Month: January 2015

Quick Chicken Wonton Soup

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I’m an avid Trader Joe’s fan and of course I enjoy going to Costco just as much.  So it’s no surprise that most of the ingredients for this wonton soup are either from Trader Joe’s or Costco, with the exception of the rice vinegar, which I purchased at a local Korean grocery store.

The frozen wontons, chicken stock, and the soy sauce (refill) are from Costco.  Everything else, minus the rice vinegar, are from Trader Joe’s.  And don’t get me going on their frozen crushed garlic: They are just SO convenient and easy to use, and the same goes for their shredded carrots.

So it’s been cold here in the Bay area (as cold as it can get here in Nor Cal) and I have been craving a lot of hot soup to warm me up.  This is such a quick and satisfying soup that I have been making it quite often and just made some tonight to go with some fried rice (when husband’s not home for dinner, I like to keep dinner quick and easy).  It can definitely stand on it’s own for a lunchtime meal and makes enough for myself and my 3 little musketeers.  I originally got this recipe from my favorite book “The I Love Trader Joe’s Cookbook”  (which I scored from my local library’s used bookstore for $2) and made some tweaks to suit our taste buds and has been and will continue to be my quick go-to soup.  Try it! You won’t be disappointed!

Ingredients

  • 1 quart (about 4 cups) chicken stock or broth
  • 2 cubes of Trader Joe’s frozen crushed garlic (or 2 cloves garlic minced)
  • 1 TB light soy sauce
  • scant 1 TB rice vinegar
  • chicken cilantro wontons (fully cooked, frozen from Costco) (about 2-3 handfuls)
  • handful of shredded carrots (Trader Joe’s)
  • quartered (or halved) baby bok choy
  • 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp sesame oil

Directions

  1. Add chicken stock, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar in a medium pot and bring it to a boil
  2. Add the frozen wontons, bring to boil, then simmer until ready 
  3. Put in a handful of shredded carrots and the baby bok choy and simmer until tender.
  4. Remove from heat and add the sliced green onions and the sesame oil
  5. Serve hot and enjoy!

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Cheers,
Flora


Krispy Kreme copycat doughnuts

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I   L O V E   W A R M   K R I S P Y   K R E M E   D O N U T S  ! ! !

My kids always asks for a donut whenever we’re at the local grocery store getting fresh produce since the tempting display of those sugar-coated fried concoctions are right next to the veggies. Who thought to place donuts next to the produce section?   I usually cut them right off and continue with our shopping, but I am human and have fallen prey to their chewy, oozy, deliciousness.  We don’t have a Krispy Kreme in the vicinity of our small town and would have to drive 15 mins to hop on the freeway, then drive another 15 mins (without traffic) or so to actually get to a Krispy Kreme… which is too far for me.  I did do it once when I was pregnant and at the end of my first trimester of morning sickness.  I took my two kiddos, strapped them into their carseats and turned it into an educational experience as they watched a fascinating contraption make their donuts from start to finish.  And at the end of it, they got their donuts with chocolate and sprinkles.

Well, I started a new tradition of doughnuts on Christmas morning last year and woke up at 5:30am to make the dough and have enough time for it to rise, but was not too keen on waking that early again.  So I racked my brain and remembered I had made challah dough the night before and let it rise slowly in the refrigerator! And it had been even more soft and delicious than if I had let it rise the regular way.  So I decided to try that same method with these doughnuts and it was even better than last year’s doughnuts!!!
So Christmas eve, I made the dough, covered, and placed in the fridge overnight, then rolled out, cut and fried them at 8am-ish Christmas morning and got to eat them before opening presents from Santa.  I’ve made this recipe before and it  made SO much that  I decided to halve the recipe (below) this time.   Good, big batch though if you have family in town to help you eat them, but not an impossible feat for a family of 5 over a couple days.  I made a little of the white glaze and some chocolate glaze and added Xmas sprinkles to add holiday cheer. 🙂  They were DELICIOUS!
last year’s HUGE batch of donuts that we ended up delivering to neighbors.
Krispy Kreme Copycat (Full batch)

