Bruschetta - Tips for making it best

Sure tomato bruschetta is simple, but did you know you can probably make it better?
Here are five tips for making it better.
It's one of the most delicious things you'll ever put in your mouth.

- Grill the bread.
- Rub with a whole clove of garlic.
- Use the freshest, sweetest tomatoes you can.
- Use room temperature tomatoes.
- Season and walk away.

Ingredients
3-4 (1/2lb)  Medium fresh tomatoes at room temperature.
2-3 Tb  Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6  Basil Leaves, sliced (dried basil is ok to taste)
2 cloves  Garlic
Italian or French bread
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cucumber, chopped to taste
Balsamic Glaze to taste

Directions
Chop tomatoes and cucumbers into 1/4 inch chunks and add to a bowl with a pinch of salt, pepper and 1-2 Tb olive oil. And add sliced basil leaves. Stir and let sit for 10 minutes.
Heat the grill pan over medium heat. Drizzle bread slices with olive oil(1 Tb) then grill 2 minutes on each side.
Remove bread then lightly rub one side with garlic - the heat and friction from the bread causes the garlic to "melt" into the bread. 
Stir tomatoes one more time, taste then adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Heap the tomato mixture onto each piece of bread. Drizzle a little of the juice that remains at the bottom of the bowl of the tomato mixture.
If you want, drizzle a balsamic glaze onto the tomato mixture.
Then serve it as an appetizer,a first course or just a snack  while you are watching TV.

Enjoy!

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Simple Tomato Soup

It's my first tomato soup!
I found the easiest tomato soup recipe, so I tried to make it.
It's such an easy recipe, but you can make wonderful tomato soup.
What should you prepare for easy tomato soup?
Just tomato, olive oil and agave syrup.
You throw all the ingredients into a Le Creuset pot and stir. That's it!!

Ingredients
Directions
The olive oil and tomatoes completed the tomato soup. It is very delicious!
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8  Vine Tomatoes
1-2  Basil Leaves
Olive Oil  to taste
Agave Syrup  to taste

Clean tomatoes, then chop into quarters.
Put chopped tomatoes into the iron pot with olive oil and stir-fry quickly.
Cover, turn heat low and slowly simmer for 40 minutes and stir during cooking time.
Although I didn't add water, tomato juice came from the tomatoes. AMAZING!
Add agave syrup to taste. Add some salt in order to enhance sweetness.
If you like sprinkle with chopped basil.

I only wish it would have made more than two bowls.
Yummy!

The Cutest Socks :)

How does it look?  Is it cute??
Yes, I think these are super cute - toally my style!
One is a bear and the other is a cat, of course it's socks!
I bought them at the Express Bus Terminal Shopping Mall in Seoul Korea.
Express Bus Terminal doubles as both a subway stop and a bus terminal. At ground level, there is the luxury department store's entrance(Shinsegae) and endless rows of shops. It is really endless - there are over 300 stores.  It's one of the best places to go on a shopping trip in Korea. Monstrous place!

On the east end, there are shops that sell dishes, furniture, lighting, blankets, flowers, and plants. It's my favorite place. I used to buy wooden spoons, skewers and tea coasters when I visited in Korea. I think the bear tea coaster is the cutest thing! Awwwww so cute!!

Just a tip: Cash only and if you buy a lot you may be able to bargain for a couple of bucks.


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Homemade Quiche

To celebrate my friend's pregnancy I made a quiche. 

I couldn't decide between broccoli and mushroom, so I combined them into one. Great!

I used bacon, onion, mushroom and broccoli. Depending on your tastes you can use other ingredients like asparagus, spinach, sweet corn and potato....

Ingredients

1 Cup  Broccoli, chopped

1 Cup  Mushroom, sliced and stir-fried

1/4 lb   Bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2  Onion, sliced and stir-fried

1/2 Cup  Heavy  Cream

1/2 Cup  Milk

1 1/2 Cups  Shredded Parmesan Cheese

3  Eggs, beaten

1  Frozen Pie Crust, thawed

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine eggs, milk, cream, salt and pepper.

Layer mushroom, onion, broccoli and bacon and spread cheese in the pie crust, then pour egg mixture on top.  Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until top of quiche begins to turn brown.

