It's Wednesday!

On the gardening front

For the last 3 years, I started planting seeds instead of buying plants.  This year I decided to mix it up. I also decided to plant more flowers this year since I am not sure of my summer plans.

from left to right: nasturtium, sweet peas, chives (2 different varieties), morning glories, cucumbers (2 different varieties), sunflowers

My amaryllis

They finally bloomed!

Sewing

My niece has colonial day at school this week. All the 5th graders have to wear clothes from the colonial days. I decided to try and make her outfit for her. We went to Jo-Ann's and she chose her fabric. I am planning to hand sew it since I don't own sewing machine that works. Wish me luck!

Saturday Outing

We had some cafe time at Pappa Rich in Old Town Pasadena. The worker at the counter told me that it's a big chain in Korea called Pappa Roti. It's a Malaysian Korean Bakery. A enjoyed her warm bun and my coffee was nice and dark. If you want to know more about it....here is a link to Jonathon Gold's LA Times review.

Then off to The Griffith Observatory.  The weather was perfect! 

Passion Fruit

Wondering what to do with them...any suggestions?

Pickles Part 2

I am still adjusting this recipe.  It wasn't as tangy as I liked it. But the first try was too tangy. The recipe below is not the final recipe.  It's just for my notes since I am cleaning out my recipe book at the moment.

Recipe (still in progress)

12 pickles quarters and then cut in half

1 Tablespoon of kosher salt

1 cup vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 c plus 3 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 jalapeno sliced

1. Throw pickles and 1 Tablespoon of salt in a bowl for an hour.  

2. After an hour there will be a good amount of liquid, drain it out.

3. Dissolve sugar and salt in the vinegar. Add the water.

4. Throw the pickles and liquids into a jar or a ziplock bag.  Add the jalapenos.  Fridge for at least 12 hours.

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Happy Friday! 

I made these fresh strawberry cream cheese muffins for a friend's birthday. They were really good.  Next time I am planning on adding more than the Tablespoon of cream cheese than the recipe suggested.  Also, I could have been more generous with the raw sugar as well. 

 

all the ingredients ready to go

fold in the strawberries

on the left: cream cheese mixture on top of the batter and then add a dollop of the muffin batter on top of the cream cheese mixture.

lastly, add some more chopped strawberries on top and sprinkle with raw sugar

right out of the oven

Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

recipe adapted from Jane's Sweets and Baking Journal

Batter

2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped into very small pieces (set 1/2 cup aside)

 

Cream Cheese Mixture

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature (I used low fat bc that's all I had)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Preheat over to 375F. Line  muffin tin with muffin liners.

 

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside.

In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and eggs until incorporated.

Then add the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Do not over mix. Add one cup of strawberries into the batter.

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill each muffin cup about half full. Then top it with a Tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture and on top of that a Tablespoon or two of the muffin batter.

Lastly, add some pieces of strawberries on top and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until they’re light golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

 

Chocolate chip cookies

I love a good chocolate chip cookie. Last night around 11 I was craving for one. This month in Bon Appetit Jim Lahey (Mr. No Knead Bread) had an article and a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. These were really good...crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle just like the article promised. These are baked at a high temperature so make sure you hang around the kitchen in order not to burn them.

crispy on the edges and chewy in the center

Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe by Jim Lahey

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of room temperature butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar packed

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425°. 

Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. 

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffly, about a couple of minutes. Add the egg and the vanilla, mix well. 

Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended. Add the chocolate chips. 

(I don't like chunks of chocolate chips so I chopped the chocolate chips into smaller pieces using the hand blender).

Spoon the dough (about a Tablespoon) onto prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 1/2" apart. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.  

Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature, or freeze cookies for up to 2 months. 

Lemon Pudding Cake

I made oatmeal cookies again with M&Ms.  I forgot to check to see if I had any raisins and I didn't so M&Ms it was.

I saw this lemon pudding cake recipe on 4 different blogs.  I had a couple of meyer lemons hanging around so I had to give it a try. I realized that I don't own a big souffle dish.  I have a handful of little oval and round ramekins, but not a big one.  So I baked the cake in one of my little ramekins and a pyrex pie dish.

folding gently

right out of the oven

a spoonful of lemony goodness

Lemon Pudding Cake

Adapted from Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham & the Traveler's Lunchbox

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar

finely grated meyer (or regular) lemon zest from 2 lemons
3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/3 cup meyer lemon juice or 1/4 cup regular lemon juice
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
8 oz sour cream or greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for dusting

Hot water

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 1-qt. souffle dish. Have a large baking pan which will accommodate your souffle dish ready.

Beat the butter at medium speed until light. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers for a couple of minutes.  Add the sugar & zest to the butter and beat until combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add half the lemon juice, half the flour and half the sour cream and beat until smooth; repeat with remaining lemon juice, flour and sour cream.

Start boiling some water (I used my tea kettle). Beat the egg whites at medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high, add the salt, and beat to stiff peaks. Add half of the whites to the lemon mixture and gently fold in. Fold in the rest of the whites. 

Put the batter into the prepared souffle dish. Place the souffle dish into the larger pan and place it in the oven.  Then carefully pour boiling water around it to a depth of 1 inch.

Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the top is golden brown, and the center is just set. Remove from the water bath and cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes. *Be careful when removing from water bath not to get the water into the souffle dish & not to burn yourself :)

Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Gardening

I forgot to plant daffodils bulbs this year. Here are some flower/ herb seeds I am starting with. 

I planted an amaryllis bulb and I can't wait for it to flower.

It's that time of year again....GIRL SCOUTS cookies! What's your favorite GS cookie?

Monday

This morning, I was listening to NPR and baking a banana bundt cake from Dorie Greenspan's book. It was all good, then as I was taking it out of the oven to place it on the counter I somehow lost my grip on the pan and the whole cake flipped upside down onto the counter...SPLAT. I hope this isn't how the rest of the week is going be.

all ready for the oven

the results

Then we decided to go to Starbucks.  A could get some of her homework done, E needed to work a little bit and I needed some coffee.  All was good until A decided to have a meltdown because internet wasn't streaming Arthur fast enough...sigh...hopefully the rest of the day will be better. Wondering how your Monday was...

***PICKLE Recipe

I am going to adjust the recipe a bit.  I asked around and got some feedback.  Most people thought it needed more sugar because it was too sour.  I am planning to make a batch tonight and I will blog about it later this week.