Centerpieces - Craps!

Since our friends love the Craps table so much, I decided to dedicate a centerpiece to that.

While waiting for Ben to finish painting, I decided to start a new project at If an Elephant Can Paint. I found this flat plate and decided that I will make that my Craps table surface.

Unfired piece

Fired piece

I painted it green and then outlined everything in white. Since I'm not a pro at Craps, I had to google an image. Hopefully it's pretty close to the tables we see in the casinos.

To finish up this centerpiece, I made some mini dice from red oven clay. After baking it and letting it cool, I painted the white dots with some white paint. To add to the effect, I bought some poker cards shaped like chips and spread it out on the table.

Centerpieces - Den Den Mushi Ben & Doe

Today we went to go paint some snails!

That sounds weird so I'll explain. I recently got an email from If An Elephant Can Paint showcasing some new items that came in. One of them was this snail and I thought it would be perfect for a Den Den Mushi centerpiece for our wedding.

For those of you who don't know (and I imagine that's a lot)... den den mushi are snails used for communication in the anime One Piece. Each snail looks like the person that is speaking through the den den. (see below for examples)

They ended up being a decently large size which was perfect since I wanted two of them to make a centerpiece. Ben and I picked up two and we started painting. Ben chose to paint the snail shell red since that's his favorite color. I chose to use an overcoat that would kind of make it looks like cherry blossoms, which is my favorite.












The nice part is that you can place a votive candle inside the snail. That'll light them up nicely once it gets dark at the reception.

This is what they look like unfired. Lol. Before they are fired up, the glaze gets really light so it's hard to tell that my snail is even painted. It would have been nice to have them smiling but the shape of this snail makes them look like they're frowning anyway so we decided to just go with it.






To complete Ben's snail, I bought a doll-sized cowboy hat and cut it into a baseball cap. Unfortunately it came in a set of 4 but I figured I can either use them for other centerpieces or I will get 4 attempts at a passable hat.








I attempted to paint the Adidas logo on it since that is Ben's signature look. The first attempt (right) was with a regular white out stick. The slightly furry surface soaked up the paint more than I wanted to and I had very little control.

The second attempt (left) had some more experimenting to it. First I tried to scrape the surface with an x-acto knife to get some of that furry stuff off. Then I taped it and tried to pull off any loose fibers. Then I just dabbed on a little white-out liquid, then spreading it out with a x-acto knife. That gave me more control and got more defined lines in there. This particular white-out liquid is made of fibers though so sometimes I had trouble spreading it.

To complete my snail, I bought some small black yarn for hair. It was 0.40 each but I didn't want a big ball of yarn for $5-6 when I was only going to use a little. I also got some frilly white fabric that I will make into a "veil" for my snail. Tip: Look around the Clearance Fabric section. Sometimes when they have excess/leftover fabric, they will package it up in a bundle and put it for sale. I got my veil fabric for just $0.60!

My snail next to a plate showing the special glaze crystals

I just picked up our snails and this is what it looks like, all fired up to go! I'm a little sad that I don't have enough crystals on my snail... it was supposed to look like sakura petals. Oh well... Everything else came out well.








 
I also photoshopped some screenshots of denden and printed them.


















 
And here is the finished pieces!

From our awesome photographer: Chris Kim Photo

From our awesome photographer: Chris Kim Photo

Tiramisu

So I decided to make Tiramisu for Christmas dinner and used this recipe that I thought was pretty easy.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/classic-tiramisu/

UNFORTUNATELY, the recipe called for 2 (12 ounce) packages of lady fingers which is about 4 times more ladyfingers than you need so I got a LOT of practice in.

This is the final recipe that I used based off this link and the reviews.

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 (3 ounce) packages ladyfingers
1/2 cup water
instant coffee
1/3 cup coffee flavored liqueur (optional)
unsweetened cocoa powder
semi-sweet chocolate (optional)

Recipe:

1. Heat the water and make "strong" coffee. I added about 3 heaping teaspoons. Set aside to cool.
2. Place the sugar in a double boiler and add a little bit of water (like 2 Tbsp) and mix over medium heat until sugar melts and it doesn't feel grainy.
   
3. Add egg yolk and mix until thick and lemon colored.
4. Add mascarpone cheese to mixture and beat until combined. Put in fridge for now.
   It doesn't look like it'll mix well but just keep mixing.

