Jan and co. were over this afternoon. I'm proud to report that though we were sorely tempted, we did NOT run to Little Caesar's and pick up pizza. Instead, we went fancy and had some Weight Watchers veg soup (was going to link to a recipe, but I made the old school version and I couldn't quickly find it online. maybe I should put it up myself sometime), quesadillas, broccoli.
Oh, and Frosted Flakes...I recently bought a variety pack of Kellogg's cereal, yes, at Costco, how did you know...the little boxes and "sugar type" cereals were apparently irresistable to Luke M (4.5 years old) and so he had to have Frosted Flakes while everyone else was eating ice cream! I found that really funny because I distinctly remember longing for "sugar type" cereal when I was a kid too. Never imagined that I would grow up to become a supplier...
02 December 2009
26 November 2009
Same as You
What we ate for dinner tonight had a 90% chance of being the same as what you had, according to a quiz that our lovely hosts gave us while we were waiting for Thanksgiving Dinner at their house.
Guess I've go ahead and spell it out:
turkey
gravy
mashed potatoes
ham
curried fruit (maybe you didn't all have that, but let me tell you, it was delicious)
sweet potato and pecan casserole
*green beans with ginger and garlic
spinach stuffing
broccoli casserole
corn casserole
beet salad
green salad with raspberries and olives
*pear chocolate pie
pecan pie
pumpkin cake
pumpkin pie
*These are the dishes I made.
Pear Chocolate Pie sounds so strange, and is so delicious. I got the recipe from Kristen, who got it from Jen who got it from Bibi, or something like that. Confession: I used D'Anjou pears but as noted in the recipe, I think Bosc would have been better. Also, next time I'd like to try layering the chocolate with the pears rather than just sprinkling it on top. In any case, this is a TASTY pie!
(serves 8)
Dough:
2/3 c butter
2/3 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp water
4 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I use Bosc)
3/4 c chocolate chips
Melt butter and mix into the flour and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, and water and knead quickly into the dough. Chill for one hour. Part the dough into two halves and roll these out into two circles to fit a 7-10" pie pan. Place one dough circle in a greased pie pan. Place pears on top and sprinkle with chocolate chips over pears. Cover with second dough circle, brush with water and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 40 mins at 400 degrees. Serve pie warm with vanilla ice cream, whipping cream or sour cream. (Can substitute apples for pears too!)
Guess I've go ahead and spell it out:
turkey
gravy
mashed potatoes
ham
curried fruit (maybe you didn't all have that, but let me tell you, it was delicious)
sweet potato and pecan casserole
*green beans with ginger and garlic
spinach stuffing
broccoli casserole
corn casserole
beet salad
green salad with raspberries and olives
*pear chocolate pie
pecan pie
pumpkin cake
pumpkin pie
*These are the dishes I made.
Pear Chocolate Pie sounds so strange, and is so delicious. I got the recipe from Kristen, who got it from Jen who got it from Bibi, or something like that. Confession: I used D'Anjou pears but as noted in the recipe, I think Bosc would have been better. Also, next time I'd like to try layering the chocolate with the pears rather than just sprinkling it on top. In any case, this is a TASTY pie!
(serves 8)
Dough:
2/3 c butter
2/3 c sugar
1 3/4 c flour
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp water
4 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I use Bosc)
3/4 c chocolate chips
Melt butter and mix into the flour and sugar. Add the egg, vanilla, and water and knead quickly into the dough. Chill for one hour. Part the dough into two halves and roll these out into two circles to fit a 7-10" pie pan. Place one dough circle in a greased pie pan. Place pears on top and sprinkle with chocolate chips over pears. Cover with second dough circle, brush with water and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 40 mins at 400 degrees. Serve pie warm with vanilla ice cream, whipping cream or sour cream. (Can substitute apples for pears too!)
25 November 2009
Reunion
Today, for the first time in five months!, we got together with our long-time, long-lost friends, Jason and Kristen and their kids. We invited them here for dinner, which I promised I would make. Alas, it was too good to see them and there was much chatting to be done, and I never did buckle down in the kitchen. I did contribute a beet salad, a large quantity of rice, and some banana chocolate chip muffins to the pumpkin bread Kristen brought and the dinner we ordered from Thai Sook Dee. I say this often, sorry to be repetitive, but I mean it: we really need more time more often with beloved friends from the past. Thanks for a great night, JKAB!
24 November 2009
Not Afraid Anymore
As I've mentioned on this blog before, I'm afraid of yeast.
Or maybe I should go ahead and make that a past tense statement.
Because this is what I made for dinner:
A red alien smiley faced YEAST pizza.
I admit, it looks pretty nasty. Sorry about that. It looked a little better/more appetizing in person. And I feel obligated to document this achievement. That's what it is, an achievement. After all, it's been years, I might even say decades, that I've thought of myself as a pretty decent baker. But really, is it OK to make such lofty declarations when one is excluding entire gigantic categories within said claim? That is, is it possible to qualify as a "pretty decent baker" when one has never even made a loaf of yeast bread? Ever?