adapted from food.com

makes about 2 dozen donuts

Doughnuts
2 (1/4 oz) packages yeast
¼ cup warm water
1 ½ cup warm milk, scalded, then cooled
½ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter
5 cups all-purpose flour
Canola oil
Creamy Glaze
1/3 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4-6 TB Evaporated milk (regular milk or water okay too
*Add 4 oz milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate for Chocolate glaze (melt w/ butter)
Directions
1.       Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl.
2.       Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, butter and mix
3.       Add only 2 cups of flour and mix on medium speed for about 2 mins, scraping bowl.
4.   Add remaining 3 cups flour and mix until smooth dough forms
5.       Place dough in a large, greased bowl and cover.  Place in draft-free spot
6.       Let rise for 1-2 hrs.
7.    Roll dough on floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness
8.       Cut with 3-4 inch round cutter and about 1inch for the small donut hole
9.       Let it rest for about 10 mins
10.   Heat oil in a fryer or saucepan with plenty of oil (at least 2 inches deep) Heat to 350-375F
11.   Carefully slide doughnuts into the hot oil and let fry about 1 min on each side. 
12.   Remove and place on a plate covered with paper towels
13.   Make the Creamy Glaze by microwaving the butter until liquid (for Chocolate glaze, melt with chocolate on low heat)
14.   Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix
15.   Add milk slowly until you reach desired consistency.

Thanks for reading,
Toki

"Sewing Mod Kid Style" Bubble Dress by Toki

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2015 is already here and it’s really starting to feel nippy in the Bay area, which can be quite challenging if you have a girl like mine who always wants to wear a dress.  I would wake up freezing and seek out my warmest sweater, steal my husband’s thick socks (that roll up all the way up my calves) from his drawer, and slip on my fuzzy slippers before I even think to walk on the ice tiles in the bathroom.  Then in twirls my almost-5-yr-old with a piece of cloth draped over her in the shape of a dress with no socks or any tights! I immediately send her back to change which turns my twirling, prancing princess into a creeping, crawling slug bent on never making it back to her closet.  SOoo we compromise and we add a multi-colored jacket (with sequins) and pink polka dot tights which turns her into a walking rainbow with blinding sequins in the shape of a cat named Hello Kitty.

I don’t mind that my daughter looks like she walked out of a “Fancy Nancy” picture book, but I had been wanting to make her a long-sleeved dress for her from the “Sewing Mod Kid Style” book I had borrowed from the library.  My little fashionista had even picked out ALL the dresses and skirts in the book for me to make for her.  The bubble dress was her favorite and asked for that one first.  I had been sitting on the project for a while even after picking out the fabric (Joann) for it before the holidays.  Right, the holidays, there’s my excuse!  

This bubble dress is really simple and easy to make and doesn’t have all those little pieces of bodice linings, interfacings, zippers, or buttons to make it complicated.  It’s meant to be made with knit fabric so it’s a comfy every-day dress that can be slipped on and off over the head.  
While making the dress I made a few notes to myself and one of those are that the sizing of the dress seemed to be quite a bit on the larger side.  I made two dresses, one for my almost-5-yr-old and one for my 3-yr-old.  The one pictured is the size 3T that fits my almost-5-yr old.  It was too big for my 3-yr-old so she’ll have to wait until it’s “handed” down to her, like a lot of her other clothes…  And the size 5T dress I made is way too big so my 5-yr-old, so she will have to grow into it later.  
A note about the neckline hemming.  The pattern and directions instruct you to fold in the neckline of the bodice fabric and sew it. Very simple.  I did just that with a stretch stitch setting but it stretched out the neckline so much it was warped and wavy.  It was ugly.  That didn’t happen to my other 5T dress so I think it’s a difference in fabric… So to remedy that problem, I added light pink bias tape with pink rickrack under to add a little something around the neckline and I think it turned out super cute! If you notice in the picture directly below, I didn’t add the bias tape and rickrack all the way around the neckline.  That’s to allow the dress to be slipped on and off over the head without having to cut the back and add buttons since the bias tape doesn’t have any stretch to it.  

She LOVES her dress!  And it’s long-sleeved! Or actually it should have been long-sleeved, but since this dress was actually for a 3T, the sleeves are three-quarter-sleeves on my 5 yr old, which is just fine.

The “bubble” part of the dress is really quite simple! Always wanted to make a “bubble” dress and finally made two!

Thanks for reading,

Toki