Korean Burritos: On being humiliated and then feeling better.

For Luke House Church, forever my willing guinea pigs.

I spend most of my days doing things I'm good at.  I'm good at getting breakfast together and kids out the door (albeit not always as smoothly as I would like, but I get the job done) and I'm good at cooking good and nutritious foods for my family and then posting, what I would like to think are helpful blog posts so that others can cook.  I'm good at making coffee and I'm good at updating on facebook.  I'd like to even venture to say that I'm good at driving.  I get the kids safely around our small town all in one piece.  I'm good at these things.

This week however, I tried to do something I am not good at.  What I mean by not good at is this - I absolutely stink.  I am teaching myself how to sew.  I am learning how to sew.  I'm struggling with the sewing thing and it is for sure one of the more humbling experiences of my life.  I will never consider the shorts that I toss on the floor so irreverently as an inconsequential piece of clothing again, because sewing is HARD.  It surely doesn't help that two of my friends have beautiful crafty blogs and both are excellent at sewing.  (See their work here and here.) In fact those two same friends insisted that I could pick up sewing and I would like it and I would be eventually good at it.  They promised me it was easy and encouraged me along the way, trying to help me troubleshoot.

But the first tries at sewing were not that successful for me.  To the point where I really got frustrated.  I spend most of my day doing things I'm good at, like drinking coffee and to do something hard was simply mind-boggling and blinding.  My sewing machine kept on getting tangled, I couldn't cut a straight line, I couldn't sew a straight seam, and everything that I did had to be done more than once. And I was humbled.  And humiliated.  As I sat in front of my sewing machine, with the manual (written in Spanish) trying to figure out what was going wrong, I thought to myself, this is TOO hard and not worth it.  I considered re-selling the machine because clearly I wasn't cut out for it and it was too hard to do.

In the end, after several long excruciating hours, I managed to complete a small project.  I didn't complete it all on my own however as Mom-in-law came to the rescue and helped me finish the edges, which I felt ill-equipped to do on my own.  She did graciously compliment me on my work, saying that for a first project it was excellent.  I think her own expert touch at the end is what helped it come together, but no matter.  I'll take the compliment and keep it in my purse to whip out the next time I struggle at the sewing machine.

After all the struggle, it really made me want to sit and do something that I could do - and well.  I can make food.  I can think of something that I want to make, and I can execute it with a decent success rate.  Don't let the blog fool you -there are failures that happen in my kitchen - I just don't publicize them.  However, my success rate IS higher than the failure rate so I thought I'd go back to what I know better, cooking.

And the project was a Korean burrito an idea that has been brewing in my head since friends SS and CY told me that they had had one from a Korean taco/burrito truck and that it wasn't good.  They both said to me, "You could do one that is so much better."  And it really made me want to make one that was good. It did require quite a bit of thinking and two rounds of edits but now I'm happy with it.  I'm especially grateful that the burrito doesn't require any sewing (although the aluminum foil wrapped around it really does help keep it together.)

You will need to plan ahead as you want to marinate the meat for at least 8 hours, if not overnight, but I know that this will make a great party meal.

Korean Burritos
Serves 4 (but easily expandable...make your own burrito bar.)

1 lb Korean marinated flank steak, cooked and rested.

Mixed Greens
1 head of romaine lettuce (or any other lettuce) shredded
3 scallions cut thinly
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cucumbers chopped
The vegetables can be left separately (if you anticipate picky eaters who don't like certain greens like cilantro or cucumber) or you can just toss it all together. 

Spicy Sauce
2 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seed

Mix all ingredients in a bowl to combine.  Set aside until needed.

Kimchee Fried Rice
1 cup kimchee finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 cups cooked white rice

Heat a fry pan over medium heat.  Add vegetable oil, kimchee, ginger and garlic, and cook until kimchee is softened and translucent.  Time will vary on this based on the ripeness of the kimchee, but anywhere between 4-8 minutes.  Add sesame oil and cooked white rice and continue mixing until the kimchee is evenly distributed through the rice and the rice is colored pink.  Set aside. (cover to keep warm if necessary.)

For Assembly
Tortillas (burrito sized)
Kimchee Fried Rice
Cooked Flank, sliced across the grain
Shredded cheddar cheese
Mixed Greens
Spicy sauce

On a plain tortilla lay a small mound of kimchee fried rice, about 1/2 a cup. Lay on top of it a layer of sliced flank steak.

Sprinkle cheese on top.

Top with mixed greens.

Finish with spicy sauce.

Good luck wrapping! (I found it useful to rely on a piece of tin foil to help.  If you do a party of burritos, have cut up tin foil ready to go to facilitate wrapping the burrito.)

Printable recipe

Wrapping in foil helps keep it together

Sambal Oelek - available at your local Asian supermarket.  In a good grocery store with a good Asian products aisle, you'll find it there as well.

Pseudo Bibimbap: When it is just way too hot...

