Molly's Musings

RECIPES: The list o' links

2009-09-25T06:42:58Z

RECIPES

Now with moar organization so I don't have to dig at dinnertime for my favorite recipes.

Drinks
Russian Tea
Smoothie Recipes
The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

Breads & Snacks
Autumn Pumpkin Gingerbread
Sweet Potato Cranberry Orange Pecan Bake
Two A.M. Peanut Butter Cranberry Dip
Zucchini Bread

Meals
Tummy-Warming Broccoli Cheese Soup
Seriously Good Chili
Mollyfried Rice
Heavyweight Lasagna
Molly's Cheesy Turkey Stew
Malaysian Eggs on Rice
Molly's "Oh Sh*t I Married an Italian" Minestrone
Mixed Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry
Molly-ramen
I'm Dreaming of a White Pizza
Shipwreck Casserole
Spicy Peanut Thai Chicken with Noodles
Tatertot Casserole
How we make Tempura
Turkey Hamburgers

Desserts
Josie's Shortbread
Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cups
Sweet Potato Pie
Lemon Meltaway Cookies
Oversize Blueberry Muffin Cake
Happy Birthday Pumpkin Mousse

Spicy Peanut Thai Chicken with Noodles

2009-09-25T06:07:29Z

David had a frustrating day today, so I thought maybe a new recipe might cheer him up. I originally decided to make chicken so that we could have a semi-romantic dinner: candles on the table, glasses of the white wine his mom got for us in wine country (my knowledge of white wine is limited to "it goes with chicken"). But then I got home from work and started cooking and we were so hungry that we didn't bother with wine or candles, ended up just scarfing down the noodle dish because HOLY STUFF it was TASTY.

Takes maybe 10 minutes to prepare, start-to-finish, and that's including the first-time-using-a-recipe what-the-hell-did-the-recipe-say pauses. Probably take less time the next time I make it. If that's not impressive (and oh, the result is SO GOOD), then I don't know what is. :D

Spicy Peanut Thai Chicken with Noodles

Ingredients
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lime juice

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
2 healthy shakes crushed cayenne red pepper
5 strips trimmed 'n ready chicken breast strips (or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts), cut into little pieces (bite-sized)
6 handfuls raw spinach
4 oz wide lo mein noodles (half the bag of Kame brand)

Instructions
• In a saucepan, boil enough water to cook the noodles. They cook for about 7 minutes, so if you start boiling the water at the start of things, they'll be done when your sauce is done.
• In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, water, soy sauce, honey, and lime juice.
• Blend together with a fork (spoon ain't gonna cut it unless you mix the water into the peanut butter gradually).
• In a wok or large skillet, heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper.
• Add chicken. I cut the chicken into the skillet while the garlic and pepper cooked, seemed to work well.
• Cook chicken completely. Add spinach, cook until wilt-y.
• Add peanut butter sauce. Cook, stirring constantly (it will burn, otherwise) for about five minutes.
• Drain noodles and serve sauce on top.

Tip; Serve it in a bowl and expect leftovers. The sauce spreads over the noodles really well when you mix it around, but it's messy if you mix it on a plate, so just go with a bowl. And when you serve it and think "what the hell, the recipe TOTALLY lied about this making four servings," be ready to take that back halfway through your meal. You eat half of it -- which looks like nothing -- and your stomach puts up the white flag. This stuff is FILLING.

Another tip: Make sure you serve it with something thirst-quenching to drink -- this stuff is salty and sweet at the same time (I mean, come on, honey AND peanut butter?) and really needs a lot to wash it down. Milk, juice, and tea all go with it very nicely.

Hope you enjoy!

Autumn Pumpkin Gingerbread

2009-09-12T15:36:59Z

My first autumn living in New Jersey has been eye-opening: it gets cold here starting in September (instead of getting around to it by November, as in Ohio), the leaves change color and fall off like they have a deadline for clogging the drains, and the geese are here for one last noisy hurrah before they fly south to terrorize someone else for a few months.

Means it's time for some pumpkin dishes (and maybe an airhorn to scare the geese away).

This is a recipe I found on allrecipes.com and haven't really changed much, save for the addition of nuts (because c'mon, you gotta have nuts in a sweetbread). The original can be found here.

Autumn Pumpkin Gingerbread

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
1 cup olive oil
4 large eggs
2/3 cup water
15-oz pumpkin puree

2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
2 cups crushed walnuts

3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans
• In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, water, and pumpkin. Whisk until smooth.
• Add ginger, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves. Whisk.
• Dump in walnuts. Mix.
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Mix well.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Divide evenly into the prepared baking pans. Optional: Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar on top to make a sweetened crust.
• Bake 60-80 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. (Note: The original called for a toothpick, but toothpicks are too short. Use a knife.)

Edit as of 10/25/2009:
These make great little mini-muffins! Spray the muffin tin with non-stick spray and fill the cups 2/3 full, bake 15 minutes and cool 2 minutes before taking them out of the tin. They're great for taking to parties (shut up, yes I do get invited to parties!) and tasty for a breakfast food. :D

It's good fresh out of the oven, it's good cold, and it's REALLY good buttered and toasted. Heck, it's just good. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin Mousse

2009-08-15T22:29:04Z

Mousse I bookmarked back in ... June perhaps? and have only now gotten around to making. My mom mailed--not kidding, she express mailed--a birthday cake to me, which I ate in one sitting, so I made mousse afterwards because my cake seemed to be missing. *burp*

It should be noted: the cake was better.

But! This mousse is absolutely DIVINE. Very easy to make, though time-consuming; you have to chill the first part for an hour. Doesn't take up that hour of your time, though, and it makes six servings, so you get mousse in high supply.

Give it a go!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin Mousse

Ingredients
• 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup plus 2 cups chilled heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 Ghiradelli 60% cacao dark chocolate square, shaved

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, stir together the pumpkin, 1 cup heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
2. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Chill for at least 1 hour before preparing the mousse.
5. Whip the remaining 2 cups chilled cream into peaks.
6. Gently stir 1/2 cup of the chilled pumpkin mixture into the whipped cream.
7. Once that's almost fully blended into the cream, fold in the remaining pumpkin.
8. Serve chilled with chocolate shavings as a garnish.

Original recipe: here.

Mollyfried Rice

2009-07-19T23:38:09Z

Why is it that most of the recipes I come up with start with a story about how I hadn't planned ahead properly and needed to throw something together out of what was in my refrigerator? I mean really. Yeah necessity is the mother of invention and all that, but this seems to happen to me way too often, I suspect I might suck at planning ahead when I go to the grocery.

Anyway, this is a recipe I came up with after I began getting up at 5:30 am to work on my novel. Now you might think that getting up at 5:30 am would give me PLENTY of time to cook lunch, but you see, I don't WANT to work on anything but my novel until 6:45, and making lunch would be a non-novel time-taker of the do-not-want variety.

