Eclairs

Today I finally made eclairs. This has been on my to-do list ever since I first saw the recipe in my Baking Illustrated book. The process was a bit involved but the resulting treat was well worth it.

The pastry cream I made yesterday afternoon. Instead of vanilla extract, I substituted a vanilla bean which I think lends a much fuller flavor. I absolutely love pastry cream. I snuck many dollops of this into my mouth before it made it into the fridge to cool.


This afternoon, I made the puff pastry. The batter itself was quite sticky but since you use a pastry bag, it's pretty well contained.


The baking instructions were very specific. Bake at 425, then reduce to 375. When done, poke a slit to release steam then put it back in the turned off oven to dry off. Unfortunately, I think I took these out a bit early and probably was not careful enough when I plopped then on the table for picture taking (I probably should have waited to take pics until after they had dried off). About half of them deflated since taking the above pic, the other half thankfully remained nice and puffy. My second mistake was with the chocolate ganache. In my impatience, I went ahead and dipped the eclairs while the ganache was a bit warm. Next time, I will wait until it's cool to retain optimal crispness and ensure a nice set chocolate layer.


The important thing about these eclairs is not to assemble them until you're ready to eat, otherwise they got soggy. The recipe recommended cutting the top third off and spooning the cream in rather than trying to pipe it in. Overall, this was quite delicious. In the future, I would try baking rounded puffs (less chance of deflating?) and piping the cream directly in (a la beard papa). I'd also consider leaving out the ganache as it made the pastry much messier than necessary.

I'm too lazy to type out the recipe so contact me if you want it. Definitely worth the trouble!

Breakfast of Champions

This morning I woke up and made a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and buttermilk pancakes. At the time this picture was taken, Badge was out at the store getting more maple syrup so unfortunately I could not smother the cakes like I would have wished, but you get the idea.

God I love being at home!

Good Idea, Bad Idea

This morning I slept in late. Mostly because I was exhausted from tossing and turning last night. At one point I woke up at 3:30 and just laid there before I could fall back asleep at 5:30. Bleh. Once up, I ate a big bowl of milk and cereal and did some work. Around 1pm, the cleaning service arrived so I hightailed it out of the house and made myself scarce.

My adventures started with an excellent idea: eat dosa for lunch! Up until now, we've always gotten dosas from Surati Farsan Mart. However, last Friday, we discovered Bawarchi Dosa with our friends (our Indian friends mind you) and we all thought the dosas here were top notch. So I went back by my lonesome and had a delicious butter marsala dosa and mango lassi. Yes I ate the whole thing.


At this point, my judgement got dodgy. Blame it on the full stomach. I decided to head over to Lake Miramar and walk the 5 mile loop around the perimeter. For some reason, 5 miles didn't sound like a lot, esp after my all day trek around the zoo on Tues. Nevermind that it was 85 degrees out. Nevermind that I just ate an enormous meal.

I was committed.

So I drove over, put my hat and shades on (forgot the sun screen oops), put my headphones on and took off. I won't go into the gory details, but lets just say there was absolutely NO shade from the sun and I sweated my ass off. Out of sheer stubbornness, I managed to walk the whole thing without stopping once. When I finally got back to the car, I was as puffy as the Pillsbury Doughboy and my feet felt like they were going to fall off. It was a sad state of affairs.

Now I'm home, showered, and resting on the couch. Adventure concluded.

Nursery Project #3: Mobile

This project was a joint effort between Badge and myself. Badge put together the structure/mechanics of the mobile while I made the paper cranes (with a few contributions from my mom).

It's difficult to show but the mobile looks quite nice and dynamic when a breeze comes through the window. I hope our baby gets many hours of entertainment watching these colorful cranes fly through the sky.

Zoo Time

Yesterday morning, I had a cervical exam during my doctor's appt. My cervix is now 75% effaced and 1.5cm dilated, whoo hoo! I know this doesn't tell me anything definitive (some women stay like this for weeks, other women go from 0 - 10cm in a day), but still, I was excited. Encouraged by my progress and determined to get all the walking in that I could, I decided to go to the zoo with my friends Kara and Rob, who drove down from LA for the day. While there, we met up with Kara's cousin and her bf, and set off in search of animals to photograph.


The zoo was fun (though hot) and we sure did get enough walking in (about 4 hours of it). It was nice going on a work day when there's not such a crowd. Unfortunately most of the animals were content to sleep in the shade due to heat, so there wasn't much activity to document.


This hippo shot discreetly hides his (ahem) underside which was at full attention for whatever reason.


The gorillas are always fun to shoot though I wish the zoo would invest in anti glare glass walls. This guy unabashedly sat in directly in front of us, inviting everyone to admire him in all his glory.



Big cats are always a favorite of mine, esp since they remind me of super large Freds and Henrys. This tiger was going to town on what we thought was a cow femur.


And of course the pandas. Who can ignore the cute cuddly pandas...


