Cake Mix Crinkle Cookies

I made these crinkle cookies at Landon's request.  He had heard that you could make them using cake mix, and he even picked up a couple boxes when he went marketing.  

Lan wanted a buttery version so he bought a Butter Cake Mix.  I found a recipe that used butter instead of oil for even more buttery goodness.

Mix 6 tablespoons of melted butter and 2 eggs with a box of cake mix.  Several recipes say to refrigerate the dough for 1 hour, but it should be longer because even after 1 hour the dough was still sticky and hard to roll into balls.  

Form 1-inch balls and roll in powdered sugar.  Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for around 10 minutes. 

My cookies came out bigger and flatter than supposed to, but they were still good . . . light and chewy with a bit of an outer crust.

Wendell's Chinese Roast Pork

Hi peoples!   I wanted to show you what Wendell made for softball pupu yesterday.  It's a Foodland recipe. He bought the pork belly from Costco.  He said he thinks it was $3.99/pound.

I'm feeling better.  Taking things one day at a time.  See you again soon.

 

He broiled it for a little bit to get the crackling top.  

 

It was super moist and tender.

   

 

• 2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
• .5 teaspoon Garlic powder
• 2 pounds Pork belly, boneless, skin-on
• .5 teaspoon White Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Salt, divided
• 1 tablespoon Neutral oil

INSTRUCTIONS 

• In a small bowl, whisk together Chinese five spice, garlic powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
• Lay the pork belly skin side down and rub the dry seasoning into the meat side only.
• Flip the pork belly over and wipe off the skin as much as possible with a clean dry paper towel. Using another paper towel, pat the skin dry. 
• Next poke as many holes as you can into the skin, using a sharp metal cooking needle or a bunch of wooden skewers. This is the key to having a Chinese roast pork belly with crispy crackling.
• Wrap aluminum foil around the base and the sides of the pork leaving the skin open and uncovered. Do not create a tall edge with your foil. Create a short edge enough that you can pick up the sides. If you create a tall edge the oven heat will not reach the skin evenly, resulting in a non-crispy skin.
• After wrapping the pork belly in foil, dry it again with a clean paper towel.
• Brush pork skin with a light coat of white vinegar. Do not drench pork in vinegar. The vinegar helps to remove moisture. Then evenly and lightly sprinkle sea salt over the top of the pork.
• Bake at 225℉ for 60 minutes. Your skin will not puff up here so do not worry if you do not see it crackle. 
• Remove from oven and evenly brush a thin coat of oil onto the skin. Then bake again at 400℉ for 40 minutes. The pork skin will start to puff up and crackle. Monitor this process around the 35-minute mark and check for golden crispy crackled skin. If you do not see it, continue baking until you do. The pork belly is a very forgiving cut of meat and will stay moist.
• Once you see the crackled puffy skin, remove pork from the oven, and let it rest for 10 minutes so the juices go back into the meat. You can leave it in the foil or remove it and place it on your chopping board.
• When chopping, flip it over so it is skin side down. Hold the pork firm with your dominant hand and with a very sharp heavy knife slice the meat down firmly. Then pause before you reach the skin, and with two hands slice down. This ensures a smooth slice.

Anxiety

Two days after going to the ER, I ended up at Urgent Care in Kahala.  Same symptoms.  Same negative test results.

I have been referred to a cardiologist, but I think it's panic attacks that I'm experiencing.  My wonderful soon-to-be-on-materinity-leave doctor prescribed a low-dose medicine for anxiety and palpitations.

Been working on this drawing to help me relax.  Thank you all for your words of encouragement.  

See you again soon.

Taking a Break

I ended up in the ER on Saturday due to heart palpitations. They said it was probably due to dehydration.  I'm feeling better, but decided to take a break from blogging for now.

See you again soon.

Frixion Pen

 I traced a copy of my sunflower painting with carbon paper and a Frixion pen.

Wendell's Steamed and Roasted Duck

The recipe for this is from the Food Network site and is courtesy of Tyler Florence.  It sure looks humbug to make, but Wendell said that it wasn't.  😳

It was really good.

 

The is how I ate it.

 

Ingredients

Select All

1 whole (4 to 5 pound) duck

1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

5 big slices fresh ginger

4 garlic cloves

1/2 bunch green onions

1 tangerine,peel cut in big strips

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup soy sauce

Directions

1. Duck is notoriously a fatty bird, to diminish the fat and produce a crispy skin, begin by trimming the excess fat from the neck and body. Rinse the duck, inside and out, and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Combine the Chinese five-spice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the duck, inside and out. Salt and five-spice powder makes a fragrant dry marinade, which draws some of the moisture from the duck so that the spices penetrate. Stuff the duck cavity with the aromatics: the ginger, garlic, green onions, and tangerine peel. Fold the wing tips back under the duck and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Poke the duck breast a few times, piercing the skin.
2. Place a roasting pan on the stovetop over 2 burners and fill with 2-inches of water, turn the heat to medium. Set a V-rack insert inside the pan and lay the duck on the rack, breast-side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Steam the duck for 45 minutes, checking the water level periodically. Steaming the duck first melts away some of the fat and shrinks the skin.
3. In a small saucepan combine the vinegar, honey, and soy sauce over low heat. Cook and stir for 5 minutes until thick. The duck will be lacquered with the sweet glaze, which caramelizes during roasting, making the skin crisp and brown.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Take the foil off the duck, remove the rack with the duck, and pour out the water and all the fat that has rendered out (this is great to use in other dishes like fried rice.) Put the rack with the duck back inside the roasting pan. Baste the duck with the vinegar mixture, until all the skin is completely coated in the glaze. Stick the whole thing in the oven. Roast the duck for 1 hour, basting periodically with any remaining glaze to set in a deep mahogany color. Tent the breast with some foil if it gets too dark. The legs will wiggle easily when it's done. Carve and serve.

On Da Desk

I turned this watercolor painting into a greeting card.  I might make a bunch.  Or just two. 😁

Feeding Fred

 Warning:  If worms gross you out, maybe you'd better not watch.

Dd's Tomatillo Salsa Verde

I had to google "tomatillo", and this is what I found:  Tomatillos are sometimes called Mexican green tomatoes and they belong to the same family as tomatoes. Tomatillos taste a little more like lemon, apples and herbs than green tomatoes, but they’re still very similar.

And then, Italian parsley and cilantro also seem like the same thing to me, but I guess they're not.  At any rate, this looks good, especially the "seared" and "charred" part.

TOMATILLO SALSA VERDE

 

6 medium tomatillos, husks removed

1 jalapeno pepper, halved

½ small red onion, coarsely chopped

3 cloves garlic

½ c. cilantro leaves and stems

¼ c. Italian parsley leaves and stems

1 TB fresh lime juice

salt to taste

 

In a skillet over medium high heat place tomatillos and jalapeno halves. Sear on one side, then flip over and sear on the other side. Remove from heat until charred to your desired likeness. 

Place in blender with remaining ingredients. Pulse until finely chopped and mixed to desired consistency.

Season with salt to taste. Makes approximately 1 ½ cup.

Daiso Microwavable Bowl

This microwaveable bowl has become our favorite to use whether we need to heat up something or not.  Both Landon and Wendell asked me to pick up another one, so now we have three.

 

I think it's the depth that we like.