LJ-razz, 7.2.06: pina colada cupcakes
Ed brought my niece Lexi and my nephew Kristofer over today and we made cupcakes for Sherie's condo-warming party. Lexi told me last weekend that she wanted to make pina colada cupcakes, so I took the opportunity to try making the pineapple flowers a couple of nights ago. I burned them around the edges a bit because I got distracted, but I thought they looked okay. Lexi brought all the stuff she needed that I didn't have, but discovered that she'd forgotten her cupcake book (including the recipe) when she got to my house. Since Ed lives thirty miles away, I just looked online for pina colada cupcakes and found a good-looking recipe. I changed the batter after each batch, though, and finally got it the way I wanted it with the fourth and final batch. Anyway, the three of us were happy with the way they turned out, and Kris and Lexi were crazy proud of them at the party. Kris kept showing photos of them off their digital camera. I put them in an extra cake box with a window top, and they got a lot of compliments at the party, both for their looks and their taste. In one of those "we're wearing the same cocktail dress" moments, our hostess told us that she'd made a pina colada cake, but she'd burned it in the oven, so it was dry. Almost everyone who picked up a cupcake asked what kind of flowers we'd topped them with, and I don't know if they were humoring the kids or being serious. Either way, it cracked us up every time. Anyway, we had an awesome time hanging out and baking, and I'm so proud of the work they did. Lookit!
The food at the party was so good--there was both Filipino and Italian food because Sherie is both. Her mom is Filipino, and she flew in from Rhode Island to help furnish the condo, and they went nuts cooking food. My bro, the kids, and I were all in heaven--the pancit (Filipino chow mein) was just like homemade, which is weird because most recipes rarely leave its family. There were two kinds of pancit, too. We tried to fry the lumpia (Filipino egg rollls) in a little deep fryer that someone lent, but the oil wouldn't get or stay hot enough, so it took a half-hour to make four. We finally relocated inside to a frying pan of hot oil, and the whole pan of fifty was done in about 15 minutes. Oy! Sherie made banana chocolate cream pie, which was awesome. Her mom makes excellent pie crust. Sherie made meatballs and Italian sausage in marinara sauce, and these long noodles that were like spaghetti, but hollow, so when I'd try to suck them in like spaghetti, I'd end up just sucking air. It was like an ineffective Italian dish, but so good. Then I came home and made arroz caldo, which is one of my favorite comfort foods--chicken and rice porridge.
I used the chicken I fabricated. Chef taught us how to airline our chicken breasts (leave the drumette in and bare the bone), but in a dish like that, the bone looks pretty ridiculous. The meat around it, as he promised, was delicious, though. As many times as I've made this dish, it never looks like mom's, and I use the recipe she gave me. Granted, she didn't really give me any measurements aside from one cup of rice and six cups of water (which I doubted fiercely when she told me, but which has never failed me), but her arroz caldo is always soft and white, while mine is brown and rustic. They both taste pretty similar, though, so I'm just complaining about the cosmetics. It's so yummy. Today has been a good food day. I'm glad I didn't eat until the party ... yeah, so I could try more food there. =)
The food at the party was so good--there was both Filipino and Italian food because Sherie is both. Her mom is Filipino, and she flew in from Rhode Island to help furnish the condo, and they went nuts cooking food. My bro, the kids, and I were all in heaven--the pancit (Filipino chow mein) was just like homemade, which is weird because most recipes rarely leave its family. There were two kinds of pancit, too. We tried to fry the lumpia (Filipino egg rollls) in a little deep fryer that someone lent, but the oil wouldn't get or stay hot enough, so it took a half-hour to make four. We finally relocated inside to a frying pan of hot oil, and the whole pan of fifty was done in about 15 minutes. Oy! Sherie made banana chocolate cream pie, which was awesome. Her mom makes excellent pie crust. Sherie made meatballs and Italian sausage in marinara sauce, and these long noodles that were like spaghetti, but hollow, so when I'd try to suck them in like spaghetti, I'd end up just sucking air. It was like an ineffective Italian dish, but so good. Then I came home and made arroz caldo, which is one of my favorite comfort foods--chicken and rice porridge.
I used the chicken I fabricated. Chef taught us how to airline our chicken breasts (leave the drumette in and bare the bone), but in a dish like that, the bone looks pretty ridiculous. The meat around it, as he promised, was delicious, though. As many times as I've made this dish, it never looks like mom's, and I use the recipe she gave me. Granted, she didn't really give me any measurements aside from one cup of rice and six cups of water (which I doubted fiercely when she told me, but which has never failed me), but her arroz caldo is always soft and white, while mine is brown and rustic. They both taste pretty similar, though, so I'm just complaining about the cosmetics. It's so yummy. Today has been a good food day. I'm glad I didn't eat until the party ... yeah, so I could try more food there. =)
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