DIY T-Shirt Blanket or Quilt

I re-purposed a bunch T-shirts into a large blanket for Aaron's birthday and a small blanket for Andrew's half birthday, both coming up in June.

I simply cut out large squares, all the same size, from the front and back of all of the T-shirts and sewed them together quilt block style. I really like how bright and cheerful Aaron's color-block blanket turned out. This is a great project to turn unneeded items into something really useful.

For these blankets, I made both the front and back T-shirt blocks. But when I was in college I recycled the high school T-shirts that I no longer wanted to wear but didn't want to completely get rid of into a quilt that had the T-shirts with designs on the front, quilt batting in the middle, and strips of old blue jeans for the back. This quilt was warmer and sturdier of course. This was also a good way to actually use some sentimental T-shirts a little longer.

Mandarin Mondays: 包饺子 (Make Dumplings)

A little while ago, a friend of mine taught me how to make (or "pack") Chinese dumplings (bāo jiǎo zi, 包饺子). I've mentioned before that  jiǎo zi are one of our favorite Chinese foods, so it was neat to learn how to make them.

We bought the wrappers from the market, which was really inexpensive here. I am told the process for making the dough goes something like this: take flour, add water and mix until it feels right, roll it out really thin, and cut into circles. Someday maybe I'll learn more about making the dough but for now here is the recipe for filling and boiling jiǎo zi.

Homemade Jiǎo Zi Recipe

• Jiǎo zi wrappers
• 1 pound ground pork
• several cups chopped green onions
• several chopped cloves of garlic
• salt

1. Mix pork, onions, garlic, and a liberal amount of salt together well in a mixing bowl.
2. Place a small amount of filling in a wrapper. Wet the edge of the wrapper with a small amount of water. Pinch the edges closed. Technically the jiǎo zi are supposed to have the back side be able to lay flat, the front side pleated, and be able to stand up on their own. However, I couldn't quite get the hang of folding the edges just so, and my less beautiful jiǎo zi still tasted just as good.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, place jiǎo zi in boiling water, and return to a boil. Then you add one bowl of cold water to the pot, and return to a boil again. Repeat adding a bowl of water two more times (for a total of three times), and the jiǎo zi are supposed to be done to perfection. 
4. Remove, and serve immediately with soy sauce, brown vinegar, and/or hot pepper sauce for dipping.

Jiǎo zi can also be frozen uncooked in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then transferred to a plastic bag for longer storage. They can then be boiled at a later date using the same method above; it just takes a few minutes longer to come to a boil the first time.

Family Fridays; Potty Training Adventures

Watching videos on his throne

Since I've been feeling a bit better lately, and we really would like to have Andrew potty trained by the time the new baby arrives in the Fall, we decided it was time to start that process again. So Andrew has been spending lots of time on the potty this week.

It did take a while for Aaron to get the hang of this process too, so I am prepared for this to take a little bit. However, Andrew has definitely surprised me with what part of this process is most challenging in training him. Has anyone else ever heard of a two-year-old sitting on a potty for more than 7 hours before going potty? Or after 12+ hours of staying dry at night still sitting on the potty for more than an hour and a half before going? That is more than 13½ hours total of not going to the bathroom!

I had no idea it was possible for a little one to hold it so long, especially since we've been giving him extra water, juice, and lemonade to encourage him to go more often. Instead he is determined stubborn enough to hold it much longer than usual. He has been dry all night, every night since we started this process, and we have had to take him off of the potty quite a few times so the rest of us can use the potty. This of course then sometimes results in accidents once he is off and playing.

With it taking him so long to go, we've been letting him watch videos on the potty to keep him entertained long enough to actually catch him going. But this can still be a challenge, if you can't spend say 7 hours or more straight in the bathroom.

I'm hoping this great bladder control is actually going turn into an asset once he figures out what he is supposed to be doing. The last couple of days he has actually been asking for diaper changes before he wets his undies, so this is definite progress, but then it still takes him a long time to go on the potty. We'll see if he keeps making progress over the next couple of weeks, or if we need to wait a little bit with the potty training.

DIY Stuffed French Toast

I made this for our family brunch a couple of Sundays ago, but it would be great anytime. You can even prepare it the night ahead, cover, and store in the fridge, and then just bake the next day. I used homemade strawberry jam and homemade yogurt cream cheese, but you could use any kind you like to vary the flavors.

Homemade Stuffed French Toast Recipe

• Bread to cover 9x13 pan in two layers
• 8 eggs beaten
• ¼ cup milk
• Jam
• Cream cheese or yogurt cheese

1. Grease a 9x13 pan and preheat 350F.
2. Layer bread to cover the bottom of the pan.
3. Spread strawberry jam and then cream cheese over bread.
4. Cover with another layer of bread.
5. Beat eggs and milk until well combined and then slowly pour over bread to saturate.
6. Bake at 350F until the top is golden brown, about 35–45 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Mandarin Mondays: 面条 (Noodles)

A Chinese friend of mine came over last week and showed me how to make some Hainan (Hǎinán, 海南) style noodles (miàn tiáo, 面条). I'll share the basic recipe and method with you, but all amounts are very approximate.

