i'm volunteering over at the south-east asian earthquake and tsunami blog for the next few days/weeks, so i probably won't see much of you until after the new year. i don't know exactly what i'm doing over there, but it feels like i'm doing something, and that makes me feel that despite all that is going on in the world, there is a new day, and a new year to look forward to.

so happiness and blogness abounds, i wish you well.

see ya soon!

1000.

new project. interested?

one of the most powerful earthquakes recorded in modern times has hit southeast asia, near aceh in northern indonesia. over 7,800 22,000 people are reported to have been killed--some from the initial quake, but mostly from the resulting tsunamis that have devastated more than six countries in the region. the fatalities will rise, and the devastation will continue--not only with the loss of life, but with the loss of land, property, crops, livestock, power and water supplies. disease will most certainly spread with the shortage of water and medicines.

in this season of plenty and in the spirit of goodwill and giving, i urge you to give even the smallest donation to the red cross, the international red cross/red crescent organization, medecins sans frontieres/doctors without borders, or your disaster relief organization of choice. food, water, and medical supplies ARE scarce. over half a million people in india are already displaced. the death toll in sri lanka alone is phenomenal. the maldives have all but been cut off.
this disaster, along with recent floods in the philippines have taxed the relief resources in southeast asia greatly, and supplies must be replenished.

i know that finances are strained, there are local and personal situations that take precedence, but even sending out your prayers, good thoughts, good mojo or whatever you want to call it would most certainly help. while i have every confidence that they are safe, i'm sure a prayer or two for fellow food bloggers babe, wena, and umami (visiting family in KL) would not go amiss, and to anyone else with family or friends in the region.

via da*xiang: tsunami help, the blog way

o christmas cookies

a holiday soundtrack:

mele kalikimaka-chris isaak
a filipino christmas-frank delima
winter wonderland-cocteau twins
elf's lament-barenaked ladies
mister heatmiser-big bad voodoo daddy
i heard the bells on christmas day-pedro the lion
fairytale of new york-the pogues
baby, it's cold outside-zoe deschanel and leon redbone
marshmallow world-frank sinatra and dean martin
christmas time is here-vince guaraldi trio
what are you doing new year's eve?-rufus wainwright

polvorones, or, mexican wedding cookies, made more festive with the addition of some glittery sugar and those multicoloured sprinkly hundreds and thousands.

and a hundred and thousand good wishes to you!

wednesday night market at chamorro village

this is a little christmas present going out to all the guammy bears who can't make it home for the holidays....

wednesday nights at chamorro village, or, as we call it: "stickland". the market is a weekly village fête filled with people selling everything from appliances to ukeleles, clothes, toys, souvenirs, produce and orchids, listening to the bands who play in the main pavilion for the manamko who come for an evening of the cha-cha, or who watch the halaus of hula and chamorro native dancers who like to tease the haole boys who have discovered a taste of the island they don't advertise in the guidebooks. it's a place for everyone, young and old, families and friends, to visit and share food and hang out or wander about.



amongst the wooden carved dolphins, kimonos, t-shirts and fantabulous plastic toys and jewelry, you'll find the real reason people come here--which, if you've been here or if you've read this blog even once, you'll know--is the FOOD. everywhere, from one end of the market to the other, you'll see it: barbecue grills set up alongside marine drive, coolers filled with drinks, salads, and marinated meats being set out on the lawn, the canopies going up and the catering pans being lined up to be filled with red rice, kelaguen, pancit, crabs cooked in coconut milk, taro tips, mongo--oh man, this is going to warrant more than one post, i'll tell you that much.



so, the nickname "stickland" comes from the fact that the number one barbecued item at the market is meat on sticks. chicken on sticks, pork on sticks, flank steak on sticks. squid. unsticked. the marinades used here are all based around soy sauce and sugar, but beyond that, it's a secret with each of the vendors. and when guamanians mean barbecue, they mean it--none of this gas grilling business, nenes. you see the photo above? that's a 50-gallon oil drum cut vertically with legs welded on, and a metro shelving rack thrown on top as the actual grill. charcoal and sometimes tangantangan wood gets thrown in and whoosh, that is the source of the soul. we are talking serious stuff here. george foreman would be KO'd in the first round, first minute, first second of this culinary match up.




of course, i have my favourite barbecue stall (stall is rather a misnomer--i have a favourite canopy with a foldable table is more like it), which doesn't have a name, but you'll know it because it's right across from the GPD patrolled x-walk from skinner plaza on the clock tower side. it's the one with the line that goes all the way to lady who sells the shells. nina's in charge, and she's the one you want to go to (be nice to her and she'll give you a free stick of carioca, aka tinudok, or basically chi chi dango, which is coconut milk and sweet rice flour balls dipped in a sugar syrup). they have the best squid--fat, half-foot long (foot long with tentacles) specimens chargrilled to perfection, juicy and tender, and deftly sliced into rings in front of you and slid onto a plate with pancit, red rice and chicken kelaguen. mmm.


sneeze guard? we don't need no stinkin' sneeze guard!

of course, the barbecue is relatively healthy compared to some of the other options at the market. there's taro tips cooked in coconut milk, crabs cooked in coconut milk, beef cooked with chili pepper leaves and coconut milk....and pork belly galore. cooked every way imaginable. since i've got that filipino blood coursing through me, if i'm gonna eat huge chunks of fatty pork, i'm gonna go for the lechon kawali: chunks of pork shoulder or belly are salted, boiled, dried then deep fried so you get beautifully moist, seasoned meat with light, crunchy, rich crackling with every piece. normally this is served with a sauce of crushed garlic, vinegar and lots of black pepper, but here finadene will do just fine.




