2011 Resolutions

Here it is, the last week of the month and January is almost over. If the speed these few weeks have passed by is any indication, then this year is going to evaporate in a blur.

Most people make their resolutions on New Year's Day and allow them to fall to the wayside shortly thereafter. I made my own resolutions during the last week of December and am still working on them. I have a funny way of looking at resolutions that make it easier for me to keep them throughout the year.  I don't sweat it if I have failed to keep them, I just start over every day. Some days I'm really diligent and others I'm rather slothful, but it doesn't matter; I just start over again the next day. It's a method that works fairly well for me and has allowed me to accomplish more than I think I would have otherwise.

I came across a list of ways to become a better person that I'm incorporating into my life this year.  Some of these items are much harder for me than others. That's a good thing. It gives me a chance to do well on at least a few items as I work on the ones I have more difficulty with.  I hope you find it as useful as I did.

Becoming A Better Person

by Michael Masterson

Becoming a better person starts with trying to make 

the people in your immediate family happier.

• Pay less attention to yourself and more attention to other people
• Focus on opportunities, not problems
• Listen first, talk later
• Criticize only when your criticism is helpful
• Never speak badly about anyone
• Never complain about anything
• Perform an act of kindness every day

Chinese Meat and Vegetable Buns recipe

It's been a very busy 6 weeks since I last wrote in this blog. One of my resolutions for this year is to write more frequently. So here's the start.

This is a delicious dish. It's on the time-consuming end of the spectrum, but it's very tasty and makes me feel accomplished. It's actually pretty easy to make; it just takes a while to get all the steps done.

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Chinese Meat and Vegetable Buns
Yield: 20 buns

1 recipe yeast dough

1 pound ground beef
Marinade
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons dry sherry (I use sake)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 Tablespoons water

3 Tablespoons oil
2 quarter-sized slices peeled ginger, minced
1 medium whole scallion, finely chopped
1 4-oz can mushroom pieces, drained, squeezed dry, chopped
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, squeezed dry lightly

Seasonings
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
Sprinkling black pepper
3 Tablespoons sesame oil

Add the marinade to the ground meat and stir to mingle. Prepare the scallion and ginger. Prepare the mushroom pieces - drain, squeeze dry, and chop them. Squeeze the defrosted greens but not until absolutely dry -- there should be some moisture left. Mix the seasonings in a small bowl.

Heat a wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until hot; add the oil, swirl, and heat for 30 seconds. Scatter in the ginger and scallions and stir a few times. Add the meat and stir in poking, shaking, and pressing motions to break up the lumps. Add the mushrooms and spinach and stir briskly to mingle. Add the premixed seasonings and stir to flavor all the ingredients. Pour into a dish and divide the mixture into 20 portions. Let it cool completely before filling the dough.

Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a 10-inch long sausage. Cut each into 1-inch pieces. Dip the cut sides in flour and press the pieces with your palm to flatten them slightly. Roll each one out into a 4 1/2-inch circle, making the center thicker than the rim.

Put a disk in your hand and place 1 portion of the filling in the center. Bring the edges of the circle up to the top and pinch it all together, swirling the top into a tiny knot. Repeat until all 20 buns are made.

Put the buns, fluted side down, on a lightly floured cookie sheet, with a good amount of space between them. Cover them with a dry cloth and let them puff for about 30 to 40 minutes in a warm place. Turning them upside down prevents them from splitting at the fold while rising.

Turn 10 of the buns over and place them on a heatproof plate that is covered with a damp cloth. (I steam 5 buns at a time in my metal steamer pot.) Steam the buns over high heat for 20 minutes. Steam the other 10 buns.


Yeast Dough
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
3 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 teaspoon baking powder

Dissolve the yeast in 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water, letting it sit for 5 minutes.

Pour the flour into a large stewing pot or a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the dissolved yeast and 1 cup lukewarm water; stir with chopsticks or a wooden spoon until a lumpy mass farms. Press and knead the mass to form a large ball.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and knead it, pushing and turning with the heel of your hand, for 5 minutes. Dust it with flour from time to time if too sticky. At the end of the kneading, it should be smooth and springy.