I wrapped it with parchment paper and twine and I made a printable baking label. It's my label!! How does it look?
And...
I finally left a message.
Hope my homemade quiche makes her happy.   :-)

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Soy Pickled Chili Pepper - Gochu Jangajji

One of my favorite summer pickled vegetables is also one of the easiest.

How easy is this pickle?
Chili peppers, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and water in a jar, that's it!!

JangAjji is the Korean name for this  type of pickle.
Pickling liquid can be based on vinegar or soy sauce.
Today, the recipe I am sharing is based on soy sauce.

Ingredients
2 Cups        Korean Chili peppers  
1 Cup        Water                          
3/4 Cup      Vinegar  
1 Cup          Soy Sauce
1 Cup          Sugar
      
Directions
Cut chili peppers into big bite-sized pieces and put it into a glass jar.
Combine  and heat all the ingredient for the pickling liquid - water,  vinegar, soy sauce and sugar until the sugar dissolves.
When the pickling liquid starts boiling turn it off and pour it over the chili peppers.
Make sure the peppers are covered with HOT liquid.  It keeps the pickle crispy.
Leave it out at room temperature for a day and then relocate to fridge.
Refrigerate for 3 days then enjoy.

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Grilling Dinner

Now, just in time for barbecue, my husband's colleagues from work visited my house!!

I love to serve a refreshing drink and tea to everyone before dinner.

One is iced lemon water and  the other is Korean tea 

- Solomon´s seal tea.

Isn't it the sweetest thing? Hello little bear.

My husband grilled beef and vegetables while I was preparing side dishes like vegetable sticks, romaine lettuce, Korean style egg salad, pickled cucumber and Kimchi.

Especially, carrot and cucumber sticks made my table fresher.
These are tea coasters. It's my favorite thing!! Ha Ha Ha

I also served rice and spinach soup after my husband finished grilling.OMG-

I didn't take a picture of it because I ran out of time, that's why. Phew-
But,continuous grilling and chatting made for a bountiful dinner table.
YUMMY.

Italian Apple Cake - Torta Di Mele

Apple cake is one of my favorites, because the portion of batter is smaller than that of apple.
So I can cut down  my carbohydrate intake.
I came over to my friend's house yesterday. She likes healthy foods. So I brought it for her. Of course, she liked it.
Very nice and easy to make.
Although it is rather plain cake that is great with a cup of coffee or just as a snack.
If you want to serve it as a dessert I would serve it with ice cream while still warm.
It would be great dessert!


Recipe ---->  http://heavenlypalate.blogspot.com/2011/10/italian-apple-cake-easy-foolproof-apple.html

Apple Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping

Amazing! 
It was quite the best coffee cake I've ever baked and very moist & fluffy and so wonderful to eat.
Absolutely delicious.
I enjoyed it with a cup of coffee in the morning and shared some cupcakes with my friends.
I am ready to bake another.  :)

Also, I used  a cupcake liner for wrapping.
How does it look?

Thank you

I wanted to thank everyone who gave me sweet things.  One of them is my new friend and the other is my neighbor.

Next door neighbor is very kind, because he cleaned the snow in front of my house whenever it snowed.

And my new friend gave me a phone case. It is very cuuuuuuuuuute!

So I wanted to show my appreciation.

Baking butter cookies is my specialty, so I baked them.

They smelled so good baking in the oven.

Hope they really like them.

YUMMMMM.

***

Roasted Coconut Chips - Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's is my favorite grocery store, because  the store has its own brand and popular items from other countries. 

When I saw Korean kimchi and fruit chips I was glad to find them because I am from South Korea.

Sometimes, I find fresh Korean pears and dried persimmons. They were very delicious.

They soothed my homesickness.

They consoled me. 

If you are a foreigner, you understand me.

Today, I would like to introduce you to roasted coconut chips at Trader Joe's.

It is from Thailand.

I think it is very good for snacking, salad topping or ice cream adornment.

Especially, I like its super crispy texture and intense coconut flavor.

If you are looking for a special chip, I would highly recommend Trader Joe's coconut chips.

***

Kale Chips - Trader Joe's

My teacher recommended fresh kale chips. 

She said it is very good for snacking and easy to make.

So I bought kale chips at Trader Joe's. Of course, it is not homemade style, but I just wanted to try it.

How was Trader Joe's Kale Chips? I think it is too salty.

Crispy texture was good, but BBQ flavor was very strong.

If there was no BBQ flavor, it would be better. I only tasted salt. No kale flavor.

