snack bites at the park: everything flatbread from California

Out in the Country

We went out to the countryside this weekend 🙂  It was so nice and refreshing!  The weather was gorgeous — not too hot — and even though it rained A LOT earlier in the week, it was beautiful during the weekend!  Anyway, we hiked, looked at cows, saw different types of birds, etc.  It was GREAT!!!  Actually we were there for a sponsored program — their night walk.  Unfortunately and apparently they changed the program at the last minute and so we didn’t see any owls!  Oh well … but we did get to hear a ghost story though.  But owls vs. ghost story?  I think I’d take owls anytime!  No stars nor the Milky Way either, still too bright I suppose.  And the full moon certainly didn’t help matters — see how bright the moon was!!!

Bright Moon at Dusk

It certainly was very beautiful!  I loved the view of the surrounding valleys and farms.

ANYWAY, this is a food blog!  So I work food in all my posts!  Of course after hiking and what not, and a very unsuccessful attempt at seeing woodpeckers, we decided to eat!  I didn’t take photos, but we had brownies (YUM!  so very chocolate-y), ham, 3 types of bread (cherry chocolate which I featured on this blog before and sour dough and rye), a large tub of mangoes, a tub of blueberries, a tub of blackberries, dried mangoes, granola bars, and also the following everything crackers!  (Oh wait, did I mention that we were only 2 people??? 😀 )  These everything flatbread crackers were GOOD!

California Everything Flatbread

Everything flatbread from CA!  Well I call them snack bites but the other day I ate 1/2 a pack upon opening 😀  They are the kind of savory treat that I like; not too oily but full of flavor (I generally don’t like it when you pick up something, like a chip, and your fingers become all greasy).  Anyway, they are a delight to eat.  Full of sesame and caraway seed + salty flavor.  They are very good either on their own (which is how I tend to eat them since I don’t usually like their usual accompaniments) or you can pair them with cheese (spreadable) or jam or pate, or any other delicious goodies!  Have you tried membrillo, aka quince paste?  You should definitely try it!  Membrillo has both the sour and sweet, kind of plum tasting but apple-ish too!  Here’s the original bag.

These also come in sesame flavor, which I have also had.  They were very good, but then why limit yourself to only sesame when you can get sesame plus everything else?  You can find them at WF!

Delicious Yum 😀

So when you next go out on a picnic ….

snack bites: Funley’s Super Crackers

cornbread cracker

Cornbread crackers!  I LOVE cornbread and I LOVE crackers, so what’s not to like about these?  Actually, these don’t taste all that cornbread-y, but to make up for it these do taste a lot sweet potato-y!  So go figure.  In any case, they are good, wonderful crunchy, and very tasty.  Why bother putting them in 6 individualized packs?  You can easily finish a whole box in one sitting!

the box

These come in other flavors too.  But I’m partial to cornbread flavors 🙂

a bag of crackers

I like it how they have funny shapes imprinted on their crackers!  Do go get some at WF and indulge 😀

snack bites: pineapple buns

pineapple bun with pork floss filling

Pineapple buns!  Well, they aren’t made from pineapples, but the “streusel” on top is supposed to resemble the outer crust of a pineapple, and hence the name.  They are very traditional, and they come in all different varieties of flavors (e.g., you can get them plain, with mashed and sweetened adzuki bean paste, with taro paste, and with custard filling).  But whenever the market has them savory, like with pork floss filling (pork floss = pork really, plus sugar and other spices), I always get them!  I LOVE the sweetness of the bun with the saltiness of the pork!  A winning combination!!!

inside pork floss filling

Check out the abundance of the pork floss!!!  I dislike it if they don’t only put a meagre amount, but this supermarket version, although certainly not as good as the ones I’ve had (since the bun itself could be improved), didn’t disappoint in that regard 🙂

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!

recipes | fresh mango bread

fresh mango bread

Summer is on our heels, and with summer, mangoes!  I looooove mangoes!  Of all kinds and all varieties (well, maybe not all).  I can eat one large mango in 1 day 😀

Hence what can be more perfect than mango bread?

