Batch 211

I've eaten so many baos to come up with this recipe for an upcoming Lunar New Year cooking demo. These are filled with a western-style custard and styled to celebrate the year of the horse. 恭喜發財! 🐴

Are you leaving cookies out for Santa or Vecna this year? Either way, I hope they like this year's selection of ginger cookies, earl grey shortbread, and matcha butter cookies. No milk because we're lactose.

11.11 might be Pocky Day, but maybe we should consider it to also be chopstick day!

Always happy to shoot with Cropsticks - especially when it includes some new, sustainable additions! Can confirm that they're very durable and will not fall apart in the middle of eating/drinking (I'm looking at you, other brands of paper straws 👀).

Starting soup season off strong with a hearty bún riêu-inspired bowl. Pre-cut king crab legs added the perfect amount of sweet and savory goodness and truly elevated this dish. 🦀 Just missing some bean sprouts because I can seldom find good sprouts at the store here in WA!

Adapted King Arthur Baking Company's recipe for scones (my favorite so far!) and added ginger and scallions. Already thinking about making these again and keeping some in the freezer for a quick bake. They're super fragrant and remind me of a Taiwanese scallion shaobing - another item I need to make again soon!

Why is it chicken soup for the soul and not duck pho? Or what about a hearty Taiwanese beef noodle soup? I'm okay with bun bo hue, pozole verde, ramen, sinigang, or yukgaejang too. TBH, I'll be happy with almost any soup, any time. RIP Souplantation. 😢

Had a whole day of baking macarons at the shop and still wanted to make more when I came home. 😵‍💫 The little ghosts have a chocolate raspberry ganache, and the pumpkins have a PSL buttercream. I know I’m a day late for Halloween; so boo me.

This is how my breakfasts have been looking like lately: rye bread from a local Russian/eastern European store I visited for the first time. Super smokey king salmon made locally. The first of my heirloom tomatoes because I planted them too late. Plus standard cream cheese and scallions from the regular western grocery store. All in all, a highlight of my mornings!

My first time doing some cookie decorating with icing, and whew - it was a little rough. Didn't quite get the consistency right for the flood, but after multiple rounds of adjusting, I finally managed to get a few decent looking ones. I'm always happy to learn a new skill, but I'll say that this kind of sugar cookie decorating is not a favorite for me. Obviously fueled by Mario Kart and on hojicha flavored cookies.

When the ahjumma at H-Mart tells you to get The Mandoo, you buy the mandu. Super excited to see these back in store and on sale ! Ended up getting the veggie and the mushroom dumplings this time around. These are definitely the best frozen vegetarian dumplings I've had - and I've eaten/made a lot of dumplings. Only wish they had more availability in stores!

Made the Mango Lime Cheesecake from by , and it is everything I dreamed it would be! The only things I would change next time would be the crust (not enough moisture and therefore, too crumbly) and to omit the parchment lining the sides of the pan, as it made my edges really uneven. Otherwise, the taste (hint of cardamom!) and texture are absolute perfection.