New Listings, Check it Out!

Recipes are forthcoming (I had the most delicious Thai turkey sliders for dinner, mmmm), but in the meantime, I've been busy! Check out some new listings over at yellowfish!

Tiny ladybug earrings... yes, green ladybugs! I love them.

I've been waiting to figure out what to do with these really pretty long wooden beads- I finally figured that simpler was better, and this is the result.

I also added a few to my wooden teardrop series- I think these cloisonné earrings are my favorite of the batch.

And finally, some necklaces... 

This one is just big and bright and shiny and fun, and I kind of wanted to keep it for myself

And this one is much simpler, and almost verging on a little steampunky with the chunky chain and wooden bead.

Only the World's Cutest Nephew Could Get Me to Make Another Quilt...

Well, posting around here has been a little slow, but that's not to say I haven't been busy! There is a backlog of recipes (partly handicapped by the inexplicable loss of my camera), but, first we'll get things back up and running with a little craftiness. So, since I lasted talked to you all, I have become a new Auntie (to the cutest snuggliest little nephew in the world). See?

So, I decided that this alone could get me to revisit my previous foray into quilting. Now, I still have my baby quilt and to this day use sometimes it as a couch blanket, so, without going into details about how ancient that means it is, lets just say it is very durable.

I decided for the new blanket, I'd stick with the very simple quilt tying approach. Now, at the time I started, we didn't know if this was going to be a niece or a nephew (forcing me to refer to him as my niecephew for months on end). So, I picked this super cute pink and blue retro looking animal print fabric, with some light green seersucker for the back and (since he came a little early I so knew what kind of baby he was before the blanket was finished) a blue satin blanket binding.

Basically, this was about a hundred times easier than blanket #1. I got crib sized quilt batting, which is usually 45x60, then washed the other fabrics on hot because they were so different they were sure to shrink at different rates. Then, I carefully, and very smoothly laid out the layers- seersucker, then batting, then flannel- getting it totally flat was definitely the hardest part. Then I measured, and cut, making a (mostly) rectangular 'quilt sandwich'.

Then, you have to put the yarn through. On my original blanket, the little ties were 5 inches apart, and alternated being on the front and on the back. Given the monumental durability of that system, I decided to stick with it. For this, you'll need a lot of yarn, and I don't see a way around wasting a lot, unfortunately. Go along the quilt and lightly mark in chalk or pencil a series of lines 5 inches apart. You'll need to make a mark every 10 inches, and make sure the marks are offset so that on each line, the mark you make is between two marks on the line above it (it makes more sense in the picture below). Then you take a pretty fat needle, thread a really really long strand of yarn, doubled over, and go along just making one stitch at each mark.

Then, flip it over, and do the same thing, except this time make the stitches along the same line, just in the empty areas (so that you have a grid, but on each side the stitches are in alternating locations). Then, you just snip the yarn and tie a square knot.

Then, it's time to bind it up!

Now, this part was hard, but not as hard as I'd feared. Get some perfectly matching thread, first of all, because the thread doesn't get folded under- you see it all. Now, some genius at the blanket binding company made this stuff so that one side of it is sliiiiiggghhhtly wider than the other. You want the slightly longer side on the underneath- basically, it's there because you can't see that side, and it gives you a little leeway when stitching it all together without accidentally driving the machine off the binding (which may or may not have happened anyways, but that wasn't their fault). The hardest part was the mitered corners. There are lots of people on the internet with video tutorials, which helped immensely. Now, I'm not going to lie, I was kind of freaking out about the corners- my mantra became "I do not love my blanket because it's perfect. I do not love my blanket because it's perfect..." But, after a few doings and undoings, and a LOT of pins, I finally got it! (although I think that kind of mantra is still important to keep in mind for this kind of thing.)

And.. that's it! Now the blanket is ready for some serious tummy time (photo cropped for privacy reasons,  but that's his Dad! and, I'm not going to post baby face pictures either, so you'll never get to verify his cutest-nephew status, but trust me, it's true. can't you just tell?)

I had extra flannel and not a lot of plans for it, so I bought a really little baby pillow and made a simple envelope case to cover it. Of course, the baby is too little to have a pillow right now, but I figure eventually he can use the pillow and blankie in the car, or for naps at other people's houses and things. Plus, it makes a cute little duo! 

The Crowning Achievement- Kransekake

Ok, since it's actually a national holiday associated with New Years, I'm going to count this as squeezing in the last post of 2011 since it was pretty much one of the crowning baking achievements of the year.

