Strawberry rhubarb sherbet

Dad: What's that in the tub???
Me: It's strawberry & rhubarb coulis
Dad: Oh cool! But... that's a whole tub, what are you gonna do with all of that?
Me: Well, I can decorate dessert plates, pour it over ice cream & cake
Dad: Right. But... that's a whole tub...
Me: Well, I can freeze the rest into ice cubes you know!
Dad: ... (still staring at the tub)

3 days later

Me: (pulling out the tub from the fridge) Ok, fine dad! I'll make sherbet with the coulis.
Dad: What's that in the tub?

Strawberry & Rhubarb sherbet

• 2 cups of chopped strawberries
• 2 cups of sliced rhubarbs
• 2/3 cup of sugar (the coulis I made only had 1/3 cup, but it'd be sour so add 1/3 or more)
  
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp of Ice wine cider (optional)
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Put the first four ingredients into a sauce pan over low heat. Cover and let cook for a few minutes. Turn off heat. Cool, then blend until smooth and add Ice wine. Add the cream and chill in the fridge a few hours or over night

When ready, churn mixture in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instruction, add the chopped strawberries in at the last 5 minutes of churning.

Serve with home-made waffle bowls, some chocolate-covered almonds or an Oreo cookie :) Yummy!

Ice-cream cake

It was that time of the year again, when I know I should make a Pralines & Cream ice-cream cake with Oreo cookies base. It's called The BF's birthday. Yup, he's specific like that (I love you!!! :P)

Since last year's experience with pralines still left me traumatized, I decided I was going to avoid it at all cost (1st batch burnt, 2nd batch not caramelized enough, 3rd batch was ok but there was not enough pecans left to call it an actual batch) I figured if I was gonna make an ice cream cake, it should definitely be, well, ICE CREAM, so I made what else but David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop" both Philadelphia style Vanilla and Chocolate (Philadelphia style ice cream means there is no egg)

OH!!!
MY!!!
GOODNESS!!!
SOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!

Now..., I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post his recipes here since they're from the book and all. But if you're pressed for time and you want to make an ice cream cake, you can definitely make it from store-bought stuff. Use any cookies or cake for the bottom layer, and a couple of your favorite ice cream flavors. And for the mold, use anything you have: cake pan, bread pan, round, square or rectangle. I used a springform pan, I find it easier to release the cake.

• 18 Oreo cookies, crushed
• 1 pint of vanilla ice cream
• 1 pint of chocolate ice cream
• 2 oz dark chocolate, melted, and piped into desired shapes on waxed papers. Let cool.

Line wax paper on the bottom, and the side of mold (A cut out 9inch round and a long strip in my case) Spread the crushed cookies and press them down to pack them together. Take one box of ice cream, let soften in the fridge for about 5-10 minutes for easy spreading. Spoon into pan and spread out evenly. Put the whole thing in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up and do the same with the other flavors.

Top cake with cooled chocolate shapes. Or pipe directly on top once the cake has been well frozen. As you can see, I went with hearts because, well, isn't it obvious????

My BF certainly knew that I would make him an ice cream cake because that's just his non-negotiable ultimate favorite. So the only thing left to surprise him with was his birthday present that I painted with love. That is him when he was a baby, how cute right? No wonder he always gloats about it. LOL!!!

On another note, the cookie sale for Amnesty International Fundraiser is going very well. I'm really happy that everyone is so supportive. It will end on Sunday with the Yoga Mala event in the Old Port and I can't wait to see how much we've all raised for this great cause.

Cookies for charity

So, there might never be a cookie that brings world peace, but there will always be these cookie pops for a great cause.

Lemon lime sugar cookies, 50% whole wheat, 100% love :)

I'm participating in a Yoga Mala fundraiser organized by the awesome Dawn & Zazen. 100% of all proceeds go straight to Amnesty International for stopping "Violence Against Women".

Today was technically my 1st day of selling them, and it's been great! Everyone has been very supportive & I'm so happy!!! I sell them for $2.00 each, but 1 was actually sold for $20, LOL!!!! Then there were $6.00 & $5.00 ones. Ah, such joy in my heart! They will also be in the goodie bags for all the volunteers who are donating their time & energy.

