Following a Dream

A lovely bouquet I got for my birthday.

Lately every day I have been doing a lot of thinking, self-counseling, writing, pondering, and I have come to the conclusion that I am going to follow a dream. This dream is still taking shape, but through this blog I hope to shape it and make it into reality. I am discovering so many new things about myself and how I can take the reins and follow my destiny. I hold the key!

Every week this year (or sometimes every two weeks) I have enjoyed blogging here about gardening, harvesting and most of all cooking and baking. I realize that cooking and baking are what truly bring me the most joy because I can share them with others who in turn enjoy them.

Sometimes Paul and I have conversations about what we will do when we retire. We have each talked about small, odd jobs we might do to keep busy. It always came up that I would enjoy working in a coffee shop & baking pastries to sell there. It reminds me of when we (me along with my mom and sister in law Kim) had our farmer's market booth "Farmer's Tea" and we sold pastries and coffee every weekend 6 months out of the year. I am so thankful for their dedication and hard work with me on that important journey! We had a lot of success and so many regular customers who loved what we made. There was a certain joy and satisfaction that I got out of doing this business and I feel is missing now. I know that at the time we made the right choice to stop doing the farmer's market business, but I want to find my way back into baking for the public.

So, from now on I will start to use this blog to shape my dream and to build it brick by brick. I think it was meant to be that my dear brother and sister in law gave me a professional pastry textbook for my birthday. I had wanted that book for a long time so that I could study it and try out recipes at home. I am going to work on recipes out of that book from now on and report back what I have learned here. I am very excited about this process!

I think sometimes we create our own "mental roadblocks" to our dreams. Sometimes we say things to ourselves that are not helpful towards following our dreams. I know that I thought that it would be too time-consuming or expensive to follow this dream or it would be too hard on my family. However, now I realize that I can follow this dream in my own way, dedicating as much time as I can along with taking care of my family. I have always known how to manage time well and I find that even when I am very busy I can schedule in things that are important.

I realize that I have already had a lot of success in following my dream by doing the farmer's market for several years. I just need to focus and get back on track to creating the dream that I have always wanted. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

Scenes of Fall:

On Thursday this week Adam and I headed out on a sunny afternoon to explore the yard and the neighborhood. We found a lot of beautiful leaves and interesting plants. I gave a bag to Adam and he had fun collecting leaves to put in it. Adam also had fun "climbing" the maple tree in the backyard. I loved that the garden smelled like fresh rosemary still growing strong on the bush. The deep red color of the leaves on the blueberry bushes were amazing as well. Below are some photos from our adventures together that fine afternoon:

Adam picking leaves outside in the front yard.

A lovely fall scene in the backyard by the maple tree.

Adam "climbing up" the maple tree with some help from mommy!

So crazy! This gladiola decided to bloom in November! What a beauty!

I love the colors on this leaf!

Adam having fun outside on a fall day!

Making Gyoza:

Last Wednesday we made some gyoza- or Japanese dumplings for dinner. I had learned the technique from my sister in law Abby a while back but I looked up a recipe online which I will share with you in a link below. The blog I found really has a great recipe and lots of wonderful photos of the process. I'll share below some photos of how we put the gyoza together. They were so delicious!

The delicious gyoza cooking in the pan!

Adam "painting" the wonton wrappers with water.


The meat filling in the middle of the won-ton wrapper.

The gyoza almost all wrapped up.

We served the gyoza with rice and edamame. So good!!

Here is the link to the gyoza recipe I used. I found it on the site "Steamy Kitchen". It was a post from a guest blogger. The only change I made was that I used hoisin sauce instead of miso paste. Enjoy!

http://tinyurl.com/yb26ffa

Singapore Noodles:

This is a recipe I found online that is very similar to noodles we had in Malaysia. They were fantastic and very easy to make. I halved the recipe so it didn't make such a large amount.