Hainan style food uses a lot of garlic and green onion, but not a lot of other seasoning or sauces. Traditionally they cook with lard to bring in more meat flavor, without having to use a lot of expensive meat. However, most people now use oil. This dish would traditionally be eaten for breakfast (or maybe lunch). But we like it for dinner as well.

This dish is very simply, and we liked it a lot. The boys especially ate huge helpings and were thrilled that there were leftovers for the next meal.

Hainan Style Noodle Soup

• ¼ cup or more oil or lard
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 cup green onion chopped
• ½ pound lean pork chopped
• 1 pound fresh or dried wide rice noodles
• salt to taste (lots if your trying to get authentic flavor)
• water

1. In a large pot (guō, 锅) heat 1–2 quarts of water. Cook noodles if dried or simply wash the noodles if you bought them fresh from the market.
2. Meanwhile in a wok, known as a "fry pot" (chǎo guō, 炒锅), heat oil or lard. Add garlic, onion, and pork, and fry until brown.
3. Add noodles and a good amount of water to the wok. Bring to a boil.
4. Salt to taste, and serve.

Family Fridays: Rejoicing

April 8, 2012

I hope that everyone had a great holiday over the weekend. We certainly did, even though we had to catch up with family and friends over Skype. We certainly have a lot to rejoice over and celebrate since the tomb is empty.

We are also rejoicing in things settling down a little after moving and this past week I have been feeling much better. I am hoping that most of the nausea is past for this pregnancy now that I am 15 weeks along.

DIY Scottish Shortbread

My husband loves shortbread. I used to think it was a rather boring cookie, but now he has me convinced how wonderful they are. The difference is baking them with 100% real butter. With just three ingredients these are really simple cookies, but you can totally taste the difference if you make them with anything besides all butter. Personally, I think it is a waste of time now to even attempt shortbread with margarine, somethings you can't taste the difference, but this isn't only of those recipes. I think these make great food gifts as well because not everyone makes them, and they don't have any nuts or chocolate in them if someone has allergies.

Homemade Scottish Shortbread Recipe

• 1½ cups flour
• ¾ cup butter
• ⅓ cup sugar

1. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and cut in butter with a pastry cutter. Mixture will be very crumbly and resemble pie crust crumbs.
2. Press into an ungreased 9x9 (for thick shortbread) or 9x13 (for thin shortbread) pan. Recipe can easily be doubled to fill a jelly roll pan nicely.
3. Bake at 350F until edges just begin to brown. Time varies widely on baking these by oven and thickness of the cookies from 5–15 minutes, so you really just have to watch them carefully.
4. Allow to cool before cutting so they are not too crumbly. We also love melted chocolate drizzled on top after they have cooled.

DIY Chocolate Covered Cherries

I had some leftover melted chocolate from making chocolate covered peanut butter eggs and decided to cover some maraschino cherries with it. Simply melt the chocolate, I suggest using a double boiler, and then dip the cherries in. Draining the cherries in a colander or on paper towels will make them easier to cover with chocolate. After dipping in chocolate, place on wax paper, aluminum foil, or a silicone pan, and place in the refrigerator to harden.

Family Fridays: If You Give a Boy a Chocolate Covered Spatula...

...he will become chocolate covered too.

DIY Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Eggs

This is a really simple recipe for a great homemade treat for Easter/Resurrection Sunday. I do like the symbolism of eggs, something that looks dead, like a tiny tomb, but from which new life can spring forth. I made similar candies at Christmas time and never got around to posting them, but I made trees and squares then. You can of course make these whatever shape you wish for any occasion you wish, and everyone will be delighted.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy Recipe

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar (I used homemade this time. You can also substitute powdered milk for up to ⅓ of the sugar. I did this at Christmas time, grinding the powdered milk up finer in the blender, and it worked well also.)
• 1 bag chocolate chips for melting and dipping

1. Combine peanut butter and powdered sugar (and powdered milk if desired) in a bowl. Knead together until it is well combined and becomes the consistency of play dough. If you feel like it is too crumbly add more peanut butter, if too sticky, add more powdered sugar.
2. Form desired shapes, and place in refrigerator or freezer to chill while you melt the chocolate.
3. Melt chocolate chips. I suggest melting them in a double boiler as it is the only way that I have tried that I have never ruined a batch. You can microwave them too, but I've had them burn occasionally. And this time I was in a hurry at first and thought I'd just melt them in a pot over really low heat, and they first bag of chocolate chips got all weird and crumbly and wouldn't melt. So melt chocolate chips completely with your desired method, but I think I'll be sticking to the double boiler.
4. Dip peanut butter shapes in chocolate mixture, coat thoroughly, pull them out with a fork and tap on the side of the pan to dip off excess chocolate, and place on aluminum foil or waxed paper to cool. Repeat until all of the shapes are covered. Refrigerate to set up the chocolate, and then store in an airtight container in a cool place or the refrigerator.

I made just over 30 small eggs, and I actually had a little melted chocolate left over this time, so I made chocolate covered cherries too. 

You can also put these candies on sticks to make a candy pop. I insert a small stick or straw into the candy after the chocolate has hardened and then individually wrap these for small gifts for my kids. Great for Easter baskets, Valentine's day treats, or stocking stuffers.

How not to melt chocolate