   

5. Use a hand blender to beat whipped cream to stiff peaks.
   

6. Gently fold yolk mixture into whipped cream. Keep folding until the color is uniform with no streaks of white or yellow.

   

7. Add coffee liqueur to strong coffee mixture (optional)
8. Line bottom of pan with lady fingers. I used a cheesecake spring pan so that I can easily open it later. You can also use a glass pan or bowl.
   

9. Brush coffee mixture on top of ladyfingers. This is less messy than dipping the ladyfingers.
   

10. Add half of the cream on top of the ladyfingers.
11. Repeat by lining ladyfingers again, brush coffee and top with remaining cream.
    

    

12. Using a sifter, cover with cocoa powder
    

13. (Optional) Top with chocolate curls/shavings. Here's a good video of a simple method. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93L6KuMHhPk
14. Let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Enjoy!
    

Mr. Doe-nut Attempt 1 & 2

Mr. Donut Attempt #1

Using this recipe
http://cookpad.com/recipe/2271655

I attempted to make Mr. Donut.

80g Glutinous Rice Flour
50g Bread Flour
50g Cake Flour
40g sugar
5g Baking powder
1 egg
100ml milk

After beating the egg in the milk, I added it to the dry ingredients. I stirred while adding the liquid so it ended up really wet. I had to add more rice flour the dough solid enough to form balls.

This batch was super sticky so I had to constantly coat my hand with rice flour. After forming some balls, I connected each ball until 6 of them formed a circle onto a piece of parchment paper, Then I fried them at around 340°F (recipe says 170°C).

My first batch was undercooked even though it floated up and the color was nice and brown. One of them burst open and it looked like my Mister Donut had a tumor...





Mr. Donut Attempt #2

Using the same recipe, I poured all the liquid in the center this time and slowly incorporated the flour into the center. It wasn't super wet this time and I didn't need to add any extra flour. I actually had to knead it a little to mix it up.

I decided to make smaller balls this time (around the size of a quarter) to allow the middle to cook better. Since this batch wasn't as sticky, I just had to lightly coat the palm of one hand to form the balls.

Keeping the oil to around 340°F, I cooked these for about 3 minutes while holding them down with a strainer (since they kept on floating to the top).

These were cooked well (or perhaps a tad overcooked) but they were heavy and not chewy like the Mr. Donut I know and love. I was left with a rough feeling in my mouth (similar to when I eat spinach)... but I'm not sure if it was from the donut since I just ate dinner too.

Quick Miso Salmon with Couscous

This was a quick dinner that took very little time to prepare or cook! Worked perfectly because I came home late and was  hungry/tired.

Quick Miso Salmon with Couscous

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="temporary photo here until i take my own!"][/caption]

You'll need:

Couscous (this is from the preparations on the box)
1 cup Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Couscous
2 tbs. butter
1 cup water

Miso Salmon
4 Salmon fillets
2 tbs. Miso paste
2 tbs. soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbs. hot water

Preheat your boiler and make the miso "glaze". Combine everything except the salmon and whisk well. Spread the glaze over the salmon and stick it in the boiler for about 5-10 minutes. The timing depends on how thick your salmon fillets are and how well you like your salmon cooked. Spread more glaze on it halfway through cooking. Be careful to line your sheet with some foil or something because the glaze will burn and it will be a huge hassle to clean!

So my bf works in the same building as Trader Joe's so I had him pick up some of their couscous. He picked the whole wheat small version (see sample picture here) which I ended up loving because it was filling and super easy to make. You boil one cup of water, 2 tbs butter and some salt. Then add 1 cup couscous, stir well and steam for a couple minutes. Fluff it with a fork and you're done!

Improvising part...
Now my bf loves sauce so I decided to make a lot. I used about a cup of water, kept the same 1/4 cup brown sugar, about 2-3 tbs of soy sauce and 3-4 tbs of miso paste. I threw it all in a pan and heated it up so that the brown sugar would melt and glaze. Be careful not to overheat/burn it as it was thicken up a lot from the sugar. I had some really thin salmon pieces that I felt were too thin to put with the others so i cooked those in the "soup" for a minute and they turned out excellent as well.

I placed the couscous on the plate... drizzled some extra miso glaze on it and topped with salmon. Very yummy. We ate it so fast I forgot to take pictures but will do it next time.

That's Some Spicy Meatball!

This is where I found this recipe. If it turns out well, I'm going to improvise it a little based on some delicious meatballs I had at a restaurant. But for now, I'm just following the recipe!

