Obsessive Cooking Disorder

Rainbow Mosaic M&M Lemon Cake

2023-04-09T22:00:00.001-05:00

Wishing a happy birthday to my dear Isabelle. She is a huge fan of M&Ms, so of course I had to make an M&M cake for her.

She has blossomed so much this past year. She has such a fun personality and has been a wonderful big sister to Alanna. I was worried that having to share attention with a new baby would be difficult, but she adores her baby sister and is very motherly - always wanting to help with getting diapers, dressing, feeding, and playing with Alanna (and her stuffed animals). We have to remind Izzy to be gentle, but we know this all comes from a good heart.

Like any toddler, Izzy has strong opinions on what she wants and gets into a lot of mischief. Right on cue, after turning 2, the "terrible twos" started. She is able open doors, climb to any height with a stool, and pick apart any child locks. I am sure we will enter this "threenager" period soon. The tantrums aren't fun, but I remind myself this is such a short period on her life.

She is quite a fashionista, and loves wearing the most princessy, poufy dresses and tutus. Pink and purple and rainbow are her favorite colors. She enjoys accessorizing with purses and sunglasses too. She loves cooking in her play kitchen and building blocks. Her imagination has been so fun to see as she pretend plays with her toys and stuffed animals (I cook egg and pancakes for Penguin! Elmo eat cookie! Careful, it hot. I make strawberry ice cream for Dog!). She is incredibly sweet and always wants to help with her doctor kit if we have a booboo.

She went to a co-op preschool starting in the fall and finished when she turned 3. She loves school and asks to go to school every day. Her teachers have been wonderful, and got her this lovely card and flowers. Her main teacher even dressed up as Snow White since she knows how much Izzy loves dresses.

Her vocabulary has taken off. She likes to bargain "No M&M" "How about one orange M&M" or "No more music" "How about one Cold Heart (by Elton John/Dua Lipa)"; state her needs "No I want purple dress, no green dress"; and ask "Why! What happened! Who that? When? Where's dada" over and over again. It's been so fun being able to have "conversations" with her.

Lemon cake adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction and M&M design from The Cake Blog. This cake was a lot more tedious than I anticipated (although B said he could totally see the tediousness when I showed him my inspiration photo). My cake was initially underbaked so I had to go back and bake it again. Thankfully it turned out fine, but I don't enjoy baking and assembling cakes at 2am. It was worth making this cake and seeing Izzy's eyes light up - she loves birthday cakes, and loves blowing out the candles on top.

Rainbow Mosaic M&M Lemon Cake

Ingredients

LEMON CAKE:
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 and 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons lemon zest (about 3 lemons)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz full-fat brick style cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch salt, to taste

1 large bag M&Ms to decorate

Directions
LEMON CAKE: Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three cake pans (I used 6 inches for a teller cake) and line with parchment paper rounds.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the milk, lemon and lemon juice and mix just until combined.

Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 35-40 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.

CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING: In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat until smooth. Add confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, lemon juice if frosting is too thick, or add a pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.

ASSEMBLY: Using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface.

Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting. Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with about 1 cup of frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. Decorate with M&Ms while frosting is still soft. Enjoy!

Lemon Garlic Scallop Pasta

2023-02-11T17:18:00.001-06:00

Valentine's day is around the corner, and this lemon garlic scallop pasta is one of B's favorite go-to fancy yet easy dishes. B is the most romantic person I know (definitely more romantic than I am). His language of love is gift giving and acts of service, and I'm a very lucky girl.

When we first started dating back in college, he would surprise me with tupperware of mangos and berries (my favorite fruits) and cooking for me. Nearly 12 years later, he's just as romantic (now buying Costco crates of mangos and berries for me and the girls).

Italian food is a popular date night dinner but B and I are not big pasta eaters. Most of the time we find Italian restaurants to be overpriced, the dishes have little meat/seafood in ratio to the pasta, and Italian food is heavy.

This lemon garlic scallop pasta (adapted from A Couple Cooks) is the only pasta dish we actually make. It's light and east to prepare for a weekday meal, but gourmet enough if hosting a dinner party for guests.

You could easily replace scallops with shrimp or other seafood. Isabelle is a huge fan of scallops (the bigger the better - she has been known to cry when we cut her "big scallop").

Enjoy this meal on your next romantic dinner night in!

Lemon Garlic Scallop Pasta

Ingredients

SCALLOPS

1 pound sea scallops

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

SAUCE

8 ounces angel hair noodles

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 lemon, zester

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Olive oil, to drizzle

Grated Parmesan cheese, for the garnish (optional)

Directions

PASTA: Boil the pasta according to package until it is just al dente. Drain the pasta and set aside,

SCALLOPS: Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the scallops and sear for 1 to 2 minutes, until an even brown crust forms on bottom. Flip scallops with tongs. Cook additional 1 to 2 minutes on the other side, until a crust just forms on bottom and the center of the scallop is almost opaque.

SAUCE: Remove the scallops. Add the lemon zest, minced garlic, and chopped parsley. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release flavor from any browned bits stuck to the pan. Cook 1 minute until fragrant, adjusting the heat so the garlic is just sizzling but so it doesn’t brown. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Return the pasta and scallops to the pan with the sauce. Stir and cook for a few seconds until just warm. Serve with drizzle of olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese. Garnish with parsley. Enjoy!

Red Bean Adzuki Popsicle

2023-01-22T21:00:00.096-06:00

In prior years I would make a lot of New Year resolutions with photography, health/fitness, work, instagram, foodblog etc.

This year, I’m keeping my New Year resolutions simple. I have ONE resolution: Go to bed by midnight.

I know it sounds like low hanging fruit, but it's a really tough one for me.

I have always been a night owl, and mostly working from home this past year has definitely not helped my sleep habits. Plus the only quiet time is after everyone goes to bed so I tend to stay up to 2 am. While I used to get by on 5-6 hours of sleep, it’s been harder to skip sleep.

Maybe it’s just me getting older…. or maybe it’s the toddler/baby combo (the interrupted sleep doesn’t help)…

By giving myself a strict bedtime of midnight, my hope is that I get better at time management. I tend to do a lot of my photography/blogging/creative work after midnight since I hate being interrupted. Even when B started dating me during college, he was always baffled why I painted after midnight (and being the dutiful boyfriend, he would stay up with me and help clean my brushes so I would go to bed earlier....although he would never do that now lol)

In addition to celebrating the traditional New Year, we also celebrated Lunar New Year, the year of the rabbit. I think this year will be a great year for us!

I'm sharing the Red bean Adzuki Popsicle recipe adapted from Omnivore's Cookbook. I bought my first cheap Ikea popsicle mold cheap in 2016 because I was a new intern who had no money. I waited 7 years before buying the mold I always wanted - the pretty aesthetic ones with the classic wooden popsicle stick. Look how beautiful they are!

I've always liked red bean ice cream and this popsicle recipe is quite creamy. The whole milk and the condensed milk keep it from being icy. I used premade red bean paste from the Asian grocery - my prior attempts with dried red beans led to incredibly hard beans that hurt my teeth despite soaking it forever.

Isabelle really likes these and keeps asking for "po-sicles" from the freezer. I'm glad she likes Asian desserts as much as I do!

Red Bean Adzuki Popsicle

Ingredients
3/4 cup sweet red beans paste
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup condensed milk

Directions

Combine the red beans, whole milk, coconut milk, and condensed milk in a blender. Transfer the mixture into Popsicle molds and insert the Popsicle sticks. Freeze 4-5 hours, until the popsicles have solidified. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

2023-01-02T01:01:00.000-06:00

We had the busiest Christmas holiday in a long time. It was a walk down memory lane.

Since it’s so rare for the whole family to get together, we packed as many activities as we could. Literally, as soon as my brother arrived from California, we went right to the movie theater to watched Avatar 2 in 3D as a siblings outing. I haven’t seen a 3D movie since college over a decade ago.

