Desserts As a Sweet Sendoff For Mouse & Squirrel

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure to participate in a couple close friends' wedding - but not as a bridesmaid. The lovely couple have affectionate nicknames for each other - Mouse (she) & Squirrel (he) of which they take complete ownership. How did my participation come to pass?

A few months prior to the wedding day, the bride-to-be emailed me asking whether or not I'd be willing to make some mini desserts as part of her desserts table for the reception. My initial reaction was to panic but then I took a deep breath & considering I've been down this path before - I built up some confidence & gladly accepted the offer. We were brainstorming back and forth and Mouse decided that she wanted some mini fruit pies & fudgy peanut butter brownies. Despite the fact that it's been YEARS since I've made a pie completely from scratch I was confident I could pull through with it. I spent a few weeks scouring the internet for inspiration & recipes for both the mini pies & the brownies. I feel like I went into sugar shock just from visual digestion.


I tried to relax the week leading up to the day. My mantra was "don't sweat the little things" - which I probably shared with Mouse on more than a few occasions. I thought about breaking up the baking into 2 days - the entire day prior & then the morning of the wedding but then I realized I didn't want to be in a last minute panic so I opted to do a marathon baking session the entire day prior to the wedding. The wedding was Saturday which left all day Friday to assemble & bake everything but I wanted to get the pie crusts ready on Thursday night so they would have sufficient time to rest & chill. (Did I mention I was planning a birthday dinner for one of my closest friends on THAT Thursday too?)


I had a pretty late start on Friday but I did manage to take some breaks here & there so I wouldn't be a zombie for the wedding & reception. Everyone who has tried my desserts knows that I tend to cut back on the sugar called for in most recipes which I again strove for because I knew that most of the guests would just not be that keen on something cloyingly sweet. My least favorite aspect of my project of love would be peeling & chopping the apples for the pies because it was so time-consuming. My most favorite aspect of my project of love would be baking the brownies. (From scratch brownies are SO EASY & SO convenient because it's a 1 bowl & you're done thing.) Mouse requested fudgy rather than cakey brownies and I was so nervous that they wouldn't turn out as requested but when I made the 1st cut to divvy up the brownies to package I was relieved to see the perfect fudginess quotient.

Saturday afternoon I was out the door on a mission to deliver the goods!When I arrived, Nancy, the wedding coordinator, was buzzing around the venue with her assistants & the other vendors setting up the eco-chic & eclectic wedding/reception venue - a dance of choreographed organization.

To my Mouse & Squirrel, thank you for the chance to participate in a unique way in your special day. I am blessed & honored to count you both as loved ones. My sincere prayer of blessings upon your future together as husband and wife were baked into every pie & brownie. =)

assembling the mini pies

cooling the mini pies

it's like a basket of butter

peanut butter swirl brownies

someone invent smellovision for the internets please... or scratch & sniff

the desserts table 

my brownies on display!

my pies on display!

A Rare Break at Home

I know I know... I've been so inactive on here. I must try to make time to blog more often - time to catch up on my food projects! A couple months ago I spent a day off at home rarely enough - and I did nothing. Well, relatively nothing - I made some cookies & baked some potato chips for the heck of it.

I "threatened" my shop foreman at work with cookies the previous day. I do not make idle threats when it comes to food. I have this need to feed people (I get it from my mom) - so to say "thanks for putting up with my random car repair questions & my hovering over your shoulder while do some complicated wiring work" I decided to make him some cookies. I set my mind on my go to cookie - oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip.

I ended up just shy of 5 dozen cookies (a few were swiped by my resident guinea pig - my dad). I boxed them up getting ready to take them to work the next day split them up into 2 boxes. One box for my shop foreman and the rest of my team of technicians and one box for one specific technician on my team... Why? Because I am bribing a painfully shy but super nice technician to talk to me at work about stuff other than work! (He also happens to be a chocolate fiend.) Is it wrong that I pretty much paying him to engage in conversation with me? =P

The cookies came out pretty soft - I made the batter early in the day

 I usually let the batter refrigerate for at least a full day before making a batch

The cookies were still happily consumed

I decided I was going to try my hand at homemade potato chips too - my mind wanders when I brainstorm about food to make. I busted out my trusty Japanese mandoline (cuz my knife skills are so-so and I wanted the slices to be uniform & thin) and sliced away while being mindful not to slice off my thumb in the process. And my qualms about my oven were confirmed - uneven temperatures! My parents will think I'm crazy for wanted to put in some unglazed ceramic tiles on the floor of the oven (they just won't understand) but really it's the best way I can think of to regulate the oven temperature inside without investing in a pizza stone (which is basically a big thick unglazed tile anyway). There I gave up a free kitchen tip.  =P

Some were super crispy. some were chewy... but overall it was good

The cookies were all consumed within the first few hours of work - MUAHAHAHAHA. I think some of the guys were too excited about the cookies, consumed too many too fast and ended up with stomachaches well into lunchtime - booo! Now I'm getting requests to bring in some more homemade food from the guys... HAHAHA.

