fried rice

this past weekend was iolani school's fair.  they sell a variety of reasonably priced produce.  i bought portabella mushrooms, chinese peas, asparagus, and clementines all for just $11.  good deal!

so since we had all this fresh produce, i decided to do a little cooking.  usually on sundays we try to cook something that'll have leftovers so we don't have to cook on monday and possibly tuesday.  so, last night i made a big ol' pot of fried rice...mmm, yum!

here's what i did...

1. prep, prep, prep...fried egg, corn, peas, onion, asparagus, snap peas, and spam

saute firm veggies (round onion, asparagus, snap peas) w/ minced garlic (i've learned that the one in the glass jar is a huge time savor, so convenient!)...also, using olive oil makes me feel less guilty :)

add rice - using day old rice is best, but if you're using same-day rice, make sure it's cooled otherwise it'll be really mushy!

add flavor - i use oyster sauce and shoyu.

add other veggies (peas, green onion), egg, and spam.

enjoy!  this pot only lasted us two nights...i guess it's on to more cooking tomorrow!  portabella mushrooms, quinoa, and asparagus!

easter sugar cookies

at our school we have this fabulous substitute teacher who loves to bake, just like i do...we actually have quite a bit in common--we're both really girly, like to exercise (i'm not sure if i like to, but i just force myself to do it,) and we pretty much just like everything cute!  so anyway, we decided to get together and have a girly day with a lunch date and sugar cookies.  i had such a good time.  here are our final products!  easter sugar cookies!

here are some things i found handy:

plastic ziplocs make for cheap piping bags and clean up is fast with these.

ross has cheap baking supplies, you just have to hunt for it.

this neon food coloring is fun and something different from the traditional colors

fluorescent purple, green, blue, and pink

ikea's mini bowls are perfect for mixing frostings...i guess a chawan bowl would be just as good, but these are cute, with all the lovely colors.

these bowls are also the perfect size for ice cream :)

* decorating cookies (baking in general) is always more fun with good company! *

pop-practice

yay!  i'm so excited...one of my college roomies asked me if i could make favors for her son's first birthday luau (honu-themed).  the party is in october and in washington which gives me some time to practice and figure out how to get the favors to the mainland intact.

so here's my first practice run--little honu's and honu-balls (maybe i should think of a better way of wording this one!)

  self-evaluation:
cake consistency - good, i finally figured this one out so my cake doesn't crumble!
honu-pop coating - needs improvement...i have to figure out how to make it smooth.
honu-pop shape - needs improvement...anyone have ideas of how to construct a better looking turtle?
honu ball coating - smooth...woohoo!
honu ball shape - round...better than those in the past!

more pop-practice to come! :) :)

green tea for gma B! ---that rhymes!

my gma b is in town this weekend and we're getting together for dinner tomorrow night.  so, i decided i'd bake some cupcakes for her.  since she's diabetic and loves dessert but always gets scolded for having them, i decided to try a low sugar cupcake.

i started out with this book that joe got me:

it's really neat because it has the basic cupcake mixes (white cake, yellow cake, chocolate cake, pound cake, etc.) as well as more complex mixes.  in the past, i haven't had much success with mixes from scratch so i usually use box mix and tweak it to make it semi-homemade.  but i figured i'd try these new recipes in hopes that this time would be different.

so i used the white cake recipe and substituted splenda for the sugar.  i also added in some matcha green tea powder (i've been wanting to try a green tea cupcake again because my last one came out super dense and oily.)  Anyway, on the bag of splenda it says to substitute equal parts of spenda for sugar, so that's what i did.  it also says to check on the cake 7-10 mins. prior to expected finishing time because splenda tends to speed up the baking process.  usually i bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes, so i set the timer for 12 minutes, just to be safe...checked them and not done.  then i set the timer for another 5 minutes, not done...another 5 minutes, not done...5 more minutes...it seemed like it was done so i took it out.

i let the cupcakes cool and then i tried tasting one...ugh...not reeeaaally done, they were edible but still kinda mushy inside...so my bright idea was to try microwaving it (since i already turned off the oven.)  i put it in the micro for 2 minutes, i started to smell burntness so i went to check it.  well, the cupcake shrank! and the graham cracker crust that was on the bottom of the cupcake was black.  note-to-self, and note-to-you...don't microwave your cupcakes!

since my bright idea didn't work, i reheated the oven and put the cupcakes in for...yep, you guessed it, another five minutes...and this time, they were done!  hooray!

so in the end, these cupcakes came out better than last times green tea and they're healthier because they're low in sugar, but they're not as good as my tweaked box mixes...i need to find out how betty crocker does it!

low sugar green tea with green tea butter cream (l) and vanilla whipped cream (r)

hopefully gma B will enjoy her low sugar green tea cupcakes...baked with love! :)

i heart walmart & root beer cupcakes!

last night we went to our local walmart which they've been making some changes to.  the whole store is rearranged and they're bringing in new things.  it think it's turning into a semi-super wal mart...not a full blown one because sam's club is upstairs so it would not be good for business, but it's a step up from a basic wal mart.  anyway,  i was so excited when i visited the food section.  their baking supplies are now spread out into three different aisles (not the whole aisle) but there's definitely more of a selection of things.  some super buys that i found:  cake decorations (sugars, sprinkles, etc. for super cheap...some were less than a dollar), a variety of extracts (including root beer!), the big package of powdered sugar, huge blocks of chocolate/almond bark, and cake glazes (not sure what it tastes like but maybe i'll try it someday.) needless to say, i walked into wal mart with a list of things to buy (toilet paper and a spray bottle) and walked out with a whole lot more than expected.