After walking around in the heat for so long, my feet were pretty shot so we came back to my place to rest. Once Badge got home from work, we all went out to Buga for delicious korean bbq, followed by Yogurt World for frozen yogurt. Before Kara and Rob hit the road, I promised to do my best to deliver by Friday so she can come back and see the baby before returning to the East Coast on Wed. Come on, baby, let's make it happen!

More zoo pics can be found here

Quinoa with Black Bean and Corn

Last night, I made a quick meal of quinoa with black bean and corn, and sauteed zucchini on the side. The recipe had a Mexican flavor to it, thanks to the cumin and cilantro. The quinoa came out a little wetter than I would have liked but had I the patience to boil off the liquid, I'm sure I could have gotten it to the desired consistency. Overall, an excellent way way to get your protein.

Quinoa with Black Bean and Corn
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Lunch At Home

Today I made tomato and mozzarella paninis with homemade pesto and ciabatta bread (left off the tomato for Badge). The tomato was a purple cherokee which was bursting with flavor. Quite good. To accompany, I tossed together a quick salad of red leaf lettuce, red onions, and gala apple. What a healthy, tasty, and satisfying meal.

On an aside, here's a pic I forgot to post when Monkey was visiting. Badge grilled salmon while Monkey made zucchini quinoa with asparagus. Yum.

Maternity Leave

Today is my first official day of maternity leave! I kicked the morning off with some eggs, bacon, and toast (yummm). Now I'm enjoying a tea while wrapping up a couple things at work. It's quite nice sitting at home in your pajamas.

No real update on the baby. I get lots of jabs in my ribs and painless Braxton Hicks contractions, but nothing that makes me think labor is imminent. A variety of strangers have been commenting on my belly and saying how "cute" I look. They all seem shocked when I tell them I'm a week away from my due date. One lady on Friday even thought I was 6-7 months. Well, that's nice to hear but I certainly don't FEEL cute, nor do I relish the idea that I'm further from labor than I really am. I'm ready dammit.

This week I plan to walk incessantly, squat, drink raspberry leaf tea, have some bedroom time, and do whatever other wives' tale I've ever heard about that induces labor. I'm also looking forward to cleaning and organizing the house, and cooking up a storm.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Because she's a cooking machine, Monkey made strawberry ice cream for us last night. This recipe is from the book The Perfect Scoop. We've tried their chocolate and vanilla recipes which are both amazing. Surprisingly, this recipe does not require any cooking (no eggs). Somehow the sour cream helps to impart a wonderful texture without alternating the taste. Make sure you get good strawberries as this will definitely showcase their flavor. Will definitely make again!

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream
Courtesy of The Perfect Scoop

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vodka or kirsch
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Slice the strawberries. Put them in a bowl with sugar and vodka or kirsch.

2. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve and all of the strawberries are coated. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Pulse the strawberries and their liquid with the sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until almost smooth, but still slightly chunky.

3. Refrigerate mixture for at least one hour. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pie For Breakfast

Waking up to coffee and homemade apple pie is just about the nicest feeling in the world. Thank you Monkey!

Beyond Full

Today, my mom, Monkey (who arrived late last night), and I went to the farmer's market and picked up a bounty of blueberries, heirloom tomatoes, zucchinis, and lemons. We then stopped by Whole Foods for a slew of food including chicken to grill. Upon arriving home, Monkey promptly whipped up a lemon thyme marinade for the chicken legs (after brining), then it was straight to the grill.


The chicken came out wonderfully tender and succulent.


She also made a lentil salad with red onions, cranberries, and goat cheese, and bruschetta with garlic and heirloom tomatoes. The bruschetta was especially in my opinion. Such a delicious summer meal!


And for dessert, we had mudslide cookies which I made last night. These were from a Jacques Torres cookie mix which Badge brought back for me from NY. Can you say chocolatey goodness? Wonderful with milk.


And now, I'm laying on my sofa completely stuffed. The only thing I've accomplished is finishing a "evil" level sudoku. Meanwhile, Monkey is still puttering around making all manners of food such as strawberry ice cream and apple pie. I love it when she comes to visit (and I'm incapacitated). More to come!

Nursery Project #2

Today I drew this cute companion to nursery project #1. You might recognize this little guy from Howl's Moving Castle, one of my favorite Miyazaki films. I think he will go quite nicely with the apathetic cat.

Stay tuned for nursery project #3 (mobile). We've made really good progress on it. Should be done by next weekend!

Mom Time

When Badge is away, I'm not the healthiest person. I tend to work more and eat whatever I feel like (esp since I'm preggo). For example, I had chicken mcnuggets for dinner Thurs night and 3 doughnuts during the day on Friday. I blame my coworker for bring those doughnuts in. Delicious evil chocolate creations...

Anyway, thank goodness my mom drove down yesterday to visit for the week. She's been making me simple and tasty Asian fare. Exactly what I needed. We've also been taking 30 minute walks a day, which I hope to keep up all week. Other than that, we've just been relaxing and doing sudoku puzzles online. Last night, I made her watch Die Hard with a Vengeance. Quite entertaining. Perhaps I will make her watch the original tonight...