Ok, so maybe I don’t have a dozen or so children to peek over my shoulder as I’m making pie, but I do have 2 eager little girls and one bigger eager husband.  Pie is one of those things that almost requires a family to enjoy it.  For me, the word pie conjures up images of family and memories of my childhood and family get togethers.  When I think of pie, I think of my mom’s amazing flaky pie crusts.  I think of the blueberry and lemon pie recipe she brought back with her after a trip to Mammy’s Cupboard in Natchez, Mississippi.  I think of pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving and of canning apple pie filling during the summer.  All of these memories have a common theme: love.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have had sweetened condensed milk on my mind.  I have also been craving banana cream pie, a personal favorite of mine when it is done well.  I decided to combine the two thoughts and made a banana cream pie with a twist.

I made an almond crust, then added a thin layer of dark chocolate (if that doesn’t scream love, I don’t know what does!), a single layer of fresh sliced bananas, and then a sweetened condensed milk custard.  I decorated the pie with simple whipped cream rosettes and dark chocolate shavings.  This is a nearly no-bake pie.  The only time you have to turn on the oven is to bake the crust for 12 to 14 minutes.  The almond, chocolate, banana, and custard flavors were fabulous together.  The banana wasn’t overwhelming, allowing the flavors from the almond crust, chocolate layer, and custard to come through.  I also thought that the bit of crunch that the almond crust added was a nice addition to the pie—better than the traditional banana cream pie which tends not to have as much variation in texture.

The pie is super easy to make.  You start out by making the almond crust.  The dough is a soft crumbly mess which you then press into a 9-inch pie plate and bake until it puffs up slightly.

When the crust has cooled, you make the custard.  The hardest part to this step is the waiting.  You have to sit and stir for a few minutes, and it will seem like nothing is happening.  Then almost instantly the mixture will thicken and start to bubble and it’s ready!

Then you spread a chocolate layer on the bottom, add a layer of sliced bananas, pour the custard over the bananas, and stick the pie in the refrigerator to chill for a few hours until it has set up.

When you are ready to serve it, you can decorate it or just leave it plain!

To share the love (and make sure that my dear mother, Fuji Nana, shared some of the calories), I took the pie to my parents’ house when we went for dinner this past Sunday evening.  I’m really glad that I decided to share this pie, because I’m afraid I may have ended up hiding in a dark corner with a fork while I ate the entire thing myself.  My dad declared this to be my best dessert ever.  Although I think I have several other desserts that I prefer (chocolate of course), this is definitely now one of my favorite pies.

This past Saturday we met up with friends for a movie being shown at a local park.

When I was trying to decide what kind of treat to make, take, and share, I immediately thought of my MIL’s recipe for caramel corn.  Why? Well, not only is it nice gooey delicious caramel popcorn, but it also contains . . . sweetened condensed milk!

And not just a little bit of sweetened condensed milk—oh no.  This recipe goes all the way.  We’re talking an entire 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk.  You mix the sweetened condensed milk with a few other ingredients like butter and brown sugar, and then cook it in a pot over medium heat until the caramel is at softball stage (at 235 degrees Fahrenheit the caramel will form a soft ball when dropped into cold water).

Then you pour the caramel over popped popcorn and quickly, but gently (you don’t want to break up all those puffy kernels of popped corn!), mix the popcorn to coat it with the caramel.  The quicker you work, the more evenly distributed your caramel will be.  You can use air popped popcorn or microwave popped popcorn.  I like using light butter microwave popped popcorn to add a bit of a salty element to the finished caramel popcorn, and I figure at this point it’s already not going to qualify for the healthy category, so why not go all the way?

The recipe makes a large amount of popcorn (30 cups), which makes it perfect for sharing (my MIL makes this when we are all there to scarf it down)!   However, if you want to make a smaller amount, the recipe works just as well when cut in half.  If you like caramel popcorn that is popcorn with a thin glossy crunchy coating, this recipe isn’t for you.  But if you like caramel popcorn that has a softer slightly gooey caramel on it, you will love this recipe!  Fuji Nana, I’m just putting you on notice now that if I gain 5 pounds from the insane amount of caramel popcorn I ate over the weekend, I am blaming it on you!  It’s your fault that I have been thinking about sweetened condensed milk for the past week, and thus your fault that I made this caramel popcorn.  You have been warned.

