Busy busy busy! Sister is home and family and friends are visiting, half of the family is sick with the flu and cough (first it was my mom and me during Thanksgiving, now it’s my Dad and my sister’s turn), so between the coughs and the visits I’ve hardly had time to cook or bake. [...]
Sigh. Let’s talk, Mister Donut. I want to like you, I really do, but every time I’ve tried one of your cutesy bubbly donuts, I am inevitably disappointed. There are two camps of donut lovers, those who like the fluffy raised donuts and those who like cake donuts. You see, I’m a cake donut girl, [...]
Oh, autumn, how I love thee. Despite having the time of my life and eating wonderfully here in Taiwan, I totally missed that glorious transition from summer into fall. Apparently in Taiwan, it’s a hot, humid summer all year round (ok, I have been informed by my relatives that it does get cold sometimes during [...]
We’re in the midst of Mid-Autumn Festival (otherwise known as 中秋節 or Autumn Moon Festival) here in Taiwan; besides Lunar New Year (which occurs between the end of February and the beginning of March of every year), Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the biggest and most important holidays here in Taiwan. It’s a time where [...]
One of my favorite Taiwanese confections are 杏仁餅 (almond chess cookies; or, as I like to call it, almond-flavored crack), a sort of marzipan-flavored candy with a crumbly, sandy, shortbread texture. They’re slightly sweet, buttery, with a salty backnote, and pair perfectly with a nice cup of hot tea. However, it’s hard to find these [...]
In my ongoing quest to clean out my pantry, I had planned on using up a bag of vegan carob chips that I had bought; however, I had forgotten exactly when I had bought them (first sign of bad things to come?). I had bookmarked this lovely chocolate olive oil crinkle cookie recipe at Nook [...]
If honey, caramel and nuts are your thang, look no further.
Modified from recipe for Pine Nut Honey Squares from Baking Obsession.
Feel free to substitute any other nut or seed for the cashews in this recipe.
Honey Caramel Cashew Bars
Makes one 8″ square pan, or 64 1″ squares.
What you’ll need:
your favorite shortbread dough for the base
1/3 cup [...]
These are probably the healthiest and tastiest truffles I’ve made (eaten); I’ve been trying to cut out refined sugars for a long time and while I occasionally enjoy a calorie-laden sugar bomb, my everyday desserts nowadays tend towards the more wholesome and natural.
These truffles (given that you have the proper tools and ingredients) are easy [...]
Note: This is a “cooking-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” post. Recipe and instructions are approximate and to the best of my shoddy memory.
This year, I wanted to try my hand at making pineapple tarts, a traditional Chinese New Year treat. As I didn’t have any pineapple on hand, I substituted some frozen persimmon pulp, cooking it down with enough [...]
I’ve been horribly lax in my postings here (last post was about Halloween cookies!), but I’ve had good reasons. In an effort to alleviate some health problems I’ve had since my university days, I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist. Along with the acupuncture treatments, my doctor had me changing my diet from week to week in [...]
