Japanese Donuts for a bedtime snack? YES!

Big thanks to sister for getting me a digital kitchen scale for Christmas. I made some Japanese donuts at 9PM... to celebrate the Olympics. OK, not really but I guess I had to make some kind of justification for making donuts right before bedtime! The recipe measured everything in grams and mL and aside from using the digital scale to weight out the marijuana I have growing in the office, I mainly use it when "jam"-ing. Since I'm killing myself slowly with sugar and fat, might as well top it off with some quick and easy chocolate ganache! I also brought out the mini fryer. If I'm going to make donuts at 9PM, I'm rolling out the red carpet for this. Oh boy was it worth it. Alan had the expression of the kid who's mom packed a hostess cupcake along with his chow fun for lunch. Kids are jealous.
Crusty, crunchy, fluffy, chewy goodness rolled up in a golf sized ball that were popped into a paper sack to merry with some cinnamon-sugar goodness and then dunked in a warm, rich, dark, chocolaty sauce that ended up in a couple of happy mouths that led to happy bellies. And I'm wondering why my winter coat seems a little more padded this year.

p.s. I was joking about the marijuana, I don't grow any. Wouldn't that be something? I could make magic brownies and cookies that can 'cure all ailments.' I'm kidding!

Chocolate on Pasta & a Rustic Pear Tart

Adapted from Giada's Short Ribs recipe, I made a beef stew that sort of resembled a beef bourguignon. Think of it as a really good recipe for fancy beef stew. My sister made this a couple of years ago and after looking through my recipe collection, I decided to make this for Alan. It was amazingly good! I followed Giada's recipe, but instead of short ribs, I used chuck roast, added some bell peppers in the mix, and used fresh fettuccine instead of tagliatelle. Towards the end, I added thinly sliced baby portabellos. I used whatever red wine I had in the pantry which happen to be Two Buck Chuck's Merlot. I topped the pasta with some finely shaved dark chocolate and it was AMAZING! Savory, meaty, umami goodness. I think next time, I will try to make this in the crock pot. If it's not a baking recipe, I never measure when it comes to cooking. I merely use recipes as 'guidelines.' This recipe is really forgiving. I probably can add a lot more stuff to the stew if I wanted and it will still turn out fantastic. Side note: I did have to skim a lot of fat from the stew.

For dessert, I made a rustic cranberry-pear tart that was featured in February's 2010 Bon Appetit issue. It's a really easy and fast dessert to make! It was a huge hit with Alan's belly.

What a great Saturday dinner.

Pumpkin Pie, Oh My!

Been craving for pumpkin pie since Thanksgiving. Had a can of pumpkin sitting in the pantry for quite some time so I made pumpkin pie on Tuesday. Extremely easy to make! Alan and I finished it off last night...I don't want to know how many calories we consumed between the two of us. Most time consuming part is making the crust. I've tried several recipes but the one I always go back to is the Eagle Brand recipe. Try it. You'll love it, too!

Dusting off the writing skills. Keeping my old profile.

Happy New Year! Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Sunday!

It's been ~1.5 years since I've last posted a blog!

I'm not quite sure what sequence of actions or thoughts led to blogging today. I probably should give credit to my damn work laptop. It kept freezing up and I had to reboot it five times before I finally gave up.

I've been wanting to blog (many months ago) as I've notice my creative writing skills have been on the decline (a hockey stick diagram comes to mind) since I graduated. I know this is really stretching it, but one of my aspirations is to write a book one day based off of my family. Yea, my family is really that interesting. Possibly one day when I'm old and gray.

I'm definitely keeping my profile as is, even though it is outdated. Although I'm not a graduate student anymore, I did find "..a career as a research and development food scientist in the food industry" and I'm love loving it. I get to eat cereal, cookies, and bars all day long.

The profile reminds me of my college career and the love/hate relationship associated with college life. In reflection, I loved every moment of college life. The good and the bad. You know what they say, "hindsight is 20/20." It also reminds me that I am the same person I was when I left Oregon. Hopeful, optimistic, cheery, and a little bit of crazy.

I will try my hardest to keep up with blogging because its a lot of fun to read past entries.

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I've been engrossed with the cookbook "Baking" by James Peterson, Thuy gifted me for Christmas last year. It's an amazing baking book with tons of pictures (I'm one of those people who only buys cookbooks that have lots of pics). Hopefully I'll be able to blog a little bit more on the trials and errors of a home cook. The one thing I wish I did have was a fancy SLR camera that Chummy has to snapshot some of the food I cook/bake. Those cameras captures beautiful, crystal clear pictures. On the flip side, Chummy did inspire me to take more pics in general. Go Nikon!

Food update: I did make beef pho on Saturday for the first time ever. It was delicious!! I've made chicken pho plenty of times (very good I must say) but never really wanted to make beef pho because it takes forever and finding beef bones in Kalamazoo, MI wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.