I hate hot.  I hate being hot.  I hate everything about hot.  I don't even like the clothes you wear when hot and for that matter, I don't like the clothes that you don't wear when hot.   If I am not two steps away from jumping into the ocean or a nice cool swimming pool, I just can't stand hot.  Today I called friend TR, who has been complaining about how cold it has been in the Bay Area.  I bellowed into the phone, "CALL OFF THE HOT WEATHER!  It's ALL your fault."

"I love this weather.  It's the best," she said cheerfully.

"Call it off!  Make it go away.  You brought it here.  You send it back.  I can't deal."

"Stop whining about it and enjoy it," she scolded.

"I'm NOT whining!"  WHIIIIINIIING!" I whined.

The hot weather completely stymied me.  It didn't help that spent the first three hours of the hot day waiting for an oil change walking around in the sun and the second half watching Daughters in their swim lesson, also baking in a hot room.  (indoor pool.)

By the time dinner prep time rolled around, the thought of standing in my kitchen completely made me want to lie on the floor...a cold marble one if I could find one.  Our house has no air-conditioning and was reaching close to 88 F indoors and turning on the stove to cook something was the last thing on my mind. To further complicate things, Mother-in-law was visiting, and I always like to prepare something nice for her.  But the heat was stopping me, so I casually asked her if it would be okay if we had pseudo-bibimbap.  (Korean mixed rice.)  She wondered what it was, and I just simply told her I'd be making bibimbap with minimal stove time.  She said it sounded good so I headed to the kitchen.

I had, already at my disposal, some Korean marinade flank steak, which I had made over the weekend.  It was already cooked, so I simply chopped it up.  I julienned some cucumbers, sauteed some spinach, and fried an egg.  I used one fry pan to saute the spinach, warm the meat and fry the egg, so quick and easy cleanup.    Mother-in-law loved it, Son and Daughters ate it all up, and I have to say, that it was a pretty darn tasty bibimbap....pseudo as it is.

I have a couple of other posts where I discuss the art of pseudo bibimbap...here and here.

Pseudo Bibimbap - Version 3
Serves 4-6

1/2 cup to 1 cup cooked rice per person (Son and Daughters eat around 3/4 cup.)
1 lb of cooked meat, your choice.  Flank steak, grilled steak, bulgogi all are fine
2 mini cucumbers (Persian) cut julienne

12-16 ozs of baby spinach
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 pinch of toasted sesame seeds

4-6 eggs

Gochujang (Korean spicy red pepper paste)
Sesame oil

Assembly
Scoop appropriate amounts of rice in bowls.

Prepare spinach by heating up a saute pan on high.  Add vegetable oil, sesame oil and spinach.  Saute quickly, wilting the spinach - about 1-2 minutes.  remove from heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Divide spinach and top each mound of rice with spinach.

In the same fry pan, add meat and heat it up, so that it is warm.  Also add onto the rice.

Heat oil in the frypan over medium heat.  Crack eggs and begin cooking carefully, so that they are sunny side up.  (I'm actually a really horrible egg fryer, but I find that lower heat is better suited to getting that nice runny yolk.)

Add julienne cucumber on top and finish with egg.  Serve with gochujang (Korean spicy red pepper paste) and sesame oil. Have everyone mix their rice bowls and scoop up!

(as a side note, Son and Daughter don't use red pepper paste, but I do add a dash of soy sauce and sesame oil to their bibimbap to facilitate mixing.)

Printable recipe

Son's version - no egg, but with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil.

Steamed Cod with Ginger, Lime, Scallions and Cilantro: The motivation of $1

For HYK, HKL, JEL - fish lovers until they die.

Growing up, Mom Dad, and Brothers #1 and #2 truly ate everything.  The four of them even ate "weird" things like tripe, tongue, sushi, geoduck; I would simply watch them and shake my head no, and plug my nose as if it smelled bad.

But it wasn't even the more exotic that didn't appeal; I didn't like fish.  The smell, the look, the texture were all difficult for me to get past.  I staunchly refused to eat fish, meal after meal and Parents and Brothers ate up my portion.

One day, when I was about ten years old, I began hassling Father about his cigarette habit.  He in turn, hassled me about my lack-of-fish habit.  He made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  For every cigarette he smoked, he would fork over a dollar and for every meal that fish was served that I did not eat I had to give him a dollar.  We shook on it.

The end result was my dad quit smoking and I began eating fish.  Now I really do enjoy a lovely piece of fish and when there is a chance to eat fish, I have been known to eat it.  I even get cravings for it. I even cook it.  My favorite thing to eat while living in Hong Kong was  Chinese style-steamed fish, so when I came across a simplified recipe for it on Martha Stewart, I thought I'd give it a whirl.  I added some extra touches to it and Son and Daughters cleaned their plates tonight.  They loved the sauce and I surely loved how easy it was to make on a hot day like today.

Steamed Cod with Ginger, Lime, Scallions and Cilantro
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living)
Serves 4

4 skinless cod fillets, (6 to 8 ounces each)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons finely grated, peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon sake or shao xing wine
zest of one lime
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 scallions, green parts cut into 3-inch lengths
few sprigs of cilantro for garnish (optional)
lime wedges for garnish (optional)

In a large skillet, combine 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon sake and zest of one lime.

