over fall break, my roommate and i had the luxury of carving jack-o-lanterns and then...having a humongous haul of pumpkin seeds! of course, what do you do with a plethora of little slimy seeds? 

check out what we did vvvvvv

ingredients!!!
1 tablespoon of butter
2 1/2 cups of raw pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 tablespoon of corn syrup
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
salt

what to do!!!
preheat your oven to 270 degrees f
in a colander, wash your pumpkin seeds until the pulp is all gone. i like to stir them using a whisking motion with my open hand.
in the meantime, melt your butter in the microwave
when they are all clean, transfer to a buttered bowl and add the melted butter corn syrup, brown sugar, and honey and mix thoroughly.
spoon onto a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or butter. make sure you do your best to make a flat layer (i know it's hard because they're sticky! you can do it!).
sprinkle about 2-3 teaspoons of salt (or to taste) on top.
pop it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then stir and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Take it out, stir, test a seed to see if it's crispy, soggy, or undersalted. If it's still a little chewy, pop 'em in until you get a beautiful caramelized seed that crunches immediately when chewed.

AND YOU ARE DONE!
you will be addicted at first bite. i promise that if you love sweet 'n salty treats, then this will be the most amazing halloween-y/autumn-y snack you will have this season (candy? what candy???).

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEN!!!!!!!!

lo and behold, the epitome of baking problem solving lies right before your eyes...

it was rather fortunate that neither my roommate nor myself thought, "hey, we need a pie tin for our apartment, you know, because we're gonna be baking pie!" because otherwise, this post would've never come into existence, and therefore, i would never have the joy in life to experience cupcake-sized-mini-pies. trust me, when it comes to handheld pies, turnovers are cool, hand pies are chill, and fruity empanadas are awesome...but this takes the cake. er. pie. anyway, if you want the complete pie experience in micro-gastric form, you have come to the right place!

if you're also pressed for time, cooking skill, money, or a combination of the three, then you can  and use canned pie filling. of course, i will always recommend a homemade filling, in which i will always suggest you use your favorite, divine filling recipe for your mini pies - but i will never, ever judge you for using premade filling. well of course, because i did the same thing once (ahhh, college budgets and college schedules, such sweet things in life).

before i start on the instructions, i have a quick, funny (kind of) story about pie and me.

last year was my first year of art school, art foundation, in which i took classes (think gen ed of art) to create a portfolio that decided which major i would officially be placed in for the next three years of college. basically it's applying for the art school again and it's a mix of learning to be a versatile artist and a huge weeding out process. 

anyway, in my spring semester drawing studio class, we had to create two dual self-portraits in charcoal that somehow connected to each other. we had to also alter our appearance in some way that was creative and out of our comfort zone. of course, i got some crazy idea that lead to a shopping trip at the nearest grocery store which resulted in a more-than-happy roommate to...pie me in the face. yes, you did not read that wrong. she pied me straight up in the head, in all of my crumbly, cherried splendor. i shrieked, she was a mix of feeling guilty and feeling thrilled that she had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. it was g r e a t.

the shower i took afterwards was one of the strangest hygiene experiences of my life. having sickly-sweet, cherry-scented hair was an interesting by product of my pie-ing. long story short, the other half of my dual portrait duo resulted in me layering strips of raw pie dough over my face and having a classmate drizzle cherry pie filling over that. i was aiming for jennifer-becomes-the-pie but to be honest, i ended up looking like i came straight out of a horror film. and not even remotely in a possibly good way. and then the rest of the semester people always thought of pie and me as a package deal. 

SO okay enough of me rambling, here's what you really want! 

ingredients!!!

for the filling

4 pints of fresh blueberries, divided in half

2 tablespoons of cornstarch
3/4 cups of white sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold butter
-
2 teaspoons of ginger
plus
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
or
1 teaspoon of nutmeg 

for the pie crust (my go-to by the ever-amazing williams sonoma)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon white granulated sugar + more for sprinkling (about 2 tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

3 tablespoons of ice water
egg wash
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water 

what to do!!!
1. preheat your oven to 400 degrees (f). i'll redirect you to how to assemble this pie crust - just follow the instructions in part one and you will be perfectly set!
2. meanwhile while you set your pie crust to chill, place one half of your blueberries, lemon juice, cornstarch, nutmeg/orange rind, and sugar into a pot and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft and bubbly. when done, add in the remainder of your blueberries and the butter, toss gently to combine, and set aside to cool.