A beautiful plate full of delicious Singapore Noodles!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dry vermicelli pasta
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
• 2 butterfly pork chops, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
• 1/2 (12 ounce) package frozen shrimp, thawed
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. In a deep skillet or fry pan, brown chicken, pork and garlic in the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the onion, carrots and water; cover and steam for 5 minutes. Stir in celery and shrimp. Cover and steam for 2 minutes.
4. Mix in the bean sprouts, curry powder and soy sauce; stir together until blended and hot, 4 to 5 minutes. Toss with noodles, and serve with the option of hot pepper sauce and soy sauce as condiments

Whole Wheat Honey Ricotta Bread:

This is another online recipe I found. I had a large amount of ricotta cheese to use up and I love how soft and delicious this bread is! I doubled the recipe below to make two loaves. The original called for whole wheat white flour and bread flour- but I changed it to all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. The recipe states you can also make delicious rolls with this dough.

Two loaves of fresh whole wheat bread!

Ingredients:

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Wet Ingredients:

1 cup ricotta cheese, low-fat or whole milk
3 tbsp butter, melted in medium bowl and still warm
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sugar (optional)
1/2 cup almost-boiling water (very hot)

• Dry Ingredients:
• (1 cup) whole wheat flour
• (1 cup) all purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons instant yeast
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup extra flour, set aside

How to make it

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• Mix wet ingredients together in medium bowl.
• In mixer bowl or large bowl, mix dry ingredients except salt and extra flour.
• Pour wet into dry, and knead with wooden spoon or by hand for a minute or two until dough comes together.
• Cover with towel and let rest 20 minutes.
• When time is up, sprinkle on salt.
• Knead on medium speed (#4 on a KitchenAid) for 5-7 minutes or by hand about 6-8, til dough is silky smooth and elastic, adding only enough flour as necessary to make dough slightly tacky, but not dry--dough will cling slightly to bottom of bowl in a mixer.
• Turn onto a board and knead into a smooth ball, place in oiled container and let rise in a warm spot until doubled, 30-40 minutes.
• Punch dough down, turn over onto itself several times, and shape it into a ball. Cover with a towel and let rest 10 minutes.
• Shape dough into as many rolls as you'd like (depending on how large you like them) by rolling into a tight ball with your hands, keeping a uniform shape and size. (Or roll up into a loaf and place in loaf pan.) Place in oiled pan, rolls just slightly apart from each other. Cover and let rise until doubled and puffy, 40-60 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Have an old pan on the floor of the oven.
• Place pan into oven, and carefully toss a cup of ice cubes into hot pan, and shut door quickly. Bake 12-20 minutes, depending on size and how doughy you like your bread. Bread will sound hollow when done, and will read about 195 on a thermometer. (A loaf takes about 45 minutes.)Turn onto rack to cool, brush with butter for a soft crust, and wait 30 minutes before slicing. Makes one petite loaf or 12 rolls.

Ravioli with Squash and a Brown Butter Sauce:

This is a dish where I combined three different recipes to come up with what I wanted. I used the pasta dough recipe from a magazine clpping I had saved from years ago along with two different online recipes- one for the ravioli filling and the other for pasta with squash or pumpkin with a sage brown butter sauce. I am very happy with the outcome.

Ravioli made with fresh pasta dough along with roasted squash from the garden!

The fresh ravioli ready to be cooked.

Pasta Dough:

3 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups flour

1. Combine eggs, water, oil and salt in a small bowl and mix well. In large bowl, add 1 1/2 cups flour. Make a well in the center and add pasta mixture. Mix well.

2. Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour onto a counter or bread board and knead dough until smooth and elastic- 10 to 15 minutes. Chill the dough in a plastic zip lock bag for 30 minutes.

3. Roll out chilled dough thinly, using extra flour as needed. (I used my pasta roller attachment for my Kitchen-aide mixer, but this can also be done by hand. Cut into 1 foot long strips by 3 inches wide. Cut in half and fill with a dollop of the filling (recipe below) and fold over, dabbing water on the edges to hold together. Use a fork to seal the ravioli.

