Edible Sensations

SMOOTHIE!

2011-02-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

So very happy I have an immersion blender!

Basic Smoothie

handful of frozen blueberries
1/3 cup or 1/2 cup yogurt. Maybe more, I haven't actually measured it.
10-12 frozen strawberries
a splash of orange juice
1 banana, chopped up.

Blend. Enjoy.

Anyone have any other smoothie recipes? Or suggestions? I'm especially interested in green smoothies with spinach or something.

Scrambled Eggs done right

2011-02-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm jobless, I've gotten in the habit of eating brunch instead of breakfast and lunch. It feels so nice to relax and read or work in the morning and then leisurely make a large breakfast/brunch. Usually I eat over easy eggs on toast and have been making fried potatoes to go alone with it. And coffee of course. And orange juice. If I had some strawberries or other fruit I'd be eating that too.

BUT this post isn't about over-easy eggs and their runny goodness. It's about scrambled eggs. For the past few years-basically ever since I fell in love with runny yolky eggs-I've considered scrambled eggs for kids. Really though, it's because it's so hard to find good scrambled eggs! This includes when I make them for myself, often too scrambled, too flat and brown and at times even crunchy. uhg.

Smitten Kitchen is basically my all-time favorite food blog. I've adapted more than one of her recipes. I stumbled upon a post she made about scrambled eggs and found out she had the same problems with people overcooking scrambled eggs. She listed how she cooks her eggs with detailed photos to boot. You'd think (at least I did) that scrambled eggs would be the easiest most fool proof way of cooking eggs, but yesterday I made eggs the way she suggested it and it made SUCH A BIG DIFFERENCE!

They were so fluffy and light and wonderful! Best scrambled eggs I've ever had! I was also lucky that I had some leftover goat cheese from a pizza I made last week and was able to make some goat cheese toast to go with it. WONDERFUL!

Check out how to make these life changing eggs HERE!

Garlic Butter Mushroom Pasta w/Kale, Cherry Tomatoes

2011-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I randomly bought a small batch of mushrooms. I've never cooked with mushrooms before but have been ordering and eating them more at restaurants and wanted to try my hand at it. My parents never served mushrooms to me while I was younger-well, I can't really say that. They probably did but I was too busy eating my blue-box-mac'n'cheese to notice. Thank goodness I grew out of that and will gladly eat/try/enjoy any food set in front of me. Except horseradish. And shrimp. And maybe kiwi, but I haven't had a kiwi in maybe 15 years (if ever).

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushroom Pasta With Kale and Cherry Tomatoes

I should note that this recipe is adapted from the stunning Smitten Kitchen. Check it out!

8 oz mushrooms- I used white mushrooms but button mushrooms would work just as nice, or any variety for that matter. You could also probably increase the amount of mushrooms if you really like mushrooms.
4 cloves of garlic (or more!)
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
salt and pepper and any herbs you want.
1 teaspoon lemon juice
a few cherry tomatoes, I used about 7 or 8, halved
a handful of kale, chopped loosely
Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Preheat oven to 450. Mix the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and olive oil together. Mix in a dash of salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish and cube three tablespoons of butter and place it over the mushrooms. Bake, making sure to stir every once in awhile, for 15-20 minutes or whenever the mushrooms are brown and soft. Once finished add the teaspoon of lemon juice and any fresh herbs you'd like. In a frying pan, heat up some butter or oil and lightly fry over low heat the cherry tomatoes and kale. Once kale is fully wilted and cherry tomatoes are slightly bursting from their skin, mix with cooked pasta and the mushroom/onion mixture. make sure the get all the juice from the mushrooms onto the pasta, it creates a light flavored sauce.
Top with some grated cheese.

Woo! Dinner! Fancy!

Latte

2011-01-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

I just made my second latte from home ever. Thus proving I never have to leave the apartment. Ever. I can get all the necessities living home alone! Food! Tasty espresso delicacies! Human interaction!

Well. Not that. I haven't seen a human face in two days.

Anyways, all you need are the right tools for your own wonderful caffeinated experience. I got an espresso maker for christmas a few years ago in hopes that it'd cut down the money I spend on going out. Sadly, the milk frother that came with it was a pain in the butt and worked really poorly (not to mention was obscenely loud). I never bothered in buying a separate milk frother since then (I was too concerned that it wouldn't work) and have used my espresso maker in making americanos when I really needed to stay awake.

Then I got this baby for christmas.

So now I can make lattes that taste as fresh and I wouldn't know a difference between the ones I make and the ones I used to buy. It is a little more laborious. But the-small amount of- work that goes into making it makes it taste all the better. I'd recommend anyone who likes going out for coffee to invest in some tools to make it from home.

Soon I will invite people over and make lattes for them and become the most popular kid on the block.
The End.

Black Bean Cakes two ways.

2011-01-02T12:13:00.000-08:00

SO! Happy new year!!

One of the things I will be trying this year is to eat out less and eat at home more. There is such a sense of accomplishment when I finish cooking a meal, and I almost always feel better after eating because I know what goes into it (even if I'm digesting cookies with 2 sticks of butter in them, at least I know it's in there).

I've decided to go ahead and start up this blog again. Because I refuse to let it die. And because it may help me in sticking with my goal if I can show off my tasty food to others.

Last night Evan and I were hanging out and made Black Bean patties from his Everyday Food Cookbook. We had them plain, with just a little big of yogurt-dill dipping sauce, but they'd also make great veggie burgers.

Black Bean Cakes (pretty much they are like patties)

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon cumin
4 scallions
6 garlic cloves
1 sweet potato, skinned and shredded
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 jalepeno pepper, diced with no seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and peper

You'll be broiling these in the oven instead of frying so this ends up being a pretty healthy dish. First, in a skillet fry up the garlic and scallions with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Then add the Jalepino and the cumin and fry it all together for a few minutes. Put the black beans in a bowl and then add the cooked garlic,scallions,ect. Mash it up with a fork, you want about a quarter of the beans in there to be left whole. Fold in sweet potato. Add the egg and then the bread crumbs and season with salt and pepper.

On a baking tray, brush out the other tablespoon of oil. Form patties and place on the sheet. Broil these for about 8-10 minutes (my oven was NOT working last night so I had to cook mine for...oh...40 minutes. It never got hotter than 300...). Flip the patties and cook for another 2-3 minutes until it's brown and a little crispy. BAM! DONE!

Yogurt-Dill Sauce
Some yogurt, some lemon juice, some dill. BADDA BAM!

Since I had leftovers I made a tasty brunch. Re-heat the patties, fry an egg and put it on time, and garnish with a few scallions and salt and pepper. I think this would be awesome with a little hot sauce or ketchup, but I don't own any.