We opened Christmas presents on the 24th, since the 25th would be a busy day with guests coming. This was the first year Izzy could participate in Christmas, and she gleefully unwrapped all the presents and looked at Christmas lights around the neighborhood (Mickey Mouse decor was a hit).

My aunt, uncle, and cousins drove down from Dallas to meet Isabelle and Alanna and celebrate Christmas with us. I mostly have memories of my cousins as little girls, but they have grown up quickly with their fashion style, social media savviness, and boyfriends. We had a cousins day out at Six Flags theme park (I last went when I had just started medical school years ago). Mom and I also shopped at the San Marcos Outlet mall with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. When we were kids, my family used to come to the San Marcos Outlet every year on Black Friday, and it's grown a lot since 15 years ago when I had last seen this outlet mall.

We took Izzy to the zoo for the animals and Christmas lights. Izzy was a little too young to fully appreciate the animals, so the zoo turned out to be more exciting for the adults than her. We also had Alanna baptized by a priest who’s known my dad for a long time; she had the cutest little white dress, knit bonnet, and knit booties.

We ended 2022 with the Carriker Cup, a family scramble golf tournament. We first played the Carriker Cup 18 years ago and used to compete annually until 6 years ago when I moved out of state for residency. A long time ago, we were all extremely good golfers and won the tournament! We’re a lot rustier now since we stopped golf competitions, and although we played terribly, it was still good family bonding (commiserating that we all sucked at putting).

The last few days was spent cleaning out the house like crazy, not only for New Years, but also since the carpet needed to be renovated. To our delight, our old 25+ year old Nintendo 64 and Playstation still worked. I was very pleased that I could still beat my siblings at the original Mario Kart. B and my siblings stayed up late to unlock a new Mario Kart Grand Prix level. We are all terribly uncoordinated at Dance Dance Revolution now, but we used to play on our dancepad all the time. I found so many sentimental cards, notes, artwork, memories from high school, college, medical school, and my wedding. I especially enjoyed reading letters/cards from my siblings when I was in college; I don’t think I appreciated how much they had missed me going away at the time.

My parents brought Izzy and Alanna to the neighborhood parks we went to as kids. Izzy also played with my childhood stuffed animals, from my giant Hello Kitty to my beanie babies, and slept in my childhood room. It’s surreal and bittersweet, and I felt sad thinking how much older we all are.

Of course, we ate plenty of food, from burgers (Hopdoddy, Whataburger) to fondue (the Melting Pot we’ve gone to for 15 years) to a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant to all you can eat sushi. Dad and B also fired up the grill several times to make some good old fashioned Texas BBQ. Fun desserts were an amazing new Ukranian bakery with the most decadent cheesecake (Laika bakery) and boba (“The family that drinks boba together, stays together”). Sadly, we didn’t have time for baking, but that’s for another trip. (I baked these cookies while still in Seattle - recipe is adapted from Minimalist Baker)

At the end of the trip, I told Dad that I was glad he got to see my girls for Christmas at home. He told me he was happiest that he could see his little girl, me, at home!

Even if there’s another pandemic, I’ll make sure it won’t be years before I come home again. It's been too long.

Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp natural peppermint extract
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 candy cane (crushed)
1/3 cup dark, bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together for about 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg and peppermint.
In another bowl, mix flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Chill int he fridge.

Place chilled cookie dough on parchment-lined baking sheet. Press the tops down and then top with a few more chocolate chips.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. While the cookie is still warm and sift, immediately sprinkle crushed candy cane. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Enjoy!

Christmas Cranberry Cheesecake Tart

2022-12-25T00:13:00.008-06:00

It’s the first time I’ve been able to go home for Christmas in 6 years. Against all odds with the weather and airport chaos, we made it to Texas!

The entire week, every single flight from Seattle to San Antonio was cancelled due to weather. The day before, the flight cancelled because the airplane originated from Chicago. Luckily, B checked and saw our flight's airplane originated from California, so we were good to go!

Why we spent >3.5 hours at the SeaTac airport.

The luggage conveyer belt broke that morning, leading to hundreds of luggages scattered everywhere
Security breach stopped the TSA security process in the entire airport
Epic Christmas storm cancelling / delaying flights 2400 flights at SeaTac
Holiday craziness
Post COVID rush
The longest TSA line I have ever seen in my life
Last minute gate change so we had to run through two terminals and take two trains to get to the new gate

I’m so glad we arrived extremely early because we barely made it on the plane. If we missed our flight, it would be impossible to book another flight before Christmas.

We waited 45 min for just the kiosk to print luggage tags. Then another 30-45 min to drop off the luggage. Since the conveyer belt broke, there were just luggages piled everywhere. The baggage lady told us our luggage would "very likely not make it," and recommended we take our carseats. B groaned and lugged 2 carseats on his bag like a Sherpa.

The line for security extended through multiple floors, two escalators, and literally into the attached parking garage, where people waited outside in 20°F weather. B and I got separated while he tried to find the end of the line, so I was juggling Izzy, Alanna, a stroller, 2 bags, and luggage trying to find an elevator.

A kind TSA lady let us join the line inside so the girls would stay warm. Even with jumping in the line, it still took us over 90 min to make it though TSA. A ton of people missed their flight even if they had arrived 2.5 hours early.

While going through TSA, I was wearing Alanna, who was wearing a teddy bear suit, in a baby carrier strapped to my chest. A security woman pointed at Alanna and asked "What is THAT?!"

Another security man said, "That's a baby you idiot!"

I think she thought Alanna was a stuffed animal, or maybe a dog. She was embarrassed and apologized profusely, but it gave us all a good laugh.

Luckily for us, our plane was delayed 20 min; this gave us enough time to make it to the gate as they were boarding (which is when both girls started crying, which I don't blame them). We breathed a sigh of relief when we took off.

My brother was able to fly home as well a few days later, so our family was lucky enough to be together for Christmas. A Christmas miracle!

Christmas Cranberry Cheesecake Tart

Ingredients

CRUST

1 cups graham cracker crumbs, crushed

3 tablespoons cup light brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

CHEESECAKE

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

pinch salt

1 large egg, room temperature

TOPPING

1/4 sugar, plus additional for coating

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup fresh cranberries

Garnish with rosemary or evergreen sprigs

Directions

CRUST: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the crushed graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter together. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

CHEESECAKE: Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF.

In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer. Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Mix in the eggs just until combined. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared crust. Bake for 30 minutes. Once the cheesecake goes into the oven, begin working on the topping.

TOPPING: Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved to make your simple syrup. Do not boil. Add cranberries to the syrup for a minute (if too long, they will soften or burst).

Transfer cranberries to a plate or tray to dry (they will get sticky as they dry). Roll cranberries in sugar to coat.

Apple Cider Madeleines

2022-11-22T02:20:00.015-06:00

We're spending Thanksgiving week with B's family in California. We haven't traveled much due to COVID19 (and having babies) the past few years. This is the first trip as a family of four!

We woke up at 5am and got to the airport 2.5 hours early; the airport was so busy and security took such a long time, we just made it to the gate with 10 minutes to spare. The airport was the busiest I'd seen it in years. Other people were panicking about missed flights and we let people pass us in the line.

It was challenging carrying everything. B wore a backpack holding two carseats (looking like a Sherpa) and pushed Isabelle in the stroller with the diaper bag and milk bag. I wore Alanna in a baby carrier, and pulled two carry on luggages. People gave words of encouragement as we trudged down the airport aisle.

The girls were very good on the airplane and even got compliments from other passengers. We breathed a sigh of relief when we landed since we didn't want to be that family with the screaming baby/toddler.

We have a busy week, meeting family and friends everyday. It's the first time everyone will meet both Isabelle and Alanna since the last time we were in the Bay Area, I was still pregnant with Isabelle. B was very excited for his 96 year old Oma (german grandmother) to meet the girls. We took Isabelle to the Monterey Aquarium on a day trip, although she was more excited about the Ghiradelli ice cream sundae we ate afterwards lol.

