NMMR*: Cream Cheese Fruitcake

Happy Birthday D1!  I am eagerly anticipating your homecoming.  It's been months since I've seen you, and while some might think separation gets easier as time passes, I don't think that's really true.  Not a day goes by without me thinking about you. . .what you are doing, how your classes are going, how much $ you are spending, etc.

Same with my mom.  Not a day goes by when I don't think about her and how much I miss her.  Sure, the rest of us are plodding along; I would even go as far as to say we've actually got some routine going.  But it isn't much easier now.  The pain has not gone away.  A co-worker told me it won't ever go away, but it just becomes more bearable as time passes.  We'll see.

One thing that my mom during the holidays every year, as far back as I can remember, is bake fruitcake.  Her fruitcake was called "light" or "white" fruitcake; it is not the kind of fruitcake which comes in the metal can.  That type is laden with fruits and is more fruit than cake.  My mom's fruitcake was definitely more cake than fruit.  The cake was dense, similar (but not identical) to a poundcake in texture.  It was more dense, actually.

And I never liked it (sorry, Mom).

My mom's fruitcake was too intense for me.  Her siblings in town actually loved her fruitcake.  In fact, I would always hear UJohn ask her when she was going to make it.  I much preferred it when, on rare occasion, she strayed and made a more poundcake-like version.  In hindsight, I think she made it so she could say how much she preferred her version.

There will be none of my mom's fruitcake this year.  At least no rendition of it will come from my kitchen.  Instead, I will be making the fruitcake I like.  My fruitcake is like the "other" version which my mom would make, the one with the poundcake texture and flavor, studded here and there with bits of candied fruit (I fondly recall Pennant brand in the tubs) and pecans (Mom used walnuts).  There will also be no raisins.  One thing I remember was my mom adding whiskey to the batter.  My recipe has no whiskey, but I highly recommend generously brushing the finished loaves with rum.  The rum will add a nice flavor and help keep the cake moist.  My friend Sid's mom would actually soak cheesecloth in whiskey or rum and wrap each loaf in the alcohol-soaked cheesecake prior to wrapping in plastic.

Oh, I'm certain my mom's family will ask if I plan to carry the fruitcake-making torch.  I will politely shake my head.  No point in leading them on only to end up with unfulfilled expectations.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cream Cheese Fruitcake

     1 c butter
     8 oz cream cheese
     1 1/2 c sugar
     1 tbsp vanilla extract
     1 tsp almond extract
     4 eggs
     2 1/4 c flour, divided
     1 1/2 tsp baking powder
     2 c assorted dried/candied fruit
     1/2 c chopped nuts
     1/4 c rum

Grease and flour 5 mini loaf pans (cut parchment to fit bottom) or 1 tube pan.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Beat butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add 2 c flour and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, toss 1/4 c flour, fruit, and nuts until all coated.  Fold into batter.  Pour batter into prepared pan(s).  If using mini loaf pans, a little more than 3 #10 dishers will go into each pan.  Bake for 45 minutes (mini loaves) or 1 hour and 20 minutes (tube pan).  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and set on wire rack.  Brush top and sides of cake with rum.  Cool completely then wrap with plastic wrap.

*NMMR=Not My Mother's Recipe

Rice Noodles with Crispy Tofu and Vegetables, in loving memory of AuntieKH

Gung Hee Fat Choy!

The lunar new year will be upon us soon.  In a few days we will welcome the year of the goat.  How will you celebrate?

For me, it will be a work day, so there will not be much celebrating.  I'm sure the Ds will eventually coax a belated Chinese dinner out of Mr. Dependable.  I will probably end up cooking, which really isn't so bad.  Unless you are The Help.

The Help has decided to follow a strict eating regimen to bring down his blood sugar levels.  Since his last doctor visit, he has been steering clear of ice cream cookies, Napples, and other yummy goodies.  He has also been limiting his consumption of starch, replacing the mound of rice with a green salad.  I know how hard it is to stay away from foods which are unhealthy but taste so good.  I've been fighting the cholesterol war for years, trying desperately to stay off meds.  I applaud The Help's valiant effort. But that's sort of where it ends.