WOW!

2010-02-21T16:07:00.000-08:00

It's been TOO long my friends, just too, too long!

Here are a few of my current food obsessions:

Crispy Crunchy Tofu
This is a pretty awesome way to prepare tofu. It can either be made with some curry sauce and veggies and served with rice for a big meal or just eaten on it's own.

-Tofu, get the firm or extra firm kind. Drain the tofu then press it which is easy to do. Simply cut it and lay it on a cutting board with paper towels under and on top of it. Lay another cutting board on top of the tofu and place a pot full of water on it. After about 10 or 15 minutes the extra water should be drained from the tofu.
-2 Egg whites
-Corn starch
-Panko Crumbs
-Oil for frying

Okay. Take the tofu and dip it into corn starch. Then dip it into egg white. Then dip it into panko (I add salt and pepper to it). Once all the tofu is breaded, heat up some oil in a pan. The oil should be about half an inch thick. Fry tofu until crispy! BAM!

Super Easy Dal (aka red lentils) and Rice

-1/2 cup red lentils (or dal!)
-1 1/2 cup veggie broth (or a combination of broth and water)
-1/2 tea Turmeric
-1/2 tea Cumin
-1 tomato
-1 onion
-3 garlic cloves
-oil

In a pot, boil lentils with 1 cup of broth and the turmeric. In a frying pan, fry the garlic and onions with some oil. Once the onions become clear and wilty, add cumin and the tomato (including all the tomato juice). Add all of that into the lentils along with 1/2 cup more broth/water. You might want to add more liquid if it looks too dry. Simmer that for awhile until it gets to a consistency you like. You can eat this on its own, or with pita, or mix it up with rice (my fav). Also this recipe is really easy to tweak and change. I've added chili powder, coriander, garam masala, cinnamon, cilantro, ect. Play around!

Sometimes cooking days are just what you need!

2009-09-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Anna and I had a cooking day yesterday in which we made lentil soup, sushi and some blackberry pie. Here are the pictures to prove it: it was fun, cheap and exhausting. I enjoyed it a lot!

Everything turned out great! We eat some sushi, and lentil soup for a late lunch while we let the pie cool. I am now addicted to eating the pie, and really want to much them more often, they're relatively easy and fun to create.

Twas Anna's first time making sushi, and it was darn good! Smoked salmon, fake crab and tuna salad make for some yummy stuff to eat! And making the ingredients isn't really that laboursome, it only sounds that why when you try and explain it.

The soup took the longest to cook, I've never cooked with lentils before, them and the potatos we put into the soup were the culprits for why it took so long to finished. And now, some pictures as proof!

Spiced Bulgur!

2009-09-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

Here's what I made for my poor-lonely-man's dinner! What I love best is that it's filling and cheap (well, cheap if you bought the bulgur in bulk like I did).

If you haven't cooked with bulgur, DO IT. It's a simple, light and delicious grain! This recipe is not as light as tabbouleh but lighter than rice.

Spiced Bulgur with Tomatoes
1 cup bulgur
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion
1 large tomato
allspice
pepper
cinnamon
nutmeg
water

Start by pre-soaking a cup of bulgur. Pretty much one cup of bulgur=1 cup of water. Let it soak for 1/2 hour.
Dice the onion and cook them in a pot with the olive oil (a pan wouldn't work as easily) until the onions are clear. Add the bulgur, tomato (including all the juices), and the spices. Don't over spice the dish, but put in a little of each, focusing on the allspice and cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir it all together and cook on medium until the spices become fragrant. Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it though! I cooked it for about 25 minutes and added an extra 1/4-1/2 cup of water. You want to make sure the bulgur isnt crunchy (and since mine was, I added more water and let it cook longer).

THEN BAM! You're done!

Interesting Nutritional Questions Answered by the Mayo Clinic

2009-08-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/MY00431/TAB=expertanswers

Some interesting questions and answers by a Mayo Clinic doctor! These are pretty cool!

10 Ways to Barter for Food

2009-08-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

So we're all looking for some way, any way to save some cash, especially on food.
I like food, I really do, but don't you ever have those days you wish you could just feel full and get back to what you were doing?

Well this article from CHOW doesn't tell you how to do that but it does give some really good ideas on how to get good food for free.

10 Ways to Barter for Food: I’ve got zucchini if you’ve got tomatoes by Roxanne Webber

What do you think?

Easiest Pizza Dough

2009-08-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

I found this awesome recipe for pizza dough! The recipe is simple and there isn't a lot of kneading or much of a mess. Pretty much you can make it all in one bowl! EASY!

So here is the dough recipe and then a simple recipe for pesto pizza using some leftovers I had around the house.

Pizza Dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dry-active yeast (another reason this recipe is good! A packet of yeast can last a while)
1/2 cup lukewarm water (and maybe more later)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir together all dry ingredients, including yeast. Add water and olive oil and mix until it becomes one ball. If the mix is too dry add more water, a little at a time. Knead it for about two minutes (you can need it in the bowl!). Add a little olive oil to the sides of the bowl once done so the bread doesn't stick when it rises. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap then leave it for about an hour and a half to two hours. It should double in size.

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a floured surface to get the air out. Put it back into the bowl and leave it another 20 minutes. Then roll it out and punch it with a fork!

Now go ahead and cook the dough at 400 or 500 degrees for a few minutes. This will help the dough cook all the way through since the ingredients I have for the pesto pizza don't take too long to cook. After it's started to cook just a little, (5 minutes maybe?) take it out of the oven and let it cook a moment. Then smear on pesto! I had about 1/4 of a cup leftover from dinner a couple nights before and it worked out perfectly. Then layer on FRESH mozzarella (only fresh!), tomatoes, onions, and whatever else you desire. I sprinkled a little bit of parmesan cheese on the pizza as well. Back into the oven for 8-15 minutes (until everything is melting and the cheese starts to turn brown).

THEN BAM.

HOMEMADE PIZZA.

Whoo!

2009-07-16T14:15:00.001-07:00

Look at this revival of food blog! Now if only I could get all my other friends post....OH WELL.

Alison and I made Coconut Curried Tofu with Green Jasmine Rice a few weeks ago. It was a little more complicated of a recipe than I usually go for, but it was darn good!

Coconut Curried Tofu with Green Jasmine Rice
The rice:
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 3/4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup jasmine or basmati rice
1 cup (packed) coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup unsweetened light coconut milk
1 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup coconut milk

For the rice--Take the unsweetened coconut (make sure it is UNsweetened!) and brown it in a pan for about a minute or two. Puree the cilantro, coconut milk, ginger, lime and garlic together. Heat up the water and salt until boiling and then add in the rice. Once the rice is cooked, mix the coconut and the cilantro mixture into it.