Season both sides of 4 skinless cod fillets (6 to 8 ounces each) with coarse salt and ground pepper; place in skillet with vinegar mixture.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cover; cook until fish is almost opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut green parts of 6 scallions into 3-inch lengths; thinly slice lengthwise.

Scatter over fish; cook (covered) until fish is opaque throughout and scallions are just wilted, about 2 minutes more.

Serve with a bit of the sauce, topped with cilantro,  and a wedge of lime.

Printable recipe

Korean Non Spicy Squid Side Dish (안매운 오징어 무침): Why I listen to my grandmother

For JMC and EYC - who are expecting

There are a lot of "old wives tales" surrounding what women should or should not eat when pregnant.  Koreans have their own interesting ones such as:

1. Only eat things that are beautiful so you can have a beautiful baby.  (this means no leftovers, or unappetizing food, or anything that is simply just not pretty enough.)

2. No duck - unless you want a child with webbed feet

3. No squid or octopus, lest you have a child with no bones.

Now, all of these are pretty funny and ridiculous, and if you ask my Father what he thinks about it all as an OB/GYN he'll shake his head and say under his breath what nonsense it is.  (His word choice would be something a bit more violent like ... BS)

However, when I was pregnant with Daughter #1, Maternal Grandmother, upon finding out, called me long distance from Korea to reach me in Hong Kong with the following command from up high, "DO NOT under any circumstances allow anything remotely resembling squid or octopus to enter you mouth.  Promise me."

Normally, I'm not a huge squid love anyways, so it wasn't a big deal to promise at all.  "Sure, sure Grandma. I won't touch it."

I then had a joking conversation with Husband about it later, and he said, "You'd better listen to her.  Those old wives tales are important to the older generation."

"Come on, even my DAD says it is nonsense!" I retorted.

"Nope.  Don't eat anything she says not to eat," my husband said firmly.  So there I was, suddenly restricted from eating squid and octopus.

It turns out it was a good thing Husband asked me to listen, because suddenly this became a point of conversation between Grandmother and me.  "Joanne, did you eat any squid or octopus?  You cannot eat it when pregnant!" Grandmother would ask every time she called.  (Which became fairly often after she found out I was pregnant.)  I'm such a poor liar to begin with, I think it would have devastated her to know that I had disobeyed her request, so I was able to confidently say, "Don't worry Grandma.  I'm not eating it."

And so it was with all three Kids.  I did not eat squid or octopus with any of them and Grandma would call during all the pregnancies to confirm that I as not consuming said verboten items.  She also got Mom in the act and would call HER who would then call ME to confirm that I was not eating them.  I did not eat them.

However, there was one day that I remember when I was upset that I could not eat it, and it was when I saw Husband chowing down on Spicy Ojingo Banchan.  And I felt a pang.  A pang.  And then anger.  Because Husband chomped it down in front of me, licking his lips and chewing it up, and I couldn't have it.  None of it.  Not even a taste.

And that craving for it must have gone straight through to my babies, because Son and Daughters LOVE it.  Only it is too spicy and they eat a tiny bit and then drink a cup of water.  Rather than continually doing that, I thought I'd make them a non-spicy version, and this is it...they LOVE this too, and even for non spicy, I have to say it's pretty tasty.  And since I'm not pregnant, I can eat it.

Non-Spicy Korean Squid Side Dish (Ojingo Moochim - 오징어 무침)

8 oz of dried cuttlefish (백진미 오징어) (this comes pre-shredded and I've seen it at both Chinese and Korean supermarkets)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoons plain corn syrup (물엿)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

In a nonstick fry pan over medium heat, mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, sake, and corn syrup. Cook until mixture is bubbly. 

Remove from heat.  Add cuttle fish/dried squid to the honey mixture. (which is warm, but NOT cooking the stove.) Working quickly, toss until everything is well coated.

Finish by sprinkling with sesame seeds. Toss again. Serve on a beautiful dish.

Keeps for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  Best served with hot rice.

Printable recipe

Pregnant women, do not eat this. :)

Homemade Touches at a Birthday: In the name of friendship

For JEL, who did it "by herself."

I've been asked on more than one occasion if I cater or bake cupcakes for pay.  The answer to that is a resounding "no" because the whole reason I write the blog is to encourage others to try to cook and bake on their own.  I've spent two years telling people that with a little practice and effort that "anyone can cook."

Of course there are exceptions to this rule.  For closest girlfriends I often offer my services (for free) to help them with the food or cupcakes for birthday parties.  This means for best friend JEL, she always has at her disposal my cupcakes, or macaroni and cheese, or curried chicken salad, ready for either of her children's celebrations.  I always offer to do cupcakes for her and she always says yes.

I assumed that this year's birthday for her daughter would be no different.  After all, her daughter is the one I've chosen to be my future daughter-in-law (to be betrothed to Son at a time when it is deemed appropriate).  JEL and her husband decided to do the birthday at a local mini amusement park and zoo, Happy Hollow.  It meant that the park would take care food and most things (mandatory) and JEL and husband would only have to do cupcakes and decorations.  After discussing the party details with JEL, I made my offer, "So what kind of cupcakes do you want for her birthday?"