“Summer is the time when one sheds one’s tensions with one’s clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all’s right with the world.” — Ada Louise Huxtable

My friend Juls, the author of the beautiful blog Jul’s Kitchen, asked me a few months ago if I would be willing to participate in a Summer RoundUp that she was planning for her blog.  Every week since the end of June she has been featuring a guest post from a different blogger, sharing their own idea of summer, their holidays, their recipes, their photos, etc.  I loved the topic and had a lot of fun writing my post.  In my guest post I talk about our crazy summer and share a recipe for Chilled Soba, Avocado, & Grapefruit Salad.

Go check it out!  Oh, and if you speak Italian, you can also read the post in Italian (but I can’t claim any credit for the translation—all the credit goes to Juls, she is Italian after all!)  Thank you Juls for having me!

They have embraced many Western desserts and made them uniquely their own in many ways. I love a good Japanese sponge cake—moist, light and airy, and not overly sweet. A while back I received an email from Eliane, an LFM reader, who asked me to share a Japanese sponge cake recipe. At the time, I didn’t have a favorite recipe, but told her that I would work on it.  After a bit of looking around and not finding anything I was happy with, I turned to a trusted recipe source, my friend Noriko.  She came to my rescue with a recipe that she uses all the time.  She wrote that the recipe is “from a cookbook that I ‘borrowed’ from my mom when I got married.  She’s been using this recipe since I was really little, and I always use this recipe whenever I make Japanese Strawberry Shortcake.”  There’s a reason that Noriko’s mom, and now Noriko, use this recipe–it’s delicious.  To pay homage to her favorite way of using the recipe, I decided to make a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake.  Unlike the American concept of strawberry shortcake (sweet biscuits/scones topped with strawberries and whipped cream),a Japanese strawberry shortcake is a layered sponge cake with a strawberry and whipped cream filling, and whipped cream frosting.  This cake is a favorite choice for birthdays and Christmas, and in fact is often called a Christmas Cake.  I know it’s not Christmastime, but the strawberries in Southern California are currently ripe and beautiful, so it seems especially appropriate to be making this cake now.

First you make the cake, which is a simple process of beating egg whites and sugar together until stiff and glossy, and then gently folding in the rest of the ingredients.  The folding is the key—if you treat the batter gently, your cake will be light and fluffy.  I have converted the measurements into ounces and tablespoon measurements, but have also provided the original metric measurements as well.

After the cake is made you make your whipped cream.  I like to make stabilized whipped cream.  Stabilized whipped cream is more stable that normal whipped cream.  This prevents the whipped cream from weeping (bleeding water after being whipped).  The advantage to this, is that it makes a much better frosting and filling (it lasts longer and doesn’t make the cake soggy) and has a beautiful pillowy texture.  Stabilizing only takes a couple minutes of extra work.  You have to soften a bit of unflavored gelatin in cold water, and then melt it over low heat until the gelatin dissolves.  It’s quick and easy and makes a huge difference!  I also like making a simple syrup (sugar water syrup) to brush on the cake layers.  I think it takes the cake to a whole new level and keeps things nice and moist.

After your whipped cream is ready, all you have to do is cut up some fresh strawberries and slice your sponge cake into slices (2 or 3),

build your strawberry shortcake,

and then frost it!

The end result is a beautiful layered cake that is light and delicious.  All I can say now is thank you Noriko!

Since we are in the throws of summer, the Washoku Warriors chilled out and took on a couple of the chilled noodle dishes out of Washoku that are popular in Japan during the hot summer months.  The Warriors had the choice of making one or both of these dishes:

1. Chilled Chinese Noodle Salad (Hiyashi Chuka), p.178
2. Thin Noodles on Ice (Somen), p.180

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Fuji Mama

I made the Hiyashi Chuka (chilled Chinese noodle salad) the day before I left to make the 11-hour drive up to my MIL’s house in Utah at the end of last month with my girls.  Normally I try not to do a lot of cooking the day before I leave on vacation, but this salad was the perfect way to “clean out” the fridge by using up some things that would otherwise go bad before we returned home.  I made the noodles and dressing and then topped them with thin sliced of cucumber, wedges of tomato, strips of ham, and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.  The salad was such a hit that there were no leftovers for me throw out.  The salad was so easy to prepare and very refreshing.  I really enjoyed the dressing.  It had very good balance, compared to some other dressing recipes I’ve tried in the past.  The proportions of rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and toasted sesame oil were perfect—you could taste each element without any one of them overpowering any of the others.  I think this will now be my “go-to” recipe before leaving on vacation from now on!

