teacups and cinnamon: 2014

cranberry duff

Autumn 9:36 PM

Hello world! I'm just taking a quick (ok, not so quick) break from my studying (which I have been doing all day...on a saturday...) to bring you a delicious recipe that just can't wait till after my exams! Even though I have so many better things to do (like study), this dessert is my top priority. And because I have so many things to do, I'm going to keep this blog post short. So no essay from me today (YAY!) lol. However, I will post a ton of photos, because, well, why not?

Now that it's officially cranberry season, I have to take advantage of all the yumminess and make fresh cranberry treats! I bought a bag a few days ago, not knowing exactly what I was going to make. I looked for recipes, trying to find something that looks good and is unique. I was thinking of making scones, bread or a breakfast bake. But then I found this recipe from Martha Stewart and new I had to give it a try! All of the comments were positive (which is super important) and helpful. Many reviewers noted a few changes and so I followed their advice and the Cranberry Duff recipe turned out perfect! The cake is soft and buttery, with a crispy buttery crust. It is then topped with sugary tart cranberries and toasted pecans. Doesn't that sound amazing?! It sounds amazing and most importantly it is amazing.

My husband and I skipped dinner to eat this dessert. I know, that's not exactly healthy. But whatever. We ate healthy all week, so we can treat ourselves on Saturday ;) As i've mentioned before, it's really lovely and heartwarming when someone else likes the things you bake or cook! Today it was my husband, who really enjoyed the Cranberry Duff. These were his exact words: "Mmm this is really good. I love the buttery crust! Mmmm I want more!" And though only two people have tasted the dessert (hubby and I), you can be assured that this cake is awesome and is worth making! I am definitely going to make this for family dinners and holidays in the upcoming months and years.

I hope you all give this yummy dessert a try this fall season. It would be perfect for Thanksgiving, even Christmas. But if you're like me, who can't wait that long to eat wonderful foods, make it on a random weekend when you have an hour of spare time :)

P.S. We finished the entire cake before the evening was over. That's crazy embarrassing, but oh well. The cranberry duff is just that good. Click "read more" for the recipe! :)

Share |

pumpkin scones

Autumn 4:15 PM

Hi world, how's it going? It's been a while, hasn't it! Well I've been doing great, if you're wondering (which you're probably not). I've been incredibly busy with school. It's my senior year, so lots of advanced classes and all! Oh and I'm also trying to balance my new role as a wife! Hehe:) I haven't been doing too much special cooking in the past few weeks. Just lots of really simple, not blog-worthy recipes. It's really difficult to find the time to cook exquisite or even interesting meals when I get home at 7 or 8 and still have a load of homework to do. But sometimes I do find the time (or just feel like procrastinating). Like this week. I had a ton of homework, but I decided I was in the mood to make some scones. And not just any scones. Pumpkin scones!

I've been really into pumpkin lately (pretty much like everyone else on the planet). In the last couple weeks, I've gone to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin flesh, made pumpkin soup, made pumpkin chili, made pumpkin pie, made pumpkin scones, made pumpkin cupcakes, drank pumpkin spice lattes, bought pumpkin flavored coffee, ate pumpkin biscotti, ate pumpkin greek yogurt, ate pumpkin granola, burnt pumpkin candles and finally, put pumpkin decor allover the apartment. As you can see, I've become pumpkin crazy! I might as well turn into a pumpkin, lol.

In the last couple years, there has been a "Starbucks-copycat" pumpkin scones recipe going around. Pretty much every blogger has made the scones and blogged about the scones (look on Pinterest for proof). And I've decided to join the pumpkin-scones-bandwagon. I know it's not that original, but i don't care, to be honest. I think these scones are delicious and I want to share them with you. I made them a couple year ago and they were a hit then and still a hit now! Even my husband said "mmm, these are really good." It's always great to hear encouraging words from people you love :')

Because pretty much every blogger and all their viewers have made these scones, you can rest assure that they are ah-mazing! They are fluffy and crumbly and just perfect. The scone itself isn't too sweet. The glaze itself really sweetens it up! When I made these 2 years ago, I omitted the first glaze, using only the drizzle. If you're watching sugar or calories, that is a simple thing to do to make them a little more healthy. You can also omit the glaze all together! They would still taste great. But I really like the glaze, so I made them with both glazes. Another thing you can do to "better" your health and still enjoy a yummy treat is to make the scones smaller, such as I did. The original recipe makes 6 very large scones. I don't feel that it is an appropriate portion size, so I cut mine in half, to make 12 scones. You just gotta make sure that you do stick to just 1 scone though. Smaller scones are cuter and more classy anyway ;)

