Catch-up from Christmas 2012

I honestly never know what to get for my parents for Christmas anymore, so I tend to do more makeshift things for them. This Christmas, I got up to make breakfast for them. The menu was breakfast scones, crepes, and tea lattes. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the scones, the other crepes I made, and the lattes on Christmas Day. Scones are really easy to make, but I will still stick to eating them with butter and/or jam and tea. :) For the crepes, I made one specially for each person, and left the rest as a kind of "serve yourself" sort of thing on the table. We had blueberry jam, maple syrup, icing sugar, margarine, honey, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and bananas.

We had some leftover batter from that day, so I made cinnamon apple crepes for my brother and I this morning. (If I remember, I'll do another post some time in the future about the latte. We don't own a french press or anything, and it's a really easy thing to put together!) But, back to crepes...

Things I have learned over the past few days about crepes:
- Letting the batter rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours is key, but it is actually better when you leave it in the fridge overnight.
- They get much easier to make once you get the hang of it.
- Don't be tempted to flip the crepe early. It might look like the middle part is getting quite cooked, but leave it be. Wait until it lifts up a bit on the edges, and you can move it around in the pan by just swivelling it.
- Crepes are amazing because they make such a simple base. You can make them sweet or savoury, and fill them with whatever is you fancy. Personally, I am going to stick to sweet ones for now because I have a little more experience with desserts.

There is actually a nice French restaurant in downtown Edmonton called "The Creperie". In Edmonton, I've only been there for crepes, and they are consistently delicious. I will have to blog about it some time when I get the chance to go there again!

I wish I took a picture of the one I made for my brother instead...it was more representative of the rest. This one was for myself, and I got distracted while assembling his, so it got a bit burnt around the edges :(

Basic Crepes (adapted from Martha Stewart)
*Makes 10-12 crepes*
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp white granulated sugar
1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
4 eggs
3 Tbsp olive oil + extra for greasing the pan between creeps

1. Beat eggs into a bowl with oil.
2. Slowly add the milk into the mixture.
3. Sift the flour, sugar, and salt into the wet ingredients, and fold carefully until smooth.
4. Cover batter with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Overnight is so much better.
5. When ready to cook, fasten a folded paper towel to the end of a pair of chopsticks, and put a few drops of oil on the paper towel. Grease a medium-sized frying pan, and set heat on medium-low.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan, and work quickly to swirl the batter evenly across the whole hot surface of the pan.
7. Do not lift or flip the crepe until it begins to peel away from the edges by itself. Another way to check is to lightly shake the pan. If the crepe doesn't budge, don't flip it yet. When you can move it without having to use a spatula, flip it over. I use my fingers, but be careful not to burn yourself. Each side should only be lightly browned. When cooking the crepes, be patient and keep an eye on it.
8. Remove the crepe and place it on a paper towel on top of a large plate. Grease the pan again and repeat steps 6-8 until the batter is done.
9. Serve with whatever toppings you like and enjoy.

For Cinnamon Apple Crepe (adapted from GoodVeg on Squidoo)
1 apple (I used Gala)
Unprocessed Honey
Water
Ground Cinnamon
Walnuts

1. Peel and core the apple. Slice it into thin wedges.
2. Place the apple wedges into a pot, and add enough water to cover the top of the slices. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes or until tender.
3. Remove the wedges with a slotted spoon and place on a small plate. Try not to have excess water.
4. Arrange apple wedges across the centre of a crepe. Drizzle about a half teaspoon of honey over the apples, and shake a bit of ground cinnamon on top. Fold up the crepe, place a few more apple wedges, drizzle another half teaspoon of honey over the top, shake a bit of ground cinnamon, and sprinkle some chopped walnuts over top. Even add some icing sugar if you'd like.
5. Serve warm.

The best thing to do is to set the table with a plate of empty crepes, a bunch of jams and syrups and sauces, different kinds of chopped fruit, peanut butter/Nutella, and the sort, so that people can put whatever they want on a their crepes. One of my favourites is just some maple syrup lightly drizzled on the inside. Simple ones with maple syrup remind me of when I was in Montreal. On the only trip that my family took to Montreal, I came down with a terrible bug, and couldn't eat anything too rich (which was very very sad). When we went to a restaurant, my mom explained the predicament to the waiter, and he came back with a simple crepe with just maple syrup, and it was delicious. I would love to go back there some day...

-M

B-b-b-baking: Cinnamon Rolls (The real kind this time.)