i usually go to pearl's for the kawali, as she has the plumpest, meatiest, crispiest chunks; an added bonus is that pearl's actually has a kiosk that is opened during the week, so you can get it anytime, but most importantly, the kitchen is right there so freshly cooked kawali and other specialties can come out piping hot. there's always a line for pearl's but the girls move fast here. one plates up red rice and cucumber sticks marinated in soy sauce and kimchi-style hot pepper, and the other helps you decide what choices you want for your entrees. pricing is simple: one choice $3, two choice $4, three choice $5. you'll see a lot of these assembly line places on guam, known as turo-turo in the philippines, but colloquially here as simply (and logically) "one choice-two choice".



my plate:kawali and tilapia sarciado, made with a whole fried tilapia, covered in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, green onions, and eggs. another $4 bargain at the market.



okay, so i didn't really have the room for it, but i did stop back at the halo halo grill to pick up that promised dessert. halo halo, made with various sugared fruits, sliced saba banana, vanilla or ube ice cream, mounds of shaved ice, and so much evaporated milk that you know there's enough when it starts spilling over.



burpies. not for the lactose intolerant. take your plate, find a place to sit (there's plenty of room at the main azotea, but ay, adai! that band in the corner is loud). enjoy your food al fresco with the warm ocean breezes coming in from the bay, do some people watching, meet some friends, and be a part of the island family.



felis pasgua, maligayang pasko, mele kalikimaka and happy holidays to you all!

30 dozen cookies have left the building

only 10 more to go! *phew*. then i can move on to the breads....

bill granger's chocolate chip cookies

more for the holidays. more, more, more. how the cookies look in "sydney food" :


©elsa hutton 2000

how they actually look at home:



i dunno. works for me. by the book, so buy the book!

it only took 10,000

this morning, the visit count for green bananas finally hit the 10,000 mark. i started this blog as something guamanians who are off-island and missing its food to visit and as a local resource for people on island, but the funny thing is, no one on this island ever comes here! at least, not until 8.39 this morning--i finally registered a local ISP. hoorah!

so thank you, random guambat. green bananas salutes you! even if you did leave three seconds later.

update: freaktastically, that 10,000th hit was from my cousin, normal desmond. what are the odds? i mean, besides us.

recipe: wattle seed flavoured shortbread

wattle seeds are the seeds from the acacia tree species a. difficilis, and have been used for thousands of years by australian aborigines as a food source. it tastes a bit like chocolate, a bit like coffee, a bit like hazelnuts, so nowadays it's a rather popular? trendy? flavouring component for almost anything sweet and some things savoury.

since it's bush tucker, i turned to my favourite aussie chef, bill granger, for a simple shortbread recipe i could use to highlight the wattle seeds mellow nuttiness. i adapted this recipe from his heart shortbread kisses found on page 90 of "sydney food." these are lovely light-with-a-bite little cookies that would be wonderful with an iced coffee on a sunny afternoon or a warm cuppa when it's a little gray.

wattle seed shortbread, adapted from a bill granger recipe

40g (1/3 c) icing (confectioners') sugar, sifted
250g (9 oz) unsalted butter, softened
60 g (1/2 c) rice flour
185g (1 1/2 c) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tbsp wattle seeds
pinch of salt

beat the sugar and butter together until just combined. in another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (except the wattle seeds), add the wattle seeds, then mix into the butter and sugar mix until a dough forms. mold into a log 6cm or 2 1/2 inches in diameter, wrap in cling film and refrigerate at least half an hour.

preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F). cut the log into thin slices, placed on a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for 15-8 minutes, until golden brown. cool on a wire rack.

top tip: save all the wrappers/papers your butter comes wrapped in in a resealable bag in your fridge or freezer. when you need to grease a pan, pull one of these babies out--there's usually enough butter left to grease several pans, and the wrapper makes it easy and easy to clean up after!

recipe: "lisa kudrow has nothing to do with these" oatmeal cookies

i'm taking cookie requests (anyone? anyone?), and thud asked me to bake oatmeal cookies so i did. he wanted chewy and raisiny, so i looked for a recipe online, because i don't normally do chewy and raisiny. one of my favourite baking resources is angela's blog, a spoonful of sugar, which is actually one of the first food blogs i ever stumbled across. for imbb10: cookie swap!, angela made the sort of oatmeal cookie that i think i was after.

the thing is, the recipe--while seemingly the one i wanted--originally came from a cookbook published in the marketing frenzy of a television show i'd rather not promote, so in the interest of non-promotion despite the possibility of sabotage, i altered the recipe just enough to make it almost not the recipe. do i hate the show that much? no, but i resent the amount of money spent on its production and i think of the better, quality shows that could have continued with the just one year of salary of one of "stars". anyway, i never really liked phoebe, but i really like lisa kudrow after seeing her in "the opposite of sex" (one of my all-time fave flicks), and i'm pretty sure she had nothing to do with the published oatmeal cookie recipe. and i'm positive she has nothing to do with this cookie, either, so hence the name.