Anyway, I think that is it for now. I always write way more than I plan to, and I hope it's not a bore! Also, I'll try really really hard to post more recipes on the blog! It's just a little difficult with school. Thanks for reading and let me know if you decide to make these bomb pumpkin scones! :) Click "read more" for the delicious recipe! Enjoy :)

Share |

pumpkin turkey chili

Autumn 6:06 PM

I've talked about the SPU Community Kitchen quite a few times on my blog. That's because A) I was involved with the organization for a year, and B) I got a WHOLE bunch of delicious recipes from it. We had a pretty extensive process choosing recipes. They had to be healthy and wholesome, inexpensive, and most importantly, easy to make. The volunteers (and I) searched for recipes, selected potential recipes and then tested the recipes, choosing the best ones. We then would scale them up for 25+ people and prepare them during our monthly kitchen nights.

And the dishes we made during the kitchen were amazing! They were always a little different. Always had a twist to them. And that's what I liked the most. For example, we didn't just make simple cornbread, we made cornbread pudding (recipe here). One of our monthly kitchen theme's was chili cook off, and instead of traditional chili, we made all sorts of chilies, such as black bean espresso chili, cumin chili, and my favorite, pumpkin turkey chili. It was the definite favorite of most of the participants that night, especially mine.

The pumpkin in this chili is what takes this dish to a whole other level. Though you can't really taste it, but the texture it gives the chili is superb. It becomes creamy and thick, and slightly sweet. It's also pretty cool knowing that there is pumpkin in the chili. It's high in vitamin A, potassium and other vitamins and minerals. It's also high in fiber. So along with the beans, the chili is a good source of dietary fiber! Pumpkin is also low in calories.

Using lean turkey instead of beef is another way to cut back on calories and fat. You can't even taste the difference because of all the spices. My husband even made a comment about it, saying that it tasted really good with turkey. Personally, I have never actually used beef in chili (so I don't really know how that tastes), because I am satisfied with the turkey. If you're a beef person, I encourage you to try replacing it with turkey. It can really make a difference in your health (a good one too!)

As you can see, pumpkin isn't only for desserts and lattes. It can easily be put into chilies and soups. Pumpkin also doesn't have to always be associated with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices. This chili recipe actually doesn't have any of that stuff, though if you're courageous you can definitely add some ;) You are the boss of your cooking, after all. Now that it's fall and pumpkins are everywhere, go and try this recipe! You will not be disappointed! Click "read more" for more pictures as well as the awesome recipe! Enjoy! :)

Share |

sweet cornbread pudding

Food 8:02 PM

Share |

bread and butter pickles

Food 3:31 PM

Every summer, my mom's and aunt's garden is over flooding with cucumbers. Cucumbers (and tomatoes) are pretty much our main food source of the summer. We eat them a million different ways. Fresh, pickled, in salads, on sandwiches, etc. You get the point. WE LOVE CUCUMBERS! My mom always makes Russian-styled pickles. They're a little different, salty, dilly, vinegary, yet not as tart as American-style pickles. Definitely not sweet! Though the Russian pickles are something I grew up with and something I enjoy every once in a while, my all-time favorite pickles are bread and butter pickles!

To be honest, I didn't actually try bread and butter pickles till this last June. I know what you're thinking, how in the world did you live your entire life without eating these delicious things?! I ask myself that too. I had always just stuck to boring old dill pickles. But then my life changed. And now I don't want boring old dill pickles. Now I only want sweet and tangy, crunchy and crispy bread and butter pickles. These crunchy pickles just go so well with everything. I even eat them on their own as a snack! (i think i've gone pickle-crazy, lol).

So when I saw Chef John's post about bread and butter pickles on my newsfeed, I got SO excited! I had never even considered making my own pickles (even though I grew up watching people around me pickling all. the. time.) Just for some reason, the thought of making pickles never entered my mind. Because my mom's garden was overflowing with cucumbers, I decided to give Chef John's recipe a try. I also tried Recipe Girl's recipe to see which one was better (since i had sooooo many cucumbers!). Out of the two I tried, Chef John's was the clear winner. The other one was too apple-cider-vinegary for my liking and it just wasn't as flavorful as Chef John's. I think his recipe is perfect.