What we have here is a Norwegian Kransekake, a special ring cake made with almond flour. Now, we have been trying for YEARS to get this thing right. This has involved interrogating many older Scandinavian relatives to try to deduce their secrets, as well as lot of swearing and cursing at collapsed falling apart leaning-towers-of-kransekake. Everyone has their secret- blanch the almonds, don't blanch the almonds, dry the almonds, use a nut grinder, use a coffee grinder, buy almond flour, use a food processor, and on and on. We've been getting closer, but it's still kind of like the Russian roulette of holiday treats.

But, this year, I decided just to google it, and low and behold, I found a recipe that seemed really different from everything we had done before.
http://scandinavianfood.about.com/od/cakerecipes/r/basickransekake.htm

Now, my first note is the hilarity of the idea that this takes 1 hour and fifteen minutes of total cooking time. HA! This is definitely a much longer project than that, at least to a novice kransekake-er like myself.

This is my edited version:


Ingredients For Cake:
.5 lb raw almonds (from Trader Joe's)
.5 lb blanched almond slivers (also from Trader Joe's)
1 lb. confectioner's/powdered sugar
3 egg whites
2 tsp. almond extract
2 Tbsp. mixture corn starch and regular flour (you're supposed to use potato starch flour but I couldn't find it)

Ingredients For Frosting:
3-4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. lemon juice (or as needed)

The first thing to do is grind your almonds- do NOT use a food processor, use a coffee grinder (I ground up some oatmeal in mine first to get rid of residual coffee). This took me about 15 minutes, there is no way around doing small batches. Mix together all the almonds along with the powdered sugar, and then put it through the grinder again (which also takes a while!). Put it in a saucepan and stir in the almond extract and the egg whites, it should be very firm. Then "use a wooden spoon to knead the dough over the heat until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and shapes itself into a smooth, shiny mass (this step is exactly like making homemade play dough; the resulting almond paste is also the consistency of play dough)." Then refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, have a giant cup of coffee and then proceed.

Preheat the oven to 400, and then butter your special kransekake pans (I have no idea where my Mom got these) and dust with the flour mixture.

Now the fun starts- take chunks of dough and roll them into 1/2inch wide snakes (long snakes!) and fit them into the ring molds. I recommend doing a couple of single test rings first to see how wide they should be- if they are too skinny, the middle won't be chewy but if they're too fat, they'll spill over and they'll all get stuck together.

Bake about 15 minutes, they should be very light brown. Watch carefully though, this depends a lot on how fat they are, and you don't want to overcook them.

Once they cool a bit and you remove them from the pans, set aside some time to leap around the kitchen in joy, then proceed onwards. Now, it's time to focus because you have to stack all the rings up. We'd never actually had this many rings turn out so it was harder than we thought, plus we had some extra dough so there were duplicates in there (that's when it's good to have an engineer in the family, so we called in my brother).

Once you've figured out the order, time to glue! Make the frosting mixture (mine was a very unscientific process of combining powdered sugar and lemon juice until it seems like a good consistency. Then scoop it into a plastic baggy and cut a TINY hole in the corner (TINY! TINY! must be tiny!). Glue the first ring to the plate with frosting, and then create a zigzag pattern all around the ring, and place the next one on top. This is why you want to know the order before doing this, if you have to stack and unstack with frosting on it it'll be a colossal mess.

Then, just keep going!

Once you're done, it's traditional to decorate with little flags (we used Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian just to represent the whole family), or use whatever you want! enjoy!

2011 Top Ten

Happy New Year!

All I have to say is, end of the world or not, 2012 has GOT to be better than 2011- so, onwards! Before I leave 2011 in the dust, though, I thought I'd dig up my 10 favorite recipes of the last year- here they are in no particular order:

Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potato Medallions- finding this recipe made me realize I have got to make these again, they were perfect as party food or as a light dinner.

Chicken Adobo- on this one I mostly have to thank the NYT for posting such a delicious recipe, definitely well worth the many phases of cooking.

Coconut Carrot Soup- maybe I'm just a sucker for veggie soups with coconut milk, but whatever it is, this was delicious.

Crunchy Kale Salad- this one is bound to be a staple side dish around here- it would go with almost anything.

Grilled Peaches- so simple it's barely even a recipe, but I can't wait for summer to come so I can do it again!

Kale Chorizo Soup- really hearty and perfect for a warm winter dinner, if it would just get cold around here, I'd make it immediately!

Peanut Soup- oh, spicy Thai peanut flavor, how do I love thee, let me count the ways.

Pineapple Chicken Tacos- these were refreshing and easy and a nice change of pace for dinner.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup- rich roasted cauliflower, smoked cheesy goodness... yum.

Soft Pretzels- this was SO MUCH FUN. I had never thought of making them, and it might be a while before I gear up to do it again, but they were so delicious they more than deserve a spot on the top 10!