The bread was extremely moist, full of rich mango-ey flavor, and the spices worked really well together.  The raisins added a nice sweet touch.  I’ve made all other kinds of breads before, like zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini bread, banana bread, chocolate banana bread, and pumpkin bread even, but nothing is as wonderfully fragrant and unique as this mango bread.  This is one notch above your normal banana or zucchini bread!  Make it and you won’t be disappointed, that is a promise!

Besides, the recipe is adapted from the magnificent Dorie Greenspan, and so how can it be bad?

Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cups canola oil
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 packed cup brown sugar
  • 3 cups mangoes (I had 4 champagne mangoes, but the original called for only 2 cups)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • grated zest of 1 lime (omitted)
  • 1 cup walnuts (not in original recipe)

Basically, you mix the oil and eggs.  Chop up the mangoes and set aside with the raisins.  Mix everything else.  Then pour the wet into the dry and mix.  Fold the mangoes and raisins into the dough mixture.  Sprinkle your walnuts on top.  Preheat oven to 350 F and wait for 1 1/2 hour and voila!  You get to taste and smell the fragrance of this wonderful mango bread!!!  Oh, and if you find the top of your bread getting too brown during baking, cover loosely with foil tent.

This bread is actually better the second day, after the aromatic mangoes have had a chance to “settle” in the bread.  And, please cut thick large slices — the bread is very moist and hence thick slices are easier anyway.  But we like thick slices, don’t we?  The thicker the better, hee hee 😀

Enjoy!!!

recipes | oatmeal chocolate cherry bars

oatmeal chocolate cherry bars

I’m getting lazy about posting.  Blame it on busy-ness and life in general!  I actually don’t like most baked things unless they are brownies (brownies are a l.o.v.e., not a like, just so you know), but I do like trying out different recipes, including baked goods recipes (to the benefit of the TasteTester).  Anyway, if you like rich nutty chocolate-y bars studded with sweetened dried cherries (so that you get the tiny tang of the berries with the just-right sweetness of luscious chocolate), you should definitely try these bars.  I adapted the recipe from the inimitable Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Almost Cookie Bars (so how can they be bad, right?).  You won’t regret making them, promise!!!

Ingredients

Filling

  • 14 oz can condensed sweetened milk
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 TBSP unsalted butter (I omitted because I don’t like butter)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sweetened sour cherries
  • 2 TBSPS of good fruity white wine

Crust

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup canola oil (the original called for 2 sticks butter)
  • 2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup salted peanuts (I used 2 cups walnuts)

Mix the dry, mix the wet.  Make the filling by heating the chocolate over boiling water, pouring in condensed milk and salt and stir.  Then add in vanillas, cherries, and wine.  Reserve about 1 1/2 cup of the oatmeal mixture.  Layer the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan with oatmeal mixture, pour the filling on, and then sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal mixture on top.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, let cool for about 2 hours.

bars after baking

Refrigerate for about 1 hour before cutting.

goo-ey chocolate-y!  look at how thick the filling is 😀

Enjoy!!!

snack bites: soy-flavored eggs

individually wrapped soy sauce braised egg

This is a soy sauce braised egg.  Well, not just soy sauce technically, but soy sauce plus a number of other mouth watering spices in combination, such as cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, etc., and sugar.  I got a whole bag.

a package of 6 soy sauce braised eggs

You get six in a package, sealed tight individually.  They come as a snack rather than a main meal.  I don’t know what they put in the braising liquid but the eggs were delicious!  I can’t really describe the flavor but it was really nice and rich, full of dark spices simmering for a long time.  I looooved them so much that I couldn’t stop at just one … and as you imagine since there were only 6 per pack … I don’t need to say more about what happened to the eggs after I opened up the bag 😀

an individual egg

As a kids my mommy always made us these eggs and we always snacked on them after school.  In fact, I used to poke around the kitchen whenever my mommy made them (because you can smell them from miles away) and filched out a few before my mommy was done with the meat, heh heh!  You can also make your own braised eggs — but I’m way too lazy to do that.  That would involve hard boiling your eggs first and then braising the eggs in liquid, usually with some kind of meat.  See, too much effort!  This way, I get the delicious flavor of the soy sauce and spices, plus I do none of the work 😀  What better way to snack, right?

