Cake

This Grinch cake looks awesome! 

Found here :D

Baking Bread

Last Saturday, Qix and I made 15 loaves of bread! It took us allllllllll afternoon! We gave away 2 loaves, and now, a week later, there is only 1 loaf of bread left. Somehow, our family has manage to consume 12 loaves of bread in a week! I guess Qix and I will be having another bread baking day soon :).

Sadly, our photographer failed to take a picture of the baked product. :( Just imagine the yummyness that it was though!

Letters

Qix: Dear Snow,

I would appreciate it if your delightfulness would stay longer than two days. Sincerely,

Qix~

Mox: Dear Qix, 

I wish you'd make me hot chocolate every morning.  Also, the snow doesn't have to stay. It can melt if it wants to. Love, 

YFD (your fave dongsaeng)

Qix: Dear Mox,

Please do not lecture me on the stay of Snow. Thank you. Also, as long as you are willing to gain a few extra pounds by my hot chocolate, I will gladly do you the service! Yours Truly,

Me

P.S.

You are not my favorite dongsaeng. You shouldn't disillusion yourself into thinking so.

Mox: Dear Qix,

Who, may I ask, is your fave dongsaeng?? If not me, then I should think you don't have one. Also, I am not afraid of gaining a few extra pounds. That fear does not belong to me. 

NLYFD (no longer your fave dongsaeng)

Qix: Dear NLYFD,

I do not think it is for you to know who I treasure most in this world. I'm glad the afore mentioned fear does not plague you. Bye,

BSAYG (becoming skinnier as you gain)

P.S.

You should hope that I don't accidentally eat you while you are still skinny. nom, nom, nom....

Mox: Dear Mara Unni,

I am sorry to inform you that I will be moving very shortly. Someone is threatening to take my life so I must move far away and live incognito. I believe I will move to Seoul and spend my days writing fanfiction about my favorite idol stars and I. Hoping for the best,

Mox

Note: Dongsaeng means younger sibling 

pic from here

Thanksgiving Feast

Thought you might enjoy some pictures of our Thanksgiving feast. It was a really lovely day! And all the food tasted sooo good!

(ok, for some reason the food doesn't actually look that good in the pictures. oh well)

A Day in St. Louis

Two weeks ago, Mara Unni, Exie, Havalah, and I went to St. Louis to celebrate Rachel's birthday. Hosanna and Havalah had a lot of fun playing together-so much so, that when it was time for us to leave, Havalah was almost in tears.

Rachel wanted to eat at Jilly's Cupcake Bar for lunch. We all got sandwiches or quesadillas and the serving sizes were so large it was almost impossible to finish! The cupcakes were absolutely amazing. Sadly, I can no longer remember the names of the cupcakes we bought, but one (maybe this one?) was lime, another one lemon (possibly the one below) and the third some sort of aloha islandy flavor. :D

Scotcheroos!

I had never eaten a scotcheroo until last month when I was at a friend's house and they served it for dessert. It was delicious! We immediately added the recipe to our family faves and Qix has made it several times. I don't want you to miss out on this spectacular dessert so here is the recipe:
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
Mix corn syrup and sugar over medium heat until hot (don't let it boil!). Add peanut butter to hot pan. Stir in crispy rice. Cool crispy rice mixture in greased 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips and spread over crispy rice. Let sit till firm, then enjoy!




P.S. I just now figured out how to schedule a post so it will be published at a certain time (I know, it took me a really long time :D)!!!!!

Dad made 10 Cup Cookies today. I'm very proud of him :D

(photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26412869@N03/)

Peanut Butter Frosting

Saturday I made this amazing peanut butter frosting. I know, it sounds slightly strange (try peanut butter and jelly cupcakes for a little bit of different) but it tastes good. I made the peanut butter frosting because Mom bought rice cakes and I was going to eat one with Nutella on it when I realized we were all out of Nutella. I promptly sat on the floor and cried. But then! I remembered this peanut butter frosting and I knew it would taste fantastic on a rice cake. So I searched the internet until I found the recipe and then I made it.
Then I slathered waaay too much on a rice cake and gobbled it down. It was gooooooood. So here's the recipe (taken from marthastewart.com):

Ingredients

• 6 ounces cream cheese
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar with a mixer on medium speed. Add salt, then peanut butter, then vanilla. Whisk cream until soft peaks form, and then fold into peanut butter mixture. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