As a side note, going through my posts made me realize that it was a pretty crafty year as well- here are my three favorites:

I finished my quilt!- This barely counts as 2011 because most of the work happened in 2010, but, I still sleep under it, and Charlotte still loves it.

I made my first Munny!- a little Steampunk Butler dude who is looking at me from my bookshelf right now. Obviously I had to incorporate a brain theme in there somewhere.

I made Mason Jar Pendant Lamps- these are hanging over my head right now. Still cute!

Save Yourself from Yourself Post-Holiday Kale Salad

If you're like me, the last few weeks have been chock-full of deliciously terrible things, like fudge and toffee and cookies of every shape and size. Oh, it was glorious. However, by the end, I felt something like this:

So, I made this salad immediately upon arriving home from my holiday family visit, and have made 2 more batches this week already. I actually ate it so many times I googled what happens if you eat too much kale. (answer: people say you CAN eat too much raw kale and it'll give you hypothyroidism. I didn't verify that information anywhere legit, though so don't take my word for it). So, moderation in all things, even raw kale, apparently.

At any rate, this was super easy, extremely delicious, kept well until the next day, and is good for you. What else can you ask for?

The stuff:
-1 bunch curly kale
-1 lemon
-olive oil
-salt
-pepper
-craisins
-walnuts
-parmesan (optional)

What to do with it:
Take the kale and cut out the really thick bottom portion of the stems. Stack the leaves on top of each other, and cut it into thin ribbons (you might need to cut it once lengthwise down the middle if they are too long)*. Put them in a bowl and squeeze all of the juice from the lemon onto the kale. Use your (clean) hand to squeeze or massage the kale for a few minutes- it makes it just a bit softer and also gets the lemon well mixed in. If you can, let it sit there for a bit, if you can't just proceed onwards. Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil over the leaves, add salt and pepper to taste, and toss with a fork. The, coarsely chop the craisins and walnuts and throw those in- these are the main source of calories so you can judge for yourself how much you want. I put in a lot of nuts because the dinner I was having was light and I wanted protein. If you'd like, you can grate in some good quality hard cheese (I used parmesan the first time and skipped it the other times). It does add a little something, but it is optional.

I ate mine with just a roasted sweet potato and it was delicious. The salad comes together extremely quickly, and if you microwave the sweet potato (roasted is better but microwaved actually is fine) you can have a very healthy dinner ready to eat in about 10 minutes. This may become a weeknight staple!



*note: for Christmas I got a very nice (VERY SHARP) chefs knife. I was really excited to use it, until about 30 seconds into my salad making experience I sustained an injury in the line of duty. Not to be thwarted, after taking important steps (like using half a box of bandaids and calling my Mom to tell her I got hurt) I took this picture with my left hand raised in the air above my head. I think it came out pretty well, all things considering. Lesson learned, when they say to curl your hands under while chopping, they're not kidding!

Coconut Carrot Curry Soup

This is a really nice soup that you can throw together pretty quickly, but that is really warm and delicous and tastes way more complicated than it really is.

1 can coconut milk (usually I use light, but this was regular and oh, it was so decadent tasting)
5-6c water
2 big leeks
10-12 carrots, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 inch plug of fresh ginger, chopped
2-3 tsp red curry paste (or to taste)
pinch of salt

Chop everything up, you'll ultimately blend it so don't get too bent out of shape about how they look, but they should be approximately the same size so they cook at the same rate.

Heat the oil in a large pot, toss in the leeks and ginger, and let it brown just a little. Then throw in the carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes. Then pour in the liquid. In general the amounts (like, of carrots/leeks/etc) don't matter so much, it isn't an exact recipe, but you want the liquid to cover the top of the veggies.

Add the salt and curry paste (I use the Thai Kitchen version, which they have in the ethnic section of my regular grocery store). If you like it spicier, add 3-4 tsp, less spicy, add 1. The only thing is, you don't want to overpower the taste of the carrots and end up with what basically just tastes like curry sauce, so I'd taste along the way.

Let it simmer for about 20 minutes, until everything is very soft. Then, blend with an immersion blender or else put it in a big blender. Continue to simmer a bit once blended so the flavors can really combine, then enjoy!

Given that it's basically just veggies and coconut milk it is amazing how rich this tasted, and the color is just amazing and bright. The only work is really the chopping, and then you just let it go- the whole thing takes about half an hour, of which 20 minutes is simmering. Definitely feasible for a nice winter week night dinner!

Peppermint Shortbread Cookies- Put These on Your Christmas Baking list ASAP!

Oh... these are good. I'm not gonna lie, you probably should skip to the recipe and go make these immediately, then finish the post while munching on them.

