christmas eve-eve

My cute sister and her family started a family tradition a few years back where they watch one of our family favorites, "Scrooged" (vintage Bill Murray--can't get much better than that!) and get Chinese take-out for Christmas eve-eve dinner. If you've seen the movie, you'd understand. Back during my single days they always invited me, and even after I was married and lived only and hour away. But the last couple of years, since we live in a totally different part of the country, my husband and I have decided to continue that tradition for ourselves. But we don't know too many good Chinese take-out places around here, so we make our own. And this year we decided on some dim sum. Spring rolls and gyoza (pan-fried/steamed and deep fried). And I think I ate my weight in dim sum. It was delicious.

The food before it was cooked:
ohhhhhhh .... and after. mmmm.
All spread out on the table, ready to be eaten.
It was glorious! If you want my gyoza recipe, look here. And here's a basic spring roll recipe:

makes 9~12 spring rolls

spring roll skins (9~12, depending on how much or how little filling you put inside)

about 1/4 lb ground pork
1/2 t sake
1/2 t soy sauce
pinch of corn starch

1 scallion, minced
1/2 can bamboo shoots, cut into thin strips or chopped coarse
2 cabbage leaves, cut into thin strips
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted in warm water, and sliced into thin strips
1/4~1/3 C super thin rice noodles, soaked in warm water until softened

vegetable or canola oil for deep frying, and for sauteing

"glue":
1.5 T flour
1 T water

cooking sauce:
1 T sake
1 T soy sauce
1/2 t sugar
salt & pepper to taste
1 t sesame oil

1. In a small bowl, combine the ground pork with the 1/2 t sake, 1/2 t soy sauce, and pinch of corn starch.
2. In a wok or deep skillet, stir fry the pork in a little oil until cooked through. Add the bamboo shoots, cabbage, mushrooms, and cook until cabbage softens. Add the noodles and sauce and cook until evenly coated. Place in a bowl and set aside.
3. Clean out the wok and fill with about 1/3 with oil. Heat oil to about 320°~330°F (160°~165°C). Meanwhile, wrap the spring rolls.
   
4. Prepare the "glue" in a small bowl. To wrap the spring rolls, place the wrapper in front of you, with a corner facing you. Place a small amount of filling close to the corner closest to you, in a line-shape. (parallel to your shoulders, if that makes sense) Fold the corner closest to you over the food, roll over once, then fold in the 2 side corners and keep rolling. Using your finger, place a little of the flour glue into the corner furthest from you (the only corner showing at this point) and finish rolling and make sure the glue sticks and seals. Repeat with all of the rolls.
5. Deep fry the spring rolls, about 3~4 at a time, in the oil until golden brown. Let drain on a wire rack over a cookie sheet lined with paper towels. Serve warm with hot rice.
   

i think i'm in heaven

Ok, so these aren't the most fantastic pictures because it's late at night ... but I couldn't resist taking some and sharing the pure joy I just experienced. For a romantic after-the-kid-goes-to-sleep treat for my husband, I made a simple yellow bundt cake with caramel sauce and super lightly sweetened whipped cream. I've been meaning to use the beautiful bundt pan my sister bought for me a while back, and I seriously wondered why in the world I hadn't done it sooner. It was decadent, rich, not too sweet, divine! Just perfect. And seriously, very simple to make. Just takes a little patience (at least for the caramel sauce). Give it a try. You won't regret it.

Yellow Bundt Cake (from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook--which you must own someday) & Glorious Caramel Sauce
makes 1 bundt and about 2 C of sauce
Pan coating:
1 T unsalted butter, melted
1 T all-purpose flour

cake:
3 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 T vanilla extract
3/4 C buttermilk*
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
18 T (2 and 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 C sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle positon and heat oven to 350°F. To coat the pan: mash the butter and flour together into a paste then brush evenly over the inside of a 12-cup bundt pan (be sure to get all of the crevices).
2. For the cake: whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl, whisk lemon juice, vanilla, and buttermilk together. In a thrid bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk together.
3. Beat the sugar and butter togethe rina alrge bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs in 2 batches until incorporated, about 1 minute, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined, followed by half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat this process again using half of the remaining flour mixture and all of the remaining buttermilk mixture. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Wipe any drops of batter off the sides of the pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (do not overbake).
6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.

For the caramel sauce, go here. This girl is a genius. And she makes a genius caramel sauce that even makes me want to drink it. And I'm not a huge caramel person. So that's saying a lot!