"lisa kudrow has nothing to do with these" oatmeal cookies
adapted from ph.fab.oat.ck

1 1/2 c. (350g) unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. (454g) dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups (340g) rolled oats
2 1/2 cups (320g) plain or all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 oz (283.5g) dried currants (that's one box of sun-maid® zante currants)

preheat oven to 375˚F/190˚C. cream butter and sugar until lighter and fluffy. add eggs and vanilla extract and incorporate well. combine all the dry ingredients except the currants in a separate bowl, mix well. add to the butter mixture until just combined, then fold in the currants. scoop out a heaping tablespoonful and drop onto ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes (i baked them for 12 on average, when i didn't forget about them because i was watching "how clean is your house?", which you should never watch when you are baking with currants because then you think a tick or a fly could fall into those cookies and no one would ever know.). cool on a rack.

despite cutting the sugar and the dried fruit by a third, they came out chewy, curranty, and delish. a little dark, though, because of the dark brown sugar, but i don't think that detracts from their loveliness.

and no, i haven't found a bug in them. yet.

four more years!

i bought this 32 oz bottle of madagascar vanilla extract sometime at the end of the second clinton administration, so actually, it has taken me about half a decade to finish it. i love this vanilla extract; buying it in large quantities not only means i always have it on hand, but that it intensifies in flavour to such dizzying heights of vanilla-ness, it's like grade A sugar cookie heroin. i was surprised to see there's probably only enough to finish off this year's baking frenzy, so i say adieu to a fine season of seasoning, and look forward to cracking open that second bottle. wheee.

lunch at halo halo grill.

update january 2007-restaurant closed since ever since


i hate eating at food courts. granted, the food courts in the malls here are slightly more interesting that the ones in the mainland, but i'm convinced a regular diet of mall food will kill my tastebuds and eventually, me. however, i have a limited amount of time to forage for grub at lunch these days, so i have to either plan out my meal (snort) or go somewhere fast.

lately, i've been going to i sengsong chamorro, or, the chamorro village. it's a government subsidized tourist trap basically, with shops and food stalls in a lovely setting by hågatña bay. yes, a mall. but not a particularly productive one (government entity, remember?). it's probably best known for the wednesday night market, but most of the stalls are open throughout the week.



last week, i visited the newly opened halo halo grill. halo halo (hah-loh hah-loh) is a tagalog word literally meaning "mix-mix", and is the name of a tasty ice and milk confection. halo halo grill is owned and run by bob branconnier, a veteran hotel chef/CIA (culinary institute not central intelligence--you never know on guam) alumn and his wife (? i assume) alice, and it has a small but interesting menu. cheap, too, as there is nothing on the menu over $4.



on my first visit, i had the most popular item on the menu: the adobo burrito. filipino-style adobo is cooked, and the meat--pork or chicken--is shredded and layered with lettuce and monterey jack cheese on a giant tortilla, wrapped burrito style, then grilled and served with homemade pico de gallo and tortilla chips. the burrito is so big that you can't properly close the styrofoam container in comes in. there's very little in the spicing of the meat (this one was pork) to suggest that it was adobo (not particularly garlicky nor vinegary), but it was flavourful and delicious all the same. combined with the lettuce and the cheese, the whole thing was very much like eating a california style carnitas (braised pork) burrito. very tasty and very filling. so much so that i didn't have enough room to try their signature dessert--of course, halo halo.



today i returned, and had the newest addition to the menu, the crab sandwich. for 4 buckaroonies, i wasn't expecting real crab, and whaddya know, i didn't get it. however, they don't stint on that krab stuff--it was a substantial patty of krabesque flakes coated in panko breadcrumbs, then deep fried and served on a butter-grilled bun with lettuce, tomato, and some nicely pika jalapeños. the sandwich (and i assume all the grilled sandwiches) are served with nicely spiced natural cut french fries--seriously, some of the best french fries i've had on this island of deep-fried diving. the crabless krabcake was good, it reminded me of those funky japanese fishcakes that look almost natural but aren't, but it didn't quite hold up to the memory of the adobo burrito. still, it was better and more substantial than the tasteless fish sandwiches at most fast food outlets. and yes, it was completely filling so i didn't get the halo halo today, either.

really, there isn't that much on the limited menu, but that's probably a good thing, because at this point, i like 20% of the menu. i'll be back to try the other 80%, including that halo halo.

halo halo grill
at the chamorro village
hågatña
477.4250.

jam thumbprint cookies

more to give away: jam thumbprint cookies, from a recipe by barefoot contessa's ina garten. i used lime marmalade and passionfruit jelly in these. top tip: if you don't have a scale to weigh out each cookie (each one uses one ounce of dough), use your tablespoon measure to scoop out a ball, and that will be approximately the right size.

lilikoi cheesecake

lilikoi, or passionfruit, cheesecake from sam choy's restaurant. baked cheesecake with a graham cracker-macadamia nut crust, and lilikoi and strawberry sauces. sort of brings to mind spiceblog's passiona cheesecake, but sort of doesn't.

apigigi

also in the holiday goodie bag: apigigi (ah-pi-géeh-geeh--soft g), a chamorro treat made from young coconut meat, fresh coconut milk, and tapioca, then formed and wrapped in a banana leaf. it is steamed, then grilled on a fire, preferrably tangantangan (leucaena leucocephalu) wood. i didn't make these. these are a specialty of a neighbouring island, saipan, and these probably came from the vendor at the garapan market, or that guy? you know? the one with the roadside stand? is that the same guy? anyway, a friend brought in a couple hundred. they are super addictive. slightly smoky, slightly sweet, with that rather intangible taste of fresh coconut water tinged throughout the soft but not sticky tapioca.

recipe: bill granger's brownies

my holiday wish to my friends and family is if i can't get skinny, i'm gonna make you fat!!! bwaaaahaaaahaaaaa....

