Tag / baking

by princesshotflash

Random things

Of what I’ve been doing lately.

Frogged (ripped out)

yarn from Japan

Started this cowl, found a mistake, got irritated, frogged.

Actually been frogging most things these days. Knitting isn’t making happy. After I bought all this beautiful yarn from Japan, I’ve decide to take a break to let my knitting.

Baking and Jamming

Cooler weather brings baking and jamming–banana chocolate chip bread, caramelized onion, carrots, and pepper quiche, custard pie, pickled veggies for salads, mixed berries jam, almond shortbread, and blueberry custard pie.

Sunset, Beer and Friends

Last minute sunset outing with friends.

Keep on hiking

Sights from my many hikes at Aiea Loop Trail. Maybe one day I’ll get others to another trail.

Sleepy cats

Orange and Ollie napping around the house. Ollie is usually up high, too hard to get a shot.

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by princesshotflash

A Little Late

Happy New Year!

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Goodluck mochi for the house

I’ve been a little busy with holiday stuff and just catching up with some last minute things before the end of the year. The last 2 years have been a whirlwind of stuff that I never thought would happen to me. I hope 2019 brings a little bit of calm for me. These are a few things that I’m trying to make that happen.

Baking

It hasn’t stopped, no matter how hot it is. Winter brings a little help but I’m still sweating. Pies are topped the list this year. It’s because my mom’s love of pies.

Apple pie in the oven
Apple pie done
Lemon meringue pre-meringue
Pre-bake
Lemon meringue done
ready for the oven
with walnut crumb
pre-bake crust holiday gifts
small pies lilikoi and calamansi filling
big pie calamansi filling
Apples and mixed berries
apple and mixed berry pie 2
lilikoi coconut pie with whipped cream

Knitting

The majority is charitable knitting, a few holiday gifts for people, a cute cat and my hipster dad modelling my hats

Swimming

I started swimming. I joined the Y and took a swimming class to make this happen. Every Sunday at 9. To my surprise, I do enjoy it. I think it’s being in the water that I enjoy the most. I’m not the best swimmer but I tell myself at least I’m trying. I hope for one day that I could do laps as gracefully as many of the other swimmers I watch.

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love swimming in the ocean

For the coming year

Got me a Fitbit to help remind me to keep moving. Added walking and may try out the C25K app to see if I like running and give me a goal. Thinking of vacation and where I want to go. San Diego in the lineup for May if all things go well. I’d like to go to Japan but not sure when or where.

Hope this is productive and fun year for all. I sure can use one of those.

by princesshotflash

Stages of Recipe Testing

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Got a poppy on my way out of the store, buying my ingredients for recipe testing. Boy scouts and Vets collecting for charity.

I decided to recipe test Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies. I want to see how it compared to mom’s garbage cookies. Both recipes have a lot of ingredients. I used the recipe Anderson Cooper’s favorite cookies: compost cookies from www.tablefortwoblog.com.

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My attempt at Crack pie

I’ve made the Crack pie recipe from Christina Tosi before and I love the addition of milk powder and the compost cookies have it in it, too. That’s one point in favor of compost cookies. Maybe I can take all the things I like in the compost and garbage cookies and make a new cookie.

 

I put the frozen butter out for before my walk and 5.7 miles later the butter perfectly soften for my cookies. Getting all the ingredients out was quite a task. Still getting used to Mom’s kitchen and where things are at. We are still trying to reorganize it to make sense to both of us but haven’t finished. Mom measuring out all the mix-in to make that quick. There were few miscommunications with mom–she dumped the rising agents into the mix-ins but I don’t think it hurt the cookie.

Christine Tosi likes to make special ingredients for her recipe. They are special mix-ins like the graham cracker crust. But. . . you always end up making more than you need. So you either need to make more or toss it out. Is this an evil scheme for you to keep making her recipes. haha

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Stages of recipe testing: baking

  1. place chilled cookie balls on the sheets
  2. place in oven for 18 minutes?
  3. 8 minutes in the oven, cookies have melted into the correct shape. That’s good? Maybe?
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  4. Oh NO! The top sheet, back row browning faster than other cookies.
  5. Calm down, turn the sheet around.
  6. Oh, Noooooo! Burning, burning, burning.
  7. Hotplate! Hotplate! Hotplate!

Did I mention that Mom’s oven runs a little hot probably about +25º!