[See, my snacks are getting healthier; at least I’m getting nutrition from egg whites and yolks — okay okay, I know that this was an egg-yolk cholesterol overload ….]

An exercise in versatility: chicken & pork dumplings!!!

Dumplings, need I say more?  I’ve always liked dumplings since they are versatile; they can either be a late night (um … okay, sometimes early morning too) snack or a full meal on their own.  Plus, they are basically dough wrapped meat balls, so you can substitute any ingredient you want!  When we were kids my mother tried to get us to eat vegetables by making dumplings out of them — she didn’t fool me though!  I always picked out the carrots, heh heh!  Oh by the way, after you make your own you’ll no longer be satisfied with the meager fillings of commercially made dumplings!!!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb pork, minced
  • 1/2 lb chicken, minced
  • 1/2 cup carrots (yeah okay now that I’m no longer a kid I don’t dislike carrots that much, only some)
  • 1/2 napa cabbage, diced
  • 2 TBSP of soy sauce
  • dash of ground ginger
  • dash of sesame oil
  • store-bought dumpling wrappers

Dipping Sauce:  This is a lot more do it as you like it for me.  There’s no magic formula, and we just make it as we see fit.  But the basics are:

  • 2 TBSP soy sauce
  • dash of sesame oil
  • dash of rice wine vinegar
  • dash of sugar
  • dash of red pepper

You can play with the combination and see which catches your fancy.

First you mix all the ingredients (minus the wrapper of course) w.e.l.l., and by that I mean, w.e.l.l. — this is KEY.

well mixed filling

To assemble the dumplings you just wrap everything up and then they are ready to hit the pan!  Meaning, heat some oil in a pan and then start browning the dumplings.  To finish pour some liquid and let the liquid boil for about 3 – 4 minutes or so.  You might want to cover the dumplings too, depending on your preferences for texture.

I like to have them big, like so.

big dumpling

a plate of dumplings ready to hit the pan

dumplings after emerging from the pan

an individual dumpling

inside — yeah!  the filling is what I’m talking about 😀

a random day in spring

Go for a spring walk if you’re into that kind of thing!  Look at the blooming dogwood in the middle — it’s pink!  Look at all the pretty flowers in bloom, and perhaps you can also see bunnies munching on grass, or squirrels rummaging around for food.  Perhaps even elusive chipmunks nibbling on one thing or another!  Or you can’t miss the ubiquitous robins!

I got a nice large bag of dried mangoes the other day 😀

1/2 lb of dried mango-y-ness!

I loved the plump-y mangoes!  They were oozing with mango flavor!  Just sweet enough!  I think I had ~ 10 of these goodies!

Look at one!

So thick and plump-y!  Definitely my favorite kind 😀

And I opened up a pack of

“fried cookies”

These were one of my favorite cookies from childhood!  In fact, I could devour the whole pack [but as you see, there wasn’t much, only 12 cookies total].  My favorite flavor is seaweed, but they also come in peanuts and sesame flavor.  They are basically egg cookies with seaweed flakes, so you get the combination of the sweet and salty!  And you know how I LOOOOVE sweet + salty!  So these are really the best!  Okay, some of you may disagree and say, “ewwww, seaweed!  groooossssss!”  But you don’t really taste the sea-ness of the seaweed and the seaweed only comes out as a slightly salty flavor.  Like you can’t tell it’s seaweed at all!

an individual cookie

Anyway, once I get a bag of these in my hands it’s very hard to exercise control.  So needless to say a whole entire pack was GONE!!!

Okkkkay, so of course the snacking parade didn’t end there.  Because then I just had to open up a bag of

popcorners!!!

It’s truly a new way of eating popcorn!  I don’t like popcorn.  I mean, I don’t hate it, but I’m also not the kind to pop them in my mouth at the cinema or when watching movies on my couch.  But these are deliciously inviting and I can’t ever eat just one kind of popcorn!  These are more like let me eat a whole bag kind of popcorn!  They are slightly sweet with intense corn flavor!  I don’t know how else to describe but you just have to buy a bag yourself and try them out!!!  [And yes, I swallowed the whole bag in one sitting — even after eating all of the above!  So as you can imagine these things are addictive-ly goooooood!!!]