this holiday, people are actually getting baked goods from me; normally i can't do the deco thing and the baking thing, it's too much for my head to handle. it's christmas overload. my decorating concession is that i will um, dust. yeah, that's the ticket. a dust-free christmas. huzzah!

in the goodie bag this year are brownies i found in "bill's food" by yes, bill-who-fills-my-belly-with-jelly granger. you know i'm home if i've cracked open a granger cookbook. these are meant to be served warm, but eh, that's what microwaves are for.

chocolate brownies (from "bill's food' by bill granger, page 180)

370g (1 1/2 cups) caster (superfine) sugar
80g (2/3 cup) cocoa powder
60g (1/2 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs, beaten
250g (9oz) unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g (7oz) chocolate buttons (i used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

preheat oven to 160˚C (315˚F/gas 2-3). stir the sugar, cocoa powder, flour and baking powder together in a bowl. add the eggs, melted butter and vanilla and mix until combined. mix in the chocolate buttons. pour into a lined 9 inch (22cm) square tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

soooo easy. at this point, mr. g says that while the brownies are still warm, cut into eight pieces. EIGHT. that makes a slab of chocolate excess roughly the size of a bread plate. i love my family more than my luggage but there are waaaay too many of them, so they are getting bite-sized nuggets. my brownie pointer of the day is that after the brownies have cooled, put the whole pan into the --freezer overnight, and slice 'em up when they are frozen--so much easier to cut. there's less crumbs, less gooey-ness on the knife, prettier product, and definitely less clean up.

holiday cheer at cup and saucer

cup and saucer bakery in agaña (ok, if i must--hågatña) is ready for christmas. my favourite items are the brown sugar sesame shortbread, the christmas cookie paint set which includes white frosted sugar cookies packed with a paintbrush and little paint pots of food colour, and the candy clay kit with edible "play dough", a roller and cookie cutters. verrrry cute. veronica calvo-perez, who owns the bakery along with firefly bistro next door, bakes a fantastic pecan pie laced with jack daniels, pumpkin raisin bread, and eggnog cheesecake with real eggnog and brandy. this year she has introduced a vegan pumpkin cheese pie made with tofu cream cheese, honey, soy milk and pumpkin, and these excessively fabulous snowflake sugar cookies. i'm going to wear mine as earrings.



cup and saucer bakery/café
martyr street, downtown hågatña
477.2585

how many?!

latest update:8 august 2010

i posed the question, i set out to answer it: just how many asian women have food blogs? i still don't know, but i found the first 50 first 406. you have to help me find the next 406.

be a happy badger! upload this to your blog--say it small!


please do not link directly to this badge, just save it and upload it to your photo storage site--thanks!

the list, geographically:

angola
the kitchen journal-grace in luanda

argentina
la otra dimensión-cocina asiática-australiana moderna-miss cupcake in buenos aires

australia
a banana in australia-carpal fish in sydney
a few of my favourite things!-cin in melbourne
aficionado-cathy in sydney
bee's kitchen-beebee in sydney
chocolate suze-susan in sydney
chronicles of a culinary princess-culinary princess in adelaide
cook and eat-pseudo chef in perth
cooking baking eating enjoying-kai in melbourne
feed me! i'm hungry!-ilingc in melbourne
filling good?-rachel in cowra, nsw
food for life-tamtims in sydney
foodie.tv-susan
food lover's journey-anh in melbourne
the food palate-saffron in sydney!
for the fork and the spoon-nupur in melbourne
from chopstix to steak knives..."-saryn in sydney
gluten-free food-tracey in sydney
grab your fork-augustus gloop in sydney
hohoemi's food journal-hohoemi in melbourne
husky9-jolene in melbourne
jan's kitchen-jan, somewhere in australia
jenius-jen in sydney
the journal of a girl who loves to cook-suyin in sydney
kiki's midnight bakery-kiki in brisbane
kitchen wench-in melbourne
miruki-madoka in sydney* (okay it's not really a blog,but it's too amazing to not list)
manila mayhem-alley cat in melbourne
milk and cookies-jenjen in sydney
my little corner store-in sydney
noodlebowl-sue-lin in sydney
pinkcocoa tabetai-pinkcocoa in sydney
raging yoghurt-bowb's in sydney, too
sarah cooks and sarah discovers how to eat-sarah in melbourne
sugar's sweet blog-sugarpuffi in sydney
the secret foodie-mel in melbourne
tangerine eats-lily in sydney
taott-gwenda in sydneytian & mark-tian in sydney
waffle-bex in sydney


bangladesh
rasbhara recipes-ujwala in dhaka

belgium
a ma sauce-jennifer in brussels

canada
aquatique-athena
baby bok choi-somewhere in canada!
black.salt-blackcealt, in vancouver bc
chopstick beaten eggs-lindsay in montreal
food for thought-catherine in toronto
food recipes-rashmi
hooked on heat-from meenakshi, somewhere in canada
indonesia eats-pepy in winnipeg
no more teriyaki-mona in vancouver

salute to sanity-silverrock, somewhere cold in canada
tongue & cheek-vanessa in toronto
towards a better tomorrow-kay in toronto
yohana recipes-yohana in vancouver
普通の、コト-裕美です in montreal


china

appetite for china-diana in beijing
edible experiments-iska in beijing
love at first bite-cherry

finland
Sarin Japanilainen keittiö/Sari's Japanese Kitchen-sari

france
a room with a view-adelynn in paris
dhanggit's kitchen-dhanggit in aix-en-provence
franco-pinay food adventure-relly


