Born Again Pizza Piety

Yesterday I redid the Greek yogurt pizza recipe. This is an interesting recipe that originated on Pinterest and has been circulating the web. The crust recipe is easy enough to find and easier to make: self rising flour + plan Greek yogurt. That's all you need. I didn't have self rising flour so I did mine with regular flour, baking powder, and salt for the crust.

Last time I made this with my friend Karen and we screwed it up royally. It's like, the easiest crust recipe on earth but we made it too sticky and we didn't take time I knead it :-/

This time, I made my own sauce using tomato paste, and topped the pizza with black beans, mexican and parmesan cheeses, and cherry tomato halves. O so good! Definitely deserves a repeat. Next time I'll make it with my gluten intolerant friend and rice flour. Mmm.

xo, Kristin

One Skillet Wonder

A few months ago I started subscribing to Bon Appetit in the hope that somehow their cooking knowledge would somehow osmosis into my brain just by salivating over the wonderfully arranged food photography. Unfortunately that's not how things worked.

This month Bon Appetit actually had a few recipes for food ne sais pas people like me: one skillet wonders. Basically you throw all the ingredients into one skillet and cook it. That's what I like to hear!!

And it turned out well. Can't believe it.

xo, Kristin

Pumpkin Bread & Muffins

Since we had a snow day Wednesday, I didn't have to go into the high school to teach. To celebrate I made pumpkin pancakes, and then on Thursday decided to use the left over canned pumpkin to make pumpkin bread!

For a few months I've been meaning to make pumpkin bread. I used this recipe for both the bread and the mini-muffins. They turned out great! I devoured the bread yesterday with my family and we've been steadily working on the muffins. This is definitely a repeat recipe.

xo, Kristin

Pizza Piety

My two friends from undergrad, Inky and Karen were over this week for New Year's. We had a nice Baldwin House reunion and were finally able to hang out without the stress of schoolwork hanging over our heads, which meant that we had time to experiment a little in the kitchen.

So was birthed this pizza. We used whatever I had in the fridge and pantry. The dough is made from 3 ingredients: flour, baking powder, and plain greek yogurt (using a take on this recipe). On top is grated cheese, pasta sauce, corn, mixed greens, leftover ham, and some sliced up hard boiled eggs for the vegetarian half of the pizza. 

Once it was cooked, it was tasty but the dough wasn't very crispy. Next time we need to actually knead the pizza dough, and maybe spread it a little thinner for a crispier crust. This definitely calls for a repeat!

We finished off the meal by whipping together some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

xo, Kristin

Study Break Pancake!

Just as the title says. Mmmm chocolate chips <3

xo, Kristin

It's Chili in Here

It's almost winter. It's cold out. It's chili season!

Chili is so easy, I don't know why I haven't made it before. I used one of those McCormick's packets, a pound of beef, and then added in canned and fresh vegetables:

Chili isn't really a picture-friendly food, but although it may look gross, trust me--it was good. I made enough to have leftovers, and I'm looking forward to eating the rest tomorrow. Hopefully chili's like soup, and it'll be even better the second time around. 

Update (1/4) - Chili is not like soup.

xo, Kristin

Ginger Binger

Last weekend I went to NYC to visit a friend from study abroad and ended up eating ridiculous amounts of candied ginger. When I got home to Northampton, I decided that it would be fun and cheaper to try making my own.

The whole candying process went OK. I followed this recipe. In the end, my ginger was soft and VERY sweet. Too sweet even though I skipped the step where you roll it in sugar. I think I cooked the syrup too long, because it was really thick when I removed the ginger from the pot.

All that means is that there was a thick coating of sugar on the finished product. I really didn't like how sweet it was, so I ended up washing off the sugary coating and snacking on the semi-sweet ginger bits.

I think I'll try this again. It's something you definitely need to practice to get right, I think.

xo, Kristin

Grandma's birthday

Tomorrow is my grandma's birthday and tonight my mom and I threw her a mini-party with just the three of us. My mom made great steak with mushroom sauce. There was also shrimp, to make it surf and turf.

We finished it off with a birthday cake my mom and I collaborated on: chocolate with peanut butter frosting. Mmmm....

xo, Kristin

Indian Balloon Bread

Today I went to my aunt's for a study party and dinner. My aunt is also doing a masters in teaching program and so it's convenient to get together for study parties to complain about school and eat. This time she made an awesome dinner. I will not try to take credit for her great skills. 