Pumpkin Gelatin Chiffon Pie

The last chiffon pie I made was a flop (because I failed to notice the importance of several ingredients and inadvertently left them out). This past evening, I attempted to redeem myself and erase a bad experience from my memory (as well as an awful taste). The pie turned out wonderfully, so I thought I'd share the recipe from you (taken from the queen of all cookbooks, Joy of Cooking).
Pumpkin Gelatin Chiffon Pie (makes a 9-inch single-crust pie)
Prepare:
A baked pie shell or graham cracker crust
Soak:
1 tablespoon gelatin
in:
1/4 cup cold water
Beat slightly:
3 egg yolks
Add:
1/2 cup white or brown sugar
1 1/4 cups canned or cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup milk, soy milk, or rice milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
Cook and stir these ingredients over - not in - boiling water until thick. Stir in the soaked gelatin until dissolved. Chill until mixture begins to set.
Whip until stiff, but not dry:
3 egg whites
Stir in gradually:
1/2 cup sugar
and fold into the pumpkin mixture. Fill the pie shell. Chill several hours to set.

Bento Box Lunches

For our trip down to Missouri, Mara made these lovely bento boxes. Not only did they look beautiful, but they tasted wonderful.

This had sliced jicama (even one in the shape of a heart!), hard boiled eggs cooked in soy sauce, various kinds of sushi rolls, radish, and lettuce to divide the different kinds of food.

This one tasted very good with fake chicken (for lack of a better word), swiss cheese, egg hard boiled in soy sauce, jicama, radish, and lettuce.
Mara got her inspiration from Just Bento, a blog by Makiko Itoh, a Japanese woman born in Tokyo who currently resides in Switzerland. The blog focuses on simple healthy bento lunches. Also, check out her cookbook here.

Things I Love ....

Pegasus Bridge. One of my new favorite bands.

My strawberry softlips chapstick. The fresh burst of strawberry always give me a bit of energy when I put it on at work.

My copy of To Catch a Thief by David Dodge. I absolutely love everything about the book. The way the outside cover reminds me of an elderly man wearing tweeds. The fact that chapters don't have titles or even numbers but rather are marked with a little star. Chapter one has one star, chapter two has two stars and so on. The faint whiff of mellow cigarette smoke I smell when I flip through the pages. That I bought it for one dollar at Half Price Books. And of course, the writing its self:

"The newspaper headline was: Has Le Chat Returned? Underneath there was a blurry picture of himself, taken in the courtroom of the Cour d'Assises in 1939. The article which went with the picture put a series of questions, only suggesting some of the answers. It was an American paper and had no right to insult the French Surete Nationale. The French papers did that later, when they reprinted the article."



This website about Emma Pillsbury from Glee. So cute and creative!

This golden snitch from Etsy which I want so badly.

This real life Up House. How cool is that?!

A jar of sparkles. I think it's the sweetest thing ever.

This recipe which I will be making for work this week.

This is Naive's, Lo-Fi travel guides . It makes me want to go exploring!

Guest blogging. This has been a fun experiment for me. Thanks so much for letting me share. :-)

This last video, because I love them all and it's just so hard to pick my favorite.

~ Mara

A Weekend Trip

I'm very excited because tomorrow Ian, Qixi, Exie, and I will be going on a little weekend trip. We are traveling to Rolla, Missouri, where my sister Rachel lives. While we are there, we will be attending the last performance of Seussical the Musical which I have been looking forward to these past two weeks. Mara visited us today and she brought homemade Bento boxes for us to eat on our trip down. Also, she made a CD we are not allowed to listen to until we get in the car and start traveling down the highway. I wonder what kind of songs it will have on it? Mara will be guest blogging, so enjoy!

A Lovely Evening

Tonight I have had a wonderful evening. Mara came over and we went to Qixi and Exie's flute recital, which was quite lovely (there were a lot of snacks too :D). When we came home, we ate Chinese food from our local Ho Wa and reminisced. Then, we watch funny videos on YouTube (including this and this). Since then, we've been on three different computers having wild conversations on Facebook. I love my family. :D


P.S.
I came across these stunning pictures of animals. Take a look!