So on Sunday afternoon (evening, where has the day gone?) I came up with this, mixed it together, and socked it in the 'fridge, from which I will grab one serving before leaving for work tomorrow. I'll do the same the day after, too, because this made four full servings, and frankly, that's awesome (in my opinion). More work once means less work on Monday and Tuesday, and you simply cannot go wrong with a plan like that.

... oh, and regarding the title? Say it fast, it sounds like "modified rice." Which right now is making me chuckle, perhaps I've finally gone off the deep end. :D

Mollyfried Rice

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
1 very large carrot, cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen Italian green beans (frozen cut green beans would work too)
1 turkey kielbasa (I buy Butterball brand because it has less bone in it than other brands)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
Black pepper
Basil

Instructions
• Place brown rice with .2 liters water in rice cooker (or cook your rice if you don't have a rice cooker).
• Chop up carrot. Place it and the green beans in the steamer and steam while rice cooks (or microwave them once the rice is done, you want them cooked and tender).
• Boil the kielbasa. They're pre-cooked (I think) so you just want it hot through.
• Slice the kielbasa length-wise, then slice it length-wise again. (I cut it into quarters before slicing so it was more manageable, then cut the slices into 1/2" pieces.)
• Once the rice, carrots, beans, and kielbasa are ready, preheat a large skillet and add the oil.
• Crack the eggs into the skillet once it's hot. Stir them around with a spatula so that the yolk mixes only a bit with the white.
• When the eggs are mostly cooked, add carrot, beans, and a shake each of black pepper and basil.
• Add the kielbasa pieces. Mix around until the pepper and basil are distributed and the flavor of the kielbasa has had a chance to spread (about one minute).
• Add the rice. Add another dollop of oil if the mix seems too dry.
• Stir-fry on high heat for about a minute, or until the mix is well-mixed. Makes four servings.

Next time I make this, I'd like to add raw celery at the seventh step and raw green onion with the rice, but that didn't happen this time because I plan ahead like a wet cat. *fail*

Turkey Hamburgers

2009-07-12T23:28:21Z

I feel like a true child of the United States of America. I can eat hamburgers again.

(And I only cheated a little!)

Of Thee We Sing Turkey Burgers

Ingredients
1.3 lbs ground turkey
3/4 cup finely diced onion
Remaining onion, sliced into thin rings
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
Drizzle of soy sauce
1 tsp + drizzle Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp + shake garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
• Chop onion. Pan-fry, covered, in olive oil for about five minutes.
• In a bowl, combine cooked onion, bread crumbs, soy and Worchestershire sauces, garlic powder, mustard, and pepper.
• Stir until well mixed.
• Crumble in meat, mix thoroughly.
• Heat skillet with a healthy dollop of olive oil.
• Fry burgers, allowing ~4-5 minutes per side.
• On the first turn, add onion rings. Pan-fry while burger cooks.
• On the last turn, layer with colby cheese until melted.

Smoothie Recipes

2009-07-12T19:50:49Z

So David and I yesterday got a blender, our first blender since marriage (isn't that something you're supposed to get as a wedding present, stereotypically?), and today we've started making smoothies. They're cold and tasty and sweet and oh-my-goodness healthy, so I figured I'd start a list of them here, for the record or for the show-off or for the whatever, here they are.

Lots of Smoothie Recipes

Stawbananaorange Yogurt Smoothie

Ingredients
2 bananas
8 strawberries
1 oranges
8 ice cubes
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk
1 6oz cup strawberry-banana yogurt

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Bleubanana Smoothie

Ingredients
2 bananas
1 cup vanilla soymilk
1.5 cups blueberries
6 ice cubes

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Chobana Yogurt Smoothie

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate soymilk
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
4 spoonfuls sugar
2 bananas
6 ice cubes

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Strawbanacho Yogurt Smoothie

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate soymilk
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
4 spoonfuls sugar
2 banana
9 strawberries
6 ice cubes

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God Nectar Smoothie

Ingredients
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
5 tablespoons sugar
4 ripe nectarines
6 ice cubes

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The Best Smoothie of All Time

Ingredients
9 strawberries
1.5 cups blueberries
1 banana
1 cup high-pulp orange juice
3 spoonfuls sugar
6 ice cubes

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Mango Mania Smoothie

Ingredients
1 large ripe mango (or two small mangoes)
1 cup high-pulp orange juice
1 cup blueberries
3 spoonfuls sugar
6 ice cubes

... more coming soon!

Two A.M. Peanut Butter Cranberry Dip

2009-06-25T06:11:07Z

So it's two o'clock in the morning, you've just been scared into consciousness by your radio alarm clock going off at full volume (when you had intended it to just beep you awake), and you haven't yet made the hummus you promised you'd bring to the surprise baby shower at work the following day (technically today, because you've slept through what was left of yesterday you lazy bum you). Your neighbors are pretty sweet so you don't really feel like pissing them off by running the electric mixer needed to make chick peas into paste, so you go to the internet to find an alternative.

It's gotta be a dip, it's gotta go well with pita bread, and it's gotta use only stuff you've got in the house.

I'd be embarrassed, confessing that this is a true story, except that the ending is happy: I ended up with a dip that took me all of five minutes to make and it is OH MAN really tasty. It's a modified version of a recipe I found online, but I've changed it so much that I don't really think they're more than kissing cousins, now.

Give it a go! It's good stuff.

Two A.M. Peanut Butter Cranberry Dip

Ingredients
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup vanilla soymilk (regular milk would work too)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup dried cranberries (raisins would work too)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Instructions
• In a small bowl, gradually add milk to peanut butters, stirring until smooth.
• Add honey, stir until smooth
• Add cranberries, stir until it looks mixed
• Add cinnamon (optional: probably tastes better if you're using raisins)
• Serve with pita or apple slices

Heavyweight Lasagna

2009-06-17T03:18:14Z

This recipe is a combination of the instructions on the back of the Barilla no-boil lasagna noodle box and my own twisted sense of what's tasty. It baked up into a massive, tasty thing but oh my goodness, beware your portion sizes when serving this: what looks like a normal serving is easily twice what you think it'll be!

Heavyweight Lasagna

Ingredients
1 9-oz box no-boil lasagna
2 eggs
15 oz ricotta cheese
16 oz mozzarella cheese (divided)
1/2 cup (2 oz) Parmesan cheese
1 bag raw baby spinach
1.3 lb ground turkey (1 lb would suffice; my store doesn't sell anything less than 1.3 lb)
2 15-oz jars pasta sauce. I use one jar Classico spicy tomato & pesto, one jar Classico Florentine spinach & cheese, but it's up to you.

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Spray 13x9x2" pan with non-stick spray.
• Brown turkey. Set aside to cool enough to crumble by hand, later.
• In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs.
• Stir in ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses. Mix well.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine sauces, mix together.