With the theme of Thanksgiving, I'm sharing these apple cider madeleines. I wanted to make a fall themed dessert, but not the typical apple pie or pumpkin bread recipe.

We really missed the apple cider doughnuts from our farmer's market by Yale in Connecticut and wanted to make this NY Times apple cider doughnut recipe. We didn't have a doughnut pan but baked it in a madeleine pan as suggested in one of the NY Times recipe comments.

B's dad loves apple cider so we haFor maximum flavor, we reduced the apple cider until it was very thick. Although it has a more cake-like texture than the fluffy fried apple cider doughnuts, it tasted great. I made these right before we flew to California and was able to bring some to work to share.

A perfect portable dessert. Enjoy!

Apple Cider Madeleines

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1teaspoon vanilla extract

generous 1/2 cup of reduced apple cider (start with 1 1/2 cups)

Directions

On a stovetop, add the 1 1/2 cups apple cider to a small saucepan. Simmer until the volume is reduced to 1/2 cup and the cider is very thick. Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease madeleine pan with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

With an electric beater, cream 10 tablespoons butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time and vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until incorporated. Add the reduced apple cider and mix until combined (batter will be very thick)

Spoon the batter into madeleine pan, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake until edges are just browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through baking. Serve immediately, or let cool to room temperature.

Linzer Torte

2022-11-10T03:12:00.128-06:00

We went on our first weekend airbnb trip in the mountains as a family of four. It was certainly an exciting trip.

The town, Cle Elum, was hit by massive snowfall the day before, but the I-90 pass opened up the day we drove. It had warmed up just enough so that it was pouring rain instead, and although I was driving a 4 wheel drive SUV, it was a stressful drive with poor visibility (my father-in-law said he knew it was bad when I started cursing during the drive). B had to drive his two door Honda Civic from work to the airbnb and nearly got blown away.

This airbnb trip was going to be a "vacation trial run" for our upcoming trips - flying to California for Thanksgiving with B's parents and then flying to Texas for Christmas with my family.

I worried most about how the girls would sleep. Isabelle had a room to herself and actually slept very well. While Alanna is usually a good sleeper at home in her bassinet; unfortunately, she did not want to sleep at all in our pack-n-play and cried/had to be held all night.

The airbnb itself was lovely, with a hot tub, fireplace, TV, and BBQ grill we thoroughly enjoyed. (I hadn't been able to use a hot tub all year due while pregnant, so I was thrilled).

The weather cleared up enough that we could walk around downtown Cle Elum, where we browsed antique shops and home goods, ate eclairs from a bakery, enjoyed coffee and cider at a coffee shop, and bought lots of bought from a local meat shop.

Then the I-90 pass suddenly closed again, and our friends in Seattle who were planning on coming the second night couldn't get through the mountains. We started following the weather news closely after that.

Because of another incoming snowstorm on the news, B and I debated whether we should leave early, especially since his car didn't have snow chains. After a few hours the I-90 pass opened up again. Around 11pm, B and I decided we should leave before the snow storm hit. We didn't want to risk getting trapped, and we had to work Monday. So we woke the girls and his parents up (Isabelle was displeased I interrupted her sleep and shouted "No, Izzy sleep!" while pointing to the bed). We threw everything in the car, and drove out at midnight. During the drive, I realized Nike wasn't in my car and frantically called B multiple times due to poor reception before confirming that Nike was in his car (and not left behind in the airbnb as I guiltily thought). The mountain roads were very dark, and the snow started falling hard, but we made it through the mountains safely since the roads had not yet accumulated snow.

While I'm bummed our trip was cut short (we were supposed to stay two nights) and it wasn't *quite* as relaxing as I had envisioned when we booked it, we had a memorable getaway!

Recipe adapted from NY Times.

Linzer Torte

Ingredients

FILLING

Fruit Jam or preserve (I used my blackberry jam recipe)

DOUGH

3/4 cup whole hazelnuts

3/4 cup whole almonds
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
14 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zestred
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar, to decorate

Directions
FLLING: As per this blackberry jam recipe

DOUGH: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toast hazelnuts and almonds on a baking sheet about 10 minutes, until browned. Remove skins off hazelnuts while still warm. Cool nuts, then grind finely in a food processor, adding 3 tablespoons of flour to keep them from becoming oily. (Nuts should have the texture of coarse cornmeal.) Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lemon and orange zest with a mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix together ground nuts, the rest of the flour, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture in three parts, mixing each time until it forms a slightly sticky dough.

Divide dough into two balls, one slightly bigger. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 min.

ASSEMBLY:
Grease a tart pan. Roll the larger piece of dough into a circle and press into pan (or you can just press the dough into the pan directly without rolling). Refrigerate tart shell until firm. Roll out smaller piece of dough and cut into thin strips. Transfer strips to a tray and refrigerate until firm.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread jam evenly into shell. Lay strips across top in a lattice pattern.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until jam is bubbling and pastry is lightly browned. Let cool, and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2022-10-26T02:14:00.079-05:00

Pumpkin everything is a fall cliché trend I am happy to join. I went to not one, but two pumpkin patches this year.

One is Maris Farms, which has massive corn mazes, giant bubbles, apple barrel guns, ropes course, farm animals, piglet and duck races, bounce houses, lots of games, and a pumpkin patch. The highlight is the corn maze/activities more than the pumpkin patch, which the girls will enjoy when they're older. However, I would not recommend a corn make with a toddler, a newborn, and me leading the directions because we got hopelessly lost and needed to be rescued.

The other was Carpinito Brothers Pumpkin Patch as a meetup with one of my heme-onc co-fellows, who has a daughter a year younger than Isabelle. We had been trying to have them do a play date all summer and we finally got to have them meet up! They were suspicious and kept their distance at first, but warmed up and even had a high five / hug at the end.

I bought sooo many pumpkins (which amused and amazed B's parents, who are staying with us until Thanksgiving). I also decorated our fireplace with fall leaves, fairy lights, and lanterns for a cozy feel.

While B is not a big fan of pumpkin, he does enjoy pumpkin pancakes, so I spent a morning making these! I wanted a nice tall stack, so I made many small pancakes. B kindly helped me get the action "pouring maple syrup" shot I see from food magazines.

The batter does take longer to cook than the usual pancake batter (perhaps from the pumpkin puree moisture), but the wait is worth it because they are so fluffy.

Recipe adapted from NY Times. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I substituted with milk + vinegar)
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
2 eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for greasing the skillet
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings: whipped cream, crushed pecans, maple syrup

Directions
In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together

In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, pumpkin purée, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Grease a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add pancake batter, cook for a minute or two, until the batter bubbles at the edges and browns on the bottom, then carefully flip. Cook another minute or two, until golden brown and the batter is cooked. Repeat until all of the batter is used. Top with whipped cream, pecans, and maple syrup. Enjoy!

Lactation Cookies II (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip)

2022-10-12T01:57:00.133-05:00

Our family has been settling in nicely with the new baby (even though it's really hard managing a toddler and newborn alone, while B is at work during the day, and I'm trying to get some research work done for a conference).

The first time with Isabelle, I was so overwhelmed. We had no idea how to change a diaper, swaddle a baby, how much milk to feed. We couldn't sleep at night because every gurgle sounded so concerning. We would wake up at night to make sure she was still breathing because we were terrified of SIDS. Oh and COVID just started, when everyone was bleaching the mail and didn't wear masks to save them for healthcare heroes. We were scared that we would bring home COVID from working at the hospital.

This time, it's a lot smoother. I'm not sure if it's because Alanna herself is an easier baby or if it's because we kind of know what we're doing this time (B says it's because we have the SNOO bassinet for better sleep) and we know more about COVID (even if ironically we all got COVID right after Alanna was born).

While the baby snuggles are wonderful, the one thing I have a love-hate relationship is breastfeeding. Fortunately, I was more familiar with the nursing/latching process and knew how to pump milk, so I wasn't starting from scratch.

I had been hoping the second time around that nursing would be magically easy, but it's still a lot of work.