Havalah's Toast

One morning Havalah asked me for some toast. Like the angel I am, I gladly complied and popped some bread in the toaster. When I went to butter the toast, it was gone. Looking around the kitchen, I spied the culprit. Ian was munching on some hot toast. Havalah was upset, so I told Ian he had to toast some bread for her. Feeling guilty, Ian put some bread in the toaster. He left the kitchen and forgot about Havalah's toast. When he remembered, he went to the kitchen to retrieve the toast. But it wasn't in the toaster. It had just been thrust into Naomi's mouth and it was lathered with Nutella. Havalah burst into tears. So Naomi got a slice of bread, wedged it in the toaster and stood guard over it like a mother hen watching her chicks. The toaster popped and out came some hot toast. Naomi buttered it and handed it to Havalah, who gladly bit into her long-awaited toast.

The moral of this story? When you toast bread in our kitchen, you have to watch it closely or someone will eat it. 

Food and Books

When I eat food, I eat it in a certain order. First I start with the vegetables because although they're not yucky, they aren't exactly my favorite thing on my plate (and you don't want to finish a meal with a bad taste in your mouth). Then I eat my mashed potatoes and meatloaf, usually a couple bites of one and then a few of another. After that comes the dessert. The dessert is sweet and tasty, and I savor it as I eat it. And I leave the table feeling full and satisfied and content.
That is also how I read books. The first few chapters in a book are the vegetables, because they are (in a sense) the pilot episode, they set you up and get you ready for the story while also letting you decide whether you want to continue reading or not. Then I finish those chapters and move on to the meat of the book, which is wholesome and fulfilling. After that comes the dessert, the ending of the book. The ending can be the best part, or it can be the worst. It's either a wonderfully tasting buttermilk pudding or a sour buttermilk pudding, because the buttermilk wasn't used before the expiration date. And then the book is done and I sigh. If I disliked the book, it's an exasperated sigh, an I can't believe I wasted my time reading that sigh, and I hurriedly reach for another book to get the bad taste out of my mouth. But if I liked the book, it's a contented sigh, and over the next few days I think about the wonderfulness of the book as I go about my daily routine.

Family Favorite Cut-Out Cookies

It's getting closer and closer to Christmas, and that means baking! Cut - out cookies are a lot of fun to make and very easy so we made some recently! Here is the recipe;
                                    Family Cut-Out Cookies                                        
1 C. butter, softened                                                1 egg
1 (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened                             1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C. sugar                                                             3 C. flour
Mix all cookie ingredients except the flour. Beat at a medium speed 3-4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour. Mix well. Place dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 in. thickness. Cut with cookie cutters and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 6-7 minutes. Makes 8 dozen cookies.
    

Thanksgiving Week

I'm sure everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a big holiday for our family because instead of all the extended family gathering together at Christmas time, we all get together and celebrate Thanksgiving together. Every year, Thanksgiving starts on Thursday and ends late Sunday night for us. It's a fun-filled four days. Each family member pitches in and creates a special dish to share. On the list to get baked this weekend?
Cookies (4 batches)
Pumpkin roll
Pumpkin pies
Pecan pies
Chips/crackers/snacks
Rolls
Turkey
Cranberry salad
Stuffing
Sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole

I can't wait to taste all the goodies!

Persimmon Pudding

Yes, you read the title right. I did a double take when I saw persimmon pudding advertised at a family owned pie and egg shop, but thought nothing of it.
That is, until Mom brought it home for dessert. When I think of persimmons, I usually think back to the time when I was about nine years old, and picked a persimmon off a tree and stuck it into my mouth. I instantly regretted the decision, because the persimmon was not ripe. Unripe persimmons taste AWFUL! I never ate a persimmon after that.
So, Mom brings persimmon pudding home and dishes out a spoonful to us all to eat, declaring that all of us have to try at least one bite. Apprehensively, I stick the spoon into my mouth to take the one bite I have to take . . . and find that it tastes delicious! We still have some leftover, so I think I'll eat some more this afternoon . . . and encourage you to try some too!

Cafe Korea

Yesterday evening we ate at a new cafe that opened up in Fishers, Indiana. Mara heard about it after reading this article. The food was wonderful! Yes, we had a long wait because the cafe was busy, but it was well worth it. Cafe Korea is owned and operated by one family and when you order your food, they make it from scratch for you. We ate seafood pancake, shrimp and fruit tempura, soon tofu, teriyaki salmon, kimchee, yuk ke jang, and (of course) lots of white rice. We'll be sure to go back soon!