Some beer lovers might like it, because it is good match with beer.

I am thinking that I will make fresh kale chips.

I will sprinkle the chips with a little bit of salt :)

Finally, I like a chips's package. These things are packaged like they're some kind of comic book superheroes.  GOOD!

***

Do you like a coffee? I also like a COFFEE BEER.

My husband made me a very  attractive offer.

"Why don't we try a difference beer every day?" 

It was an interesting idea!

We tried a chocolate beer a few days ago and  a coffee beer yesterday.

When I found a coffee beer at the store I was happy. I was looking forward to tasting it.


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Beer Time - Young's Double Chocolate Stout

I am interested in beer these days.

Actually I don't like to drink alcohol, but I like to try special beers like international beers.

Before I went to the beer store(Total Wine & More)I searched which beer is the most popular.

There are two types of beer.

Ale is one of the two major styles of beer, the other is lager. 

Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using warm fermentation with strained brewers' yeast.

It is the oldest  beer. Typically fruitier and more full bodied than lager.
It has a sweet and rich flavor.

Lager is a type of beer that is fermented and conditioned at low temperatures. 
It is from  the German word "lagern" meaning to store.
The lager process makes beers with generally cleaner, smoother, crisper and more mellow tastes.
Lager takes up 90% of the beer market in the world.
It's sparkling and is stronger than ale.

First, I opened Young's Double Chocolate Stout!! 
Because the following phrase sounded so interesting.
"Ale With Natural Chocolate Flavor Added."
CHOCOLATE :)

Young's Double Chocolate Stout has a roasted, malty, chocolate body with a coffee, toffee, chocolate and somewhat bitter hoppy aftertaste.
It is a black beer with a big, bubbly head and a dark chocolate aroma.
It is from the UK.

And one more thing, eating a brownie with this beer will deepen the rich chocolate flavor without giving the beer a sweet chocolate taste. It has the bitter taste of cacao.

***

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes - Valentine's Day Cupcake

These are my first strawberry cupcakes.
The original recipe has a Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting.
I made several mistakes when I made this frosting.
I don't know why I failed making buttercream frosting.
But redeemed myself with the wrapping.
How does it look?  Not bad?

Ingredients

1 + 1/2 c   all purpose flour

1/4 c       cake flour

1 + 1/2 t   baking powder

1/2 t       salt

1/2 c       unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 c         sugar

2           eggs

3/4 t       vanilla extract

1/2 c       milk

1 c         chopped strawberries

            strawberries for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350, line a 12 cupcake pan with paper liners, set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together flours, baking powder and salt, set aside.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed cream together the sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat.

Add milk.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the flour mixture in two batches.

Use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the chopped strawberries.

Fill each cup 3/4 full.

Bake for 25-30 minutes and cool for 15 minutes.

Do you want to decorate the cupcake?

Spread or pipe the buttercream frosting on each cupcake.

I recommend Martha Stewart's Strawberry Meringue Buttercream.

Enjoy~

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Outback Steakhouse Toowoomba Pasta Copycat

I have never eaten toowoomba pasta at Outback Steakhouse but this recipe is good.

Probably my favorite recipe.
Make Toowoomba Pasta at HOME!


Ingredients
Servings 2-3
12 ounces fusilli
10-12 shrimp 
3-4 button mushrooms,sliced
1 1/2c heavy cream 
1/2c milk
minced garlic, to taste
1T soy sauce 
1T chopped green onions 
salt 
black pepper 
chili powder, to taste
crushed red pepper, to taste
1T ketchup 
parmesan cheese, to taste

Directions
Mix heavy cream with soy sauce.
Add chopped green onions and black pepper and set aside at room temperature for 1 hour or more.
Stir-fry minced garlic, shrimp and mushrooms.
Boil fusilli as directed.
Mix shrimp mixture with ketchup, chili powder,crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt.
Bring cream sauce to a boil, add shrimp mixture and parmesan cheese.
Toss fusilli with cream sauce.

Deeeeeeelicious :)


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Chewy Chocolate Ginger - Martha Stewart's Molasses Cookies

Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, writer and television personality. She has written a lot of bestselling books.

Sometimes I watched her TV show on cooking, decorating and living. It was so interesting!
I often bought or borrowed her cookbooks at book stores or the library. 
I also found some recipes on her website.

