Sunday, December 19, 2010

Fashion wishes

Winter already cover some corners of the earth, not in Indonesia btw. Hahaha.
But im in love with winter style thingy. So here is some cutie fashion stuff i really want to have. From Topshop and Zara. Do you like it too?












Well to be honest theres alot on my folder, stuff that i wanna have, but for this post i just share this 10. What do you thing? anyone will give me? LOL.
Enjoy your winter (christmas and new year eve) all!! Have a great end of year!

Menu Plan Monday - Christmas Week!


This week I am going to be posting a lot of scheduled blog posts! Tuesday we are leaving for Tennessee to visit our dear friends Sarah and Mike. Sarah is the author of Sarah's Heart's Home so be sure to check out her blog as well. So when you see a time stamp of 12:01am on my posts, no I was not up at 12:01am posting! lol I typed most of these out on Sunday during some free time while hubby was gone for a meeting at church.

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. I finally got my presents wrapped on a snow day we had on Thursday. I still have one gift en-route so hopefully it gets here soon, it's for the hubby. :)

My menu plan this week is basically going to be non-existent! I am so looking forward to see Sarah and her 3 beautiful kids and I am sure we will be eating lots of yummy food, we always do!

So even though it doesn't look like much, here is my Menu Plan for this week.

Monday - Enchiladas (I think these have been on my menu for like 3 weeks, and I have yet to make them! Hopefully nothing comes up on Monday and I will finally get to, lol!).
Tuesday - Leaving for Tennessee until Friday!
Friday - Eating on the road
Sabbath(Christmas) - David's parents for lunch/supper
Sunday - Leftovers

Have a wonderful Christmas week/weekend! Remember, He is the Reason for the Season.


Baked


My cigar-smoking, power-lifting son (he’s the one in the middle of this picture but the other two, his dear friends Phil and Jerry might as well be called my sons also) inherited my penchant for cooking and baking. He lives in New York City and has a wide circle of friends, so it is not unusual for him to host a dinner party at his house or take a dish to a party. We have frequent phone conversations about what we are both cooking today, what we want to cook tomorrow or what we cooked yesterday. You get the picture.

He reads my blog (haha, at least I know someone does!) and decided to make those sweet and salty brownies from Baked that I told you about recently. He had a party to attend and thought they might be a hit.

http://nevertrustaskinnycook1.blogspot.com/2010/11/best-thing-i-ever-ate.html

Were they ever! I got an email and a picture from him with the comment “these are amazing.” He was pretty modest about it, but I’ll bet my last dollar he was the hit of the party.

He also made the pilgrimage from the city to Red Hook, Brooklyn the other day, solely for the purpose of visiting Baked (see blog entry above for more details about this place). He rarely eats flour or sugar these days but he made an exception for their Sweet and Salty Cupcake. Good call, Andy!

So here I am to give you their recipe for Sweet and Salty Cake. It was one of the three I made for that birthday party last week. It was amazing. Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, (owners and creators of Baked) I bow down in humble appreciation to you. Thanks for publishing your cookbooks!


SWEET AND SALTY CAKE (from “Baked, New Frontiers in Baking”)

For the cake:
¾ cup dark cocoa powder (I used Valrhona)
1 ¼ cups hot water
2/3 cup sour cream
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (I used Kosher salt)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup vegetable shortening, softened
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature (I used extra-large)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans, line bottoms and sides with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Dust with flour, knocking out excess.

In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa powder, hot water and sour cream and set aside to cool.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until ribbonlike, about 5 minutes. Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds.

Add the flour mixture, alternating with the cocoa mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pans halfway during baking, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each layer comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes then invert onto a cooling rack. Remove pan and cool completely, then peel off parchment.

For the salted caramel:
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fleur de sel
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
¼ cup sour cream

In a small saucepan, combine the cream and fleur de sel. Bring to a simmer over very low heat until salt is dissolved.

Meanwhile, keeping a close eye on the cream mixture so it doesn’t burn, in a medium saucepan combine ¼ cup water, sugar and corn syrup, stirring carefully so as not to splash sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350-degrees or until the mixture is dark amber in color, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute.

Add the cream to the sugar mixture. Whisk in the sour cream. Let the caramel cool to room temperature, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the cake.

For the whipped caramel ganache frosting:
1 pound dark chocolate (60 to 70% cacao), chopped
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into ½-inch pieces

Put the chocolate into a large heatproof bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over very low heat.

Meanwhile, keeping a close eye on the cream mixture so it doesn’t burn, in a medium saucepan combine ¼ cup water, sugar and corn syrup, stirring carefully so as not to splash sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until an instant-read thermometer reads 350-degrees or until the mixture is dark amber in color, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool 1 minute.

Add the cream to the caramel and stir to combine. Stir slowly for 2 minutes, then pour the caramel over the chocolate. Let the caramel and chocolate sit for 1 minute the, starting in the center of the bowl and working your way out to the edges, slowly stir in a circle until the chocolate is completely melted. Let mixture cool the transfer to the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment.

Mix on low speed until the bowl feels cool to the touch. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually add the butter, beating until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and beat on high speed until mixture is fluffy.

