Mama's Basic Bread

• 1 TB yeast or 1 package [but a little more if making it mostly whole wheat]


• 1/3 C warm water


• pinch of sugar

Mix together in a warm bowl and let it get frothy. It takes 5-10 minutes.

If it doesn't make a "sponge," then you need to add a little more sugar, or you need to keep it warmer, or you need fresher yeast.

Mix in with the yeast:

• Almost 1/3 C oil (or melted butter)
  


• Almost 1/2 C sugar (between 1/3 and 1/2 cup) [You may substitute other sweeteners like molasses or honey or a combination]
  


• 1 TB salt



• 2 C warm liquid [water makes a coarser texture; scalded and cooled milk makes a smoother texture]


• Optional: Can add 1 or 2 eggs and reduce liquid somewhat [Makes whole grain bread lighter]



• 5-6 C flour (don't add all at once) [Can use unbleached white flour, whole wheat, or a combination. Also substitute up to 1 cup of other flour such as rye. If adding soy flour, don't add more than about 2/3 C]

Mix the ingredients except the flour well. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time, kneading well after each addition, either by hand or with a machine.



If you are making whole grain bread, it's better to add less flour than more. Leave your dough somewhat sticky. This results in more moisture.

Turn it over in a large greased bowl so both sides of dough are greased. Cover with plastic wrap and a warm moist towel. Leave in a warm place until almost doubled in size.

Punch down and divide into halves. Knead for a bit, then form into 2 loaves. Put in well greased loaf pans. Again, cover with plastic, leaving room for expansion.

When doubled in size, bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes or until browned and sound hollow when rapped. Alternately, if your dough looks like it may fall, preheat oven to 425 degrees, bake for about 10 min. and then lower to 350 degrees.

Before baking, the crust can be brushed with milk (makes it browner) or with beaten egg. If using egg, you can sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds.

Barcelona Burger

The little alley ways in Barcelona are filled with amazing little shops and restaurants. After a visit to the Picasso Museum my roommate Melissa and I set out to find food. Which was difficult because it was 5:30 and no one eats until 8, so not many places serve meals at that time

But then we stumbled upon this cute little restaurant "PimPam Burguers." I love that every restaurant, store, and pub here are a little "mom and pop" places, unless you go to the touristy areas filled with fast food joints. But this little place was exactly what I needed, Burgers!
The Burgers here are all amazing, with really great juicy patties. None of those thin blackened "hockey pucks," as we called them at Red Robin. And this place was no exception to fresh meat, homemade real potato fries, and a nice cheap draft beer! I know I'm gonna go back, because it was amazing!

under the patty was a delicious little surprise of carmelized onions in some cheesy and buttery sauce, I took it apart for a picture, but it just looks kinda gross here...but it was great


And the wall was covered in these cute drawings!! I love a place with good food even more when it's cute! yay




and I swear next post I'll put up pictures of authentic Spanish food... I had good paella, and it was so yummy I forgot to document.

Whole wheat

Made a whole wheat bread last night, contains all whole wheat, some brown rice and sweetened with honey.  Took the directions from Crust and Crumb and it turned out pretty well!

I Really Like to Make and Eat CRISPS!!

Okay, okay here we go... I take some liberty to add a few things here and there, so this recipe is not only delicious, but flexible for those of you who enjoy experimenting with your cooking!

Ingredients:

2 Rome apples (I used pink ladies this time, just as good)
2 pears
1/2 cup dried cranberries (can use raisins or dried cherries)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons honey (I used a little more)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats (I used a little more)
1/4 cup ground walnuts (I use almonds, plus it adds texture if some of
them are just chopped, not ground)
1/2 cup butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Peel apples and pears and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Combine with dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon flour, honey, and lemon juice. Place mixture in a greased 8x8 inch square baking dish. (I also sprinkled cinnamon over fruit mixture).

2. Blend together 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, oats, nuts, and butter until crumbly. Do not overmix. Sprinkle flour mixture over fruit.

3.Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until brown and crisp on top. About 6 servings. And about 432 calories.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

My name is potato

Gimmie Gummies

Those of you that got Christmas presents from me, probably got one of these babies in the package too:

And then if you visited me shortly after Christmas, you probably got sick on the leftovers with me too. This is my favorite “bad” candy. You have all the staples of a good meal: pizza, hamburgers, fries, hotdog, and two bottles of coke to wash it down.

And they taste dreadful. Like candy flavored Styrofoam. I just get some kind of regressive childhood pleasure out of eating candy shaped like junk food. It makes me happy.

Now imagine my awe when I saw this lovely item in the store:

That’s right, MEXICAN DINNER GUMMI! Complete, all the way down to the cliché Mexican kid in a sombrero! All your favorites are here:

Starting at the top you have Tortilla (I think Spain style, as I have never seen a tortilla like that in my life), frijoles, and huevos rancheros. Then as sides, feast yourselves on: A chile, taco, coke, corn on the cob, some kind of fruit drink, and a drink that looks like lemonade. And look at that adorable Mexican style packaging!