3. roll out your pie crust on a prepared surface until it is 1/8 inch thick. using a floured glass or a large circle cookie cutter, cut out circles. with the remainder of the dough, cut thin strips if you want to make a lattice. i aimed to make my strips the width of a match stick and at least the length of the diameter of the cups. i know, we're bringing in mathy stuff, but it's gonna be worth it.

4. press the circles gently into your muffin tin (which you can either butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray), making sure that the edges are evenly pressed against the sides of the cups.

5. spoon in your filling so it reaches 3/4 of the way up. DO NOT (i know, i brought out caps so this is u r g e n t) fill it up anymore than that otherwise your pies will flip out and splatter and it will not be as pretty. they'll still taste good.
6. lattice away with your strips if you want to do that! then scramble your egg in a separate bowl and then mix in the water to create your wash. lightly brush it on with a pastry brush or with the back of a spoon. then sprinkle on your reserved sugar.

7. pop your little pies into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes! then let it cool before popping them out (if you need help, i used two spoons to get 'em out - twist, then lift). eat warm or...cold. in the middle of the night. while watching sappy romantic tragedies (i really recommend the 2013 version of romeo and juliet).

e n j o y!

so, it's been a couple of weeks since i've moved into my apartment and started classes, and i thought tonight was finally the time to inaugurate the beginning of my apartment cooking antics. the past few weeks haven't been too eventful - think tons of spaghetti and jarred tomato sauce, interestingly-cobbled together dinners, and the occasional dinner out with friends. a lot has happened in the past two weeks, so I didn't mind the quick lunches and dinners.

however, tonight is a calm friday night. i had no classes, i spent time catching up on sleep (when your average school week slumber totals to 4 hours a night, sleep is really important) and finally discovering the beauty of half-gallon jugs of milk at the nearby 7-11. my roommate is currently fighting off the cold-monster, so that means i have free range to experiment with recipes. plus, i needed something in my repertoire that hit all the food groups because after the past few weeks of relying on stomach-filling, carby foods, i was feeling bloaty and gross. i need me my vegetables!

what else would i do than to settle for comfort food after a long week of kicking butt (or getting my butt kicked?) in my graphic design classes?

with low rations and my friendly neighborhood bisquick box handy, i whipped this up in half an hour and it tasted like childhood memories. when i was little, my dad used to make delicious chicken and dumplings and mysteriously that came to an abrupt end when i discovered that mom wasn't fond of the dish (the funny thing is, i heard that's the first dish he made for her when they were dating!).

i had an interesting time trying to create a name for this recipe.

chicken and dumplings a la struggling art major? (depressing)
chicken n dumplin's a la apartment lazy sloth? (also depressing...and it makes me look bad)
chicken and dumplings a la bisquick (a frequent accomplice)

anyway, here's what i cobbled together and it tastes pretty darn close to the original dish i ate as a kid. perhaps i remember it tasting even better in memory, but i'll give my dad the prize for the chicken and dumplings. but for now, this is definitely still very delicious!

ingredients!!! (for one hungry jennifer or two people)

1 tablespoon flour
1.5 tablespoon butter (salted or unsalted is up to you - just be aware of the salt you season with!)
1 cup of milk, with more to adjust consistency accordingly
1 cup of chicken stock
1 stalk of celery
1/4 zucchini
1/4 medium white onion
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 cloves of garlic, minced OR 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic powder
salt
black pepper
paprika
1/4 cup bisquick mix
1/6 cup milk

what to do!!!

