Pandesal

When I was little, my family and I lived in the Philippines.  We had a neighbour who lived at the end of the block and they ran a Pandesal bakery from their garage.  Almost everyday,  my mom would give me or my sister some money and we would walk to our neighbour's house to purchase two bags of their warm Pandesal: one regular sized and one bag of mini Pandesal.  The smell was amazing!!  I would start eating it as soon as I started walking away.  They were SOOO good.  Crusty and warm on the outside, warm pillowy and sweet on the inside.  Back then, we would fill our Pandesal with cheese, or corned beef with potatoes, or even ice cream!  I remember my grandparents dipping their Pandesals in their hot coffee.  I've never tried that, but it must be good if a lot of Filipinos enjoyed them that way.

 Now that I live here in Canada, it's been a challenge to get Pandesal.  I've heard of a couple of bakeries around the Lower Mainland, but because of where we live it would be at least half an hour drive away! So, on to the internet and cookbooks to find a good recipe.  After searching through more than a dozen recipes, I found out that there are two kinds of Pandesal.  A sweeter, softer Pandesal, and a crustier, less sweet one. I definitely wanted the sweeter one I was used to, so I decided to follow this recipe.  I followed the recipe almost exactly as it was written, except that I added another tablespoon of sugar.  The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of yeast, but since I only had them in packets, I used one packet of Instant dry yeast.  I also re-wrote it so it's easier to follow.  (I like step by step instructions written on each line. I'm OCD that way.)

 I never knew it was so easy to make them.  I should've made these ages ago!!  These came out PERFECT!! They were crusty on the outside and pillowy sweet on the inside.  I don't know if it's just my oven, but the only thing I would change would be to bake them longer than the 15 minutes suggested.  I went to 20 minutes, but next time I think I'll bake them even longer. I prefer the outside to be darker.   

I hope these work out great for you! If you have any comments or questions, I would love to hear from you!

Enjoy!

Pandesal

(Amended from recipe found online)
1 Tablespoon Sugar

¼ cup warm water

1 packet dry active yeast

1¼ cups water
5 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup powdered milk
1 egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup sugar
4 cups bread flour
very fine bread crumbs

• In a stand mixer, combine 1 tablespoon sugar, warm water and yeast, mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. 
• In a small bowl heat water and butter for 30 seconds. 
• Pour water and butter mixture into the stand mixer, along with the 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, powdered milk and egg.  
• With paddle attached, mix for 1 minute. 
• Add salt and the rest of the flour, mix for 1 minute. 
• Replace paddle with dough hook and knead for 5 minutes. Dough will be a little sticky. 
• Place dough in a lightly greased container, cover with cloth and let rise for 1 hour in a warm location (I put mine inside the oven with the pilot light on).
• Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare ungreased 13 x 9 pan by sprinkling lightly with breadcrumbs. 
• Punch dough down, divide dough in two and roll each into a long log. Cut each log into 12 pieces. (24 total)
• Roll each dough in breadcrumbs. Place in an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan, rolls touching. Cover and let rise for 40 minutes to 1 hour and bake in a pre-heated 400°F oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. 

The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market

Hi Everyone!  Wow, it's been a while since I posted.  I will have to really keep up with this site, since there are a few things I'm planning in the future that I would love to get into.  First of all, I just wanted to really share this awesome vintage market I went to today. The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market was held at The Albion Fairgrounds, right here in Maple Ridge. So very convenient!  It was the first Antique/Vintage Market that I've ever been to, and I was not prepared for all the lovely things I wanted to buy!  The selection was just amazing, and the people were all so friendly and fantastic.

  There was a line-up when I got there 10 minutes before it opened at 9am.  What a great turnout!

 Lovely vintage dishware.  So pretty!  I wanted to take some home with me but my cupboards are full of dishes already :(

 Melmac!

 It was a bit of a madhouse in the first half hour, especially this area where a lot of the old and refurbished furnitures were sold. LOVE it!  I had my eye on an child's rocking chair and a desk.  Unfortunately I wasn't prepared to bring enough cash for any of the lovely furniture.  Next time!

 Such a cute ladder.  And that yellow ice pale was so cute! Lovely people from Aroka Vintage, who I heard just opened up a shop in in Port Moody.  I'll have to visit them soon!

Oh, this lovely sign… I ogled and awwww'd and hmmm'd about it so many times.  But I didn't go home with it.  Now, I have a tinge of regret. Ack.