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Sarah of Somedays

Having already made hiyashi chuka last year as part of the miso challenge (and knowing it’d be hard to top the DELICIOUS version I discovered at a Chinese restaurant near where I work), I made somen.  I’ve made somen before but have always used the bottled tsuyu (dipping sauce) so I was delighted to discover that the homemade version can be both simple and really yummy.  I ended up making it twice – once as Andoh describes (I added green onion and seaweed to Andoh’s toppings of grated fresh ginger and shiso) and a second time as a base for a super simple creamy/spicy tantan-men version.  I LOVED both and don’t think I’ll be able to go back to the store bought version!

Read Sarah’s post about the challenge: Noodle Chill’n

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Andreas of Delta Kitchen

In the sweltering summer heat, the Washoku Warriors are trying to keep cool with some chilled noodle dishes. I went for a Chinese noodle salad, made with somen noodles and a clear dressing of rice vinegar, soy sauce sesame oil and a dash of sugar. I kept the toppings simple with just some finely sliced cucumber and a thin omelet. The omelet is flavoured with some sake and turned out rather nice (but not pretty). Definitely better than some omelets I’ve had in Asian restaurants.

Read Andreas’s post about the challenge: Washoku Warriors – Chilled Noodles

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Kim of Life At Big Sky Mountain

For Washoku Warriors Challenge #11 we had two options and I decided to try the Hiyaski Chuka. First, I want to say I love chuka soba and use it for our stir fry all the time (the dried variety). The original recipe call for ramen, which I am sure is equally yummy, but I was eager to have another opportunity to use chuka (besides, my life is made easier because my son LOVES chuka soba).

Read Kim’s post about the challenge: Hiyashi Chuka – Chilled Chinese Noodle Salad

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Phoebe of Studio of Good Living

Every now and again I have a food and beverage pairing that unexpectedly blows my mind.  It happened this very week when I made the Hiyashi Chuka (Chilled Chinese Noodle Salad) I loved the pungency of the individual ingredients and the sesame miso sauce was subtle enough to be a bridge between flavors.  It was the Sesame miso sauce that made this dish for me.   It’s subtle; a little nutty, a little salty from the miso and a little sweet too.   It would be a fantastic dip for steamed vegetables—especially steamed asparagus or Bok Choy—or even fresh spring rolls.  This sauce would be a great addition to a non-traditional 4th of July Barbecue buffet.  But with this kind of dish you just hope to find a beverage that can hang in there with the various flavors and textures. You wouldn’t expect to find something that really enhances the experience in “the sum is greater than the sum of its parts” kind of way. We opened a bottle of beer named La Fin Du Monde (yes, that’s ‘the end of the world’) made by the Canadian brewery Unibroue. It’s a full-bodied Tripel with notes of lemon and coriander and it played off the sesame miso sauce like they were long lost lovers.  It gave richness, weight and texture to the sauce.  I thought the dish was pretty good on its own, but after one sip of beer it immediately became exceptional.  Even the stronger flavors of soy braised mushrooms; ham and pickled ginger were enhanced.  It was two thumbs up all the way around.

Read Phoebe’s post about the challenge: Washoku Warrior Challenge and Fin du Monde Belgian-style Ale

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Amber of The Sassy Chronicles

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Nicole of discojing

I chose to make the hiyashi chuka with clear dressing because it was very flexible and came together in just a few minutes. I wanted to keep with the original garnish color scheme, so replaced the tomato with red pepper, omitted the ’shrooms, and replaced beni shoga with regular pickled ginger. I don’t really like sesame oil, so I was very worried about adding it into the dressing. In the end, I was surprised that the smell of sesame was so strong, but the taste was just right! An added bonus is that this is a great dish for bento because it’s meant to be eaten cold–straight from the fridge.

