The Smells in My Kitchen

[steph]

http://pinterest.com/

[Platypi007]

Having looked it I think I'll just add that to the list of internet things I just don't "get" like tumbler and almost like Twitter. I sort of get Twitter, but I am terrible at remembering to use it or check it. I fail at Twitter.

[Luet]

I don't get pinterest either. But I'm not terribly visual, so there's that.

[Platypi007]

That may be my problem, too. I actually prefer dense columns of text, which is probably why I'm not so big on Twitter, either. I really dislike being limited as to how much I can write, too.

[Eaquae Legit]

It's been a good day. We had scones with clotted cream for lunch. Then we had hambugers made from super-fresh lean mince from the butcher's (1lb beef, half red onion, 4 cloves garlic, egg, 100g breadcrumbs, salt, pepper). Now there's berry cordial cooling on the stove, and berry coulis on the go, along with a cherry cordial. Yum yum yum.

I've been having food blahs a lot recently, but my best friend helped me kick it!

[Platypi007]

King cake, again! (Actually right now it is the lemon and orange zest in my king cake dough, the baking part won't happen until about 4am...)

By the way, I'm in the process of revising the recipe, and I hope to get ahold of a decent digital camera next week when I make my third one of the season, so whoever it was who wanted pictures with it so they could pin it on pintrest will be able to do so! Thanks for spurring me into action on that. :D

[steph]

King cake, again! (Actually right now it is the lemon and orange zest in my king cake dough, the baking part won't happen until about 4am...)

By the way, I'm in the process of revising the recipe, and I hope to get ahold of a decent digital camera next week when I make my third one of the season, so whoever it was who wanted pictures with it so they could pin it on pintrest will be able to do so! Thanks for spurring me into action on that.

Yay!! Thank you!!

[thoughtreader]

Baked "zitti", garlic bread, and salad. We only had spiral noodles so not really zitti, and salad doesn't smell but I made a salad so yeah go me!
I think I ate to much

[Eaquae Legit]

This one was just leftovers, but still pretty good. And amazing when it was fresh. Pizza, with homemade crust, with a mix of creme fraiche and double cream instead of tomato sauce, topped with slices of reblochon, (british) bacon, and potato, then mozzarella. It sound really weird, but I had it in Normandy a few years back, and it was amazing and I wanted to recreate it. And I did! Perfectly! First time!

[LilBee91]

I made SK's blueberry muffins tonight. I'm not even a big fan of blueberry muffins, but they were quite delicious. I probably should have used smaller blueberries though.

[Platypi007]

King cake, again! Probably the last ones this year (Mardi Gras is on Tuesday, if you don't know). I'm making two, though that is probably far too much king cake for the party I'm having tomorrow (if any of you want to come to Columbia, SC feel free to stop in) but I wanted to try out the unfilled, braided version and get photos of it for my recipe revision I'm working on.

[Rei]

One very confused restaurant in town celebrated Mardis Gras on a Monday in late January.

[Eaquae Legit]

Even better than the place that celebrated Cinco de Mayo on May 9th!

[elfprince13]

I found a bunch of international food stores near me. Now I'm looking forward to making falafel.

Also, I have some Instant Boba Milk Tea, and Tapioca bubbles, but I'm not sure how to make a mango-milk tea with existing mix. Any thoughts on an a Mango Tang + Boba Milk Tea experiment, before I try it? Does anyone have experience with this field of culinary experimentation?

[steph]

Being the food-storage kind of people we are and not wanting to spend more money than necessary, my friends and I will often ask for empty frosting buckets at the grocery store bakeries. Sometimes, they are not all the way empty. My friend scored a bucket with an inch of maple frosting still in the bottom and gave the goodness to me. I needed a way to use the frosting.

I chose banana cupcakes with maple icing. I made them last night and they are oh so good. I did use more banana, since living at a higher altitude necessitates more liquid anyway, and then I could have more banana flavor. Also, I used sour cream instead of yogurt, since I didn't have non-kid yogurt.

Anyways, the moral of the story is: These cupcakes were awesome and it's probably good I sent most of them to work with Brian today.

[Gravity Defier]

Okay, I now know to avoid this thread. I haven't had sweets here at nearly the consistency I had them in AZ (I think the muffin I had 3 weeks ago is the last time I had a sweet), so even if the sweet isn't something I'd normally find delicious sounding, it sounds heavenly now. Can we say withdrawal?

[steph]

Lavender!

I just made marshmallows using lavender oil. The lavender may be a touch too strong, but one drop less wasn't enough. Apparently, I need 4.5 drops. I think I'll dust with all powdered sugar instead of corn starch/powdered sugar to offset it just a bit.

[elfprince13]

Lavender!

I just made marshmallows using lavender oil. The lavender may be a touch too strong, but one drop less wasn't enough. Apparently, I need 4.5 drops. I think I'll dust with all powdered sugar instead of corn starch/powdered sugar to offset it just a bit.

You made marshmallows? That's awesome!

[steph]

Lavender!

I just made marshmallows using lavender oil. The lavender may be a touch too strong, but one drop less wasn't enough. Apparently, I need 4.5 drops. I think I'll dust with all powdered sugar instead of corn starch/powdered sugar to offset it just a bit.

You made marshmallows? That's awesome!

Heck, yeah! Homemade marshmallows ROCK! (And thanks! )

[Platypi007]

One very confused restaurant in town celebrated Mardis Gras on a Monday in late January.

