Rum Raisin-ness!

Confession #1:

I have this obsession with Rum Raisin EVERYTHING. Ever since my dad brought home an ice cream tub of this wonderful concoction, I have been hooked on to it and has definitely trumped all the other ice cream flavours (Here, Here!) - Thank you Haagen Daaz!

Well, about a year ago, several things happened:

1. One of my closest friend & her then boyfriend bought me this amazing ice cream machine for my birthday :) - I had been raving about making rum raisin ice cream myself.. (That's next on the agenda ;))
2. I spent most of my free time during the summer of '08 camped out at B&N reading cookbook after cookbook. I wrote down a compilation of recipes and had to constantly tear away from them because it only made me hungry each time!
3. I spent hours online and books looking for rum raisin recipes.. rum raisin ice cream, rum raisin muffins, rum raisin truffles; you name it, I probably wrote them down!

However, due to kitchen contraints (no proper utensils at the dorm kitchen I was living at), I had most of my recipes tucked away in notebooks, shoved in between pages of other notes, that sort of thing...

Until last week when I decided, "Hey, I'm going to make Rum Raisin Muffins!!" - I dug up my stash of notebook paper-written recipes, and found one that turned out to be a pretty good success story :)

Voila, d'ici!

Rum Raisin Muffins

(Scrumptious in every way possible)

1/2 Cup (3 1/2 oz) Raisins <-- I would double that if I were you ;)

3 tbsp Dark rum <---- DOUBLE!

1 Cup (2 Sticks) Sweet butter, softened

1 Cup Superfine sugar/Normal sugar

2 Cups Self raising flour

1 tsp Baking powder

4 Eggs

For the Syrup:

5 tbsp Dark rum

2 tbsp Unpacked light brown sugar

1. Soak raisins in rum 2-3 hours or overnight (I'd suggest overnight, it soaks up more flavour!)

2. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

3. Combine all dry ingredients, then wet. Beat till smooth, and stir in raisins.

4. Line muffin pans with muffin cups.

5. Bake 20 mins.

--->While baking, you can start making your syrup:

6. Combine rum and sugar in a pot on low heat, until the sugar dissolves.

7. Let it simmer for 5 mins or so, and remove from heat.

---->Now back to the muffins :)

8. Check to make sure muffins are done via toothpick, and remove from oven.

9. Let cook for a bit, and poke 5 holes into each muffin.

10. Pour warm syrup over muffins and allow in to soak all the yummy goodness :)

They taste so delicious out of the oven, and especially with the Rum syrup, it just tops it all! And yes, a note to self: Add more raisins and more rum! The alcohol evaporates eventually anyways, so the more the merrier! *Grinn*

Pretty Darn Delicious!

I made stuffed mushrooms today, and it was delicious! I sort of use odds and ends of what I had left in the fridge, but it was more than enough :)

Viola!


If you thought of making some, here's my recipe:

Pei's Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

1 Tub of White mushrooms, stems removed and set aside
1 Medium sized/small jalapeno
1/2 Red bell pepper
1/3 Yellow or sweet onions
2 Garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Chilli powder/Italian seasoning/Any spices you have on rack

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Gently wipe down mushrooms with a damp paper towel, and place on baking sheet in rows.
3. Roughly chop up the stems, jalapeno, red bell pepper, onions and garlic cloves.

4. Saute the raw ingredients, with salt & pepper + spices and set aside.
5. Using a cooking brush, brush the mushroom caps with olive oil (or you can drizzle) and sprinkle salt and pepper lightly over.
6. Fill the caps and bake for about 15 minutes or so until they look cooked.
7. Optional: Sprinkle with cheese (I used pepperjack) and Enjoy!

Another option you could do would be to add in lunch meat (I used peppered turkey the last time) if you wanted a meat dish. Oooh.. I've been meaning to make stuffed mushroom using Portabella mushrooms :)

Next cooking project!

Post-Graduate!

Tee hee.. Not really a craft/cooking post, but just a little 'Hooray! note' to celebrate finally being a post-graduate! :) I got my diploma around 3pm, on Friday the 15th of May, and now have finally joined the ranks of unemployed (sadly) for the next few months(?)

May is for:
-My parents being in town for 2.5 weeks, and for attending an old friend's wedding! ahh! The whole world is in love, it's pretty crazy! *Grinn*
-Moving back into the 2 bedroom apartment that my brother and I share.. finally after 4 years of living in a dorm room, I finally have my own room to myself again, and a real kitchen to cook in.. a cause for celebration!

Oh, and awesome, awesome news! I presented my mom with the Felt Truffles I made, and she loved them - And surprised me by telling me that she was planning on giving me one of her extra Singer sewing machine.. HOORAYness!