Unfortunately, I was only at the market for an hour.  Which was definitely NOT enough to really peruse through two barns worth of lovely things.  Going to my first vintage market taught me a few things:
1) Take out enough cash next time!
2) Do some research on the vendors, before going.  When I arrived home, I looked up some of the vendors from the event and most of them had blogs, posting what items they would have available for purchase from their booths.  It also gives me an idea which vendors suited my style and what to look for when I go.
4) Hire a babysitter, so I don't have any time constraints.
5) Take pictures of what I would LOVE to re-create on my own.  There were WONDERFUL ideas that women out there are creating out of their own homes.  I talked to a few of the vendors and they were full time moms who used their spare time wisely to do what they love.  So inspiring!
6) Don't forget to grab a card from the vendors I love.  There was Jen from Jentiques, who made this beautiful wreath with rosettes that I absolutely fell in love with. Sadly, it was already sold when I got to her booth :(  She did offer to make another one for me and gave me her card with all her contact info. So nice!

So, there you have it!  Pointers for next time.  Even though I was only there for an hour, I did end up buying a couple of items, which I'll have to share a photo of for my next post.  All were from Janis Gurney of Rust.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I've made these cookies so many times and it's always been a hit.  I mean, Peanut Butter Cookies with a chocolate kiss on top? C'mon!  The recipe is from Allrecipes.com and can be found here.  A couple of minor changes I did:  I used 1 cup of butter instead of 1 cup shortening.  I also rolled half of the cookies in sugar (as directed) and the other half I left without rolling it in sugar.  I actually preferred the one without the extra sugar :) 

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration
• 2 (9 ounce) bags milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven, and immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie. Allow to cool completely; the kiss will harden as it cools.

These cookies stay nice and chewy for a few days if kept in a ziploc bag or other tightly sealed container.  Hubby likes to warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds so the Hershey kiss turns into a warm chocolatey goo... Mmmmmm!!  

My New Blog Header!

So, I am SO excited!  I finally finished designing my blog header!  Something I've always wanted to change with this space.  There's nothing like a customized blog header to really separate yourself from other blogs. The really cool thing about it is that it was created completely from picnik! And if you go now, you have FREE access to all their standard as well as premium services.  (Thanks, Helena!) Now, here's the disclaimer, they will only have it free until April.  After that the site goes down and becomes part of Google+.  Nevertheless, pretty cool, right?

Funny thing about blog headers is that if blogs were people, headers would be the hair and make-up.  It's definitely the part of the blog that people initially notice and it could even say a little about the blogger herself (or himself).  Same with hair and make up.. I mean, not just hair and make up, but everything that makes a first impression.  Often times I press that "next" button on blogger and press my luck to see if I see discover a new blog.  Maybe it's just me, but I read the Blog title, I look around and get a feel for the site and then check out the posts.  Is that superficial??  I hope not... but it's one of those things that I do... flip through blogs and hopefully come up with a few good ones.

Anyway, I guess my point is, the appearance of my blog is just as important as my content.  It took me a few days to figure out what I want it to look like, but ultimately I grabbed a picture I took a few years ago of a yarn I LOVE LOVE LOVE : "Bramble" by Manos del Uruguay.  100% Wool and so yummy and lovely to knit with.  The colours are lovely, right?  I did manage to knit a lovely scarf that I will have to post about in the future. Everything else about the picture, I love. The ceramic bird (I don't remember where I got that?),  and the collection of sea stars and sea shells.  Just a few things I love. In a couple months I might change the header to something with food in it, or maybe something with food or sewing stuff.  Hey, and I guess it brings it back to how headers are like a person's hair and make up.  Always gotta change depending on how you feel, right?

Pan Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon!

If a recipe for brussels sprouts can convince even one of my kids to try it, then I'd consider it a winner! This recipe is 2 kids approved!

Here's the recipe from Food Network's Sunny Anderson.

Ingredients

• 4 strips thick-cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, halved
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, then roughly chop. In same pan with bacon fat, melt butter over high heat. Add onions and Brussels Sprouts and cook, stirring occasionally, until sprouts are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and toss bacon back into pan. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6 people.  And one more thing,  I suggest that you pre-steam your brussels sprouts until they're just fork tender .  That way they'll roast faster in the pan.  Enjoy!

Do it! Do it! Do it!

Well, here we go. Have you ever sat on an idea for so long and have never really acted on it? I've always wanted to start another blog... a space to share ideas and my thoughts on everyday life. My previous blog was aimed to keep my family in California up to date on my kids' lives here in Canada. Well, it's been almost seven years since then and I have had so many wonderful things I have been up to and I am so excited to finally have a space where I can share all of it. The internet and the blog world has been such an inspiration for me and I am hoping to inspire anyone to live a more creative life. So, in case you're wondering what's with the title of my first post, it's from my older sister. She uttered those six words that was the kick in the butt that I needed to start this new journey in my life. Don't we all need a kick in the butt to get us going sometimes? Thanks, Donna!