but since i found root beer extract, i needed to try a root beer float cupcake.  i've been wanting to try it ever since i saw it in my "gourmet cupcake" book.  so, i started with a french vanilla box mix, added in some stuff to make it semi-homemade (including the extract and actual root beer) and here's how they turned out!

root beer cupcake topped with vanilla whipped cream frosting, white pearls, and a sugar heart

i think they were a success...in joe's words, "this is one of your better ones." :) :) 

cake popping

my adventures of spring break continued on tuesday in the kitchen.  i ended up using the bananas to make banana bread.  it was lots of fun...i baked with my 7 year old nephew (training him young: he learned to make banana bread, prep cake pops, and wash dishes all in one day!)  for the banana bread i followed emerill lagasee's recipe...here it is (bam!)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/banana-bread-recipe2/index.html

it came out really moist! :) 

on to cake pops.  i was so excited because i was browsing through this super cute cake pop book called "pops!" and it has some amazing ideas for decorating cake pops.  i fell in love with these cake pops shaped like little people.  so i went to look for the mold; it's shaped like gingerbread men.  walking into a craft/baking supply store is always so much fun but so not a good idea all at the same time.  i walked in to get the mold and i walked out with the little-people-mold, icing dye, sticks, bags, and the most exciting part, a hello kitty mold!  the hello kitty mold is actually made for ice but i figured i'd try it with the cake pops.  so in the end i spent a little more than expected but it was worth it.

on wednesday i got together with my two cousins, christy and westy to make the cake pops (i've heard our great, great grandpa was a baker...maybe it runs in the family.)  it was tons of fun...sharing old stories, exchanging ideas, and planning for next time.  in the middle of all of this, we also created some pretty awesome cake pops!

here's how the magic happens (well how it's supposed to happen.  however, for me, it takes lots of trial and error.  this was my third attempt and i still need to make adjustments):

here's what the scene looked like!

1.  bake a cake

2.  cool the cake

3.  make 1/2 cup of frosting

4.  crumble the cooled cake and mix in frosting

5.  mold cake pops and refrigerate

molded people

molded hello kitty

6.  dip sticks in melted chocolate and insert into shaped cake

7.  after stick is set, dunk cake pop into chocolate and let excess drip off

8.  add desired decorations and let the chocolate harden

 9.  wrap

10.  enjoy!

hula girls

kauai baseball - waimea high, kauai high, kapaa high

hello kitty

a group of peeps

It wasn't all pretty though...here are the mess ups!

"frankenstein...rest in pieces" --christy

poor hello kitties fell of her sticks :(

do not over heat the chocolate...or else you get these big ol' clumps!  always heat on medium heat

spring break 2011 is coming to a close...sad to see it go.  sometimes i really wish i could just be a housewifey for my career!  but then i think of my little 1st grade kiddos, and know i'd miss them a lot too.

p.s.  these are the sugar cookies i made for our prayer night at church

housewifey

[before i begin, please remember japan and keep them in your prayers.]

this week i'm on spring break from school so i decided to come to kauai to spend some time with my family.  joe needed to work so he stayed home.  even though he's not here i've been brushing up on my housewifey skills.  i've been doing lots of baking and sewing.  i say housewifey because sometimes when i call myself a wife, i feel old.  wifey sounds a little younger to me, therefore i've come up with the term housewifey.  someday i'll graduate to becoming an actual housewife. 

so i'll start with the baking.  on sunday there was a prayer night at my church so i made cross shaped sugar cookies for refreshments.  here's the recipe i followed.  i was trying to make crispy sugar cookies but these were more chewy.  the taste was pretty good though.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 tespoons of vanilla

mix butter, eggs, and sugar.  add the flour and vanilla. divide into 4 balls and refrigerate over night or at least 3 hours.  roll out thin.  bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

then i decorated with royal icing.  i'll have to post a pic of these cookies later...i don't have one right now.

my second baking adventure was today.  in my family, there are several of us who are in love with cupcakes.  one is obviously me, and another is my cousin christy.  so christy and i got together and tried the cookie dough recipe from my new book (see previous blog.)  the cupcakes came out looking super cute...i guess the saying is true...two minds work better than one!  we do need to work on the recipe a bit though and tweek it from what the book says.



chocolate cupcakes filled with chocolate chip cookie dough, topped with whipped frosting, cookies, and chocolate sprinkles.



so i said there are 'several' of us in our family who are in love with cupcakes...another is my cousin westy.  she even has her own cupcake business...sugar mill cupcakes, you should check it out... http://www.sugarmillcupcakes.com/   my third baking adventure will come later this week when all three of us get together to bake.  our mission: cakepops!  i'm SO looking forward to this!

baking adventure number 4 will be when i use up some super ripe bananas...any ideas?

on to sewing.  my sewing project for the week was to make aprons out of cupcake fabric.  here they are:  dish towel aprons!

spring break so far has been filled with lotsa housewifey duties...can't wait to go back home and share them with my hubby!