Tofu and veggies:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
16 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained, patted dry, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup red peppers
1/2 zucchini-thinly sliced for quicker cooking

The veggies for this recipe are really flexible. We added red peppers and zucchini but you can probably do a mix of whatever you have around the house. Heat up oil and fry the tofu into cubes. This was tricky for us because the tofu stuck to the bottom of the pan...so use a non-stick pan. Add the zucchini, onions, peppers. curry powder, cumin, garlic, crushed red pepper and fry for a minute or two. Add tomatoes and 1/4 coconut milk. Season with salt and pepper!

Add yummy rice mix into a bowl and top with yummy tofu and veggie mix! ITS AWESOME!

Oops!

2009-07-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

SO! I realized that I forgot to post about what I REALLY meant to post about in the last post!
I read about Honey and Cinnamon and all their MAGIC HEALING POWERS on Aapplemint.com -an adorable food blog all should check out.

Anways, did you know that cinnamon and honey can help cure bladder infections!? This is wonderful news because I don't have insurance and I am terrified about getting another one! TERRIFIED.

Click on the LINK HERE to read more!!

More Food Blogs

2009-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

Okay okay. So I haven't cooked pretty much AT ALL for the past two weeks. It's tragic I know!

Here are some photos of some Mango Lassi's that Evan and I cooked! I'll try to remember the recipe!
Pretty sure it goes something like this....

Mango Lassi

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 chopped fresh mango (check out the farmers market for some for cheap!)
4 teaspoons sugar, or too taste. We had ours a little sweet, a little savory
1 teaspoon ground cardamon (thats the savory right there!)

In a blender, blend.
Pour.
Enjoy.
Actually, I thought we had ice in ours? I can't remember. Here are some photos!

YUM! I totally recommend this drink during the summer! It is SO good and SO refreshing!
Ok, it ends up I have a lot to say so more posts soon!

How about OTHER food blogs?

2009-07-01T17:05:00.001-07:00

OK! Summer! No more school! No work!

Yet still no Edible Sensations blog posts!?!

BUT ITS NOT DEAD.
I SWEAR.

In the mean time, check out these other food blogs!

Smitten Kitchen

This food blog has wonderful recipes and the most FANTASTIC photos ever!

Cake Wrecks

Cause sometimes, cakes turn out ugly!

Cook To Bang

Because cooking ALWAYS leads to sex. And sometimes, sex leads to cooking. (click that link. I dare you.)

OK! Now look at this awesome cake Evan made me for my birthday. It was amazing!!

UPDATED!

2009-04-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

I WISH I MADE THIS. heck! I wish i was eating this! Evan made this on the ONE NIGHT we're not hanging out and I'm totally jealsies!
BAH!
Anyways, here is an unrelated recipe.

FETTUCCINE WITH CAYENNE-PEPPER SAUCE!

Fettuccine (12 oz)
2 red peppers
3 garlic cloves
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

Cook pasta. Saute peppers, garlic, and cayenne pepper for about five minutes. Stir in sour cream and broth and let it simmer for another five minutes or so, depends on how thick you want the sauce. Toss sauce in with pasta and add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan. I think tofu or chicken would be a nice addition but I havent tried it yet!

FOOD BLOG IS NOT DEAD!!

Not Your Mama's Macaroni

2009-02-11T12:32:00.001-08:00

Now I have a thing for comfort foods-I could eat them everyday. Just thinking about casseroles, mashed potatoes, and homemade soups make me warm n' fuzzy. Now this recipe, alas, is not my mothers recipe, but it was darn good regardless. It combines pepperjack and sharp cheddar into spicy-cheese goodness.

Baked Macaroni

2 1/2 cups dry macaroni
1 small onion
3 cups milk
4 tablespoons buttah
1/4 c flour
salt
nutmeg
pepper
a couple drops tabasco sauce
2 cups sharp cheddar
2 cups pepperjack cheese (or a combination of whatever cheese you have lying around. I added a little bit of parmesan for flavor).

Topping:
3/4 c bread crumbs-Italian style!
1 tablespoon butter

OK! Cut up the onion and cook it till soft. Cook and drain macaroni and set aside. In a pan melt the 4 tablespoons of butter over medium-low and add flour. Whisk this till the taste of flour is gone, about two minutes. This looks kinda weird but just deal. Slowly add the 3 cups of milk, stirring till the mix thickens and begins to simmer. Add the tabasco, pepper, nutmeg, salt, and any other spices you want to play around with. Add the cheese, a little at a time to make sure it melts and gets stirred in with the mix. Add this sauce mix to the macaroni in a casserole dish. I recommend using one that was made in the 1970s. THATS QUALITY!

For the topping melt the butter and add it to the bread crumbs to make it crumbly and layer on top.

Cook for 25-35 minutes at 350, till you can see the cheese start to boil. Then put the oven on broil and make the top brown n crispy.

THEN EAT IT.

AND ENJOY IT.

Also, what's everyone else favorite comfort food? Mine is definitely pastaaaaaa.
I also drink a lot of tea when I need to be comforted.

My favorite tea is this Russian black tea a friend bought me while traveling.

Stina's Fried Rice!

2009-02-10T19:18:00.001-08:00

Here's my recipe for fried rice, it's easy to make, delicious and filling:

YOU WILL NEED:
1 cup uncooked rice
1 egg
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
frozen vegetables (preferrably peas, corn, carrts and green beans)

Step 1: cook that rice!

Step 2: find a suitable frying pan that will fit your cooked glob of rice. Put about a tablespoon of oil in the pan and about two tablespoons or soysauce. set the pan on about medium low.

Step 3: put rice into your span and with a wooden spoon or spatula start to mixed the rice with the canola oil and the soy sauce until thoroughly coated.

Step 4: add the frozen vegetables and continue to constantly mix and coat the ingredients, you don't want to burn your rice. If it starts to get dry, mix in more soysauce or oil.

Step 5: crack and drop your egg into the mix and immediately mix it into the pile, sit and wait, mixing until it looks to be cooked thoroughly!

Step 6: serve and be merry!

Make something with all that....

2009-01-26T18:54:00.001-08:00

So you ever open the fridge and wonder what to do with all that shit in your fridge?
Well our good friend Google has come through for us again. And let me just say, when they go to the dark side I'm totally running for the hills because Darth Vader doesn't hold a candle to 'em.

http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/tools/cookin-with-google/

Enjoy.

2009-01-05T00:54:00.000-08:00

Making Sushi - From Rice to Rolls!

2008-12-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here's the way that I have made sushi in the past, and is something I thought I'd share here. :) Here first is the recipe for making proper sushi rice, and then the instructions for picking ingredients and rolling rolls.

