Fourth of July Experiments =)

I had a wonderful 4th of July this year! It was like no other 4th of July that I've had the last 3 years. This time around it was full of love, food, cuddles and giggles=)

My husband and I did a Barbeque and I decided I'd make the hotdog buns from scratch this time. The picture shows how my hot dog buns turned out.

I love making bread! Such a work of art, easy to make and oh fills your home with such homey feelings! ** Bread recipe below =) **

The top picture is me piping meringue cookies. My husband and I experimented on making calorie free cookies utilizing meringue cookie recipe. We figured that if we can use sugar substitute to make the meringue cookies and flavor it with some vanilla or liquor successfully we'd happily enjoy cookies without the guilt of putting in bazillion unnecessary calories in our bodies!

Anyhow, our experiment was not very successful. We did yield meringue cookies but they were very airy and they disintegrate in your mouth like right that moment you pop them in your mouth! However it was worth the try. It was an exciting yet not very traditional activity for 4th of July.

At some point my husband asked me if I want us to start a tradition for 4th of July and if so what would it be? I blurted out make meringue cookies?! Boy I think of it now and I am not sure that that's the most sensible answer or the most exciting thing to do for us every year or for when we have kids but oh well I was thinking of room for improvement for our airy meringue cookies this year! I just hope that this tradition I picked to do for fourth of July doesn't fire back on me later on. hahaahaha! Or we can change it anytime =) I love that my husband and I can work on things together and put our heads together to make things better.



Hot Dog Bun Recipe:

1/2 C warm water (about 110 C)
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted
2-3 cups Bread Flour
dash of salt

Preheat oven at 400 C.

Combine the first 3 ingredients, stir with fork and let stand for 5 minutes. The mixture will be frothy and bubbly. This is called proofing your yeast. If it's not frothy or bubbly do it again as the yeast was not activated either because it's dead or water temperature was not right. Add the egg and butter and dash of salt. Work in a cup of flour using a fork. Add 1/2 of flour at a time after the first cup has been added. The dough will start to form. Use your hands and knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth. Divide into 4 and roll into logs. Pinch the ends and tuck them underneath. Imagine how a hot dog bun looks like. You can also make burger buns by shaping them into circles and flattening them a little bit. Lay them in a baking non-stick baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel for about 3o minutes to let it rise. Bake at 400 C for about 10 minutes then take it out and brush with egg wash to make it glossy and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Put back in the oven and bake until the tops are golden brown about 10-15 minutes more.

Egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp water mixed together.


Enjoy! =)

Chocolates!!!

Yummmmm!

This was my and my husband's candy project few months ago, both our first time making candies ever! It was lots of fun and quite an experience I must say! After this activity that we shared together we picked up two great lessons:

1. Specialty chocolates have a lot of profit margin to it and
2. Savor every bite =)

I guess you learn to appreciate things better when you know where they come from and how they were made. I had the same lessons learned few years ago when I learned how to make bread. After I made my very first batch of bread that I had to knead and shape by hand, the value of bread was never the same again... I savored every bite each time!=)

Try it sometime and I am pretty sure you will have so much fun working with chocolates. You have to be patient though because the fist few batches don't come out perfect each time. Experimentation is very important.

Pavlova =)

My husband and I watched Australian Master Chef last night and one of their challenges was to make a Pavlova. Out of curiosity and inspiration I made my first Pavlova for dessert today. I over cooked it somehow but it was very tasty. My husband and I ended up eating the whole thing! =)

"Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. (Russian: А́нна Па́влова).^[1] Colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner." (Wiki)

It was very easy to prepare, cheap ingredients and very pretty! Cooking time is a bit long because you have to bake the meringue at 300 C for an hour or until you have that nice crust on the outside yet maintaining that beautiful fluffy meringue inside. It takes some skill but if you can read and follow a recipe you can pretty much get through it and enjoy a beautiful and tasty Pavlova too.

I followed this recipe and it's fairly easy for first timers:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-pavlova/detail.aspx

This recipe reminds me of something similar we have in the Philippines, brazo de mercedes. By the name it doesn't seem very Filipino but I really never know where it came from. All I know is that I loved that cake/dessert when I was a little girl. It has two components: meringue and custard. I have never attempted to make brazo de mercedes myself but if anything not having it around here gives me the urge to make it myself as well as other Filipino dishes and desserts I grew up eating and now just imagining about.

Anyway, I do like the challenge of creating and trying things and this Pavlova I made was surely worth the try. Cooking different kids of food is a lot of fun and very educational which reminds me of my dad. He used to take us out to different restaurants ( Chinese, Japanese, American, Vietnamese, Thai, Italian, French, etc.) because he believed that that is one fun way of learning cultures and countries. I loved that when I was younger up until this time and I would love to do the same for my kids someday =)

Explore. Create. Enjoy!

Have a great day!!!

Pizza Sunday

I'm sorry I missed my journal yesterday but I sure did enjoy my Sunday with my husband =)

We had late lunch and that pizza came out better than I expected it to. It started with craving for pizza then all of a sudden there was like a bubble of memory that popped in my brain somewhere! I thought I'd try to copy that pizza I ate with my family one time when I was still back home (Philippines) some years ago. It was sort of like a barbeque flavored pizza with chicken and the rest I can't even remember! hahahaha!

This is how my pizza came out and so far it was very tasty. My husband kept coming back for more! I did too!

Let me share with you the recipe I used for the pizza crust =)



1 packet of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (about 120 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup flour + 1/4 (for kneading and dusting)
pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil
cornmeal

Activate the yeast by placing it in a mixing bowl large enough to hold all your ingredients. Add sugar and water and whisk or stir with a fork. Let stand for about 5 minutes.

The mixture will be nice and frothy. If not, restart. That means your yeast is dead, old or not active anymore. Water shouldn't be too hot either because it will kill your yeast. Just think of burning yourself with very hot water. Sugar on the other hand serves as food for your yeast to activate and bloom =)

Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT your spare 1/4 cup flour and cornmeal. That's for later when you start kneading your pizza dough or if the mixture is too sticky to handle.

Knead your dough for about 5-7 minutes. Your dough will be very smooth and your muscles all worked up. Spray the sides and bottom of your bowl with cooking spray and place dough back and cover with a damp towel or cling wrap. Let the dough rise until it's double in size.

Dust your work surface with the combination of flour and cornmeal. Cornmeal helps give a crispy finish to your pizza crust.

Punch your dough down the surface and flatten with rolling pin. Shape it however you want.

GO CRAZY WITH YOUR TOPPINGS =)

Bake at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes for not so thin but not so thick crust or until the edges are golden brown.

Bon Appetite!