Put the dough inside the pot or bowl, cover, and set it in a warm area, such as the back of the stove or an unlit oven, for about 2 hours, until the dough has risen to double its original size.

Remove it to a lightly floured work surface. Flatten it with the palm of your hand to make a long oblong shape,. Sprinkle the baking powder over the surface. Fold the dough over; then knead vigorously for 5 minutes, until it is smooth, satiny, and firm, with plenty of bounce. Dust the work surface with flour when necessary.  It's now ready to be filled and shaped.

After such a long spell of unemployment I now find myself with three jobs. I'm so grateful!

Substitute teaching has finally come to pass.  I've already worked as a sub two days in a row.  I've even gotten to teach at Leilehua - it's close enough to walk to school! There's a good possibility of working every day substitute teaching.

I have a part-time job at the new McDonalds in Mililani.  It's still being built so I get to train at other local McDonalds.  I've been thoroughly amazed at how friendly the management and crews have been.  Although I never imagined I'd find myself working at a fast-food restaurant, I'm grateful for the ability to obtain medical/dental/vision benefits for my daughter and myself. I'm also grateful for the flexibility of work hours that they've been willing to provide so that I can accommodate three jobs.

My third, and newest job is working as a cashier for Williams-Sonoma at Ala Moana.  This job is like working in a candy store - I thoroughly lust after all the fabulous kitchen things.  I'm going to have to use extreme discipline so I can go home with paycheck intact.

So how will I juggle all three jobs? Only through the gracious flexibility of my employers.  I'll work M-F until 3:30 as a substitute teacher; evenings after 5 at McDonalds; and weekends, school holidays, and the-weekdays-that-I-don't-have-substitute-teaching-assignments at Williams-Sonoma.  I'll be very busy, but the funny thing is that I seem to get more accomplished when I'm super busy.

I'm so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to earn a living to support Butterfly and myself.  Hopefully, I will soon be out of debt and be able to start saving for a home of our own.

Thank you, thank you!!!

In Memory of Odin

Today Odin, our beloved, almost ten-year-old boxer, crossed the Rainbow Bridge. The problems with his back had made him lose control of his hind quarters causing him to fall over and over again as he tried to walk from house to yard and back. He was cheerful and loving to the very end.

Odin was a six week old puppy when he joined our household.  He had the biggest feet of any puppy I'd ever seen along with a bold, confident attitude.  He easily joined our family and after putting our rottweiler puppy in her place when she bowled him over one too many times, they became inseparable friends. He made friends with the farm goats and chickens and slept with the household cats. We were all members of his pack. He made it his duty to warn us of all approaching strangers with a wonderful deep, loud bark.  We always felt safe while he was on duty. In spite of his huge bark, he was a friendly, people loving teddy bear. A cheerful clown from beginning to end, he filled our lives with love and slobbery kisses.

We miss him desperately.

A Very Good Day

Today has been a good day. I spent the day with a friend running errands and shopping (well, my friend did all the shopping, but I got to watch.) Part of the time was spent in my all-time favorite type of store - a bookstore.

I picked up Michael Pollan's book, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. In it I found Rule 39: Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it.

Wow! Now I feel so much better about my old recipes. Yes, many of them are downright unhealthy because they are cooked in oil or contain LOTS of butter or use lots of sugar ... Some of them are old family favorites from several decades ago. Some are new favorites. A few are very healthy, but there are lots of relatively less than healthy recipes. They are all made from scratch using unprocessed ingredients. They are all made with love. I know exactly what goes into them. And I don't make them ALL the time. We DO eat healthy most of the time. But those old recipes were occasionally causing me some major guilt. Since reading that quote I feel much better.

Thank you, Mr. Pollan, for giving me a day of less guilt!

Yep, it's been a very good day!

Pumpkin! Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Pie Squares

My, that pumpkin didn't seem to last very long. We got seasoned seeds, a soup, 3 loaves of pumpkin bread and a pan of pumpkin pie squares. On second thought, I guess that's pretty good for one Halloween pumpkin!

