Easy. Delicious. Vanilla. Cupcakes.

Hi Everyone,
I apologize for not posting any new desserts let alone any crafts for the kiddos. As usual, work, son's school activities are always present in my daily life, but I still love to blog as it is my little getaway from the real world. I'm pretty much tucked away in the home office right now while my son, dog and hubby are busy watching television and playing with our dog.

Anyhow, My son's 7th birthday is coming up and I always find that buying a huge sheet cake always goes to waste after each party. I was thinking this year (next month is his birthday) that why don't I try to bake regular cupcakes from scratch and ditch the "semi-homemade" recipes for a bit.

Trust me, homemade is always the best as you can taste the difference from a store bought cake mix versus making your own, yes, it is time consuming, BUT the taste is so delicious!

I researched high and low for a really good standard vanilla cupcake recipe that both adults & children would like. I came across this one from a blog called Brown Eyed Baker. I've pasted the link below to the actual recipe. The cupcake recipe is adapted from Cooks Illustrated, but the frosting is from Brown Eyed Baker
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2010/10/28/vanilla-cupcakes-vanilla-buttercream-frosting/

The cake itself turned out really, really good according to my test panel which consisted of my hubby, son and a few of my co-workers! However, the butter cream frosting turned out overly sweet for my taste, but that can be easily adjusted to your sweetness (which I'll reflect in the measuring).

All in all, this recipe is a keeper! As my son's birthday approaches, I'll have to re-post some new pictures with the Disney Cars 2 cupcake rings and Checkered Flags on the cupcake.. so Stay Tuned!!

Ingredients:

Yields: 12 Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

Vanilla Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar  ( I changed this measurement from the original 2 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

4. Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

5. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip in the mixer before using.

Let the cupcakes cool on the wire rack for about 30 minutes before frosting.

YUM!!! I hope you try making the Vanilla Cupcakes for a party or simple dinner at home! 

Cheers,

Darlene

The Kitchen: Family Time



I'm always in the kitchen, from the moment I come home from work until about after dinner is done. The kitchen to me is a special "hangout" where my hubby and our son, ok.. including our dog as well gather and talk about anything under the sun. It's a cozy spot in the house where we just ask each other ..." so, how was your day?" , that question turns into laughter, our eating nook turns into a place for homework and other crafts.

As I'm in the kitchen, my son loves to interact with me while I'm prepping food or even cooking. However, sometimes I get a little too distracted and I could be adding another cup or teaspoon of an ingredient and my whole dish/baking item would be all wrong.. so... I needed to find a way for him to be busy with something else BUT also still have him in the kitchen to keep me company.

I'd like to share this post I saw from this other blog http://spoonful.com

Below are some great ideas to still interact with your children while you are in the kitchen making meals!

1. Mini Snack Cabinet : I currently don't have this right now in my kitchen (as I'm lacking storage, but that's another blog post - haha) but I do have a huge basket full of goodies on top of my breakfast nook that my son peeks in there to grab a snack.




Let the kids cure their own snack attacks by placing some plastic dishes and snacks in a designated self-service area. Select the items together and put them in a lower cabinet or on a low shelf in the refrigerator so the kids can easily reach them. Add a few rules if you need to such as no eating an hour before dinner. And keep a cloth towel or a roll of paper towels down low as well for self-service cleanup.

 

 

2. Chalkboard Nook: I currently have one next to my pantry but it is a little high for my son to doodle and it's not a really big chalkboard, there's no room to draw big images if needed too, I might have to shop for a better one.

                                                                                         

                                                                      

Turn the side of a kitchen island or an open stretch of wall into a doodling nook by hanging a chalkboard at a child's height.While you're busy working, kids can draw or leave funny jokes and messages to one another.

Cheers,

Darlene          

say what? Bol-go-ki ?

Happy New Year! My first post for 2013! Sorry I have been out of the loop lately. Still dealing with post christmas and new years celebration.

I would like say Hi to my new followers Josine and Laurie! (Waves) .. Thanks for following my small blog.

In today's post, I guarantee you this will be a super easy recipe that you can whip up in under an hour!
As described on the title of this post, your probably wondering, what word is "bolgoki"? (pronounced Bol-Go-Kee), it's actually a Korean dish that usually consists of grilled marinated beef, chicken or pork.
I, however will show you a faster way to make this dish without too much measuring, actually there's no measuring at all (my kind of recipes)!

As you know, I'm a working mom and scrabbling of what to put on the dinner table is always a hassle. One day, I was shopping at the grocery store and came upon this bottle named " Wonnie's Bolgoki Sauce". I stared at it and was thinking what can I do with this at home? so since I love Korean food, I ended up getting some chicken thighs or drumsticks (whichever you prefer).