I must confess, these were not actually my own idea. Yesterday we went to The Trails Cafe, which is a cute little place right in the middle of Griffith Park. Along with this amazing avocado sandwich, we also had the daily special, a peppermint shortbread cookie.

The only thing was, while it was pretty delicious, I didn't feel like it was quite pepperminty enough. So, I set to work. I found Ina Garten's shortbread cookie recipe and went from there. 

3/4 pound butter (unsalted)

1c sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3.5c flour

1/4 tsp salt

AND

10 full sized candy canes

Preheat the oven to 350. While it's heating, put the candy canes in a food processor (or, I guess, hit them with a hammer or some other creative solution). The pieces should be very small, big chunks will melt and spread when the cookies bake. Cream the butter and sugar together really well. Add the vanilla and salt and mix well, then stir in the candy cane powder/pieces.Then gradually add the flour- the dough will be a bit crumbly. Smush it together and wrap in plastic wrap. Set in fridge to rest for about half an hour.

When it's ready, roll it out. I made mine a bit thin, you should remember that there is nothing in these cookies that will make them rise (no eggs, baking soda, etc), so they will essentially be exactly the same thickness as they are when you put them on the cookie tray.

The recipe says to make them half an inch thick and bake for 20-25 minutes. You should probably watch the first batch carefully, since mine were relatively thin (which actually tasted good and crispy in the end) they only took about 17 minutes. You don't want them to be too brown, the edges should just barely be getting brown. When they look good, put them on a cooling rack and get ready to enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

This is a nice winter meal that was the perfect thing to have baking and smelling delicious while decorating the tree, and then to be enjoyed while admiring the twinkling lights.

I found this recipe over at Four Corners Foodies but made a few minor tweaks.

Squash filling:
1 butternut squash
1/4c almond milk
pinch nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
salt/pepper
1/8c parmesan cheese

Spinach filling:
1 24oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 egg whites
salt/pepper

Bechamel sauce:
4c almond milk (or regular milk)
4 tbsp butter (or butter substance of your choice)
4 tbsp flour
2 pinches nutmeg
pinch cayenne

Misc:
1 package no-bake lasagna noodles (I used Barilla flat noodles)
2/3c bread crumbs
1/3c parmesan
2 tbsp olive oil
optional, about  3/4c mozzarella

The first thing to do is get the squash going- cut it in half, remove seeds, and rub a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg on it. Bake at 400 until it is very soft, probably about 45 min. Scoop out of the rind into a bowl. Mash the squash, stir in the almond milk and the parmesan. Taste it, it should be very moist and delicious- add more of whatever you think it needs. Remember that the béchamel will also have nutmeg so no need to go overboard on that. I did consider using canned pumpkin in this, and I think that might actually work if you don't want to spend the time roasting. If you do that, I'd recommend the larger sized can, because this was a pretty large amount of squash.

Thaw the spinach and really squeeze all the water out (one way is by putting it in a clean dish towel and squeezing). Mix well with the 2 egg whites and salt/pepper. You could leave the egg whites out, but they do help make it puffier.

Now, this was my first time making béchamel, which was convenient because just that morning we'd watched Top Chef where they had to make the four "mother sauces", of which this is one. At any rate, it turned out to be really easy, and also easy to vegan-ize, if you're into that kind of thing. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, and let it brown a little. In the meantime, heat up the milk so when you add it, it isn't cold. Gradually whisk into the flour mixture and add the nutmeg and cayenne. Bring it to a boil and let it cook for 10 minutes, being sure to stir a lot. Then you can set it aside.

Finally, it's time to assemble. Put a thin layer of sauce, then noodles, then spread with squash and drop spinach all over it. Keep going, I ended up with 3 layers of filling with a layer of noodles on the top. Pour any leftover sauce over the top. Then top with mozzarella, if you like, and then the breadcrumbs and parmesan, finally drizzle the olive oil on top.

This smelled amazing and looked BEAUTIFUL. It is also a really nice and hearty vegetarian main dish. You could make it vegan by making appropriate milk/butter choices, and eliminating the cheese (I'd add extra salt to make up for what is in the parmesan).

I served it with a really simple salad, and it was a delicious dinner!

Thanksgiving: Desserts

As the next phase of the Thanksgiving bonanza... dessert! Again, these are two oldies but goodies. 

Pumpkin Ginger Crumble Pie

This pie is a little bit different.... the inside is similar in flavor to a traditional pumpkin pie, but is a bit lighter. The top is a delicious crumbly crunchy mixture that adds a little sass to an old favorite.

http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/pie-and-triumphant-return.html

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are a great thing to have on hand for kids who might not be into pie. They are incredibly easy (if not exactly photogenic) and taste great.

http://yellowfishblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/pumpkin-white-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Enjoy your Thanksgiving feast!