I have also been eating lots and lots of these lactation cookies (adapted from Food.com.) A lactation cookie is just chocolate chip oatmeal cookies since oats help women produce milk. These are heartier and thicker than my first recipe for Lactation Cookies. Of note, you should chill the dough and use a room temperature pan (vs reusing a pan that's already baked bc it will be hot); this cookie liked to spread thin. B surprisingly liked the thinner cookies, even though he's usually team chewy cookie over team crispy cookie.

I've made 3 batches of these cookies because my family can't stop eating them! Enjoy!

Lactation Cookies II (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip)

Ingredients

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tablespoons flax seed

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

2/3 cup pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, flaxseed and vanilla, and beat well. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mix. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and pecans. Chill in the refrigerator at least 30 min (this helps prevent the cookies from spreading so much).

Scoop onto baking sheet (cookies will especially spread if you reuse the same tray to bake due to heat, so space them apart accordingly). Bake for 12-14 minutes, until a light golden brown. Let cool on a baking rack for a few in, transfer to a wire rack, and enjoy!

Tropical Mango Smoothie Bowl // Welcome Baby Alanna II

2022-09-20T18:45:00.029-05:00

Part II for Alanna's birth! (See part I here)

After Alanna was born, we moved to a new unit. We were eager to head home asap since Isabelle was home with B’s parents, and they were flying out at 5am the next day back home to California. Since Alanna and I were doing well, we were able to be discharged within 24 hours.

We were exhausted (no one gets sleep in a hospital, but especially parents with a brand new baby) and happy to be home. Isabelle’s first impression of meeting Alanna was “No thanks, I’d rather watch Cocomelon”, but she did peer at her from afar with curiosity. Our pup Nike’s face was one of “Another of these crying humans again?”

The next day, B’s parents flew home for a doctor's appointment, and B’s brother Alan flew in from Florida. B didn’t have any paternity leave, and Alan was a big help entertaining Isabelle (from playing ice cream shop to watching Rambo) while I recovered. Although I felt great in the hospital, I was absolutely miserable at home the first week with the severe pain of my milk coming and afterbirth contractions (which I had no idea was a thing, but afterbirth contractions worsen with each subsequent pregnancy as the uterus shrinks back to normal size). Later that week, B’s parents came back.

To add to the excitement, we all got COVID19 :(

B started feeling symptomatic and tested positive. Then his dad, mom, Alan, and I also tested positive. We weren’t sure how we caught it since we had been SO careful the entire pandemic; perhaps from eating at a restaurant or B’s parents picking it up when they flew back to see it.

B was required by the office management to stay home 5 days, and although he had wanted to work, he was definitely the sickest, and in no shape to leave his bed, let alone work. Isabelle never tested positive but did get sick, so we had a cranky, miserable toddler.

Alanna was only a week old with no immune system, so we were terrified of her catching COVID19, and everyone wore N95 masks in the house. We brought Alanna’s bassinet downstairs; I slept on the couch to separate her from B. We also had a heat wave that week, and the house was miserably hot, especially with wearing a mask 24/7 even while sleeping.

We slowly recovered, and B’s parents flew home again. My parents and sister delayed their visit several days, so they wouldn’t get COVID19. While I was sad their trip was shortened, I was glad they were able to see us even for a little bit. I was able to bring my family to a Sunflower farm festival, so they were able to do a bit of sightseeing, but we mostly stayed home.

My dad and sister flew home, and ironically, they got sick with COVID19 (likely caught at the airports, it’s amazing how fast this current omicron variant spreads!). My mom, who had stayed another week to help out, managed to avoid COVID19. Alanna luckily never got sick either.

Although the first few weeks with Alanna were more exciting than I liked, and almost everyone on both sides of the family got sick, there were a few silver linings. I was just happy B and I weren’t COVID19 positive during labor, since I didn’t want to give birth alone in the hospital or be separated from the baby. Alanna was healthy, and no one was seriously ill. We all hopefully have some extra immunity now, and my breast milk has COVID19 antibodies to help protect Alanna in the future.

Still, COVID19 postpartum is not an experience I want to repeat, because those were some of the most exhausting weeks of my life! It seemed like a full circle that Isabelle was born when the COVID19 pandemic started and we end with this.

Sharing a recipe of a tropical smoothie bowl, since I need a vacation after all of the above.

Tropical Mango Smoothie Bowl

Ingredients
2 cups mangos (I used frozen)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup almond milk

Toppings: strawberries, rambutan, chia seeds, coconut flakes

Directions
Blend the frozen mango, coconut milk, and almond milk in your blender until smooth. Add more fruit to thicken or more milk the thin it. Smoothie bowls should have a thicker consistency than a regular smoothie you drink, so it can hold up the fruit.

Divide the smoothie between two bowls. Add your toppings to decorate and serve. Enjoy!

Spicy Shoyu Ramen // Welcome Baby Alanna

2022-09-06T03:09:00.003-05:00

Part I of Alanna's birth! (See part II here)

I’m so excited to share our new baby girl!

Of course, my husband was doing a big surgery with his boss the day she was born. His boss had asked him a few weeks prior, “Hey, can you assist me in this complicated case next month?” B replied, “Sure, just an FYI, Natalie will be almost 39 weeks around that time.” Both of them agreed, “Eh, it’s fine, Natalie won’t go into labor that day” and booked the case for the operating room.

Well, that’s the day Alanna decides to arrive.

I got a LOT bigger the second pregnancy, and since I was more than ready to get her out, I happily agreed to be on the wait list for an induction starting 39 weeks. In the meantime, I tried all the “tricks” from walking 20 miles a week to eating spicy food.

On our daily walk, we stopped by a hole in the wall ramen place for dinner. I ordered the spicy ramen, in the hopes it would kick off labor before my induction date. It was extremely spicy, and it may have done the trick, as I started having contractions that night!

I couldn’t sleep since I was so uncomfortable, and around 2am, I started having stomach cramping. I finally realized they were contractions around 2:30am and started timing them.

Since Isabelle was a scheduled induction for intrauterine growth restriction, I had never labored at home. Since we didn’t know how long it would take (2 hours? 12 hours?). B went off to work at 6am for his surgery, while I laid on the couch miserable with my contractions. I was nervous about waiting too long since Isabelle was a fast labor but wanted to give it as much time as possible for B to finish his surgery.

Around 8:30am, I called him saying I think we should consider going to the hospital. They were only halfway through the surgery. B suggested my mother-in-law, who was staying with us, drive me to the hospital, and he would meet me there to buy him some time.

Although my mother-in-law can drive her car at home, she didn’t know how to drive our keyless hybrid SUV. She couldn’t turn on the car. Then she couldn’t adjust the electric side mirrors or the seat. And she had cataract surgery recently, so she kept saying “I can’t see.” Then we backed out of the garage start-stop-start-stop, and I clutched my contracting belly in pain with each jerk.

Just going down the driveway was giving me a heart attack, and I couldn’t imagine going on the highway. Finally, I said “Ok, we need to have B drive me to the hospital!” so I parked the car on the street in front of our house.

So, I called B again, and told him he needed to come home right now and drive us to the hospital. B said, right now?! And I yelled, RIGHT NOW! He ran out of the operating room and drove home as fast as he could (his poor boss finished the surgery alone, and we are now legendary among OR nurse gossip).

When B arrived home, since our car wasn’t in the garage, he yelled, “Oh my god, where is our car??” He had been in such a rush to get home that he didn’t see our car down the street, and immediately thought our car had been stolen (“Today of all days for our car to be stolen!”).

Much relieved that our car was, in fact, not stolen, B quickly drove us to the hospital. I couldn’t walk due to the pain as contractions were increasing, so I was wheeled up in a wheelchair. Once we arrived at triage, we found out I was 4cm, and I quickly asked for an epidural. I had been nervous since it was July, but the resident did great, and the anesthesia attending was especially kind.

