pepperknit

Fresh Direct screwed something up in our last order, and they sent us two massive bunches of bananas. We’ve been making Bananas Foster practically daily, but we’ve reached the point where the bananas are nearly molten and it’s time to bake them into something. I was all set to make a recipe I’d found online from a trusted source, but the moment I started in on prep and I started to mash banana flesh, the scent transported me to another time and place.

Sixth grade, Taipei American School, Taiwan. I was on the yearbook staff—it was an after-school activity. We had three faculty sponsors who helped make the yearbook, but the only one I remember is Ms. Patterson, the Home Ec teacher. (Random sidenote: on a family vacation to Bali in 6th grade, Ms. Patterson was staying at the same resort as us. I can only imagine now how annoying it would be to run into a student while on vacation! I promise I didn’t harrass her overly much.)

As a fundraiser for the yearbook, we all took over the Home Ec kitchens and baked banana bread. Then at the annual Food Fair, we sold our wares. The Food Fair was an awesome yearly event on campus where different groups (and maybe restaurants? I don’t know.) would set up tables with food from around the world to buy and taste. It’s where I had satay for the first time—I definitely remember that. And it was also a place where the parents and kids could come, and the parents could socialize and eat while the kids ran around the place with abandon.

Anyway, I remember making this banana bread for the Fair, then getting the recipe from Ms. Patterson, because my family loved it so much. Thankfully, when I started living on my own my mom made me a recipe book of family favorites, so I had the recipe handy. I promptly abandoned the other banana bread for this one.

Licking the bowl after making the batter was transportive. I was 11 years old again, baking banana bread with my friends after school. I was carrying a tray of banana bread slices to offer as free samples to entice people to come buy the bread (that was my friend Beth’s idea).

TAS Banana Bread (as my mom noted in the recipe “TAS Food Fair”)
2 sticks butter, softened
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the butter. Mix the vanilla into the bananas and fold this into the batter. Stir in the nuts.

Pour into a greased + floured loaf pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

And oh boy does it taste so good, even when it’s not tied up in memories. The wheat flour gives it a bite and a quality that other banana breads lack, in my opinion. This one calls for no spices, but there’s no reason not to tuck some in. I think nuts are crucial, personally—in fact, I believe all baked goods for which nuts are optional are better with them (cookies, brownies). If you were one of those people who like chocolate chips in your banana bread (I am not one of these people), I’m sure the batter would hold up to their melty gooeyness.

You just can’t go wrong with this banana bread.

It’s no secret ’round these parts how much I adore Valentine’s Day. It’s a weird thing—I guess about 10 or so years ago, I just decided to embrace the holiday and make it mine. I mean, sure, it’s overcommercialized and generally a disgusting thing that Hallmark has thrust upon us, but it’s also so cheesy and stupid and can be a lot of fun. I take it as a holiday to tell my friends and family how much I love them—and I usually do it with sugar.

This year, you can celebrate with a completely calorie-free heart to give to someone you love. The pattern I designed for Crochet Today is for a set of coasters, but there’s no reason one can’t simply be slipped in a card, or hung from a doorknob. Make two and sew them together with a little bit of stuffing to make a three-dimensional heart!

You have plenty of time before Feb 14 to make them if you start now! It’s in the Jan/Feb issue.

Be Mine Coasters

Merry Christmas all! I’m here in Norway celebrating with my parents. It’s been freezing and snowy pretty much every day. But I suppose that’s a lot more Christmassy feeling than what we had the last time we were together for the holiday.

Merry Christmas!

A rainy day in Brooklyn is the perfect backdrop for a shoot of sweet little Totoro; his leaf has gone missing, but I lent him my umbrella, don’t worry.

Totoro
Pattern on Rav
My project page on Rav
Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Ways, 1 skein each Oyster and Blue Cloud
Hook: E/4 (3.5mm)
Started: Wednesday, October 21
Finished: Friday, October 23

Notes: I made the ears smaller–only up to 18 sts before working straight. I futzed the decreases for the bottom of the ears. Otherwise I followed the directions exactly. If you make this, I recommend making the parts in the following order (not the order the pattern is written): White eye circle, ears, arms, tail, THEN the body. (The belly circle can be done any time; I attached it after sealing up his body. This way you can attach everything as you go and still be working off the same ball of yarn.

