Saturday, October 06, 2007

trying new recipes

Well, the weather is....still warm (I guess I did jinx myself). The weather people have compared it to mid-August temps during the day...blah. I learned something new the other night, the weather guy said that the wispy clouds are autumn clouds and the fluffy ones are summer clouds. So as you can see from the photo, even the sky is confused as to what season it is...sigh. Oh, and if you see a jet stream and it stays in the sky for a long time, this means it will rain and if it fades quickly the weather will stay sunny....

Yesterday, I was in a procrastinating kind of mood with my bead project, so I decided to eat all day and tried some new recipes.

There was banh mi for lunch. The post on Tamarind and Thyme led me to Viet World Kitchen which gave a recipe for the veggies that go inside of a banh mi. This sandwich reminded me of the sandwiches I've had at Ba-le in Hawaii. I think if I had some fish sauce it would have tasted a little more authentic.

And then these petit mont blancs from one of my cookbooks for a mid-afternoon tea. The topping which is usually a chestnut mixture, is made from sweet potatoes instead. The bottom was a cookie, not the usual cake. The only problem I had was piping (as you can probably tell). Using my tiny food processor, the sweet potato didn't get as smooth as I would have liked it, so when I was piping, bits got stuck in the frosting tip and would blast itself out...I'm lucky it wasn't more messy. These were super easy (aside from the piping) to make and a very nice snack. (the two in the background are for Satoshi)

And then there was Amy's penne alla vodka for dinner. I didn't have vodka in the house, only shochu (which is like sake but made from potatoes or barley and stronger than sake), so I guess mine should be called penne alla shochu. I liked this recipe, it tasted like something I've had in a restaurant before. Too bad I didn't buy more baguettes, so I could mop up the sauce!

I love the internet! All the exchanging of information at my fingertips.

Hope you have a nice weekend, we have ANOTHER 3-day weekend (although Satoshi has to work today)....I guess I better get beading.

UPDATE: I switch out cream with skim milk in the Penne alla Vodka sauce to cut back a little of the calories and sometimes just make the sauce so we can dip bread into it.

12 comments:

Truffle said...

Sounds like a fantastic day of eating! Great choice of recipes. Enjoy the 3 day weekend!

Kat said...

Hi Kat! Thanks so much for checking out my blog and leaving such nice comments :)

I am amazed at all the cooking you do! It looks delicious! Unfortunately (for my husband) I'm not the most skilled cook. Luckily he grew up on a hearty diet of Spam and fried vienna sausage so I have something to fall back on every so often :) I do try to do more complex stuff but it's hard when you are just cooking for two. Anyway, thanks again and I still enjoy reading about your food adventures!!!

K and S said...

Thanks Truffle it was and thanks for stopping by.

Kat, I hadn't really cooked until I got married, you'll be able to do more cooking when you're out of school. And I am always cutting recipes in half, that way not much leftovers.

Take care you two.
Kat

bourgogne said...

hi kat! thanks for the meteorological lesson; i didn't know any of that about clouds. that'll help when i need to hang clothes outside to dry (i'm still not really used to not having a dryer) btw, i want that sandwich!

K and S said...

you are welcome, Bourgogne! When I go home to Hawaii, I am always not used to having a dryer or a large washer to wash my clothes in! :) Let me know when you are coming over so I can make this sandwich for you ;)

Take care.
Kat

OkiHwn said...

That would be so nice to eat right now - banh mi! Clean tasting and refreshing! Love the pork and pate ones.

K and S said...

You should try making it Nate! Super easy and fast. Plus, it tastes almost like Ba-le. gotta have some fish sauce in it and a little chili.

Take care.
Kat

Monique said...

That snack looks quite pretty actually. Did you make the cookies too?

Speaking of beading, I got some craft projects from my trip to Japan but still have to figure out how to assemble everything, especially since all the instructions are written in Japanese!

OkiHwn said...

I have to find pork pate or find a recipe to make it.

K and S said...

No I didn't make the cookies, Monique, that is what makes this snack so easy.

Ooh, pork pate, I guess you better surf around the internet for it, Nate. Although, maybe the Okinawans have something like it, you should ask around your office.

Take care you two.
Kat

Unknown said...

Picture of my "French Sandwich".

Hi Kat & Satoshi,
I've been reading your blogs for a couple months and I think this is my 1st comment. I enjoy reading your blogs when I'm at my on-call job at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. Anyway, I work here about once a week and Outrigger provides a meal plan. Tonight our dinner came from Keoni's at the Ohana East Hotel and I got my usual, the "French Sandwich". It is their easy name for the bahn mi. It's free and tasty for me. Thanks for blogging about so many interesting things. I really wish I had more time and money to be in Japan more often!

K and S said...

Hi Rick,

The sandwich looks very delicious and what's even better, it is free!

Thanks for stopping by and take care.
Kat