JEL responded, "You're not going to make them.  I am."

With confusion and shock on my face, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"I want to make them,"she said. "I want to see if I can make them. You tell your readers all the time that they can do it, why not me?  This is the perfect time for me to try as there isn't much else for me to do."

I didn't have a response so I just said, "Okay."  I helped her come up with table decoration idea, one that I had seen at the park for another friend's birthday party, and she decided that she wanted to do it all.

Two weekends before the party, the two of us sat in her living room and whipped out the following table decorations.  I taught her how to do it, and she went ahead and made most of them (as I was getting all of our kids fed and bathed.) These are easy to make as I just followed the instructions on Martha Stewart's site (here) but added the variation of laying one piece of green paper on the bottom and one yellow on the top and fluffing it up only half way.  (about 7 sheets of tissue were the perfect number.)  I made the one below (the prettiest one because it has pointed petals) and one other, but she made the rest.

I also handed over my mini muffin tin, liners, decorating bags and tips to her and wished her all the best.  I gave a quick demonstration in the air of how to make and ice the cupcakes and encouraged her saying that it wouldn't be any problem and that she could handle it. 

The night before the party, I got a phone call from her asking me and my kids to come over and spend the night so that we could go early to the party the next day and help set up.  I hesitated, because the prospect of getting Son and Daughter to go to sleep in a room that wasn't theirs was kind of unappealing, and it sounded tiring.  She then added the kicker to the request, "I want you to come and supervise the cupcake process."

"You don't need me for that!  You can do it!  I already showed you!"

"I know, but I want you to watch me do it.  Please can you come?" she pleaded.

The next thing I knew, I was packing my things preparing to go sleep at JEL's house so that I could help her with the cupcakes.  She baked them before I had gotten there so I didn't need to supervise the baking.  She decided to do velvet cupcakes which are a great choice because you don't need an electric mixer to make them - simply measure out ingredients and mix them together.  After the kids went to bed, she started working and I supervised.  She made the frosting according to my directions, scraped out the vanilla bean according to my directions and took care of everything herself.  It was only at the part when it came time to actually do the icing that she hesitated.  I still made her start it and do it herself, only to find out that she was going opposite of my standard method.  She started on the outside and ended up in the middle - which looked like this, still very cute. (Method: using 1M tip, hold bag perpendicular to cupcake and start on the outside and swoop towards the middle.)  They were very pretty and I said, "You are doing great!"

She wanted to know how I did mine, so I demonstrated my technique, which is to start on the inside and move out and she tried it that way a couple of times as well.

All in all, she did the entire project by herself even if it did require some supervision from me.  And I was really happy that she added homemade touches to a party that was going to be held at a place that didn't require parents to do anything.  She could have bought the cupcakes (or taken me up on my offer) and bought decorations but instead she took a little time to make them herself. The effect was really lovely and special.  (She bought Hello Kitty cupcake toppers.)

The funny thing was, most people at the party ASSUMED that the cupcakes were my handiwork and to which I could proudly say, "No I didn't make them!  JEL did them all on her own."  JEL always interjected with. "But with Joanne's supervision."  At the end of the party, when cleanup was all done, I said to JEL, "So now you can do the cupcakes yourself!"  

She looked at me and said, "Ummm...no.  I'm not doing them anymore.  I just wanted to SEE if I could, and now that I know I can, I want you to do them."  I started laughing.

Tables with cupcakes and pom poms laid out.  Happy Birthday my future daughter-in-law!

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Vegan Chocolate Donut Muffins (Egg Free Dairy Free): I need to give up my running shoes and sit.

Mornings are generally a very crazy time for me. As soon as I wake up, I am usually running around the house at top speed to get things done before kids wake up.  I like to have a quick peek at email, to see if anything important, or at least entertaining is waiting for me, then I usually like to have some sense of what I will offer Kids for breakfast. I wish I could say to everyone that I make an amazing breakfast every morning for Son and Daughters, but the truth is that I don't.  The fact that Son cannot eat eggs makes me less willing to bust an egg out for the morning meal, so mostly it is cereal or something baked with some sort of dairy/non-dairy product.

But even with such a simple breakfast, I find my mornings very very crazy.  I don't ever sit down at breakfast.  I have three Kids sitting down, and I'm doing wheelies around the kitchen table trying to get lunches ready and gulping coffee,  Mornings are never a time to rest and relax and instead I'm always going and going and going.  Mornings are more a time for my blood pressure to go up as I stress about the timing of getting to school on time. 

But I realize and know it's been incredibly bad for my health.  I rarely eat breakfast, save for the cup of coffee I have and the morning flies by and I'm ravenous at lunch.  I need to make a concerted effort to sit down and enjoy whatever I am eating without feeling like I'm running at top speed in the morning.  I'm going to try and do that.  I will try and enjoy my Vegan Chocolate Donut Muffin, carefully biting into it and carefully sipping my coffee.  I bet it will taste even better than when I shoved it into my mouth and continued doing my laps around the kitchen.