That's OK! In New Orleans they start celebrating Mardi Gras season the day after Epiphany (January 6) and go until Fat Tuesday (day before Ash Wednesday). There are parades all over town during that time, and king cakes are available at all the local bakeries during that time as well. People even decorate their houses with purple, green, and gold lights and Mardi Gras flags, etc. So celebrating it on a Monday in late January is acceptable.

The MAJOR stuff starts on Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) and runs through the night until the next day, but there is something going on pretty much all of the time between Epiphany and actual Mardi Gras.

(And I promise, the recipe is being worked on, just a little distracted right now with car issues.)

[elfprince13]

Lavender!

I just made marshmallows using lavender oil. The lavender may be a touch too strong, but one drop less wasn't enough. Apparently, I need 4.5 drops. I think I'll dust with all powdered sugar instead of corn starch/powdered sugar to offset it just a bit.

You made marshmallows? That's awesome!

Heck, yeah! Homemade marshmallows ROCK! (And thanks! )

How does one even do such a thing?

[Eaquae Legit]

Last night we devoured maybe 2/3L of lavender ice cream. It was delicious.

[powerfulcheese04]

My pintrest food experiment of the week: Avocado Egg Salad.



Ingredients:
7 hardboiled eggs
4 oz greek yogurt
2 avocados
Salt, pepper, any other spices you like

1. Peel hardboiled eggs.
2. Mash eggs with greek yogurt, salt and pepper.
3. Peel, pit and mash avocados.
4. Mix it all together.
5. Season as you like. I added some garlic and a sprinkle of cumin. The original recipe called for a cup of spinach to mix in, but all the spinach at my grocery store today was wilty and sad.

[elfprince13]

Now I'm looking forward to making falafel.

Successful food was successful. Sidebar: DO NOT USE BACON GREASE with standard falafel spices.

Also, I have some Instant Boba Milk Tea, and Tapioca bubbles, but I'm not sure how to make a mango-milk tea with existing mix. Any thoughts on an a Mango Tang + Boba Milk Tea experiment, before I try it? Does anyone have experience with this field of culinary experimentation?

The Mango Tang is an international version, but appears to be legit (and not a weird a clone). It also claims to have all natural flavoring. Can you even get American-branded Mango Tang, and are natural flavors the standard?


One packet of boba milk tea + ~1 tablespoon of tang powder + ~12 oz of water =

[elfprince13]

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https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hp ... 7746_n.jpg
The Mango Tang is an international version, but appears to be legit (and not a weird a clone). It also claims to have all natural flavoring. Can you even get American-branded Mango Tang, and are natural flavors the standard?


One packet of boba milk tea + ~1 tablespoon of tang powder + ~12 oz of water =

And microwaves work to cook the bubbles. I put a small handful (just enough for two mugs) of uncooked tapioca pearls in my 12 oz mug, and put in enough water to cover about inch and a half over the top of them. 2.5 minutes was just enough (maybe even 10 or 15 seconds too long) in my microwave, but the suggestions I read online said 3 minutes was perfect for them. I don't know if this is a difference in microwave strength, or because the water I put in my mug was hot to begin with. Anyway, something to keep in mind. This will tide my bubble-tea appetite over until I get a kitchen in the fall.

[Young Val]

This morning for breakfast I had a poached egg, 1.5 slices of turkey bacon, a quarter of an avocado, and one roma tomato. I dislike both avocado and tomatoes. And yet...breakfast was DELICIOUS.

[Noodle]

I was going to say that I haven't cooked anything interesting in a long time, but then I remembered that I made lasagna this weekend and it was just as good as it always is.

It's so easy to make the lasagna recipe I use, I don't know why I don't make it more often...

[Platypi007]

I've been making stir fry this week. I chopped up the veggies, cooked the chicken, and make a single serving each time. Still have a couple of servings worth of the stuff in the fridge. I do wish I had a real vent hood so my apartment wouldn't fill with smoke when I'm doing it...

[Young Val]

Requests for help (steph, I'm looking at you):

For his birthday this year, David wants homemade cannelloni (because, I believe, manicotti is prepared in a crepe pan? That may be beyond me). I've got my ideas for fillings and sauces nailed down, but I'm puzzling a bit over how to assemble it all. I'll be making fresh pasta. Should I just make it in sheets, fill, roll, and cut to size? Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

[Syphon the Sun]

For what it's worth, I always use a piping bag to fill them.

[Young Val]

I thought of that, but I'm not sure how I'd get the fresh pasta to stay in a tube shape long enough for me to pipe them!

[steph]

I would roll it in sheets, like lasagna. Pipe a line of filling and roll around it. I've had it made that way at small, upscale italian places. I wish I could come eat yours!

[Eaquae Legit]

That sounds delicious! Maybe I will try doing that with my new pasta roller. Mmmmm pasta.

Tonight was a pasta night here too! I made gnocci again, and if I don't bother to make them look pretty, they sure do taste good! I love the texture of fresh gnocci. And with it, made a red wine ragu, which is one of my "spoil myself" recipes. Soooooo decadent.

Earlier today, I made chai concentrate which I have been drinking all day chilled. Yummmm.

And now Rei is making scones. Life is good.

[Eaquae Legit]

Bread!

[Eaquae Legit]

Speaking of bread, can anyone explain why my bread always turns out pretty dense when I do it by hand? More yeast? Not rising long enough? Kneading too vigorously? What on earth am I doing wrong?