Strapya!

WOW I have not been on this blog for a whole year... kind of a shame, as I still do make food and all sorts of things. Anyhow, this whoole post here is to review a Strapya World purchase that I made a few months back!

If you are my friend, you are more than likely to know that I am a huge huge fan of Rilakkuma. I squeal endlessly upon seeing new Rilakkuma artwork on the San-X page and I check Strapya always for new Rilakkuma products. Now one of my all time favorite collections? was the Rilakkuma bunny one, with Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma wearing fleece-y bunny suits. Super cute~ I was very happy to see that Strapya sold items from this collection, on top of having the POCHETTE!

*SQUEAL*



















Unfortunately, the Rilakkuma version was sold out by the time I made my order. So much for owning both ;___;

Anyhow, this bag is just too soft, too cute, and I'm so terrified of ruining it.

Seeing that it was a shame to simply keep it as a keychain/ bag decoration, I also decided to crochet a strap for the bag as well; then I can wear it PROUDLY around my neck... which I haven't really been doing lately.




















Bonus picture: in my pjs. DON'T JUDGE


Even as a college student now, I will still melt over this adorable and lazy Japanese bear (my
brother too)! My brother actually convinced me to get this bag. :D

Thank you Strapya World for making San-X products available for international customers! Would buy again with discounts and shipping deals (sorry I'm cheap too).

Breaktime

It's 10:35pm on a school day. I should be continuing to write college essays right now, but I'm taking a break at the moment (*coughprocrastinating). Just yesterday, I was skimming through some old posts on this bloggie and randomly checked out the blog of White on Rice Couple, who commented some time ago xD. I'm so addicted! I love reading food blogs and the photos (and of course the writing!) especially have my attention.

Right now I'm reading their Portrait of a Gourmand post. Again, such adorable family photos! I absolutely loved reading about Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef's story of how they met. I love their family philosophy and I'm mighty envious of their daughter, Lucy. She's blessed with foodie parents and my gosh, she even helps them in the kitchen! Did I mention that she's two years old?

A little far into the future, but someday when I have children of my own, I'd like to teach them to love food and keep them involved with each process. My mom took great pains to get my brother and me to eat healthily and she's succeeded with me- no skipping meals, no eating excess junk, increasing intake of water, fruit, and vegetables... Since my dad is a cook and my mom cooks for a hobby, I've come to love eating food, exploring new foods, and sharing what I make. After all, what is life without good food? My children too should be able to realize this :)

Laaazy post

As usual, I've been making random food but haven't had time to post them. I'll just cram them all into one post.... :D

For my friend's birthday in July, I tried my hand at making white chocolate macadamia cookies. Firstly, I'd like to stress how expensive macadamia nuts are and how hard they were to find outside of Whole Foods. Secondly, I'd like to mention that sugar is not to be underestimated. I added so much sugar to these poor cookies... the other people I gave the cookies to were afraid to eat them, for fear of diabetes. =w=
















oof and please forgive the camera quality. I need to get some sort of a lens cleaner already...

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In October, my parents bought way too many asian pears at home. As a result, I made spiced
pear jam to go with waffles. I'm still not finished with the second jar though...

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Stacy's pita chips are kinda expensive for me (I'm a sucker for cheap things :P) so I was thrilled to find Sahadi's. It's a great Middle Eastern grocery store located in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn and they have the cheapest possible pita bread that I've seen- ONLY $.75 a bag for 6 pitas. Along with cheap pita, I made my own hummus, which is so much more cost effective even compared to buying it from Trader Joe's! I recommend using dried garbanzo beans as it saves cans AND it's... cheap. I just can't stop using this word!

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I've been looking for silicon baking cups for the past few years and usually they're $20 for 12. Can't have that... Then I found some for only $2 at Jack's 99 cent store~. But I haven't been making cupcakes at all so I finally found a use for them; mini quiches. I'm too lazy to make/ buy crusts, so these are sans pastry. Basically I grated cheddar cheese, layered chunks of spam and onion, and added a whisked egg with milk. The little toaster oven baked them in about 10 minutes? if not 15. Aren't they adorable?

Ginger what?

