A Day in the Life...

Sushi Lessons

Last week my sweet neighbor invited us over to make sushi.  I, being a sushi fanatic, jumped at the chance.  The girls were less than excited.  The thought of raw fish sent them into a tizzy and they asked if I could go by myself.  I reassured them that she would certainly have a California roll option and not to worry. 

(She had no idea I was bringing my camera.)

The girls would agree...it was even better than California rolls.  There was nothing uncooked to be found except for the veggies.  It was slightly different than your typical sushi.  Hers was the Korean version.  It's called kimbob, which is easy to remember because her name is Kim and her husband's name is Bob. 

The appetizer we made was with these nifty sweetened tofu pockets.  You put seasoned rice into these little things. 

 

Then turn them upside down and they are ready to go.  They were delicious, but a bit sweet for an appetizer.  I liked them more as a dessert. 

 

Here is a picture of all the goodies that went into the sushi.  Included is cucumber, carrots, thin slices of egg and tofu, asian pickled radish, along with spam...yes, spam.  I was a little surprised by this, but I've heard it's quite popular with some Asian cooks. 

We're ready to get started.  Kim and her daughter gave some instructions on how to spread the rice.  It's trickier than you might think.  (At least it was for us.)

Then, the girls were let loose.  They did great spreading the rice.

 

Then added their ingredients. 

 

And rolled 'em up.

 

Each girl had her own method of rolling. 

Some were more gentle than others.

 

That was the first type of roll.  The next one was the big hit.  It was about as far from traditional sushi as it gets...maybe that's why the girls loved these so much!  Hold on, you purists, you're in for a shock. 

This roll is made with Miracle Whip, American cheese, Korean BBQ beef, and some shredded lettuce.  I know, I know...it sounds so "out there", but I have to say...it was fantastic!!!  

 

I added some of this...yum!

My camera battery died right about here, so I ran home and got the charger and let it charge just a little more so I could get this shot.

 

As Alton says, it was definitely....Good Eats!!!

Alli's Homemade Pasta

Alli has been wanting to use this pasta machine for quite a while.  Until the other day, my usual response had been, "Oh, honey, we don't really have time to do that.  Maybe later."  Well, later finally came.

I gave her a recipe for the dough and off she went.

 

It really didn't even take her that long...maybe 20 minutes.   

That's not bad for pasta from scratch.  Next she wants to experiment with different pasta recipes...fresh herbs and that sort of thing. 

You go, girl! 

Pizza Night...Gluten-Free

Most Friday nights, we make (or buy) pizza and watch a movie together.  This has been a bit of a bummer since my diagnosis of a wheat allergy.  Several times, I used a gluten-free pizza crust from the health food store and it was pretty good.  But at $10 for two small crusts, I can hardly justify it. 

Thankfully, I recently discovered that these tortillas will double as a crust just fine! 

 

Just slather some sauce on a couple of the "crusts".  (Homemade tomato paste pizza sauce...yum!  Not plain...you add stuff to it!)

 

Pile on the cheese and toppings...I picked onions and roasted red peppers tonight.  (Yes, my island is a disaster...and yes, that is a dissected cake on the left there.  Long story.)  :)

  

And voila!  They are remarkably similar to a crunchy thin crust pizza, which is my favorite (if you don't count Chicago beer crust pizza).

Mike even requested that I make him a couple of these next time!   

I say Whopper, you say...Maltesers?

I've been exploring the UK section of the supermarket again. 

Some of the names of foods are quite funny...although with this one, Maltesers makes more sense than our Whoppers.  At least the name Maltesers is similar to the actual candy, malted milk balls.  Rachel said these tasted better than Whoppers too...more chocolaty and less stale (I'm sure she meant crunchy).

This one had me laughing!  If someone had asked me what a "Jammie Dodger" was, my first response would have been "one of my kids at about 8:15 every night", not...a cookie.   

This one is more odd than funny...

  

Digestives...I don't know about you, but this just doesn't sound very appetizing.  And I didn't find it with the Probiotics or Acidophilus either.  It's just a graham cracker covered in chocolate.  (The girls said they were pretty good.)  The new line around here is, "I have a tummy ache...I think I need a Digestive."  :)

Talk to you soon...I'm off to put my jammie dodgers to bed.

Homemade Marshmallows...it's easier than you think!

Since Alli can't have most "over the counter" (or would it be "at the counter") candy, we improvise or sometimes just buy the more expensive stuff that doesn't have artificial flavors or colors. 

This includes marshmallows.  Storebought ones contain food coloring, believe it or not.  I found some at the health food store and I think they were $6.00 a bag!  No thanks...I'll give it a shot myself. 