Thanx to everyone who gave their support!!! I hope you know how much I appreciate it. I'm off to make another batch & I hope they will sell just as fast as the last ones. Keep your finger crossed and spread the love!

The love lobster

One 15-minute wait in an empty metro station, one static intercom announcement, one 40-minute wait for a ghost bus, one rain pour and finally one 30-minute walk later, I was finally home to be greeted by a nice red lobster at the dinner table. My mom is the best!

This was worth ever minute spent outside in the freezing weather so-called spring. Worth both strands of hair that were caught in the umbrella and ripped out. Worth the hunger cramp that I always get right after every Pilates class.

Yup, it was worth all the little annoyance I stumbled upon just to get home today. Not the lobster, but my loved ones whom I can be silly dramatic with and vent to about everything. In moments like this, I realize even more how lucky I am and how great I have it compared to a lot of people. The second I got home, I felt like I shed a layer of yuckiness and I was immediately no longer irritated.

But the lobster was a definite bonus. These guys are so big when in season, I'm ok with eating just one a year (Ok, so maybe two or three if they weren't so year-round expensive...)

A lot of people like eating their lobster with butter and lemon, but I cannot deny my typical Vietnamese condiment: chili lime salt & pepper. Very straight forward: 1 part salt, 2 part pepper, a few squeezes of lime (or lemon) and optional chopped chili. (You can use this for other things like grilled beef brochettes, roasted chicken, pork, or shrimp. It's yummy!!!!)

It's still raining like mad outside, and it's still very cold for end of May. My heart goes out to all of the people out there who don't have love in their lives, who don't have dinner waiting for them at home, or don't even have a home to go back to.

Inspired from lack of inspiration...

I'm sure it happens to you too sometimes... You really don't know what to make for lunch, but you know you have to brown bag it because the day before, you took a taxi to work instead of the bus so the "daily allowance" is gone with the wind.

...*sigh*...

So in times like this, I raid the fridge & try to be creative. Once in a blue moon I end up with a case of "wtf?" but usually, it's ranged from "OK" to "WOW I didn't expect this!"

Well, today was a "WOW I didn't expect this!"

Give it up for quinoa ladies and gentlemen. Leave it up to these little seeds that look like tiny little condoms when cooked to save the day (Seriously, I didn't make this up, loads of people said this before me, and it's so true!) Toss in a bit of this and a bit of that, and you're ready to put on your healthy attitude face while chomping away in front of the PC.

So here it is, my Saved By The Quinoa lunch salad:
(serves 2-3 people depending as side or main)

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked as according to package (I used red & white, 1 1/2 part boiling water, then throw in 1 part rinsed quinoa, simmer 15 minutes til all water is absorbed)
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled & chopped
• a handful of almonds, toasted, chopped
• a handful of dried cranberries
• a pinch of sea salt

• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• a few shakes of garlic powder
• a couple grinds og black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

Mix the 1st five things together, with 2 forks, so the quinoa stay fluffy. Then whisk together the last five ingredients until well blended, and drizzle into the quinoa salad. Toss and serve at room temperature.

Grilled corn on the cob and "mo hanh" (scallion oil)

Every part of the world has its own version of corn on the cob. Boiled. Grilled. Roasted. Then slathered with: butter & salt, or mayo, chili & lime, or "mo hanh", in this case. "Mo hanh" means "scallion oil" and it's exactly just that:

• 1 bunch of scallion, washed & chopped. Cooked in a couple of tbsp of oil for a few minutes over medium low heat.Add a pinch or two of salt.
  

This is one of the night street food in Ho Chi Minh city amongst the sea of delicious treats. When the grilling starts, you can't miss it. It smells awesome! The corn lady would usually be sitting on a tiny stool on the sidewalk in front of her little clay oven full of red burning coal, turning & fanning away at the ears of corn neatly lined up on the metal rack . Next to her, there would always be a small saucepan filled with the fatty, scalliony, salty goodness, ready to be brushed onto a freshly grilled hot sweet ear of corn.

...*drool*...