Stir-fry

I'm asian, so I figure I should at least attempt to make decent stir-fry. I took a blend of almost every asian spice/ingredient I had at home, cooked it with some chicken and broccoli, and served it over rice. After about five attempts, I came up with something pretty good. We probably won't be having it again anytime soon though; Dearest got tired of it after the third night. :)

Act 1 done!

Well, the first draft of Act 1 is done. It's due on Tuesday, so I decided to give myself plenty of time to revise it. I was aiming for 30 pages, but it's only 23. Still, I think the movie will come out to about an hour and a half. Or hopefully 80 pages.

Yorkshire Pudding

a.k.a. the stuff you get at the House of Prime Rib. (My mouth is watering just thinking about prime rib... Mmmm...) Dearest loves, and I mean LOVES, the bread pudding that comes with the meal. My aunt recently gave me a recipe for Yorkshire Pudding, which is about the same thing. It's super easy to make and tastes delicious! Nice and crispy on the outside, yet warm and moist on the inside.

Yorkshire Pudding

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• Pam baking spray
  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix flour and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat eggs, then add milk and stir. Pour into flour and mix until well blended (should be liquidy). Spray muffin tin with Pam and fill each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Story of a girl...

I've been putting this off for a while, mostly because I know it's going to take a while, but bear with me. As I've mentioned before, I'm writing a love story for my script writing class. So far we've gotten several drafts of our treatments done (like a short story version) and have handed in outlines. Next step is to write Act 1, which is about 30 pages or a page per minute of movie. Sounds like a lot, but it's actually not.

Anyway, on to the story. It's about a woman (aren't they all?) in her late twenties who's had a pretty tragic past- she was once engaged, but her fiance died- and it's been keeping her from opening up to love again. The film follows her struggle to open up to love again and find her Prince Charming. Along the way, she encounters funny situations (like trying to date a gay guy or getting proposed to and saying no), but in the end, her perfect guy turns out to be who she least expected.

I have a lot more details and about half of the first act done, but I'm thinking that posting it here isn't a great idea. It'd be too long and out of format, but hopefully I'll be able to keep you all updated on the progress and maybe a short summary of what's going on. :)

p.s. Burn Notice is on tonight at 10pm on USA. I'm making cupcakes for our premiere party! hehe :)

Apple Muffins

I'm on a muffin kick and these definitely topped the banana ones! "Pieces of tender apples appear in every bite of these pretty muffins that are the perfect treat to share with afternoon coffee." Forget afternoon coffee, these guys are good anytime of day! They were wonderfully moist and the sweet crunchy top made the whole thing melt in your mouth. A must try! Here's the recipe:

Muffins:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups tart apples, peeled and chopped

Topping:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
For topping. combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle a rounded teaspoonful over each muffin.
Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve warm.

Banana Crunch Muffins

First off, I love to bake, so there's always some tasty little treat hanging around to be munched on. Whenever Dearest and I eat around 7th & Irving back home, we stop at this little bakery called Tart to Tart. They've got the best muffins, especially the banana ones. Combined with Dearest's love for them and the overly ripe bananas hanging out at home, I whipped some up. The crunchy top was delicious, but the actual muffin was quite dry. Maybe substituting olive oil for the butter next time will make it more moist?

Mini Pavlova

One of my culinary adventures: Mini Pavlova
Pavlova is basically a large meringue cookie- crisp on the outside, soft (I think) on the inside. I've tried this recipe twice now; the first time bombed because of a temperature confusion. The second time was better, but not perfect since I tried to scale down the size to make them mini pavlovas. I topped them with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Bon Appétit!