Vegan Chocolate Donut Muffins (Egg Free Dairy Free)
Makes 11-12 regular donut muffins, or 20-24 mini donut muffins (mini muffins pictured above)

2/3 cup sugar
1 banana, mashed

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup coconut milk (which adds wonderful flavor) OR soy milk OR almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil. (Do not be tempted to use liners - the point of doing these directly in the muffin tin is to have them pop out and be able to get sugar to stick to the sides without the addition of butter)

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and mashed banana until well incorporated. Pour in vegetable oil, coconut milk milk and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour into wet mixture and stir to combine.  Stir gently.

Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups or 24 mini muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, pour confectioners sugar into a small bowl.

When muffins are done, allow them to cool for about 15 minutes.  Pop them out of the pan and then roll them in confectioners sugar, coating all the sides until it is completely covered.  Repeat until all muffins are done.


Printable recipe

Why wouldn't I want to sit down to this?

The cocoa powder I used for this recipe.

Watermelon, Arugula, Feta Salad: Sitting down at meals is a luxury

 For CY, Happy Birthday and for SS who loved it.

I was at a pool party on Saturday, where the host and hostess barbecued for a bunch of people from our church.  I spent about one and half hours in the water, getting splashed repeatedly in the face as Daughters and Son tried to figure out how best to keep their mommy spluttering for air.  After the pool part was over, the group adjourned to the patio to eat the potluck of kalbi, salad, noodle salad and kimchee.  As soon as Son and Daughters saw the kalbi they went nutso, demanding more, and the moment of serving the meal started.  Son and Daughters were all sitting on opposite ends of the table, which meant that I started running around the table to meet all of their needs.  They needed their meat cut, they needed more juice, they wanted water, they didn't want to eat something, they wanted to eat something else, and in the end I just kept circling the table over and over trying to get Son and Daughters fed.

The whole while I did this, I also had a plate of food in my hand, that got picked up and set down repeatedly.  I had in my mind the idea that I would actually get a moment to put some food in my mouth, but mostly I was using my plate as a weight as I flexed my biceps up and down.  At one point, one very gallant gentleman stood up and offered me his chair.  I said, "No.  I can't sit down and eat when the kids are at the table.  Please sit yourself." Friend JEL looked at me across the table and told me to sit down and I simply replied that I couldn't.  The food on my plate was cold already, so I simply ate standing up.  I then smiled, and said, "But tomorrow I WILL sit down for an entire meal," as I was going out do dinner, without Kids, to a lovely restaurant.  (Spruce.  One of my favorites.  French fries to die for.)  The thought of eating sitting down the entire meal brought a smile to my face.

At Spruce, I sat for the entire meal.  I have no recent memory of the last time I did that. I sat the entire time and even when I had to use the restroom, I told myself that sitting down was a far greater luxury than an empty bladder;  I held it, if only to lengthen and experience the sensation of sitting down, and truly enjoying my food. Among the four dishes we had as a first course, there was a watermelon, arugula, feta salad that really caught both my eye and my tastebuds.  The flavors seem odd, but I assure you, together it is a fantastic combination and contrast of salty sweet, light rich, satisfying refreshing. It is incredibly simple to put together.

When I made it at home, I forced myself to sit down the entire time to eat it.  I did not get up and I asked Children to just wait a few moments as I sat and finished my salad, as a reminder to myself, that actually I do like eating sitting down.

**Preparation note
How to cube a watermelon?  I simply cut across the watermelon and get myself a nice circle.  I cut off the rind, and then cut it into even cubes.

Watermelon, Arugula, Feta Salad

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
Salt
Pepper

6 cups of arugula
3 cups of cold, fresh, and ripe watermelon, cubed
1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese (almost 2 oz)

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together.  Set aside.

On four individual plates, place a layer of arugula, artfully put some watermelon on top of the arugula and then sprinkle feta cheese, divided equally among four plates.   Carefully drizzle a small amount of dressing over each plate.

Printable recipe

Refreshing and delicious, perfect for those suffering in the heat.

Mocha Mochi Cake: Adults only please

Adults only, please.

There are times when I think that is the way I'd like to live my day.  Adults only, please.  I'd like to go to the bathroom with no children, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, sitting down and not doing the dance of up and down that I normally do, and live my day without thinking about Children.

Adults only, please.

Having three kids means that this is not a reality, not for a long while yet. Therefore, adult only moments are what I must seek out and find.

Adults only, please.

This mocha mochi cake does it.  It is not without a twinge of satisfaction and pleasure that I say to Children, "No, you cannot have it.  It has coffee in it."  I take a bite of delicious rich coffee and chocolate flavor, as children look on. mouths agape.

Adults only, please.  Yes, thank you.  I'll take this moment for myself.  Mocha Mochi Cake and me.

Mocha Mochi Cake
Makes one 9X13 pan, about 24 squares

The cake itself has that special mochi cake texture, richly scented with coffee and chocolate.  The coffee elevates and heightens the flavor of the chocolate and the chocolate completely enhances the flavor of the coffee.  It's a match made in heaven for sure.   

