Experiment day

When we lived in Korea, we often went to a certain restaurant near our home. It was situated on the slope of a hill, and consisted of multiple little houses, all decorated in the traditional Korean style, with the traditional heated floors. The kids love it - they would bring their blankies and snuggle on the warm floor. The parents loved it too, both for the food and for the fact that the kids would fall asleep, snuggled on the warm floor!

One of the menu items was Pindaetok, a pancake made of mung bean powder, topped with green onions, beef, kimchi, bean sprouts, and whatever other ingredients of the day. They were delicious, and we always ate too much of this appetizer to fully do justice to the wonderful Korean bbq that followed.

So today we are going to try and make Pindaetok, or Bindae Dok with spicy soy dipping sauce. Report to follow.

P.S. Being a transplant to the south, I never thought I would like grits, until I tried garlic shrimp grits. Today I am adding the best cheese grits I have ever eaten to the list of Grits Likes. If I can persuade the maker to share the recipe, you can try it too.

Ami Simms Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative Priority Quilts

Ami Simms is a well known quilter whose mom had Alzheimers. Ami decided to do something about it, and the Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative was born. Quilters everywhere are helping the effort by constructing small quilts (fit into a Priority mailer) that Ami sells by auction on her website, or that serve as your "receipt" when you make a suitable donation to the AAQI at any the quilt shows Ami attends.
I am so thrilled that the three little quilts I sent were among those taken to the show in Houston, and that they were deemed worthy of $50, $50 and $65, by those willing to make a donation to the cause.

You can read more about Ami and her project here: Alzheimers Art Quilt Initiative

Rain = Comfort Food

It's pouring with rain here in Georgia today. Definitely a day to make something hot and full of carbs! Here's a recipe for a delicious corn casserole from allrecipes.com. You know I cannot leave a recipe alone, so I've added some optional ingredients for your tasting pleasure. I have tried all of them - even some combos of them - with great success.

RAINY DAY CORN CASSEROLE
(Good for any other day too)

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8.5 ounce) package dry corn bread mix
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained (or about 1 1/2 cups frozen, thawed under running water.)
1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and lightly grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine butter, eggs, corn bread mix, whole and creamed corn and sour cream. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.
Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

You can add stuff if you want -  a can of chopped chilies, or some pimiento, or a handful of cheese, or sauteed onions and green peppers, or bacon. It’s very forgiving.

I'm developing a quilt pattern to teach paper piecing skills. Here is "Hut Hut", a simple paper pieced block, 8". It and it's reflection will make a cute little wall hanging. Am trying to decide if I want to control the colors a bit. Will make a couple more blocks to see how it looks.

After Thanksgiving Food Report

Lots of new recipes made their way into the kitchen this week. Here's the menu:

Rachel Ray's Roast Turkey Breast (with some modifications)
Corn Bread Stuffing with Chorizo
Slow Cooker Southern style green beans
Sweet Potato and Apple bake
Apple cider gravy
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Cheesecake/pumpkin/pecan pie
Crispy Creme Bread Pudding!
Multi Grain Bread Rolls from Bon Appetit 11/09

Here are Hubby and I with our beautifully browned turkey breasts.


p.s. Credit to #1 son + girlfriend for the yummy desserts :)

Teaching is Fun!

Well, that was a first for me - I taught "Intro to Machine Applique" at a quilt store in Buford, GA called Georgia Sewing and Quilting. There were three students, and one was a guy! It was so much fun. The students were all accomplished sewers who wanted to brush up on machine applique skills. They could have taught me a thing or two!

Only one item of culinary news this week:  Made a roasted pork tenderloin with herbs and garlic. Started by browning it in a pan, then finishing in the oven. Deglazed the pan with white wine and then stirred in some Hoisin Sauce. The combo of hot and slightly sweet was delicious.

Planning the Thanksgiving menu. Hubby wants turkey, Son #2 wants stuffing...it's looking too traditional for me. Will have to come up with something to raise it into the "intersting" category. More to follow...

No boring chicken this night!

Defrosted chix breasts awaited some magic transformation into dinner. Don't you sometimes just get tired of chix breasts? It's a good thing they provide lean, high quality protein, or I would have forsaken them long ago. We seasoned them with fajita seasoning, but still, the meal needed something to make it more intersting. Hadn't had rice for a while - maybe a pilaf of some sort? Light bulb moment! Fajitas = Mexican.

So here is my version of Spanish Rice.


Spanish Rice
Serves 4 normal eaters.

In 1 Tablespoon olive oil, saute 1/2 diced onion, 1 clove garlic till fragrant. Add 1 cup dry rice and stir till coated. Add one chopped tomato, salt and freshly ground black pepper (aka fgbp) to taste, a good pinch each of cumin and oregano and two cups water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer till rice is done.

Less sodium and cheaper than the box variety.