Anyway, she made some kind of thai soup with pumpkin, lemon grass, sweet potato, and coconut milk. She also made Indian balloon bread. It's so funny! I think I'll have to try it sometime. The recipe is simple, mostly flour, butter, and peanut oil.

Then you roll the dough out into circles and pop it in some hot peanut oil. As they fry, an air pocket forms within the dough and poofs them up into "balloons." It was neat to watch.

xo, Kristin

My aunt made the dough, but I rolled them out. You can tell by their oblong shape...

Becoming balloons!

Soup du Jour-ney

I've hit a lot of bumps on this food journey. Most of those bumps consist of studying and lack of time. None of them include food poisoning...so far...

That is why I'm happy to say that today's food adventure had a happy ending. My friend Carly is staying with me and she suggested we do an escarole soup tonight. Through teamwork we made it work!

Paired with beer and Hungry Ghost bread, it was an awesome meal!

It was a take on this recipe.

xo, Kristin

Peppers are pretty

I keep it real simple when I cook. I might tell you it's part of some back-to-the-earth, respecting the ingredients world view, but it's just because I'm lazy. Every night I pick one meat and one (maybe 2!) vegetables, and go crazy with salt, pepper, and sometimes yuzu/soy sauce/miso. Tonight was some meat thing and some peppers! They're so pretty!!

Martin

InBread Eggs

I made bread for the first time! It's for a soup party I'm going to tomorrow in CT. Decided on braided Easter egg bread because I had it before and I thought it looked pretty. I also like how the eggs are peaking through like HIDDEN TREASURES :D

Recipe found here.

Xo, Kristin

Before

After!

BLT, no witty title required

This, hands down, has the highest ratio of deliciousness to preparation difficulty that I have encountered in my time in Japan. There's nothing like a BLT. Especially with a ton of Japanese mayo.

Still no instagram. Don't judge. The light in my apartment makes everything look clammy. People too.

Martin

Halloween cookies

Happy Halloween (almost)!

Yesterday my dorm threw a Halloween party and I made cookies. Foot-, hand- and bat-shaped sugar cookies.

I also made regular and vegan pumpkin cookies, which aren't pictured. Wow they were so good. I'll make them again and post pictures <3

Recipe found here.

Xo, Kristin

Don't chicken out

I'm terrible at cooking meat. I can cook ground beef and make burgers, but when it comes to other forms of meat, I think I'm going to inadvertently poison myself...

That's why yesterday I prepared meat things for the first time ever. Under the tutelage of my housemate, I produced tonkatsu sauce marinated chicken. So tender, so juicy, so good. Haven't contracted salmonella yet.

xo Kristin

Things with Sauce: A Thematic Dinner

Wednesday nights tend to be my least busy. So, I often go to a friend's house, or a bar, or consider going for a run before I ultimately decide not to. The previous Wednesday I managed to do all those things and still cook dinner.

First up is hamburgers. They're comprised of beef, tofu, lazily-chopped carrots, and other things. The store didn't actually have buns, so the bread is some roll filled with mayo and corn. As suggested by the title of this post, I made sauce!

Part 2 was supposed to be on the same plate, but I accidentally ate the hamburgers while the eggplant was cooking. Anyway, this is roasted eggplant (with miso sauce!)

I wish I could get a real pumpkin here. I really want some pumpkin.

Martin

Pumpkin pancakes

Happy October! Here in Massachusetts the leaves have changed colors, there're a lot of gourds everywhere, and it's sort of getting cold.

In celebration of this most fab season, and fall break, my high school friend Allie and I made the pinnacle of all fall foods: pumpkin pancakes!!!

So tasty, so easy, so fall.

Recipe found here.

xo, Kristin

Meat me there.

Today I was having such a craving, and so for dinner I thawed some ground turkey and made turkey burgers!

Outfitted with oat bread, ketchup, and spinach, it was soooo good.

Finally, I paired it with a side of sweet dumpling squash: a teeny but colorful autumn squash I found at Stop and Shop last week :)

xo, Kristin

Cereal, French Toast, Miracle

Sometimes you just miss the old country. Today was one of those days. So, I decided to reward myself in advance for all the cleaning I'm about to do.

I swear those eggs looked better in real life.

Possibly the only brand of cereal in all of Shimabara. It says "corn flakes." Apparently it's also good in salad. Nifty.

Martin

J'aime 昼飯

Lunch. Brie, apples, and tofu. Makes me feel very French for some reason despite the tofu and lack of baguette.

xo, Kristin