Craftiness plans for the summer (assuming time permits):
-Felt projects .. I want to launch a "Unedibles" collection :)
-Sewing projects - purses and bags galore! I have ideas I'm itching to sew something!

Cooking plans for the summer:
-Digging through the cookbooks and experimenting!

In the meantime, I'll be planning and sketching out things I'll be making, and applying for jobs and graduate school. Anyone have any suggestions/job offers for recent Biochemistry graduates??

Photo: With the fam on Graduation day :)

Procrastination

What do I do when I'm supposed to be studying for a final? Updating this blog, of course! *Grinn* I hope this doesn't come and bite me in the butt when results roll in.. urgh (I'm almost done, I'M ALMOST DONE!)

So I thought I should post a medley of thing I have made throughout the school year.. I have been getting my hands "dirty" in felt; I just found out last year how much easier it is to sew using felt! And from there I've only gotten more creative in making little knick-knacks :)

Oh, go on, show off that work *Grinn*

Last summer I was busy doing research at school, taking summer classes as well as working part-time, but that didn't stop me from indulging myself in cute fun projects, as well as teach my roommates how to sew! The funny story was that they had seen me hand-sew all of my purses for about a week before telling me that one of them actually OWNED a sewing machine! Ahh!

Felt Project #1: Tick-Tac-Toast!
-I saw a toaster template online that was the cutest thing, so I decided to make myself a slice of toast ala felt style :) It is currently on display on my dashboard, right next to my Strawberry Chocolate Cake! Felt Project #2: Strawberry Chocolate Mini-Cake
-It turned out better than I expected it to! Felt Project #3: A Slice of Tiramisu Cake Topped with Strawberries
:) yummm! The very thought of Tiramisu makes me mouth water :DCrafty Project: Tell-Me-My-Fortune-Clutch
-I cleared up my closet over Christmas Break and found a stash of Fortune Cookie Fortunes that I had saved over the years, and so I decided to make a fun purse/clutch out of them! I'm waiting for a special occasion to use it!

Project #4: Dark Chocolate Truffles...
Oooh! I wanted to make something special for my friends for Singleton's Day, but due to upcoming tests and sorts, I fell short and decided that instead I would present these to my mother instead :) I have an obsession with Chocolate, but then again, Who Doesn't? Alright, I'm back to studying.

Tiramisu Laced with Rum :)

Actually, it was meant to be a White Russian Tiramisu cake, but due to my lack of Kahlua or more like, the 'abundance' of stashed rum in my dorm (my roommate is 20 hence the word "stashed"), I decided instead to use rum in my recipe. I took this recipe off a book I was reading in B&N, and somewhat tweaked it to fit my own taste. Sad to say, the first time I made Tiramisu I made them into mini cakes which were super delicious, and even though I gave in this time to Ladysfingers, I must say that it's still pretty yummy!

I made this for a Girls-Gettogether-Potluck dinner and they loved it! And the next week I made it for the Korean Ladies I do volunteer Conversation Partners with (And boy, they sure wolfed it down pretty quick!)

Here's the recipe, substitute kahlua for rum if you prefer (I just make very strong coffee!), or don't if you would like the virgin kind :)

Tiramisu my way:
White Russian Tiramisu

1/2 cup marscapone cream cheese
1, 8oz. fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup black brewed coffee
2 tablespoons rum or kahlua (optional!)
1 package Savoiardi Lady's fingers

1. Brew coffee and cool down to room temperature
2. Let marscapone and cream cheese stand in room temperate so it is soft
3. Combine cream cheese, marscapone, brown sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of coffee with hand mixer or by hand (add optional kahlua or rum)
4. Using a deep dish/square container, dip the ladies fingers one by one into the coffee (they get soft very quick) and line the bottom of the dish.
5. Then take some of the cream cheese mixture onto the lady's fingers and smooth out to the corners.
6. Dip the rest of them lady's fingers again and line the top of the dish.
7. Smooth the top with the rest of the cream cheese mixture.
8. Sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder or shave some chocolate over the top!

Yummm!

Note: I prefer to let it refrigerate overnight or for a couple of hours - Just to allow everything to soak through.. Trust me, it's worth it!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Me and mum at Egypt! She's a cute petite woman with the skills of an artist, baker, chef.. basically SUPER MOM! I <3 you!

First Post

There's a first time for everything - Well this is my first Crafting-Food-Documenting blog! I currently own a more personal blog, but I wanted to make this one specially for delicious foods and crafts I plan to make in the future! Look out for me, you won't be disappointed!

Home-Made for Sale

Things to sell