Bitterballen - The Daring Baker Challenge October 2014

The October Daring Cooks’ Challenge was brought to us by Andrea from 4pure. She introduced us to one of her family favorites which is soon to become one of yours, too. Welcome to the world of Dutch Bitterballen! 

Hubby just bought a deep-fryer, so this challenge couldn't have come at a better time. 
Croquette made from mashed potato has been staple snack for me growing up, but I have never had one made from roux. Now I know they are just as good!


Thank you, Andrea! Bedankt!

Here's my shrimp bitterballen.

 Chop, slice and mix.

Into the fryer and out they come.

Pão de Queijo - The Daring Baker Challenge May 2014

This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge took us on a trip to beautiful Brazil! Renata of "Testado, Provado & Aprovado!" taught us how to make Pao De Queijo, tasty cheese buns that make the perfect snack or treat, and that will make your taste buds samba!

Yum, yum. As a non-meat eater, the pao is all I eat when I go to a Brazilian steak house. OK, and a little bit of salad. I would munch and munch on them while the others chomp and chomp on meats. If you are wondering why a non-meat eater would go to a steak house, it's a social thing. Office events, hubby's office events ... 

Needless to say I was excited to try this out. I over-baked them a bit, I think. The crust was a little harder than I'd like it to be, but the inside was quite yummy. I cut them into bite-size quarters for PB's school snack the next day. I thought the monterey jack was good, but PB said "need more cheese next time". I guess he likes them much cheesier!

Thank you, Renata for the delicious challenge.

Easter Bread - The Daring Baker Challenge April 2014

The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.

Thank you, Wolf, for the challenge. Very aptly timed.I baked this on Good Friday, hoping that there would be a few slices left to enjoy on Easter Sunday. 

I followed the osterbrot recipe almost to the T. I substituted currants (couldn't find any at the grocery store) so I used craisins that were in the pantry and omitted almonds (someone in the house won't eat nuts of any kind, almond included). I love it slightly toasted and slathered with jam. Yum.

 

 

Beautiful Bread - The Daring Baker Challenge February 2014

Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as
they taste?

I love baking my own bread. So thank you, Sawsan, for the great challenge of baking beautifully formed breads.

I made the cinnamon sweet bread but skipped the condensed milk drizzles. It think it tasted like a dryer, and healthier?, version of cinnamon rolls. Not too bad. 

I totally forgot to take pictures until it was in the oven, so here's the end product. 


It puffed up a little more than expected, browned a little faster than expected and turned out not as beautiful as expected :) But I learned something new. Isn't that the idea?

 

Happy New Year

With all the veggie, carb, butter and sugar, I wish you all a happy new year! 

Whoopie Pies - The Daring Baker Challenge December 2013

The December Daring Bakers' Challenge had us all cheering - the lovely and talented Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes was our hostess and challenged us to make fun, delicious and creative whoopie pies! Delicious little cake-like cookies sandwiching luscious filling in any flavors we chose... What else is there to say but "Whoopie!"

This was the first time I had and, obviously made, whoopie pies.I chose the chocolate whoopie pies, with greek yogurt and honey frosting for filling. The frosting was perfectly tangy for my taste, but too runny for its intended purpose. O well. I just opened the pie, drip more yogurt on top and ate it Oreo style! Perfect!!

Thank you, Bourbonnatrix for a fun, fun, fun challenge!

Anxious, anxious ... Taking a peek off the oven.

Ready to eat!

Happy Thanksgivukkah

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Chanukah!

We were planning on eating barbeque for Thanksgiving when a visit to Annie's Eats inspired me to roast turkey breast, make green bean casserole from scratch and bake some honey rolls. Seem easy enough to cook for four, and so it was. Thank you, Annie!

I was also going to buy pie, when I heard Chef Matthew Raiford talk about his Nana's sweet potato pie on NPR. 

So indeed the universe is telling me to cook for thanksgiving. 

The Mushroom gravy recipe is from Splendid Table. (Yea, yea ... I listen to too much NPR.)

So here goes. My first home-cooked thanksgiving meal; except for the pie shell (after making sfogliatelle last week, I don't want to see a rolling pin for another month at least), and  the french fried onion (no mood to deep fry shallots today.)  All devoured within 20 minutes! With just enough left over for light lunch tomorrow. 

Sfogliatelle - The Daring Baker Challenge November 2013

Sandie of the lovely blog, Crumbs of Love, was our November hostess. Sandie challenged us to make a traditional Italian dessert, along with its American version – Sfogliatelle (or better known in the US – lobster tails!) The flakey, 1000 layers of super thin dough, shaped into a horn and filled with a scrumptious filling. Così buono!

O my ...  and a challenge it was!

I made the ricotta cheese and candied orange peel, for the first time ever. The Sfogliatelle Frolle came out OK, but for someone with my (lack of) patience, making the Ricci without a pasta maker was the most challenging part.I will definitely try making the ricci again, hopefully with a better result.

Thank you, Sandie and the daring bakers for the challenge and encouragement!

