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Our poor nephew doesn't stand a chance with two aunts like us. A couple of years ago, I made my goddaughter a child's size vintage style apron for her birthday, as her parents were getting her a play kitchen. I'm sure her mother oooh'd and awww'd over it more than she did. Earlier this fall, I had visited and helped my nephew make a spice cake using the child size (but fully functional!) cooking tools I'd gotten him for his birthday in the summer. He was thrilled with the result! But also covered in cake batter,.. So while I did choose a couple things from his wish list suggested by my brother and sister-in-law, I knew right away what I wanted to make for my nephew - I knew an apron would be a welcome present.  Isn't it the cutest? I found a simple, free pattern online for a toddler size apron, and I happened to have enough vinyl-coated grey and white chevron fabric leftover from a lunch bag project a few years ago due to a minor miscalculation. I always seem to have excess bias tape lying around; the red contrasted so nicely, and I think added a slightly boyish/masculine touch. The "L" is for my nephew's first name, and so he'd know exactly who the apron is for.  After he understood what it was, he was thrilled! Not the least because along with the apron, we had promised we would use it to help him make a special treat. To go with the apron, Rachel gave him the ingredients for a Wake Up smoothie. It's one of the first recipes we remember learning to make, and we were so excited to pass it on:  I'm sure this is only beginning of us being able to pass on our passion for taking care of your loved ones by making yummy food to share!
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One of the YouTube holes I find myself falling down are cooking videos. I find them relaxing but interesting. But I can't just watch all the time and never try anything! I managed to snap pictures of two of my attempts here. Firstly, one of the channels I watch is Cooking With Dog, a Japanese channel with an English voice-over. Because of that, one of the suggestions on my homepage was CookingTree, a Korean pastry/ASMR channel (I know, weird cross-over, right??). Anyway, one of the recipes that caught my eye was for Peach Mousse Cake. Maybe it was the challenge of trying a truly foreign recipe. Maybe it's the allure of the precision in the instructions. For whatever reason, I was mildly obsessed, and I had to recreate the "cake" for myself. Here's the video: You can decide for yourself if I made a decent version of it:  I will note that the "peach flavored drink" called for in the recipe is a little vague. We certainly don't seem to have a popular similar soft drink. I chose to use Jumex Peach Nectar drink, a popular Mexican juice/soft drink that we can get here in the states. Also, I went the easy route, and used a boxed yellow cake mix, rather than a recipe from scratch. Box cake mixes tend to be closer to a chiffon sponge, so the texture was a little fluffier and the crumb larger than in the original. All in all, I really enjoyed the little cake. I could see it being perfect for a summer birthday, especially if the birthday person is not a huge fan of traditional cake. Continuing with a theme here, second is Hokkaido Milk Bread. I first saw the recipe when Emmy from Emmymade in Japan tried it. This time, at least, the chef in question is American, so no translating. She actually used a recipe adapted by King Arthur Flour for Japanese Milk Bread Rolls, and just made it into loaves. The video is here: This first time, I didn't use bread flour, just my trusty Hudson Cream Flour. So, the bread wasn't maybe as chewy as it could be. However, it was fairly straightforward, for bread: Surprisingly, the flavor reminded me more of homemade biscuits - the kind you put under sausage gravy, not the kind you dip into tea. The claim of this bread is that it is more springy than other breads, and that it stays fresh longer. It certainly was springy! I cant say if it stays fresh longer than usual - it was gone too quickly for that ;)
 About four months before this cookie venture my husband and I finally had the opportunity to give in to a new nerdy obsession: Dungeons & Dragons. Our basement library area became the de facto meeting spot because:
1. Basement, and this is DUNGEONS and Dragons, 2. Suitably nerdy surroundings in our library space, 3. Actual dedicated space, and not a dining room table that would be disturbed during the week. We absolutely love the game, and my little brother kindly 3D printed this cookie cutter. Kate and I used our favorite cut out sugar cookies and a new attempt at marshmallow fondant. The cookies turned out great and the guys loved them. (Yes I am the token female player.) However they haven't been a repeat as cookie decorating apparently takes a lot of time. Who knew? ;) |
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