I could relax more, and B and I placed bets on when baby girl would arrive. Our lovely labor and delivery nurse and my ob-gyn (who called to wish me good luck) both agreed with B that baby was going to come out very soon! Within a few hours, I reached 10cm, and after pushing for less than 5 minutes, baby Alanna was born at 6 lb 3 oz! She had a strong cry and so much black hair. B won the bet by a landslide, but I was very happy to have lost that bet.

Sharing my version of my spicy ramen soup (adapted from Killing Thyme), which I’m sure helped precipitate labor! Let's just say this was a MUCH more stressful, chaotic labor than our scheduled induction with Isabelle.

Spicy Shoyu Ramen

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sesame oil, more if necessary

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1-2 tablespoons spicy chili bean paste

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups dashi stock

3 cups water

2 packs ramen noodles

4 soft-boiled eggs

Narutomaki (fish cake)

1/2 lb braised pork

1/2 carrot, julienned

1 green onion, sliced

sesame seeds, to garnish

Directions

Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the garlic and ginger. Add the shiitake mushrooms and sauté until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Spoon the chili paste into the pot, then stir it around to coat the mushrooms. Add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, salt, and sugar. Add the chicken and dashi stock into the pot; stir again.

Allow the soup to simmer for about 15 minutes. While it simmers, cook your ramen noodles, your egg (soft boiled), and prepare your toppings.

After the soup has simmered, adjust the spiciness and soy sauce to taste.

Strain the noodles when they're ready, then transfer them to a large bowl. Spoon broth over the noodles in the bowl, and then garnish with your toppings.

Mountain Pumpkin Dog Cake

2022-08-30T14:46:00.071-05:00

Happy Birthday Nike! I always bake something for her birthday, except last year since we were so busy. So I needed to make an extra special cake this year!

Prior cakes: 1st bday, 2nd bday, 3rd bday (my favorite).

I can't believe she is 5 years old. We've added more babies to the family, but she is always our original baby.

Fun quirks

She loves hiking in the PNW and comes with us on cabin trips.
For the first time, Nike is living in a house, and she loves the backyard. Although she is a pretty quiet dog overall, since we moved to our rental house, she will bark when someone is at the front door or the garage (ugh!).
Her favorite spot in the house is right under Isabelle's chair because she knows a toddler will throw lots of food to the floor
She has been very good with Alanna (less utter shock, and more "oh, another one of these noisy creatures" when we brought Alanna home)
B will sometimes bring her to the office if he has a half day, and she's very popular with patients and staff. I made a sign "The Dogtor is IN/OUT" so people know if she's in the clinic.

This is a dog friendly pumpkin cake adapted from Love From the Oven. I wanted to make a mountain/hiking theme since it's one of our favorite things to do with her (and Washington is fabulous for hiking). Isabelle saw Nike's cake and wanted to eat it, despite me telling her it's for Nike. You can't fight a toddler, so I gave her a piece and she spat it out since there's no sugar haha. Nike loved it and inhaled it.

Mountain Pumpkin Dog Cake

Ingredients

PUMPKIN DOG CAKE

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup peanut butter (make sure no Xylitol)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg

2 Tablespoons honey

FROSTING

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 8-oz cream cheese

food coloring, for decoration

rosemary sprigs, for trees

Directions

PUMPKIN DOG CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease two 3 inch cake/springform pans (or one 6 inch cake pan).

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, vegetable oil, peanut butter, plain yogurt, pumpkin puree, egg and honey until just combined. Pour mixture into your pans.

Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before adding frosting.

FROSTING

With an electric mixer, beat Greek yogurt and cream cheese until well combined. Spread the white frosting all over the cake. To add the mountains, set aside some of the frosting into 2 small bowls and add green and blue food coloring to desired colors. Paint the mountains and meadows on the frosting using a small knife and paintbrush. Add the rosemary sprigs on top for the trees. Enjoy!

Blackberry Cheesecake Popsicles

2022-08-26T14:21:00.007-05:00

Today's post is not for the faint of heart. You have been warned!

After blackberry picking at our friends' neighborhood, we went home with 2 lbs of blackberries, proud of our hard work. As I was prepping to make delicious blackberry jam, I looked at the blackberries and was horrified to see a few worms.

I immediately googled "worms in blackberries" and went down a black hole. Unfortunately, blackberry worms are incredibly common, and almost all fresh blackberries have them. While I expect bugs and worms in wild berries, I found out you can even get them even at fruit from Costco, Trader Joes, and regular groceries.

The worms are are the larvae of fruit flies. They are safe to eat, won't make you sick, and everyone has almost certainly eaten them at one point or another, but that doesn't make it less disgusting in my opinion (on the plus side, extra protein!).

Fortunately, there is an easy way to get the worms out of your berries. Just wash them in ice and salt water, and the worms will come to the surface where you can rinse them away. Freezing or chilling the berries also gets the worms out (source). Rinse your berries afterwards, and you can enjoy them worm free!

While I have always been admittedly lazy about washing produce despite B nagging me about it, this incident has changed my mind very convincingly. Adapted from Imperial Sugar.

Blackberry Cheesecake Popsicles

Ingredients
1 cup blackberries
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions

Add blackberries and sugar to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until blueberries start to release their juices and create a syrupy liquid. Remove from heat and cool.

In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, yogurt, and almond milk in a large bowl until smooth.

Fill each ice pop mold with small spoonfuls of blueberry mixture and cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over top of each ice pop. Freeze for 4 hours or overnight. Serve frozen and enjoy!

Of note, my popsicle molds are smaller than standard size, so you may need to increase ratios.

Wild Blackberry Jam (No Pectin)

2022-08-19T18:57:00.009-05:00

I never realized how many blackberries were in Washington until a friend visiting us pointed all the Himalayan blackberries bushes out. Once I learned what they looked like, I noticed they are literally everywhere!

Luther Burbank was a plant enthusiast in the 1800s who created many famous hybrids including the Russet Burbank (the potato that McDonald’s uses for French fries). While he didn't create the Himalayan blackberry, he was the man responsible for popularizing the plant in the United States.

He was trying to create a berry plant without thorns and cross-pollinated different varieties to experiment with colors and flavors. He received some blackberry seeds he had imported from India, which he found grew vigorously and had sweet berries. Burband named it the Himalayan Giant (although it apparently originated in Armenia). He worked with plant wholesalers to distribute the Himalayan blackberries; the bushes grew like crazy in temperate climates like the PNW. Birds and animals further spread the seeds everywhere (source, source).

By the 1900s, Himalayan blackberries became seen as a nuisance due to their invasiveness. Unfortunately their deep roots and thorny crowded out native species along waterways and impacted salmon populations (source). They were listed as a “Washington State Noxious Weed” in 2009. Despite people trying to get rid of them, they're the most invasive species in Seattle's forests.

If you can't beat them, bake them!

On our daily walks around the neighborhood, we have been collecting wild blackberries - I'd estimate we picked 6-7 lbs in the last few weeks! We made this delicious jam which is easy, low sugar, and does not require pectin. Recipe is adapted from Practical Self Reliance (which gives a lot of great tips on jamming).

Wild Blackberry Jam (No Pectin)

Ingredients

4 cups blackberries

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Add blackberries, sugar and lemon juice to a saucepan (make sure there is extra space when the blackberries foam and bubble).

Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer the jam until it reaches gel stage, stirring to keep the bubbles down. In this low sugar batch, it should take 20-30 minutes for a low sugar jam. (adding more sugar will decrease the time needed to gel)

Macaron Red Velvet Cake // Baby Shower #2

2022-07-13T17:44:00.175-05:00

Super excited to share this red velvet cake decorated with macarons and sprinkles for our baby #2 shower/sprinkle! How time flies from our first baby shower (can't believe we had it right before COVID19 hit), and we can't wait for our little girl to arrive.

We didn't have a formal baby shower since this is our second, but I still wanted to celebrate since I think every baby deserves a party. Also, this would be a rare opportunity for all the godparents of our baby to be together. Our family friends were already hosting a BBQ, my best friend was off work that week since she was moving, and my brother and sister in law were in Seattle visiting us.