Read Nicole’s post about the challenge: Chilled Chinese Noodle Salad

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Thanks for having me as a guest Rachael!

In Mexico, there is a tradition of making confections called alegrías (happiness) from puffed amaranth. These treats are usually made with honey, molasses, or chocolate mixed with nuts, seeds, and raisins, and are easy to find in Mexico City, Merida, and most major Mexican cities. Amaranth is a very nutritious seed that the Aztecs and Mayans revered. The seeds are high in protein, minerals, fiber, and lysine—they are one of the few plants that are said to contain complete protein. The Aztecs used the seeds in rituals, where they mixed amaranth with honey and human blood (that they got from their sacrifices) to make cakes shaped as idols. The Spaniards found this practice barbaric so they forbade amaranth. Talk about a colorful history! Fortunately, amaranth is being enjoyed once again in confections, breakfast cereals, and ground up in nutritious drinks. The greens of the amaranth plant are also edible and highly nutritious.

Photo source: Wikipedia

I’ve been having a great time playing with all the wonderful foods that are available down here, including amaranth. Since it’s very hot these days (around 34C and humid) I came up with these no-bake treats to satisfy my craving for something sweet, gluten-free and healthy. Besides the puffed amaranth (which you may be able to find in Latin American grocery stores) these contain peanuts, pepitas, and local Mayan honey—all abundant in these parts. The honey comes from special stingless bees that have their hives in hollowed logs. It’s usually a dark golden honey that’s very flavorful and has notes of orange blossom. I always enjoy raw local honey wherever I am, as besides being delicious, it aids in dealing with allergens (local pollens)—at least that’s what I’ve heard!

The following recipe is super easy to make, as well as nutritious and delicious. It’s gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, as well as free of refined sugar (though I wouldn’t recommend this for diabetics). If you’re not into peanuts, I think this would be delicious with roasted almonds instead.

I enjoy these with my sweetheart and a fresh cup of dark roast Chiapas coffee in the afternoon—I hope you enjoy them too!

Martin Reed explains that oysters “are one of the best types of seafood in terms of sustainability.  As filter feeders, not  only do they not require feed added to the water, they actually clean their surrounding habitat by converting nutrients and organic matter into consumable biomass.  Doesn’t get any better than that!  Oysters consume nitrates and ammonia, removing them from the water, which they then expel as solid waste pellets, which decompose into the atmosphere as nitrogen. One oyster alone is able to filter between 30-50 gallons a day.”  These little guys are powerhouse cleaners!  Not only are they good for the ocean, but they are good for your health as well.  Oysters are an excellent source of several minerals, including iron, zinc and selenium, as well as an excellent source of Vitamin B12.    Martin also explained that “[l]ike wine and cheese, oysters derive much of their flavor from their terroir, the specific environment in which they grow.  There are a million ways to prepare oysters, but sometimes just cracking them open and eating them raw is my favorite.”  i love blue sea offers many varieties of oysters.  I got to try some of the Kusshi Oysters and some the Point Reyes Oysters.

Kusshi means “ultimate” in Japanese.  The name fits, as these little beauties are absolutely delicious with a sweet clean taste.  They are grown off the East Coast of Vancouver Island and are becoming one of the more popular oysters.  Point Reyes Oysters are equally fabulous.  Martin writes, “The liquid in its shell contains a lot of salt but its body is sweet with a crunchy texture like a clam. It passes over the tongue, you get a taste of salt, then a taste of sweet, then a coppery finish.  These are a really pretty oyster and especially suited to enjoying on the half-shell.  I like to pair with a glass of cold, dry white wine.”

Although I love raw oysters, I decided to share a different method of preparing them with you, since there are already many recipes out there for raw oysters.  Kaki zosui is a Japanese oyster and rice soup.  I’ve written about zosui before.  This is a quicker zosui, and is thinner than the tori zosui (rice and chicken porridge) than I wrote about in January because you only simmer it for a couple of minutes.  Just enough time for the oysters to cook through and for the rice to soak up a bit of the flavor.

Kaki zosui is really delicious because it celebrates the flavor of the oysters.  It uses both the meat of the oyster and the liquor (the liquid inside of the shell that the oyster is living in ) and very few other ingredients so that the oysters can take center stage.  If you have kids that turn their noses up at oysters, you may be able to get them to eat them in kaki zosui as the oysters don’t look as intimidating as little bits of meat in soup.

