Okay, so my birthday wasn’t quite as bad as the movie Sixteen Candles, but it wasn’t the best either. It started off great. I went to Goldy’s for breakfast here in Boise, and for the first time in my life, there was no line. It was great. I had a hot chocolate, since it was butt freezing cold that morning, and for the main event…Salmon Benedict. Yup. Smoked salmon with a dill hollandaise sauce that I could lick off the plate if I wasn’t in public. mmmm… Yum. Then, I dropped my husband off at work and went home to cook. Yup. Cook. On my birthday. Why? Because there was a farewell potluck for one of my husband’s coworker and friend, and I wanted to make something for the potluck. So, really, that was my fault. But did I have to choose two dishes to make? Yup. Yup I did. Because I’m dumb. So, what did I make? Mac and cheese, and vegetarian sushi (because there are two vegetarians in the office, and there was going to be a TON of chicken). So, because of the party everyone at the office (oh, did I mention that I work at the same office as my husband), forgot my birthday. Like totally forgot. But, I will get to that later. After that party, you’d think that I would have time to go out to a fancy dinner for my birthday, but wrong-o. I spent my time at the LDS Cannery doing service. Again, did I have to go? No. But I, yes I shot myself in the foot again, signed up to volunteer. The reason is that they needed to have a certain number of volunteers at the Cannery to finish the job, and when they passed the sheet around church, there were only five names on the list, so I thought, “Sure. Fine. I’ll do it. I need the blessings anyway.” Little did I know that the Sunday before my birthday, the entire sheet was filled up. Anyway, it’s a good thing I signed up too, because the flake outs that day was crazy. 33% did not show up. Can you believe that? 33%. Crazy. Was I bitter. Oh you bet. Here I was on my birthday volunteering to can pears, then do the clean-up at the factory, and 33% said stuff it. So dumb. We got out early, and I thought, “Oh good. Maybe we can go get something tasty for my birthday… oh and maybe a cake or something with candles.” but no. My husband took me to a sandwich place (albeit a tasty sandwich shop), where a football game played in the background. I did get a slice of tiramisu, but no candle. Also, in the RS newsletter, there wasn’t a mention of my birthday, until the week after; like it was an afterthought. The RS even mentioned that they forgot it was my birthday the next Sunday. OH, and the guy that was supposed to bring in my birthday treat at work… FORGOT! And to top it all off…. my own dad forgot my birthday. Ugh. Worst birthday ever. Whatever.
I’m blue… oh so lonely for zucchini bread.
It’s almost the end of summer here in Boise, Idaho, and the last of the bumper crop of zucchini has made it into the office. Yes, the joke is true. If you haven’t heard the joke, this is how it goes:
Why do you keep your windows rolled up in Idaho during the summer nights? Because you will wake up to a bag of zucchini in your car.
It’s not a very good joke, but it’s something I hear every year from someone in Idaho when buying zucchini at the grocery store. But I digress. The zucchini that was brought in was HUGE. It was almost too tall to fit in my backpack, but I got it home in one piece. After shredding the monstrous veg I ended up with 15 cups of zucchini. 15 cups! I thought about just making plain zucchini bread, which in itself is still delish, but I found that the Dollar Store (yes the Dollar store that most people only buy cheap party supplies from, and the occasional emergency coloring book for their tantrum throwing child) has in their freezer section 10 oz. bags of frozen Blueberries. So, with the extra savings of blueberries I also bought cream cheese to make… Blueberry Cream Cheese Zucchini Bread.
Ingredients:
3 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c sour cream
3 c. all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c blueberries fresh or frozen (10 oz. bags have about 2 c. blueberries)
Cream cheese mixture
1 package cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. sour cream
Directions:
Preheat oven 365 degrees F.
Squeeze out excess moisture from zucchini. Toss blueberries with 2 tbsp of flour, set aside (if using frozen, thaw first, then drain the excess juice off before tossing with flour. Tossing with flour will prevent the blueberries from bleeding all over your bread).
In one bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the salt and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar with the oil and 1/2 cup sour cream. Beat in the 4 eggs, one at a time until well incorporated, then add in the 2 tsp vanilla extract. Set aside.
In another bowl, cream the cream cheese with the 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Spray two 9×5 loaf pans. You can also line them with parchment paper, if you want to make extra sure they come out clean.
