Strawberry Ginger Punch

Another recipe from the birthday picnic!

Strawberry Ginger Punch

Ingredients:
-ginger ale
-strawberries, sliced
-pineapple juice
-pineapple, crushed or sliced

Instructions:
1) Combine ginger ale with pineapple juice and add strawberry slices + crushed/sliced pineapple.

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summer plans

Apparently, the anatomy lab job is mine if I want it to be, but in the interest of not being disowned by my parents, I guess I’ll have to give it up and go home. There are only about 3 things that make me want to stay here for part of the summer, but the draw back home is greater (e.g. family, friends, Twirly Girls, Davis, Asian supermarkets, Asian bakeries). I’m still sticking around for 2 weeks here after school ends, so I’m hoping to do the following:

-volunteer at the no-kill shelters/Greenbrier Manor
-powerlifting competition in NC
-visit Trish in NJ + Whitney in PA
-explore WV
-review this past year’s worth of material
-go over the USMLE First Aid book + Pathoma
-read all of Dubin
-draw up anatomy review charts/summaries/memory aids to help out the first years next year

Back Home:
I just realized/remembered today that the Berkeley shuttle runs on the weekends now, so my Davis escapes are a whole lot more feasible than before!
-hang out with friends/family
-eat the world
-LA for a week
-Davis for a week + at least 2 weekends
-study 3-4 hours a day for future boards (USMLE First Aid, Pathoma, firecracker/gunnertraining)
-learn/re-learn 3 Tahitian/hula pieces
-pole/silks
-teach self how to play the ukulele
-get back into better shape so I’ll have farther to fall next year >_> haha

饺子 (Dumplings)

I’ve made dumplings before, but this time, it’s all from scratch! We were going to use pre-made wrappers, but they went bad. (Got too busy and didn’t get a chance to use them. :'( ) Soooo…we made everything from scratch, haha.

饺子 (Dumplings)

Ingredients:
(Wrappers)
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup just-boiled water
-1/4 tsp salt
(Filling)
-2 eggs
-1 lb. ground turkey
-cabbage, diced
-white button mushrooms, diced
-carrots, diced
-garlic powder
-ground ginger
-oyster sauce
-soy sauce
-sesame oil
-freshly ground black pepper
-sea salt
(Dipping Sauce)
-soy sauce
-rice wine vinegar
-sugar

Instructions:
1) (Wrappers) Put flour + salt in a bowl and mix. Make a well in the middle and add water, using a wooden spoon to stir. Try to evenly moisten the flour (should be in lumpy bits).
2) If the dough doesn’t come together when you’re kneading it, add water until it does. (It shouldn’t be sticky.)
3) Transfer dough to floured flat surface (we used a wooden cutting board). Knead dough and press into small circles.
4) (Filling) Add all ingredients together and mix well.
5) Add small spoonfuls of filling into each wrapper and fold.
6) Boil a pot of water and drop em’ in. Wait til they float.
7) Fish them out and pan-fry!

The filling!

I had great dumpling folding minions. (I definitely cannot make them that pretty. o_o)

 

Past Dumpling Madness

• Dumplings
• Chicken/Mushroom Dumplings

hello, income

I’m going to assume that we’re all aware that I’m one super-frugal son-of-a-gun. I have been known to wash dishes/take out the trash for people in exchange for food, so why should it stop there?

I somewhat recently learned that one of my friends absolutely hates folding laundry. Of all the household chores there are, folding laundry is probably my favorite one, mostly because it means warm, clean clothes fresh from the drier. They smell nice. :]

F: Seriously? You hate it more than cleaning toilets and bathtubs?
M: Yeah! With bathrooms, I just put a pair of gloves on, get some bleach and go to town. But laundry? It takes me several days.
F: …How much clothing do you have!?
M: Well, it’s really because I get pissed off at it and leave it for another day, but I really hate it. I found a lady at the laundromat who’ll fold my clothes for me if I pay her $10.
F: …
M: Sweet deal, right?
F: …No, not at all. I can’t believe you won’t fold your own clothes. That’s probably my favorite household chore.
M: We’d make a great team then. …Wait, if I pay you $10, would you fold my clothes for me?
F: DONE DEAL.

Yes, that really just happened.

I apparently looked a little sad yesterday. (Listless might be a better word. I’ve been desperately fighting a somewhat-losing battle against a cold, so I haven’t been feeling too lovely.)
M: Hey Farrah, is everything okay?
F: Yep, been better, but still kickin’.
M: Are you sure? I feel like something’s wrong! I feel it! Your aura’s not as strong today. Your qi’s down!
A bit extreme there, but it made me smile.

In other news, this is a good read.

蛋塔 (Egg Tarts) v.2

We made these with a puff pastry crust (cheated and bought that at the store) and also with a homemade crust. Most Chinese bakeries use the puffy crust now, but I kinda prefer the non-flakey one more sometimes. The picture shown uses the puff pastry crust, which is why it’s so pretty. I’m sorry that the overall picture looks all over-exposed. It was dark, so no natural light + camera phone = not the best quality. (This recipe makes ~12 egg tarts.)

蛋塔 (Egg Tarts) v.2

Ingredients:
(Dough)
-1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-6-8 tbsp Earth Balance
-1/2 egg, beaten
-1 small dash vanilla extract
-little bit of vanilla soy milk to incorporate dough
(Filling)
-1/3 cup white sugar
-3/4 cup water
-4 1/2 beaten eggs
-1 dash vanilla
-1/2 cup evaporated milk

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 380-385 degrees.
2) (Dough) Mix the confectioner sugar + all-purpose flour together, then add Earth Balance (or butter), 1/2 egg, vanilla extract and milk.
3) (Filling) Mix all the filling ingredients together in a separate bowl.
4) Press the dough into muffin tins and pour in the filling.
5) Bake for 20 minutes, then turn off oven and keep the egg tarts in there until the egg sets (lessens the deflation!)