~ Making Sushi Rice ~

2 cups rice: You will need Japanese short-grained white rice, also called japonica rice or sushi rice. Do not use American-style long grained rice as it will not turn out well. Japanese rice has the right amount of starch needed to make the rice glossy and sticky but not mushy or dry.

o You can find this style of rice at most well-stocked grocery stores or Asian markets.
o You can also buy it online from a store like Amazon.com.
o It is best to use the freshest rice possible.

* 3-4 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar: Only use rice vinegar to make sushi rice. Rice vinegar is a mild vinegar made from fermented rice or rice wine.
* 2-3 tablespoons sugar: Use plain white sugar to taste.
* 2 teaspoons salt: You may use table salt, kosher salt or sea salt depending on your preference.

Making Sushi Rice
Preparing the Vinegar

* Heat the vinegar, sugar and salt in a sauce pan on the stove over medium heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved into the vinegar. Do not boil the mixture. Leave sitting off heat until needed. You can make this portion before or while the rice is cooking.

Preparing the Rice - Optional Step

* Rinse the rice in cold water. This will take several minutes and several changes of water. Rinse the rice until the final change of water runs almost clear (this is an optional step. I myself usually do not wash my rice before cooking).

* You can leave the rice to soak in the water for 15 minutes, or let it it sit drained in the strainer for up to an hour.

Cooking the Rice

* Steam the rinsed rice in an equal amount of water (i.e.: 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water) in a rice cooker or on the stove top following the package's directions or by bringing to a boil, then cooking over very low heat until the water is evaporated and you are left with lovely sticky rice.
* As always when cooking rice on the stovetop, use very low heat after the initial boil and keep the lid on at all times. The trapped steam is what enables the rice to cook.

* An optional step is to add a piece of kombu, or dried kelp, to the rice as it cooks to add more flavor. If using the stove-top method, discard the kelp after the initial boil. (Optional, I usually don't so this either)

* Once the rice has finished cooking, it can be left off heat in the pot with the lid on for up to 15 minutes.

Seasoning the Rice

* When the rice has finished cooking, add the vinegar seasoning to the rice. Turn the rice out of the pot and into a non-reactive shallow bowl.
* The traditional method uses a wooden container, such as a hangiri, but plastic mixing bowls work just fine, and are usually what I use to mix.
* You want to cool down the rice and add the seasoning at the same time.
* Use a tool like a shamoji (rice paddle) in a gentle chopping motion to spread out the grains of rice and ensure the seasoning covers every grain.
* Some people use a hand-held fan to help in the cooling process. (silly Japanese traditionalists)

1. Use a non-reactive metal or wooden container for the final step of seasoning the rice, as some metals will react with the vinegar and mar the flavor of the rice.
2. Be careful not to squish the grains of rice together when adding the vinegar mixture. You want to maintain the integrity of the rice grains.
3. Spreading out the rice makes it cool down faster. This stops the rice cooking in its own heat. To make sushi, the rice should be at about room temperature.
4. If you are not going to make the sushi right away, cover the seasoned rice with a damp cloth to ensure that it doesn't dry out.
5. Never refrigerate sushi rice, as it will get too hard to work with or eat.

~ Rolling Sushi Maki ~

Once you have your rice prepared, it's time to take out your ingredients for the rolls you want to make. So good safe choices for beginners are using cucumber, fake crab sticks, canned tuna, and daikon (pickled radish), these ingredients are usually non offensive taste wise to people who don't normally like eating raw fish or don't know what to expect.

What you need:

Sushi Nori - seaweed

Sushi Ingredients -(examples) Salmon, Cucumber, Fake Crab, Daikon, Tuna, Avacado, Asparagus

Sushi Roller - see picture: you can get sushi making kits usually at your local supermarket. The sushi roller is an essential part of the process, you cannot properly roll sushi without one of these.

When cutting your cucumber, a traditional way is to cut in in half length wise and then sliver off sections from the middle (kind of like making cucumber pie slices that are really really long).

After you've assembled your ingredients and have your nori, it is time to put your sushi rice to use. Have one sheet of nori laid out on your sushi roller. Make sure that the nori is facing the right way up; you want the the rough side of the nori facing up, and not the shiny side. Feel both sides with your finger and you'll know which one you should have facing upwards. The smooth side facing down, rouch side up.

Using the rice paddle, gather a medium amount of rice onto the paddle and start to spread it evenly over the nori. You want the nori to be thoroughly covered, but you do not want to use too rice rice. Cover it so you cannot see the nori underneath, but do not anymore beyond thoroughly covering the nori. The sushi rice may be quite sticky and a little hard to navigate over the nori, it's sometimes a good idea to get out a spoon to scrap it off.

Once you have the nori covered pick a few ingredients and lay them at the end of one side of the roll lengthwise (make sure you're laying it close to the end of the sushi roller and that you can immediately roll the ingredients up, if this is not the case, orient the sushi roller and the nori so that the ingredients and everything will be facing the right direction. Lay them all as close together as possible.

Now it's time to roll! This is a subtle art and sometimes not the easiest thing to get right the first time. carefully roll your sushi nori forward into a circle with the sushi roller. See the reference pictures to the right.

Carefully roll the nori up, keeping light pressure evenly across the top as you roll. Roll it carefully and consistantly to prevent the nori from tearing.

Once you have the whole thing rolled up, take away the sushi roller and check to see if the whole thing is deciding to stick together. Hopefully the answer is yes! If the answer is no, try rolling once again, and take out one or two ingredients to start with something easier and smaller.

Once the roll is rolled, pick a thin long knife (I usually use a steak knife) and carefully cut off the end of the roll. Saw the knife back and forth gently and stabilize the roll with your other hand. carefully cut off each end of the roll and eat them, because they're delicious!

Now repeat this gentle slow sawing motion to cut the roll into a bunch of different little pieces of sushi! Repeat the process as much as possible and enjoy your delicious sushi!

Mama's Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-12-16T22:19:00.001-08:00

You will thank me for this after you've had one of these cookies.
(picture will come later, Im on a slow-ass computer)

Mama's Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1/2 packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint or mint extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (or white chocolate, they both taste good)

Mix butter and sugars, then add in the egg, and the vanilla and peppermint. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Blend dry and wet ingredients together and then add the chocolate chips. Place on greased cookie sheets and back 10-13 minutes at 350 degrees.

ENJOY.

THIS BLOG IS NOT DEAD DAMN IT.

Buttah Ballin'

2008-10-25T18:07:00.001-07:00

BUTTER BALLS!

How could I not make cookies called Butter Balls? It's the best cookie name ever! Think about it!!

Okay, these are more than tasty, they're damn tasty. They're butter ballin' tasty.

