This week I was literally cutting and gluing handmade cards for my mom and mother-in-law, like a little kid.  This year, we didn’t have much of a budget to spend on them, so instead of buying them generic cards and picking out another kitchen tool to send them for Mother’s Day, I decided to bust out my inner child and go nuts with the arts and crafts instead.  We ended up sending them each one of our kitchen art prints along with my handmade card.  It’s a shame they don’t live close by, because if they did, I would’ve made them pancakes.

Pancakes actually remind me of my mom.  On certain mornings when she had more time before work, she would wake up early and make us pancakes…the Bisquick kind, covered in Mrs. Buttersworth’s, but that was fine by me.  I still felt the love.

When you want to make pancakes for your loved ones (or yourself), but there’s no Bisquick in sight, you can easily whip up the batter from scratch, as long as your pantry is supplied with a few basic baking ingredients.  The key to making pancakes is that you have to not overcook them.  It’s just like baking a cake.  If a cake is baked right, it’s moist and tender.  If it’s cooked for too long, it’s dry.

Now eating pancakes with just maple syrup is great.  But if you want to make things a little more special, try topping them with maple syrup AND balsamic strawberries!

I know what you’re thinking….what in the what?  Heck, it sounds weird to me too, but it’s actually not strange at all.  Balsamic vinegar and strawberries is rapidly becoming a common menu pairing because the balsamic is naturally sweet and tart.  The acid of the vinegar breaks down the fresh strawberries and causes them to release their natural sugars and juices.  When you let them sit in the balsamic vinegar with a little sugar, together, they form a sweet sauce with depth, which when combined with the thick glossy maple syrup, makes ordinary pancakes taste like a gourmet treat.

It all begins with “soured” milk.  What I’m doing here is substituting regular milk for buttermilk.  If you have buttermilk, just use it.  For the rest of us who don’t normally have it on-hand, add white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to your regular milk and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes. White vinegar works better than lemon juice, but lemons were all I had.

While you’re waiting for your milk, you might as well get on with the strawberries.  Coarsely chop up a pint of strawberries and add in your balsamic vinegar and either 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how naturally sweet your strawberries are.  Mix and let it do its thing.

Add melted butter, vanilla, and an egg to your “soured” milk, and whisk.  Then add the liquid to the dry and whisk until smooth.

Get rid of all your lumps.  Lumpy pancakes are not tasty. Then let the batter rest for 30 minutes so it has a chance to thicken.

It’s a good idea to use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop out the proper amount of batter for each pancake.  This is particularly useful if you’re making multiple pancakes at one time on a long griddle.  That way they cook at the same time.

As for me, I just had a large nonstick pan and opted to play it safe and make one pancake at a time.  Even though it’s nonstick, it’s a good idea to spritz on the cooking spray.

As soon as you see bubbles, it’s time to flip.

Now there’s nothing wrong with eating these golden puffy discs all by themselves….

But why would you want to?

The juicy strawberries are sweet, pretty, and refreshing.  They work so well with the otherwise plain pancake.  I know my mom would love to taste these and I’ll have to make them for her one day.  I mean, they’re not Bisquick and Mrs. Buttersworth’s, but I have a feeling that she wouldn’t mind one bit.

peace out for now,
julie

But I digress.  Like I was saying, it felt nice to be missed by the small handful of people who took the time to come up to me and say, “hey…you haven’t been blogging for a while.”  Just because they noticed, I feel truly thankful.  And just for that, I decided to blog again today and keep you in the loop.

I’ve been mentioning on our facebook fan page that Joe and I have been quite busy lately working on some new products and trying to figure out some business stuff for our food-themed gift line, Small Bites.  As much as I was saddened by the fact that our silence and inconsistency on this blog might cost us a few readers, I had to do what I had to do and concentrate on one thing at a time.

This is something I’ve been working on for a while in my sketch book.  We decided to add practical Kitchen Art to our foodie products by creating a line of illustrated recipes!  Each of these prints have been hand-drawn by me, and then laid out graphically by Joe.  Each 8×10″ poster is printed on durable 100lb glossy photo card stock with high quality vibrant ink.  And you may notice that these recipes might look familiar.  That’s because they come straight from this blog!

Every print showcases a list of ingredients as well as abbreviated step by step instructions.  But it also comes with its own bonus fully written instructional recipe card so you can follow the full step-by-step directions.  You can look at more pictures and view the details of each of our prints by clicking on each photo or on our Etsy Shop links underneath.

If you want to make… Frozen Slushy Watermelon with Lime

If you want to make… Crepes from Scratch

If you want to make…. Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

If you want to make…Avocado & Tomato Garlic Bread

If you want to make… Lemon & Herb Chicken Tenders.

If you want to make… Hamburger Stir-fry

If you want to make… Tortellini & Meatballs

If you want to make… Banana Bread

If you’re having a hard time choosing and want to have a set of THREE prints of your choice at a discount.

So there you have it.  That’s why we’ve been a little occupied these days.  I hope you like them!  And now for my shameless plug:

These cheerful prints would be a great gift to give as a housewarming present to anyone who enjoys spending time in their kitchen.  It’s also a fun way to get kids interested in cooking, which is one of the main purposes behind our brand in the first place.  And once again, remember to press “like” on our ilovesmallbites facebook fan page to stay connected!

