Posted by
manda on December 25th, 2009
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Could there be a more decadent dessert? Within our family, the tongue-in-cheek name for these are “Better-than-Sex Brownies”
We only make them once a year, which is around the holidays, so we skimp on absolutely nothing!
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Posted by
manda on December 19th, 2009
This recipe is from my dear Popo For the longest time, I’ve tried to sneak off and replicate this in my own kitchen, only to be met with mushy brown soup. So, finally, one day I worked up the nerve to ask her exactly how she makes it. And here’s the tip: don’t soak your beans! And like magic, the soup stays nice and green and the beans keep their shape for added texture. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 bag of mung beans
1/2 bag of split mung beans (they’re yellow)
3 quarts water (12 cups)
4 thick slices of fresh ginger
1 cup brown sugar or palm sugar
Directions:
Rinse the beans, twice, to get rid of (most) the narsty yellow food coloring on the split beans.
Put the beans into a large stockpot and add the water.
Set to High until it starts boiling. Add the ginger and turn down to Medium.
Cook for 30mins, then turn off the heat and add the sugar (or
Continue reading Mung Bean Soup
Posted by
manda on November 10th, 2009
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Carrots are so very very underrated. The great thing about carrots is that they’re never out of season, they’re cheap, and they’re super good for you! That’s not to say that this carrot cake is good for you, though it’s mighty tasty
Because we had so many carrots on hand we doubled this Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing recipe and split it into two springform pans, one 9″ and one 11″. The cooking times on the 11″ was almost an hour, while the 9″ one took almost 1.5 hrs! If you find that the center of your cake is still wet, cover it with foil and cut a hole in the foil around the wet part: this will shield the outer rim of the cake from getting overcooked while still allowing the oven to cook
Continue reading Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Posted by
manda on July 23rd, 2009
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One of our recent guilty pleasures involves watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network on Tuesdays, and then Wednesday night going out to one of the places recommended on the show So far it’s been a hit and a great way to try new places!
Stand Burger was recommended by Iron Chef Michael Symon and his favorite “sugar rush” was the Toasted Marshmallow Shake. He actually finished off three of them during the show! Needless to say, we were drooooling. So the next day we went there, right below Union Square at 12th St and University Pl. We ordered burgers, fries and shakes but I must say that the burgers were small and expensive. The small (not really) fries for $3 was a good deal, which were served in a simple paper cone, hot and fresh. Our group ordered the Chocolate Malted, Apple Pie, and Toasted Marshmallow shakes and each of them were delicious. The Apple Pie was very cinnamon-y but I couldn’t get much of the crisp apple flavor – if there were real apples in there, it would’ve been better. EDIT: Robo and I went back with friends and tried the the Pumpkin and Chocolate Malted. The Pumpkin was a cute pastel orange color and tasted like a fresh pumpkin, so there really wasn’t much sugar in here. I was sort of expecting it to taste like a pumpkin pie, like the Clocktower Pumpkin Shake (which AndrewT graciously reminded me of!) at the Cornell Dairy Bar, which is dark and thick, super sweet, cinnamon-y, and absolutely delicious. Needless to say, the Pumpkin was a let-down. The Chocolate Malted was waaay too sweet, even sweeter than the Toasted Marshmallow. The malted flavor was definitely there, as the shake tasted almost exactly like Whopper balls. It was good but you will need a glass of water to go with it.
But hands down, the Toasted Marshmallow was the best out of all the items we ordered. It comes out in a tall retro milkshake glass topped with a giant serving of whipped cream and two jumbo toasted marshmallows. It just tastes like pure marshmallow: vanilla-y, very sweet, creamy, a little frothy near the end. My favorite were the two perfectly toasted marshmallows. So props to Chef Michael Symon – we’ll be eagerly awaiting his next NYC “best thing I ever
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