Horseradish Meatball Recipe

Serving size: 18

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork or turkey
• SAUCE:
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Here's a picture of the ingredients you might not know. The bread crumbs can be any type, it doesn't matter. Hot sauce can be any type as well. I don't use hot sauce so I just got a cheap Jewel brand. Ground mustard you can find in the spice aisle. Worcestershire, chili sauce and horseradish you can find by the sauce (Was by the BBQ sauce aisle in Jewel). I used sriracha because we already have that but I think you can use whatever.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients.
   
2. Crumble meat over mixture; mix well. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. You want the balls to be even so that all of them are finished cooking at the same time. An easy  trick is to use a melon baller. My meatballs turned out to be around 1".
   
3. Place in a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until no longer pink. I'm going to change mine up a little now. This is for a SuperBowl party so I thought that was bacon worthy. I don't really think you need a greased baking pan because (a) bacon is super fatty and will produce a lot of run-off fat (b) meat is pretty fatty too so that will also produce a lot of fat and (c) if you use a non-stick or glass pan, I think you'll be fine. Anyway... I bought a package of bacon and turn them in half. Then I wrapped it around my meatball and held it there with a toothpick. Since my meatballs were smaller than the recommended size... it was a bit overcooked but it was super delicious still because of the bacon!
   
4. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. I didn't like how my sauce was "chunky" from the onions so I threw it in a blender and liquified everything. I got a nice uniform color and a beautiful sauce. It was a bit spicy for me so I added another half cup of water. I also had way too much sauce leftover so I could probably cut down this sauce recipe in half next time.
   
5. Add meatballs; stir gently to coat. I think I had too much sauce left because I literally just dipped these meatballs in quickly and placed them in the pan for transportation. This was more than enough coating for me and it was a big hit!
   

Taro Tapioca Dessert

My siblings and I were eating at an old school chinese restaurant and got all of our oldies: beef stew casserole, yang chao fried rice, soft shell crab...etc.  At the end came the taro tapioca dessert. We were super excited because Chinese restaurants used to ALWAYS serve this at the end of the meal but we never see it now. Although it was nostalgic.. it was bland and rather tasteless.

Chinese New Year is coming up and my mom wanted each of us to bring a dish so I volunteered dessert as always. So I thought I would try to make my own taro tapioca dessert. Some online recipes led me to make this!

Note: There are large taro and small ones. Sometimes I only find the small ones at the Asian market so it's a bit more difficult because you don't get much out of those. I would suggest the large one if you can find them. This one was about 8 inches tall and I got about 8 cups out of it. The recipe is just a reference since you can add more for a stronger taro flavor.

Taro Coconut Tapioca Dessert

Ingredients for small pot. You can have more tapioca pearls, taro, coconut milk, or sugar based on your preference. This just kind of gives you a reference to start with. I double/triple this recipe when I'm bringing it to a party.

• 1/2 cup tapioca pearls
• 2-3 cups raw taro root cut into cubes (purple looks nicer but white or purple taro works)
• 1 (13.5-oz) can coconut milk (unsweeten)
• 1/3 cup rock sugar
• 1 cup water (optional)

Directions

Boil a small pot of water and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Cover the pan and let it stand for another 10 minutes or until most of the tapioca pearls are clear. Gently remove all excess water and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

This is what it looks like when you first start.

This is what the pearls look like when it's close to done. The white inside gets smaller and smaller until it becomes completely clear. Stop the cooking when most of it is clear (some can still be a little bit white in the center). 

Use a larger pot and boil water. Add the raw taro root. Boil until the taro is tender and then drain the water. Mash it up like mashed potato based on your preference. I like a creamier texture so I use a puree immersion blender once I added some liquid in the next step. If you like chunks of taro, then I would suggest lightly mashing it up by hand. 

Add the coconut milk and rock sugar to the mashed taro and simmer until the sugar is completely melted. Taste it and alter it to your liking. Note that it should be a bit on the sweeter side because the tapioca will make it more bland. (I suggest getting the texture where you like because it's hard to mash/puree once the tapioca pearls are in.) For a soupier/creamier texture, I like to add a cup of water.

Add the tapioca pearls and stir. Taste it again and adjust to your liking. Serve immediately for best results. It looks like pudding once it gets cold and has a bit of a gritty feel but it goes away once you heat it back up. I like to have an extra can of coconut milk when I warm it up because I don't like to dilute the flavor too much.

Enjoy!