1 lb box of mochiko flour (3 cups equivalent)
2 1/2 cups of sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Frontier Fair Trade Organic...very tasty)
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14 oz can of coconut milk - not lowfat
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
7 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used decaf, but you can use regular coffee)
5 large eggs
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup of butter) melted and slightly cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mochiko flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (4 cup capacity), beat eggs, then add coconut milk, evaporated milk, coffee granules, vanilla extract and melted butter.  Mix to blend until coffee granules are almost all dissolved.

Carefully pour the wet ingredients over the mochiko flour mixture and whisk until mixture is smooth and uniform in texture.

Pour batter into greased 9X13 pan. Carefully smooth out the top.

Bake for 90 minutes, until top is dark brown and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Allow cake to cool for about 30 minutes on a rack, and then carefully flip it out and cut into 24 squares, or the size of your choice. Can store coffee mochi cake for three days, covered.


Printable recipe

Turn your coffee experience upside down with this cake.

The cocoa powder I used...very great flavor and quality.  ORGANIC TOO!

Jelly Swirled Egg Free Dairy Free Donut Muffins: Finding those things in plain view

Son and Daughters lose something everyday.  I seem to spend an inordinate amount of my day looking for those things that are lost.  It usually happens first thing in the morning, when I'm trying to rush out the door to get to various places on time, and suddenly I'll hear the shrieks, yelps, cries, or whimpers from one child proclaiming, "My OBJECT is missing!" and suddenly I have to whip around the house looking for whatever is missing, and often find it in the most obvious place to my frustration.  Missing shoe?  By the front door of course.  Missing computer game? In the shelf, just tucked in the back.  Swim goggles?  In the bathtub where they were last used. (The BEST trick for getting your child used to having their hair and head wet with the shower.)  Son and Daughters seem to miss finding those things and I'll spend time doing it.

It's probably not their priority to actually go out and hunt for what is missing.  Even with my prodding, "I think I saw it upstairs" or the usual, "Open your eyes and LOOK" Son and Daughter cannot find those things that are missing. It's like they are hidden, even if they are in plain sight.  And as much as I'd like to point fingers at Son and Daughters for not being able to find those things that are in plain view, I realize that I am just as guilty.

I fail to see the smile of Son when he sees me walk through the door.  I miss the look of sadness on Daughter #2's face when she goes into school, missing me.  I don't feel the touch of Daughter's #1's hand as she reaches for me, asking me to slow down.  My own business, my own inability to slow down, my own personal chaos makes me miss those things that are in plain view.

I'm trying harder not to miss out on those things.  Tonight, Son and Daughters cleaned their plates at dinner.  A lovely moment.  I didn't miss that.  I found myself smiling when I heard Son farting and then laughing at his body's ability to make those loud crazy sounds.  I saw the look of enjoyment in Daughter #1's eyes as she read a book and I found myself staring at Daughter #2's intense look of concentration as she tried to get over her fear of putting her head in the water.  The small moments, in plain view, yet often hidden to me, I tried to find today.

And somehow, it made me think about jelly filled donuts.  Why?  A jelly donut has the jelly middle, which you can't really see, but on the side, it's in plain view.  You know the donut is filled with something because there is the telltale sign of red on the side.  So I thought I'd try and make some, only they'd have to be baked and they would have to be dairy and egg free (vegan).  They aren't really like your traditional jelly donut, but they are a funky imitation, copying the basic flavors.  Son and Daughters really liked them, and exclaimed, "OOOH I can see something inside!"  They are not difficult to make, and are a fun muffin to add to your repertoire.

Jelly Swirled Egg Free Dairy Free (Vegan) Donut MuffinsMakes between 11-12 regular muffins

1/2 cup sugar
1 banana, mashed

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil (do not be tempted to change this to butter - it will change the texture of the doffin)
3/4 cup coconut milk (which adds wonderful flavor) OR soy milk OR almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup your choice of jam or jelly

1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil. (Do not be tempted to use liners - the point of doing these directly in the muffin tin is to have them pop out and be able to get sugar to stick to the sides without the addition of butter.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and mashed banana until well incorporated. Pour in vegetable oil, coconut milk milk and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour into wet mixture and stir to combine.

Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Dollop the top of each muffin with about 1 teaspoon of jelly/jam.

Swirl with a spoon.

Bake for 20 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, pour confectioners sugar into a small bowl.

When muffins are done, allow them to cool for about 15 minutes.  Pop them out of the pan and then roll them in confectioners sugar, coating all the sides until it is completely covered.  Repeat until all muffins are done.


Printable recipe

A little something hidden in plain view.

Blog Anniversary - 2 years!: GIVEAWAY! GIVE IT ALL AWAY!

It's hard to believe it, but Week of Menus is now two years old.  I realize I started doing this when Son was 8 months old, so the blog has been growing with him.  I may venture to say that Son has probably matured faster than blog has, but no matter, it's time to get a cake and blow out some candles!

I thought I'd commemorate my blog turning 2 by writing an index...just a collection of facts given in numbers.  (If you read Harper's, you know what I'm talking about.)