4. Boil the ravioli in a big pot of salted water for 25 minutes. It will plump up.

5. Serve with the brown butter-sage sauce and roasted squash or pumpkin (see recipe/tips below).

• Ravioli Filling:
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg

Squash & Brown Butter-Sage Sauce:

• 1 small baking pumpkin or squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 1 bunch sage
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• Shredded Parmesan cheese
  

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Cover the cubed pumpkin with salt, pepper and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender and golden brown.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter with the sage leaves over medium heat until it smells fragrant and turns a golden brown hue (about 4 minutes).

3. In a large bowl toss the pasta with the pumpkin and brown butter. Grate with Parmesan and serve.


Traditional White Bread:

This week I was really in the mood for a white bread. I really make an effort to always eat a lot of grains but I felt like "splurging" and making a white bread. It was worth it! It is such a soft bread that makes excellent toast and amazing grilled cheese sandwiches as you will see below.

A slice of traditional white bread.

Adam is a very serious bread baker. Today he learned how to knead the dough.

The amazing grilled cheese sandwich that Paul made me using the bread I made!
He has a great technique of using grated cheese in the filling as well as brushing the sandwich with melted butter and grilling it on the stove in a pan covered with a lid over low heat. It is a masterpiece!

This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread. It is from "Beard on Bread" by James Beard.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons yeast
2 cups warm milk
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon salt
5-6 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I like to use King Arthur)

1. In a small bowl, add the yeast to 1/2 cup of the warm milk, along with the 2 tablespoons sugar, and stir well until the yeast is completely dissolved. Wait about 5 minutes for the yeast to proof.

2. Place the remaining milk, the melted butter, and the salt in a bowl. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, with a wooden spoon. After the third cup, add the yeast mixture. Continue stirring in the flour mixture until the mixture is rather firm, which should take about 4-5 cups.

4. Move the dough to a floured board, and knead, adding more flour as needed if it gets sticky, until it is supple, satiny and no longer sticky.

5. Butter a bowl and place the dough in it, turning to coat all sides with the fat. Cover and allow the dough to rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

6. Deflate the dough by punching it firmly two or three times, return it to the floured board and knead for 4-5 minutes more. Divide into 2 equal parts and shape into loaves. Place in well buttered bread loaf pans and let rise again until doubled in bulk.

7. Bake in a 400F oven for 40-50 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped with the knuckles. Remove the loaves from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. This bread is excellent hot out of the oven as well as for toast, sandwiches and especially for grilled cheese sandwiches.!


Candy Cookies:

This is an excellent cookie recipe I found online at "Joy of Baking" which I love! It is a great base recipe for many toppings you could add to the cookies. The only changes is that I mixed in one king size chopped chocolate bar into the dough before forming the cookies, and I made the cookies slightly smaller. I brought these cookies to share with my students the night before my birthday.

A bunch of yummy candy cookies!

M&M's^® Cookies:

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

2/3 cup (140 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 king size, chopped chocolate bar

1 cup (200 grams) M&M's^® candies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place one oven rack in the top third of the oven, and one oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and egg yolk, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the chopped chocolate bar.

Form dough into balls, using 1/4 cup (50 grams) for each cookie. Place six balls of dough on each baking sheet. Gently flatten each ball of dough into a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round. Completely cover the tops of the cookies with the M&M's^®. Gently press the candies into the dough. Bake the cookies for about 15 - 17 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. The cookies are done when they are light golden brown in color and just set. They will still seem a little soft but they will firm up as they cool. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 12 large cookies.

Adam's Art & Imagination:

I love how Adam is exploring art at school and how he paints pictures with such joy such as the one pictured below. He is no longer taking naps, but he enjoys a short quiet time. One day he was playing with his little toy kitchen and play food and he created a lovely, organized picnic for us to share! It was such a special moment that I'll always remember!

A lovely painting that Adam did in preschool.

During Adam's quiet time he created a picnic for us!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you all keep dreaming and enjoying your life!