1. dice the chicken into small pieces, season with paprika and a touch of salt. set aside. chop up your veggies however you like. i went for the scoop-with-spoon-and-get-a-bit-of-everything so i aimed for a smaller dice.
2. melt your butter on medium-low heat in a small saucepan. and cook the onion and celery until tender, then scoop out, reserving the butter in the pan, and then put them into a medium sized pot.
3. in the remaining butter, sprinkle in the flour and raise the heat to medium, stirring until the mixture thickens and forms a roux. when the mixture thickens and starts to brown a little, turn off the heat and set aside.
4. in the pot with the veggies, pour over the chicken stock and turn up the heat to medium until it boils. once it boils, add your diced chicken and cook for about 6 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. raise the heat so the soup comes to a boil.
5. in a bowl, combine the bisquick with the milk until it forms a sticky dough. to save time and another spoon to wash, mix with a large soup spoon. scoop the dough out a spoonful at a time and use a wet finger to slide it into the soup. the dough yielded 2 beautiful little baby dumplings, but feel free to make them smaller...or one big dumpling. that's cool too. let it boil for 10 minutes.
6. in the meantime, pour the milk into the roux pan and over low heat, mix until the roux dissolves into the milk mixture. add the garlic, then salt and pepper the milk to taste. the white sauce will start to thicken a so it is the consistency of cream of mushroom soup, and when it does, turn off the heat. it will continue to thicken as it sits in the warm pan.
7. after the ten minutes pass, stare in utter amazement as you see how much your dumpling babies have grown to absolute dumpling giants, and add the zucchini to the dumpling pot and cover. it's okay to arrange the zucchini around the dumpling because it'll steam in the pot. cover the pot with a lid and let it boil for another 10 minutes.
8. when the ten minutes is up, spoon a dumpling into a bowl with a slotted spoon. arrange the vegetables and chicken around it, then spoon the white sauce over it. add additional pepper to taste, and enjoy!

(side note: alrighty, so you probably wondered why i didn't direct you to just cook the chicken and dumplings in the white cream sauce...but don't worry, i got an explanation. when cooking chicken, you need to have a high cooking temperature to fully kill salmonella and cook the chicken properly and if you try to boil milk for a long period of time, it will curdle and taste weird and will definitely ruin all types of chicken 'n dumpling happiness you had in your mind. trust me, i've tried this. so cook it separately, and if you know a cure-all for this, let me know!)

lately
i've gone through formal recruitment and i've accept a bid to the alpha omicron pi fraternity
i've learned in design tech class that using the brightness/contrast adjustment in photoshop is a huge no-no
i've fallen in love with the color red.
i'm obsessed with this recipe for mochi bites and i really want to try this
i'm on the prowl for emerald green heels (so let me know if you find some at a reasonable price!)

well, it's been quite a while (okay, like a week and a half) since i've talked to you guys and it's been cr-a-zy moving across the country into my very own apartment and starting official graphic design-y classes which is quite thrilling for a young (?) girl/lady/person of 19. i'm still very much in my not-quite-girl-not-quite-woman but having my own apartment with my own set of pots and pans to share with a roommate is one step closer to womanhood. eh, if you can call it that.

so today's post won't feature a recipe. i know, i'm actually really bummed, but the culture shock of not having a well stocked kitchen threw me off (miss you, mom and dad) so i haven't done any recipe testing...or anything close to cooking what i usually do at home. i didn't realize that $70 worth of groceries really didn't get you much besides a 5 pound bag of rice, celery, panko, chicken breasts (6), erm, zucchini, canned fruit and veggies, and whole wheat angel hair. so, this little bit helped me appreciate my parents a looooot more and motivated me to get a membership card to my local grocery store. and lugging 4 bags of groceries is NOT a good idea to do when you're crossing a major street and 3 of the bags decide to break when you're dashing across the crosswalk. 

meanwhile, i've started my classes, which are surprisingly (not really), very work-intensive in and out of class. 2,000 photos taken by wednesday? yep, you bet. 3 critiques by the 2nd week of school? hah, done. crying after seeing your receipt when you hit the nearby art supply store (plus, i even used two discount cards, and half of the things were already on sale). guilty. they were little tears though.