• Spoon 1.5 cups of sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.
• Layer 4 uncooked lasagna sheets on top, overlapping a little in the middle.
• Spread 1/2 cheese mixture evenly on top of the sheets.
• Crumble 1/2 cooked meat evenly over cheese.
• Arrange two handfuls spinach evenly over meat.
• Spoon 1.5 cups sauce over spinach.
• Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella.

• Layer 4 more uncooked lasagna sheets over that, overlap in the middle again.
• Spread second 1/2 cheese mixture evenly on top of the sheets.
• Crumble second 1/2 cooked meat evenly over cheese.
• Arrange two handfuls spinach evenly over meat.
• Spoon 1.5 cups sauce over spinach.

• Layer 4 more uncooked lasagna sheets over that, overlap in the middle again.
• Spoon remaining sauce (about 1.5 cups) evenly over the sheets.
• Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella.

• Spray aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray.
• Bake, covered, for 1 hour.
• Uncover and bake an additional 5-7 minutes.
• Let stand 20 minutes before serving.

Oversize Blueberry Muffin Cake

2009-06-17T02:51:20Z

Probably the best take on my mother-in-law's shortcake, this is quick and easy and sweet and GOOD. Oh and relatively low-fat, too, but who cares? It's freakin cake!

Oversized Blueberry Muffin Cake

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon almond extract (no really)
~7/8 cup vanilla soymilk

1 cup quartered fresh blueberries

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Quarter blueberries. For berries that are really tiny, halve them. Set aside.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• In a one-cup liquid measuring cup, combine egg, oil, and almond extract.
• Add soymilk until the total measure reaches the one-cup mark.
• Mix wet ingredients together with a fork.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until blended, then whisk until smooth.
• Add blueberries. Stir until they are evenly distributed.
• Pour into lightly greased 8" round cake pan.
• Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve as soon as it's cool enough to touch the bottom of the pan without burning yourself, or refrigerate and serve cold. It's not very tasty when it's room-temperature, for whatever reason.

Taiwan trip, March 11-19, 2009

2009-04-19T15:09:58Z

My apologies to the ... what, four of you who watch this journal? I did promise an update on my trip to Asia, and then life kind of went nuts and I didn't do it. I've been home three weeks and still I don't really feel like I'm home. Feels like an extended vacation still, and the thought that I'm here for good honestly kind of terrifies me. I'm sure that will pass, but for now, it's a mix of exciting and really, really scary.

Little bird, out of the nest you go.

Anyway! Here are the pictures from the Taiwan leg of the trip.

Taiwan
March 11 to March 19
Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung

Newark, New Jersey (March 11, 2009)

Myself and my direct supervisor Cris, waiting at the Newark International Airport for our flight out. Cris is quite a character: when I interviewed for this job, I thought she was sweet and friendly and gentle-natured. Turns out she's hilarious and snarky and what another colleague called a "ball-buster," but she was fun to travel with, once I got used to the idea that I couldn't take one word seriously. Had a few hilarious experiences where she said something, meaning it to be sarcastic, and I thought she was serious.

I must say this, though: Cris opened my eyes to what it's like to be a professional adult. When she said something that upset me, she apologized. Apologized. And has done so again since. That has never happened to me before. People in the workplace would degrade me and tease me and call me names and if I happened to show that it hurt, I'd be degraded and teased for that, as well. The first time Cris apologized for something, I was so shocked that I could do nothing but just stand there and stare at her. Even now, when I'm treated like an equal, it just floors me.

Taipei (March 12–15, 2009)

Three views out my hotel window in Taipei, Taiwan. We were here the longest, as the Taipei fair was the only two-day fair we had (plus a pre-fair seminar and dinner the night before the start of the fair). I'm not sure what it was about this view, but I looked out my window and thought, "I can tell I'm not in Jersey or Ohio, here."

Interesting note about the street view: there were no stop signs in the intersection. None. Some mirrors for folks to use to see if they were about to get creamed as they sped through the intersection, but no stop signs. And, possibly more incredibly, there were no accidents. Do that kind of thing in Jersey and you'll have an eight-car pile-up in under a minute. 'Course that could be because Jersey people drive like IDIOTS, but nevermind.

Pictures inside my room in Taipei. Nice big room, but oh man it took me like two days to figure out how to turn the AC off. Brr! Oh, and the shower was labeled backwards: turn the handle all the way towards the big blue C to get hot water, towards the big red H to get cold water. Somebody's dyslexia came to work with them the day they put the thing in, I think!

The bedspread on that bed was just about the best thing ever. Thick down in soft cotton, I spent just about all my time nested, when I was in the room. The internet connection was good there, too. Ethernet connection that reached the bed for easy nesting, made Skype and chat possible, which kept me sane for the first few days (always the hardest for me on any trip).

The last two pictures here are the escape route, in case of fire or earthquake. You get some rope out of the box stored by that ... pillar thinger, tie it to the pillar thinger, then tie it around your waist, as illustrated in the poster. And then you open the window and jump, apparently, hanging there from your window like a dumbass until someone comes along to save you. Or something. I dunno, man, I don't think I'd want to do that. But maybe an earthquake would change my mind. Glad I didn't have to find out!

Our booth in Taipei. The agent organizing the fair provided the little booth thing with our name on it, and we provided (read: packed in our suitcases and lugged around) the rest. It was a very successful fair, though. We've since received a handful of students, which is really impressive, considering it's only been a month since the fair. I personally feel that it's in part due to the awesomeness that is Felician College (no seriously, I don't feel bad for selling the school to prospective students. I honestly feel that it's a good place and that they would benefit from studying here) but the agent has been doing their part as well, and I'm glad for it.

Our translator for this fair was named Amber. A very serious, studious young woman who went after students like she meant it and seriously brought in the numbers we're seeing now. I don't know what she wants to do in life, professionally, but whatever it is, she's going to be awesome at it, I can tell you that.

The tallest building in Taiwan. I was going through the stock photos on my travel laptop, later on in the trip, and happened across a photo of this building. It was really kind of neat to look at it and say, "I've been there!"

Cows. Apparently, this is paying tribute to the agricultural roots of the city, back before it was ... well, a city. There were cow statues everywhere! And they were so cute, holy cow. *groans from the audience* The last one there lit up, and the lights moved. I think we need stuff like this in Jersey. Light-up cow statues outside shopping malls, it doesn't get any better than this.

Possibly the best picture EVER. Cris threatened to fire me if I didn't delete the picture. I decided that meant she really wanted me to post it to the internet and show it to everyone at work. So that's what I did. :D

Pretty scenery on the bus-ride from Taipei to Taichung. The road-mosaics weren't common, but they were gorgeous, made me want to stop the bus and get out for a better view. The big pretty building is actually a hotel, which kind of takes its value down a few notches and slips it over into the "gaudy" category of things, but from the bus it looked cool. And from what I'm told, the Buddhas are like lawn ornaments: you go and buy them like you would buy a Nativity scene in the US. Kind of neat, in a wtf kind of way.