If only I had time to take photos, buuuut yesterday I attended the Asian American Restaurant and Food Fair at Flushing, NY! Unfortunately I was there volunteering at the Good Tea and Water tables and never got to sample all the foods. My team and I were busy brewing and serving maybe 3,000 cups of tea...

















(I'm not pictured here though)

Of all the memorable foods that I DID have, the ones worth mentioning are the watermelon gazpacho (can't remember the restaurant), flan and coconut pudding (Sato Japanese and French fusion cuisine), and Ginger Ale (by Bruce Cost).

So right in between the Twin Marquis noodles table and the SOYA soy milk table, was this ultra cool Ginger Ale stand. When I was a kid I asked my brother, why is this soda called ginger ale when it doesn't really taste like ginger? Well by now I've tasted the Canada Dry brand's, Schweppes, Seagram's ... but Bruce Cost's is the answer!

If I weren't holed up at home today, I would run straight to Whole Foods to buy myself a bottle! This stuff is made with actual unfiltered ginger root and it tastes way more genuine compared to its mass produced, high fructose corn syrup counterparts.

Para mi (yes, spanish) downing this ginger ale is a somewhat masochistic experience. The distinctive taste of ginger slightly burns my mouth. BUT IT FEELS GOOD. Really. In the end it soothes the throat as well. It also comes in Jasmine Green Tea flavor and Pomegranate, both of which have a bit less of that burning sensation and tastes great~

For now I'll stick to freezing my mouth with Coconut Ice Pops at home though... will be dreaming of ginger ale for the rest of the week.

Happy Independence Day

Belated anyways.

For one, I didn't party up a hooplah like everyone else in America did. I stayed home, made dessert and ate. That was my entire day. But I did manage to snap some pics of the gelatin I made!
















The top layer is a watermelon gelatin (recipe from Martha Stewart's FOOD magazine) and the bottom is a blueberry gelatin that I tried from scratch. I bought a box of blueberries that same day on a whim and after I decided not to make blueberry mini-pies, I remembered a watermelon gelatin recipe I photocopied a few years ago. I only thought of layering the two when I discovered that the recipe didn't completely fill 7 ramekins and 2 plastic donut molds (I ran out ramekins!)

The verdict? Very light and fruity. I never realized how pasty blueberries got when blended, so that was pretty much the texture of the blueberry layer. Not even sure if it needed much gelatin to keep it that way and it is most certainly not your average powdered Jell-O mix. The watermelon was alright with its subtle sweetness.

I've been making some pretty heavy desserts lately.. ya know, butter and cream. This came as something of a surprise to my family though they didn't seem all that pleased with it.
Me: Sooo dad how was it?
Dad: Too fruity. But I added some vanilla ice cream :D (coming from someone with a hugeee sweet tooth)
I personally liked it though ; w;

So recipe? I guess I'll post it.
















Blueberry Gelatin
This recipe should fill approximately 10- 6oz ramekins halfway
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 Tb lemon juice
1 packet gelatin
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

1. Blend 3/4 cup of blueberries and lemon juice in a blender. In a sieve, strain the seeds and other hard bits.
2. In a small saucepan, mix water and gelatin and place over medium heat until gelatin dissolves. Stir in sugar and close the flame when all the sugar has dissolved.
3. Stir in blueberry puree and divide mixture into ramekins. Divide half of the remaining blueberries into each ramekin.
4. Refrigerate 3-4 hours or at least an hour or so if you are layering.

Watermelon Gelatin (from Martha Stewart)
- prepare as directed in link (didn't want to copypaste everything..)
- pour mixture on top of the blueberry layer, divide remaining blueberries into watermelon layer and refrigerate 3 hours.

I did once aspire to be a pastry chef ..

Just a simple list of to-make foods:

1. biscotti
2. macarons
3. improved crepes
4. molten lava cakes
5. butternut squash anything
   
6. cinnamon rolls
7. ... anything else to suggest? I'll be sure to take photos when I do make it
   

Soo just a small update today and a look into my life as-of-current.

Over Christmas, I did make a few goodies for my friends, which I'll get around to posting pics of sooner or later. I haven't made any bentos for quite some time =w= will try again sometime soon.

