Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pieeee

Ah, Chicken Pot Pie, what can be more traditionally American than this. Unfortunately, I do not come from a traditionally American family so I can't share any fond "mom baking chicken pot pie" memories (she makes a killer okonomiyaki tho).

It's a dish that always intrigued me. I mean, the idea of sticking a savory stew in a flaky pie crust? Ingenious! When I did try one it was a Pepperidge Farm frozen pot pie...which left my taste buds unenthused.

So, I decided to make one from scratch. Following a Cook's Illustrated recipe I overcame my trepidation of making pie crusts, pulled out the food processor and made some pie dough.

You put in how much butter? Oh my god, this crust is like 99% pure fat. Vodka?! Seriously? But that's what makes it so gooood.

For the filling I used a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. A very good site I highly recommend.

I divided the pot pie in to 4 small individual pies. The result was AWESOME. Almost makes me want to sing a little tune.

Na na na na na Banana Bread!

When life gives you mushy black bananas you make banana bread.

Sometimes I can't eat all my bananas in time so I freeze them to make this very delish quick bread.

This recipe is not the most low calorie but I've gotten good responses from it, so it's not just me that thinks it's yummy. Next time I'll try a low fat version and see how it compares.

Banana Bread Recipe:

8 servings. Approximately 300 calories per slice.

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 cups of mashed over ripe bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/2 cups of chopped walnuts optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray liberally.

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar until creamy. Whisk in eggs, then add mashed banana and heavy cream, mix well.

In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. (Make sure there are no clumps of baking soda or baking powder.)

Pour wet banana mixture onto the dry flour mixture. Add walnuts if desired.

This is the most important part DO NOT OVER MIX! Mix only for 10-15 seconds, by hand with spatula or whisk. Batter should be lumpy, streaks of flour in the batter is good. Lumpy batter will make the banana bread much more airy and rise higher.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour or until browned. Stick a toothpick in it, if it comes out clean it's done.

Cool the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool on rack completely.

Some people say banana bread tastes better if you wrap it in saran wrap and let it sit until the next day. Pfft, like I can wait that long. Enjoy!

Happy Fourth of July!

Independence day Muppet style.

The List

So here is my list of goals on 43 Things (yes, it's only 29, I might add more later). Some of these goals I want to achieve by the summer of 2009. Other goals are kinda of broad and general, like 'eat healthier'. These goals are meant as life long goals, so they'll never really be checked off.

Check back to see how I'm doing and cheer me on or berate me when I slack off! It'll motivate me regardless!

1. run the new york marathon 62 people
2. get in shape 7571 people
3. lose 20 lbs 925 people
4. eat healthier 7864 people
5. go to the doctor 132 people
6. get a personal trainer 41 people
7. take more pictures 12121 people
8. finish my comic book 31 people
9. update my website 283 people
10. take art classes 106 people
11. draw more 1672 people
12. become a freelance artist 5 people
13. create an online cartoon 57 people
14. be more green 153 people
15. grow an herb garden 568 people
16. watch more movies 639 people
17. read more books 9080 people
18. move to california 847 people
19. improve my grammar 133 people
20. visit england 515 people
21. visit france 498 people
22. live abroad 1024 people
23. make more friends 4155 people
24. be better at correspondence 5 people
25. give blood 2406 people
26. be more creative 1391 people
27. dress better 1009 people
28. reduce clutter 61 people
29. hang art on the walls 18 people

Strawberry Pie

Strawberries are in season.

In an effort to eat healthier, I have been eating more berries. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, all chock full of yummy nutrients. I used to not eat them as much, because well, they're expensive! But I realized they're more expensive (and less tasty) in Hawaii so I'd better not complain. I usually consume them with plain yogurt but I suddenly had a craving for Strawberry Pie. Not just any pie, Anna Miller's Strawberry Pie.

There's a restaurant in Hawaii called Anna Miller's and they are especially known for their strawberry pie with custard. Alas, there is no Anna Miller's in New York (that I know of) but that ain't gonna stop me from having MY PIE!

So I made one. There wasn't an exact recipe I could find online so I had to cull different recipes together. The result? It came out pretty well. The pie crust was too hard and the strawberry topping was kind of messy looking, but the vanilla custard? Daaaamn that's good custard!

I'm planning to make an improved 2.0 version. In version 2.0 I plan to use a diabolical secret ingredient to make it far superior than the Anna Miller pie. Muahahaha!

The Second New Year. I'm Back. Anybody Miss Me?

Boy, it's been a while since I last blogged. According to the date on the post below it was early December last year, eugh.

Not good, not good at all. Why the long hiatus? Well, I blame the winter blahs. Being a girl from the sunny tropics, I need solar energy to charge my batteries. I blame the lack of sun and the cold weather for the listlessness. That sounds plausible, right?

Well, the sun is shining bright now and now there's no excuse. I'm re-committing myself to my many resolutions, projects and goals. I'm treating the arrival of summer as something like a 2nd New Year.

I've decided to use this blog to document on how I'm coming along with these goals. Some are small like 'Eat more spinach', others are more daunting like 'Run the 2008 New York Marathon'.

There's so many things that I want to do within this 2008-2009 year. One interesting site I found was 43 things. You basically list our goals and share with others. It's interesting to see so many common goals and how each person is trying to achieve them.

I started an account in 2005, I think it's time to update my goals to commemorate my 2nd New Year of 2008.

Invisible Woman

Time..for..sleep now....snzzzkt.