Taichung (March 16, 2009)

Our booth and translator in Taichung. This is Cindy, a student at Providence University, who had a great smile and a snarky wit that put even Cris to shame. We didn't have as many students as we could have, at this venue, but Cindy was hilarious and more than made up for it. She did a great job, both of her actual job and of keeping us laughing when the fair was slow.

On a related note, we met a woman and her husband at this fair, both retired teachers, who were so awesome I can't even put it into words properly. Got word last week that they have decided to come to Felician College, so we'll get to see them again. Cris and I squealed and made such a scene, upon getting the news, that our other officemate, Beth, came in to inform us that we were batshit. We danced around her anyway, because come on! It was great news. I'm so looking forward to seeing that couple again!

Night view of Taichung. We went here to get some, uh, "discount" electronics. When they say "made in Taiwan," they mean it, and that means that it's cheaper to get stuff if you're in Taiwan where it was made. For example, I got David a keyboard he'd been wanting but hadn't gotten because it's $80 in the US ... and I got it for $15. Cris got an external harddrive for something ridiculous like $20. It was awesome. Gotta love shopping overseas.

Views from my window in Taichung. Up on the twenty-first floor, enough to make a person very, very dizzy, but hey, it was beautiful. I liked this hotel best: the room was big enough that you could almost stuff my apartment inside. Go figure!

The obligatory artistic photos. I'm very pleased with how they came out, but I'm biased because I took them. I'd call the first "Window to the World," the second "Reflecting on Made in Taiwan," and the third "Culture of the Everyday." Will call them that, actually, once I get unlazy and post them to my deviantART. *lazy*

Kaohsiung (March 17, 2009)

Curry rice with cheese on top? Sounds disgusting but OH MAN it was good. The cutlery were adorable, too. We got this in the Dream Mall in Kaohsiung, where the Kaohsiung fair was hosted. Good times and good shopping here, they had a Daiso, which is a huge Japanese dollar store. Not that I'm a humongous cheapskate, of course! No~ ...

Our translator at the Kaohsiung fair, Torrence. He cracked us up so much, a very friendly out-going individual. Effective, too: the fair was kind of slow and our location was less than ideal, yet he pulled in the queries, gave us ample opportunity to talk to students about our college.

My only complaint about all of our translators: they were ALL taller than me. Why am I such a shrimp? *sob*

View out my window in Kaohsiung. I wasn't best pleased with Kaohsiung, honestly, the hotel wasn't very nice, the folks at the front desk fumbled my reservation, and the air smelled really bad, like fish. I grew a bit more fond of the place, though, when I looked out my window and discovered that the fish smell came from the sea. Look closely ... see the lighthouse? Past that is the ocean. Seriously. And there was a river right outside my room with a big-ass fish sculpture next to it. The Love River, according to the sign. Kind of cool, overall.

Taipei (March 18, 19, 2009)

The night market! One of the best parts of being in Taiwan, in my opinion. You wander the back streets and they're all brightly lit and FULL of stuff to buy for pennies ... full! Clothes, bags, electronics, toys, jewelry, you name it, it's for sale. I'm not usually one for shopping, but this was just plain neat. So much stuff, so much color, music playing on radios in every corner ... so neat. There was a scary sort of man with a trained rat, too, but Cris wouldn't let me stay to watch the rat do tricks. She said I'd get myself bitten, but I wasn't going to pet the rat, I just wanted to watch it perform! (No I don't have any street sense, why would you even ask?)

We were going to go to the night market the day we returned from Kaohsiung, but I had a violent allergic reaction to some Thai shrimp I'd eaten for lunch, so I spent that night (after my professional duties were completed, might I add) alternately vomiting and curling up in bed with a high fever and a nasty rash and a stuffed up nose from sobbing miserably into my pillow. Probably the worst experience I've had, abroad, and that's saying something. But I recovered well enough to go to Taichung the following day for a meeting with our contacts at Providence University, and when we got back to Taipei that evening I was well enough for us to visit the night market. I am woman, hear me roar.

(That said, if I never get sick abroad again it'll be too soon. It's terrifying to be ill when you're a world away from doctors who speak your language. Seriously.)

Street view, my last full day in Taiwan, which was spent alone because Cris flew back to the US a day before I flew to Bangkok. I went out and wandered the streets some, saw the sights and got some food. I got a delicious plate of vegetarian curry at a small restaurant, and the people were so sweet to me: I speak no Chinese and they could speak no English, but we communicated with hand-gestures well enough that I'd count it as conversation. I was blown away by that in both Thailand and Taiwan: people are so willing to talk to you even when you don't understand their language if you smile and try to communicate with them. A smile and a cocked head do a lot to communicate what you're going for. Probably being small and looking as young as I do helps, but I'm a cock-eyed optimist and would love to think that it's a universal friendliness, not oh-let's-take-pity-on-the-lost-white-girl. Which I think it is, in very big part.

That's it for my Taiwan photos. I'll post up my Thailand photos next month, when Flickr's done being sulky and not letting me upload all my pictures at once. Stupid bandwidth limits!

In summary, though: Taiwan was great. The people are very nice, very willing to talk to me, very willing to be helpful. The taxi drivers are a bit, uh ... shady, sometimes, and some of them can't read Chinese characters, so beware if you only have writing and can't speak. I think that, when I go by myself, I'll do a lot more walking than Cris and I did together. Save myself the annoyance and cost of taxi drivers not knowing where I want to go and getting frustrated when I can't tell them, verbally.

Thailand'll be posted next month!

I HATE YOU NEW JERSEY MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION

2009-03-06T22:11:16Z

So here's the story of my life, lately. Had to get my parking tag and staff ID from Felician before I start work on Monday, but in order to get those, I had to get a NJ driver's license and NJ plates for my car.

Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Well.

This is how it played out:

Tuesday 3 March 2009:
• Go to the MVC.
• Stand in line for 2 hours.
• Get my driver's license.

Wednesday 4 March 2009:
• Go to the MVC.
• Stand in line for 2 hours.
• Learn that I can't get my license plates without David's signature on two different government forms and the car title.
• Try to go to the post office to express mail the forms to David.
• Get horrifically lost.
• Ask for directions at a grocery store; look pathetic enough that they call me "sweetie."
• Find post office tucked away into what appeared to be a junked car lot.
• Express mail the forms to David, thanks to a very nice postman named Joe.
• Go to the Allstate office conveniently 2 doors down.
• Learn that I do not exist.
• Sit for 2 hours until I exist (for a monthly fee, of course).
• Go home and collapse.

