Thursday, July 31, 2008

I sent my package yesterday


I baked 70 peanut butter cookies for Jason Ballard. I packed them very carefully. I hope they don't fall apart or get too stale. Anthony brought home a bunch of F&S so we put them in there too.

Operation baking GALS was a huge success. Over a hundred people sent baked goods. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it next month.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Baking for the troops

I joined an online baking group. The goal is to send soldiers serving overseas home-baked goods. If you want to check it out you can go to operationbakinggals.blogspot.com

I think it is a really wonderful idea and it is nice to be doing something to support our soldiers. Tonight we're baking peanut butter cookies. We had a hard time coming up with what to make. I'm a huge chocolate fan, but I was afraid to send something that might melt. If anyone had any suggestions for next time I'd love to hear them.

I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Back to baking



I guess it is a good thing I didn't join TWD. I haven't done much baking this summer. I did make an easy and delicious blueberry tart this weekend from Baking from my home to yours. I would highly recommend the tart recipe. The tart dough can be made in under 10 minutes. There is no rolling of the dough and only one chilling.

The tart was extra special because I had blueberries from Dan and Lori's land. We had a great weekend with Dan, Lori, Sophie, Luke, Michael, and Jack. I wished we lived closer and could see them more! The kids were all adorable and we had so much fun.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sorry


I can't believe how fast the summer is going. I've been terrible about posting to the blog. There really hasn't been much going on other than regular summer fun. Two of our nieces came for a visit last week and we had a great time running around the city. We accomplished two of their three goals. They bought knock off bags on Canal street and saw the TRL window. But they didn't see anyone famous.

Anthony has had a much more exciting summer than me. Last week Anthony interviewed Senator Obama. Being an Obama supporter I was really excited for him. So now either way he's meet the next President.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Vietnamese sandwich

For the pork:

* 3 pounds boneless pork butt

For the poaching liquid:

* 1 bunch of scallions
* 1 big piece fresh ginger, sliced
*2 cups beef broth
For the marinating liquid:

* 2 cups soy sauce
*1/4 cup sugar
*1/4 cup sake
* 1 star anise
*1/2 cup water

Put the scallions, ginger slices, and beef broth in a pot with enough water to cover the pork. Bring to a boil, and then put the meat in. Lower the heat until it’s barely simmering, put on a lid, and poach for 90 minutes. Let cool a bit in the liquid.

In the meantime, combine the marinade ingredients in a smaller pan and bring to the boil. Let cool.

Put the marinade and the still warm, drained pork into a plastic bag. Let marinate, turning every so often, for about an hour or more. Store in the refrigerator until cold.

For the pickled carrots:

* 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 5 carrots peeled and shredded


Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once sugar and salt have dissolved, remove from heat, add carrots, and stir to coat in pickling mixture. Let stand until carrots have softened, at least 30 minutes or overnight. Drain well and set aside.


*2 baguettes
* 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
* 10 ounces pork pate
*1/2 pound virgina ham
* 1 large cucumber, halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise
* 1/2 cup cilantro leaves whole
* 1 jalapeno, sliced thinly lengthwise (optional)
Sriracha to taste

To assemble:

1. Slice halfway into the side of each baguette leaving one long side attached. Remove enough of bottom interiors so that filling can fit easily.
2. Spread the mayonnaise on top of the baguette.
3. Spread the pate on the bottom, then top with sliced pork, ham, cucumber, cilantro leaves, pickled carrots, and jalapeno.

Add sriracha.

Success




Anthony and I had a great weekend. Our picnic was so much fun. The weather, food, and swimming were perfect.

I'm not sure what my favorite food was, but the Vietnamese sandwiches were so good. I wrote out my recipe and I'll post it. If you never had them it may seem like a weird and excessive combination, but everything just works so well. I'm a huge fan of salty and sweet and that is what the sandwich is all about. I had hopes of writing out all of the recipes, but that hasn't happened yet. We did take pictures of all of the food though. If anyone wants any of the other recipes I can write them out too.