This recipe comes from MarthaStewart.com
- Chewy Chocolate Ginger-Molasses Cookies


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Belgian Mussels with White Wine

 
I had  a simple New Year's Eve Party with my husband.
We bought fresh mussels from the fish market in DC.
Sometimes, I buy a pack of frozen mussels at the grocery store. They are not too bad.
But, fresh mussels from the fish market are better than frozen. It was too fresh for words!
Making Belgian Mussels is very simple and delicious.
And it was hard to keep warm while waiting for the rest of dinner to finish, but still good.

Ingredients
2 pound mussels, scrubbed clean under running water
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup minced onions
1T butter
1T minced garlic
A pinch of salt, pepper
water
fresh herb

Directions
To clean the mussels, put them in a large bowl with 2 quarts of water and 2T salt  and soak for 2 hours, until the mussels disgorge any sand. If they are dirty, scrub with a brush.
In a pot, heat butter and add garlic then onion. 
Add white wine and mussels, stir well. Cover the pot and cook for 8-10 minutes, until the mussels open.
Sprinkle with fresh herbs!

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Butter & Earl Grey Tea Cookies

I bookmarked this recipe a long time ago. But I didn't have a food processor, so I didn't try it.

Fortunately, I have a NINJA Blender. It enabled me to make icebox cookies. Wow! 

So,,,,

I baked buttery cookies. 

And it was my HAPPY Christmas Gift for my teacher and friends.  :)

I wrapped it with a craft box, transparent vinyl, handmade label and accessories for Christmas.

It was so cute and fancy.

Some people asked me, "Where did you buy the craft box?"

I got it from Korea-I went shopping at a baking accessories store when I visited Korea. The name of the store was Namdaemun Market (South Gate Market-It's one of the big markets in SEOUL, KOREA) and Korean online stores.

Let's make an Icebox Butter Cookie!

Ingredients

Flour  1+1/2 cup

Raw Cane Sugar  1/2 cup (I reduced 20%)

Unsalted Butter 8 Tbsp

Himalayan Pink Salt 1/4 tsp

Yolk 2

Vanilla 1 tsp

Twinings Earl Grey Tea 2/3 tea bag

Directions

In a food processor, beat flour, sugar, salt and butter until they break into small pieces.

Add the egg(yolks) and vanilla extract and beat them until they are well incorporated.

If you want an earl grey tea cookie, put the tea powder(Twinings Earl Grey Tea) into food processor.

Place dough on a large piece of parchment or wax paper and make a log shape.

Put it in the refrigerator for three hours or in the freezer for 1-2 hours to chill.

Slice dough into 1/4" pieces and bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

If you want to sprinkle sugar on the cookies, brush egg white on the sliced cookie dough and sprinkle with raw sugar and bake!!

Enjoy buttery cookies~

***

Korean Dumpling - Mandu

I eat Korean dumplings on New Year's Day - Korean name is Mandu.

I use it for dumpling soup, fried dumplings or steamed dumplings.

There are a lot of recipes for dumplings in Korea.

But I chose my mother-in-laws recipe. Actually, I modified it a little bit to my taste;I added Napa Cabbage. :)

Dumplings are very easy to make. But making a filling is kind of hard work. It needs lots of effort. Phew~

Because I have to squeeze each ingredient. 

In other words, I need strong arms to make dumplings!

If I don't squeeze them, the filling is soggy.

My friend who is from the Czech Republic likes Korean Dumplings (Steamed Mandu).

When she came to my house, I served it. Of course, she loved it!

However,,,,

After making dumplings, I felt totally spent. Ha Ha Ha.

Ingredients

Dumpling skin 3 packs

2lb mixture of equal parts ground pork, beef and veal(You can buy them at Whole Foods)

Mung Bean Sprouts 1 pack

Onion 1 (sliced, salted and squeezed)

Chopped Garlic 2 tbsp

Ground Ginger 1 tsp

Soy Sauce 2-3 tbsp

Sesame Oil 2 tbsp

Himalayan pink salt 1 tsp

Tofu 1 pack (squeezed)

Napa Cabbage (salted down and squeezed)to equal 2 cups

Chopped Green Onions 1/2 cup

A handful of Parboiled and Chopped Sweet Potato Noodles

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients.

Place about 1 tbsp of filling in the center of a dumpling skin.Dab water around the edges. Then fold the skin over to form a triangle press down edges to seal.

Enjoy!

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