Thursday 5 March 2009:
• Sit around waiting for David to receive the forms.
• Have so much nervous energy that I clean the entire apartment and make a bookshelf out of boxes. (?)

Friday 6 March 2009:
• Receive and print a scan of David's driver's license.
• Get the express mailed forms at 12 noon.
• Arrive at the MVC. Stand outside in line.
• Get up to the front desk. Stand there for 20 minutes.
• Learn that they won't give me my plates because the loan initially taken out on the car was cancelled when the previous owners paid off the car.
• Go out into the parking lot and, like the adult I am, call my mommy and have a quick cry.
• Go back inside. Tell the woman she's full of shit.
• Learn that she doesn't care. That I have to call the loaning bank and get a letter of release faxed over.
• Ask, "May I make the call here?"
• Get a "Yes."
• Get scolded 2 minutes later for calling from that spot.
• Go outside to make my call.
• "We will fax that information to your DMV within the next three business days."
• Beg pathetically enough that the bank decides to fax over the form ASAP.
• Go back inside. Wait 15 minutes for the fax to come through.
• Go back up to the front counter, wait while the guy in line ahead of me tries to get licenses for 6 cars.

Now here's the kicker:
• Supervisor comes in from lunch. Sees me standing there. Recognizes me.
• She comes over to see what's going on.
• "Oh, she didn't need that bank letter! Goodness."

Three and a half fucking hours. THREE AND A HALF FUCKING HOURS.

Then:
• Get my plates.
• Get an inspection tag.
• Have to be inspected because the car isn't new.
• Get up to the inspection area. Remember the Allstate place? Good thing I went, they won't inspect you without proof of Jersey insurance.
• Spend 20 minutes FREEZING in the inspection area.
• Drive off the lot, heading towards Felician.
• Go to Felician. Tell the folks in the ID office that I need my ID and tag.
• "Oh, we shut down the equipment 'cause it's spring break now. Don't worry, you won't need them until term starts up. You can get them when you come back stateside.

... I could've cried. Didn't. But I could've.

OH AND TO MAKE THINGS EVEN BETTER, this MVC branch closed today at 4:30. Not for the day. Not for the weekend. FOREVER.

So the next time I need to do something at the MVC, I get to drive to East Orange.

THANKS A LOT NEW JERSEY. >:E

[EDIT NUMERO DOS]: It took an hour to get a burrito tonight, after all this. AN HOUR. Because there's no such thing as getting onto 21N if you got in on 21S.

What the fuck, Jersey. What. The. FUCK.

Feminism and Separation of the Sexes

2009-02-18T21:50:19Z

Had an interesting conversation today with a friend about the notion of feminism and women's empowerment, wanted to post my thoughts here.

Often, young women in junior high and high school are given the opportunity -- sometimes freely, sometimes mandatorily -- to attend seminars, camps, etc. aimed at educating them about political, economic, and health issues commonly faced by women. I personally attended two such camps when I was 12, then again when I was 15.

I think there are pros and cons to these camps. There is nothing wrong with educating women on women's issues; I find that to be terribly important because frankly, there are very few places in popular culture where women can find good information about themselves. Clothing advertisements tell us we need to be skinny and have big breasts. Hair care products tell us we have to have long flowing hair. Don't get me started on makeup advertisements, and the very thought of the stuff I dislike about the magazines on the racks at the check-out I see whenever I do the grocery shopping makes my blood boil.

So, I think it's good for women to hear -- from other women -- the "straight scoop," if you will. This is an actual concern you should have for your body (take, for example, breast self-exams, rather than "do you look shapely in an underwire?" *gag*). This is an actual trend in women's higher education (take, for example, dealing with sexism in the classroom, not "what's your dating do's and don't's IQ?" *gags more*).

Here, however, is my argument against the way these camps are presented. I am NOT in any way saying that they shouldn't be conducted. Good grief, they're such a step in the right direction. I just think they could be improved. Icing on the cake, if you will.

I dislike the notion of separating boys and girls (men and women) in any educational setting. Okay, maybe not for questions-and-answers where some individuals may be more comfortable asking questions and hearing the answers if they're around their own gender. That one I'm on the fence about.

But when you take boys (men) away from a situation where women are learning about women's empowerment, women's issues, etc., it seems to me that you're telling boys that women's issues aren't important, or at least aren't important to them. Why shouldn't a man be aware of the statistic that heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States? Or why shouldn't men learn how to combat sexism in the workplace or classroom? Wouldn't that give women more allies, so that if a woman doesn't know what her rights are, she's got a chance that someone around her will?

Similarly, with men's education: shouldn't women be aware of the issues facing men for all the same reasons?

I believe very much that it's important to hold seminars focusing on the issues facing individuals based upon their gender. I'm not at all opposed to that. But the exclusion of one gender from learning about the other bothers me. I see it as pointless, and I see it as generating a lot of dangerous ignorance.

I see the issue as especially interesting for transgender individuals. For a transman whom others still perceive as female to attend a day-long camp discussing women's issues is what I want for men: go and learn about it even if it may not directly affect you. Same with a transwoman attending a day-long camp about male issues. It's not going to hurt her to learn about men's issues, is it? Then why would it hurt anyone else of any other gender?

Just my thoughts. ^^ Let me hear yours.

~mQ

News! I got a job! Like ... a REAL job!

2009-02-05T06:08:08Z

It's 12:43 in the morning, I have a 9-hour drive tomorrow, and I can't sleep. Figured I should post here to give some details about the good news I got on Tuesday, since I'm otherwise just sitting here re-reading a very good Naruto fanfiction for the ... um. Probably sixth time? Maybe more.

... wow, that's embarrassing.

Anyway, here's my excellent news, and some details about what comes next.

Tuesday, 2/3: I woke up at 8:40 in the morning, heart pounding, and said to poor mr. Quickly, "Is this Tuesday? What'm I supposed to do today at 9:00? I know I'm forgetting something."

I got a yes it's Tuesday, an I don't know, and a back turned to me, combined with an unhappy growl.

Still, I was convinced something important was scheduled for 9am on Tuesday, and it was really upsetting me that I couldn't remember what it was I was supposed to do. No meeting with my advisor, no work with OPIE or ISFS, no plans to drive one of my parents around or go to the doctor/dentist/vet. Kept my adrenaline up enough that I could not go back to sleep, even though I'd been up 'til 4am the night (morning?) before.

At 9:07am, my phone rang. By 9:08, I had accepted the job offered me by Felician College in Lodi, New Jersey, which is located about 20 minutes west of New York City.

How weird is that?

The job's official title is "International Student Advising and Recruitment." My duties will include attending college fairs, contacting and maintaining relationships with schools abroad, visiting schools in other countries, bringing students to the campus and conducting orientations, and taking students on trips around the Lodi and New York City areas. I will also be responsible for advising students on their rights and responsibilities as immigrants to the United States, hopefully mostly F1 students because I'm super-shaky on the J regulations. (F1 students are students who immigrate to the U.S. for educational purposes and are usually in status only for the duration of their program of study.)