I knew Ina Garten had a recipe in her "Family Style" cookbook, but I've always been a little intimidated to try it.

We had a candy-making party here on Halloween, so I thought that would be a great time to give it a go.

Turns out...they're pretty easy!  And, I think they tasted just as good, if not better, than store bought. 

Here's how it goes.

Ingredient list...most of it is stuff you would keep on hand, except for maybe gelatine.

In a mixing bowl, let 3 packages of gelatine sit in 1/2 cup of cold water while you prepare the other ingredients.

Pour 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of corn syrup, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/2 cup of water into sauce pan over med/high heat.

Using a candy thermometer, boil until mixture reaches 240 degrees. 

With mixer on slow speed, pour the hot mixture into the dissolved gelatin.   

Turn to high speed and mix for 15 minutes.  Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.   

At this point, you have marshmallow fluff.

 

Sift confectioner's sugar into the bottom of an 8x12 non-metallic pan.  Scrape the fluff into the pan.

With dampened hands, smooth the top. 

Coat again with sugar. 

Let sit uncovered overnight to dry out.  Then, slice into whatever size you would like.

Lick the spoon at your own risk...it's some sticky stuff!

We used them on our sweet potato casserole on Thanksgiving Day and they melted very nicely and got that yummy golden crust.

But I think this is our favorite way to eat them around here.

More wacky UK foods coming soon! 

Pumpkin Pie Taste Test

This year, since it was just the five of us hangin' out for Thanksgiving, I thought it would be a great time to experiment in the kitchen.  We had accidently bought a can of Libby's pumpkin pie filling along with our pumpkin puree, so hey, why not just make two different pies. 

Perfect time for a taste test!  Good old fashioned Libby's (I used the recipe off the can) verus a Smitten Kitchen/Pioneer Woman combo pie. 

I loved PW's idea of doing a ginger snap crust.  I definitely wanted to try that, especially since I bought gluten-free ginger snaps.  I even layered the caramel in the crust before the filling went in.  (A..ma..zing!) 

But over at the Smitten Kitchen, Deb did an delicious looking pumpkin pie filling that I couldn't resist.  Believe it or not, it actually has yams in it.  (Who wouldn't want to give that a shot?)  The only thing I did differently was add a couple shakes of clove and allspice to the mixture as it cooked.  It just bumped up the flavor a smidge.  It required a little more effort than your typical pumpkin pie, but boy, was it worth it!  Smooth and light, yet loaded with flavor.    

Anyway, I think you can probably guess who the winner was...

Hands down...no contest...Deb and Ree triumphed over poor bland Libby.  Not to knock Libby too much...Rachel loves a nice, mellow, crustless pumpkin pie, so it was a big winner with her.  Alli, who doesn't even like pumpkin pie, loved the "Pumpkin Pie Power Combo", as I am now calling it.  OK, maybe that's a bit much...how about the "Ginger Caramel Pumpkin Pie Sensation" or even the "Super Awesome Pumpkin Pie Crunch"? 

Maybe I'll keep working on a name...

Whatever we end up calling it, it will be a staple at our Thanksgiving dinners for years to come.

Remember this, anyone?

OK, most of you know that I'm an a foodie.  I love cooking, eating, and even reading about food.  I think they call that a "food geek".  That would be me. 

That is why I have been fascinated by a section in our newly remodeled grocery store...the European section.  Most markets have Mexican, Italian, Kosher, Asian, and maybe even Indian sections, but the European section is a little more quirky.  There are a lot of American companies that make things slightly differently for those folks across the pond. 

One thing that shocked me was a candy bar that I thought was "extinct".  My favorite candy bar of all time...a Mars bar.  Remember it?  It's like a Milky Way shocked full of almonds.  Man, it was good.  Then one day, years ago, they replaced it with a "Snickers Almond" candy bar.  Bad move.  The taste was different (maybe a little sweeter...ick) and there were only about half as many almonds.  Sad, sad, sad.  The almonds were what made it so good.  Anyway, my favorite candy bar was gone forever...or so I thought.

That was when I spotted this in the European section...

Could it be?  My old fav?  I was so excited...plus, there was an added bonus.  It was made with real vanilla, not the artificial vanillin that American candy bars are made with.  It's cheaper to use vanillin, but one of my girls is allergic to it, so it's a no-no for us, which means my girl gets no candy bars.  Now, she can have a candy bar treat every so often.  This is doubly exciting!

Got home and immediate opened up the candy and started noshing when, to my disgust, it wasn't a Mars bar at all!!! 

It was just a plain old Milky Way!  Ick!  What happened to the almonds?!  How can they call it a Mars bar with no almonds?  What a bummer!

Of course, Alli is still thrilled that she can have a real candy bar.  And she loves Milky Ways.