Wrapping the Persimmons

October 30, 2014
I finally got around to wrapping up the persimmons. The birds as usual were more diligent than I was. The persimmon tree is the darling of my fall garden. In the few weeks since I came back from Malaysia, the persimmon have taken a decidedly more orange color. The sight of those orange colored, pumpkin shaped Fuyu Persimmon is a sure sign of fall.... and good eats.

Fruits of Neglects

October 2014

I woke up happy that I was relatively unaffected by jet lag, thanks to sleeping just 3 hours on the last leg back from Asia and a dose of melatonin to grant me a full night of blissful sleep. This morning, I headed excitedly out to my garden/orchard. Weeds abound as expected after three weeks absence....plus even more weeks of neglect prior. I was anxious to check on the bunches of banana that started forming as I was leaving for my trip. Three bunches of bananas!! So glad that this year the banana plants flowered early enough in summer for the fruits to form and ripen before fall/winter. 

Uji's Special Soto Ayam

During my latest trip back home to Malaysia, my sister-in-law was raving about the Soto Ayam prepared by Uji, her domestic help from Indonesia. Uji was kind enough to show me how she made this dish and let me photograph her. She tells me unlike the Soto Ayam that was commonly served in Malaysia, in Indonesia, the Soto Ayam soup is served over plain white rice or clear noodles. In Malaysia, Soto Ayam soup is served over compressed rice cakes called nasi impit or ketupat, or with yellow noodles. She had no exact quantities for the ingredients and I was fine with that. I wanted to capture the spirit of the dish. I will refine it recipe along the way and quantity the ingredients. For now, I just want to have a record of the cooking session.

Be warned, this is a lengthy post as I included almost all the pictures I took of the cooking session. A picture is worth a thousand words and I need them to recreate this wonderful dish

Earl Gray Tea Madelines with Honey

I love Earl Gray tea.That's why I have been wanting to make these Earl Gray Madeline for some time. It was the perfect choice to make as Christmas gifts. After reading reviews on the a number of recipes, I decided to use Bon Appetit recipe as the basis. I decided to incorporate the tea leaves in the Madeleines instead of just using the Earl Grey infused melted butter.

Miguel's Jalapeno White Sauce

I fell in love with this dip/sauce the first time I had it at Miguel's; a Mexican seafood restaurant here in San Diego. It came with baskets of chip as an appetizer before the meal. I ate too much of it needless to say! I loved it so much than when I was packing up my leftovers from dinner that night, I scraped every last bit of the sauce into my box. I took the leftovers home to my daughter and had her taste the Queso Dip. Another person now obsessed with this dip/sauce!! Apparently, the waiters will give you the recipe if you ask for it so it was fairly easy to find it on the internet. This is my second time recreating this dip/sauce. I think it is quite a delicious simile of the legendary sauce. Give it a try!

Ingredients

2 cups whipping cream (470g)

1 cup sour cream (254g)

1 tsp chicken base

2 tbsp. flour

1 pickled jalapeno, minced (30g)

1 tbsp. juice from bottled jalapenos (30g)

2 oz shredded jack cheese

2 oz shredded cheddar

Red the Fox

We had a blast making elephant and mouse. I will not lie, we struggled with letting them go because they were so adorable. It made it a little easier that the Fox Amigurumi is staying home with us.

Made the head first. Add the muzzler and embroidered the nose. Attached the safety eyes and stuffed the head.

What does the Fox say?

What does the Fox say?

The Fox say " I miss you Elephant and Mouse. I know you will enjoy living in the Forest living with lovely Sophie. She loves you already. Share her secrets, make her laugh, wipe away her tears. She will introduce you to Poopsie and Plum and their lively gang- Gary the Hog, Mung the Bird, Zin the Bear and the Pole brothers. What a glorious time you'll have. Cannot wait to hear about your adventures when we meet in Imagination Forest! Love you"