T is for Target...not Thanksgiving

My first black friday experience. Well actually thursday night line. Waited in line for a friend who wanted the doorbuster tv deals and got myself a twin sheet set for the person i'm sponsoring this xmas at the shelter.

 I'm glad it wasn't cold or rainy.

Some issue with scalpers in line but I'm glad that i was able to fet what I came in for.

Foodie Penpals

My goodies came from my foodie penpal Sara S. :)

homemade brownies that were so moist and yummy! chocolates, bars, maca powder, nut butters

 the theme was pink

 so excited to try this one for a decadent breakfast

Thank you so much Sara! I really appreciate the brownies as I used to bake a lot but can't anymore because there is no oven. Love it!

If you’re interested joining our foodie penpal program, here’s some information from the organizer, Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.

- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in Europe, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Happy 2012 + Treats from Japan

Hola! It's been a while!

Yuki-san of Da Washoku Kitchen sent me some treats from her hometown and I was more than happy to gobble them up.

Tirol matcha choco with mochi inside. yommeh

Cute furoshiki

With my fave matcha with white choco cookies. Chewy, sweet and american-style. reminded me of keebler cookies.

 Wasanbon (like sugar tablets?) and candied (?) sakura blossoms for tea. very yummy! I love rose petal tea and the sakura blossoms will be awesome for tea.

 Cookie close up

 Origami boxes for cushion

 Group shot :)

Thanks again Yuki-san!

Scarpetta's Pasta with Tomato Sauce drizzled with Garlic-Basil Oil

I have been meaning to make this dish since last year when the Boobs4Food ladies kept talking about it on their Twitter page. Luckily, Steamy Kitchen has the recipe and she talks about how this dish is quite expensive. Since I have never been to a fancy restaurant that serves small plates and the ingredients list looked like I can get them at the farmer's market, I decided to give it a try... about half a year later (yeah, desserts got in the way).

Recipe found here
Notes:

• Peeling the tiny tomatoes = nightmare. 
• Try with cheese next time. not too sharp since this sauce is really light
• Try using garlic olive oil and brown the garlic first. Steep with the basil later to avoid burning.
• Use stronger-tasting garlic next time.
• Remember that the cooking times on the pasta box is just an estimate!
• Be prepared to wash a lot of dishes.

Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

Today was quite an eventful day. Went for a couple of job interviews, ran after the bus and missed it by 3 seconds. Then, went to a panaderia and asked which ones of their treats have custard inside and I guess the seller didn't really understand what I said so I just picked a random filled-looking pastry hoping that it has custard inside. It has! woohoo! no pic since it's already in mah belly.

I wasn't really in the mood for something heavy for dinner so just decided on some pasta. Boil and simmer, how awesome is that?

I tried this pasta for today and it's super long compared to the local ones. The taste is quite nutty and for the great packaging and taste, I wish that it's something you can find in regular supermarkets and not just specialty ones.

Recipe over at steamykitchen.com

So basically it calls for yellow onion, tomato sauce (used San Marzano because they are awesome and don't have that metallic taste) and butter (darigold, of course :) )

Notes:

• this pasta sauce is light and refreshing but you can definitely add some roasted meats on the side if you want. mmm shrimp!
• the cheese I used wasn't sharp enough. quite disappointing.
• the salted butter wasn't salty enough so I added a bit more.
• i wonder how it would taste like with basil and mozzarella?

It is really simple and it's a recipe I'm considering using when I participate in the upcoming Hunger Challenge 2011.

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Wow! I am finally using this for the first time. I've been meaning to write an entry a while back but for some reason, I could not start until I figure out the right name to use for this blog.  I'm still not sure what to name this so I'll just focus on the recipe testing since my table is overflowing with cookbooks.

I'm not good with introductions so let's just say that I was a nutrition student who likes desserts. Yeah, crazy huh? Totally decadent kouign amann oozing with butter and crusted with sugar. Uh huh yeah.
Oh and I can't really taste or critique any savory foods I made. It has to be made by someone else.
I was in cooking class for a bit but left shortly after I realised this problem.

The good thing is that I do not have any problem with desserts! Whee!

I had some butter and almond meal in the fridge that has been waiting for my attention so I decided to combine them together and make this

Almond Shortbread Cookies from Joy of Baking


Notes:

• Used an 8x8 glass pan and lined it with parchment paper without greasing it.
• Forgot to score it and cut while warm but managed to cut it into pieces without breaking the tips
• This shortbread is completely different from the ones I had before that felt like lead weight in your tummy. It's light and crumbly.
• I forgot to add the vanilla extract. Will try with almond extract next time.
•  Play with the flour proportions next time.

This will most be my online resource for recipes that I tested and intend to keep or not to keep.  I do not know how to make recipes from scratch but I enjoy modifying recipes. The pics I take may not be extraordinarily pretty or appetizing but then I tend to focus on taste more than looks.