breakfast this morning

I love cooking, but I don't always feel like making breakfast. I don't have time, or I don't want to stand in front of a hot stove when it's already warm outside (we don't use A/C here in Seattle), or I get lazy. Ok, laziness may be the main reason. Here was my breakfast this morning after I decided not to cook...

Whole wheat english muffin with strawberries and nutella.

*sigh* I'm a very lucky lazy girl.

awesome things

Hi, friends. My plan for this post was to write about a recent break up. I was going to explain how I'm still grieving the loss, and follow it up with a story of how baking the hell out of things when stressed helps, until I found this particular entry on 1000 Awesome Things. Go on, read it. 

So, I am choosing to move forward. This does not mean that I will stop being sad, or that I will care less about what happened. It just means that I'm going to try to focus more on what's in store, rather than obsessing over how I feel each day, comparing good days to bad. I know that God's in control (which can be difficult for a control freak like me), but I must trust Him.

I did bake some "heartbreak muffins", but I've renamed them "blueberry and strawberry muffins":

Recipe here. My changes: omit crumb topping, sub applesauce for oil, add extra berries, and reduce the sugar to suit an Asian family's tastes. I doubled the recipe, and froze a bunch of them for busy mornings, when your only other choice is greasy McDonald's or a stale donut from 7-11. Verdict: My favorite muffin recipe so far. Good, moist, semi-healthy, and they boosted my spirits. Bueno.

Strawberry muffins

I've been staying with a couple of friends while in Alexandria. Tonight is my last night here, so to thank them for their hospitality, I baked and made a mess of their kitchen. 

Strawberry muffins

The recipe was a really easy one from Allrecipes, but I followed the tips from other bakers in the comments section.

These muffins were light, fluffy, moist, and only slightly sweet. The greatest thing about them is that you can freeze them, and just microwave one or two at a time for breakfast each morning. Amazing.

Strawberries (again)

Friends, I cannot stop making things with strawberries. It's almost 2am PDT, and I just finished making two small batches of strawberry jam.

Isn't it beautiful?

I haven't tasted it yet, but its bright ruby color just makes me so happy. The recipe I used came from Allrecipes, and is a non-pectin recipe. I did not make the same amount as the site, but reduced it from a serving size of 40 to 10. Otherwise, it was pretty much the same. It was a super easy recipe, and took a lot less time than I thought it would. I am looking forward to tasting it with toast, pb sandwich, or pancakes. It's basically sugary fruit with the nutrition boiled out...mmmmmmmm.

Strawberries for 99 cents, y'all.

What have I been doing with all the strawberries we bought on sale?

Strawberry-lemon shortcake

 In a smoothie, or

Smoothie pops. (That's chocolate on the right.)

With oatmeal for breakfast

Line them up...

and freeze 'em.

 Strawberry lemonade *

Made into syrup for pancakes

Though, fresh might be best.

*****************************************

* For an adult version of strawberry lemonade for a nice summer evening, leave out some water, and add some vodka or champagne.

Summer Sippers

A few weeks ago, we actually had a stretch of days where there was no rain, and it was actually warm. It was a hint of summer before a string of rainy days hit us (again). I loved it. It reminded me of early summers in the south--volleyball, cook outs, tank tops and shorts, watermelon, and flip flops. I actually find myself longing for heat and humidity now...That is, until I hear from my east coast friends that it feels like their skin might melt off whenever they go outside.

 Gas Works Park Spring 2010

While it was still warm, there were a few things that I simply HAD to do:

 1. Drink iced coffee. Lots.

2. Start gardening.*

3. Make sangria. I don't have pics of the sangria that I made (we drank it all)! I'm sorry.

Chau's Fast Sangria for 2 (maybe 4 regular) people:

1/2 bottle dry red wine

1/4 container of frozen juice concentrate (I used Old Orchard's Apple Kiwi Strawberry)

Sliced strawberries, grapes, and oranges (plus, whatever fruit you would like)

Sugar (to taste)

Sprite (optional. Aaaand I don't remember how much I put in. This is a terrible way to explain a recipe.)