Technically, I didn't actually can these. I didn't want to deal with that (maybe next summer). I just made refrigerator pickles. So I don't know exactly how long these will last in the refrigerator, but that's not even really a problem. My husband and I eat these like candy! So they'll be gone before the month ends. You could easily can these using the water bath method. I definitely will next year!

I made these pickles twice. The first time out of curiosity and the second time because they are outrageously delicious. Yes. I just said outrageously delicious. I gave a couple jars to my inlaws, a couple jars to my family and a jar for my aunt and uncle. EVERYONE ~~liked~~ loved them (except for my dad--he just doesn't like sweet pickles). People were asking for the recipe. When that happens, you know you gotta blog about it!

Although cucumber season has come to an end, you can still get successful pickles from store bought cucumbers! They would probably even be better from store bought (since you don't have to worry about bitter garden cucumbers). I hope everyone gives this recipe a try. They are really easy and super fun to make!

Click "read more" to see the recipe and step-by-step pictures of the process. Enjoy!

Share |

tzatziki sauce

12:38 AM

Hi guys! So a couple weeks ago, I made homemade whole wheat pita bread and tzatziki sauce, both which were incredibly yummy. I took pictures of the pita bread but decided against blogging it, since I wanted to practice a little more and get the recipe perfect. I mean they were good and all, but I really want to perfect the recipes I share with you :)

The tzatziki sauce on the other hand was perfect. I've made it a few times before and each time it amazes me how delicious it is! And it is soooo easy. It really is just mixing a few ingredients. The only tricky part is squeezing the moisture out of the cucumbers. But that's not that difficult. This sauce is so delicious with so many things--warm pita bread, gyros, grilled meats, with veggies. You name it. It's the perfect dipping sauce (sorry for saying "perfect" a million times, I'm just liking that word at the moment).

The sauce is also pretty healthy. Greek yogurt is high in protein, probiotics and vitamins and minerals. Because of its richness, I prefer to use low fat or 2%, to reduce total fat and calories. You won't even taste the difference because of all the different flavors. So go ahead, don't be scared to use low fat Greek yogurt here! The other ingredients are also high in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. Best of all, there aren't any preservatives or other funky ingredients. Everything is fresh, natural and whole.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where I found the recipe. I tried looking for the original recipe, but it's been a couple years. So if you're the writer of the recipe, please don't sue me. Just let me know and I'll give you credit :) Anywho, I will now let you go. I think I've said everything I've wanted to. I hope you give this recipe a try! It's really tasty and really easy. Enjoy!

Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Shred the cucumber or chop in a food processor. Using a cheesecloth or paper towels, squeeze the shredded cucumber to remove as much water as possible
In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Share |

family favorites: easy stuffed eggs

10:03 PM

Because I grew up in a Ukrainian/Russian family, I ate a lot of foods that other kids didn't eat. Borscht, shuba, plov, kotleti.... You get the point. Lots and lots of weird sounding foods! As a kid, I hated it. I wanted to eat what other kids were eating. Pizza, hamburgers, tacos, etc. Pretty much like every other kid on the planet. But Eastern European food was all my parents knew and loved. They grew up with it after all. I guess that was a good thing though, since Ukrainian/Russian foods are pretty healthy.

I didn't really start eating ethnic foods until late into high school. Now that I'm older and have been trying foods from many different cultures, I'm loving it! Eating foods from around the world really opens your eyes to different cultures and people. It also introduces you to lots of new and interesting foods and flavors. However, ever since I got married and moved out, I've been missing Ukrainian/Russian cuisine. Yep, I miss my mama's cooking. Every time I go over to my family's or my in-law's house for dinner, I get so happy and excited to eat all the food! I don't really make it at home, so it really is a treat.

One of my favorite things to eat as a kid was stuffed eggs. Now, I don't know exactly if this is an authentic Ukrainian/Russian food. I've never actually met anyone who would make these. But it was something my family made every once in a while and they were one of my favorite foods. One of the first things I ever cooked were these eggs. I actually remember mashing egg yolks and then stuffing the egg whites. Even now, I love love love these. They are kind of different. Not exactly deviled eggs, though they do have mayonnaise. These simple stuffed eggs only have 5 ingredients. And they only take about 15 minutes to make! Don't these sound awesome?! I mean if a kid can do it, you can do it too ;)

One of my goals for the rest of the year is to collect all of my favorite family recipes. This isn't as easy as it seems because my mom doesn't really use recipes. She just cooks by memory and by the eye. I'm not like that. I like things to be precise and proper. So I need to have exact measurements to make something taste good. So as I collect the recipes and practice them, I'll post them to the blog. Everyone always asks me what Ukrainian/Russian people eat, and it's easier to show them rather than to explain. I'll name these posts "family favorites", because that's what they are. They're my family's favorites. But most importantly, they're my favorites.

