Aimee's Blog

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Focaccia --Tx Al for the suggestion

(Pic stolen from Internet, we ate ours too fast to get a pic)

OK so I made this yummy Italian flat bread & this turned out wonderful, please try it. This is a recipe from "BON APETIT" --cookbook by Barbara Fairchild.
Thanks YUMI for this great cookbook you gave me last birthday.

ROSEMARY FOCACCIA (makes one 13inch round bread)
-1 large potato (when mashed it needs to make 2/3 cup)

-2 1/2 c. or more bread flour (voice of experience: "please oh pretty please use bread flour, not all-purpose". )
-3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves divided
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 c. warm water (@45 C)
-1/4 tsp. sugar
-1 envelope dry yeast

-4 tbsp. olive oil divided

-For topping: oil cured black olives, pitted, halved or grated Parmesan cheese
-1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

PIERCE potato in several places with a fork. Microwave on high until tender, turning over once, about 12 min. Cut potato in half scoop out flesh & mash well. Measure 2/3 c. cool

COMBINE flour. 1 1/2 tsp rosemary, & 1 tsp salt in processor; blend until rosemary is chopped, about 1 min. Add potato; using 25 on & off turns. Combine warm water & sugar in a 2 c. measuring glass, sprinkle yeast over. Let sit for 5-10 min until frothy. Stir 3 tbsp olive oil into yeast mix. With processor running, pour yeast mix into flour mix. process until smooth. Scrape dough onto well floured surface & knead until dough feels silky, sprinkling more flour as needed, about 1 min. Place dough into well oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with kitchen towel; let it rise until doubled in warm place for @ one hour.

BRUSH a baking sheet with oil. Punch down dough & knead again for 30 secs. Stretch or pat out dough to 12 inch round. Transfer to baking dish, press with finger tips to dimple, brush with remaining oil, top with salt, rosemary & press in olives (or use cheese). Let it rise again for about 20 min until fluffy.

BAKE in preheated oven (450 F/ 220 C) until golden for about 18 mins.

trying on witch hats

strangely i look a little too much like a witch

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is one I've been making for years.

1 c. shortening (I use unsalted marg. because it's cheaper)
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp hot water
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
I package of choco chips (I actually think it's better with RAISINS instead)
2 c. oats
Optional but yummy, coconut shreads

Directions:
*cream shortening & sugars
*add egg, hot water & vanilla
*sift in dry ingredients
*add chocolate chips (or raisins)
*add oats
*drop onto baking sheet by spoon fulls, (do not eat all the batter.)
*bake in preheated oven at 190 degrees C for about 8-12 min until slightly golden, not too brown (do not over-cook, they will not be chewy if u do.)

In the Spirit of Halloween --Pumpkin pie recipe (yeild: serves 1 greedy mom or makes about 20 cm round pie dish)

Pie Crust (graham or whatever hard biscuit you want to use):
Mix in bowl:
-1 1/2 c. cookie crumbs (blend /or get kids to smash your cookies with a jar after placing them (the cookies) in a zip lock bag)
-2 tbsp sugar
-5 tbsp melted margarine

Put cookie crust mix into baking dish & pat it down with your fingers. Bake for about 8-10 minutes

Pumpkin Filling:
Blend together:
-1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree ( that's cooked smashed pumpkin, or what I did was buy frozen pumpkin, & you just take off the green peel --Japanese leave it on in the frozen packs, that way I don't have to cut it & steam it for like, forever.)
-1 c. heavy cream (just bite the bullet & spend that money on cream, I've made it without & it wasn't the same, but if u have to sub, I used melted vanilla ice cream & came out pretty yummy)
-3/4 to 1 c. light brown sugar
-1/2 c. milk
-2 large eggs (not those teeny eggs, if that's all you have use more eggs, this is your rising/thickening ingredient)
-1 large egg yolk
-1 tbsp. maple syrup (I've used maple honey or honey or molasses)
-2 tsp. vanilla
-1/2 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (my kids hate cloves or nutmeg so I only use cinnamon)
-1/2 tsp. salt
-(I don't know how to trust eggs so I always add a spoon of flour or cornstarch, LHM, ha, but it's not in the recipe)

So you blend all that stuff together & pour into pre-baked crust

Bake in preheated oven at 425 F (220 C) for 15 min. (seems a little high to me-- I never go that high, but I have a hot fan oven)
Reduce to 350 F (180 C) for up to 45 min (My oven cooks faster than this so please also adjust this to your own oven)

Saturday, October 04, 2008

So my little baby sister is 22 today.