So, basically here's this simple recipe. Pair this with newly cooked rice and kimchi on the side and your good to go! Trust me on this, it is super yummy, even your kids will love this.

Ingredients:
1 bottle of Wonnie's Bolgoki Sauce (Beware, there is a SPICY one, don't get that unless you can handle it!), It is very spicy for me.
1-2 lbs of either drumstick, thighs or chicken breasts
1 13x9 baking dish
Mushrooms (optional)
Sweet onion (sliced into rings) - Optional
Green Onion, for garnish

1. Wash the chicken and pat dry with paper towel.
2. Place the chicken in a baking dish.
3. Open the Wonnie's Bolgoki Sauce, and pour the sauce over the chicken pieces. I love this sauce, as it has garlic, black/white sesame seeds and all the other goodness that makes this sauce so good!

4. Marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. After 15 mins in the ref, I usually turn the chicken pieces over so the other side also gets the sauce marinated as well.
5. In the meantime, while the chicken is in the refrigerator, I added mushrooms, just to give the dish some texture. Cook the mushroom until tender/soft for about 15 minutes. Set Aside. At this point, if you choose to add sweet onion, you can slice it and set aside.

5. 10 minutes to pulling out the chicken from the refrigerator, Preheat the oven to 375.
6. Pull out the chicken, and cover with foil. Place the marinated chicken (along with sauce) in the oven.
7. After about 35 minutes, add the cooked mushrooms and the sweet onions at this point. Cover again with Foil and bake again for another 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.

Please forgive me as I do not have a picture of the finished dish, my phone died!

Serve this with warm rice (white or brown rice will do) and a side of Kimchi! I hope one day you'll be able to try this recipe and also find the Bolgoki sauce at your local grocery store.

Cheers!

Darlene

Baking on a rainy day...

It's been raining in the bay area for about 2 days in a row and I'm kind of getting tired of it already. However, what better way to use your time in the house besides doing laundry or sprucing up your home to get ready for the holidays?

Well, it's baking time for me! When I use to live in the Philippines, My sister and I get so excited to eat these filipino delicacies, they only come out during Christmas time. My grandmother's house was so close to the church that after we would be done with church, we were so excited to buy & eat these desserts, one being "bibingka" (pronounced: bee-bee-ing-ka) which is Rice cake and two "puto-bum-bong" (which is a steamed glutinous rice (puto) cooked in bamboo (bumbong).

For today, I will be sharing this very easy dish. There are so many variations of this Bibingka, there are some that have coconut milk, salted eggs etc. This dessert is often eaten mid-afternoon with tea or right after dinner. I have a thing for "mochi" (japanese rice cake made with glutinous rice). So, the consistency of my bibingka will be like that, this is not a cake consistency bibingka. Either way, you will love this dessert!

So let's get to the ingredients:

1 box Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour
3 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 stick melted margarine or butter
4 eggs beaten
1 Tbsp of margarine or butter (to spread on the baking dish)
9 x 13 baking pyrex glass dish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Crack the eggs and by using a fork, beat then until completely mixed. Set aside

3. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in 30 second increments until the butter is melted but not burned!

4. Grab pyrex dish, and spread the 1 tbsp of butter, NOT the melted butter that you just did in Step  3.

5. In a deep bowl, Pour the milk, beaten eggs, baking powder and sugar. Mix completely with a whisk.

6. Then, Add the whole box of Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour in the mixture and stir until mixed.

                

7. After mixing it, pour the mixture in the buttered 9 x 13 pyrex dish and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350 deg F. 

The Bibingka will pretty much make it's debut (it will smell really good) in your home after about 30 minutes or so and you will be tempted to pull this out, but don't! Let it bake in the oven the full 50 minutes please.

8. Once you noticed the edges and the middle is starting to turn golden brown, you can pull it out and let it rest on a cooling rack for a good 15 minutes. You will notice that when it comes out from the oven, it's "poofed" in appearance, it will go down and settle. 

I tend to eat the corners first, that's just me though. I usually have to fight for it between my husband and I! anyway, hope you bake this one day and give it a try. Let me know what you think! 

Thanks,

Darlene

GlassBlock Light Display

Happy Holidays! I apologize for not being on here as much as I wanted too. Been busy with son's school activities and work.. typical day for me.
I've been trying to add more crafts on this blog but I just can't seem to find the right time to do it. Speaking of Crafts, I was given this as a Christmas Gift and I was totally blown away by how pretty it was! It's a Glass Block/lights display! (not really sure what would you call it?) BUT it's super creative and beautiful!
I was a little afraid that it will heat up, but to my surprise, the block is warm but it does not get too warm that it will burn (then we may have to call the Fire department for that matter -lol). You can also add other lights (colored), the one that was given to me, had just steady clear white lights, it does not matter, I love it!