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I think this is a properly baked one. Little black flecks are the coffee grounds

Finished product. I didn’t like the cookie right out of the oven. I thought it was too sweet. But the next day, it was really good. Even the koge (Japanese for burnt) ones were good. Mom’s only complaint was the cookie was too big. Next time I’ll use the smaller scoop and lower the oven temperature a bit.

by princesshotflash

The gift of mangoes and bananas

The best thing about living in Hawaii is that people are so generous. And the delivery of mangoes and bananas to my house demonstrated that. Instead of getting just a couple of each, I got the box of mangoes and hand of bananas. Boy, I needed to get my act in gear and use them up before they got too ripe to use.

Mangoes

I said I wanted to make mango jam and I got to make it. I made this recipe before with overripe mangoes from the restaurant and it turned out so delicious. And it was pretty easy.

Mom peeled the mangoes, cutting away any bruised or bad areas. I peeled the lemon rind then took off as much of the pith as I could. Then toss all of it in a wide pot with the sugar and put it on a medium high heat. It will come to a boil, turn it down to medium to simmer. Then let the magic happen. The meat of the mango falls off and once it all falls off it will be ready. I say we had it on for about hour and half.

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peeled mangoes and lemons with lemon rind and sugar

This is the final product. Naturally thick and chunky, sweet mangos with bright taste from the lemons.

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Mon’s special portion

We got 1 pint, 4 half pints and 2 4oz bottles.

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waiting to cool off

I didn’t use up all the mangoes with jam, so I made batch of mango bread using my banana bread recipe and whatever was left I went into the freezer for a pie I’m thinking of trying.

Bananas

A hand of Williams bananas ripening in a brown bag in the patio, were ready at the same time as the mangos arrive. Meant a lot of jamming and baking on very hot and humid end of summer season. A baker needs to do when the ingredients are ready to go.

I made my princess hotflash healthier banana bread. I couldn’t find ground coconut so I used sweeten shredded coconut instead. I also use this recipe for the mango bread.

I had a brain fart and didn’t look at my mom’s measuring cup and added too much sugar in the banana bread. (thought the 3/4 measuring cup was a 1/2 cup–don’t have a 3/4c in my measuring cups). Oops.

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It turned out darker that it should with the extra sugar

But it didn’t taste too sugary. Whew! I was really sad that I may had needed to toss it out.

And the leftover bananas went in the freezer also for smoothies or monkey butter or strawberry banana pie. Not sure which one I want to make.

Well, more baking and jamming to come. Got a bag of distress fruit at Don Quixote. with plums, peaches, grapefruit and mineola orange. A small batch of stone fruit jam with orange and grapefruit curd all for $2.50.

by princesshotflash

What I want to make : one

I can’t use my kitchen since I’m showing my house. Never know when you will get a moments notice that someone is coming to see it. I’m trying to keep it as clean as possible. But this has got me wanting to make stuff.

Here’s list one of a few links of stuff I want to make.

roasted tomato salsa

I make this every year, several time during the summer when I can good tomatoes. I’ll make the a batch on my little old grill for everyone at work. I’m sure they will be happy. Here’s link to my old post from my previous blog with the recipe.

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3 quarts of roasted summer tomatoes salsa

ruffle milk pie

This recipe I found from smittenkitchen.com. I had something like this on my epic bakery crawl I had with my girlfriend from HI and NYer guide at Pi Bakerie. I think the item was called Galaktoboureko Pi. It was so creamy and delicious. I don’t think it’s the same thing but sounds similar.

one last great cake

I LOVE LAYERED CAKE! and I want to make a cake before I go but . . .  MY LIST IS TOO LOOOONG! and I don’t have enough time to make them all with testing in between and keep my kitchen clean enough to keep showing my house. may something with curd like this cake or tea like this cake

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This is an Dorie Greespan’s recipe that I made for my Mom and Annika’s birthday

something savory

My list is long and I want to make everything. Not having a kitchen to use is really making me hungry and want to cook for myself. Yotam Ottolenghi is my favorite of recent. I love everything I make of his. Still my favorite is his Turkey Zucchini Burgers. I use this link to make it. But I really want to make is a the top left next to the colorful bars–Onions Bhajis. I never had one but it looks like a crispy onion fritter. yum!

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just a part of the savory list on Pinterest

getting rid of my supplies

The end is near and I liked to use up my supplies by making stuff for friends. I have a big box of old fashion oatmeal, a bag of Thai tea, bottle of malted milk powder. . . I hope I not much more. I’d like to make a more butterscotch oatmeal cookies, granola, Thai tea cupcakes with condensed milk buttercream, malted milk biscuits

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Thai Tea Cupcakes that I made for the restaurant