For the whipped cream, really only add like 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar. The caramel is so sweet and the cake is so dense and rich that you won't want all that sweetness in the cream, trust me. And beat to soft peaks. Please.

*if you don't have or don't want to buy buttermilk, use 3/4 C milk and scant 1T white distilled vinegar or fresh lemon juice, stir, and let it thicken. And you can use that in place of buttermilk in any baking recipe. 1 C milk to 1T vinegar/lemon juice.

finally a new post!

So the bread I've been making a few times a week now, has become a dinner table staple. I make it substituting 2~3 C whole wheat flour, and it still turns out chewy and soft and fluffy. And I feel a little better about feeding it to my family. I also make it into 4 smaller loaves instead, and it bakes for about 15 minutes. Really good. Try it.

Anyway, this morning we had a couple loaves in the freezer, and my cutie is home from work this week, so I had to make his favorite, French Toast. I served it with lingonberry jam and honey-vanilla whipped cream.

And I'm going to get on a bit of a soap box here. Let's not over-whip our cream, my friends. Over-whipped cream is greasy and lumpy. That's when you go beyond stiff peaks. And what's happenening is you're starting to make butter and whey. Not what you want when serving it over pies, tarts, crepes, or anything! So keep an eye on your cream, the difference between stiff peaks (which isn't necessary for this dish anyway, you want soft peaks) and over-whipped cream is a matter of 30 seconds sometimes. Or less. If you're making whipped cream in your kitchenaid, don't walk away. Please.

French Toast with jam and honey-vanilla whipped cream
And the festive little girl decided to dress up like Santa for breakfast:) I think it may have been her first taste of whipped cream. Definitely like her mommy.
1 loaf crusty French bread, cut into 1 inch slices
an array of tart jams

custard:
2 eggs
1 C whole milk
1 t cinnamon
1 T pure vanilla extract
2 T honey or sugar

butter or oil for the pan

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F and place an oven safe platter in the oven.
   
2. In a deep plate or a small baking dish, whisk the custard mixture until well blended.
3. Dip the bread slices into the custard, making sure it's coated on both sides, and place on a griddle or large frying pan over medium heat. Cook on the first side until lightly browned, flip over and repeat with the other side. Once cooked through, place on the platter in the oven. Repeat with all bread slices. Once finished, you can serve the whole warm platter so the cook can eat, too!

honey-vanilla whipped cream:
3/4 C heavy cream
1 T honey
1 t pure vanilla extract

1. Pour the cream into a medium bowl. Using a hand-held mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the vanilla and honey and continue to whip until they cream reaches soft peaks again. Serve.

Serve French toast with a tart jam and the whipped cream:)

more bread

I've always said I'm decent at cooking, but I don't do bread. And living here can be a little sad sometimes (when it comes to bread) because there aren't too many places to buy good artisan bread. Actually I can't think of anywhere. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough ... I got pretty good at making bread machine bread;), and Irish soda bread, but that isn't a yeast bread so I feel like it doesn't count. And then my sister came to visit when my daughter was born and taught me how to make my aunt Carolyn's perfect rolls. I can't seem to get them quite like either of them do, but they're still amazing, so I'm not complaining. But that experience made me realize that (some) bread isn't as intimidating as I always thought. So I started researching breads, and for Christmas I'm getting myself a new bread book.

Anyway, in the midst of all of this, I discovered a French bread recipe I wanted to try. It was so easy and amazingly puffy and chewy and delicious! And it took me maybe a total of 2 hours, start to finish. Now, if you're a purist and you like the traditional "real" French bread with a super crispy crust and an airy interior, call it something other than French bread and make it for your family. But if you don't experience the joy of real French bread too often, and your definition of it is an oblong loaf with slits cut on top, this will be your new favorite recipe and you'll never want to buy a loaf at Walmart again!

But someday I will learn to make "real" French bread. And ciabatta. And brioche. And croissants. And foccacia. (Not the wannabe that I made, but the real thing) And all sorts of beautiful, more famously temperamental breads.