I LOVE YOU ANGIE

(Judge not the condition of our faces. You know how it is when you live in Tokyo, snow is such an anomaly that you rush out there first thing in the morning sans make up & brushed hair & try to capture the moment/snow on camera. )

Saturday, September 27, 2008

UNDOKAI

Well, it was that time of year again where the kids have a school sports event. I managed to go the whole summer without getting burnt but today we were forced to sit in the sun. Here is Carole & her class doing a hoolahoop dance.

Here is Kiki sitting in the hot sun with her class. Luckily the kids had hats. We didn't get any shots of her dance because we were sitting so far away & couldn't see her or find her. She looks like all the other kids with her hair short.

Carole getting ready for some sort of race.

Lina getting dirty & trying to get everyone's shoes.

Kiki's "carry the big block" race.

In the end, the red team that both of the girls were on, lost. So that was disappointing.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"Don't turn away

I pray you've heard

The words I've spoken

Dare to believe

For one last time

Then I'll let the

Darkness cover me

Deny everything

Slowly walk away

To breathe again

On my own

Carry me away

I need your strength

To get me through this

Dare to believe

For one last time

Then I'll let the

Darkness cover me

Deny everything

Slowly walk away

To breathe again

On my own"

--- By Disturbed

Friday, September 19, 2008

I feel so powerful

I don't know if it's just me but I always feel so powerful when I learn to make something that people usually buy. Here's my first attempt at making bread. I wanted it to rise a little more & be a little softer but it was pretty yummy. Perhaps I wasn't patient enough to wait for rising. Anyway, the kids really liked it so that's good.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Making Mochi part two

Or you make a ball with or without sweet beans inside

And if you want to go for a real Japanese taste get some of this KINAKO (soybean flour)

Roll your mochi in the kinako & you have some delicious mochi.

Or here's Kiki making dango san kyodai (3 mochi ball brothers)

Anyway, it's supereasy, but now we are ready for:

STEP 3) Cleanup: Now that your kids have rice gew all over thier hands, cornstarch & bean flour all over the floor etc, it's time for clean up.

Making Mochi part one

Ok, So Angie, pay attention so you can make this for Mom when she's better. It's really easy & should be no prob getting the ingredients at the Japanese food store. Actually any Asian store would have these things because they have mochi in Taiwan, Korea & China.

STEP1 ) Ingredients: Water ( 1 cup), Ask the store guy for Mochi-ko or Dango-ko(glutinous Rice flour), it has to be this kind of flour.(1 cup), Sugar (about 1/2 cup depending on how sweet you like it), dash of vanilla. (Some people use some coconut milk in place of some of the water)

STEP 2) Preparation: Ok So you mix the mochi flour, the sugar & the water in a microwaveable dish until well mixed (no clumps.) If U want the mochi to be pink or green put food coloring in too. This mixture sorta has the consistency of pancake batter.

Cover the dish with saran-wrap & put in the microwave for a few minutes. When you take it out it shouldn't be drippy or move around but be firmly set. (My microwave is strong so only 3 minutes did the trick.) Remove the saran wrap carefully as soon as you take it out but don't burn your finger like I did. This is what it should look like. I'm not sure how long you should cool it down but we were so eager that we just started making balls as soon as we could hold it without burning our hands & it turned out fine.

Next you get a tray ready with some potato starch or cornstarch on it & put some starch on your hands too so it wont be sticky. Take a spoonful of the cooked rice gew & roll it on some starch then take it in your hands to make balls or disks. Work quickly & gently with plenty of starch & don't smash it or your hands will get sticky you'll get a big gewy mess. The cooked mochi when in your hands should feel soft like an earlobe, if it's too rubbery or hard perhaps there wasn't enough water to begin with. One book suggests using water after you cook it, during the kneading process if it's too dry, but it might get really messy.

This is a disk & you can fill it with chunky sweet bean paste rolled into a ball coated with cornstarch, or a strawberry & whip cream, or ice cream once the disk cools down, whatever you like. Then pinch the edges closed.