The college itself is small, around 3,000 students enrolled (if my memory serves, which it may not). It's a private Catholic school, founded by the Felician sisters, and oh my goodness they have nuns. That excites me far more than it should, but come ON, they're nuns! That's like, super-cool. *cough* The campus is divided between the Lodi and Rutherford campuses, which lie 3 miles apart and have a shuttle system running between them during the day and evening.

Let's see, what else. I'm going to NJ soon to take a look at some apartments and sign my contract. Rent is expensive over there, being as close to NYC as it is, but the properties so far look very nice, and thankfully there are pet-friendly places close to the college. Everyone wants to know what mr. Quickly is going to be doing; so far it looks like he's going to help me move, then decide if he wants to come with me or stay here after he's got a better handle on how his thesis is progressing, etc. I'm hoping Miss Jaspercats can come with me, keep me company while I'm adjusting to my new home, but I'm not sure if that's going to be possible, because ...

I'm apparently going to Thailand next month. And Taiwan. For a week. *dances* That email came through this evening after I'd gotten home from work, inviting me to go along with the women who conducted my interview, actually, to get some hands-on experience in recruitment (which I have seriously no experience in, but hey, this past September I knew nothing about immigration regulations, and now I can hold my own in a conversation on just about anything F1 visa-related, so I'm not terribly worried).

... that's a complete lie, I'm terrified. Who wouldn't be? But also very happy and feeling exceptionally blessed. This is exactly the kind of job I've been wanting, and it comes at a time when I'm ready to go. Thesis is written and ready to be submitted for signatures (pretty much), I am completely disillusioned with the work I've been doing for OPIE, ISFS doesn't need me (though I loved working with them this winter and am unspeakably grateful for their support and training and serious awesomeness, there's NO way I would have gotten this Felician job without them), and JCon ... well. I love my anime club, but they will be just as awesome without me as they are with me. Maybe even moreso, there's a lot of untapped awesome in that group. ♥

So! That's the story, as it stands now. Any questions about what I'm doing or when I lost my mind or grew another set of balls or both are more than welcome. I'm just plainly thrilled. Out of Ohio at last! :D

~mQ

Mixed Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry

2009-01-04T03:40:05Z

So David and I discovered this tasty ... thing awhile back. It's called "Simply Asia" and it's a box set that has noodles, teriyaki sauce, and sesame seeds in it, you cook veggies and meat to toss in and boom, lo mein. However, it seemed dumb to buy the premade packaged food when it's just noodles and sauce and veggies, so I've been experimenting with making my own, and I've got it nailed.

It's good stuff, serve it with a glass of milk (soymilk, in our case) and a piece of fresh fruit, and you've got a well-balanced meal. You can add shrimp/beef/chicken/pork to it if you like, but that stuff's expensive, so we usually just leave it out. ;)

Mixed Vegetable Teriyaki Stir-Fry

Ingredients
1 cup dry egg noodles
4 cups boiling water + dash of salt
1 cup frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetables
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen broccoli
1/4 cup frozen chopped onion
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup teriyaki soy sauce (for veggies)
1/2 cup teriyaki soy sauce (for noodles)
2 stalks fresh green onion
Toasted sesame seeds

*Note: For the teriyaki soy sauce, I use a sauce like this or this.

Instructions
• Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add noddles. Boil 8 minutes.
• While the water is coming to a boil, put the frozen vegetables together in a bowl.
• Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir, microwave 3 more minutes.
• Drain vegetables. Stir-fry in olive oil and 1/3 cup soyaki sauce in a large skillet on medium heat.
• While vegetables cook, chop onion stalks into small pieces.
• Once the vegetables are cooked through, add drained noodles, chopped onion stalks, and 1/2 cup soyaki sauce.
• Cook 2 minutes, or until sauce is evenly distributed and onions are no longer crunchy.
• Serve topped with sesame seeds. Makes two very decent servings.

Freaking out over my thesis ... again

2008-12-15T15:02:12Z

So remember back in ... I don't even know when that was ... when I had myself suspended from y!gallery so I could focus on my thesis?

Yeah well, that didn't work out so well for me. Being suspended sucked, I did all my research, discovered I couldn't stomach working with my topic, got strung along by my advisor, and in the end, had no thesis to turn in.

I decided ten days ago to change topics, get something I could work on without feeling sick to my stomach. I've got all my research done now (did it in one week, baby) and I'm working on my outline and ... I'm feeling really adrift. Advisor is, once again, not answering emails, and I'm feeling ...

It's weird, actually. I feel so free to "do whatever you want however you want to do it!" that I don't know where to start. I have all this good information, but I don't know how to best organize it. When I felt this way with my novel, I sat down and just wrote a bit of Jasen's life, let the story go from that point on.

How do you do that with academic research?

If anyone out there has suggestions, tips, advice, anecdotes ... really anything, I'd greatly appreciate it. I can't let this one slip through my fingers like the last one did, and I've set a personal deadline of Wednesday -- two days from today -- and if I miss it (missed my personal deadline for the last one, too) it'll really upset me.

So. Help? ;_;

~mQ

The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

2008-12-05T21:03:06Z

This is my recipe for hot cocoa, I suppose, but it's a mix of recipes I've picked up from many many people over the course of my life. It calls for vanilla soymilk, but I suppose you could probably use cow milk or goat milk and add some vanilla. I don't recommend it, simply because I don't like how cow milk tastes once it's warmed up. But, do what you will based upon your own preferences. :)

The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

Ingredients
2.25 cups vanilla soymilk
2 tablespoons caramel (ice cream topping or easy-melt balls) -- 1 per cup
4 tablespoons instant hot cocoa mix -- 2 per cup
2 huge gloops marshmallow fluff -- 1 per cup
2 dashes cinnamon -- 1 per cup OPTIONAL
2 dashes nutmeg -- 1 per cup OPTIONAL

Instructions
~ Heat soymilk in a saucepan.
~ If using caramel easy-melt balls, heat them with the milk.
~ Place hot cocoa mix, cinnamon and nutmeg (if using), in two mugs.
~ Add milk. Stir.
~ If using caramel ice cream topping, add to the cocoa. Stir.
~ Top with fluff.

Shush, I know it's dead easy, but oh, it's good. Give it a try!

How we make Tempura

2008-11-23T00:14:33Z

So tempura is a fantastic thing: you take just about anything a child wouldn't eat—broccoli, sweet potato, mushroom, shrimp—and freakin' deep-fry it, then serve it with a sweet sauce and rice. I mean really, is there anything Japan hasn't turned awesome.