Mary Not Martha

This past weekend I had the privilege of feeding 65 people. Yep. 65. Originally the count was 40 and then it slowly ballooned from there. Why would I put myself through that exercise in torture? The annual retreat for the English Ministry at my church that's why... On the surface, sure it's not easy but I thrive on feeding large groups of people - I have a heart to feed people. While I was not happy with the venue (for reasons that I will not state here but for those in the know, already know - I know, vague but... I don't really want to venture down that tangent) in a way it worked out b/c I was already familiar with the area.

Last year I focused entirely too much on physically feeding everyone... This year I really tried to balance between meal prep versus sitting down & soaking in the message.

Unlike last year when I had considerably more free time on my hands (aka unemployed) this year I had only time to make 2 shopping trips. I drafted my shopping list and then re-drafted it after I had to tweak the menu to accommodate some dietary restrictions. I try to make sure each meal is well-rounded but I try to tailor the meals to my senior pastor's tastes = meat. He needs to keep up his energy levels! I had a budget that I was really trying to stick to which meant I really had to force myself to simplify the meals and not get too creative.

Breakfast: 2 mornings of cereal & milk or oatmeal along with a side of fruit. Lunch: hot dogs (bacon wrapped) and make your own sandwiches on the last day, dinner - Guiness Beef Stew.

Last year I tried the beef stew and it didn't really turn out stew-like... more like soup. I already knew what I had to do to fix it so this year, I decided to make it again (I wavered between beef stew & turkey chili). I prepped and made everything the night before with some help. (SHOUT OUT TO MY HELPERS!!!! AG & J - COULDN'T HAVE DONE EVERYTHING IN A TIMELY FASHION WITHOUT YOU GUYS!!)
I purposely made the stew a little bland - I personally don't like a lot of salt in my food so I figured people could adjust to their own tastes.

Originally I planned to make a savory bread pudding for Saturday morning's breakfast (cheesy, custardy eggs soaking in bread swimming with crumbled bacon) BUT when we got there I found out the kitchen didn't have an oven... I was familiar with the venue so I was expecting to be able to use a certain kitchen but that kitchen was under renovation. Thank goodness I only planned to make one thing in the oven. So instead I just made simple scrambled eggs & breakfast potatoes (I had 5 dozen eggs - might as well use them!)

It really pains me to have such a simplified menu... Why? Because I know the possibilities are endless and I know there's something better out there than hot dogs. *sigh* So since I also happened to have four pounds of bacon begging to be consumed I decided to wrap them around the hot dogs.

All in all I think & hope it went well. Everyone was fed each meal (even those who were on a meatless diet!) and there was enough food to go around. I came well under budget and also there were minimal leftovers. I brought my own personal jar of Nutella as a backup for me just in case. (Normally, when I'm cooking for others I tend to lose my appetite for the meal and just end up eating very little of what I made or just simple fruits/vegetables) It's a good thing I brought it because my pint-sized PT "son" ate more of it than I did! He loves the stuff and he ate it for 2 days as breakfast and lunch - he's so funny.

Why Mary and not Martha? In the Bible, there's a recount of when Jesus came over to 2 sisters' home for dinner & fellowship. The sisters were named Mary and Martha. As Jesus was speaking, Mary attentively sat at his feet & listened to his teachings. Martha on the other hand, was busy in the kitchen trying to prepare the night's meal. Martha, in exasperation exclaimed that Mary should be helping her prepare instead of just sitting there. Jesus, lovingly corrects Martha reminding her that although the meal is important, the message takes priority and the meal could be prepared in due time.

As I said, last year I worried and focused a bit too much on trying to feed everyone on time (and I also had a bit more of a complicated menu). This year I knew I had to be Mary and not Martha. (even my mom reminded me!)

Nutella Torte

Sorry for the silence... Life has been hectic. I've neglected my beloved hobby of baking for so long *sniff sniff*

Once a week I participate in a casual get together and prayer meeting with a small group of people. Usually we just nosh on a few things but every once in a while we like to have a MEAL together. My faith is a huge part of my life and who I am as a person. I love the time I spend with my friends outside of church - it's a chance for us to decompress from the hustle & bustle of the school/work/home life and to keep each other accountable. A little food for the soul.  Anyhow, so around holiday time (seriously, it was that long ago) we all decided we wanted to do a potluck dinner.