Shucking the oysters takes the most time.  Once they are shucked, the dish only takes a few minutes to prepare.

You briefly simmer the rice and oysters in a dashi broth with the oyster liquor added, and then add a bit of soy sauce and simmer for a couple of more minutes and then the soup is done!

I always love getting an ingredient and being asked to come up with a recipe.  Oftentimes the result is something I might never have thought of before.  At the end of last year I received a box of products from Newman’s Own and was challenged to come up with a series of convenient recipes that families would love.  I had a blast, and the result is a collection of 9 recipes (some are recycled or reinvented favorites): 3 lunch recipes, 3 salads/snacks recipes, and 3 dinner recipes.  Thank you to Foodbuzz and Newman’s Own for the wonderful challenge!  The collection is on Foodbuzz as this week’s Family Bites section.  Enjoy!

Lunch

• Chipotle Pork Quichelettes
• Citrus Chicken Salad Sandwiches
• Easy Stovetop Pumpkin Macaroni & Cheese

Salads/Snacks

• Spinach Tomato Orzo Pasta Salad
• Japanese Soy Sauce Eggs (Shoyu Tamago)
• Pizzadillas

Dinner

• Creamy Spinach and Tomato Udon Noodles
• Slow-Cooker Asian Pulled Pork
• Grilled Chicken with Tangy Miso Mustard Sauce

I am currently sitting in the Delta Terminal of the L.A. airport trying to keep myself awake while I wait to board my flight to Salt Lake City, where I will rejoin my girls, Mr. Fuji (he had a separate flight home), and my in-laws.  My trip to Tokyo was absolutely wonderful, albeit way too short.  I wondered if it would still feel familiar, if it would still be “my Tokyo,” the Tokyo I came to know and love so well during the years that I lived there.  I need not have worried.  I had many moments where it was hard to believe that I had been gone for two years, as it felt like I had never left.  Tokyo is such a unique mix of old and modern, of traditions and trends, and of quirky and odd.  I already miss it.  I just hope that I was able to fill up my reserves enough to last me until I am able to go back again.

. . . continued . . . When we went into the other room, Kelly Ripa was waiting for us on the Electrolux banana split set, as well as Stephen Bruce, the owner and founder of Serendipity 3, and Kevin Scott, the president and CEO of Electrolux.

Kevin Scott introduced Electrolux’s new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer (drool!) and then explained that to celebrate the new release, they had teamed up with Serendipity 3 to make banana splits for a cause.  Each of the kids had their own banana split work station, complete with lots of toppings.

Kelly went around the room meeting all of the kids.  Squirrel got a bit shy when Kelly tried to shake her hand,

Photo source: Electrolux

but warmed up to the situation as soon as some ice cream made it into her bowl.

Stephen Bruce demonstrated how to make a banana split the Serendipity 3 way, sharing the fabulous tip of spreading hot fudge all over the inside of your ice cream bowl before doing anything else.

Both of the girls enjoyed making their splits.

Kelly was as sweet as sweet can be, making the event even more fun.

Photo source: Electrolux

I think the look on Squirrel’s face towards the end of the event says it all.

When it was over, we got into the car and headed for the airport.  As I watched the skyline of New York whiz by, I looked over at the girls sitting next to me and they were both fast asleep looking quite content.

Despite the long flights and some of the issues that inevitably accompany traveling with young children, our trip to New York was a wonderful one and worth the effort.  I must say that it could have been much worse if not for the careful planning of the Electrolux PR people who made sure that we were well taken care of, and that I didn’t have to worry about things like transportation or bringing car seats.  I am so glad that my girls were able to have such a wonderful experience, and that we were able to participate in such a worthwhile event.  You can now go and have your own virtual banana split party and participate in the cause as well!  For each banana split created on the site, Electrolux will donate $1 to the OCRF.  To sweeten the deal, everyone who logs on to the site and builds a banana split will be automatically entered for a chance to win the daily prize ($50 towards sweet summer treats) and the grand prize (the new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux).  If you’ve already built a split, go build another!  You can build one every day for the next couple of months.  Let’s make sure that we make as many as we can and help fight ovarian cancer!