My best friend had just moved out of Seattle to West Washington, and she traveled 90 min, including taking the ferry just to be there for the day. I don't think we would ever be able to get everyone together again in the same room! (Although we are keeping our fingers crossed my brother and sister in law will move to Seattle)

My plan was to bring a cake and balloons to low key celebrate. I was very touched when I arrived and found their home and backyard decorated with pompoms, balloons, an adventure baby shower sign, luggage favors with chocolate inside. Our family and friends also made the cutest diaper cake, topped with succulents.

I told everyone no gifts needed, but they kindly wanted to get cute items for the baby, so she doesn't have to wear only hand me downs from Isabelle.

While this cell phone shot doesn't do it justice, I'm glad to have the memories. I love all things Pinterest, and this decor is totally my alley.

Although layer cakes are a lot of work, I'm so happy with how cute it turned out! I was inspired by cakes topped with macarons on Pinterest and Instagram. I think the rainbow colors are perfect for a baby cake. The macarons are from Costco, which has the best deal at 36 macarons for $21.

I also had a red velvet cake for our first baby shower cake but used a cake mix so I could focus on the fondant. This time, I baked the red velvet from scratch, adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction, with a few modifications such as more cocoa powder for a stronger chocolate flavor and reduced sugar.

Counting down the days til she comes out. With the back pain, frequent bathroom trips, and shortness of breath from the baby belly, I'm ready for her eviction date!

Macaron Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients

RED VELVET CAKE

2 3/4 cups cake flour (spoon & leveled)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs, separated

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

red food coloring

1 cup buttermilk

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

12 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

6 cups (660g) confectioners’ sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt, to taste

DECORATIONS

macarons

sprinkles

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 6-inch (or two 9 inch) cake pans, lined with parchment paper.

RED VELVET CAKE: Mix the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the oil, egg yolks (save the egg whites for later), vanilla extract, and vinegar and beat on high speed.

Gently mix in the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet ingredients bowl until just combined. Add in desired amount of red food coloring.

In another bowl, beat the 4 egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into the cake batter. Divide batter between cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cakes from the oven and let cool completely in the pans. Chill in fridge so the cakes can be assembled later.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.

ASSEMBLY: Slice off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Place 1st cake layer on plate and top with frosting, then add 2nd and 3rd layers. Apply a very thin layer around the entire cake to make a crumb coat. Refrigerate cake for at least 30-60 minutes. Remove cake, and apply the rest of the frosting. Top with additional frosting, sprinkles, and macarons to decorate. Chill again to make slicing easier. Serve and enjoy!

Fourth of July Brownies

2022-07-05T01:05:00.108-05:00

Another July, another new academic year in my medical training. It's hard to believe that we've lived in Seattle for 2 years now, and I'm starting my final year of heme-onc fellowship. We had a quiet 4th of July weekend this year.

After two years on break from COVID19, multiple areas around Seattle were resuming 4th of July festivities. We considered going to see some fireworks since we thought Isabelle might enjoy them.

However, we found out the day before 4th of July that my brother tested positive for COVID19 (with horrible timing, as he had to cancel his flight the next day and missed out his entire weekend trip to see his friends).

While my brother's symptoms were mild, this made me nervous about crowds and the rising COVID19 cases so we cancelled our fireworks plans. Given my upcoming due date, I didn't want to risk COVID19 preventing B from coming with me to labor and delivery, or risking baby's health.

We invited our friends over and had a Korean BBQ 4th of July instead. While usually, I like to match Asian desserts with Asian cuisine, I couldn't pass up the chance to make an American flag dessert (see my American flag pie and my American flag fruit pizza cookie from prior years). I had some extra cream cheese frosting so used that as a topping, but whipped cream would work just as well.

Fourth of July Brownies

Ingredients

BROWNIES

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoons sea salt

4 large eggs

1 cup oil

4 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

TOPPING

1/4 cup butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 a package)

2 cups confectioners' sugar

strawberries, sliced

blueberries

Directions

BROWNIES: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, water, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a knife comes out clean. Let cool.

TOPPING: For the cream cheese frosting, beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add powdered sugar until completely combined. Pipe cream cheese frosting and decorate with sliced strawberries and blueberries to make the American flag. Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad

2022-06-22T01:07:00.039-05:00

This is a quick easy recipe, perfect for hot summer days. Last year we had the crazy heat dome in the PNW, where we hit a crazy 108 F in Seattle (this is what I was trying to avoid when I moved away from Texas!).

Most apartments and homes in Seattle don't have AC, including our old rental house. After a long cold and rainy La Nina winter, we're glad to have sunny days. We've had some hot days but nothing crazy like last year. Fortunately, our house has smaller windows, trees outside for shade, and faces North so it's definitely cooler than our apartment downtown, which had huge glass windows and faced West, turning our apartment into a greenhouse.

This recipe is from B's mom, who is probably eats the healthiest diet out of anyone I know. She mostly eats vegetables / salads, home cooked meals, and rarely eats dessert. While B did not grow up enjoying vegetables, with time he has come to appreciate her salads, and this is his favorite one.

This Asian chicken salad can be an appetizer or a main meal. Enjoy!

Asian Chicken Salad

Ingredients

DRESSING

4 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar

4 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 pepper

SALAD
shredded cooked chicken (we use the rotisserie chicken from Costco)

cabbage, chopped

instant ramen noodles, uncooked

cilantro, to garnish

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

DRESSING: mix all the ingredients together and set aside

SALAD: Toss the chicken and cabbage in a bowl with your dressing. Top with instant ramen noodles for crunch and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve chilled and enjoy!

Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

2022-06-10T18:10:00.005-05:00

I was so excited that my research was accepted at the big ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) conference this year! The conference is always held in Chicago in June, and this was my first time going. I presented research on end of life care/medical aid in dying in lung and head and neck cancer patients.

I was very pregnant when I attended - people were very nice to me, helping me with luggage on the flight, offering me seating at the conference (which I very gladly accepted) and security letting me drop off my poster when we were waiting to set up, so I didn't have to carry it around. My mentor stopped by my poster while I was explaining my research to people walking by and took photos of me in action (as well as some selfies of us).

I was hoping to stay with a good friend from residency, but she got very sick with a virus (even though she tested negative, we thought it might be COVID19). Since it was close to my due date, we both agreed it was best for me to stay elsewhere since I didn't want to get sick, nor did I want to bring COVID19 to a conference with 40,000 oncology providers and expose cancer patients.

I stayed with my co-fellows who were also attending ASCO, which was a lot of fun. I also got to meet up with my cousin for dinner and some hematology-oncology friends from residency for lunch.

There was a dinner social for the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and it was the first time many attendings had seen me in person since I got pregnant. The dinner was held at Quartino Ristorante, which is where B and I had date night so many years ago!

I listened to a lot of lectures as well as attending career development workshops/lectures for trainees. I'm a bit nervous since this coming year I need to figure out what I'm doing and find a real job as an oncologist!

Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake Bar recipe adapted from Baker by Nature

Blackberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars

CRUST:

2 and 1/4 cups graham crackers

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

LEMON CHEESECAKE:

2 8-ounce blocks of full-fat cream cheese, softened

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoons all-purpose flour

BLACKBERRY SWIRL:

1/2 cup fresh blackberries

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions

CRUST: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease baking pan (I used 8x8) with non-stick baking spray; set aside.

In a food processor, pulse graham crackers into fine crumbs. Add sugar melted butter and stir well to combine. Press down evenly into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes; set aside to cool.

LEMON CHEESECAKE: With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until completely smooth. Add in the sugar and eggs and beat until smooth and creamy. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour, stirring until combined. Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the partially baked crust. Set aside to make the blackberry swirl.

BLACKBERRY SWIRL: Stir the blackberries and sugar in a skillet on medium heat. Cook until the juices thicken slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Pour the blackberries over the cheesecake and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the cheesecake layer is set at the edges and only slightly wiggly in the center. Let pan cool to room temperature. Place cheesecake bars in the fridge until completely chilled. When ready to serve, cut cheesecake into squares (I recommend placing pan in freezer for 15 minutes prior to make the cleanest edges when cutting). Enjoy!

