Saturday, December 19, 2009

Snow, family, and noms.


Whassup, hooligans?
Long time no blog! My sincerest apologies to the very small number of people who actually read this sad excuse for a site (SARA I KNOW YOU CREEPIN. COMMENT HAEJWO)... For the past few weeks, finals have rocked my world (in a bad way). 5 tests and 3 papers later, I am done for the semester, yezzirrrr. Thank God for pulling me through and always blessing me with so much more than I deserve. I got back to Richmond a few days ago and not a moment sooner because as of last evening it has been snowing nonstop.

I bought a lb of yeast from king arthur flour, which is a GREAT site. For $12 ($5.95 for the yeast itself), you bet I'm saving a lot by not having to buy those tiny packets at the grocery store. I strongly encourage purchasing SAF Red Instant Yeast if you bake a lot of yeast goods, and even if you don't; this stuff keeps in the fridge/freezer for years. Wowwww, tangent!

Sorry. I used some of that yeast to make an adjusted version of these cinnamon rolls for the family, and it couldn't have been easier. Even though I'm not much of a sweets person, these really hit the spot and weren't cloyingly sweet. Well, that's because I cut down on the filling's sugar by half, and it still tasted great. I also decreased the butter. Aaannnd instead of 12 rolls, I rolled them thin enough to make 18 servings so you don't feel as guilty eating one. Instead of cream cheese icing, I just combined a little confectioner's sugar and milk. The recipe calls for a bread machine, but I just did everything by hand. You can do it too!


This one was a little wonky but still DUHLICIOUS!


Cinnamony, soft, chewy, slightly gooey and iced, and unravel-able as any good cinnamon roll should be. Look at these photos and tell me you ain't want some too?

Before I finish, let's play catch up for a second.

Just because I don't blog frequently doesn't mean I don't make food during that time... A lot of the time I'm too hungry or too lazy to whip out my crap point and shoot. I always have my cell phone around, however, and sometimes I snap a pic if I remember. Here are a couple things that have been tickling my fancy:

Baked kale chips. Try it! Super crispy, light, and healthy. Has a nori flavored end-note
Sauteed kale (I was on quite a kale kick) with garlic! Ate it for dinner with ham and egg on baguette.
Cinnamon caramel popcorn
Salted caramel sauce (this was way after and unrelated to the popcorn :| )

I also made some rose-shaped dinner rolls for Thanksgiving..

And my new ink...
Ever since my last entry, I'd been working on this huge description of my tattoos. What memories they stand for, the contemplation surrounding them, why I got them where I did, etc. Then I realized I had written over 3 pages single-spaced, and decided you don't need to know AWL dat. I got a knife and fork on my left and right upper inner arms, respectively. They were done by Mike at Salvation Tattoo here in Richmond, and he is an amazing artist. They don't mean I regard myself as a great cook, because I don't. It's nothing of the "I earned this tattoo" variety. The tattoos remind me of my memories from childhood to recent days, mainly having to do with the food/cooking of my family (this is the part that made my initial draft a NOVELLL). It's more than food. It's about fellowship and thankfulness, love and emotion. Corny sounding, but true to me. My fork's on my right and my knife's on my left (opposite of how most of us would hold them when using both) for specific reasons that take too long to explain.. And for those of you who don't care for tattoos, that's cool too, but expressing that strong dislike to me won't benefit anyone, so spew that somewhere else yo

Random food fact: A standard cinnamon roll from Cinnabon has over 700 calories. The recipe I used had a lot less (so try it).

Cheers,
T


P.S. I'm in the process of switching over to Wordpress, so hold on to your hats.

16 comments:

  1. Them rolls look amazing. Come to L.A. and let's open a restaurant... or at least make me fat.

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  2. haha. thank you! and if only i could go to l.a.. i miss cali. you're a lucky man.

    and do i know you or were you just stopping by? in any case, thanks! :)

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  3. Are you really going to leave me all alone [on Blogger]? : [

    Ooh, but I loved reading this update.

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  4. well you're gonna leave me all alone in the U.S.!!!! hehe have a safe flight[s]. and i hope to read many more wonderful blog posts of yours!

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  5. those cinammon rolls look divine! i don't know why but i always feel intimidated by recipes that call for yeast. probably why i never made bread.

    and you'll like wordpress. i'm on it and love it.

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  6. Ouch on the tats. :-| I've tried kale chips... must've made mine too salty. I'll try it again sometime. Your post is really making me wish I had some yeast while I'm stuck inside... Have a great break!

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  7. Love this entry. So good to see you updating again :)

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  8. youre adorable.

    food is life for me as well! breaking bread with friends new and old, feeding someone, eating a meal someone has prepared for you... these are the best things in life.

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  9. Trish, you are SO talented O_O!!!

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  10. thanks, everybody!!!

    aileen- i definitely made my kale chips way too salty the first time too. but second time around they were much better!

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  11. AHAHAHAHAH ...oopsies you caught me
    HI TRISH! :)
    Merry Christmas!
    How are ya?

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  12. Hey, how'd you make those rose-shaped dinner rolls? Strips and hand-form them or something. Looks VERY fancy!

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  13. hi, daniel! thanks :)
    you cut out two circles of dough, fold both in half, and interlock them. it's easier when seen; here's a demo:

    http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=71&sid=8527445

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  14. saraaaaaa, i'm good. how's the homeland? i miss you already~

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  15. NOOOOO DONT LEAVE BLOGSPOT. YOU KNOW THIS IS THE SHXT. YOU KNOW EVERYONE WHO IS ANYONE HAS A BLOGSPOT.

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  16. :( :( we'll see, jojoooo. i'm feelin kinda lazy so who knows if the move will really happen haahah

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