For school, I've joined my school's musical production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. So I've been busy with rehearsal everyday + junior year= VERY busy indeed. But yah if you're around Brooklyn Technical HS around the 23th of April, do come and see the show. ;D

tata for now then~

Sweet Sixteen

I'm finally 16! Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday this year and everyone who's been so supportive of me. To those who spent time with me today, I want to express all my love and thanks ; w;
I had so much fun at the beach and recieved all sorts of great presents (and so much Rilakkuma DDD: <333) Also hoped everyone had fun too!

Almost bento

A friend of mine recently purchased a bunny-shaped onigiri mold for me.
Making use of my new onigiri mold and egg mold...

Recent Bento finds with photos

Kam Man (Chinatown) :
Rice molds, egg molds, sushi molds, grass sushi dividers, takoyaki pick $3-5 range




















Takoyaki Pan $20




















Various imported Japanese bento $10-20 range




















Pearl River Mart (Soho):
Hello Kitty 2-tier bento, deer bento, rabbit bento, matching utensil set $3.75








































Vegetable cutters $4 range




















Imported Cram Cream bento $15 range

Oh finally a bento update- Kam Man Foods

Or store location rather. All my years that I've lived and grown up around Chinatown, the one store I forgot to check was Kam Man (or Golden Door lit translated), a long standing supermarket on Canal St. On their window display, they have the typical Japanese dishwares and chopsticks that were located in the basement. Little did I know their basement also had a crapton of cookware, sushi supplies, and most importantly Japanese bento. These aren't those cheapy Natural Lunch boxes, but uh.. better and much cuter. Most of them are two-tiered with some sort of plastic seal that keeps light oils and a bit of sauce from leaking; roughly $15 for most bentos. The only downside is that everything here is covered in a layer of dust, which is a shame speaking that they have such great items.
*Note they also stock the small rectangular $6? and heavy square tamagoyaki pans $15?, takoyaki pans $20, japanese fish grills, and some other bento supplies that I haven't had a good look at. I'll be near there tomorrow so if I remember, I'll have some photos as well. Stay tuned~

Turnovers and Pizza

Another invite-a-friend-over-to-bake session some weeks ago. :)
Struggling to find a quick and easy to prepare recipe, we finally decided on a Cherry Turnover recipe I found in my FOOD magazine. I've finally come to appreciate the existence of premade puff pastry as my last attempt to make it was an outright failure. But admittedly, the overall taste of the turnover was mediocre and bland, speaking that we only used puff pastry and pie filling. At least it looks quite nice :D















My Independence Day was spent stuck at home with my mom and brother since everyone else was busy with their own barbecues and whatnot. Another internet search led to my first homemade whole wheat pizza dough and several hours later, a slightly overbaked pizza. The dough was definitely too thick and the pizza lacked a bit of everything. There's a first time for everything...

new

To make up for a lack of recent posts, here's a pic of the avacado plant we're growing. It's actually a lot bigger at the moment as this photo was taken weeks ago. Someday we'll have avacados at home :)

Recently

For whatever reason, my mom decided to make a bucketload of red bean paste, causing a slight overflow of items in the fridge. I decided to use some of it up by making some sort of bread and I came across a recipe for Dou Sha Bao (red bean buns). Resulting in *drumroll*
















So they're not the prettiest things and the tops are supposed to be completely sealed, but you can ignore that. The dough was mediocre so hopefully I can improve it. Overall it was pretty tasty. Props to mom for making the bean paste better than I can.

In my Spanish class, mi profesor allows for us to earn extra credit for our grade by preparing a Spanish dish and then presenting to the class. I grouped together with a few of my classmates on Monday to make Salsa and Magdalenas. The salsa turned out really well; would make again ;o The taste of the magdalenas was pretty good too. This goes to show that making food with other people is fun and makes things taste better. Posts following this one will probably be with friends again. Stay tuned~

Baking Day at Aya's House

Our story of a failcaek. Enjoy















Yum... slightly burnt chocolate cake
















Covering mistakes with chocolate frosting and bananas































Strawberries save the day :D

Bonus: crepes!

:< sad news

Japan Home Center has shut down for good.
I bought my first bento there, walked around the store every week in middle school, and always came back to see what new items they had in stock.
Were they doing so badly that they had to close down? I wish I had taken photos of it before everything was gone.
I hope they sprout out again somewhere in NY or somehow reopens again.