today was my third official day of classes and after consoling myself during a coffee break with half a blueberry scone and a small hot chocolate (coffee wimp, woe is me), and eating the rest of the scone with a mug of warm tea after a crazy day, i got some alone time to just relax and calm down. i'm going to admit to you that i freak out a lot when it comes to stress and the impending stress i know i will face head-on and so on and so forth...but sitting here, while juggling five things (drinking tea, eating the last of the scone, listening to an online lecture, taking notes, and...breathing) i feel pretty darn accomplished. really. i even posted a somewhat content status on facebook about it.

now that it's been twenty minutes since i posted that, i can't even remember what character i had in mine. definitely someone klutzy and scatter-brained like me. let me know if you know any book characters like that. but it's really good to have some meditation time (my version of that is blogging while doing a kajillion other things at the same moment) and appreciate everything. particularly my parents (yes, i'm still thankful!)

anyway, hopefully i can drag myself to the grocery store and get some more foodsy stuff so i can eat a well-rounded meal and then make something great to share with you guys! otherwise, expect to see a tutorial on how to master ramen or something sad like that.

hope everyone is well and please, enjoy good food for me.

serves 4.

the night before i head off to college, my parents always let me choose what we're going to eat for my last meal in california, whether it's going to the local mexican restaurant or eating sushi at our favorite japanese place. this time, after spending last thanksgiving away from my family, i decided that i wanted to have a thanksgiving-style dinner that would make up for the feast i would miss while i'm away at school. not only that, i wanted to make it myself. i enlisted my brother to be my assistant, and in lieu of the traditional turkey, we settled for small cornish game hens. my mum always talked about them when i mentioned having a turkey dinner, but didn't desire all the leftovers that remained after carving a hulkin' bird. i also didn't realize how cute they were. bundled up in plastic wrappings, i stared at them in awe on my kitchen counter. they can be around $2.00 per lb. so i was super thrilled because i knew that i would be making these for the mere fraction of the price versus going to eat a thanksgiving-style turkey dinner.

well, later that night, when i wiped the sweat from my brow and laid out steaming dishes of my thanksgiving favorites, i tasted a little bite of the meat to test the flavoring and my eyes almost rolled to the back of my head. it was that good. i knew i just couldn't keep this recipe a secret. so, here it goes!

ingredients!!!
2 cornish game hens
4-5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons of sherry
- for the spice rub -
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

to start, preheat your oven to 470 F

cut the cornish hens from its wrappings and pat the skin dry with a paper towel. with a cleaver or other meat-preparing knife of your choice, cut slengthwise down the center of the chicken. if not already gutted, clean out the innards of your halved hens. 

dry off excess moisture off the skin again and place in a foil-lined baking pan, cut side down. make sure to leave space in between each hen half!

rub the outside of each hen each with a 1/2 tablespoon olive oil until fully covered.

in a separate bowl, mix together the spices for the spice rub.

sprinkle the rub on top of the oiled hens and massage into the skin. lift up the wings and drumstick and sprinkle additional rub for even more flavor. when every halve is rubbed in, place the pan into the oven and roast for 25 minutes.

in a separate bowl, mix in the remaining olive oil with the sherry.

after 25 minutes, take the hens out and lower the heat to 350 F. while the oven is cooling, quickly baste, spoon, or drizzle the olive oil and sherry mix on top of the hens. i also like to baste the hens with a bit of its own juices to lock in some extra flavor. at this point, the hens should be a light golden brown and smell slightly fragrant.

when you are done, quickly place in the oven and roast for another 25 minutes.

when you are done, remove the baking pan from the oven and place on a heatproof surface. the skin should be a golden brown and shiny, and when pierced with the tip of a knife, the meat should have clear liquid stream out from it. if the liquid does not come out, place back in the oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes. cover with foil until ready to serve!

in the meantime, you can also whip up some of my favorite things to eat. ever. 

mashed poooootatooooooooes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's really quick! make this while your hens are roasting!

this is a really simple side that helps give your hen or other flavorful entree time to shine while adding its own simple, yet rich flavor.

ingredients!!!

6-8 large red potatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup of butter
3/4 cup of half-and-half, cream, or milk
4 large cloves of garlic, finely minced.

what to do!!!