But for now, this Americanized French bread works perfectly for me. I'm going to try it with 25% whole wheat flour today. Hopefully that turns out:)

fluffy, chewy, easy French loaf
makes 2 large or 4 small loaves
2 T active dry yeast
2 T granulated sugar
1 T salt
3 C warm water
2 T butter (softened) or oil
8 C flour

egg wash:
1 egg white
2 T water

1. Place the first 5 ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and stir until combined. Switch to the dough hook attachment and add flour. Knead until elastic.
2. Let dough rise for 10 minutes, punch down and let mix for a few seconds. Repeat this 5 times (50 minutes).
3. Shape the dough into 2 rectangles (or 4, if you're making 4 smaller loaves) and roll up into a log shape. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let rise to double in size. Brush with the egg wash and with a very sharp knife, cut 3~4 diagonal slits on the top.
   
4. Bake at 400°F for about 15 minutes (less if you're making the smaller loaves, of course). The bread is done when golden brown.

Keep in mind that the bread will flatten a bit if you eat it right out of the oven. So if you want it to maintain it's shape, let it cool a little bit. If you don't care (and why should you? Fresh bread is so worth it!), eat it right out of the oven with butter. Or even better, honey butter!

easy focaccia

We eat a lot of bread here. And that's why I am so glad I bought my bread machine a couple of years ago for Christmas. Last night I made some creamy chicken noodle soup, and I wanted a good, flavorful bread to go with it, so all I did was make my simple pizza dough recipe, added a head of roasted garlic into the dough, and when it was done, I kneaded in another head of whole cloves of garlic and a little herbes de provence (less then a 1/4 t--don't ever overdo it with dried herbs!). Then, I stretched it out carefully onto a parchment lined baking sheet, dimpled it all over, and doused it in extra virgin olive oil, baked it in a 375° F oven for about 15 minutes, and we devoured it! It was such a dense, moist bread. And so easy if you have a bread machine to do half of the work for you. You gotta try it out! I LOVE BREAD!

black and white

Tonight we're having a little celebration for the Young Women at church. My friend Lori, a total artist (for real, that's what she studied in college), was in charge, and the presentation is going to be all black and white. b&w photos and such. I was asked to bring a treat of some sort, and since I knew the decorations were going to be black and white, I thought I'd work with that theme. Being pregnant makes me crave random things, but 2 things that never fail me are chocolate and lemon. Not together. No, no. Light, lemon-ey, creamy treats (like cute Sarah Winn's amazing lemon tart!) and rich, dense chocolate. And how perfect that dark chocolate is almost black, and creamy lemon is almost white? And since it's a standing and walking around kind of event, I decided to make mini tarts. I'm a little embarrassed to reveal to all of you how easy it all was, but I might as well share the joy. Try making something like this at your next party. It'll be a hit! (At least I hope so)
Mini Chocolate Truffle Tarts
makes about 2.5 dozen

crust:
1 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
2 oz cream (or nuefchatel) cheese, softened
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

filling:
1 C heavy cream
12 oz bittersweet chocolate (not semi-sweet)
1 T pure vanilla extract
1/4 t kosher salt
6 T unsalted butter, softened

toasted sliced almonds, for serving (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt for the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the cream cheese and butter, until combined. Add the dry ingredients, and pulse (scraping down the sides occasionally) until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Replace into a bowl and press together until it forms a ball.
2. In a lightly greased mini muffin pan, place about 1/2 T of dough into each cavity and press into the sides until it reaches the top and looks even. Repeat for all spaces, until you run out of dough. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes until chilled.
3. Bake in a 375° F oven for 7 minutes, or until slighty crisp and fragrant. Let cool for at least an hour.
4. Once the crusts have cooled, make the filling. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in the microwave, and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute then slowly whisk together. Add the butter and vanilla, and continue stirring until combined.
5. Carefully pour about 1 T into each crust. Sprinkle with a few sliced almonds, if using, and place in the refrigerator to set for at least 3 hours. And serve!

Mini Lemon Cream Tarts
makes about 2.5 dozen
crust:
1-1/4 C all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
2 oz cream (or nuefchatel) cheese, softened
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

filling:
1 (8 oz) package cream (or nuefchatel) cheese, softenend
juice of 2 lemons
zest of 1 lemon
2/3 ~ 1 C sugar (to taste)

super thin slices of lemon, cut into 6 wedges, for serving (optional)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt for the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the cream cheese and butter, until combined. Add the dry ingredients, and pulse (scraping down the sides occasionally) until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Replace into a bowl and press together until it forms a ball.
2. In a lightly greased mini muffin pan, place about 1/2 T of dough into each cavity and press into the sides until it reaches the top and looks even. Repeat for all spaces, until you run out of dough. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes until chilled.
3. Bake in a 375° F oven for 7 minutes, or until slighty crisp and fragrant. Let cool for at least an hour.
4. Once crusts have cooled, make the filling. In a medium bowl, using a handheld mixer, combine the cheese, lemon juice, zest, and sugar until thorooughly combined. Place in a piping bag or a zip-top bag with a corner cut off and pipe into the crusts till slightly overflowing. Place a tiny lemon slice wedge, if desired. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until set. Serve and enjoy!
   