I hope you guys give these strange eggs a try! Just kidding, they're not that strange. They're just a little different than your typical deviled egg. In my opinion, they're much better than deviled eggs. And i'm always right. Right? Kidding, kidding. Click "read more" for the recipe. Enjoy!

Share |

el yunque national rainforest (puerto rico)

10:51 PM

Share |

garden fresh tomato soup

9:17 PM

Share |

creme brûlée

12:29 PM

Hi everyone! Today I have an amazing recipe to share with you all! My all-time favorite dessert, creme brûlée! I would always buy this delicate dessert at restaurants, and it would still be a hit and miss. Sometimes too runny, sometimes too thick. Always expensive. You can make a whole batch of creme brûlée for the price of one at a restaurant! So I decided to give it a try at home. I thought it would be difficult, but surprisingly, it wasn't. At all. There are only a few steps involved and it is much easier than baking a cake! And it turns out aaaaaamazing every time! The cream has a perfect, smooth texture and an awesome vanilla flavor. The top is crunchy and hard and so caramely. It's delicious! This is why I love creme brûlée.

I made creme brûlée, using this (adapted) recipe, three times this summer. Once for a surprise for my husband and two times for family dinners. Everyone really enjoyed it! Most of the people I made it for had never had it before, so it was pretty special :)

I had somewhat of a difficult time finding ramekins, so I ended up with 3 different sizes. I found really big ones (pictured) at Macys. It is a perfect serving for two people. The other ones I found at Daiso, the Japanese dollar store. I would say the perfect, single serving size ramekin is 7.5cm in diameter. I'm sure it will be easier to find ramekins as soon as the holidays start coming around. Because it literally took me half a day to find some! I even tried the thrift store and had no luck, lol. I also had a hard time finding a torch, but my husband finally found one at a hardware store. It was a little pricy for a dessert, but SO WORTH IT. I tried the broiler and it just didn't give you the correct texture. Plus, torching the top is so fun :)

This recipe is very straightforward and easy. However, I'll give you guys a few tips. As soon as the whipping cream comes to a boil, take it off the heat, add the vanilla extract and cover. Speaking of vanilla extract, if you want to be ultra fancy, you can use a vanilla bean, just add it (the scraped out seeds and pod) right in the beginning and allow it to come to a boil along with the cream. Vanilla extract is just much more affordable and it gives you a wonderful flavor. (DO NOT USE THAT IMITATION STUFF THOUGH, PLEASE). Next, after the cream has cooled, pour a tiny bit of cream at a time into the egg mixture and whisk very quickly. You don't want to scramble the egg. If you think you may have scrambled it, don't worry. Just use a fine mesh strainer. The three times I made it, I never scrambled the egg. I did strain it just to be sure though. The recipe is a good one, as long as you're careful. The third tip is to put the ramekins into the roasting pan and into the oven and then add the hot water. I have been guilty (stupid?) of adding the water first and then trying to carefully put it into the oven. That's much more difficult. So do it the easy way.

Anywho, sorry for that essay! I wasn't planning to write a lot, I promise. And I also apologize for the horrific, single photo. I took it a few weeks ago and wasn't able to break it to show the inside (this one in particular was for my dad's birthday). I also had no garnishes and the lighting was terrible. (I'm still working on that). Next time I make this dessert (which probably won't be for a few months), I'll make sure to take more and better pictures! But in the meantime, you guys should just trust my word and make it anyway! Enjoy!

Crème Brulee

Ingredients:

1 quart heavy cream
1 ½ Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water
Superfine sugar, for the top

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, add vanilla, and cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Sprinkle sugar evenly on top of crème brulee. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Share |

creamy carrot and coconut thai soup

7:49 PM

Share |

beautiful old san juan, puerto rico pt.1

2:39 PM

Hello everyone :) Hope you are having a great day, I sure am, looking through honeymoon pictures and all. I miss it, but doesn't everyone? For our honeymoon, we went to Puerto Rico for a few days and then from there we got on a Carnival Cruise ship and sailed away to the Eastern Caribbean islands. We saw a lot of beautiful beaches, cities and places. My favorite, by far, was Old San Juan, in PR. It was such a fantastic place! The old city was full of narrow cobble stone streets and colorful buildings upon colorful buildings. It was incredible! Seeing grey building all day everyday in Seattle gets kind of depressing, especially with all the rain. But here, in Old San Juan, everything was so happy! It was fun, energetic and cozy. I really do wish we would start building colorful houses and buildings in the states. But for now, we can only dream, or just visit awesome colorful cities.