BUTTER BALLS
or
BUTTAH BALLS

1 cup Buttah
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat the butter till its fluffy, add sugar and beat it again. Add flour and mix. Add almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon. The dough will be crumbly, thats okay. Its still sticky. Roll the dough into one inch balls and place on a non-greased cookie sheet (what would be the point of greasing it, these things are nothing but butter). Cook at 375 for 20 minutes. They won't really be brown but they'll be done. Let them dry completely before moving them off the sheet, otherwise they crumble.
OKAY! ENJOY!

BUTTER!

OH UM KAY

2008-10-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Somedays, you need something incredibly easy, but also incredibly delicious. Sunday, was one of those days.

QUICK MEDITERRANEAN PASTA
this is the doubled recipe so maybe you shouldnt make this much. UNLESS YOU DARE.
1 pack of spaghetti
1/2 a pack of croutons, you pick the flavor
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste

First, cook pasta and mix with about a tablespoon of olive oil so it doesnt stick together. In a bowl, crunch up all the croutons till they're a little bigger than bread crumbs. Mix in oregano and basil. Add to pasta with the rest of the olive oil.
If I had more time, I think onions and tomatoes would be a nice addition. And this can be eaten warm or cold.

SO MAKE IT.

THEN EAT IT.

CRANBERRY TWIST APPLE PIE

2008-10-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Jenny and I made some delicious Apple Pie with cranberries and handmade crust! It was a lot of fun to cook up! Here's the recipe for the in the pan crust and pie makings and instructions:

IN THE PAN PIE CRUST:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk

Place flour, salt, oil and milk in an 8- or 9-inch pie pan and start stirring. The mess will begin to form into a ball resembling pastry (Be sure not to mix it too well, otherwise the crust won't be crumbly). When the flour is all mixed, you can use the back of a wooden spoon and your fingers to smoosh it out over the bottom and sides of the pan. Be sure to seal any breaks in the pie crust with your fingers as you move it around the pan.

CRANBERRY TWIST APPLE PIE:

6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples (about 2 1/4 pounds)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional, but tasty)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup dried cranberries
Milk (optional)
Sugar (optional)

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit!

Peel and if desired, sprinkle apples with lemon juice. In a large bowl stir together 3/4 cup sugar, the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apples slices and cranberries. Gently toss until coated.

Transfer apple mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate and seal with a latticed or covering pie crust on top. Seal the pie crust. If desired, brush top pastry with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar. To preventing over-browning, cover the edge of the pie crust with foil.

Bake for 40 minutes in 375 degree oven. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes more or until the fruit is tender and the filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack for about an hour and a half to let the filling settle and gel. Then enjoy your delicious pie!

BETTER THAN SEX

2008-09-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Someone wanna do the deed and make this cake with me? After we eat it we can melt into a pool of butter and fat!

BETTER THAN SEX CAKE
because sex sometimes just cant cut it.
1 package German chocolate cake mix
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups hot fudge topping
1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bars chocolate covered English toffee

Bake German chocolate cake mix according to package directions.
While cake is still very warm poke holes in top of cake with the end of a wooden spoon, poor sweetened condensed milk over top. Let cake cool. Pour hot fudge topping over top of cake and let set. Spread on whipped topping and garnish with crushed Heath Bars (or toffee crumbles).

I suggest that we get rid of the condensed milk (seriously, I don't NEED a heard attack at 25) and then combine carmel topping and fudge topping and maybe use butterfingers instead of heath bars. Or some other yummy candy.

Garlic Chicken with White Wine Sauce

2008-09-25T10:15:00.001-07:00

This looks so delicious. I want to try it as soon as I can. Does anyone want to make it with me?

Garlic Chicken with White Wine Sauce

~ Ali

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-09-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

YEAH OKAY YUM YES!
I made cookies tonight for my hard working friends!
They were delish!

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
cause you cant have enough chocolate.

1 cup buttah
3/4cup sugar
3/4cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cup chocolate chips (I used mini-chocolate chips!)

Blend buttah, sugars and eggs. In another bowl, sift dry ingredients together. Mix these two things together. Add chocolate chips. Cook 9-12 minutes at 350.

FUCKING GOOD ALRIGHT.

WE MADE FOOD

2008-09-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hannah and I made alfredo last night--pretty much my favorite food of all time.

The recipe for it is on the very first post of food blog. We altered the recipe by adding onion powder and pepper and we used macaroni noodles instead of penne.
UM YUM.
I was invited to someones potluck this week so I cant wait to cook some more! and cookies today!!

Yummmm

2008-09-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

So, two things:

Here is what the soup actually looks like. I actually got around to making it today but I still have a ton in the freezer so I think we should totally have an edible snesations pot luck one of these days...

Also, this is my new favorite website ever: Bakeorbreak.com

TWO FOR ONE!

2008-09-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm gonna post two recipes that you can make out of one chicken! It's great!

RECIPE #1: Asian-ish Pasta With Chicken And Veggies
I've never really had a recipe for this one (someone just told me how to make it) but I'll just write it out.

Ingredients
Chicken (a rotisserie chicken is best but canned chicken/anything else works too.)
Spaghetti (I usually make a whole box of spaghetti which lasts me a loooong time)
A bottle of soy sauce (I use La Choy)
Veggies! Frozen or Fresh. I like to use red peppers, onions, peas, carrots, and corn. I typically use a whole bag of frozen mixed vegetables.

This makes a lot, so you can just use less of everything or get lots of tupperware ready for leftovers (it's really good cold, too!)

First, bring a pot of water to boil. Once it boils, add soy sauce to the boiling water until the water is dark brown, I usually use about half of one of the medium sized bottles. Add the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, cut up your veggies and get as much chicken off the bones as you want and then chop it up. Mix the chicken and veggies together in a big pan with a little bit of oil and a little bit of soy sauce in the mix.

When the pasta is ready, drain it, and add it to the cooked veggies and chicken. Mix it all together and it is deeeeeeelicious!! Unfortunately, it's not the prettiest looking thing ever, but it's soooo good!

RECIPE #2: Home Made Chicken Noodle Soup

You can use the leftovers of the Rotisserie Chicken to make soup! YAY!

Ingredients:
The Leftover rotisserie chicken (all of it, everything!)
Water
Chicken Boullion Cubes
Salt & Pepper
A few cloves of garlic
An Onion
Carrots, Celery, or any other vegetables
Noodles

So take a big pot and dump all of the leftover chicken in it, bones and all. Then fill up the pot with water at least enough to submerge the chicken. Add the onion, 3 or 4 boullion cubes, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, and a little salt and pepper.
Put the pot on to boil and allow it to boil for about an hour. Then, skim off all the grossness and oily stuff that forms on the top. After that, turn the heat down to low and keep it on low for hours (I usually leave it over night). Then, skim it again and strain out all of the stuff so you have a pot of yummy broth and then a pot of everything else. Pull all of the good chicken that's left on the carcass (sorry its a gross word but it's all i can think of...) and add it to the broth. Then add your veggies and cook noodles and add those too. SO DELICIOUS! No pictures of this one cause I haven't finished making it yet.