Week of Menus Index (modeled after Harper's Index) 

Number of years Week of Menus has existed: 2

Age of Joanne when she started blogging: 36

Total number of published blog posts: 335

Birthdate of the person who originally made me start writing a Week of Menus: 8/10

Price per year of owning domain name www.weekofmenus.com: $17

Minimum number of people required to read the blog: 1

Average number of minutes it takes to write and publish one blog post: 90

Camera lens in millimeters favored by Joanne for photographs: 50

Number of times in a week writer's block stops a post: 1

Highest number of impressions in a single day: 4137

Lowest price paid for mochiko flour: $1.19

Number of times Joanne has been out, met a fan, only to discover her fly open: 3

Number of burners on the stove Joanne cooks on: 4

Number of crazy racist people posting on the blog: 1

Number of times Oprah is mentioned on the blog: 2

Total number of dishes broken in the writing of blog posts: 6

Number of people who help spread the word of the blog: Unknown

To further celebrate and make blog anniversaries more fun - a BLOG GIVEAWAY!  The fantastic and generous folks at CSN stores have offered a $60 gift certificate to one lucky blog reader, valid to use at any of their stores.  Personally I may have to consider getting some new casual plates as I have been breaking quite a few of my nicer dishes in recent days.  CSN stores also have a great selection of dishes, including the very inexpensive and casual Corelle line (remember growing up with these?)

Contest Rules and Regulations

Unfortunately, due to the nature of CSN, this contest is only open to those who live in the US or Canada.  Huge apologies for this.

You can have up to two entries.

Blog Giveaway Details celebrating 2 years!

To enter to win a $60 gift certificate from CSN stores... you MUST do the following:
1. Go to CSN's website and browse their items.

2. Leave a comment below telling me what you'd like to buy with your $60.  (Don't worry, I won't actually hold you to it if you win, but I'd eventually like to know what you bought with your windfall.)  Please make sure you provide a way for me to contact you. (If you're someone I know, I'll figure it out.)

For an extra entry (Each person only qualifies for one additional entry) - THIS IS A SEPARATE COMMENT FROM THE ONE ABOVE!

1. You can have an additional entry if you become a Facebook Fan of Week of Menus.  Click on the link, become a fan, and leave me a comment below saying that you're now a fan!

2. If you are already a fan, you can enter again by telling me what you've cooked recently from the blog and loved  Leave me a comment below. (To keep things fair, new fans may not do this.)

A winner will be chosen at random a week from today.
(I am a former high school English Teacher, so I am bit of a stickler for rules.  Entries which do not follow the instructions will be disqualified.)

Apple Maple Glazed Roasted Drumsticks: Seeing beyond a first impression.

First impressions make an impact on me.  I don't know if it is leftover from the days of teaching high school, where I met more than 150 students on the first day, but I remember first impressions.  Students would stream in, and by the end of a class, I would have mentally sorted students into categories- quiet, loud, rambunctious, studious, difficult, problematic, unknown, and learn more than half their names on the first day, simply based on the impressions.  Most of the time I was very close to the true nature of the student, but there were many times I was not.  People can be surprising many of the time, and first impressions shouldn't be the sole measure of judgement.

But I still do it.  I know I do it.  I try and stop it.  On the first day of Daughters' school, I'll scan the classroom, study the teacher, look at the parents, look at the students and immediately begin sorting in my head - nice mom, smart girl, mean mom, troubled son, uptight mom, nervous girl, friendly mom, friendly daughter.  I try and forget those first impressions because I can be wrong and it can prevent me from getting to know certain people based on the impressions.

And I, of course, have to take a step back and think about the first impressions I give people.  I dress in workout clothing most of the day, so perhaps many think of me as the woman who works out but still is rather roly-poly.  I sometimes don't look in the mirror after I get ready in the morning, so I may look unkempt.  Perhaps some may think of me as the woman who can't get it together.  I also tend to speak sternly to Daughters, so I'm sure I have the reputation of being the mean mom.  Daughter #1's teacher probably also has not such a favorable impression of me, since I reprimanded Daughter #1 recently for not knowing how to spell the word "learning."  Daughter's Teacher probably thinks of me as a super-aggressive helicopter mom.  First impressions, you see are very tricky.  Some portion of all those analyses are true to a certain extent, but there is more to me than what is seen in a first impression.

So I try to remind myself of this when I make my snap judgments based on first impressions.  There is always more behind what is immediately seen, and rarely is a person single-faceted that the can be categorized so quickly. 

Why am I writing about first impressions?  The same goes for food and cooking.  Quite a few readers have been making the Honey Soy Stir Fry Chicken  but not everyone has been getting it right.  Friend HKL called me saying she couldn't get the caramelization to happen, and I encouraged her to give it another whirl, and she did.  The second time, she got it to work.  And she LOVED it.  Thought it was so tasty.  If she hadn't gotten past the first impression, she would have missed out on a really spectacular dish.

I saw a chicken recipe in Nigella Lawson's cookbook, Nigella Express and knew immediately that I wanted to make it. Her version was a mix of ribs and chicken cooked together, and I adapted it to see how it would work.  I was, in short, not thrilled.  I couldn't get the results she promised and instead ended up with a watery sort of chicken instead of one that was beautifully glazed and glossy.  After making it last night, I thought that I'd just let the recipe go and forget about it.

