Make, Bake, Be Happy!

I love everything about the Indian culture.  I really really do.  There is just something about the country and the people that is beautiful and unique.  I also love the food.  The last time my husband and I went to an Indian restaurant I decided to try kulfi ice cream and it was so good.  I loved the sweetness of it.  I never had anything like that before.  When I saw Aarti Sequeira’s rendition of kulfi ice cream pops I knew I had to try making them for myself.  They looked so easy and I liked how you didn’t have to use an ice cream maker!  This her recipe for Earl Grey Kulfi Pops, but I had to make some modifications because I couldn’t find Earl Grey tea and Cardamom (I was shopping at Walmart when I thought of making this so I had to make do with what I already had).

You will need:

Here’s how I did it:

Once the 30 minutes are up for the evaporated milk, you will need to strain the milk to separate the tea into a bowl. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of that, sorry!

I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon – wish I had cardamom though… I heard it smells awesome.

You’ll need to pour the following into that bowl as well:

This is what it looks like when they’re done!

They are so delicious and sweet. I tried them right before I went to bed, and I couldn’t sleep for an hour afterwards. I guess it was the tea! If you want a dessert that will keep you up and awake, these kulfi pops are the ticket!

I heart bananas, but sometimes they get neglected, and they start getting really ripe.  They get so ripe that when you try to peel it, they start falling apart.  That’s the signal to you to make banana bread or banana bread muffins as I will be showing you!  I got this recipe from AllRecipes.com but it’s for a loaf, and since my husband liked the fact muffins are easier to eat, I decided to make banana bread muffincakes (as I call ‘em).  Sure, this is a classic “everyone has made this before recipe” but whatever!  You’ll know where to go if you wanna make banana bread muffincakes (here *ahem* here)

You will need:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown suga
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas – I used 3 since that’s all I had
Cupcake wrappers
Your favorite cupcake/muffin pan(s)- makes 12 cuppycakes

Here’s how I did it:

Set  your oven to 350 degrees!

In one bowl…

Before we move on, I just wanted to show you my butter. Bought a big one at Costco and added some to the smaller container.

Ok, back to business.

The muffincakes overall tasted good, although it would have been better with walnuts. Unfortunately, the ones I had were no good.  They taste moist and not too sweet, just how I like em!  Now you can refer to this banana bread muffincakes recipe whenever!

Today’s my mom’s birthday!  It was a simple birthday celebration at my parent’s house.  I had offered to buy dinner and bring it home, but she had insisted on cooking herself.  In the Filipino culture, birthdays are celebrated by cooking a dish called pancit, which is a noodle dish with vegetables and some kind of meat.  My mom chose to put chicken it it.  She even grilled some spare ribs!  My sister bought this delicious chocolate cake.

Of course, I had to take pictures of the food, and especially the cake.  It looked beautiful and was delicious.  Now that I think of it, I wish I had taken some home when my mom had asked!  Oh well… I’m trying to lose weight, and the cake won’t help! Hah.

My mom blowing out the candles on her cake.  See the flowers?  Glen gave those to my mom, how sweet!   I’m holding my nephew, who looks like he wants a piece of that cake!

And also, we celebrated our dog Lex’s birthday too!  We think he was born around November since he was 2 months when we adopted him.  He’s 4 years old now!

Ever since November started, I’ve been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving. The food, the desserts, the turkey! Glen had an interesting idea… lets cook our own turkey and other Thanksgiving food… this weekend! We got a small turkey, about 12 pounds and pretty much winged it. After thawing the bird for about a day, we were able to cook it in the oven today. It came out well!

Things I learned about a turkey:

• A turkey needs a LOT of time to thaw.  A LOT.
• It’s best to marinate the bird in water and spices for the best flavor – not that our bird wasn’t good, it was, but it could have been better.
• Make sure the gizzard is out of the bird, as we had found it after carving the turkey, in a plastic bag.  It was deep in the turkey’s butt?   We thought they take that out before packaging the turkey!

Of course, we had to make stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

As dessert, I made candied yams!  This is a really easy dessert to make.  Seriously.

I used 1 big can 40 oz. of Bruce’s Yams, 4 teaspoons (1/2 stick) of butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and crushed ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.  I mixed it up in the Kitchenaid mixer and then added it to a rectangular pan.  I topped it with marshmallows and placed it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.  Done!

And this was my plate of delicious Thanksgiving-esque food.  I couldn’t even finish the bit of turkey I had!  At least we have leftovers!  …for days.

At least we get to enjoy Thanksgiving again in a few weeks, and I won’t have to do a thing!  Maybe I’ll bake something and bring it to the Thanksgiving dinner we will be going to!

If you’re a fan of pumpkin spiced anything, like me, then you’ll probably love Jamba Juice’s Pumpkin Smash.  I absolutely love fall because pumpkin is all in season and even though I live in South Florida, where it doesn’t feel like fall at all, pumpkin makes it for me!  The Pumpkin Smash smoothie is made up of a combination of pumpkin puree, vanilla frozen yogurt, soy milk, ice, and maybe nutmeg. It’s definitely like slurping a pumpkin pie, without the crust. It’s one of those limited time flavors, so I’d try it before it goes away!

Look how yummy that looks!

And if you’re feeling DIY, then try out this recipe from Serious Eats.