I tried making my first canelés about ten years ago, "BG" - before Glen. It was featured in some magazine ... I went out and bought some molds, not the proper $$$copper$$$ ones, and ended up in disaster. Then a few years later, I tasted my first one at Essential Bakery , along with bostock (a french toast like pastry made with brioche), lady slippers ...

Fast forward to last year, J and I stopped at Honore Artisan Bakery during a trip to the Nordic Heritage Museum... I had another one (along with a lot of different macarons).

This recipe showed up recently ( I think J shared it with me). And I read through entire thread on eG. This attempt was slightly better than my previous one a decade ago, but not quite there yet. I am sure I will be experimenting ... again.

P.S. Envious of these cute molds.

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Today is the official start of meteorological spring in Seattle. I spotted this bug on the gates this morning. No clue what it is.

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Sunny and 55 today. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. I planted this pussy willow many years ago, 'temporary' at the south side of the house. It is in a terrible spot and needs to be moved.

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The Camelia always starts the season. It came with the house and it is that shocking magenta color.

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G and I stayed home and had a very low-effort evening. I made little chocolate cakes for us. He went to the store and bought ice cream. It was very nice after yesterday's Chinese New Year meal.

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My version of comfort food. Law Bok Gow - Chinese daikon / turnip cake. Mom likes to make them for me when I visit. This version is a combination of recipe from talking to mom,epicurious, and appetite for china.

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Mmm... cha xiu, gingery, and salty. I burnt my mouth (and my fingers). (er. It was steaming 30 seconds ago!). I have not made cha xiu bao for many years. It is a simple recipe, but it makes, well, quite a few buns. The dough recipe is from Classic Chinese Cuisine, Nina Simonds, the filling is from Chinese Dim Sum, Wei-Chuan School. I also made a red bean version with the same dough, even thought the proper dough would be a little sweeter.

All of food above credited to the job search that has slowed to a crawl. Beginning of the year? another dip? I have no idea.

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Last week, GD and I had lunch and she asked for my beef stew recipe. Beef stew is one of the comfort food standby I learned, after G and I got together. He loves beef stew. Although I call the following recipe beef stew, strictly speaking, it does not fall into his beef stew classification. I've made this beef stew many times, each time it is a little different.

I started from these recipes - Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Stew & Alton Brown's Beef Stew and merged them. The stew is made in three stages - marinate, cook meat, and assemble. So start a few days ahead. It reheats and freezes really well. This is a guideline, adjust quantity of ingredients and assembly to individual taste.

Continue reading "Beef stew recipe" »

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... N & J brought over a giant pan of lasagna to share, and an extra pan for us. Just in case there is a nuclear winter or the next Y2K. N made lasagna 7 years ago. Yes, that is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 years ago, when they lived here, the first time. G talked about it many times in those missing years. He loves lasagna, maybe as much as Garfield. And N delivered!

and of course, when is a better time to talk about food than when you are full of lasagna? N said, 'oh, I am looking forward to a light meal - 1/3lb burgers". (We had those in summer time, grilled burgers, with salad, sometimes with chips and guacamole.) After the laughter subsided, we talked about how our food year went.

Want to see some highlights? (other people's opinion will vary!)

Continue reading "How did it get so out of hand?" »

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It has been unseasonably cold - lows in the teen and highs barely into the low 30s, and super dry (see where all the moisture in the air went). My lips are chapped. My face is breaking out. My fingers are irritated. But J and I have talking about Christmas cookies and Christmas dinner. woot! I made lists ... clean out pantry ... dig up stuff in freezer... to try to prepare for lots of baking & cooking. I found some old marshmallows and couldn't resist making some marshmallow treats. Instant gratification. :)

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