greece
wanderlust sha-sha in athens

hong kong
do what i like-florence
fooding, living, cinema-ing, and whatnot-jinisu
hk foodie
little gingko nut-ling
mochachocolata rita-rita

india

ambrosia-shaheen (coco) in bombay
coffee tea or me-shoumya in chennai
the cooks cottage-deccanheffalump in pune
indian food-shpriya in chennai
indian food-tara in mumbai
let's cook something-preeti in hyderabad
(lima) beans and delhi cha(a)t-sury in new delhi
life & food-rums in new delhi
luv bites-perspective in bangalore
meating point-s.a.
myriad tastes-lera in bangalore
sailu's food-sailu in AP

indonesia
cerita dari dapur amatir-shinta
for the love of baking-riana in jakarta
gifts from the kitchen-rita
our family favorite recipes-vania in balikpapan
yohana's culinary journey-yohana in surabaya
yummy!-dita in jakarta

italy
barca a vela-ippopotamoo in...milano?
gia-gina in italy-gia-gina in torino
kishko-kishko in florence
non solo italiano-t-fortunati
rubber slippers in italy-rowena in lombardia

japan
a perth foodie's adventures in japan-jeannie
aiai cafe
asahiruban-matoyutoko
azumi diary-azumihazumi
bento moblog
bon appetit-soleil
brown bread ice cream-rachel in tokyo
celicci-celicci
cherry monkey-chiyo-gyokusen
cubic life-cubic-r
dejeuner-chocolate-chaud
en-gawa-miki and mei in tokyo
greedy-greedy_32 in kyoto
happy days 2006-himawari_August8
harucooking blog-harucooking
k's deli-kitchen
kiwish-ryoko in tokyo
kuishinbo meow-fishfish in kyoto
ku・ra・shi・2005-yuuri_2005
kurumi's cafe cooking-kurumi
le mago petite-lemago_petite in japan
minmin's obento-minmin in tokorozawa
obachan's kitchen-obachan in kochi
our adventures in japan-kat in osaka
she who eats and moichizen-chika somewhere up there in japan
smorgasbord-bilbo in japan
stew stew stew !-gudigudi
sunday brunch-sunday-brunch
to short term memories-lynn in tokyo
watashi to tokyo-mari's in tokyo
yasuko-san's home cooking-yasuko in toyama
yuki-yuki_briar_rose
yukkuri countdown japan-foodpocket in tokyo/saitama

korea
annabanana-in seoul
chocopie-in seoul
french asian at seoul kitchen-ice cat seoul in seoul
grilled aubergine-in seoul
little simple kitchen-hayley
miss koco does korea
rachel lynn seoul-in seoul

malaysia
a daily obsession-terri in saba
a self-proclaimed foodaholic-swee san
babe in the city-kl-babe in kuala lumpur
choos and chews-dee
da wheel of life and happiness-meiyen in kuala lumpur
eating asia-in kuala lumpur
food, travel, recipe and sights-??
funky cookies-sue and eternity in kuala lumpur
greg&nee on the go-nee (and greg) in kuching, borneo
julie the biscuit-julie in kuala lumpur
just heavenly-melisa, yee mei, and swee san

lingzie's tummy treats-lingzie in penang
masak-masak-boo_licious in kuala lumpur
mLebu paWoN-deetha in kuala lumpur
mum-mum-wena in kuching, sarawak
my baking diary-sukkimi
pearl of the orient-glutton rabbit in penang
sweets for my sweet-viviene in klang valley, selangor
taste-buds-raihana
tham jiak-rokh
you get what you give (food arts travel)-wmw

netherlands
eet smakelijk-thess in dordrecht
indian kitchen-krishna and ranjeeta in amsterdam

new zealand
homemades-arfi in tuakau

norway
for the love of travel and food-schatzli, currently in oslo

philippines
80 breakfasts-joey in manila
a little taste of....-garandee in manila
the artist chef-joan
bucaio-karen in pangasinan
chibog chicka lakwacha atbp-lani in quezon city
chocobay-anya
davao's food huntress-in davao city
dessert comes first-lori in manila
the edible garden-macky in manila
i'm hungry-aloi
kitchen conjugations-anneski in manila
kitchen cow-kaoko, manila-ish
kitchen duty-my
kubiertos-applesH
lafang list-minnette
lonely kitchen-lonely kitchen in visayas
margauxlicious-margeaux
mirsbin's kitchen-mirsbin
munchin' in manila-annalyn in manila
pilgrim's pots and pans-karen in the QC
the pinoy cook-sassy in antipolo, who also has
pinoy food talk
ramblings of a gypsy soul-christine in manila
sa kusina ko-chef kc
simpleng kusinera-ogie in parañaque
super sarap-lorraine, in the 'burbs of manila
tennis and conversation-socky in manila
twisted twinset-midge from mutinlupa
undiscussable realms-selina in manila
vanillarama-vanillarama in manilarama
watergirl-mila
wifely steps-toni in manila
yedilicious-yedy in manila