To assemble the cake:
Fleur de sel

Place on cake layer on a serving platter. Spread ¼ cup of the caramel over the top. Let caramel soak into the cake, then spread ¾ cup of the frosting over the caramel. Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel, the top with second cake layer and repeat. Top with third layer and spread with caramel. Crumb coat the cake with a very thin layer of frosting and refrigerate for 15 minutes to firm up the frosting. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting and garnish with more fleur de sel.

This cake will keep well for up to 3 days in a cool and humid-free place. It can be refrigerated, but let sit at room temperature for a least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 12












Alright, so let's just deal with this now.  I am not Rachael Ray (thank goodness, although I wouldn't mind her salary) and I'm not always about easy recipes or 30 minute meals.  This recipe will take you some time and it's not exactly easy.  You certainly can't produce it in 30 minutes.  You have to make caramel twice and you might read this and say to yourself "it's just not worth it."  Oh, but it is!  If you are going to knock yourself out and make a homemade layer cake, it's well worth your time and trouble to make this one.  Trust me!

Winter is coming...


You remember that I told you I was doing something for this issue of Miau Magazine, don't you? So this is it, a photoshoot about winter and how fun and fashionist it could be... check here some pictures of the making of and the girls!


 
 
 

Dina, Jana and Clara were the gorgeous models of this session. Dídac made the pictures and Vane helped me with the outfits, as Jana helped Dídac with the pictures. We had lots of fun that day!

 Dina
 Clara
Jana

Here you can see some pictures we didn't use for the issue, but that I really love too. Enjoy!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Moving to MS Outlook

I've used Qualcomm's Eudora email client since the 90s. Sadly, I just can't use it any more. Qualcomm no longer supports it and the new version, based on Mozilla, is an open source piece of junk that won't import my old email. Due to hard drive crashes, I've got email chunks all over the place and the new Eudora can't pull them all together.

I've never liked Outlook, but today I had to pay for it and downloaded Outlook 2010. It's a sad day in the Catican.

Winter Hike


On Thursday we had another snow storm come through southern Ohio, and with it about 5-6 inches of more snow. Both of my schools called snow days, so we decided to to take the dogs for a much needed walk with David's mom and her two dogs. We loaded everyone up in the truck and headed to a local metro park down the road.

As expected, the dogs had a wonderful time and enjoyed playing with their doggy friends Apollo and Annie.


Click on the collage to see it larger, if you want! We had a blast even though it was cold! I think I had three layers on, I felt like I couldn't move! haha


Spicy Tegal Soup Traditional Style (Soto Tegal)

Spicy Tegal Soup Traditional Style (Soto Tegal)

150 g chicken breast boiled, fried, and cubed
100 g cow's heart boiled, fried, and cubed
100 g tripe boiled, fried, and cubed
150 g boiled chicken intestine, fried
750 ml stock
100 g bean sprouts, blanched, drain
5 tbsp sliced green onion
3 tbsp fried sliced shallots
2 tbsp fermented soybean (miso)
2 tbsp oil for sauteing

Spices :

3 tbsp sliced shallots
1 tbsp sliced garlic
5candlenuts
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbsp sliced boiled red chilies
2 1/2 tbsp sliced capsicums
1 tsp sliced galangal
2 salam leaves/bay leaves
1 stalk lemon grass
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Sambal Tauco :

1 tbsp sliced red chilies
1 tbsp fermented soybean (miso)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
To make the sauce : Blend all the spices. Put oil in the pan, saute the paste over medium heat, add fermented soybean, salam leaves, lemon grass, sugar, and salt as seasoning.

Boil the stock over medium heat, put the seasoning and continue boiling for 10 minutes, turn off the heat.

In a serving bowl, put bean sprouts, chicken pieces, entrails, and green onion. Pour the hot sauce and serve immediately.

Serve with sambal tauco and sliced lime.

To make sambal tauco : blend red chilies, fermented soybean (miso), and sugar into a paste. Put oil in a pan, saute the paste over medium heat until done.

Spicy Tegal Soup Traditional Style (Soto Tegal)

Spicy Tegal Soup Traditional Style (Soto Tegal)

150 g chicken breast boiled, fried, and cubed
100 g cow's heart boiled, fried, and cubed
100 g tripe boiled, fried, and cubed
150 g boiled chicken intestine, fried
750 ml stock
100 g bean sprouts, blanched, drain
5 tbsp sliced green onion
3 tbsp fried sliced shallots
2 tbsp fermented soybean (miso)
2 tbsp oil for sauteing

Spices :

3 tbsp sliced shallots
1 tbsp sliced garlic
5candlenuts
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tbsp sliced boiled red chilies
2 1/2 tbsp sliced capsicums
1 tsp sliced galangal
2 salam leaves/bay leaves
1 stalk lemon grass
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Sambal Tauco :

1 tbsp sliced red chilies
1 tbsp fermented soybean (miso)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
To make the sauce : Blend all the spices. Put oil in the pan, saute the paste over medium heat, add fermented soybean, salam leaves, lemon grass, sugar, and salt as seasoning.

Boil the stock over medium heat, put the seasoning and continue boiling for 10 minutes, turn off the heat.

In a serving bowl, put bean sprouts, chicken pieces, entrails, and green onion. Pour the hot sauce and serve immediately.

Serve with sambal tauco and sliced lime.

To make sambal tauco : blend red chilies, fermented soybean (miso), and sugar into a paste. Put oil in a pan, saute the paste over medium heat until done.

LA Towers


I took this photo while at Adobe MAX a few months ago.