Oh and be a pal and feel free to pin any of our drawings onto Pinterest.  You’ve been so helpful and instrumental in spreading the word of this blog and our Small Bites products so far.  Yeah, we see and notice your pins.  Thank you so much you wonderful gorgeous people!

peace out for now,
julie

I thought this was really strange, because I know it’s normal to eat berries, bananas, or cantaloupe for breakfast, but kiwis? She INSISTED that we had to have kiwis every morning because this would help my grandmother’s eye sight and digestion, and it would also be good for our skin. I thought these were her own weird made-up facts, or something she read out of the Korean newspaper.

In spite of my doubts, I behaved as a good niece and ate the kiwis anyways…everyday…for a good month or so.  And because of that, to this day, anytime I eat a kiwi, I think of my aunt.

Now that I’m married, living in California and in charge of my own food, I don’t normally gravitate towards purchasing kiwis at the grocery store. I think they’re a hit or miss. Sometimes they’re super sweet and delicious, and other times, they’re so overly tart. Plus I think they’re annoying to peel for such small pieces of fruit. No thank you.

But one day, the hubster and I were at Costco and I saw that there was this hefty plastic container full of kiwis on sale for some ridiculously low price, like $3.00. It’s pretty sad to say, but truth be told, most of this blog is dictated by whatever is on sale at the grocery store.

Once I came home with this bursting box, we were stuck eating them everyday. That’s when I got curious and started to do some research on kiwis. And what do you know?  It turns out that my good ol’ aunt was right all along!

These are the simple kiwi facts:
1. Kiwis are good for your eyesight: They contain lutein which can help prevent cataracts!
2. Kiwis are good for your skin: They contain antioxidant vitamin E which makes skin beautiful!
3. Kiwis are good for your health: They contain fiber, potassium, and clean out cholesterol!
4. Kiwis are good for your diet:  They are low calorie, rich in Vitamin C, and contain omega-3 fatty acids!

So it seems like there are tons of benefits for eating these little green jewels after all.

You can eat them sliced as a snack or dessert, blend them in a smoothie, or marinate meat with them. Yup, they are a natural meat tenderizer, due to their natural acidity!

But I discovered that I really enjoyed eating them sliced up in salads! Even if you’re not a huge fan of fruit in food, the kiwis are both sweet and tart, which works perfectly against some crunchy lettuce greens and a light lemony vinaigrette.  The kiwi slices add a nice refreshing touch.

So the moral of this short story kids? A kiwi a day can keep the eye doctor and dermatologist away.  In other words, unless you’re allergic, maybe you should take a hint from my Korean aunt and cut up a kiwi today.

peace out for now,
julie

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth because even in the mornings, rather than cereal, pancakes, or a muffin, I’d rather eat something savory, like eggs, a breakfast sandwich, or toast with butter.  At a party, instead of grabbing a cookie, I’d probably go for the vegetables or a bowl of chips.  You get the idea.  Maybe that’s why I’m such a fan of desserts that are both sweet and salty.

Lucky for me, this is quite the trend lately.  I see things on menus like “sea salt caramel latte,” or “maple bacon cupcakes” everywhere.  So maybe eating pretzels on brownies isn’t something new, but I find this recipe worthy of posting because it’s just good old fashioned scratch-baking at it’s simplest form.  You just dump everything into one pot, stir it up, and pour it in the pan.  This means, no fussing with room temperature butter, checking to see if you have baking powder in the pantry, or dealing with sifting your flour and cocoa powder. So let’s get baking.

Start with a 9×13 baking pan and line it with aluminum foil.  Then spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

The salty part of the party comes from broken pieces of pretzels.  If you have thin pretzel sticks, this will probably work better, but use what you have.  Just don’t do what you see in my picture.  I let the salty crumbs at the bottom of the bag fall into my pan in that one spot.  The result was having one random overly salty brownie.  BLECH.  Don’t do that to yourself.  Just use the pretzel pieces, and not the extra salt and crumbs!

Then grab a 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and a stick of unsalted butter.  Melt them in a pot over medium-low heat.  It’s not a race.  Let the low heat do its thing.  You don’t want to end up with scorched chocolate brownies now do you?

Once you’ve got a shiny velvety chocolate sauce…

This is when you add in your brown and white sugars.  Yes, you need two kinds of sugar.

When you mix it up, it will get pretty stiff and pasty on you.  No worries.  The eggs will loosen it up again.

Take it OFF the heat and let the batter cool before you add the eggs.  We don’t want some scrambled egg action happening in there.  Then you drop in and whisk in four eggs, one at a time. Whisk well in between each egg.  Splash in your vanilla extract.

Dump in your flour and salt and whisk again.

Just whisk until you don’t see any more flour.  Gorgeous!

Gently and evenly pour the batter over the pretzels.  If you pour it straight in the center, like a waterfall, most likely, the heavy batter will push the pretzels to the sides of the pan.  You don’t want that since you want every brownie to have some pretzel pieces in it.  So kind of zig-zag your batter and get it evenly over all of the pretzels as best you can.  Smooth it out with a spatula.

