A Busy Day in the Kitchen

Started off the morning baking some chocolate croissants from Trader Joe's. They come frozen, so it thaws and rises overnight, to be baked in the morning. Fresh baked croissants are just so good.

The conveniece was really nice. They should start carrying plain croissants too. I bet that would be a good seller.

Last night around midnight, I started some chili in the crockpot so David and Roshan could have something warm to eat after their ride. Pretty much a basic chili recipe, but this time I tried adding some instant coffee and red wine vinegar, and since I didn't have any unsweetened cocoa around, threw in some baking chocolate. It was a mild chili, so the kids can eat them. My chilis are getting better.

David enjoys saltine crackers with his chili, but I didn't want to drive into town. So here's another first, homemade saltines. I got to use my pastry wheel, which had been sitting in my drawer for years.

The crackers, pre-bake.

The final product. It made quite a bit. A little time consuming though, it took about 2 hrs. to make since they needed to be rolled pretty flat. But David enjoyed them. A lot of crackers for under 50 cents.

Also made a quick batch of corn bread.

New Year's in Japan means mochi time. We had eaten up our last batch, so we made some more.

Since the mochi maker was already out, I gave an attempt to make mitarashi dango. They are really good, but pricey, so it's an occasional treat. Such a simple recipe, the dango is just rice flour and water, steamed, and kneaded.

After it is kneaded, I made little balls, skewered them, lightly grilled them, and pour some sauce (sugar, soy sauce, water, and corn startch) on them. I got 14 good size skewers. Yuuuuummy! Emi couldn't stop eating them!