So, I gave the cinnamon rolls a shot today. They look like real cinnamon buns...I'm not sure if they taste like real cinnamon buns yet because I just finished baking them, it's midnight, and I'm going to bed after this post. I hope they are good, because good mornings lead to good days :)

Things I have learned today about cinnamon rolls:
*The following 3 random facts are brought to you by Wikipedia*
- Cinnamon rolls were invented to incorporate cinnamon into a bread without having the cinnamon and yeast come into contact, because it would kill the yeast.
- Sweden actually has a day called "cinnamon roll day".
- Cinnzeo didn't make it into the "See also" section of Wikipedia's article on cinnamon rolls. What a shame :(
- Soy milk works just fine in place of milk. I'm guessing almond milk and coconut milk should work as well.
- Cinnamon rolls make the house smell really nice and warm.
- Real cinnamon rolls require at least 2 and a half hours to make and bake. Actually, don't make anything with yeast unless you know you can afford the time. If you do have time, it's so worth the wait :)

I took some pictures of the process...this was my first time making cinnamon rolls at home (the right way). The last time I made real cinnamon rolls was in junior high foods class.

Before baking, after the second rising. I was impressed with how evenly I was able to slice the rolls. :D

In the oven...I liked watching the rolls expand, and the tops get rounded out and cuter. Smelled awesome.

The finished product! Complete with random icing job.

Close-up of the finished product from an angle. According to Imgur, this is how arts students take photos, so there.

Real Cinnamon Rolls (adapted from White on Rice Couple)
*Makes 12 decent-sized rolls*

Dough
1 cup soy milk
1 packet Fleischmann's instant yeast
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp table salt
1/2 cup corn oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour + extra for rolling and handling (I had to reduce the flour quite a bit because it's drier in Alberta.)
2 tbsp corn oil
1 cup hot water

Filling
1/2 cup corn oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Icing
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tsp soy milk

1. Put milk in a mug and pop in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Just enough to heat the center without making all the milk hot.
2. Give the milk a stir and add into a bowl along with sugar, salt, and instant yeast.
3. Add oil and stir.
4. Add flour and mix until combined. With a floured hand, knead about 6 times until the dough forms together.
5. Add 1 tbsp oil into a large bowl and spread around the inside of the bowl. Put your dough in the centre of the bowl, and coat the top with the remaining tbsp of oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour.
*When it's winter, and the air is too cold in the kitchen, put your yeast-infested dough covered with a damp cloth in the microwave. Don't turn on the microwave, but fill a cup with hot water, and close it, to let the dough rise. If your dough is firm or temperatures are cold, or both, this is a useful tip so that you don't have to wait 300 bizillion hours for rising time.
6. While the dough is rising, grease a 9x11 (or so, because mine was larger) pan. Also, make your cinnamon sugar mixture by combining the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and mixing until evenly distributed.
7. Once the dough has risen, flour the back of a baking sheet, and roll the dough out so that it's about the same length and width.
8. Spread the filling oil evenly across the surface of the dough.
9. Use a tablespoon to help you sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly on the surface of the dough. Make sure you sprinkle some to the edges as well.
10. With floured hands, carefully roll the dough into a  relatively tight, lengthwise log.
11. Cut into 12 even rolls, and place each roll face up in the pan, with a bit of space between them.
12. Cover the pan with your damp towel again and let rise for 30 min.
13. Bake at 350F for 15-20 min.
14. While baking, add milk to the confectioner's sugar, 1 tsp at a time, and stir until you get a frosting consistency.
15. After the rolls are finished baking, remove from oven and ice/frost as you wish.
16. Enjoy right away, or leave to cool before storing.

I hope they taste good, because I think they look far more decent compared to my rip-off versions.

Good night...

-M

Budget-Friendly Bites: On Campus, Episode 2

Breakfast, as you know is the most important meal of the day.

 

This may be a bit late, but for all you students imploding and exploding your brains repeatedly to no end, L'Express in SUB (i.e. the student's union building) has a deal for you. For the exam season of 2012, you can get a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon/sausage, and hashbrowns, all for only $2!

L'Express in SUB. Between Java Jive and Taco Time. I had to run away after, because the people who saw me took the picture looked at me funny...

The Student's Union has an environmentally-friendly initiative called the "Reuse-a-Dish" program, so if you grab a reusable plate conveniently provided near the pizza slices in L'Express, you get a $0.15 to $0.25 discount. This applies to any hot food item you purchase from there. There are other places in SUB that support this program too. :)

As well, they are also selling Monster energy drinks at 2 for $4.

However, I want to make it clear that I do not endorse energy drinks. They do bad things to your dreams. E was an unfortunate victim of the enticing sale and the dream-eating, mind-numbing effects of energy drinks. A couple nights ago, we were watching "The Butterfly Effect" (to entertain the fact that I was reviewing for a Psychology exam) during a study break, which prrrobably didn't help.

On another note, I generally find things at L'Express to be rather expensive, but for a quick lunch, their soups are pretty decent. I'd suggest getting a "large" soup ($3.50) which is quite a bit bigger than the "small" ($3), but it's more worth it, I think. All soups come with a couple packages of "Premium Plus" saltine crackers, and the soup goes pretty nicely with a slice of garlic toast which they price at $0.50 apiece. I personally like their chowders and creamy soups, but there was one soup with butternut squash they once had that was quite good. You can check their weekly menu on the Student's Union website. 