Ricotta, Candied Orange Peel, Ricotta-Semolina Filling

Sfogliatelle Frolle and Ricci.

PB and J Winter

Yeah. It's definitely not summer anymore.

Pastel De Tres Leches - The Daring Baker Challenge September 2013

Inma was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring us
something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy.. just plain delish!

What can I say ... delish it is! Thank you, Inma. 

I actually didn't know until this challenge that the '3 milks' were infused into the baked cake. I thought it was part of the batter. Duh. 

Since this is the first time I tried making a tres leches, I made the plain sponge cake, plain whipping cream frosting. I barely sweeten the cream to balance the sweetness of the cake. Yum yum yum.

Gnocchi - The Daring Cook Challenge September 2013

Todd, who is The Daring Kitchen’s AWESOME webmaster and an amazing cook, is our September Daring Cooks’ host! Todd challenged us to make light and fluffy potato Gnocchi and encouraged us to flavor the lil pillows of goodness and go wild with a sauce to top them with!

PB and J weren't too keen on the gnocchi served with a choice of cilantro pesto and marinara for lunch.
(I know, it wasn't too appetizing on the picture either, but "I" love the cilantro pesto.)

I tossed the left over gnocchi in olive oil, onion and shrimp for dinner and that was a bigger hit with the boys, especially PB. 

It's a fulfilling challenge overall. Thank you, Todd!

Good Bye Summer

This blog has served its (original) intended purpose, summer vacation was over.
We survived the first week of school!

Post tally:
 J = 2
Mama =15

Ha! 

America the Beautiful - It's All About the Altitude!

Today was the first day of school, but our hearts were still at the mountain in Colorado.

 Rocky Mountains: Our first national park visit

 Pikes Peak: Up, up, up, to America the Beautiful

Lake Estes: If you stick your tongue out, the fish will come

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo: Mama + Daddy + J + PB =  1 adult male gorilla

J In the Kitchen: Chocolate Chips Scone

Easy Peasy Chocolate Chips Scone

mix mix mix ...

then magic ...

PB and J Japanese Dessert Adventure

Yuzu Balls and Green Tea Tiramisu for dessert at Soto Japanese Restaurant.

"Really? We should wait 3-5 minutes for best taste? Oh well, OK. We'll start with the green tea tiramisu."

"Well? Has it been at least 3 minutes? What?! No?"

 "Seriously, how much longer?"

"Now we're talking!"

Cha Siu Bao - The Daring Baker Challenge July 2013

Well, this blog is supposed to be the boys' project for the summer but J lost interest fast. (Or he'd ask me to post for him!) So when I joined The Daring Kitchen last month I decided to use this blog. Here's my first completed challenge.

For July 2013 Daring Bakers challenge, we are allowed to choose from any of the past challenges. At J's urging, I made Cha Siu Bao, Chinese Barbeque Pork buns, a challenge  from December 2011. He was so persuasive I don't even remember what my original choice was. 

The buns are one of J's favorite at dim sum. He can eat a whole serving of 3 buns if we let him. Growing boys are expensive to raise. 

Anyway, they came out just OK. Next time I think I'll adjust the oven temperature down or reduce the baking time by 2-3 minutes or let the dough rise a little longer. Hindsight, hindsight ....

I skipped the red food coloring for the filling, made a red bean paste filling for myself, and used the leftover pork filling for chow-mien. Overall, time well spent!

Portuguese Sweet Bread

This reminds me of "Roti Sobek" from "Roti Go". One of my childhood favorite.
 Recipe from King Arthur's Website.

Mam/Pap,
If you are reading this: Ingat waktu Jun2 cacar air, Mam/Pap pulang dari toko suka beli-in roti sobek coklat.

Pancake and Science Day

Yesterday started with a stack of pancakes for breakfast. Then PB and Mama checked out some science experiments from www.sciencebob.com for our afternoon no-screen activity.

We decided to pick the not-too-messy physics stuff today. The chemistry stuff - lava and volcanoes - will have to wait. 

1. The Incredible Hoop Glider, which glided, and still does today, so very gracefully.
2. The Lincoln High Dive (I knew that Gerber jar would be useful one day), which caused euphoria every time the penny dropped into the jar.
3. The Straw Duck Call , which was totally fun, but annoying after non-stop calling (not pictured for that very reason. Yes, there's a vindictive side of me.)

Independence Day Dinner

Happy 4th of July!

What could be more American than a burger and red, white and blue dessert (Berry Shortcakes courtesy Annie's Eats)? 

I might have a chance of making PB a vegetarian yet. He asked for a black bean patty for our next burger, but he looooves the buns.

Everybody's favorite part of dessert? The strawberry topping. The boys were scooping it straight out of the bowl. 

Update: J reviewed this post and asked me to mention that the whipped cream was as popular straight-off-the-bowl as the strawberries.

Maple Walnut Bread: J in the Kitchen

Maple Walnut Bread. For snack at tennis camp tomorrow. 
Thank you, Sprinkle Bakes.