Easy Heart Cake!!

2008-08-20T23:54:00.000-07:00

So exploring Pike Place in Seattle today, I found a nifty little kitchen shop and lo and behold! They had a sale on this super cute super awesome heart shaped silicone pan! I dont care much for the silicone, but the fact it was five dollars was much to my liking!
Anyways, Kathleen (my older sis) rummaged through her cupboards to find cake supplies! and then we found THIS:

YEAH YEAH YEAH. ITS CHEATING OKAY. WHATEVER. I had to cook a cake fast for these lovely people:
My sister Elyse (aka poop-face)

and Frankster

anyways.
SUPER MOIST PARTY MIX CHIP HEART CAKE
Step one-follow directions on box.
Step two-put in cute heart mold

Step three- let cake explode in oven

Step four- remove and add icing!

SUPER CUTE

also! get chickens! SO CUTE

Cocina MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES para tu Amor Ahora!

2008-08-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hola putas. After a long and serious discussion last night, Kira and I decided to share cooking secrets extracted from the remote desert of Mexico in the highest ziggurat known to man. I must warn you, once you read this recipe, I will have to hunt you down and knife you... but know that you will probably have enough time to make a batch of these mouth-watering treasures and bask in their daintiness before you join the lord Jesus.

Ingredients:

1 lb soft unsalted butter

1 C powdered sugar

2 T vanilla

1 tsp salt

2 C finely chopped pecans

5 C sifted flour

powdered sugar for dusting

Latin pop music for inspiration (Ricky Martin does NOT count)

1) First place your MP3 player, CD, cassette tape or eight-track into a music dispensing device and press play (or jugar)

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrados Fahrenhitos

3) Beat butter and powdered sugar with mixer until light and fluffy and peaks form (about 10-15 min)

4) Add vanilla, salt, and pecans

5) Remove from mixer and stir in flour by hand. Be careful not to over-mix, fools!

6) Form into futbol Americano shapes (or blobs) the size of walnuts and place on a buttered cookie sheet

7) Bake 10-12 minutes or until just beginning to get the slightest bit of coloration on bottoms.

8) Remove upon first sight of coloration and set on cooling rack

9) When cool enough to touch, place in bowl with powdered sugar on top and toss gently

10) Once cooled, place in a box made solely of Mayan gold and cover until ready to serve

When I don't follow the recipe exactly, I find my cookies taste like rotting corpse. These are very temperamental cookies so the slightest mistake will be horrific. If you mess them up, perhaps you don't deserve to eat cookies.

Enjoy Amigos

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella salad

2008-08-05T06:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all! This is my first post to food blog and I'm really excited to have the opportunity to contribute!

This tomato, basil and mozzarella salad is one of my favorite summer snacks. It also serves as a the perfect light dinner for those summer evenings when its to hot to even want to touch the stove.
It also only takes 10 minutes or less to prepare.

Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Salad

3 Tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves
Mozzarella cheese
salt
garlic

Slice up the tomatoes and mozzarella into medium thin slices. You want them to be thick enough to pick up easily with your hands but thin enough that its not impossible to eat it in one bite.

Now this is so easy that the most important part is really presentation. You can either arrange them in stacks of deliciousness like I've done by putting the slices of mozzarella on top of the tomato and then laying one or two leaves of basil on top.
(This one is good for a one person meal or something to snack on with a friend. Forks not required.)

Or, you can arrange it with more of an artistic flair like this ...
which is a great presentation for parties where guests can pick at the arrangement as part of a larger meal.

With either arrangement, just add some garlic and salt to taste and your ready to go.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Wontons!!

2008-07-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Okay! So it's true, everything I ever cook ends up being something sweet and usually some sort of dessert. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

A couple days ago, we went to Azia for drinks and ended up ordering something called Cranberry Puffs. They were SO. FREAKING. GOOD. So good in fact, that I knew my craving for more would perhaps never be sedated, and I decided to make some of my own.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Wontons

1 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup cranberries
1 tablespoon milk
1 package of wonton wrappers
1 egg white
oil for frying

In a blender, mix the cream cheese, cranberries, and milk as best as you can. It's difficult to completely blend the cranberries completely so don't even try. It wont matter once it's fried up. Take the wonton wrappers and add about two teaspoons of the mixture and dab it into the middle.

Put a touch of egg white on all four corners and fold it into a triangle. Don't put egg white on all the sides, it's okay if it doesn't close up completely.

Then fry 'em up! Till golden!

Then eat them all! You can eat them with some sweet and sour sauce or with soy sauce if you want, but I liked them plain. You can also share with others, but I think next time they're all mine.

2008-07-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

So after the last post, I wanted to do some of my favorite cuisine, Mexican Food! Mostly we tried the technique mentioned in the last post aaaaand it didn't work out. So instead, I made this all from scratch and (gasp) NO RECIPE! That's right, this one's a Tickles original, baby. Anyway, I hope you try this one out, because it turned out to be one of the best things I've ever made. Also, I love it in particular because it goes along with doing one of my favorite activities...

Here is your shopping list:

Ground Pork, about a pound or more
1 Red Pepper, diced
1 Yellow Pepper, diced
1 Yellow Onion, diced
1 Tomato, diced
1 Avocado, sliced (do this right before you eat)
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/2 or 1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo, seeded
1 can of Black Beans (pronounced frijoles negros)
1 can of Pinto Beans
1 cup rice (plus 1 1/2 cup water)
a package of soft corn tortillas
a few tbsp. olive oil
like, half a thing of corn oil
1 tsp. Oregano
1 tbsp. Cumin
6-pack Delicious Mexican Beer (optional)

Seriously, if you have the spices and oil, it'll only cost you like $13. Plus it feeds a large family.

Ok, so let's make this dish!

You'll only be needing one large pan and two pots for this. Hopefully, one of those pots is a magnelite because you'll be frying in it. First, chop up the peppers (not the chipotle), onion, and tomato and mix them all to

gether in a bowl or just anywhere. Now open the can of chipotles, bask in their glorious aroma, reach in and pull one out. They look gross don't they? Cut it in half and remove the seeds. You can either use both halves or one. I used one and it wasn't spicy at all. Remove the pork and mix it in a bowl with a clove of garlic, oregano, cumin and some of the excess adobo from the can of chipotles. Don't put any adobo on your finger and taste it, its hot, take my word for it. Set that aside. Open the cans of beans and drain the excess liquids. You are now ready to start actually cooking. Have a beer.