Pita Bread and Hummus

Just recently, I discovered hummus. Not that I haven't heard of it before or anything, but I've never had the chance to try it. I was at Costco a few weeks ago with my mum and they had these pita chip + hummus samples... D:

I became addicted

I went on a hunt for good spots to find ingredients and on Yelp, I found a five-star specialty foods store called Sahadi's, which was a half mile from my school. So I made my journey and found the spot. It was $2.19 for a half pound of Homous (D: why are there different spellings?). If you want it a bit cheaper, hummus is $1.99 at Trader Joes, but the stuff at Sahadi's is said to be the best.

For the bread, I found a recipe on The Fresh Loaf. If you'd rather make the pita using this recipe instead of buying, make sure to read the comments.

First batch:
Had to slit the pockets myself and the pita was thicker than it should've been.
The filling here was salmon and baby bok choy. At the time, I didn't buy hummus yet so I filled it with whatever food I had on hand.















Second batch:
Mixed whole wheat flour into the dough although most of the bread formed small pockets rather than a whole pocket. :P
So the key here is to roll out the dough as flat as possible. Feel free to experiment with different types of flour while remembering that most of the dough needs to be all-purpose flour.

今日の料理 Today's Cooking

After finally mustering up the courage to finally buy a frying pan, I decided the first thing I wanted to make were crepes! Only recently have I tasted French crepes from Macaron, so I got a reputable recipe from allrecipes. It's simple and doesn't take very long to prepare- a plus!
















The second recipe I wanted to try for lunch for a really long time was omurice.
=w= It doesn't LOOK as nice as the one I ate from Tokyo Bar a few months back, but it does taste pretty darn good. Recipe from Just Hungry.

French Macarons

I don't remember when I started craving for them, but did spend a while searching for good recipes for French macarons. First of all, American 'macaroons" are quite different besides the extra 'o'; do not mistake the two. I haven't tasted [coconut] macaroons before but people who have had the real deal swear by macarons.

Several months ago, I was out on a search for Go Go Curry (as recommended by Leena) and due to a lack of navigational skill, got lost. While I was running down 36th st, I saw a nice big sign: MacarOn.

(insert epic macro)

My brains exploded

I walked inside and lo and behold, a big big BIG array of macarons awaited me. They're heavenly and I do recommed you to RUN to this place right now. Of course, if you can spare $1.75 for a cookie, go for it. There are some pretty long lines sometimes but I haven't ever come across anything longer than 3 people. Being a pretty cheap and jobless student, It's kinda *cough*hard for me to shell out $2.50 or even $5 for one of those macarons at La Maison du Chocolat plus what better than to grab a big juicy macaron(s) after a day's worth of shopping at Herald Square. (Their sandwiches have good reviews too :D)

Nevertheless, it's a convenient location tucked away safely away from tourists (haw haw haw) and if anything, try a macaron. There are samples on plate sometimes so if you're lucky you get to try a piece before you buy any.

other reviews
(Yelp)
*plugs* Yanise's


http://www.macaroncafe.com/

161 W 36th St
(between 7th Ave & Broadway)
New York, NY 10018 (646) 573-5048

Oh sh*t I'm older now

That's right people, I'm 15 years old :D
For now it feels *ahem* good to turn older but I'll probably be thinking a little differently in a few years or so. (oh wait I'm not that old right now anyways)

For people who gave me birthday wishes and presents and whatnot, why THANK YOU
It was the best birthday I've ever spent even though I had to hold my party the day before school started.

Complimentary photo:



























For those who have known me before HS... I've changed a lot haven't I? :D
I'm truly proud of myself.

*must work harder in school now!*

Tokyo Bar

If you're in NY, you should check out the Chopsticks NY magazine. There are tons of listings of restaurants and such through which I've found Tokyo Bar plus a few other places that I plan to visit.

SO if you're craving some good Japanese "comfort food" try Tokyo Bar. A and I saw an ad for Tokyo Bar and decided to try their early bird dinner special. Both of us chose an omu-rice and a green tea dessert. It was really filling and most definitely worth the money :D