Unfortunately, the rest of us here, myself included, have not demonstrated compassion with our actions.  Last night I saw D2 polish off 5 ice cream cookies with her glass of milk.  D1 was busy unwrapping and popping Dove chocolates in between nibbles of li hing lichee.  Of course, I've been hitting the tin of Yoku Moku I received as a gift from Dee.  Yeah, I know it probably wasn't nice of me to stuff my face with those things, especially those rolled wafers (those are my favorite), but I really wanted to get rid of the temptation, for The Help's sake.  You know what I mean.

Anyway, for dinner on Thursday, I'll be making something we can all (even The Help) enjoy.  There is something for everyone in Rice Noodles with Crispy Tofu and Vegetables.  D2 will eat this because she loves baby corn and won bok.  D1 will eat this because she enjoys bell peppers and rice noodles.  The Help can eat this without restraint because it is light and low in fat.  Don't be fooled by the healthy sound of the recipe title.  This dish is extremely tasty, even to high school students.  Last year, D1 brought a pan of this to a junior council potluck.  She was a bit apprehensive about how it would be received, but she reported that they totally cleaned it up.  I guess I will do my part and have a serving of this too.  But I also plan on making gao and gai dan tat so I will have something to look forward to after dinner. . .sorry, but low-fat is really not my bag!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Rice Noodles with Crispy Tofu and Vegetables

     1 block tofu, sliced into 6 pieces and drained on paper towels overnight
     vegetable oil
     16 oz dried rice noodles (1/2" wide)
     1 1/4 c water
     1 tbsp dried salted black beans
     6 large dried shrimp
     1 medium onion, cut into 1" pieces
     2 large won bok leaves, sliced into 3/8" pieces
     1/2 zucchini, sliced then cut into fourths
     1 bell pepper, cut in 1" pieces
     1 can baby corn, drained
     handful garlic (flat) chives, cut into 1" pieces
     6 T oyster sauce
     6 T shoyu
     1 1/2 tbsp mirin
     1 1/2 tbsp shao xing
   

Heat 1/4" of vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet.  Cut each tofu slice into 6 pieces (3 x 2).  Fry tofu pieces until golden brown and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.  Soak rice noodles in warm water to cover for 30 minutes.  Soak dried shrimp and salted black beans in 1 1/4 c water for 5 minutes.  remove shrimp and black beans and chop fine.  Reserve soaking water.  Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok.  Saute chopped dried shrimp, black beans, and onions for 1 minutes.  Add won bok and zucchini and saute for a minute.  Add fried tofu cubes.  Add bell pepper, baby corn and chives.  Saute for another minute.  Remove everything from the wok and place on a platter.  Add reserved water to wok.  Drain noodles and cut into thirds.  Add to water in wok.  Cook until water evaporates.  Return tofu and vegetables to wok.  Combine oyster sauce, shoyu, mirin and shao xing. Add to wok, and toss to coat everything in wok.  Remove from heat and serve.



With a heavy heart, I would like to dedicate this post (and original recipe) to my beloved auntieKH.  auntieKH left our physical world  last Tuesday.  While I am devastated by her passing, I am comforted by the fact that she left peacefully, surrounded by those who meant the most to her.  We will all miss auntieKH, but as LA said, auntieKH lives on in our wonderful memories.  

And auntieKH, if you're reading this, I don't think I thanked you enough when you were with us. . .thank you for marrying UM.  Without your love and support, he would've been just another family weirdo!

Rest in peace, Auntie

January 30, 1947-February 10, 2015

Cookie Jar: Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

Whew. . .I'm glad today is a holiday!  I was running around like a chicken without a head this past week.  The Ds had so much going on.  D2 had an intermediate school registration meeting on Tuesday.  D1 began work at the hospital that same day.  She had games on Tuesday and Friday, and both Ds had dental appointments on Wednesday.  D1 doesn't drive, so I'm still chauffeuring her around.  Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. . .one less thing to worry about.  AND less to pay in car insurance.

Our school was visited by a team made up of district people and a bunch of frequent flyers from Oahu.  What a bunch of sorry ass losers.  They were okay with me, but in one class, the students felt threatened when one of them started firing questions.  When the teacher tried to intervene to calm the student, the Oahu lady flew her hand down to wave her off.  Unreal.  One of the ladies who observed me had her foot up on a chair!  That's something even my students know better than to do.  That's rude!