This was some sort of chowder with potato and leek. It was really good though... And in case you were wondering, that is the floor of the Butterdome. I was watching people play badminton, because I didn't have my laptop so I couldn't watch stuff on YouTube. But actually, E was playing badminton, so it was okay, I suppose.

This one was the cream of mushroom soup. They give you so many mushrooms! It also has celery. I got the garlic toast too. it's a pretty decent sized piece of toast. And yes, I went to watch badminton again.

Mmmkay...so the cinnamon stuff...I actually never got around to it this past week, but I am thinking Tuesday or Thursday this week, I'll do some baking. Until then!

-M

Cravings: Cinnamonnn...

I basically crave cinnamon every day of the year, because it's pretty much one of the world's best inventions. However, exams sometimes do this thing to me and randomly accentuate one of my cravings (like so).

This week, I'm going to redeem myself with the cinnamon buns, but I'm also going to incorporate cinnamon into other things. The great thing is that cinnamon, like mushrooms, tastes awesome with practically anything. I wonder if they taste good together...

I always find it handy to keep a little tupperware container of 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon in the lazy Susan. That way, it's easily accessible if you just need a pinch of it for something like...say, cinnamon toast! I don't like super sweet things, so I literally just use a pinch of it to sprinkle on "margarined" toast for breakfast, along with my half-and-half juice (i.e. 1 part storebought juice to 1 part water because I find storebought beverages to be rather concentrated). Mmm...what a nice way to start a day of crazy. :)

Notice how talented I am at using a toaster. Each piece is gradually more burnt than the other. >>;

Today, Ellen DeGeneres made me aware that there exist such things as "Cinnamon & Sugar" flavoured Pringles...

Apparently, they're limited edition for the holidays, and they also come in "Pumpkin Pie Spice" and "White Chocolate Peppermint"?? (Picture taken from Laughing Squid)

Anyways, I have paper revisions to finish up. Look forward to more cinnamon-inspired musings!

-M

Cardio and Cooking: Macaroni and Mushrooms

Hello, hello!

No, I'm not quite done with my exams, but I do have to eat, and I have to try and get some exercise in if I can...

Why haven't I made a Cardio and Cooking post for a while? I regretfully stopped doing cardio for a while...I'm going to go ahead and blame exams and papers again :D

I'll be going back to my normal cardio routines in a couple days when it's all over. (Then I can feel alive again! Yay!)

Things I have learned today about macaroni:
- No matter how hard I try, macaroni and Kraft processed cheese just taste really gross. My mom likes to make macaroni and cheese, but you can't fool me with that fake plastic cheese stuff.
- Macaroni tastes pretty good with chicken and mushrooms, but then again, any pasta would :)
- Macaroni is easy to make, and is a good base for quick put-together meals! I could say that I make more ahead of time to use later, but really, it's just like with spaghetti. I always make too much, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone (?)
- I feel like macaroni cooks faster than other pastas too, but it might just be me.
- Someday, I must learn to make macaroni with beschamel sauce, and not die from it. Sometimes, cheese and cream taste so good, but it doesn't matter, because my stomach is still the boss.
- Corkscrew pasta makes macaroni so much more exciting...I swear that the shape of the pasta, and the number of ridges make it taste better.

This time, the cooking came before the cardio, but I won't eat it until after (not that there's anything that sinful in it anyways!)

Mmmacaroni! Ready for tomorrow's lunch after badminton!

There isn't really a need for a recipe, but what the hay for consistency?

Quick Fix Macaroni feat. Mushrooms and Leftover Chicken
*Makes 1 serving...plus extra macaroni*
1 cup dry macaroni (any sort of pasta will do)
2 cups water
1/3 cup leftover cooked chicken thigh meat (any sort of leftover cooked meat will suffice)
5 white mushrooms (that's how much I used, but you could definitely add more)
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp oil
Salt and pepper

1. Fill a small to medium sized pot with water, and boil.
2. Once boiled, add 1/2 tsp oil, and a pinch of salt.
3. Turn to medium-heat, add the dry pasta, and cook for about 8-10 minutes or until tender. Stir once in a while.
4. While the pasta is cooking, take the time to wash your mushrooms. Chop your mushrooms into bite-sized pieces. If you haven't done so already, cut the meat into bite sized pieces too, and set aside.
5. Thwack the clove of garlic with the back of a wooden spoon or knife, and remove the "shell". Chop finely, and set aside.
6. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked pasta into a small bowl.
7. Still on medium-heat, use the pasta water to quickly cook your mushrooms.
8. Drain the water, add 1 tsp oil and chopped garlic. Stir quickly and be careful not to burn it or yourself. Add the mushrooms, meat, and as much of the macaroni you want to eat (I used about half), and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
9. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir to distribute evenly, and remove from heat.
10. Empty into a container for tomorrow, or enjoy right away.
11. Add some chopped parsley if you feel it is lacking green like I do. You can also top with cheese or sauce or what have you. I'm just tired and lazy.

I hope to do some holiday-ish baking soon, so look forward to that (maybe)!

-M