Portuguese Muffins and Korean Walnut Bread

King Arthur Flour catalog sells Portuguese muffins mix. I've never heard of these flat bread before. They are similar to English muffins but a bit sweeter and don't have "nooks and crannies". The Portuguese call them Bolo Lêvedo. They are cooked just like English muffins, in a griddle or cast iron skillet on a stove top, not in the oven. KAF recipe bakes them in the oven.

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Sriracha Caramel Corn Puffs

Sriracha sauce, caramel, corn puffs together. The best combination. Sweet, slightly spicy, buttery. You can't eat just one bowl. Why didn't I think of making this earlier?

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White Chili Spaghetti Bake

The current chilly temperature isn't likely to leave us any time soon. Times like these make me hope global warming is real because we could use some "climate change" right now. *Where the heck is algore BTW?*

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Kung Hei Fat Choi 2015

For this year's Chinese New Year, steamed rice cakes, the ones with cracked tops, tested my patience. I almost gave up but third time's the charm. I don't know what I did wrong the first 2 times but the tops were smooth and a bit too sweet for my taste. I removed 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and somehow they came out soft, fluffy, and have cracks (smiles) on top.

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Homemade Powdered Ginger

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I use fresh ginger regularly but not a lot of the commercial ginger powder. A small container becomes stale, bland, and not as aromatic before I'm able to use it all up. I can't remember the last time I bought and I was shocked that it costs so much. The smallest container of McCormick® is $7.00 and some fancy bottled "gourmet" brand is $15.00. Really?

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Black Forest Cake

The last time I made Black Forest cake was maybe 4 or 5 years ago. The urge to make was triggered by a cookbook called The Art Of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer. I borrowed the book after reading so many glowing reviews specially the Black Forest cake which one rater said "the best recipe ever". Well, I didn't try the recipe, returned the book, and rated it 1-star because the recipes are the same ones you can find in many many baking books. The author offers nothing new or revolutionary and I didn't like the endless anecdotes about his childhood, etc. I can't understand why cookbook authors have to talk about their past and the people who influenced them. They should either write a cookbook or a separate memoir, but please don't mix the two. But the most disappointing is the supposed to be great Black Forest Cake. Pfeiffer adds gelatin to both the cherry liqueur syrup and the heavy cream frosting. I'm sorry, but no. The cake shouldn't have gelatin, nah uh.

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