Lemongrass Chicken Skewers

2022-06-01T02:48:00.001-05:00

There are two things B has always wanted: a giant TV and a grill to make BBQ.

When we moved into our rental house last year, B finally got his dream giant flat screen TV. However, we held off on buying a grill since we weren't sure how long we were going to be at this house, where we would move to next, jobs, etc, and a grill is heavy and bulky.

A friend then texted B an amazing deal for a grill at Target for $120 (at 6 am in the morning). B called to confirm they had the (last) grill at our nearest Target.

I woke up in confusion as B told me, "Be right back, I'm getting us a grill!" and drove as fast as he could to claim the last grill.

While B wanted a really fancy smoker, this budget grill is perfect for us since it's not too big and its cheap enough that we won't cry if it gets damaged in a move. As B said, "Even if it falls apart in 1-2 years, that's like having a grill for $5-10 a month."

With the beautiful summer weather, we've made good use of the grill. One of our favorite things to grill are these lemongrass chicken skewers! Although kebobs are more work to prepare, you can't beat how good it tastes on a grill.

Recipe adapted from Hook's Greenhouse. We love to eat these lemongrass chicken skewers with vermicelli, green onions, basil, and nuoc mam sauce.

Lemongrass Chicken Skewers

Ingredients

1/4 cup lime juice, plus extra lime wedges for serving

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

black pepper, to taste

4 small garlic cloves, minced

2 stalks lemongrass, chopped/smashed

1 shallot, peeled and halved

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, oil, soy sauce, black pepper, garlic, lemongrass and shallot in a food processor. Marinate chicken in sauce for 30 min. Put the chicken on skewers. Grill and enjoy!

Lemon Curd Tart

2022-05-21T14:25:00.106-05:00

B surprised me with a Mother's Day getaway to a cute little Washington town called Port Ludlow.

He wanted to be "super romantic" and wanted to "whisk me away on a spontaneous trip."

B: I'm booking us on a getaway trip this weekend!

Me: Oh um, I have a tight research deadline.

B: Fine, I'm booking us on a getaway trip next weekend. You're killing my spontaneous romantic vibe!

B did nickname me "moment killer" since I'm infamous for saying the most unromantic things haha.

The ferry system in Washington has been crazy since they're so shortstaffed. We had to wait almost 3 hours to get on the ferry (!), but once we made it, it was a smooth trip.

We stayed at the cute Inn at Port Ludlow, which is dog friendly. I was very excited since they had a jacuzzi and bubble bath salts for a relaxing soak. I haven't been able to enjoy any hot tubs because of pregnancy, but I did enjoy this jacuzzi bubble bath. Isabelle loved the bubbles as well.

We explored Port Ludlow and Port Gamble. Both are small towns with quaint shops. We explored Fort Flagler State Park and we ate at a unique airplane themed brunch diner (Spruce Goose Cafe) right by a little airport, where we watched tiny planes take off and land.

On our way home we stopped by Point No Point Lighthouse, where we saw a seal hop on land right by the lighthouse and eat a fish! I took a picture by the sign "welcome to Hansville" for my brother Hans as well a unique boat house by the Lighthouse that's actually a ship! Although we also had to wait at Kingston for the ferry back home, the wait was only an hour and there happened to be a farmer's market that day (B very much enjoyed his frozen key lime pie on a stick)

Overall, a great Mother's Day getaway!

Lemon curd tart recipe adapted from Pretty Simple Sweet and Allrecipes

Lemon Curd Tart

Ingredients

ALMOND PASTRY CRUST

Recipe here

LEMON CURD FILLING (enough to make 1 full 10 inch tart)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed

1-2 lemons, zested
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (~ 4 lemons)

Directions
ALMOND PASTRY CRUST: Combine butter, sugar, egg, salt and vanilla. Mix flour with your almond flour in another bowl, and add to the butter/egg mixture. Do not over-mix; stop when dough is well combined. The dough will be wet; wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight, or at least 2 hours before use (once chilled, the dough will be workable).

Place the dough on a well greased tart pan, prick the bottom of the shell to prevent it from puffing. I like to chill it 10 min before baking. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool to room temp.

LEMON CURD FILLING

With a mixer, cream the butter with the sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice. Mix until combined.

Pour into a saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened, about 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly. Let cool, then chill in the fridge for an hour.

Fill the tart shell with lemon curd, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours until chilled.

Banana Cream Pie

2022-05-08T02:37:00.003-05:00

I haven't made a banana cream pie since 2014, so this reminded me how much I enjoyed them.

I was baking this for friends when I realized I didn't have bananas the night before. So I ran to the grocery and sadly, all the bananas were on the green side. I brought the ripest ones I could fine, which was ok for eating but not my preferred ripeness for baking.

I quickly googled tips for ripening bananas

place them in a warm spot
place them in a brown paper bag
bake them in an oven
keep the banana bunch together
use an air fryer
microwave them

As I needed the bananas to look nice and yellow (not brown banana slugs) for my pie, I could only do the warm location, brown paper bag, and keep them in a bunch. I haven't personally tried baking, air frying, or microwaving them, but I'm keeping that in mind if I ever need ripe bananas for bread and muffins.

I had only 12 hours to ripen the bananas (the downside of starting your baking at midnight), so the pie didn't have as strong of a banana flavor as I would have liked, but B didn't seem to mind.

Fun fact: I just learned that there's a National Banana Cream Pie Day (March 2nd), so there really is a day for everything. Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

CRUST:

2 1/4 cups grahram crackers, crushed

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

FILLING:

1 and 3/4 cups milk (I used 2% milk)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 bananas

WHIPPED CREAM:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

chocolate, to granish

Directions

CRUST: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and cinnamon in a bowl. Press graham cracker mixture into the bottom and sides of your pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes and then let cool to room temperature.

FILLING: Combine the milk, heavy cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, whisking occasionally. Whisk the egg yolks and cornstarch together in a separate heatproof bowl until thick. Add in 1 cup of the simmering milk to the egg yolk mixture to slow heat/temper it. Then, slowly our the egg yolk mixture into the pan, whisking the entire time to prevent the eggs from scrambling. While continuously whisking, cook until the mixture is thick. Remove the pan from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Allow the custard to cool.

WHIPPED CREAM: With a mixer, beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Keep chilled in fridge until ready to assemble.

ASSEMBLY: Slice 2 bananas and arrange slices into the cooled graham cracker shell. Spread cooled filling on top. Slice remaining 2 bananas and decorate the pie with slices. Pipe the whipped cream on the pie. Garnish with grated chocolate curls by using a vegetable peeler to "peel" the chocolate. Serve and enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

2022-04-27T03:09:00.167-05:00

Happy birthday to me! This is my first time being pregnant on my birthday since I had Isabelle right before my birthday two years ago.

I've been grumpy from all the pregnancy symptoms - shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, not fitting into any clothes since 12 weeks. So I treated myself to some cute clothes, fancy sushi dinner, and of course an ice cream cake for my birthday (Disclaimer, I felt comfortable eating sushi while pregnant since our anatomy US looked good and we were eating at a high end sushi restaurant I trusted).

B offered to buy me an ice cream birthday cake from a store, but I always insist in making my own cakes if I have the time. I made an ice cream cake almost 10 years ago, and made it again with different ice cream flavors. The chocolate cake is half batched and adapted from the same Allrecipes recipe since I liked the cake as a base.

As we are in the PNW, we are huge fans of Tillamook ice cream, and I used their Oregon strawberry. However, I would not recommend Tillamook for ice cream cakes as I found their ice cream to be on the soft side and it melted more quickly than I expected. A friend said they also noticed Tillamook ice cream melted when their friend also tried to make an ice cream cake, so I wasn't the only one struggling.