Similar visits took place in the school district where I worked previously.  Teachers there saw it as a good thing and were looking at the visits as an opportunity to rat out the principal.  They were under the assumption that the visit would lead to the principal getting canned.  None of the visits led to that. . .I know because the same inept principals are still in their positions.  At my school, the faculty seemed to band together and wanted to protect the administration from these nefarious alien invaders.  To me, that says a lot.  People LIKE coming to work.  Students LIKE attending school.  I don't know of any school in the other place where the faculty and students would say that.

Someone said these unannounced visits were for evaluation purposes.  #anylaborattorneyslookingforwork  #lawsuitwaitingtohappen  I hope not because the individual classroom visits were unannounced.  One of my colleagues got into it with one of the brass from Oahu.  I think the Oahu lady behaved in an unprofessional way.  And if we're on the unprofessional tangent, sharing evaluative information with some staff members was also unprofessional.  If these people were respected, it would be a different story.  But a title and a few extra bucks does not garner automatic respect.  The only saving grace is that these idiots are not the ones in the classroom!  I would rather eat wasabi than have my kid be taught by one of these morons.  

Speaking of trash. . .this past week, I threw out what was left of the mini M & M cookies (its long after Christmas, so no point in trying to pass green & red M & M cookies as freshly baked), the ones LA didn't manage to eat.  I needed something to put into the cookie jar, so The Help suggested oatmeal cookies.

Now The Help would much rather eat cookies which are soft and chewy.  To me, soft cookies are either underbaked or stale (its part of the package when you live in such a humid place. . .you WANT cookies which are hard and crunchy).  But I told The Help that if he wanted soft cookies, he could either leave a some cookies out on the counter for a few hours or microwave them til they are warm (they will get soft).  Problem solved.

This is the oatmeal cookie I bake when I want oatmeal cookies.  The dough is sturdy. . .no refrigeration necessary, and the cinnamon-cranberry combination reminds me of my favorite bread machine bread.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

     1/2 c butter, softened
     1/2 c shortening
     3/4 c brown sugar
     3/4 c sugar
     1 tsp cinnamon
     1 tsp salt
     2 tsp vanilla
     1 egg
     3 c quick oatmeal
     1 c flour
     1 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Combine butter, shortening, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat until smooth.  Add egg.  Stir in oatmeal and flour.  Add cranberries.  Using a #50 disher, drop dough onto prepared cookie sheets.  Flatten dough drops to 1/4" thickness (use fingers/palms).  Bake 20 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool.

When I make this, I stagger the baking.  Begin by baking 1 sheet on a rack 2/3 up in the oven.  10 minutes later, place another sheet on a rack about 3" below first sheet.  10 minutes later, remove top sheet and move lower sheet to higher rack.  Add new sheet onto lower rack and start timing cycle again.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti

I didn't realize Thanksgiving was so close!  I saw some kind of Taste of Home post on Facebook and I had to actually run to the calendar to see for myself.  No shit!!!

The work week this week is only 3 (2 by the time this is published) days, but short weeks tend to drag on, and the kids are totally gone.  Adults too.

But in a few days it will be Thanksgiving, and that gives me something to look forward to.  Its not just the break from work.  I love Thanksgiving food.  I love all the white meat from the turkey and all that you can do with the leftovers. The other big deal about Thanksgiving is cranberry sauce.  I love cranberry sauce, and I think Williams-Sonoma makes the best.  I need to check the pantry to see if I have any left.  One year, I made my own cranberry sauce, and it was unreal sour.  Since then, I've left the cranberry sauce to the experts.

It doesn't seem right to have cranberry sauce outside of the holiday season, so I don't make anything with cranberry sauce beyond the holidays, however dried cranberries are fair game year-round.  I keep a Costco-sized bag of dried cranberries on hand.  The Ds sprinkle li hing mui powder on it and eat it as a snack.  I love to use dried cranberries in recipes as a substitute for raisins.

While cranberry orange biscotti recipes abound, the recipes I tried lacked orange flavor.  Bummer.  In my experiments with biscotti making, I came across a recipe which included a topping.  After tinkering with the ingredients, I came up with a recipe which has the pronounced orange flavor I was looking for - its in both the biscotti and the topping.  In addition to cranberries and orange flavor, this biscotti gets its crunch from chopped marcona almonds. 