Tomorrow I'll take the pumpkin pie squares to a MoveOn potluck in Kailua (along with the white bean and ham soup that I made this evening - yum!) I get to attend a political group that I've never associated with before and perhaps meet some like-minded people. I'm taking a friend from Singapore with me. I hope to have a lot of fun doing something new for me.

Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 50 Min
Ready In: 1 Hr 5 Min
Yield 3 - 8 1/2 x4 1/2 inch loaf pans

Ingredients
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree or 2 cups pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Add raisins and chopped walnuts and gently mix. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.


Pumpkin Pie Squares

Servings 24
Yield 1 - 9x13 inch dish
Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 35 Min
Ready In: 55 Min

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin or 4 cups pumpkin puree
2 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Mix in flour. Fold in oats. Press into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes, until set.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with white sugar. Beat in pumpkin and evaporated milk. Mix in salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Pour over baked crust.

Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, until set. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Pumpkin! Preparing Fresh Pumpkin, Roasted Seeds, Thai Pumpkin Soup

My neighbor brought over her leftover Halloween pumpkin. She'd never gotten around to carving it so rather than just throw it out, she gave it to me. How sweet!

A looooong time ago, when I was a young teenager and very interested in cooking from scratch, I decided to cook our carved jack-o-lantern from Halloween the night before. I scraped out the black from the candle soot, cut the pumpkin into large chunks, and stuck them into a pot of boiling water. The results were hardly salutatory: I'd boiled a good portion of the flesh into a slurry. What was left was barely enough to make a pie. It was a very good pie, but that was all I got from my efforts.

This time I decided to bake the pumpkin - I wasn't going to lose any of the fruit this time around. I baked half of it in my teeny-weensy Easy Bake Oven-sized apartment oven, chopped up part of the second half and then baked what was left. That's what you get to do when working with a less than optimal kitchen.

Baking a Pumpkin

Going From Fresh to Puree

Getting ready to go in the oven

Puree ready for creative baking

• Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy pulp. Save the seeds to dry and roast.
• In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down and cover with foil.
• Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for about 1½ hours, or until tender.
• Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This is a fun recipe for pumpkin seeds you can flavor to your liking.  You can use plain salt, or make it sweet with apple pie spices, or make it curry flavored, or spicy, or whatever you want. I used Hawaiian Cajun by Kaiulani Spices (a local Hawaiian company) to make a spicy/sweet mixture.  Yum!

Seeds prior to cleaning

Seeds from your pumpkin (perhaps 1 1/2 cups worth)
salted water for boiling

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (whatever flavor sounds good to you)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

After removing the seeds from your pumpkin, separate most of the pulp and strings from the seeds. Rinse the seeds in water to remove the rest of the pulp.

Cleaned seed

Boil the seeds in the salted water for twenty minutes. You're doing this so you get some of the salt INTO the seeds instead of having all the salt on the outside hulls.

Drain the water. Lay your seeds out on a cookie sheet to dry over night.

Next morning

Ready for the oven

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Mix the melted butter with the seasoned salt. Toss the seed in the butter mix and spread out in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the sugar over the hot seeds.



Thai Pumpkin Soup

This soup is full of coconut-lime flavor.  It wasn't as orange as I thought it should be due to the type of pumpkin I used.  I think kabocha pumpkin would be much more orange.  Never mind the color, this is a yummy soup!


Yield 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min
Ready In: 25 Min

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
2 small fresh red chili peppers, chopped
1 lime, grate the peel, then cut lime in half and juice
2 1/8 cups chicken stock
4 cups peeled and diced pumpkin
1 14-oz can unsweetened coconut milk
1 bunch fresh basil or cilantro leaves. chopped

Butterfly grew our peppers at school!

In a medium saucepan, heat oil and butter over low heat. Cook garlic, onions, chilies, and grated lime rind in oil until fragrant (be careful not to burn the garlic). Stir in chicken stock, lime juice, coconut milk, pumpkin, and the juiced lime halves; bring to a boil. Cook until pumpkin softens.

Remove the lime halves. When cool, squeeze everything back into the soup. Discard lime halves.

In a blender, blend the soup in batches to a smooth or slightly chunky consistency, whatever you prefer. Serve with basil or cilantro leaves.