mmmmm

I know I talk about this bread a lot, but I make it all the time! It's so chewy and crispy and dense and delicious! I make it often without the herbs, and that turns out fantastic. Well, this time I did something different, and LOVED it! I grated a good 1/2 C of Pana Granado cheese (Parmiggiano Reggiano, Asiago, Pecorino Romano, or any hard Italian cheese will work great!), put about 1/4 C of it in the dough, and dumped the rest of it on top of the bread, after cutting the "x". It was so cheesy and rich and tasty. Next time you make bread, try it out:)

leftovers

Once the fall/winter hits, I like to make a lot of soup. And I've learned that the best soup is soup made from homemade stock/broth. So I end up making homemade chicken stock probably every other weekend or sometimes more often. It's a really enjoyable process for me. So super simple, super cheap, and I get about 12~16 C of stock out of one chicken, and a whole poached chicken to use in anything and everything. Problem is last time I made it I ended up with a ton of chicken meat that I ended up throwing away because I forgot to use it. So this week I was determined to make good use of my chicken. Tonight, we had one of our favorites, black bean pie, but I changed things up a bit. I made the portions smaller and made 2 small ones instead of 1 big one (my theory is if there's a whole one left over, I won't want to cut into it, but if there's half of a big one left over, I'll be more tempted to get seconds) so we could have a good lunch when we get home from church tomorrow. And of course, this time I added chicken. And honestly, I only used 1 shredded chicken breast for the whole meal and I felt like there was plenty. Might have something to do with all of the black beans in the dish, but I didn't feel like it was missing any meaty-ness. So give this a try at home. Our whole family loved it! And, like I said, I have a whole one waiting for me to eat it when I get home from church tomorrow:)

*of course, if you don't have small baking dishes like these, make one large one in a 9-inch spring form pan. You'll need flour tortillas, though, since you'll never find corn tortillas big enough.

Black Bean and Chicken Pie
makes 2 2-person servings (2 for dinner tonight, and 2 for your lunch tomorrow)

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained, or 1 10 oz package frozen corn
8 corn tortillas, trimmed to the size of the baking dish
2 C cheddar cheese
4 scallions, sliced thin
1 onions, coarsely chopped
bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 poached chicken breast, shredded (you could use a rotisserie chicken, of course)
2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
canola oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C ~ 1/2 C chicken stock

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
   
2. In a deep skillet, cook onions, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste in 1 T oil. Cook, stirring often, until soft. Add black beans and stock and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add chicken and corn and heat through. Set aside.
3. Place one tortilla on the bottom of each baking dish, and place about 1/4 C ~ 1/3 C of the black bean mixture on top and smooth out. Sprinkle with 1/2 T scallions, as much or as little cilantro as you like, and about 3 T of cheese. Place another tortilla on top, and repeat until all 4 tortillas are layered in each dish. I topped mine with the tortilla trimmings, just for fun.
4. Bake in the oven for 10~15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browned. Sprinkle with extra scallions and cilantro before serving.

Serve with salsa, sour cream (or greek yogurt), and/or avocados

pasta isn't just for the italians

My friend told me about a Japanese cooking website, cookpad. And I love it! Japanese people are foodies, and they just know good food. I was stumped about what to make for dinner, and I didn't want to run to the store for anything, so I jumped on cookpad, and looked in the pasta section. The thing I love about it is that they have amazing traditional very Italian recipes on there as well as Japanese style pasta. And I don't mean Japanese noodles, I mean spaghetti and penne and such with Japanese flavors. Well, I found this recipe with shiitake mushrooms, tuna, thinly sliced onions, all sauteed in butter and seasoned with soy sauce. And instead of som fresh herb on top, it's served with very thinly sliced nori (delicious, crisp seaweed). If you out there are ready to try something new and different, this is my suggestion. AMAZING!