Make a well in the flour mixture, then pour the sugar and oil mixture into the well. Gently stir until half combined, and add the zucchini. When the mixture has just combined (it should still have some lumps of flour in it), gently fold in the blueberries. Fill the pans, half way with zucchini mixture, then 1/4 way up of the cream cheese mixture. Top with the remaining zucchini mixture, and dollop the rest of the cream cheese on the top.
Just before putting the pans into the oven, lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Take out of oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and continue to cool for another 15 – 20 minutes. If you want to freeze them for later, I cut mine into slices, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap and put it into freezer bags or vacuum seal them.
A Brownie to Eclipse all Brownies
Yesterday was a pretty interesting day at work. More than half of the office took a (ahem) sick day, and the rest of us were busy at work… sort of. Did we get much work done before 10:15 am? Not really. But, one of my co-workers, the week before, lamented of the amount of work she would have to do on the Monday to cover for everyone, and said that something chocolate would make Monday better. So, I went to work on Monday with arms laden with Chocolate brownies. Were they normal brownies? HAH! Of course not. It started off as cream cheese marbled brownies, and then I had this idea to put mini marshmallows on it. But I couldn’t stop there, and added Chocolate Rollo pieces on one pan, and Nestle Crunch bars on the other. Why, you might ask? why not, is my answer. The result? I don’t have a picture because my co-workers tucked into it so quickly, and it was decimated before I could get my phone out to take a picture.
Ingredients
For the Brownie
- 6oz semi sweet chocolate
- 1 c Dutch cocoa powder
- 2 c. unsalted butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c dark brown sugar
- 3 c granulated sugar
- 2 c all purpose flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the cream cheese
- 1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese
- 3/4 c sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
4 Nestle Crunch bars or 4 Rollo rolls
1 pkg mini marshmallows
1/4 c cocoa powder for dusting
3 tbsp. butter to grease pan or non-stick spray
Instructions:
Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Spray, or grease, two 9×13 baking pans. Then dust with cocoa powder.
In a bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar, scraping down sides of the bowl as you go. Add eggs one at a time, making sure egg is fully incorporated before adding the next egg. Then add the salt and vanilla. Set aside.
In a heavy bottomed pot melt butter and semi sweet chocolate on very low heat until chocolate is completely melted. Take off heat and add in the sugars until well mixed. Add eggs and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla and salt. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined. Pour into the two baking pans. Spoon the cream cheese mixture onto the brownie mixture in clumps. Take a toothpick and draw swirls into the brownie mixture to create a marbled look. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with clumps of brownie on it (not runny liquid).
While brownies are baking, break the Nestle Crunch bars into large pieces, or cut the Rollo pieces into half. When the brownies are done take out the pan and put the chocolate pieces on the top, then add as many mini marshmallows as you like. Stick it back into the warm oven to melt the chocolate and marshmallows.
Just before serving set the broiler to medium and broil the marshmallows to get a nice brown top. One pan should make about 32 pieces.
Orange you glad?
So I love orange chicken from Panda Express, and really, who doesn’t? Well, once in awhile we get to have the missionaries over for dinner and the rule is that they get to choose what we eat. This way I get to flex my cooking skills, and they get to eat what they want. This time around they wanted orange chicken, so I had to come up with a recipe that tastes just like the one from Panda Express. So here it is. I hope you like it
INGREDIENTS:
for the chicken:
2 lbs chicken breast or thighs
1tbsp shaoxing wine
1tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 egg
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/4 c cornstarch
for the orange sauce:
1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate thawed
1 orange juiced and zest (orange part only, no whites)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp oyster sauce
2-3 tsp soy sauce
salt and white pepper to taste
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
DIRECTIONS:
cut the chicken into bite sized pieces no bigger than 1 inch cubes. In a mixing bowl combine wine, soy sauce, garlic powder if using, and salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the bowl and mix well refrigerate for 30 minutes.
meanwhile make the sauce. In a small saucepan add in all the ingredients except for the cornstarch and water. Stir until boiling. Taste to adjust seasoning and spiciness. In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the orange mixture a little at a time to get the right consistency. Put it aside when done.
take the chicken out of the refrigerator. In a pan combine the flour and cornstarch. In another pan beat the egg with a 1/2 c cold water. Heat up a frying pan with enough oil for frying. Dredge the chicken into the flour mixture, and then the egg, and back in the flour mixture. Shake off excess flour before frying chicken. It should take about 3-4 minutes to cook chicken completely it should be a golden brown. Transfer chicken to either a rack to let the oil drip off, or a plate lined with paper towels. After all the chicken is cooked, place it in a mixing bowl and pour the sauce over it Toss the chicken to coat evenly. Enjoy with fried rice, regular rice, or just by yourself hiding in a closet from everyone else.