My brain was buzzing with ideas but I calmed down & volunteered to make dessert. My lovely ladies of the group - they're kindred spirits. How so? They loves them some Nutella. (I buy the ginormous twin pack at Costco without batting an eye.) I♥Nutella (if someone were to make a shirt that stated such, I'd totally wear it). I thought about doing cupcakes but I really wanted to try something different.

I decided I wanted to make a flourless chocolate torte. I wanted to make a flourless chocolate torte but make it better. How? HAZELNUTS. Freshly roasted ground hazelnuts, a dab or two or five of Nutella, a bit of melted dark chocolate, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, some love... and voila! We have a Chocolate Hazelnut Torte.

Still Here

I know, I've been slacking on the savory/sweet goodies posts lately... SORRY! However, I have a GOOD reason - I got a JOB.

I was REALLY hoping to get my foot in the door of a cafe, bakery, the bakery/prepared foods counter @ Whole Foods (really, I love Whole Foods) but umm sheesh none of the places would take my word for it that I am an awesome cook/baker... (I should include links to my FB food albums & this blog on my resume.) So what did I do? I turned back to what else I know best - automotive. Made a couple phonecalls, did some furious applying on Monster, put some feelers out w/ connections. Had a couple prospects and one seemingly long-shot... What do you know, the long shot in the end worked out the best.

So my time is currently dedicated elsewhere but don't worry! I'm still here!

I leave you with this tidbit: for my friends in the LA area - if you haven't already tried Pizzeria Mozza - it's a MUST.

p.p.s. - I got a pound of Dunkin Donuts coffee today from a friend... I♥ DD coffee. Said friend will be in town again next month, he already knows he must bring me another bag of DD coffee at that time too. Another friend is in the process of moving to So Cal = another bag of DD coffee para mi!

Brownies on the Brain

The past couple of years I've taken up the habit of making treats for my friends as gifts (birthdays, Christmas, etc). So I usually tailor the gift to the recipient's taste or the theme of the occasion. One of my friend's LOVES green tea & crunchy cookies so I made him a batch of green tea butter cookies. One Christmas I made peppermint bark & cookies for all of my friends. Anyhow, you get the idea...

A really good friend of mine had her birthday earlier this month but I literally already planned what to make for her birthday THIS year when her birthday rolled around LAST year. My friend, let's call her Miss Mouse, L-O-V-E-S brownies. She also really likes mint chocolate. She loves dark chocolate. Naturally, I decided to make mint dark chocolate brownies. I've been experimenting with different brownie recipes for years and I finally found one last year that I really liked - the right balance of cake/fudge brownies... Although, you know that crackly "crust" you get from brownies from the box? Yeah, still experimenting to replicate that (and I think I have it figured out).

Brownies - I like substantial ones. Meaning, I like F-A-T brownies. I mean, if you're gonna indulge, you might as well go all the way. So I baked them in my favorite all edges brownie pan (my favorite piece is the corner) and cut them - the brownies looked like chocolatey cubes of yum. I picked up a small bottle of peppermint oil from a local cake supply shop with the sole purpose to make mint chocolate brownies - seriously. I wanted oil because it's more potent than extract. I also have a seemingly never ending supply of ghiradelli dark chocolate chips (my favorite chips for cookies) so I decided to mix those into the batter.

I packed the chocolate treasure into the box - it was HEAVY. And I can happily say that Miss Mouse thoroughly enjoyed her birthday present this year =)

the brownies almost overflow...

the fat brownie - I like to feed my friends.

Hodduk 호떡

Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside w. a sweet filling - best eaten warm but not right off the frying pan unless you like 3rd degree burns on the inside your mouth & tongue. This my friends is hodduk. The batter differs from either just straight sweet rice flour, water, sugar & salt or a sweet bread dough or a mix of rice & wheat flours... Many a late night cravings have been satiated in LA by a quick run to a cart outside of a Korean market peddling this hot discs of sweet crack.

My mom used to make this snack all the time when i was growing up - I loved the combo of ttuk & sweet red bean paste. (Red bean b/c that's healthier than just brown sugar/peanuts). But after a while, the novelty wore off and we haven't really made it in quite some time... until this past weekend. My mom likes to make snacks for the choir group at church (of which she's a member, bless her little stage fright heart) for the mornings... Each member takes turns in providing the "breakfast". So she's been meaning to make the ttuk for a few months and I kept discouraging her (b/c I already knew how much work it would entail). Anyhow, what she thought was going to be a 2 hr project turned into an all afternoon thing... My mom tends to make them HUGE, like a rice cake burrito which I think is too much of a good thing. I did sneak in and experiment & make my own version...

 I like to let the ttuk get crispy so I fry it for a bit longer than I should on each side...

Just the right amount of sweet red bean paste