If you attempt to do this craft, here is what you'll need is what I was told:

strand lights that will fit into the block - probably 10-15 inches
bow maker, or you can simply make one
Glue Gun
Christmas ornaments
Wired Ribbon (Any colored ribbon)
Glass Blocks ( Home Depot has it sold with 4-5 in a package)
Diamond Cutter

I don't have any step by step pictures to show you, but just passing along instructions from what I gathered from the person who gave it to me:

Directions:
1. Start with the diamond cutter. Cut a round circle to have enough space to have the lights enter the block.
2. Take the ribbon and wrap it (like a cross), then hot glue it
3. Make the bigger ribbon (refer to instructions manual) on top by using a ribbon maker, once you got the size and it's done, hot glue that on top of the (crossed ribbon)
4. To add trinkets, take any colored christmas ornaments and hot glue them as well.
5. Lastly, insert your lights and the plug left out so you can insert that to the wall outlet
6. Once completed, plug it into the wall and there you have it! A Glass/Block Light Display

Here's the information on the creators of this: 
Mollie & Michael Broussard
650-996-6897
mollieb2000@aol.com

that's the small hole to insert the lights

isn't that beautiful? 

here it is, under my christmas tree!

What to do with Empty Jars?

Yes, we all have it in our kitchen whether it be empty spaghetti bottles, water bottle, baby jars and your wondering what to do with them? California is really big on recycling things so what better way to do so by recycling those bottles and turn them into beautiful art!

I was suppose to show you a craft that you can do with your kids in this post but I realized I was missing a couple of things needed to complete it, I was going to make a snow globe but that will be for another post, sorry about that!

In the meantime, I'm sharing some ideas on what to do with those empty jars you have at home instead of throwing them back in the recycle bin!

I've gathered some of my favorite ones:

Silouhette Jars from laurenelisecrafted.com

Glowing Firefly Jars from www.curbly.com

Vintage Photo Jar from http://shannoneileenblog.typepad.com

Terranium

Chalk Jar from diycraftyprojects

Polka Dot Jar/Luminary from savedbylovecreations.com

Floating candles emmalinebride.com

Decoupage Jars arrowandapple.com

Crowd Pleaser: Sushi Bake

Yes, you heard that right SUSHI BAKE.

I was first introduced to this delicious dish when I attended my son's kindergarten potluck last year. I saw kids and parents just diving for this one after the other. I was curious to see what it taste like and I was so lucky to even had one!

After trying it, I went on a hunt in the parish hall to see who brought that Sushi Bake!

I finally found that person (thanks Pia!) whom I immediately asked for the recipe. She was not hesitant to share the recipe where she got it from http://www.yummysf.com/sushi-bake/ but she was right, it is very easy to prepare and make.

The ingredients in the Sushi Bake can be changed from time to time depending on the type of crowd you'll be in, like for example, some may not like tobiko (fish roe eggs) or baby shrimp. You can definitely change it up (for filipino breakfast plate lovers, try spam and eggs!).

To see another version of this sushi bake, you can visit my co-worker's blog at
http://www.naturallyblissful.blogspot.com/2012/10/sushi-bake.html

For this particular Sushi Bake that I'm posting, you will need:

Sushi Wrappers (flavored or Non-flavored) - I used non-flavored
1/2 cup mayonnaise or japanese mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
3-4 cups of chopped imitation crab (which I used) OR 3 cans of real crab in water (drained)
1 bottle of Furikake seasoning
Cooked White rice

1. Preheat Oven to 375.
                                                         
2. Chop the imitation crab

3. Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream together like so :

4. Next, spread the cooked rice all over your 13 x 9 pyrex dish, pat it down with your rice spoon. I usually like to have more of the crab mixture and less rice, so I probably made the height of the rice about 1/2 inch (that's just how our family likes it).

5. Take your crab mixture and pour that over the cooked rice, making sure it's evenly spread across the rice.

6. Next, take your Furikake seasoning, and as for me, I like to start pouring (the whole bottle) starting from the sides but it's up to you really! I just wanted to make sure that the corners are taken care of :-) I have a tendency to start with corners when I bake (ex. brownies).

                    

7. Place the prepared pyrex dish in the oven. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes.

8. While the sushi bake is in the oven, open your Nori Sushi Wrapper and grab one sheet. With scissors, cut and make 4 squares (as shown below) set aside:

9. Your probably already smelling the smoked aroma from the furikake seasoning by now! Ok, time to pull out the sushi bake (after 20 minutes have passed or your timer has told you). You can cool it for about 10 minutes but I really don't wait for that (lol).

10. Take a tablespoon and place it in the wrapper, fold it and then .. well, you have to try this recipe and let me know what you think!

This is definitely a CROWD PLEASER!