Ok, I’d like to see a show of hands:

How many of you have procrastinated on something this week? Spill! :)

If you can only see me now, my hands and arms couldn’t be any higher! In August, my brain slows down, my discipline goes on vacation and I am stuck with a mid-summer love affair with someone called Procrastination or Cunctation. I call him CunkyPunky. (See? This is beginning to sound more fun than it really is.) I just have to accept that August is CunkyPunky time and I should just breathe and relax. Aside from procrastinating with CP, I’m also trying to balance bank accounts and to keep sane in the midst of paying even more taxes. I don’t even want to think about it, because aside from my already-planned trip to Blogher Food, there’s another event that I would love to attend: Foodbuzz in November. (I call it an injustice that they are both held in San Francisco! Woe is me, who lives across the north border.) Just when I need to “kick ass” in the making-money department, all CP wants to do is drag me to graze in the grass like spoiled cows living in a luscious Hawaiian ranch–that kind of downtime. I have to remind him that traveling involves money, which involves doing something.

Ayayay.

This super simple breakfast post was supposed to be up last week, but CP and I had a week-long rendezvous. I’m sorry. But I hope you’ll forgive me. It is very easy to do anyway:

Just cook berries in simple syrup of 1 sugar :1 water proportion, wait for it to thicken, then set it aside to cool down. Serve generously on top of your favorite yogurt.

In my case, it’s the Fage 2% greek yogurt. That’s it. No theatrics, just plain and simple food. I eat this for breakfast, as a dessert or as a snack. It’s a great way to save berries that might otherwise go bad this summer, especially if you happen to haul big boxes of them from the farmer’s market.

I’m still rallying to have Fage here in Vancouver. I have never seen it here. Hello– Fage?!?!?!

In case you were wondering– No, Fage isn’t a sponsor of this blog. I just happen to love it so much that I milk my parents, who cross the border several times a month, to bring me Fage. It’s that good.

Ever bought a lot of something without trying it and ended up not liking it? That’s my usual hoarding story. Errr.. That’s where this cupcake story is all about.

Sure I’ve dreamed of making yogurt cakes before, thanks to inspiring food bloggers; but I really didn’t think of making these cupcakes beforehand. I only thought to make it after a grocery shopping mistake: I bought yogurt that I’ve never tried before in its non-fat version and I hated it. [FYI, it was Activia nonfat]. Absolutely hated it. I think it’s an “acquired” taste and I missed my Stonyfield yogurts so. I don’t understand why I couldn’t find it here in Vancouver, or know if it is even available in my neck of the woods.

Anyway, I would’ve been willing to just charge the bill of this shopping mishap to experience had it been just a small quantity. But nope! I got two! BIG! TUBS! As much as I would be so, so happy to just toss it, the Asian (or is it third world?) mentality of making the most of what we have and not wasting has won over my unhappy taste buds. I know, I know…I should approach this the same way we use wine for cooking: cook only with wine you like/enjoy. Luckily, this tribute to my cultural mentality induced a Cinderella transformation of the yogurt into delicious bursts of freshness in your mouth. Can you read that again? Yes, I mean it!

It started off with butter and superfine sugar. I would be lying if I told you I didn’t partake of this at this point. I love butter.

And then the egg yolks. I’ve read about this ‘method’ of separately adding the egg yolks to your batter and then folding the whisked egg whites later. I thought–brilliant! I think that really made the cupcakes light and airy and some kind of dreamy.

Here is the batter after folding in the egg whites.

I also made candied orange peels to garnish these delicate cupcakes. I looked for recipes online and some  involved baking. I kept it simple by cooking it only on the stove. I really love this photo for some reason: it’s orange, it’s vigorously boiling and it looks so nice. [Just bear with me here. :)]

I turned off the heat when the syrup started to thicken.

And I just stirred/agitated the syrup as it crystallized back to sugar.

And voila! It’s orange peel picking time. Messy, but it does the job. Probably not the most efficient way to do this, but ah…I swear it played out a lot better in my mind when I orchestrated the whole production. Oops.

There’s minimal icing. After you make the icing in the recipe you might say, that is not enough for twelve cupcakes! Believe it or not, it does. You just need a hint of sweetness. I’m all about balance these days. It doesn’t have to be over-the-top, really. These are demure cupcakes in every sense of the word: reserved in sweetness and coy in tanginess; but the combination of subtle flavors creates that lovely zest in your mouth. It almost makes me think that if Clinique’s Happy scent were half as in-your-face zesty, and they were cupcakes, these would be The Happy Cupcakes:

If you’re having a sweet tooth but want something fresh and not too heavy and indulgent, this is definitely my recommended poison. I took several doses. ;)

Here’s the recipe if you’re willing to give these yummy bites a try:

Read the full story

I spent my college years watching Sex & The City with my girlfriends. SATC night was a bonding session that involved food and lots of laughter. Those were memorable times. :-) It shouldn’t be a surprise that I watched it the first night it came out, and I dragged Dan to the show, too! After the movie, I was hankering for a cosmo (haha). Having had margaritas earlier that night, I settled for a non-alcoholic light, sweet and tangy peach frozen yogurt served in a martini glass, of course. This was a perfect night cap. [Yes, I'm a hopeless midnight-snacker.]

I used 2% Fage greek yogurt for this treat. It was very refreshing and I’m happy to say that it’s another one of my yogurt concoctions that’s approved by Dan. The one-quart batch is almost gone!

What flavor(s) should we try next? Any suggestions?

Here’s the recipe for you to try: Read the full story

Can you say that in one go? It refers to this mouthful of flavor-packed and devilishly smooth sensation of strawberry and honey brought to you in a creamy yogurt base, and you won’t even know that last part if nobody told you. It’s even better than our previous frozen creations — whether yogurt- or cream-based — better in flavor and texture. It’s definitely up there in the hankering-meter for both Dan and I.

We like getting feedback and ideas from all of you — it encourages us to experiment and tell you the delicious incarnations we’ve discovered. This is how this honey-strawberry variation came about. When Jen, an old pal from way back, asked about using honey with our recipe here, I just had to try it and find out the results firsthand. Or first spoonful, I guess, because that set off a multiple series of others. It was simply delectable. I fully blame the honey and the full-fat Greek yogurt that I accidentally bought. I previously used Fage Total 0% [PRONOUNCED Fa'-yeh] and had stellar results, so I didn’t think I was missing out on anything. Clearly, as Dan pointed out to me several times over the course of finishing this batch, that accidental mistake was a a great thing. Given my track record, my mistakes often end up as acts of genius in the kitchen, and elsewhere — the cosmos has a way of straightening me out. This time, I’d lightly pat myself on the back for giving this a try. [Note: I checked the Fage website and the Fage Total classic I used here was made from milk and cream.]

One snag in this honey-strawberry experiment was, and I think your inner honey-minions should take note of, the change in color color…to dirty pink. It’s easily remedied with a drop of red liquid food coloring.

Hmm…all this talk of frozen yogurt doesn’t seem right at the moment because my toes are cold from winter-like conditions here in AZ. We had a weather hiccup, and temperatures dropped from 110ºF to the 50º’s. Yes, you read that right. However, I thought it best to still post this for those of you suffering sweltering heat.

I hope you try it! Include it in your Memorial Day menu, if you like. This could very well be the reason you purchase that Cuisinart frozen yogurt/ice cream maker you’ve been eyeing. ;-) Here’s the recipe:

Read the full story