singapore
a curious mix.-mumu
aromacookery-julia
baby hippo bakes
bossalicious-evangeline
camemberu
cheat eat-st
chef cass loves to cook-cass
cooking baking eating and enjoying-kai
daylillies
dimsum dolly
dhonatneth's apa kabar-angelina
eatzybitzy-eatzycath
evan's kitchen ramblings-evan
greedy goose-eggy
happy grub-happy grub
her pink apron-princess sha
hinata diaries-hinata
if she can do it, so can you-the lazy chef/rachel
i have fat fingers and i love to cook!-fat fingers
kuidaore-j
lychee chronicles-big lil mel
mana makan-the feast crusade-stephanie
monomania-olduvai
my foodprints-my foodpprints
my indulgence-skrat
my little cyberspot-ruth
nibble & scribble-june
nook bistro-shazz
piggy's cooking journal-piggy
pinay in singapore, a foodie paradise-kayli
precious moments-edith
she bakes and she cooks-cheryl
shiokadelicious-renee
simply anne's-anne
skinny epicurean-galinusa
storm in a teacup-deborah
the sugar bar-diva
sweet indulgences-jacelyn
tazz in the kitchen-tazz
treats by trisharatna-trisha ratna
umami-umami (currently in paris)
wokking mum-wokkingmum
yochana's cake delight-aunty yochana

spain
green olive tree-kel in barcelona
movable feast-louisa chu, last based in roses, spain (currently travelling)

sweden
how to eat a green mango-joy

switzerland
downtown gypsy-peggy in montreux
i was just really very hungry.-makiko
pusiva's culinary studio-pushpa in bern
sooishi-sooishi

taiwan
hits 'n' misses-two hearts in changhua

UK
a consuming passion-caroline in london
a life in food-vivilicious in london, england
akatsuki ra ra ra-bramble in edinburgh, scotland and los angeles, ca
a vagrant appetite-in leeds and london, england
chai pani-from ammani
food, in the main...-shyamala in shrewbury, england
food in the uk-robs
english patis-celia in england
gastronomy domine-squeezeweasel in cambridge, england
kitchen crazy-daffy in coventry, england
kitchen notes-prerona in edinburgh, scotland
little food boutique-yuzuki in london
lulu loves london, formerly at lulu loves manhattan-lulu in london
my food life-jennie in london
nordljus-keiko in england
rabbit sim's paradise-rabbit in leeds, england
rice and noodles-mae in jersey, channel islands
route 79-rachel in england
tamarind and thyme-su-lin in london
stellou-stellou in england
sweet temptations-valentina
what's cooking?-charlie in england
yummy-naoko, also in england

US
a life of spice-monica in washington dc
a passion for food-kathy in claremont, ca
aayi's recipes-shilpa in kcmo
adventures in bahn mi-spicy combo in san francisco
adventures in bahn mi: san diego-pickled papaya in san diego, cali
af's recipes-af in lake forest california
ahaar-mandira in buffalo, ny
alohama's kitchen-aloha mama in kona, hawaii
alpineberry-mary in san francisco
asian vegan-phan in oregon
atabela-atabela in phoenix, az
baby rambutan-stel in boston, massachusetts
bennto-rachel in baltimore, md
best of l.a.-kristy in los angeles
bon appegeek-annie in central illinois
the budding cook-tbc
camberville cuisine-lynne in camberville, ma
c'est tres bon!-joyce in los angeles
chez karine-karen, somewhere in northern california
chez pim-pim in san francisco
chopping board-tina in new jersey
cj's food and discovery-cj, somewhere in the us
consumer machine-janet in southern california
cooking cute-ngoc in washington dc
cooking medley-luv2cook, somewhere in smalltown usa
culinary adventures-rajeshwari in california
da*xiang-stephanie yau in seattle, washington
delectation-claudine in san francisco
delicious biting-j in los angeles
the delicious life-sarah in los angeles
dessert first-anita in san francisco
diy chef-ces in astoria, new york
east meets west kitchen-in colorado
eat 2 love-jo jo, nyc
eileen是愛吃鬼-eileen, somewhere in the los angeles area
epicurean debauchery-alice in the bay area, california
essenCes-ces in nyc
feeding dexygus seconds-renee in san francisco
the food and music club-khanh in los angeles california
foodesign-foodesign, somewhere in the us
food for thought-ashwini in scottsdale, az
foodgoat-lady goat in cleveland, ohio
foodies bar-parna, somewhere in the us
food, in that number-phisch. somewhere in the us
food mayhem-jessica (and lon) in new york
food porn la-ahra in los angeles ca
foodzings-in philadelphia pa
four foodies-carla in guam
from the pantry-tanvi in los angeles ca
gastronomy-cathy in philadelphia pa
the girl can eat-ria in boston
the girl who ate everything-robyn in nyc
green green chutney-reshma
green jackfruit 2-mika in pittsburgh pa
holy shitake-yi in austin, texas
hula girl cooks-hulagirl, somewhere in the desert
ideas in food-aki in colorado
i heart bacon-megan woo in seattle, washington
ilocana chef-dexie in san diego, california
immaeatchu-susan in los angeles, cali
indian food rocks!-manisha
indian spice trail-sheela in denver colorado
jaden's steamy kitchen-jaden in florida
joelen's culinary adventures-joelen in chicago, il
kadchhi ke kamaal-aspiring annapoorna in tucson, az
kainan na!-tin tin in dallas, texas
kiki rice-kiki in san jose, ca
kitchen diary-maia in middleofnowhere, ny
kodali's kitchen-tanuja in atlanta ga
korean cooking-somewhere in new york??
krishna and arjuna's world-in portsmouth new hampshire
kusinera wannabe-from san mateo ca
life of spice-monica in washington dc
lily's wai sek hong-lily in denver, colorado
little corner of mine-ching in colorado springs, colorado
lola's kitchen-purplegirl in the atlanta, georgia
love in the time of coriander-summi in berkeley, ca
lunch with front studio-m+y in nyc
magical peppercorn-peloquin in illinois
mahanandi-indira in ohio
the maltese bacon-michelle in nyc
manang kusinera-manang's somewhere in the northeast
maomau-maomau in chicago, il
me and my kitchen-santhi in los angeles ca
melting wok-in covina, california
memoirs of an asian foodie-leiann in boston
the menu-s in los angeles
meenal's kitchen-meenal in washington
min's food journal-min in phoenix, arizona
momo's corner-momo in boston, ma
my felicity corner-green apple in denver, colorado
my kadhai-tina in sayreville, nj
my treasure..my pleasure-deepa in kentucky
my workshop-rp
notes from my food diary-eliza in oregon
ny all-around food life-yucanyc in nyc
oishii eats-jeni in los angeles
oishii ringo-sayaka in chicago
oman, i am so hungary-so hungary in honolulu, hawaii
one fork, one spoon-applesister in brooklyn ny
one hot stove-nupur in nyc
on my plate-creen in daly city, califonia
our kitchen-jmom in north carolina
pabulum-cia in new york city
penny in a nutshell-penny in new york
pengrin foodie-penny in san francisco
priya's kitchen-priya in california
rants and raves-wysgal in philadelphia
rate-a-restaurant-maria in glendale, california
rasa malaysia-in irvine, ca
saffron hut-saffron, somewhere in the us
salt & pepper-ginni in connecticut
the scent of green bananas-me! in guam
this is gonna be good-fougoo in new jersey
stefoodie-stef in pennsylvania
some like it hot-milgwimper in california
something is burning!!-ollie in los angeles ca
su good eats-jessica in nyc
super eggplant-mariko in portland, oregon
skwrking-embla in honolulu
table d'hôte-blue plate in los angelesv
this is gonna be good-fougoo in new jersey
tiptup-in boston
truly thankful-jo in north carolina
tuna toast-anne in los angeles ca
unos claveles-katie, somewhere in the u.s.
wandering chopsticks-in southern california
what are you packing?-aloha, somewhere in the u.s.
what's for lunch?-foodhoe in san francisco, ca
without garnish-faith in pasadena, california
would you like chocolate or vanilla-kristi in seattle
world class cuiscene-ting-aling
yummy in my tummy-ari in seattle, washington