The ice cream cake was delicious, but the melting was troublesome. I was not able to get a chocolate drip topping as the ice cream melted and made a mess. I had to refreeze the ice cream cake after I assembled the cake to get it firm enough to serve, which made the strawberries icy. And I was not able to a nice clean slice for photos.

Fortunately, the cake was still a big hit with my family and friends. I'm happy with the final result, even if this ice cream cake did keep me busy on my birthday.

Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2/3 cup white sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup boiling water

ICE CREAM CAKE

1 gallon ice cream (I used Tillamook Oregon Strawberry)

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1 pint strawberries, cut in half

Directions

CHOCOLATE CAKE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a nine inch round pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix together. Stir in the boiling water. Batter will be thin. Pour into pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes clean. Let the cake cool completely. Once cool, level off the dome of the cake so it's flat.

ICE CREAM CAKE ASSEMBLY: Let your ice cream soften just enough so it can be easily molded to the cake pan.

Line a 9 inch cake pan with saran wrap so that you can lift the cake, or use a 9 inch springform pan (I used a springform pan). Place your chocolate cake on the bottom of your pan. Add the ice cream to make the ice cream layer. Place ice cream in the freezer to harden the ice cream.

In a mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Keep it chilled in the fridge while ice cream cake hardens.

When ready to serve, remove the entire ice cream cake from the pan. Pipe the whipped cream on top and decorate with strawberries. Serve immediately and enjoy. Note: the entire cake can be frozen, but the strawberries will be harder to eat.

Blackberry (Marionberry) Crisp

2022-04-18T19:46:00.102-05:00

We went on our first flying trip since COVID19 started. We knew we would be traveling less after having a baby, but we did not expect it would be over 2 years before we had a vacation!

My cousin was supposed to get married first week of April 20202, but it got postponed multiple times due to COVID19. They decided to elope in Hawaii a year ago, and finally this year they got to have their formal wedding in SoCal.

Apparently, since the original wedding they've added 8 new babies to the guest list, including Isabelle haha.

Most of our family in the USA is in SoCal, so it was a big reunion for us Uys. I haven't seen many of them in years due to medical school and residency. It was also the first time our extended family got to meet Isabelle!

Flying was exhausting, especially with carrying the carseat and stroller. Fortunately, this was a relaxing, laid back trip more to see family than sightsee.

We spent two nights at Temecula by the wedding venue in a giant airbnb. The wedding was in a vineyard, and we explored downtown Temecula and other local vineyards. This was the first time our family had dressed up and gone to a formal event. Luckily Isabelle was very good during the wedding and she loves dancing during the reception (she went from happy dancing drunk to a cranky drunk when we went wayyyy past her bedtime, but these dancing videos are some of my fondest memories).

We then spent two nights in Newport Beach for more family fun at a resort. It was the first time Isabelle went swimming and she loved it. She even learned to blow bubbles underwater. We went to the beaches but it was very cold, and explored Balboa Island (Sugar N Spice was my favorite - yum).

In true Uy fashion, there was a lot of fun, chaos, and food (especially desserts - all the Uys have a sweet tooth). B always says he gains 10 lbs with my family.

Blackberry (Marionberry) Crisp adapted from Mel's Kitchen.

Blackberry (Marionberry) Crisp

Ingredients

FILLING:

6 cups blackberries (I used frozen marionberry, an Oregon blackberry)

1/4 granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

CRISP TOPPING:

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped nuts

6 tablespoons butter, finely diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl, make the berry filling by tossing to combine all ingredients. Keep the berries frozen. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, combining all the crisp topping ingredients, making sure the butter is incorporated with the dry ingredients.

Pour the berry filling into an 8×8inch baking dish, or round 10 inch cast iron skillet. Top evenly with the oat crumble topping, and spread to an even layer.

Bake uncovered until the berry filling is bubbling, and the oat crumble is golden brown, about 30-40 min. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

Rainbow Frosting Chocolate Cupcakes

2022-04-11T02:55:00.189-05:00

In the blink of an eye, Isabelle is 2 years old. She doesn't look like a baby anymore, but a little girl now. She's lost all the baby chubbiness and is very tall, taking her height from B.

She has so much personality and loves dancing to music (Pit Bull is a favorite), carrying her stuffed animals everywhere, and watching traditional Vietnamese dancing with her grandmother.

She's starting to have strong opinions about what she eats, what clothes she wears, and wants to do everything by herself (even if it takes 3x as long). I expect the tantrums and terrible twos to start soon, but she's still pretty good for now.

I have so much food coloring so I always use any excuse to make fun frosted desserts, and a toddler birthday is perfect. For a more precise rainbow, you can put each color in a separate piping bag, then put them in a large piping bag with the piping tip, but I just put a vertical stripe of each frosting in a single piping bag so each cupcake has a unique design!

We had a quiet weekend getaway to a cabin airbnb in the mountains; we just relaxed at the cabin, admired the lake view, went on some short hikes. I brought these cupcakes along to celebrate. This chocolate cupcake recipe is adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.

Last year, she was too young, but this year we taught her how to blow her birthday candle. She was so excited to blow it out that she wanted us to keep re-lighting the candle so she could blow it out again and again.

Happy 2nd birthday, my dear Isabelle!

Rainbow Frosting Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 and 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

RAINBOW FROSTING

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

food coloring

sprinkles, optional

Directions

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE: Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, oil, milk, and vanilla extract together. Fold the wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until combined (do not over mix). The batter will be thick.

Spoon the batter muffin pan. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack until ready to eat.

RAINBOW FROSTING:

Beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract and milk. Add more milk if the frosting is too thick.

To make a rainbow, divide the the frosting into small bowls and added food coloring to each one to make (I used six bowls for six colors). Fill the piping bag so that each color is separate (video tutorial here). With a 1M Wilton tip, pipe rosette swirls on the cooled cupcakes. Top with sprinkles, serve and enjoy!

Arroz Caldo (Filipino Chicken Rice Porridge)

2022-03-24T03:43:00.001-05:00

B hasn't been feeling well, so I offered to make him arroz caldo, a Filipino chicken rice porridge. He had never heard of it before, and I told him it's hands down the best porridge in the world.

We never really eat porridge since B does most of the cooking in the house, and he strongly dislikes porridge. Apparently, he was a "sickly, scrawny kid growing up", and his mother would constantly make him eat porridge til he couldn't stand it.

I'm not sure what was in my mother in law's porridge, but it worked, since when I met B in college, he was a muscular 6 ft 2 inch gentleman lol.

Arroz caldo is a classic comfort food, perfect for cold rainy days (we've had plenty in Seattle this year with La Niña), sick days, and when you're busy (this dish keeps really well and is easily reheated).

I haven't had homemade arroz caldo in a long time, and it was hard to find a recipe that matched what I recalled in the Philippines. To my surprise, many recipes online didn't include saffron, but I think that golden color and rich flavor is key. Like a lot of Filipino foods, there's ginger, garlic, and fish sauce.

Adapted from Allrecipes and my memories from the Philippines.

Arroz Caldo (Filipino Chicken Rice Porridge)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

2 pounds chicken thighs/legs with bones

2-3 tablespoons fish sauce, to taste

5 cups chicken broth/water (depending on how salty)

1 cup rice (I used Jasmine rice)

1 teaspoon saffron strands

salt and pepper to taste

4 scallions, chopped

calamansi or lime wedges, sliced to garnish

4 hard-boiled eggs - peeled and halved

saffron strands, to garnish

fried garlic bits, to garnish (bought at Asian supermarkets)

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Sautée the onion, garlic, and ginger in oil until fragrant. Add chicken thighs/legs; cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in fish sauce, cover, and cook another 2 minutes.

Pour chicken broth/water into the pot. Stir in rice and bring mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice has softened and expanded, the congee has thickened to desired consistency, and chicken is cooked all the way through. Season with saffron, salt, and pepper to taste

Portion soup into bowls and garnish with green onion, calamansi or lime wedges, hard boiled eggs, saffron strands, and fried garlic bits