Yes, but that's not the point.

mr. Quickly and I make tempura from time to time. Not frequently enough to remember exactly how we've done it in the past, though, which is a royal pain in my posterior. So here, I'm going to record what we used and how much of it we used. This is NOT some kind of suggestion that we know what we're doing; we're not Japanese and we've certainly turned this recipe to match our specific tastes. If you want to make actual Japanese food, I really recommend going off and doing a Google search if you want real instructions.

Oh and don't make fun of what we do, we like it because it tastes nice. If it's "wrong" then ... wait. How can our recipe for us be wrong?

mr. & mistr3ss Quickly's Tempura

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

Batter
1 cup ice-cold water
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour

Dippers
12 large shrimp, shelled/peeled/precooked, thawed
1 head of broccoli, raw, chopped into decent-size trees
1.5 sweet potatoes, scrubbed but unpeeled, microwaved for 2 minutes, sliced to 1/4-1/2" thick.

For Frying
2 cups vegetable oil
6" non-stick saucepan
7" fine mesh strainer

Rice & Dipping Sauce
2 cups rice

1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup tempura dipping sauce

Udon & Broth
1 bundle udon noodles
4 cups water
Dash of salt
6 fried shrimp (3 for each of you)
1 stalk green onion, chopped fine

2.5 cups hot water
4g dashi stock powder
1/2 cup dipping sauce (described above)

Instructions

For Frying
• Prepare broccoli, sweet potatoes, and shrimp.
• Pour oil into pan and begin heating. We used ~6 on our stove.
• Cover oil with the mesh strainer. This will keep grease from splattering everywhere.
• In a mixing bowl, combine water and egg. Mix well.
• Add flour. Sifting makes for fluffier batter.
• Mix only enough for it to be wet, you want this stuff to stay lumpy.
• To test oil, drop a bit of the batter into the pan. If it sizzles and stuff, it's ready.
• Coat 3-4 slices of potato in batter and drop into the pan.
• Fry 2-3 minutes.
• Remove and place on paper towels.
• Do the same with the broccoli after the potatoes are all done.
• Do the same with the shrimp. Careful not to batter-coat the shrimp tails, that's gross.
• Dribble the leftover batter into the oil and fry it to make kakiage.

For the Rice & Dipping Sauce
• Start the rice right before you start frying. It can steam if it's done before the veggies.
• Heat water in a dish for ~2 minutes. Add tempura sauce. Heat again ~30 seconds.
• Dip sweet potatoes and broccoli into sauce, eat with rice. Save the shrimp for noodles.

For the Noodles & Broth
• Bring water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add a dash of salt.
• Boil one bundle udon noodles for 12 minutes.
• While the noodles boil, combine 2.5 cups water and 4g dashi powder.
• Microwave 2 minutes, stir.
• Add 1/2 cup dipping sauce. Stir. Heat 2 more minutes.
• Once noodles are cooked, drain and rinse them in cold water.
• Separate them into two bowls.
• Pour broth over them. Top with green onions, shrimp, and kakiage.

This is, I believe, officially the longest and most complicated recipe I've put up on my blog. And at that, I'm pretty sure I've left something out. *sigh*

Also, it should be mentioned that other things can be fried in tempura. I've listed the things we like to eat. The rest ... well. Make your own recipe, yeah? ;)

Tummy-Warming Broccoli Cheese Soup

2008-11-20T01:32:51Z

A recipe I found while surfing about, trying to find a way to make mr. Quickly eat more vegetables. It's easy it's tasty (it has a whole stick of butter in it, how can you go wrong?) and it's excellent with butter crackers, saltines, or good French bread.

Tummy-Warming Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 medium onion chopped (or 1 cup frozen diced)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, coarse-grated
3 very healthy shakes black pepper
2 shakes crushed cayenne red pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups broccoli florets, steamed (microwaved, if you use frozen :D)
3 slices American (or Velveeta) cheese
Bread or crackers to serve with

Instructions
• Steam broccoli and chop onion, reconstitute milk and make broth. (Believe me, you'll want to do this ahead of time.)
• Chop broccoli into smaller pieces.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter.
• Add chopped onion, cook until onion is transparent or close enough to it that it won't be crunchy.
• Add flour. Cook on low heat for 3 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium, gradually add milk, stirring until smooth.
• Add cheese. Stir until smooth.
• Add pepper. Stir until no one can tell how much you put in.
• Add broth gradually, stirring until smooth.
• Add broccoli.
• Add American cheese, stirring until smooth.
• Reduce heat and let sit for 15 minutes.

(Makes about 4 dinner-size servings)

Molly-ramen

2008-10-03T03:27:40Z

I don't really know what to say about this recipe. It developed itself over time, starting when I was first married. It's tasty and relatively good for you, but it's also a recipe for instant ramen that takes forty-five minutes to make. Seriously. Who makes instant ramen take forty-five minutes to prepare?

*cough*Me*cough*

Anyway. Give it a try. You'll be surprised how tasty it is!!!

Molly-ramen

Ingredients
3 cups water
12 frozen brussels sprouts (yes I count them, shut up), unthawed
1 ramen + seasoning packet
1 egg

Instructions
• Pour water into a medium saucepan. Set to medium heat. I use 6 on my stove.
• Add brussels sprouts and seasoning packet from the ramen.
• Simmer for 30 minutes. Yes, 30 minutes. Shut up.
• Turn heat up. Once the water has reached a full boil, add the ramen noodles.
• Allow the noodles to soften enough to separate a bit. This usually takes about 1 minute.
• Boil noodles for 3 minutes, stirring if you think to do it.
• In a small bowl, whip 1 egg very well.
• At the end of the 3 minutes, swirl the egg atop the noodles.
• Don't stir the egg in, just let it sit there for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Stir the egg in a bit to make sure it's all cooked.
• Dump the whole mess into a bowl. There won't be much broth. You don't need it anyway.
• Allow it to sit for a few minutes, mixing it up every so often. Otherwise, it will burn you.

If you don't like brussels sprouts, you can use any green veggie, really. Could probably dump some carrots in there too, or garnish with some sliced green onion, idk. Have fun with it.

Oh, and I've been using Maruchan Chicken Picante ramen lately 'cause it's all spicy and tasty and GOOD. Before that, though, I used one teaspoon chicken bouillon granules in 3 cups of water and threw away the seasoning packet, just used the noodles. That was pretty tasty times, made what I called chicken-noodle-ramen.

Also, if you live in a dorm and can't do this because you're lacking a stove, you can hard-boil eggs and put them in your micro-fridge, make a normal ramen, then put the egg on top of it. I did that afore I had a kitchen, and it was pretty tasty. Not as good as the whipped egg, but you do what you can with what you've got.

Let me know what your variations are and how they've worked out for you!!