Anyway, I did it, with the help of KitchenAid mixer (first use of yeast for pizza and the first use of the dough hook, all on the same day...guess that makes sense, actually...), Izumi and Erika. As for toppings, the one you see here is half ham and half smoked salmon. The latter didn't go great with the random spaghetti sauce that I sloshed on in lieu of "proper" pizza sauce (is there such a thing anyway?) and the cheddary cheese that was all I had available. But the ham section of this one was pretty tasty.
Oh, and a word of explanation about the lack of aethestics here: I wanted to bake this directly on the stone in the oven, but I don't have a pizza peel and I'm out of parchment paper. So when Erika and I were trying to transfer the pizza from the tray we made it on to the stone, some damage occurred.
Which is fine. Scary-looking pizza this may be, but I'm still not afraid anymore.
Or maybe I should go ahead and make that a past tense statement.
Because this is what I made for dinner:
A red alien smiley faced YEAST pizza.
I admit, it looks pretty nasty. Sorry about that. It looked a little better/more appetizing in person. And I feel obligated to document this achievement. That's what it is, an achievement. After all, it's been years, I might even say decades, that I've thought of myself as a pretty decent baker. But really, is it OK to make such lofty declarations when one is excluding entire gigantic categories within said claim? That is, is it possible to qualify as a "pretty decent baker" when one has never even made a loaf of yeast bread? Ever?
Anyway, I did it, with the help of KitchenAid mixer (first use of yeast for pizza and the first use of the dough hook, all on the same day...guess that makes sense, actually...), Izumi and Erika. As for toppings, the one you see here is half ham and half smoked salmon. The latter didn't go great with the random spaghetti sauce that I sloshed on in lieu of "proper" pizza sauce (is there such a thing anyway?) and the cheddary cheese that was all I had available. But the ham section of this one was pretty tasty.
Oh, and a word of explanation about the lack of aethestics here: I wanted to bake this directly on the stone in the oven, but I don't have a pizza peel and I'm out of parchment paper. So when Erika and I were trying to transfer the pizza from the tray we made it on to the stone, some damage occurred.
Which is fine. Scary-looking pizza this may be, but I'm still not afraid anymore.
23 November 2009
Joint Venture
As you, all two or maybe on a good day three, of you who look at this blog know well, it's not the making of dinner that is agonizing for me. It's the thinking of what dinner should be that nearly splits my head open on most days. So when Miho and I collaborated on tonight's dinner, agreeing that it should be curry and that I should make it at her house with her ingredients. Now, please imagine the sound of a giant sigh of relief...PHEW....
22 November 2009
Duk What?
Aogu really likes a Korean dish called dukboki; please forgive this butchered Romanized spelling, though I guess it's not a crime since I make no claim to know what I'm talking about. The only thing I know is, it's made of rice cakes that look like glue sticks for a hot glue gun (duk). He usually orders it when we eat at the H Mart food court. The last time we were there, I happened to discover the duk (rice cakes) for sale and thought I'd try to make it myself.
What you see here is actually my second attempt, ground turkey stir fried with onions, carrots, tobanjan and mixed with the duk. I think my first went better, but of course, I didn't write down what I did and couldn't remember it tonight. Likely most of you won't be clamoring for the recipe, so I'll refrain from explaining this time. Maybe next time. However many times I make it, I can tell you one thing for sure: I won't be eating it. For me, duk=yuk. It's a texture thing.
Instead, for my dinner, a random mishmash of things from the fridge I wanted to be rid of: black beans, butternut squash sauteed in garlic, rice. And for the kids, instant ramen, cottage cheese (Izumi) and hot carrots (Koji).
Anyong-hi jumuseyo (Korean for "Good night")!
What you see here is actually my second attempt, ground turkey stir fried with onions, carrots, tobanjan and mixed with the duk. I think my first went better, but of course, I didn't write down what I did and couldn't remember it tonight. Likely most of you won't be clamoring for the recipe, so I'll refrain from explaining this time. Maybe next time. However many times I make it, I can tell you one thing for sure: I won't be eating it. For me, duk=yuk. It's a texture thing.
Instead, for my dinner, a random mishmash of things from the fridge I wanted to be rid of: black beans, butternut squash sauteed in garlic, rice. And for the kids, instant ramen, cottage cheese (Izumi) and hot carrots (Koji).
Anyong-hi jumuseyo (Korean for "Good night")!
21 November 2009
Remix
Maybe I'll just start calling all leftovers "remix," that way they won't seem so, well, left over...here's a not great picture of masaman curry, day two. As I think I mentioned, it wasn't very good yesterday, so tonight I added another can of curry paste and put it on a "bed of" (that's a strange phrase, isn't it? seems like the food will rest peacefully rather than be gobbled up) rice and sauteed spinach.
By the way, the kids had hot dogs with their rice and spinach. Oh, and ice cream sandwiches for dessert~
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