1. peel and cut your potatoes into 12 chunks and let the pieces soak in cold water for 5 minutes. strain and set aside.
2. boil enough water to cover your potatoes, usually 5-7 cups depending on the size of your potatoes. once it reaches a boiling point, add the potatoes and boil for 20 minutes.
3. when you can easily pierce and shake off a piece of potato off a skewer or fork, then they are ready. strain the potatoes and replace them back in the hot, empty pot. immediately mash your potatoes until small lumps remain.
4. add the butter in small chunks and mash until the potatoes become smooth. fold the potatoes with a spatula to ensure that the butter is completely incorporated.
5. add the salt and half-and-half; adjust both salt and half-and-half to get the taste and texture that you want.
6. cover until ready to eat! to reheat, simply place the pot on a med-low flame and stir to combine and heat evenly.

so i'm really super duper excited to share this moment with you because it's my first time contributing to a mag. apparently "mags" are the cool thing - cue rookie, an online mag that is made by and is for teenage girls. inspired by rookie, a new online mag has been started that is also aimed for the teenage audience - witzel! right now it's in its baby stages and august is their first month of postings. as someone who is part of the witzel team, i just have to say how amazing it is how a team of girls from all over the world can join together to make something great - something that is motivating and aimed for teenage girls - a time when personal growth is so important. as someone who is at the tail end of her teenage years, i found that sharing my rather sagely advice is something i really love. and while incorporating that through my love of cooking, baking, writing, and creating, i've finally found an outlet to give back...one post at a time. for now, they have a tumblr to post until they're able to get their site up. so check it out here and let me know what you think!

so, my first article is something i thought would be a little light hearted and it fits right into the theme of "growing up" - kinda. well i figured, heck, in life you have to make a lot of decisions...and decisions can be really tough no matter what age. but when you grow up, you realize that your decisions lead to different roads of life. here, in this recipe, you don't have to choose. you can just have both. you can save the hard work for the important decisions, and eat your cake too.

so...enjoy! read the article here.

hello! i spent a marvelous night with my two friends from high school and we decided that instead of roaming around our area in search for cute cafés and local band shows (oh, and our share of beaches), we decided to have a night in and get some pamperin' done! so, okay, we did have lunch at a cute café and had some delicious iced teas with out dainty sandwiches but the highlight was our self proclaimed "spa day"...er rather...spa night...

after raiding trader joe's for some coconut oil, avocados, and other luxurious and healthy sounding ingredients, we headed to my place to start our mixing and mashing! i discovered the beauty that is coconut oil. at first, a whiff of the jar gave me a coconut headache but when it's melted in my skin and hair...it smells like...heaven. plus, how thrilling is it to scoop mounds of this snowy mush into a bowl and watch it melt into a clear puddle??????? it's super exciting to me. super enthralled!

anyway, here are two of my recipes to get your skin feeling soft and moisturized! woooo!

super delicious and makes your skin feel deliciously soft afterwards! don't get too tempted to lick it off before you rub it on your lips! 

ingredients!!!

2.5 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/4 cup of brown sugar
a few drops of vanilla extract

what to do!!!
combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon. with a clean finger, daub it on your lips and scrub gently using circular motions. wipe off with a warm towel (or lick it off, as one of my friends did!). in the shower, apply a generous scoop and rub on arms and legs with a damp washcloth or your hands. 

similar to a mud mask in consistency, this mask helps improve blood circulation. when you take it off, your skin will feel warm and glowy! this is great after a cool dip in the pool or after a snowy day in winter.

ingredients!!!

1/2 avocado
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 table honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

what to do!!!
mash the avocado in a bowl with a fork, or blend in a food processor if you don't want it to be chunky. add in the coconut oil, honey, and cinnamon and mix to combine thoroughly. on a clean face, apply with your hands or a clean foundation brush to the face and massage the skin in the direction of the facial muscles. let it sit on the skin for 10 minutes. you might feel a slight tingling, which is caused by the cinnamon encouraging blood flow below the skin's surface. if it causes irritation, wash off immediately. wash off by first removing the excess mask with a damp towel, then rinsing with warm water, following with a dose of your favorite face wash.

let me know your success with these treatments when you have your next do-it-yourself spa experience! comment below!