Mix everything but the Sprite together. Let it meld together for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. Add ice and Sprite. Drink it all.

*My sister and I planted prepared some seed starters one day, and spent extra time drawing a diagram of it so that we could chart each plant. Maybe a week later, after some seedlings had begun poking through the soil, a random gust of wind knocked the seed starter kit over our deck railing. ALL of our seeds were mixed up. Now, we have no clue what's growing. We grew up on a farm, and we're terrible at gardening.

Banana stuffed french toast.

This recipe was so easy and delicious that I'm blogging about it as I eat it. I'm chewing as I type. This banana stuffed french toast is by far one of my favorite recipes to date. It looks fancy, but with minimal effort. OhmygoshI'msoexcited.

Once in a while, I'll find new recipes by googling the ingredients that I have. This morning, a search for baked + banana = baked banana french toast. I scurried over to allrecipes, and found Karen's Baked Banana Stuffed French Toast. After reading the comments, and making some of my own changes, this happened:

BAMF: Bad Ass Mother Fooder?

Baked And Mouth Feast?

Anyone? No?

Since I'm usually eating breakfast/brunch alone on Saturdays, I scaled everything down for one serving.

2 pcs. wheat bread

1 lg. egg (room temp)

2 tbs. warm milk

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

dash vanilla

1 med. ripe banana, sliced

maple syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream (whatever's healthiest)

1. Preheat oven (or my rinky dinky toaster oven) to 375 F. Put a little dab of butter into your baking sheet, and let it all warm in the oven while you work.
2. Combine egg, milk, sugar, and vanilla in a flat bowl/container. Now whisk it. Whisk it good. (Any Devo fans? No? Just me?)
3. Slice the bananas (I sliced them at an angle to get longer pieces, rather than a bunch of short "o" shapes).  Place a double layer between the 2 slices of bread.
4. Carefully dip each side of your banana sandwich into the egg mix. Just stuff any rogue banana slices back into the sandwich as they fall out.
5.  Take the hot baking sheet out, jiggle the pan so the butter spreads, and place your sandwich onto it. Bake for about 5 min, or until the bottom side is light brown and crisp, then flip to the other side for another 5 min. (This step will change according to your preference. Some people actually fry theirs in a frying pan, then bake, but I'm lazy. Also, I prefer my french toast to be a bit crispier than most people, so pay attention to it as it bakes).

The ripe banana adds plenty of sweetness, and so syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream are totally unnecessary. The truth is, I had a terrible week, and I just wanted something really decadent, warm, gooey, and perfect. And, this meal was an amazing treat. I wouldn't recommend it for a balanced breakfast, but I do recommend it for special occasions, heart ache, stress, or after a really, really good cry.


Enjoy.

I ate another baby

I loved making/eating that dutch baby yesterday. I enjoyed it so much that I made it again for brunch today (with a few changes).

 Well, hello there.

So, I halved the recipe for one serving, and cut some of these bad boys up:

This time, instead of browning the butter in a skillet on the stove, I just added a dab of margarine to my heart shaped baking pan that Lycheeyum bought me for V-day this year (what romance), and popped the thing in the preheating oven. (Before pouring the batter into the hot pan, it helps to swirl the butter/marg around.)

Once the sides rose up high, I reduced the heat from 425 to 375 so it would be a bit lighter in texture.

Take a look, decide it doesn't look right and...

Dump a whole pile of strawberries on top. Ahhhh, yes.

First bite, this song starts playing.

I liked it this time, but I missed the custard-y texture of yesterday's baby. That's my fault though, since I was trying for a lighter one. Also, I think I put too much margarine in the pan, so I'll have to try again sometime (soon) to get just the right amount. That being said, it was amazingly simple and delicious. I loved it. Can you tell???

On a related note...check this out. Lots of dutch babies.