Impact of Personal History on Movies
I remember going to the movies with my wife and we went to watch “Up.” As we left the theater, my wife mentioned how much she liked the movie. I told her that the end of it was fun, but that the beginning was very hard on me, and as such I really had no desire to see it again.
When questioned why I didn’t like the beginning I mentioned that it hit too close to home and was something I didn’t want dug up while I’m supposed to be entertained. Several years ago my wife went into the hospital twice and nearly didn’t come out oath times. I got to be there with her the whole time and I truly felt that I was about to become a widower. So did the doctors and our religious leader when he visited. I had a lot running through my head at that time, about how we had no real chance to have the adventures or achieve any dreams. Not that different from the beginning of the movie “Up.” Only they were much older than she and I were.
It was interesting that my wife did not have the same reaction as I did. At first I chocked it up to her being better at getting over things than I am. She was the one in the hospital being treated. However, once I really thought about it I remembered that she was so medicated that she only has spots of memory of those days, while since I was healthy I get to have all my my memories of those events.
I don’t want anyone thinking that I was completely messed up from the movie. It isn’t like I have PTSD from those experiences, and it was a long time ago. I’ve learned a lot from it, and maybe one day I’ll go through some of my lessons I’ve garnered from those experiences.
A wee bit late, but what can I say… I’m not Irish.
So what if St.Patrick’s day is over. There’s nowhere in the laws of life that says you can’t enjoy Irish food any other day in the year. I particularly love a good Dubblin Coddle on cold rainy days, and who can resist a warm bread and butter bread pudding smothered in yummy whiskey sauce. Ugh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Well, if you know me, you know that I can’t follow the trend when it comes to food. Yes, I do like a good corned beef with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes (notice I said the word good) every now and then, but when you’re cooking for just two, it can get a wee bit monotonous eating it for more than two nights. So this St. Patrick ‘s day I bought some Irish garlic bangers (sausages), made some colcannon and drunken onions, and just for some color I added a simple roasted carrots.
As a side note, not that they’re paying me to say this, but if you can afford it I’d buy my sausages from a little shop in Pike’s Place Market called Uli’s Famous Sausage Inc. They are fantastic, and they ship all over the USA. 
I figure you all know how to roast sausages, so I won’t bore you with those directions. But, Colcannon isn’t a basic recipe in most people’s repertoire, so I’ll share it.
Ingredients
1/2 head small cabbage thinly shredded
1 small clove garlic
1/2 milk
1/4-1/3c unsalted butter
parsley minced
1/4c chives, minced.
3/4 lb bacon crumbled, optional
salt and pepper to taste
2-3lbs red potatoes
Clean potatoes then place it in a pot and cover with water. Cook until you can easily poke with a fork. 30-45 minutes depending on how large your potatoes are.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet sauté the cabbage with the garlic until cabbage is slightly softened. Pour in the milk and butter, and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the parsley and chives and cook for another minute.
When the potatoes are done, mash with potato masher, then pour in the cabbage mixture and salt and pepper and mix until smooth. You can use an electric mixer, but be careful not to over mix it because it will get a rubbery texture. Fold in the bacon if using. Enjoy.
Beneficial Authority
“The role of beneficial authority is to return function and responsibility to life and to people; if successful, no further authority is needed.”
– Bill Mollison “Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual”
This is an interesting thought on authority. It states that the goal of authority, if it is to be beneficial, is to work oneself out of a job.
After mulling on this for a bit it became self-evident to me. The most beneficial authority most people can relate to is a parent. The goal of a good parent to eventually not be needed. You want your children to grow up and become their own person. Now I am seeing that this may apply to most places where authority is held. Or at least should be the ideal to aim for.
Like many ideals, it may never be realized in a situation, and even if you do realize this ideal there are likely to be many bumps in the road. As a friend has told me in the past, “Just because you may not be able to achieve something in this life, does not mean there is not worth in attempting it.”
Just a bit of philosophy to think about.
It’s a yum yum chocolata world
Let’s talk pancakes. Pancakes are one of the top 10 greatest food inventions of all time. The number one being chocolate, of course. So when I found this recipe of chocolate pancakes with chocolate chips it was like my mind exploded and I needed duct tape to patch my head.