collectives
chowcrave
cookerific
the drool team-k (play play cook), jo, heather, don, kesh, bryan and leanne in kota kinabalu, sabah, malaysia
hodge podge kitchen
kusina ng mga fil-west
makansakan
the makati brunch club
orange county food blogs
our cooking escapades-ioyces and others in adelaide, australia
food and dine-by PenangTuaPui
table for three, please
the wandering gourmet-headed by angie in perth, australia
the westernized kusina


okay, where did i mess up? and tell me who i missed!




technorati tagged! food blogs asian list blog directory

snack mountain

the snack wall at seaside mart. i don't know what my cousin is embarrassed about--if i was a little kid/stoner/junk food monster, i'd be in heaven.

stuffed ampalaya

stuffed ampalaya, or bittermelon. the bittermelon was soaked in ice water overnight to remove some of the bitterness, then cut in half and stuffed with a mixture of ground chicken, finely diced potato, minced onion, garlic, and chili. it was then dipped in an egg wash and seasoned flour then fried.

hailyn's cookies

friday night, somewhere at the tail end of my mangover, dominic, pinch and i had dinner with hailyn, a very lovely young woman visiting the island. she was leaving the next day, so we met for dinner at firefly bistro, and i would say that overall it was a lovely meal. i did document it, sort of, but all the photos came out shaky and funky, so i guess i hadn't completely recovered. i am working on repairing the situation, so hopefully i can post something in the future.

i had planned on sending some cookies off with hailyn for her journey (possibly to appease her because we're complete psychos?) , but when i woke up in the morning, the first thing i was told was that a typhoon was coming, and all thoughts of baking flew out of my head. sorry, miss! i had the dough and everything. luckily, tropical storm lala or tala or tralala is passing without much fanfare, so the cookies i had planned on baking i *did* end up baking tonight: chez panisse's ginger snaps, as found on feeding dexygus, which renee posted for imbb #10: cookie swap (i'd provide a link, but i can't effing figure out where it is on ismyblogburning.com--there are waaaaay too many things going on there, people!). the cookies are getting rave reviews from everyone who has tried them, and i love gingersnaps, so i knew i had to try them.

and so i did. and here they are. hm. i don't have the knife skills to cut the cookies less than 1/8th of an inch as specified, but i came close. the cookies are lovely, crisp, and buttery, and the aroma in the house is wonderful--spicy and warm and holiday cheering. and the taste? well. they are molasses-rich, buttery and the spices certainly have depth but...but...i don't know. they just aren't kicking it for me. ?? i used freshly ground herbs when possible, and a new container of ground ginger, but they're kinda...eeep, i can't believe i'm saying this...sorry renee, sorry alice waters....they are a little weak. maybe my tastebuds are tweaked towards more pika spiciness, but these seem more subtle than i was led to believe. not that subtle is bad, not in the least bit, but i wanted a bit of oomph, baby. i will definitely try these again, but i plan on doubling the spices, and adding freshly grated ginger and possibly even some chopped chilis in it. oooh. ooooh. i'll let you know.

hey reid!

eh brah, i did have a burger when i was in la, i can't believe i forgot. onolicious!