How do they taste you ask? Fucking awful. It is like they forgot to even add the sugar to their Styrofoam mix. They aren’t sweet, and I get the distinct impression I shouldn’t swallow something so obviously unnatural.

The “drink that looks like lemonade” actually turned out to be tamarindo flavored. For those of you that are fans of the citrus-spicy flavor of fake tamarindo, it may satisfy.

Why oh why did I buy a dozen of these. If you want one let me know!

You win some, you lose some.

Finished an otherwise excellent dinner tonight with a scoop of bacon ice cream with the Jocy & the Luis. Let's just say: some things are better off without a liberal dose of bacon grease. Many hours later and my gut is still feeling it.
Tapalaya verdict: Stick with the pulled pork and the steak specials and steer clear of any dairy/pork combos.

NY OH YEAH

Went to New York last month and am just now getting pics off my camera. Woo hoo. All in all, I can say my trip focused primarily on food, shopping and museums. Kind of in that order. Oh, and staying warm I guess, but that's kind of boring.
Anyway, we ate lots, including some fantastic indian food, lots of pizza (of course), tapas and much more, but I know you've been DYING to hear what the food highlights were for me so here you go, my fellow eaters!

1. CUPCAKES
Totally addicted. Who knew portable cake would entice me so?
Magnolia: my first. YUMMY
Mystery place: EVEN BETTER. I don't know where it was from, but someone gave it to me so I ate it.
Butter Lane: THE BEST. I haz banana bread, pb frosting and some marshmallows on top.

from bakingupchaos.blogspot.com

from myowncrappycamera.com

2. Some little banh mi place.
Kicked Best Baguette in the butt. Could have used a little more jalepeño, but everything else (bread, meat, lemongrass) was much fresher, generous and more fragrant. I have no idea what the place was called, but Felicia made me screen shoot our location on the map, so maybe you could get all jiggy and LOCATE.

you are here

3. CHICAGO DOGS
Not actually in NY, but seriously; feel like I've been missing out all my life on something so beautiful and amazing. We ate one on our layover (guess where!) and I had to go back for a second. TRUE STORY: I brought it back to my seat, unwrapped it & started cooing at it. The lady sitting next to me turned around and gasped aloud in wonder. Then she tried to show me her pb cookie but I was totally NOT impressed. Anyway, these "chicago dogs" have tomato, cucumbers, dill pickles, relish, pickled peppers, celery salt and god know what else. Crispy, fresh, tangy. I WANT ONE NOW. I tried to find one in p-town (Michael's) and it was pretty good (not the same.) But Michael's has some other amazing things, but I guess that's a different post.

i wanna move in with you, chicago dog

4. PIO PIO
Peruvian roasted chicken with some AWESOME green sauce. James ate too much of it though and I got pissed.

from www.piopionyc.com

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Most duckie: Chef Ho's Peking Duck: Chinese duck that they slice up and serve to you in crepe/pancakes type things. Very interesting, but I don't know if I'm that into duck.

Most noodley: Naruto Ramen: Yummy miso noodle bowl with lots of corn.

Seattle Hamburger Project: Skillet Street Food

The traveling Skillet van was on my hamburger list, probably due to this little creation: Bacon Jam.

I bought Noël one of these to help her with her waffle quest, and was a little disappointed to find out it wasn't an actual jam with a gelatin base, but more of a relish, made with onions, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar.

But it was still pretty good on crackers and Noël's Christmas waffles, so I needed to find a time to get to the van. The problem was, that it travels around and usually in the Seattle area, not the Eastside, although I heard rumors that they came out to Microsoft some days. So to find them, I signed up for their facebook page, so I would get their locations before they went out, so I could plan around it.

Then one day in the Month of February, they posted they would be out in Woodinville for a wine tasting, so we organized a trip. After driving around Woodinville on some strange GPS generated wild goose chase, we found it and saw the line:

I hate lines. The hamburger better be good, to be worth standing in line with so many snobby rich eastside wine tasters. Over an hour in line, we finally got our order in.


I ordered the hamburger with some chipotle mac & cheese, and Natalie got the Vietnamese sandwich with fries. And I ordered us both the drink of the day with was cucumber, citrus, mint and Fresca all together. It sounded interesting.
It was a pretty good meal, you can see the photos below. The hamburger tasted like a homemade one, the patty was very good, with some blue cheese, arugula and the jam. And a really nice bun. Natalie's sandwich was good, and the mac and cheese as just a little spicy, to make it interesting. The drinks, tasted like ground up cucumber. It was good insomuch that cucumber is good, but the other ingredients didn't seem to do much.
Overall it was good, but worth that wait? I don't really think so. Order some of their jam online, and make your own hamburger at home without the wait....but then the prep time is longer than the wait...so who knows. It is quite the pickle.

Like spotting Bigfoot

One of the few known photos of food created by Natalie. This is stir fry.