Put the oil in the large skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Wait for it to warm up and simmer the remaining clove of garlic in it until it just begins to change colors and smells glorious. Dump all those veggies you just diced in and stir a few times. Add salt and pepper and stir fry until they become tender, a few minutes, but do not remove. Now's a good time to start cooking the rice. Just follow the directions on the package or use a rice cooker if you're fancy. Hopeful

ly your skillet is big enough for this trick. You want to cook the meat so it absorbs as much of the juices as possible, so push the veggies to the sides of the skillet, leaving a big circle in the middle where the heat is concentrated. Go ahead and plop that meat on and let it cook. You'll need to break it up with a spatula or a spoon, but try to keep it centrally located. Let that cook for a bit until its almost brown all over.

Pour the corn oil into another pot and put it under high heat. Get some paper towels ready on a plate, some sort of metal grasper, and however many tortillas you want. Let the oil heat up and move back to the skillet. Empty both cans of beans into it and add the chipotle pepper and some more adobo. Let that simmer and stir occasionally. About 5 minutes or until everything tastes good. Its basically Chili at this point so you can cook it forever and it'll just keep getting better.

Now, th

e oil should be hot(ttttt). To test, lightly wet your hand and flick a few drops of water into it. If it pops, you're ready. Put a tortilla into the oil and submerge. Fry until golden brown and place on the towels, separating layers with towels. Have another beer.

Hopefully, the rice is ready. You're almost done! Halve the avocado, remove the pit and scoop the halves out with a spoon. and slice. If you're saving any for later, coat in lime or lemon juice so they don't brown.

To serve, scoop rice onto the tortilla and cover in the filling. Top with a slice of avocado. Serve with another beer. These are kind of a mess to eat if you aren't careful, so you might want to grab a fork. These can be nice for parties since individually, you can make about 12-15.

Make Red Beef Curry

2008-07-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Anna and I were really hungry the other night and since I love cooking meals so much I decided we would go to the grocery store without a plan and just see what we could find. This is a good suggestion for all you people out there who can't put together a shopping list for a meal because you can't decide on one. TURN TO MARTHA!

Seriously guys, Martha Stewart puts out this handy little digest called Everyday Food and you can just run and pick it up when you get to the store and pick out a meal. Easy peasy 'ca

use then you got your shopping list right there! So we found this great little recipe for red beef curry. Now its not super authentic, but nonetheless pretty good for a lazy night inside watching Chuck Jones Cartoons.

Now, I'm gonna try to remember the recipe for you guys, but I'm sure whatever I tell you, if not exactly the same, will be nonetheless delish.

What you'll need:

BEEF - about a pound of sirloin cut into inch-wide strips

2 red bell peppers - cut into thin slices. we used yellow, but I bet it would be good with one of each

1 red onion - halved and thinly sliced

1 can of coconut milk

1 tbsp. red curry paste

1 package of pasta - we used whole wheat spaghetti, but I think the recipe called for angel hair

a few tbsp. vegetable oil

1 cup fresh oregano or a few tbsp

salt and pepper to taste - doy

Ok, first thing, get a pretty decent sized frying pan, you'll be fitting the peppers and onions in here later. Put a bit of the oil in the pan and put it on a medium high heat. while its warming up, generously season the beef with salt and pepper. If you have a preferred rub then use that. When the oil is hot, place half the beef in the skillet and cook for about 2 minutes or until it looks a little seared on that side. Remove meat (only cook on one side, it will cook more later) set aside and repeat using the rest of the meat and more oil. About this time, start to cook the pasta. You know how to do that, right?

Now, using the same skillet, cook the onion and peppers with about half a cup of water. Cook until tender and most of the water is gone, a f

ew minutes. Now its time for the coconut milk and the curry paste. Go ahead and put the beef back in too. Mix it all aroun

d and cook until the sauce thickens and you want to eat it. Oh, you should stir it occasionally to make sure it cooks evenly. When that's taken care of, add the oregano and let it cool.

Serve over the pasta you just made and put it in your mouth. It serves 4 people or 3 fatties.

Salmon with Mango Salsa

2008-07-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

So for me and Alec’s one-year anniversary, and me we made ourselves a fancy little dinner.
This dish was also an adulterated form of a Betty Crocker recipe (thank you, Anna).
We covered the salmon with a little brown sugar before grilling it on the George Foreman grill, and we served it with a mango salsa. I changed Betty’s recipe though because I am so fond of Gwen’s mango salsa so I combined the two. I used one mango, about a third of a tomato and maybe four or five green onions diced, with a little bit of garlic and lime juice. Cilantro would have been good but I never buy it because I can never use it up before it goes bad. And I made that a head of time so that it could set for a while before the meal.

We also had a bottle of wine that Aydin brought back from his trip to Iran.

Zucchini Bread

2008-07-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

This is an adulterated form of Betty Crocker recipe. I think it tastes a lot better because I used mostly brown sugar instead of all white which gives it a much richer flavor, and I also reduce the total amount of sugar a little bit and make it cholesterol free by using only egg whites.

Two or three shredded zucchinis
1 and 1/6 cup brown sugar
1/6 cup white sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 or 4 egg whites
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 tea spoon salt
1-teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2-teaspoon ground cloves
1/2-teaspoon baking powder
1/2 half cup chopped nuts if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix zucchini with all the wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients. This just makes the stirring go a bit smoother. If you wanted you could mix the wet and dry separately in different bowls but I don't like to dirty more dishes than necessary.

Then grease your pan. This recipe should fill two loaf pans, either 8-inch pans for 50-60 minutes or 9-inch pans for 1 hour 10 or 1 hour 20 minutes.

As I am in college and I don't like to store a gazillion different utensils in my small apartment only to pack them up and move them every other semester, I use an 8 by 8 inch glass brownie tray and bake it for about 1 hour 10 or 20 minutes and that has always worked out fine. Although you should make sure to take the bread out of the pan before cutting it and cut it into long strips and then cut those in half. Don't cut it into giant cubes because they will not be able to fit into your toaster.

After baking, let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then remove it from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack (if available) for 2 more hours. If you don't do this the bread will be very crumbly when you cut it, but if that doesn't bother you than by all means dig in while it's warm and gooey.

Delicious Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2008-07-05T20:36:00.000-07:00

Hi!

I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins yesterday and they were deeeeeeeeeeelicious, just like the bread they have at spyhouse but BETTER because it was moister and just tastier overall.

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFIN RECIPE

When I made them, I added 3/4 cup of chips instead of half a cup, and I didn't add nutmeg. But they would be delicious either way.

