana_bread

I used pecans, which is my gold standard for nuts.

comfort food

There's something about childhood favorites that can still provide comfort. This pertains to favorite childhood books, songs, and most of all, foods.

Favorite childhood foods can help lift a bad mood or relieve sickness. My mom gets annoyed when I tell her that most of my childhood comfort foods are from a box, can or carton, but it's true.

While they might not be the first thing I reach for now, sometimes I need that soothing taste of home and comfort. Nowadays, our family tries to stay away from premade, prepackaged foods, so I've tried to go back and "modernize" these old favorites by making them from scratch.

SPAM and Rice
Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese
Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
Baskin Robbin's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Häagen-Dazs' Coffee Ice Cream
Nabisco's Teddy Grahams
Sara Lee's Pound Cake

So far I've made alternatives to the Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup and Pound Cake, but all with a little twist with the help of my online friends.

I'm sure I can get the ice cream and even the cookies down, but I don't know if there is a healthy alternative to SPAM (and if there is, then it's not SPAM :).

musing: THE royal wedding

Today was the day of the press has dubbed the wedding of the century, the real-life cinderella story. Like millions, I followed the live telecast, marveling over the grand beauty of the abbey (loved the live potted plants), the lovely ceremony, and of course, the dress (although I was a bigger fan of the halo tiara, but then again I can never pass on jewelry). Like many, I couldn't forget the last British event I had followed from start to finish--the late Princesss Diana's funeral.

In a world where we herald democracy and follow the recent people's revolutions in places like Egypt and libiya with revel, what is it about royalty that stills enraptures us? And while the United Kingdom has been overshadowed by other world superpowers in recent times, why is it that the British monarchy is regarded as THE monarchy, and this wedding THE royal wedding?

Some people think it a crime to spen dso lavishly on a wedding when there is so much turmoil and grievance in the world. Others laud it as a vicarious fantasy that allows them to dream of better things. Regardless, I think a happy wedding and marriage is always a cause for a celebration.

To celebrate, I'm going to try my hand at the favorite royal chocolate biscuit cake that is to serve as Prince William's groom cake. Best wishes for the lovely couple!

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/weddings/royal/recipes/food/views/Chocolate-Biscuit-Cake-364790

chocolate cravings

i love chocolate. a lot.
it's a huge part of my life, and probably my favorite food group.

i love that there's such a variety to chocolate. there's dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate; hot chocolate sauce, chocolate bars, truffles; chocolate ice cream, nutella,

okay, i'm a little obsessed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/12/health/main3360369.shtml?source=RSSattr=Health_3360369

http://ask.yahoo.com/20031106.html

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/0846.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Crave-Chocolate?-6-Tips-For-What-You-Can-Do-To-Keep-Cravings-Under-Control&id=478936

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/basics/l/aa001109a.htm

is there such a thing as too much chocolate?
for me, yes.

sugar leaves a sickeningly sweet taste in my mouth.

lovely design: ikea blog

love scandinavian design and recently fell in love with the ikea blog. 

i am slowly exploring sweden via the web. i used to have (probably still have) an obsession with iceland, and now i'm expanding into scandinavia. i know very little about sweden. one thing i do know is that founder ingvar feodor kamprad is a billionaire who decorates exclusively with ikea products. while he does indulge in luxuries, he's known to be very frugral.

recent edible creations

Red cabbage dyed leaf print Easter eggs
Tea leaf eggs
Tate's Bakeshop Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Baked New York Style Crumb Cake
Chez Pim Fresh Tomato Sauce
Fried Eggs and some Spaghetti
Nigella Lawson London Style Cheesecake
Pho Gao
Pad Thai
Sour Cream Yeast Rolls

Beginnings

I am really bad at starting new things because I have the tendency to overanalyze every little step. Which means I'm not very productive.

I am really bad at continuing old things because I have the tendency to get bored very easily. Which means I'm not very productive.

One of my college professors always started off the semester by talking about the word-hoard, which he said was the part of our brain that remembered words. Like in the days of the great poets, how Homer wrote and could recite the Illiad and the Odyssey from memory. Which all vanished the second we began to write, losing our remarkable memories or the need for them. (I took three classes with him and he recycled his material, so I had a lot of time to mull over this concept.)

My memory has always been horrible, and the days tend to blend in with each other. I can also go for weeks without doing anything substantial.

Hence this blog to myself. Which will be a little bit of everything. To keep myself productive. Accountable. And remember.

My message to myself:
dear mon coeur,
stop thinking, start doing.
stop dreaming, start living.
stop recieving, start producing.
xoxo mon coeur