Lemon Meltaway Cookies

2008-10-03T02:00:29Z

Mmm, these cookies are easy and tasty and little and light and DELICIOUS. Good any time of year, I've heard that the dough can be prepared and kept in the 'fridge for up to one week before baking, and that the baked cookies will last about a week after baking, but frankly? I've never had the willpower to test that theory out.

When they say "meltaways," they mean that your will-power is going to melt away, and then the cookies are all going to disappear. Like THAT. *snaps fingers*

Lemon Meltaway Cookies

Ingredients

Cookie-dough
3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/3 drops yellow food coloring, optional
One tub lemon icing, keep the leftovers in the 'fridge afterwards.

Instructions
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioner’s sugar until light and fluffy; beat in lemon juice.
• Combine the flour and cornstarch; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
• Shape into two 8-inch rolls; wrap each roll in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours until firm.
• Unwrap and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes or until the cookies are firm to the touch.
• Remove to wire racks to cool.
• ~~In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and food coloring.~~
• ~~Beat until smooth.~~
• Open tub of icing; stir with a butter knife.
• Frost cooled cookies.

The unspoken instruction after this is "do your best not to eat all the cookies in one sitting." Believe you me, it's WAY harder than it sounds. These things are like CRACK COCAINE.

Sweet Potato Pie

2008-09-30T19:49:45Z

One of the first pies I ever learned to make, and—I believe—the first recipe I ever found on the internet. Shut up, I was very new to the internet when I was in college.

It's buttery and horrible for you and tastes marvelous because of it. Just like pie should be. :)

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie shell

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 425˚
• Cream butter and brown sugar in bowl until light and fluffy.
• Blend in sweet potato and eggs.
• Add corn syrup, milk, salt, and vanilla; mix well.
• Pour into pie shell.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 325°F and bake 35 to 45 minutes longer until well set.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cups

2008-09-29T02:09:06Z

I promised Am that I'd post this, then totally forgot to do so. It's got to be one of the BEST dessert recipes out there, I swear. Good to serve, good to eat, it's become David's and my tradition to make them on Christmas Eve (and then make ourselves sick, eating them for breakfast on Christmas morning). I highly recommend them to anyone with a sweet tooth and a working oven.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Cups

Ingredients
16-oz roll of slice-and-bake chocolate chip cookie dough
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup (1 stick hell yeah) butter or margarine, softened
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
21-oz can cherry pie filling

Instructions
• Preheat oven to 375˚
• Line a muffin tin with 24 muffin cups.
• Press 1/4" cookie dough into the bottom of each cup; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, margarine, cream cheese, vanilla, and eggs.
• Beat 1 minute at medium speed with an electric mixer.
• Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture.
• Bake 35–45 minutes until tops are golden brown.
• Allow cups to cool completely and refrigerate. Tops will sink in naturally.
• Serve chilled, topped with cherry pie filling.

Malaysian Eggs on Rice

2008-09-29T01:55:48Z

Now here's a dish I've been making since I got married, yet haven't posted here because a) I'm a dumbass and b) it's such a simple, staple meal for us that it didn't even occur to me that I should put it up on my LJ.

I call it "Malaysian Eggs" because I learnt to make it from my Malaysian friends during my second stint in Japan, but I don't know if it's actually a traditional or whatever dish from Malaysia. Don't particularly care, either, because the memory of Hanim teaching me to make it is enough to bring a smile to my face whenever I think of it.

Malaysian Eggs on Rice

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 stalks green onion
4 large eggs (get cage-free, it's good for the birdies)
3 tsp. soy sauce
2 healthy shakes red pepper
3 healthy shakes black pepper
1 cup (dry) rice, cooked

Instructions
• Start cooking the rice. You'll want it to be done when the eggs are ready.
• In a medium frying pan, heat the oil on low.
• Slice the onion, thinner slices for the white, bulb part, thicker pieces when you get up into the green part.
• Stir-fry the onion in the oil until it's just barely cooked, still a bit crunchy.
• In a bowl, combine the eggs, soy sauce, and pepper. Whip very well.
• Increase the heat under the frying pan, pour the eggs over top the onion.
• Let it cook until bubbles start to form under the still-raw part of the egg. Then stir gently with a spatula, just enough to let the raw part directly touch the pan. The idea is to coat the chopped onion with egg as it cooks.
• Once the egg has all begun to solidify, scramble it coarsely. Remove immediately from heat; the eggs will continue cooking in the hot pan.
• Serve over the rice. If you like your eggs less-done, serve the rice into bowls before cooking the eggs or while the eggs are cooking so that you can serve the eggs immediately.

*NOTE* This makes two servings. You can also put Italian green beans on top, it's tasty that way and has some more nutritional benefit, too.

Molly's "Oh Sh*t I Married an Italian" Minestrone

2008-09-28T18:22:19Z

My dear partner is part Italian and so, ever since we started dating, one of our favorite outings has been to the Olive Garden for the bottomless bowl of minestrone, magically unending breadsticks, and tasty free-refill raspberry lemonade. Yes we're cheapskates, what's it to you?

Anyway. With gas prices how they are and the nearest Olive Garden being 45 minutes away in every direction, we can't really go to the Olive Garden anymore, no matter how cheap the minestrone meal may be, so I decided to learn how to make my own. Took a recipe that the Italian Ma-in-law and I both thought looked good and, uh, "mollyfied" it a bit. And oh, it turned out beautifully.

I'll warn you though, that it makes enough soup for ... oh probably six people. Especially if you serve it with garlic bread (which I recommend, mmm). So make sure you have either plastic containers to store the leftovers or a handful of hungry friends, otherwise you'll have to store the whole soup-pot in your refrigerator, and that's just silly.

Molly's "Oh Sh*t I Married an Italian" Minestrone

Ingredients
8 cups water
8 cubes low-sodium chicken bouillon
1/2 cup diced onion
3 stalks celery, chopped
8 oz baby carrots, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. oregano
1 tbsp. chopped parsley flakes
3/4 cup chopped collard greens

1 cup (dry) whole grain penne pasta

1 14.5-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, sliced
1 15.5-oz can dark kidney beans, drained
1 15-oz can black beans, drained
1 14.5-oz can Italian green beans, drained
5 healthy shakes black pepper
Shredded cheese to top (we used a 3-cheese blend of parmesan, ricotta, and asiago, but I'm sure parmesan by itself would be just as tasty)

Instructions
• Mix the first nine ingredients together in a big soup-pot and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add in the pasta and continue simmering on slightly higher heat for 20 minutes. I simmered the first bunch on 5, on my stove, then turned it up to 6 or 7 for the pasta.
• Add 1/2 cup water if the mixture's looking too thick, or if the broth is too strong.
• Slice the canned tomatoes and add them. I put a splash of the juice they came in, into the soup. Just a splash, mind you, not too much.
• Add the three beans and pepper. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. (I simmered as long as it took to make the garlic toast.)
• Serve and top with cheese.