Friday, December 23, 2011

Yellow Cake Mix Mac Nuts White Chocolate Chip Cookies

























Because the chocolate cake mix cookies were so delicious, I've decided to do one with the yellow cake mix and pack them up for Christmas!

Please refer the my recipe here and replace the chocolate cake mix with yellow cake mix and add in white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts.

Then I packed them in these Martha Stewart cupcake boxes I got from Macy's. Aren't they cute?! I planned on making cupcakes with the rest of the boxes...but we'll see if I can manage to squeeze in more time during this crazy holiday season. Otherwise the rest of the boxes will have to be saved for next year!
























Happy Holidays once again!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Graham Cracker Gingerbread House

























Happy Holidays Everyone!

I know...I have been slacking on updating this. I haven't cooked anything new worth mentioning. and I also haven't made bentos for lunch in awhile.

But since Christmas is coming around the corner. I'd like to share with you our Gingerbread House making experience!

Graham Cracker Gingerbread House (to make one, double or multiply ingredients if making more)

Royal Icing (makes 3/4 cups of icing)
3/4 tbsp meringue powder
1 cups confectioners' sugar
1.5 tbs warm water

OR any white store-bought frosting

1 Paper Plate
1 foil (to wrap the plate)
1 10oz empty milk carton (staple the mouth)
4 graham unbroken crackers (should have 8 squares total)
colorful candies/cereal (such as skittles, m&ms, fruit loops, jelly beans, candy cane, lucky charms, marshmellow, etc.)

1) If using royal icing: Beat royal icing ingredient together until icing forms peaks (best if using electrical mixer)
2) Place royal icing (or store-bought frosting) in ziplog bag or pastry bag for piping
3) Take one square of cracker and saw two triangles using plastic knife (see picture below), this will be place on the top triangle sides of the milk carton
4) wrap plate with foil
5) Pipe some icing on the bottom of the milk carton as a "glue" and place it on the plate
6) "Glue" a square of cracker on each of the milk carton (the dotted lines on the cracker should be VERTICAL)
7) "Glue" a square of cracker on each side of the roof (the dotted lines on the cracker should be HORIZONTAL)
8) "Glue" the triangles on the sides to cover the remainer of the carton
9) It's okay to have gaps in between each crackers, they don't always touch. You may now pipe in the icing to cover up all the gaps and spaces of the carton
10) Use the rest of the icing as glue to place candies and cereal on and decorate it the way you want it!



















Below is Lil P's masterpiece. He wanted to have a nice landscape!























Have a wonderful merry christmas and a joyous happy new year!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Turkey Jook with Crockpot






















OMG I think I will FOREVER be making jook in the crockpot! It can't get ANY EASIER than this! I turned the crockpot on at 10pm and when I got up, the thing stay ready already!

1/2 Cooked Turkey Carcass with meat still on (ie: leftover Turkey from Thanksgiving or you can use leftover rotisserie chicken from costco)

1.5 c raw rice, washed
12 c water
2 tsp crushed ginger
4 dried scallops, break them into smaller pieces
dash of salt (optional)

1) Wash rice, place in crockpot, pour in water.
2) Add in turkey carcass (you can break them up so they are in the water).
3) Turn on crockpot to low for 6-8 hours.
4) Use a tong to pull out the bone, use a fork to pull the meat off the bones and back in the crockpot, discard bone. (this took me less than 10 minutes, they just fall right off!)
5) Ready to be served! Add green onions or chinese parsley after pouring the jook in a bowl, if desire.

I turned it on around 10pm, I woke up at 5:45am, gave it a stir, took the bones out and it was ready for breakfast!

Of course, if you don't have a crockpot, feel free to us this recipe.

Keep in mind for all jook...make sure ratio is 1 cup of rice to 8 cups of water, you won't fail! The tastier the bird was, the tastier the jook will be, without adding salt. Like the way i marinated my turkey, or rotisserie chicken from supermarkets, definitely pour in the juice if you've got them. Otherwise, you will need to add some salt to flavor it.

Good stuff, very good stuff!

And today I finally ate the remainder of the turkey meat by making it into a sandwich, with thin bread, pesto sauce, roma tomatoes, and spinach! Sorry, no pic...