mangover

a couple of weeks ago, i suffered from a mild case of food poisoning. not much to report, but curiously, right afterwards, i craved tomato ketchup, and normally i loathe tomato ketchup. i wanted a bowl of ketchup with french fries on the side. a glass of ketchup with a small club sandwich on the side. a smidgen of ketchup with a dollop of ketchup on top of a vat of ketchup, please. curious.

curiouser still: on thursday, i met a ten foot tall giant. we went to a bar called fishbowl and had a couple of drinks and it was a very pleasant meeting. in the morning, i thought it might have been a hallucination, but i had a very real hangover (despite the gallon of water i drank before bed, natch), so maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. i woke up absolutely craving something--not ketchup, but mangoes this time. mango mania.

i searched the fridge, to no avail. i did, however, find some mango popsicles in the freezer, and they were nice--frozen fruit juice on the outside, and a tasty mango jelly center. mmmmm. cool and comforting, but not really sating me. since i had to mosey on over to work, i decided to make a quick detour to the shopping center near the office, and go to sol juice for a smoothie. of course i chose "mango madness", made from fresh mangoes, guava juice and lime. icey and delish.



yes, i know. i should really clean off my desk sometime. anyway, i sipped on this and water all morning, but i still had a throbbing ache in my head, and the smoothie wasn't mangolicious enough. i ran a few errands, and chanced upon a café near my bank, the brown bag café. it was here i picked up a mango salad, made with romaine salad, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, mangoes, dried cranberries, pecans, and a little goat cheese, with a raspberry vinaigrette.



the mangoes in the salad weren't quite ripe, but they were sweet and tender, and the greens were crisp and fresh. my body wasn't receptive to dairy products so i left off the cheese, and i didn't miss it, as the dried cranberries and vinaigrette added a zing i sorely needed that day.



i also had a chicken mango wrap, made with grilled chicken breast, cucumbers, bean sprouts, shredded lettuce and super-ripe mango, all wrapped in a sundried tomato tortilla. it was served with a wasabi-lime mayonnaise that lent a light zestiness to this tasty wrap. definitely hit the spot. hangover mostly gone, the mango madness had passed.


honest, he didn't look so blurry at the time

almost. i had more errands, so later that afternoon, i dropped in on the bestseller café, and planned on getting a mango tart, but unfortunately it wasn't available. norbert nicely suggested some tea might help, so i just went on my merry way, with a lovely cup of tropicana tea made with black tea, and flavoured with kiwi, passionfruit, lime, and yes, more mangoes!



fishbowl
acanta mall
pale san vitores road
tumon
671.649.1291

sol juice
gpo, upper concourse
tamuning

brown bag café
in the old dfs/shell offices, by guam greyhound park
tamuning
671.647.0188

bestseller café
inside bestseller bookstore
gpo
671.647.7233

the universal language of blog

i have to give a big thank you to all the food bloggers whose primary language is not english but who choose to blog in english anyway. i have learned more about various cuisines and food habits from your personal experience and recipes provided to me than any book or television program has taught me. i have to say, though, i have found a few blogs out there that are written in other languages and i'm completely intrigued.

most of the blogs i find are in japanese. dagnabbit. i could've started studying japanese in elementary school, but no. where was i? in señora matthews spanish/sex ed class. it just seemed so much more interesting than writing out the same kanji characters over and over. i have to say, sra. matthews' spanish classes were very helpful in a difficult situation involving a drunken but charming bullfighter in a disco in barcelona, but has it helped me in my food blog pursuits? pah! hasn't helped me in the least bit in translating vinrouge or ichizen, for example. luckily, the visual clues are helpful, and chika from she who eats provides an english translation for most of ichizen.

and CLEARLY school admin wasn't thinking ahead by not offering turkish nor german as second languages. teatime, a blog about all things teatime, is seriously taxing my self-taught german skills, riddling my brain with unfamiliar umlauts and completely. sexing. me. up over napkin folding instructions. napkin folding instructions. part of me longs for english translation, part of me enjoys the struggle and the universal language of photos and recipe formats. portakal ağacı, another turkish site, has an english-text page, but the turkish language site visually just seems more vibrant and appealing.

do you know of any food blogs written in other languages? let me know!

pastel de tres leches with a holiday twist

it's a holiday here, and i'm up to no good. it's not worth telling you about. and i would love to tell you i slaved, slaved, SLAVED over this cake, but i didn't.

pastel de tres leches, or "three milks" cake, is a dessert found in central america that many countries claim as their own, but most probably was just a promotional recipe on the back of a can of evaporated milk. yellow cake (sometimes pound cake, sometimes sponge) is soaked in a mixture of milks and topped with either whipping cream or meringue. reid at ono kine grindz has a lovely cuban-based recipe here, but if you are lucky to live somewhere where bakeries make beautiful sponge cakes akin to giant mamon like they do here on island, just buy one of those and soak it in a mixture of evaporated milk, condensed milk, and cream, then top with more whipped cream.

i happened to have some eggnog about, so i decided to make this cake with a twist by substituting the heavy cream with the holiday libation. i heated 2 parts egg nog, 1 part condensed milk, and 1 part evaporated milk just to a boil, then added a healthy dash of nutmeg and rum (optional). i poured the warm mixture over the pre-bought sponge cake until it was mostly absorbed, poured a bit more, and stuck the whole thing in the refrigerator to absorb the excess overnight. i then topped it with a bit of whipped cream.

if you are from guam and remember the classic fiesta dessert latiya(lah-tí-jah), which is a sponge cake topped with a vanilla pastry cream, this cake is like a richer, tastier version of that. waaaay better tasting, imo. hey, maybe we should make like latin america and claim it as our own.