Fall

Foliage season,
time for music.

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Went to Grand Rapids for the Artprize 2010. Such a great city with very beautiful old buildings and friendly peopel, I wish I had been there earlier!

Chinese style rice, with cabbage and pork

Looks like stir-fried rice, but actually not.

Recipe:
1. Two cups (the cup for your rice cooker, not the measure cups) of rice, cooked with two and half cups (also the cups for the rice cooker) water. Cook the rice just as usual. When the rice is almost really but not, put in the cabbage on the top, until fully cooked and keep warm letting it stand for 10-20 minutes.
2. Half of the cabbage, chopped.
3. One pound ground pork. Stir fried:
- Three shallots, chopped into small cubes (pieces).
- A little ginger, chopped. (Just three-four slices)
- 1/2 to 1 tsp sugar, this will make the meat taste fresher, very important!
- Salt, according to your own need.
- Soy sauce, also according to your own need.
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil.

Heat the pan first, until very hot, put in the oil, stay for several seconds then put in the ginger and shallots, stir fry, until smells very good (and the shallots looks yellow and soft. Put in the ground pork, stir rapidly to prevent clot forming. Stir fry until most water in the pork comes out and oil begins to come out. Pull in the soy sauce and sugar, stir fry, adjust the taste with some salt if necessary. (And you can also add tiny amount of vinegar, but just little, which will make the pork taste better). Stir fry until fully cooked.

Finally put the cooked pork in the rice, finely combine the rice, cabbage and pork. Since we do not add salt into the rice and cabbage, you may need to prepare the meat a little more salty than usual, then the rice will taste just all right after the combination.

The Daring Cooks October, 2010 Challenge: WE ARE ON A ROLL!

The famous and delicious Mediterranean rolls!!!
However, those I bought from restaurants are always a little too sour for me : -$. This time we could create by ourselves~~
Also, those in the restaurants have little meat in it (if any), and my stomach is always not very happy for only rice and sour flavor, haha. But here meat + rice + fresh but moderate sour is perfect!

Here is the recipe.

This time, we used grape leaves. But I think the cabbage leaves also fit well. But in that case, I would make it a little more salty. In China, we have similar rolls -- napa cabbage leaves with meat in it, but also with traditional Chinese spices for cooking meat.

SEPTEMBER 2010 DARING BAKER CHALLENGE: Get Creative!

Here is the recipe.

Very very lovely cookies! Though a lot too much sugar here @^^@. And I'm not sure the artificial color is good to health or not (of course it says no harm ~~) I just used the dark chocolate and white chocolate for decorating.

This could also be used on the Christmas ginger house, I bet.