Ingredients
1 2/3 c all purpose flour
1/3 c Dutch cocoa powder
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1c milk
8oz sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips
sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry and stir, just until combined. It should look a little lumpy. Fold in the chocolate chips in five turns. Heat the pan and spray with a nonstick spray. Just before ladling the batter into the pan, add a tbsp of butter. Cook like a normal pancake (duh). Tastes great with real maple syrup or jams, especially the peach ginger jam.
Optional: I used coconut milk instead of regular milk, and it was really good.
Where, oh where has this little sheep gone?
So, I recently went to lunch with one of my sister-in-laws, Meekyung, and a great friend, Wanda, and Meekyung mentioned that I haven’t posted anything for awhile. And all I could think about was, “Has it really been that long?” So, I looked at the blog and saw when my last post happened. August. Where did the time fly? Well, I’ll tell you what happened. First was my vampire themed birthday party. Then, a Portland trip followed by a trip to Seattle. In between was a pear plum jam making session and salt dough ornaments for Christmas. “But, salt dough ornaments are so easy and lame. Kids do them in one day,” I hear you saying. So, here’s a picture of my salt dough ornaments
Not bad, huh? Those took a long time to make. So, that was December. January was the time to start dieting, and I found a diet that works for me. It was on the lupus website, and I’ve been feeling really good since I’ve been on it. I’ve lost 12 lbs without really working out everyday. Well, now it’s March and I started a new all time consuming project, that I’m ashamed to say, has taken me a little away from my house duties and such. But, here’s my three sketches that I’m thinking about turning into paintings. Let me know what you think?
So, where’s the recipe for today? I’m thinking of one. I may post it tomorrow, because I’m still in a sketching mood. But, I wanted everyone to know the blog is no longer comatose, and has been transferred to ICU.
Simple Simon ate my pie and said, “dang that’s a good pie.”
Sometimes when I’m feeling anxious about something, anything really, I start to bake. Doesn’t matter what it is, for some reason baking makes everything better. Well, Joe’s workplace asked around to find someone to fill in at the front desk while their receptionist was indisposed and I said that I would. It was a lot of fun. Basically I surfed the web, watched the news, and made little post-it notes with Disney characters (the receptionist loves Disney) to decorate the entire front desk. Oh yeah, I answered the phone as well. One day, I felt like I did absolutely nothing helpful at all, which then led to me feeling worried that I wasn’t doing a good job, which made me wonder if I was making Joe look bad (it’s a spiraling thing that I have never been good at controlling), and on and on. So, I got it in my head to bake lemon bars and a peach pie. Have I ever made peach pie before? nope. this was my first time. But it was delicious. Someone brought three pies that day as well, and my pie and lemon bars went fast. I heard that someone had thirds of it, saying that it reminded her of her mother’s pie. Another told me that I could bring in whatever I wanted anytime. I did get to eat one slice of pie, but not the lemon bars. The next day I overheard someone say they took three bars home, and the person they said that to commented that they wanted to do the same thing, but it was gone before they could. I wondered why no one thought the same about the pie, so I asked. The response was a “no duh” comment. They didn’t want to share it with anyone at home. HAH! Never underestimate the power of selfishness.
Deep Dish Peach pie.
Filling:
5 c peeled and sliced fresh peaches.
1/2-3/4 c sugar (depending on the sweetness of your peaches)
1/4 c instant tapioca powder
4 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
Pastry crust:
2 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c unsalted butter ice cold and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
5-7 tbsp. ice cold water
To make crust- sift the flour and combine with the salt. With a pastry cutter cut into the flour half of the butter until it looks like cornmeal. Cut in the rest of the butter until it looks like small peas. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add three tbsp. of the water. Quickly toss the flour and water, adding more if necessary. You want to use as little water as possible, but you want enough until you can gently press the dough into a ball. the fewer times you toss the flour the better as well. Divide ball into two, flatten them slightly, wrap in separate plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile make the filling- combine all the filling ingredients, tossing to make sure it is well combined. Let sit for 20 minutes minimum.
Take out one pastry dough and roll it out about 2 inches in diameter larger than your pie plate. Place in pie plate and at this point you can lightly brush the inside with a thin layer of egg white that was mixed with a little water to create a moisture-proof crust. Pour the filling into the pie shell. Take out the other pastry dough and roll it out to make a cover, or for a lattice top, however you want to cover the pie. Make a few slits in the cover for vents. You can brush the top with an egg wash made with an egg yolk and a tbsp. of milk at this point it you want. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for another 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and bake on a baking sheet incase of filling spilling over for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 400 degrees F and continue baking 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before digging in.
Sheepishly Cooking 