NYC TRIP DIARY

Hey everyone, I'm back from NYC! Did you guys have a great Valentine's day? We had a driving date to Long Island on the 14th to celebrate our third Valentine's day in our favorite Japanese restaurant "Robata". It had been snowing really hard before we started our trip, but it was so beautiful because all the trees and mountains were covered by snow. Compared to the other trips I've taken to NYC, I spent more time discovering Brooklyn, especially Park Slope and Williamsburg. I always hear how cool Brooklyn is, but I finally had a change to visit in person. I found some great places that I would like to share today, and I definitely will come back to discover more cool places in the future!

SPRING FESTIVAL

This past Thursday was the Chinese New Year, a.k.a. Spring Festival. As everyone knows, the most important activity on Spring Festival is to make homemade dumplings.

BREAKFAST CREPE

Good morning everyone! Are you ready for some breakfast? When I have an easy going morning, my favorite breakfast even before the standard fare of eggs, toast or an omelet, is an Asian style crepe. I love it so much and it is so delicious, healthy, and easy to make. Here is how I make it:

Ingredients (2 serving):

A cup of regular flour
4 eggs
Chopped scallions, carrots, and any other vegetables that you want to add into the crepe
A tea spoon salt
A cup of water

1. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix them while putting water with them, until it is not sticky any more.

3. Prepare a large flat pan on medium high heat with butter and put the liquid into the pan. Make sure the amount of liquid stays thin. Spin the pan to make it spread evenly. Flip to the other side when the bottom is cooked.

4. Fold the surface twice to make a pie shape and enjoy!

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HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES

Did you see my last post "HOLIDAY EDIBLE IDEAS"? I finally choose the simple sugar cookies to make for this thanksgiving. I followed this recipe from RealSimple and the process is really simple! I like sugar cookies without icing, so I made some patterns on the dough before baking them. My personal favorites are polka dots and stripes. I also put simple icing on some of them for a holiday appearance. It is really hard to make a nice pattern in a short period of time. I have researched some beautiful and creative decorated cookies online for inspirations, maybe you can find your cookie icing ideas from them. :) Hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!

 

Image via: Pinterest

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HOLIDAY EDIBLE IDEAS

For this upcoming holiday season, I've spent a lot of time doing online research about homemade sweets. If you are still struggling to find gifts for the people you love, I think homemade sweets can make a great gift idea for your family and friends. Discover the flavors they like and make these delicious gifts by yourself. It is also a great way to show your love and concern for them. Here are 8 awesome recipes that I really want to try out. I know I can't make all of them, so I am still determining which ones should I make. Which ones do you think you'd want to try?

1. Peanut Butter Blossoms Recipe [hersheys.com]

2. Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti [realsimple.com]

3. Fun Shape Sugar Cookies [realsimple.com]

4. S’mores Mini Dippers [kevinandamanda.com]

5. Soft Batch Peanut Butter Double Fudge Brownie Cookies [kevinandamanda.com]

6. Grapefruit French Macarons [lafetedeemily.wordpress.com]

7. Chocolate and salted butter caramel macarons [call-me-cupcake.blogspot.se]

8. Caramel Peanut Butter Fudge [cafejohnsonia.com]

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HEALTHY SHRIMP CUCUMBER ROLL

This shrimp cucumber roll shown above, is a variation of my mom's Egg and Cucumber Salad recipe which I will post later on my blog. The reason that I made this new recipe is because I wanted to create a healthier appetizer for people who cannot have a lot of eggs in their diet.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 Cucumbers
Cocktail Shrimp (can be any other cooked shrimp and sauce you like)
Carrots, scallions, and any other salad vegetables that you want to add into the roll. (Think about sushi! You can even put rice in if you like!)

Steps:

1. Slice the cucumber into long strip slices, and soak them into a little bit of salt to decrease the water content.
2. Chop all the vegetables into equal strips.
3. Roll the shrimp (1 or 2), vegetables, and sauce with the cucumber slice, then secure the end with a toothpick.

Your finished! Enjoy! Hope everyone have a great weekend!

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EGGS BAKED IN AVOCADO

Pinterest is really a great place to get inspiration and save ideas. Few days ago I saw an amazing picture of an avocado with an egg inside and pined it onto my Pin board. I had to try cooking it as soon as possible, so after researching this Eggs Baked in Avocado recipe from Popsugar Fitness I attempted to make it for the first time. The outcome looked beautiful and tasted delicious, the portion size and the appearance makes this dish a perfect choice for a brunch party.

Tips:
1. Don't forget to put tinfoil on the baking pan.
2. 20 Minites is enough for the egg to set. It looks shinny and watery outside, but it's all cooked inside. :)

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TRY IT THURSDAY: HOMEMADE APPLE SAUCE

After apple picking last week, my boyfriend and I made some homemade apple sauce over the weekend. We also learned how to can it, so it could be saved for the rest of year. We ended up making eight, brand new cans of apple sauce! So here is how we did it:

1. Wash and peel the apples. I used the OXO Swivel Peeler for the first time and I love it! It peeled the apple skin so thin and smooth, the handle cushion feels very soft and comfortable.

2. Use an apple cuter to slice the apple, which makes the process much easier and prevents cutting off too much of the apple.

3. Bring about 1 cup of water (for four apples) to a boil and add the apple chunks. Boil until the apples until soft, and then put them into a food processor.

4. Put one teaspoon scoop of cinnamon and one tablespoon scoop of brown sugar into the food processor and then mix them together until smooth.

5. Get your jars ready for starilization. We purchased the Ball 12ct Quilted Jelly Jars - 8oz at Target. They worked very well and I really love the size of it.

6. Preparing a pot that is large enough to fit all of the jars. Add enough water so that when the jars are placed inside, at least 1 inch of water covers the top of the jars. Boil the jars for 10 minutes so they are sterile, then carefully remove them without burning yourself.

7. Let the jars cool down and scoop the apple sauce in. Close the lid tightly and replace into your pot of boiling water for an additional 10 mins.

8. Take the jars out of the boiling water anyway you can. We used a combination of ladles and tongs, but just be sure to use something that prevents you from getting burned (they will be very hot!). There are lot of special tools out there, shop around to find a good one for you.

9. The last and the best part is adding your labels! Eat it whenever you want during the year and they could also be a great thanksgiving gift for family or friends!

Let me know your homemade apple sauce recipes!

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