Happy birthday to my friend Holly! Totoro will go to live with her on her big 3-0, today!

fall!

I’ve been an unabashed meat eater for years now, after a brief faux-vegetarian stint in high school. Sometimes this aspect of my personality is more pronounced than others—I certainly am not someone who demands meat at every meal. But it was especially evident yesterday, when Jason, my friend Barri, and I traveled to North Jersey to attend my aunt and uncle’s annual Ribfest!

Three years ago is the last time I went—and if I’m correct, maybe the last time it occurred. That year, I only made a pie, to enter in the friendly competition. Sadly, only three people made and brought ribs, so the contest for the meat wasn’t all that exciting.

This year, though, the rules were clear: bring something to eat or you can’t come. The wording was strong, and I suspect many of us feared we’d actually be turned away at the door if we didn’t come bearing pork. As a result, despite the pouring rain, there were more than 20 entries in the rib competition. That’s a whole lot of ribs.

I’d always been intimidated at the thought of making ribs—not only am I limited to oven cooking, I for some reason had it in my head that they were a tricky beast. I was wrong. They are super easy—put spices on, stick ‘em in the oven, and you’re basically done. My recipe involved a spice rub and a sauce, and both were damn tasty.

Only problem once we got to the competition, though, was that I forgot to put my extra sauce on, and the ribs weren’t especially warm. The winners were all heavily sauced, and some were even served in a slow cooker. (I’m making notes for next year.)

The pie competition this year was also fierce; 19 pies vied for the title. Mine should have won on looks alone.

But my peaches were too tart, and a sentimental favorite stole the win. (But my cream cheese crust was flaky and perfect—try it with your favorite filling!) Next year, I’m making classic apple and not fussing around with fancy flavors or elaborate spices. Give the people what they want, that’s my new mantra!

I’m definitely already thinking about next year . . .

My Japanese knowledge is, to be honest, rather limited. I’ve seen Lost in Translation, I love to shop at Daiso (the Japanese $2 store; there are chains in Singapore), I do sushi with some regularity. On a date about 2 years ago we went to a “home-style” Japanese restaurant and both confessed to each other that we had no idea what that was going to mean. (It meant quite a bit of fried food, and rice dishes.)

Oh, and ramen. Right? Those packets? I grew up making “Oodles of Noodles” (which later became Top Ramen, I guess—the packaging is the same) regularly on summer breaks. I have a stash of chicken flavor in the pantry all the time, and since my parents moved to Singapore I’ve discovered the joys of kim chi ramen as well as laksa. Mom even recently sent me a mysterious package of purple noodle ramen. (When I try it that will be another blog post!) That’s ramen, right?

Okay, okay. I know it’s not. Which is why I’ve been itching to try one of the ramen spots in New York. Tonight I finally did!

My friend Sonia and I waited (for 20 minutes! at 6:30! on a Wednesday!) for a table at Ippudo, on 4th Ave near 10th Street. A long while back, some friends and I tried to go here and at 7:30 on a Tuesday the wait was predicted to be more than an hour, so we didn’t bother. I’m glad Sonia and I stuck it out. We were seated at the counter, overlooking the cooks, which let us see all the yummy-looking things we didn’t order go past us!

I’d read online that the Hirata buns were really good, and not knowing anything else about the offerings, all of which sounded great, we got them as an appetizer.

And were rewarded greatly. The bun is similar to the bun of xao long bao—a rice flour–based dough—but this was cloudlike in a way that I did not expect. It was a wee bit sticky, gave nicely to the touch, and was smooth and soft and wonderfully doughy. The blandness offset the richness of the pork, whose layers of fat literally melted in your mouth. All of this would have been nice, but it was rendered perfect with the spicy mayo-like sauce that was on top (along with lettuce). The heat (which we hadn’t known was coming) gently filled your mouth but didn’t overpower any of the ingredients. Swoon.