Japanese Tuna and Mushroom Pasta
serves 6

1 lb linguine (or any long pasta)
1/2 red (or yellow) onion, thinly sliced
1 can solid white albacore tuna, drained
1/2 lb fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
3 T butter, cut into 1 T pieces
soy sauce to taste
salt
1 sheet nori, cut into very thin strips

1. In a large pot, bring water and salt to a boil and cook pasta to al dente. Drain, reserving pasta water, and set aside.
   
2. Meanwhile in a large skillet, melt 1 T of the butter over medium-high heat. Add half of the mushroom and a little bit of salt and saute until browned. Remove cooked mushrooms, add another tablespoon of butter to the skillet, and cook the rest of the mushrooms until browned.
3. Add the tuna and break up with a wooden spoon, tossing gently with the mushrooms. Toss all together with the pasta, remaining tablespoon of butter, and soy sauce. Add reserved pasta water to loosen sauce if necessary.
4. Serve with nori on top
   

doesn't get much better than this

Eggplant Parmesan. You might think "eggplant? I don't do eggplant." You've never had eggplant parmesan. And if you have and you still say that, you've never had GOOD eggplant parmesan. This stuff is beautiful and delicious and smooth and tart and crunchy and everything good. It's a little bit of a process because globe eggplants tend to be a little bitter if they aren't salted beforehand, but it's worth the work. If you don't want to deal with the salting, sweating, cleaning and then breading, go ahead and use Japanese eggplant. They'll be smaller pieces, but VERY tasty. Serve with some pasta and extra sauce.

Eggplant Parmesan (From America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)
makes 1 9x13 pan
2 globe eggplants (2 lbs), sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
salt
1 C all-purpose flour
pepper
4 large eggs
4 C panko bread crumbs (or plaind dried breadcrumbs, but I like the texture of panko better)
3 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (1-1/2 C)
6 T vegetable oil
4 C tomato sauce (homemade, please!), pureed smooth
8 oz mozarella, shredded (2 C)
10 fresh basil leaves, torn (optional)

1. Toos the eggplant with 1 teaspoon salt (easiest if done in 2 batches) and let it drain in a colander for about 40 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, adjust 2 oven racks to the upper- and lower- middle positions, place a rimmed baking sheet on each rack, and heat the oven to 425°F. Combine the flour and 1 t pepper in a large zipper lock bag and shake to combine. Beat the eggs into a shallow dish. Combine the breadcrumbs, 1 C of the Parmesan, 1/4 t salt, and 1/2 t pepper in a second shallow dish.
3. Spread the drained eggplant over paper towels. Wipe away as much salt as possible and press firmly on each slice to remove as much liquid as possible. Working with about 8 eggplant slices at a time, place them in the bag with the flour, seal, and shake until thoroughly coated. Remove the eggplant, shaking off an excess flour, and dip into the eggs. Remove to eggplant from the eggs, allowing any excess to drip off, and coat evenly with the breadcrumbs, pressing them to adhere. Lay the breaded eggplant on a wire rack. Flour, dip in egg, and coat the remaining eggplant with breadcrumbs in the same manner.
4. Remove the preheated baking sheets from the oven. Pour 3 T oil onto each sheet, tilting to coat the sheets evenly. Spread the breaded eggplant in a single layer over the hot sheets. Bake until the eggplant is well browned and crisp on the first side, about 20 minutes. Flip the eggplant slices over. Switch and rotate the baking sheets, and continue to bake until the second side is browned, about 10 minutes longer. (Do not turn off the oven.)
5. Spread 1 C of tomato sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Shingle half of the eggplant slices over the tomato sauce. Distribute 1 more cup of the sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with half of the mozarella. Shingle the remaining eggplant exposed so that it will remian crisp. Sprinkle with 1/4 C of the Parmesan cheese and the remaining 1 C mozarella.
6. Place the dish on the lower-middle rack of the oven. Bake until the cheese is bubbling and well browned, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle the basil over the top and cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Pass the remaining 1 C tomato sauce and 1/4 C Parmesan separately.
   

the secret ingredient in my secret ingredient soup

... name that movie.

Ok, so this isn't about soup, and there actually is a secret ingredient. But this comes with a story.