But this morning, I thought about it again.  The chicken had pretty good flavor, just not with the end result Nigella had promised, so I thought I would try it again today.  I'd look past first impressions and give this chicken dish a second chance.

And I'm glad I did.  Today, I got it to do what it was supposed to do - glazed, sticky and beautifully golden and chesntut in color.  And the flavor was so good, it had Daughters and Son doing their crazy, "MORE CHICKEN" chant.  (Four of us polished off 10 drumsticks.  You do the math.)  It is super easy to make, but it requires a LOOONG time in the oven.  Nigella suggested 75 minutes, but mine didn't get to the result it wanted until closer to 100 minutes.  But the end result was so delicious and wonderful I'd do it again and make it an heartbeat.

I'm glad I could see beyond first impressions and get this beautiful second impression.

Apple Maple Glazed Roasted Drumsticks
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's, Nigella Express
Makes 10 drumsticks (serves about 4)

10 chicken drumsticks - about 1 3/4 lbs to 2 lbs
1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened and more tart is better)
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tabelspoons soy sauce
1 cinnamon stick
6 garlic cloves, peeled whole
2 inch long piece of ginger, cut into thin slices

Add apple juice, maple syrup, vegetable oil, soy sauce, cinnamon stick, garlic cloves and ginger pieces to a ziploc bag.  Mix it around.

Add chicken drumsticks.  Seal bag and squish everything around together. Refrigerate and marinate at least 3 hours.  (Can be left in marinade up to two days.) 

Take chicken out of refrigerator and preheat oven to 400 F.  In a heavily foil lined roasting pan (make sure you have several good solid layers of foil, because this will be hard to clean), lay chicken down in a single layer and pour all the marinade over. 

Bake in preheated oven for at least 90 minutes.  You want to see a reduction in the liquid and eventually it will begin bubbling and thickening.  Be patient.  It takes time to get this stage.  Once it does get to this stage, turn the chicken over and around coating all the sides to get the glaze all over it.  Remove from oven when you see a beautiful brown chestnut color and the chicken is all coated.

Serve! Tastes magnificent with Spicy Brussels Sprouts.

Printable recipe

The beautiful glaze just hugs the chicken

Coffee Mochi Cake: Replacing one vice with another

For my brothers and sisters at Cornerstone Community Church who still trust me enough to eat weird experiments such as this.

About a year ago, I confessed to all of my readers (read it here), two of my vices - one was coffee and the other was cussing.  Writing that post, confessing that cussing was something that I loved to do somehow transformed me, for over the past year, I've managed to dramatically reduce the number of profane things that fly out of my mouth.  In my defense, I did not cuss in front of my children, but saved it for the pristine ears of all of my friends who would regularly tell me to chill out.  Realizing that it was causing problems as well as making me look not so wonderful really made me pause and rethink my potty mouth.  After the blog post, I made several periods of concerted effort to stop cursing, and this year, I can say that my cussing is down to a bare minimum.  I save the few choice words and use them when necessary, but no longer is cussing a vice.

I've replaced it with something else.  Mochi cake.  I refuse to give up my other vice coffee and in place of bad words, mochi cake has filled my mouth.  In a flash of inspiration, I thought it would be fun to sort of mix my two vices together - why not!  It's two birds with one stone, in my mouth at the same time.  It seemed perfect in concept, so I set out to make it.

It is often hard to evaluate the success of a dish on your own, so I do rely on a panel of taste testers.  I planned to make it on a day where I would have a wide range of taste testers, and the day happened to be a Friday Town Hall meeting at Church.  I had tasted it before bringing it and thought it very good but needed some more tasters.

The response was overwhelming - people LOVED IT.  I had to stop people from taking more than their share and on more than one occasion had to grab pieces away from people.  This is definitely an adult cake, even if I did make it with decaf instant coffee.  You must like coffee to enjoy this and the flavor mixed with the texture is something special.  This is dense, dark, and strongly coffee flavored.

**Cooking note - the instant coffee I used (found it at Whole Foods)

Coffee Mochi (AKA as Wake Me Up Mochi)
Makes one 9X13 pan, about 24 squares

1 lb box of mochiko flour (3 cups equivalent)
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14 oz cans of coconut milk - not lowfat
1 12 oz can evaporated milk
7 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used decaf, but you can use regular coffee)
5 large eggs
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup of butter) melted and slightly cooled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mochiko flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (4 cup capacity), beat eggs, then add coconut milk, evaporated milk, coffee granules, vanilla extract and melted butter.  Mix to blend until coffee granules are almost all dissolved.

Carefully pour the wet ingredients over the mochiko flour mixture and whisk until mixture is smooth and uniform in texture.

Pour batter into greased 9X13 pan. Carefully smooth out the top.

Bake for 90 minutes, until top is dark brown and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Allow cake to cool for about 30 minutes on a rack, and then carefully flip it out and cut into 24 squares, or the size of your choice. Can store coffee mochi cake for three days, covered.

Printable recipe

The coffee...I paid $8 for one jar.