For the ramen, we each stuck with one of the “classics.” Unfortunately, my picture of Sonia’s is a bit blurry, so I’m not posting it here. I got the Shiromaru Hakata Classic (above), which is described as “‘the original tonkotsu’ soup noodles with slices of simmered berkshire pork, kikurage, red pickled ginger, menma, 1/2 hard boiled egg, sesame & scallions.” She got Akamaru Modern, “‘the original tonkotsu’ soup noodles with ippudo’s special sauce, miso paste and fragrant garlic oil, slices of simmered berkshire pork, cabbage, onions, kikurage & scallions.” They were totally different, and yet very similar. Both were salty and full of umami flavor, but mine was more earthy, while hers was more spiced. I couldn’t decide which I liked more, though after half of mine I was happy to switch bowls with her and finish up with something different.

The ramen was warming and comforting and really nice—especially as the weather has taken a turn toward the fall in the last few days. I look forward to comparing this with other ramen houses as winter comes on!

Today is a big birthday for my dad. Well, in truth, his birthday is August 24, and I’m writing this on August 23 (my BFF since kindergarten’s birthday; hi Liss!), but where dad lives it is just now August 24. It’s weird to not be with him on this, the day that marks his 60th revolution around the sun, but Mom and Dad are still in Singapore (actually I think they’re in Thailand right now, just for a visit), and another trip for me wasn’t possible.

So here’s to Dad! Always up for participating in whatever photographic idea I’ve got in my head . . .

Always up to a good meal and trying new things (at this dinner i made him eat taramosalata, one of my favorite foods, and he liked it!) . . .

Always fascinated by the beautiful things around him (this day, he borrowed my point and shoot camera and was exploring—what was it, dad?—”shapes and shutters” or something silly like that. another day he used the camera to look at “color”) . . .

Always interested in the culture and places he visits—and he’s been all over Asia at this point! Next up, Europe—I’m looking forward to the next adventure, which begins in Norway in October, and will last for 3 years. (Here we’re making our way down the steep, steep stairs on the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Indonesia.)

And always inspiring me. Just in this past week—perhaps because I’ve had dad’s birthday on my mind?—I started running, for pretty much the first time in my life. Dad’s an accomplished marathoner and is “pretty fast for an old guy,” as he likes to say. (He’s being modest—he’s really fast for an old guy.) I’ve never been a runner, despite all my exposure to the sport, but something changed in the last week, and while I’ve only taken a few slow steps, I think I see a lot more in my future. And I know I’ll think of Dad on every run—and perhaps curse him, once he starts giving me training advice. (As a certified coach, he probably deserves to be listened to, though, I guess!) Here’s hoping I’m as in shape and healthy as he is at 60.

Happy birthday Dad!! Wish I could be there in person. (Your gift requires some discussion, but we will discuss it soon.) Looking forward to seeing you guys in the States in about a month—maybe we’ll go on a run together. Mom can cook us up a big breakfast as a reward.  :)

I took enough yarn with me down the shore to knit an entire sweater. I told myself “you have one week: get it done.” I knew this was risky, given I would not have my (small but good) library of knitting books on hand as reference, as I was designing my first set-in sleeve. I knew i would have internet access and could easily read great tutorials on armscyes on knitty, and I could use the fantastic armscye calculator, created by my friend Elinor of Exercise Before Knitting’s genius husband. I knew if all else failed I could wing it and it would probably be okay. But instead . . .

Yeah, I didn’t knit a single stitch. Didn’t touch the yarn, didn’t look anything up. I jumped in upon my return and am cranking along—of course, I’m also freaking out about those armscyes. All the references and reading in the world can’t help me i don’t think. I just have to do it!

Because I knit him a scarf. A scarf! The most boring thing to knit ever invented. A knitting staple that I have knit very rarely, because I find it so deadening to knit one thing for inches and inches and inches, with no shaping or changes.

But there must be something different about knitting a scarf as a surprise for someone who adores you—and who you’re awful smitten with—because I loved knitting this scarf from start to finish.

Scrunchable Scarf
Yarn: Moda Vera “Precious” (95% wool, 5% cashmere)
Balls: 7
Purchased at: Spotlight craft store in Plaza Singapura in Singapore
Needles: US 5 Addi Turbos
Width: About 6″
Length: About 56″
Started: early Jan, in other incarnations, but for reals with this pattern Thursday January 15, 2009
Completed: Friday, January 23, 2009
Notes: Not much to say, other than that I love the way this scarf is reversible and completely mindless to knit. I love the look of garter rib, so this sort of has that effect (but is reversible). I want to knit one for myself in another color! Here’s hoping he likes it, too.