When I was about 17 I had a youth leader who claimed she made this amazing cake. And then she told me she had a secret ingredient. Mayonnaise. Not sour cream, not pudding mix. Mayonnaise! And I wrote her off right there. (Sorry, Jill!) But I have since changed my ways, but not easily. All these years, I kept telling myself I would never try to make that dang cake, but I had a baby-sitter coming over for a service thing (so for free) and I wanted to do something nice for her, so I thought I'd make some dark chocolate cupcakes and orange colored cream cheese frosting so she and my baby could have something fun to do. But the time was coming near, I didn't have a cake mix, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time making cake. I turned to my trusted favorite cookbook of all time and the first cake in the cake section was an emergency chocolate cake recipe. Perfect! So I look through the ingredients and ... it calls for mayo! But America's Test Kitchen is so trustworthy and amazing, so I thought I'd better try it. And holy cow, these were good cupcakes. I'm sure their less-emergency cakes are better, but I'm sold! Jill, you were right. Mayo can go in cakes. And it's good. Even my super anti-mayo husband ate a few of them with great joy.

Emergency Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes
2 C all-purpose flour
1-1/4 C sugar
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 C Dutch-processed coca powder
1-1/4 C water
1 C mayonnaise
1 T vanilla extract

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
2. Whisk flour, sugar, and baking soda together in a large bowl. In a seperate bowl, whisk the cocoa and water together until smooth. Whisk in the mayonnaise and vanilla. Stir the mayonnaise mixture into the flour mixture until combined.
3. Pour the batter evenly into the 12 muffins cups. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cakes comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 20~25 minutes.
4. Let the cakes cool in the pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Spread tops with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles!
   

for one of those days

Blake was having one of those days. And that's just not a fun way to start your morning. Baby and I felt so bad that we decided to make him some kind of treat to come home to. But since I didn't have the car to run to the store with, I had to come up with something with the limited ingredients we had. I looked on tastykitchen.com for some ideas and found this. Perfect! Except I didn't have dark brown sugar so I made some, I didn't have chunky peanut butter so I used creamy (and I really like the smooth texture so I think I'll stick to it), and I only had Ghiradelli baking chocolate instead of chips, so I pulsed them in the food processor. And I think I'm in love with chocolate chunks now. Try it out. I've already eaten a few. I think they might bring tears to Blake's eyes;)

so misunderstood

Tuna. Such a misunderstood and underestimated food. It can so be dressed up from the usual sandwich or casserole (which I love, don't get me wrong). But somehow tuna has been labeled as a poor man's food, which I don't think is right! The other day I was mentioning to Blake that I might make tuna pasta for dinner when a friend was nearby and she made a look. You know the look. The "did she really just say ... tuna and pasta together? Such a contradiction of quality" kind of look. So I find it is my responsibility to introduce to you another side of tuna.

It's a low fat, high protein wonder, and if handled properly, not fishy or tinny at all. It is time, people! Let us go on a quest for a higher standard for tuna cuisine! So to all of you friend out there who have a passion for food, please share with me your favorite ways to use tuna. In a not so blah way.

Here's one of mine:

Simple Tuna Pasta
serves 4~6

*the key here is to use plenty of lemon juice and zest and parsley. Then you'll completely forget your aversion to what you think tuna tastes like. No fishy, stinky, tinny-ness whatsoever.
1/2 onion, diced small
2~3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1 can solid white albacore tuna, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lemon (hang on the other half, just in case you want to use it)
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 C super finely minced fresh parsley
1 lb penne
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Generously salt the water, and boil the pasta to al dente. Reserve some pasta water and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, In a large skillet, heat 1 T olive oil to medium-high. When shimmering, add onions and a little salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until onions are slightly golden. Add garlic and continue to cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tuna and tomatoes, and simmer until tomatoes thicken slightly, about 5 minutes.
3. Once pasta and sauce are both to this stage, toss them together with the parsley, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining lemon juice if you'd like it brighter.
4. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.
   

I can't wait to read all of your favorite tuna recipes!

something went horribly wrong ...

I love my bread machine. I throw in the ingredients, and I wake up (several times a night since I'm pregnant) to the smell of beautiful, fresh baked bread. And Ella and I have delicious hot bread with our breakfast. I do love making one of my favorite breads and of course my genius Aunt Carolyn's rolls, but sometimes you just can't beat the convenience of a bread machine. And I have a good one. My sister did her research and I just copied her. Well, the other day I awoke to this:
So I guess this is where it's definitely better to make it by hand. You know when to stop kneading. And the bread machine just didn't seem to get it. So it was sad morning for cold cereal for me and the baby.