The website's great, too, I made a delicious new pizza crust I found on there where you knead basil and garlic into the crust. It was ridiculously good.

I can't handle it

2008-07-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

it just all looks so amazing!!! Every single recipe. But to be honest It's all about the pictures. I won't even look at a recipe if there are no pictures, and I won't make it if they're bad photos. BUT THESE ARE SO WONDERFUL!

HERE YOU GO!

for example:

This!!
and
This!!!
and...
This!

Tasty Oatmeal Cookies

2008-06-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

So last night, around midnight or so, I thought it would be a good idea to make cookies with Pete. I found this easy cookie recipe and they came out pretty much perfect! I would have enjoyed them more last night but I ate waaaay to much of the dough while they were baking. Figures.

Tasty Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. In another bowl mix butter, oil, and the sugars till smooth. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add in the dry ingredients. Once that's mixed, add oats and chocolate! Cook at 350 for about 12 minutes. THEN INSTANT YUMMY COOKIES.

When we put the cookies on the cookie sheet, we got kind of out of control and made huge piles of dough.

When cooked, they exploded into huge cookies! But they were perfectly cooked through and weren't crispy on the edges at all!

Also, ed thought it'd be cool to crumple up one and put it into a beer bottle and chug it. Thus this:

also, cookies make for a fast, quick breakfast when you think it's a good idea to screen print at 8am.

Delicious world peace cookies!

2008-06-29T13:33:00.000-07:00

YUM.

The Recipe

Blondies

2008-06-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

Blondies are brownies but not. I'll edit on the recipie soon.
P.S. Cooking with hannah-yes please.

UH. YUM.

Also, eating is ALWAYS awkward

My potluck Thursday contribution

2008-06-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

This is a fairly cheap recipe and a mighty tasty one at that. You can make a ton of it for under $20!! The recipe I'm giving you now is for the large amount. So if you don't want as much as i made for the potluck just divide everything in half.

Creamy Chicken Pasta Salad
3 Broccoli heads ( i can't remember what they're actually called)
1 Red Pepper
3 cloves of Garlic
3 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 32oz container of Chicken Broth
2 8oz containers of Chive and Onion Cream Cheese Spread
1/2 tbs of crushed Red Pepper
1/2 tbs of Black Pepper
1 12oz Faralle pasta

Step 1: Chop up broccoli, red pepper, the garlic, the crushed red pepper, and the ground black pepper. Combined it all together in a large pot with the broth and let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until the broccoli is soft.
Step 2: In another smaller pot heat up some water until it is boiling and place the chicken breasts in the water for about 10 minutes or until they are cooked completely through. (this part looks really disgusting)
Step 3: When the chicken is fully cooked take them out and let them cool off. Once they are cool start to pull it apart into strips. (it should look like pulled pork. same idea different meat)
Step 4: Place meat in with the broccoli, red pepper, garlic and broth. At this point you also want to add the Chive and Onion Cream Cheese. Mix it all together until it is an even consistency.
Step 5: Begin cooking pasta. Just follow the instructions on the package.
Step 6: Drain the pasta and mix it in with the other ingredients. Mix it all together nice and well.
Step 7: Place in the refrigerator and serve it while it is cold.

Potluck Thursday and Tabbouleh

2008-06-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Potluck Thursday was a success! It was a ton of fun and there was so much yummy food! I took some photos of some of the food so everyone who didn't go could see what they missed.

This is most of the food we had, but sadly I didnt get a phot of Pete's chicken pasta salad, which was probably everyone's favorite dish there. In the corner we have crab salad and then tuna pasta, both delish.
Jenny made fried tofu which I thought was pretty good.

Alex made cute strawberry cupcakes with homemade icing.

Allison brought No-Bake Cookies, which I LOVE but it's always such a hassle for me to clean up after so I hardly make them. (Allison didn't have this problem, probably because she isn't as lazy as me and doesn't let the pots sit out for days).

I made Tabbouleh! I thought it was pretty good,
but something was wrong the the cucumber I used in it, which made it
taste not-as-good. But it was the cucumber's fault, not mine, and
that's what matters.

Tabbouleh
By the way, this is my mama's recipe. Thanks Mom!!
1 cup dry Bulgar (for those that don't know, and most dont, Bulgar is a type of grain)
2 cups water
2 medium onions or scallops
3 cups chopped parsley (or just wing-it)
1-2 large tomatoes
1 cucumber, seeded
1/4 cup olive oil
lemon juice.

Soak Bulgar with water for two hours or until all the water is soaked up. Cut up veggies and mix with the grain. Stir together olive oil and lemon juice, then mix in. Then BAM! Tabbouleh!!

Oh yes, we also had a ton of strawberries at the potluck.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies!

2008-06-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

I can't decide if I like the dough for these cookies or the actual cookies more. A word of warning, pre-heat
your oven ahead of time. Otherwise, there's a big possibility you'll
eat half of the dough before you can even bake the cookies.
I know-from experience.

Also, eating an abundance of cookie dough will make you feel nauseous.
I know-from experience.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies!

1 cup flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttahhh
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix the flour, oats, baking soda and powder in one bowl. In another bowl, mix the butter, sugar, and peanut butter. Once that's
mixed, add the egg and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients. Heat the
oven to 375 and bake for 10 minutes. On the baking sheet, the dough
should be in pretty big piles. I added a photo forreference.
But first: the dough. way too good.

Yum!

See, even our good friend Ben likes them! These cookies bring nothing but happiness!

Korova Cookies

2008-06-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

I got the recipe for this delish cookies from Alex who got them from Cafe Fernando.
They are my new favorite cookies. For now. check out the recipe

Yummers!

2008-06-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my all-time favorite easy-recipe! I LOVE pasta and this turns out good every time!

Alfredo Pasta
1/4 cup butter
1/2 package of cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic
1 cup milk
grated Parmesan
pepper

So start by melting the butter in a frying pan, then add the cream cheese. Let this melt while stirring
it with a fork. Keep doing this until it's all melted and the cream cheese and butter are smooth and well blended. Add the garlic then slowly add the milk, a little at a time. I usually add 1/4 of a cup at a time and wait till it's stirred in before adding more. Then add as much Parmesan as you want! I usually add half a cup but I like mine realllly cheesy. And I suggest you do the same. Then dish out your noodles and add as much (or little) of the sauce to it as you want. It'soooooooo good.

Also. Wash out the pan with the sauce soon. Hannah has had experience of cleaning out a pan with week-old Alfredo remnants. For the record, it was my mess she was cleaning.

I'd post a pretty pasta photo, but alfredo doesnt really look pretty. So enjoy these photos of my kitchen! It's like a home now! with an empty spice rack and everything!