This biscotti is a little trickier to make than my previous biscotti recipe because of the baked-on topping.  This biscotti needs to be sliced very carefully with a serrated knife.  Using too much pressure will cause the topping to pop off.   I suppose you could leave the topping off, but the orange flavor would be less prominent.

just after the first bake

slicing biscotti using a serrated knife

getting ready for the second bake

 click on recipe title for printable recipe.
Cranberry Orange Biscotti

     1/4 + 2/3 c sugar, divided

     2 tbsp + 1 tsp orange juice, divided

     6 tbsp butter, softened

     zest of 1 orange

     2 eggs

     1/2 tsp almond extract

     1/2 tsp vanilla extract

     2 c flour

     1 tsp baking powder

     1/2 c dried cranberries, chopped

     1/2 c marcona almonds, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl, combine 1/4 c sugar and 1 tsp orange juice.  Mixture will be rather dry.  Set aside.  Grease 2 biscotti pans or line a flat cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cream butter and remaining 2/3 c sugar.  Add 2 tbsp orange juice, zest, eggs, almond extract, and vanilla extract.  Stir in flour and baking powder.  Add cranberries and nuts.  Shape dough into 2 2" wide rectangles in/on prepared pan(s).  Using half of sugar/orange juice mixture for each loaf, pat onto top of each rectangle, taking care not to spill any on baking sheet.  Bake 20 minutes.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Using a serrated knife, slice 1/2" on the diagonal.  Place on a cut side and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Flip over to other side and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

NOTE:  Cranberry Orange Biscotti would make an excellent snack for Black Friday shopping, that is, if you choose to indulge in that sport.  After the stampeding sounds in Wal-Mart last year, I will be staying home.  There is no need for me to be in the throng of people.  I'm sure the Ds will be home too.  I know neither were happy last year.  I just hope Kikukat Mom's curiosity about Black Friday shopping was cured last year too. 

Party Food: Ogo Salad

I'm feeling rather thankful the holiday party season is over, but perhaps I'm just a tad more anti-social than most people.

The family party on New Years Day was an endless affair.  I started my day before 6 am because I had so much to do.  Guests didn't arrive until after noon (the time I said we'd eat).  The last guest left a few minutes before midnight, so its accurate to say I had a full day.  I think I'm going to lay low from any parties for a few months. . .its going to take a while for me to recover anyway.

If you are a party animal or still in party season mode and need a dish to contribute, might I suggest ogo (seaweed) salad.  Ogo salad is welcome at any party in Hawaii, and most markets sell ogo year-round.  I think Marukai sells the best ogo, but since I don't always travel to Honolulu for work anymore, I usually just buy ogo from KTA.

This is the "salty" type of ogo.  Sometimes I'll make a sweet-sour version.  D1 prefers that, but I grew up on what we called "ogo kimchee", so when I'm jonesing for ogo, I'll go for the salty/spicy type first.   If you are allergic to or just don't care for the taste of dried shrimp, just leave it out.  The salad will be fine without it.

printable recipe
Ogo Salad

     1/2 lb ogo, cleaned, blanched and chopped

     2 tbsp sesame oil

     1/2 c shoyu

     1 clove garlic, crushed

     1 chili pepper, minced

     2 tomatoes, diced

     1/2 sweet onion, minced

     1 stalk green onion, sliced

     2 tbsp dried shrimp

     1 tbsp macadamia nuts, chopped (optional)

Combine sesame oil, shoyu, garlic, and chili pepper.  Toss with prepared ogo.  Add tomatoes, onion, green onion, dried shrimp and macadamia nuts.  Marinate overnight.

BTW, as far as the new years day party food went, I think some people should be banned from food preparation.  We had the ever-undercooked teriyaki meat sticks.  Even a 10-year old knew the meat wasn't cooked, so it blows my mind as to how adults can think its cooked.  After seeing the teriyaki sticks, I wasn't gonna chance the yakitori kabobs either.  I stuck to things that I knew were cooked well.

Mom wanted a family pic so The Help, with Dus' help, set up all his lights and reflectors by the khasy bamboo outside.  Unfortunately, he was working against daylight, as people were still in the coming-going mode.  He managed to take a pic of every family, but by then, D1 went off with Mr. Dependable.  The Help spent even more time processing the pics so each family could take home a cd of pics.  I was going to post a pic of the family, but I opted for one with two of my favorite people instead. . .nyuk nyuk.  Actually, they were the only ones willing to pose.  Most people ran inside to eat dinner and watch some bowl game.