tiger rolls!

Tiff of For The Love of Paisley makes the most delicious homemade tiger rolls! She formulated the approximate recipe in her head, but it really is a recipe of taste preferences. The last batch we made was less spicy; the batch tonight had more Sambal Olek and had a little more zing, which I like.

Making tiger rolls is so easy and quick - a great last-minute entertaining or appetizer idea. Just make sure you serve them when they're still hot.

Tiger Rolls

Supplies:

Eggroll wrappers

Oil for frying

1 scallion

Mix the filling to taste, beginning with:

1 block cream cheese

1/2 tsp. Sambal Olek

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup. chopped crab (opt.)

Assembling the wrappers:

Spoon about 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto the middle of the wrapper laid out in a diamond shape. Using a small bowl of warm water to dip your fingers in, run them along the edges of the wrapper, folding the side edges in and then the top and bottom. Using a wet finger, seal the wrapper seam so the fillings don't spill out.

Heat oil until it pops when water is flicked in. Place the filled wrappers in the oil and fry until brown, turning once. Garnish with scallions and dip in sweet chili sauce.

german pancakes. JamJam!

A fun morning breakfast with good friends Jess and Tiff! We used Smitten Kitchen's german pancake recipe. Maple yogurt drizzled over the top with powdered sugar, fruit salad and coffee. Jess took pictures with her amazing Canon that makes us have jealous feelings.

We decided that Tiff should develop recipes, Jess should photograph them, and I will write about them. Because trust me, this is only one of the many delicious things we have made that have gone undocumented. Dream team!

sourdough sketch.

Do you think the forks look similar? Maybe not. It's OK. I'll get better!

I took a non-credit drawing workshop class at PCC put on by Jill Goodell and I spent three hours shading a pomegranate the size of a volleyball. She said, "Well, I am just so impressed that you took on such a huge project!" Code: Who do you think you are, Picasso?

She led a great class and one of the best tidbits of advice she gave us was to draw during normal daytime activities - like breakfast. Hence the fork.

What I am eating on the above plate is a new staple that I have incorporated permanently into our diet: The Sourdough Starter.

I made a jar of starter at a DIY fair in November and, miraculously, it is still alive! My first attempt met with failure. About two years ago, I made a big batch of starter and mixed it into a big mason jar on the counter, covering it with cheesecloth and leaving it to do its work. I felt so domestic! About an hour later, I heard a weird sound coming from the kitchen. I assumed that it was the dishwasher and promptly forgot about it.

A while later, I heard the sound again. Curious, I walked into the kitchen and there was the starter, which was bubbling out of the cheesecloth and had covered the counter in a gooey floury mess, even dropping onto the floor. In my excitement I had made too much and covered it too tightly. Sorry, Sally!

But this starter has been much more of a success and has become a great pal in the kitchen. Starters are so fun - you can subtly change the flavor, the amount, and use different things to feed it with depending on what you have on hand.

I found that my sourdough pancake recipe and starter feeder most similarly resembles Kimi Harris' at The Nourishing Gourmet, so rather than type out another recipe that is pretty much duplicating hers, I'll send you to her site: Sourdough Pancake Recipe .

Interested? Sarah from Sarah's Musings also has a great "'Definitive' Guide to Sourdough" that is helpful and entertaining.

Happy Fermenting!

Simon's Woodland Friends

My friend is expecting her first baby - a boy named Simon - and although I contemplated making something OTHER than a baby blanket, which has been my staple, I got inspired after talking to her on the phone before her shower. She has always been naturally creative and decorating her son's room has proven to be no different. She took a bunch of her husband's old flannels and cut them up to make a big wall hanging, and to go along with the flannel patterns added a "woodland creatures" theme. Her husband grew up in a small forest/country community about 20 minutes from town, and as I spent most of my time out there as a teenager (we went to the same youth group and had the same friends), I knew almost exactly what she was envisioning.

I went to Fabric Depot and picked out some earth-toned flannels to make a patchwork blanket, and decided to add some embroidered woodland creatures. Everything came together seamlessly, except for a bobbin emergency at the last minute, which threatened to keep me from even going to the shower. Procrastinators will know this feeling.

That brings me to a funny story.

It was about an hour or so before the shower when I needed to put some more thread on the bobbin. For some reason, it just wouldn't take, and the zig-zag pattern turned funky and loose; I could not figure out why! I unthreaded and rethreaded, looked frantically for the manual, troubleshooted online, but to no avail. So I called Mom and got straight to the point, no chit chat. "Mom, I have a huge problem, you know the blanket...." and I explained my issue. She listened attentively, and apparently, had a look of concern and worry on her face, because my Dad and Caitlin were sitting with her and thought something terrible had happened. They stopped what they were doing to see what the bad news was, and when my mom finally said, "Well, did you rethread the needle?" They looked at each other and went "awhhhh!!!!" They thought somebody had been in an accident, died, etc.

But it was an emergency!

I had threaded the bobbin the wrong way. I fixed it, and was not the last one to get to the shower - a win in my book.