We walked around the city for hours and didn't get bored. There was so much to see and so much to do! We literally took hundreds of pictures, in front of every colorful house, by every single cat, all the cool old fort stuff and everywhere else photogenic. We loved the city so much, we came back a second time. I'll be posting those pictures shortly. Even though we spent two days here, we still weren't able to see everything. We didn't get to explore the fort as much as we would have liked (for we didn't know it closed so early). We didn't get to go into every shop or even try very much food. But from what I did see, I was pleased, immensely.

These pictures were taken on 4th of July. We heard rumors of fireworks, but either we missed them or we were lied to. But I didn't care. I had a blast exploring the city! I didn't need fireworks or barbecue. As you can see through the pictures, the city was very busy! Unlike the states, there were actually a lot of people out and about with their families and friends walking around the city, sitting on benches, flying kites, eating food. It was as if the whole city was on vacation. But from what we heard, Puerto Ricans like to have a good time. They like to have fun and relax. Which was comforting to see. At the end of the night, as we were walking through the streets, we came across a small block party. There were musicians and locals dancing. We joined the fun, of course. I thought it was so cool, definitely not something that happens in Seattle. As we were waiting for our taxi, we came across another show. There were a group of dancers and singers, performing traditional music and dance. There was an adorable little girl dancing away, stealing the show. It was wonderful!

Anywho, I think I'll stop describing all I saw because you can just look at the pictures. In all, I really enjoyed the city. I miss it so much! I wish we could have this culture here in Seattle. I want to see people enjoying their life. I want to see colorful houses and block parties. Hopefully one day I'll be able to go back to this magical city. But for now, I will just reminisce and look at old photos :)

Click "read more" to see the rest of the pictures and stay tuned for part 2 :)

Share |

rhubarb crumble (and i'm back!)

10:59 PM

Hi guys! Wow it's been a while since i've last blogged! Like 5 months….. oops. Lots has changed in these last few months. First off, and most importantly, I'm no longer unmarried. Yes. It's true. I'm MARRIED!!!!!! That's the main reason I've been away from this blog. Lots and lots of things to do before the big day. No time for baking or cooking or blogging. Second, I've finished my 3rd year of school. Only 2 more quarters to go! That's really exciting! So I've been busy. But now it's august, i'm no longer in school (summer break) and i'm no longer planning a wedding. So i can resume blogging. Yay!

Since I've been married (a little over a month), I haven't done too much cooking. There are always parties to go to, family dinners to be part of. And everything I have been cooking has A) already been blogged about, or B) not blog-worthy. I have however made a few things in the last month that will definitely be going up on the blog! And the first is this delicious and simple 5-ingredient rhubarb crumble.

I found this recipe a few months ago when I was looking for recipes for my university's Community Kitchen (where I volunteered at for a year). Our kitchen's theme for that month was simplicity. And let me tell ya, this recipe is simple. I'm always a little wary about super simplistic recipes. I just feel like recipes with more steps and more ingredients will taste better. However, this simple, 5-ingredient dessert proved to be so incredibly delicious, that over 30 people thought it was fantastic.

Because my aunt's garden grew so much rhubarb this summer, I was able to make this crumble 3 times. Haha, yes 3 times, and we didn't get tired of it. I did also make a pie, but the crumble was much better ;) I love it because it's very easy to make and it's delicious. The rhubarb is tart and refreshing and the crumble is sweet and buttery. It is perfect together! I really really really really recommend making this. Especially when rhubarb is in season. Like right now.

Click "read more" to see the recipe as well as more pictures :)

Share |

Pages

teacups and cinnamon

cranberry duff

pumpkin scones

pumpkin turkey chili

sweet cornbread pudding

bread and butter pickles

tzatziki sauce

family favorites: easy stuffed eggs

el yunque national rainforest (puerto rico)

garden fresh tomato soup

creme brûlée

creamy carrot and coconut thai soup

beautiful old san juan, puerto rico pt.1

rhubarb crumble (and i'm back!)

About me

recent posts

Blog Archive

Like us on Facebook

Flickr Images