Check one out

So you see the texture is wonderfully coarse — not too refined [therefore good for you?  haha], and it looks like a chip, has texture of a chip, but is. not. a. chip!  I highly recommend!  Okay, I also snack / eat too much!  One day I will stop, I’m sure 😀  Oh, from my blogposts, you might think I never eat “real” food — so not true!  I’ve another recipe coming soon, I promise!!!

a whole pint of ice cream day ….

I can never resist nut butters!  I should never come within reach of one.  I came across one the other day [not my jar] and I ate … 1/3 of a jar!!!  I think what restrained me was that it wasn’t my jar, tee hee!  But Crazy Richard’s … they are so good and rich and gooey … oozing with peanut buttery goodness.  I don’t know how to explain it more, you just HAVE to try them and you will be hooked …  Unless you don’t like peanut butter, of course.

Check out this gooey goodness [courtesy of internet]

I loved the peanut-y chunkiness.  YUM!!!  One spoonful after another … how can you resist?  I ate it straight up ….

plus 2 brownies ….

Well I can’t resist brownies if they are in front of me!  And yes, I just had to eat 2 pieces!  [Photo internet since inhaled before snapping a photo.  They were supermarket sized ones … aka large, teehee!]

We went to the store the other day and got some yummy snacks!  HAPPY HAPPY!  Not like the big failure when I bought 2 kinds of snacks that I couldn’t even eat!!!

So while [re]watching Howl’s Moving Castle I snacked and munched and crunched and ….

I loved the artistic rendering of all Miyazaki’s movies, Howl’s Moving Castle not excepted.  It’s interesting that this is his only movie about love between a man and a woman.  Usually his movies are about friendship between people, and not romantic relationships.  Though the movie does have some unrealistic parts — like the girl’s hair looks all grey at the end but the magician [love interest] compares it to starlight?!  Who are we kidding here, right?  [Maybe I’m being too cynical.]  But it’s always the artistry that entices me about these movies.  But anyway, I’m sure you didn’t read to learn about movies.

I opened up a package of these

Sultana Biscuits

Inside

Nibble Nibble

YUM YUM!  See the dark parts?  These biscuits had dried grapes baked into them, resulting in a salty sweet concoction of flavors!  The biscuit part is just sweet enough and not overly so, and I LOOOOOVED the parts with grapes in them!  [Though I am seeing fewer grapes than when I had them before, hmpf!]  Still though, they were good, but a bit drier than I remembered [perhaps they were a tad over-baked in this batch?].  But can’t get too picky right?  Some other Japanese brand also makes muscat biscuits, which I must try if I can locate a bag.  Despite being not 100% satisfied, I did eat the whole bag, heh heh!!

I also ate a few [okay, more like 5] dried persimmons!

LOVE dried persimmons!  These were still plump-y, so still so delicious that I couldn’t stop at just one.  [Is there any snacks that I could stop at just one?  Well … no, unless they were VERY dreadful 😀 ]

And I got a new flavor gummy

Peach Flavor

Here’s a gummy!  Not as good as the mangosteen ones though, unfortunately ….  But still okay, you can taste the peach-i-ness, so ….  Okay, I thought I was done after “tasting” like 17 of these gummies 😀 … but no!!!  Instead, for some reason I opened up the freezer and dug into a tub of

Breyers Mrs. Field’s Brownie Blast Ice Cream

Inside

my my, gooey rich chocolate-y goodness!  Studded with little tiny but delicious brownie pieces 😀  YUM YUM YUM!!!  You get fudge too!  I dug and dug and dug, and kept on thinking, just one last brownie piece, promise!  And then another brownie piece surfaced!  So then I had to have that other ….  Dug dug dug … and soon I saw the bottom of the tub in one corner!  By the point it was might as well finish the whole thing!  [Though I’d say the ice cream part was kind of gross.  Too creamy for me, and too sweet too.  But the brownies were delicious!!!]

So. I. ate. the. whole. pint.

[Oh, got a stomach ache too that I ended up nursing the rest of the evening!  And slept poorly since stomach was hurting ….  Never again!  But good while it lasted though 😀 ]