Pop it into a 325F oven for 45 minutes and let it cool.  I love that crackly top.

These brownies are so easy to make. You can even take photos of all your steps and video chat with your sister and nephew at the same time.  My little 1 year old nephew was so captivated by what I was doing the entire time.  I can already tell he’s a foodie.

Once your brownies are nicely cooled, just lift out the whole thing from the pan by grabbing the aluminum foil.  That’s why you line the pan with aluminum foil… for easy clean up.  Then cut into bars.

You can be nice and give some away, or you can be a happy greedy pig and keep them all to yourself.  I won’t tell you which option I chose.

Dive into these sweet and salty fudgy brownies along with a cold refreshing glass of skim milk, or a piping hot cup of coffee with a good friend.  Just try your best not to eat them all in one sitting.  That’s why I like to cut mine into smaller pieces, so I can eat more than just one!

Joe didn’t even know that I added pretzels. He just started eating them and then mentioned, “these are really good…” He actually doesn’t like chocolate, so I find that to be a real complement coming from him.  When I told him that he probably liked it because of the pretzels, he goes, “Oh… that’s what that is…” So the pretzel taste is pretty subtle, and I think anyone will enjoy it.

What’s your favorite part of a brownie?  Mine are the edges and corners.  I love how they’re slightly crisp and chewy.  They are the best.  But let’s be real here.  With fudgy pretzel brownies, I don’t discriminate.  I’ll take any piece, any way, any day.

peace out for now,
julie

While we were in Philadelphia, of course we ate cheesesteaks. We also had some awesome Chinese food, pizza, salmon salad…you name it. But I’d say the most memorable meals were probably with my sister and brother-in-law, the last two days we were there.

My brother-in-law pre-purchased a chef’s tasting meal for four at Raw: Sushi & Sake Lounge.  Each of the courses were so unique, tasty, and best of all, paired with a different kind of sake!  It had been a while since Joe and I ate a really good meal at a fancy place, so this was a true treat.  Stuff like this helps stretch me as a chef and gives me great new ideas for plating.

First Course: Salmon Tataki. Seared salmon with micro greens.  This was my sister’s and my favorite.  It was raw salmon, slightly seared only on the outside.  It had great flavor and a melt-in-your-mouth buttery texture.  Don’t be fooled by my camera angle.  This little nugget was a tiny tot.

Second Course: Walu Wrap with Roasted Garlic.  White fish with king crab, and creamy roasted garlic sauce.  One big bite of pure lemony, garlicky, seafood joy.

Third Course: Suzuki Carpaccio. Thinly sliced striped bass flash seared with sesame oil, garnished with tobiko.   This was interesting.  It was definitely raw, but just barely kissed with heat by the hot oil.  So it was kind of like hot sashimi?

Fourth Course: Surf ‘n’ Turf with Miso Risotto.  Steak, shrimp, and scallop served with peach balsamic vinaigrette.  The main entree was significantly larger than all of the other tasting size portions before it.  We didn’t expect it to be so substantial, so we ordered a few rolls before it.  By the time this dish came around, we were stuffed like turkeys.  But that didn’t stop us from eating our Fifth Course of creamy and thick green tea ice cream to polish off the meal.

The next day, on the morning of our last day in Philly, the four of us went out to the city again to eat at Marathon before we were off to the airport.

This is one of my sister’s go-to restaurants for brunch.  Everything is good here.

But we went there especially for the award winning “Sally’s Chicken Matzoh Ball Soup.” This has won “Best of Philly” and I totally get why.  I dream of this soup.

Slurp! Slurp!  The broth is clean and the huge matzo ball is savory and delicious.  It really helped us to nurse our nasty colds.  So if you’re ever in Philly, visit Marathon and TRY THE MATZO BALL SOUP!

I ordered my favorite “splurge” brunch item, which is a toasted sesame bagel with lox, of course with Philadelphia cream cheese.  But what I appreciated the most was the tons of fresh veggies that came with it.  Mmm… there’s just something about biting into a toasty sesame bagel with cool cream cheese, salty smoked salmon, and fresh cucumbers.

And Joe ordered his favorite “splurge” brunch item, a big waffle with bananas and strawberries.  It looked more like dessert to me, especially with that whipped cream and powdered sugar action.  He definitely has a sweet tooth.

We grabbed coffee to go and strolled around a bit more to digest.

And I tried my best to get all of us in the picture together, including my nephew in his stroller.  I had to sacrifice half my face to get it.

And then we said our goodbyes.  As were being dropped off at the airport, our nephew totally lost it and started doing his famous “close-eyed cry” while chewing on a Starbucks straw.  It was so cute and sad at the same time.  Awww…it’s nice to feel loved!

Being in Philly made me nostalgic about my college days.  But back then, I couldn’t afford to eat at places like Raw.  Heck, I still can’t now!  We were lucky to have experienced all these good eats.  Oh Philly, you are definitely more to me now than just cheesesteaks.

peace out for now,
julie