Pan De Sal

The last time I ate pan de sal was 2 years ago before I left the Philippines.  I really missed eating this dinner rolls from the Philippines.  This recipe is so good and is so easy to follow.  I'm also happy that my husband who is a "bread critic" loved it so much that he even asked for more..

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Put the warm water in a small mixing bowl and add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar; stir to dissolve. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining 15 teaspoons of sugar and the oil and mix until smooth. Add the salt, 1 cup of flour and the yeast mixture; stir well. Add the remaining 5 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, supple and elastic; about 10 minutes. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in it and turn to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume; about 1 hour.
4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into a cylinder and roll out until the 'log' is 1/2 inch in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut each 'log' into 1/2 inch pieces. Place the pieces, flat side down, onto two lightly greased baking sheets. Gently press each roll down to flatten.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
6. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
7. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pan-de-sal-i/detail.aspx

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FREE PHOTO SESSION GIVEAWAY!

Megumi Maris who took our engagement pictures is giving away a free photo session, here's a link to her blog http://megumimarisphotography.blogspot.com/.  It's easy to put in an entry and actually blogging about it counts as one entry.  Jesse's actually being stubborn to take pictures with our wedding dresses in the temple (we didn't had the chance to do it when we got back from the Philippines) so maybe winning this photo session giveaway will finally convince him to do it.

TAHITI

Throughout the whole week I have been looking forward for this day to come #1 because I don't have to wake up at 7 in the morning, #2 we get to go to the temple and #3 Saturdays have always been the less stressful day of the week for us and so far this has been a great day for us.  Anyways, Jesse was browsing through some youtube videos early this afternoon and he came across this video by Devin Graham.  He was so amazed with the beauty of this video.  This video shows his last area in his mission in Tahiti which is Tahiti Iti.  It was fun seeing him reminisce his missionary days on this area and also listening to his stories.  He's really excited for me to go and see the beauty of Tahiti which of course makes me more excited than he is.  Hope you'll enjoy this awesome video. 

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my first time ever to bake cookies from scratch and personally these cookies are sooo good.  It's not because I baked it but the recipe really is super good and it's super duper easy to make.  Try and you'll surely not regret making it.  Here's the recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) + 6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, optional
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two cookie sheets and set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. 

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, then add to the butter mixture and beat until combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips. 

Scoop dough into rounded tablespoons and place on baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down to flatten each dough ball. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until done (these won't look done at first glance, they'll have a gooey, dough-y looking centers that sets when they're cooling, so I baked mine until they were crispy & brown around the edges. You can always poke them with a toothpick if you want to be sure). Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Source: http://buddingbaketress.blogspot.com/2011/07/chewy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies.html

Mongolian Beef

Way before I got married, I've always wanted to try recipes that I see on TV or online but I never got the chance to do it because of various reasons (BYUH student=limited budget, no personal kitchen, no pans,etc.) but now that I have my own kitchen in our apartment and I have a husband who really says what he thinks about my cooking I'm getting a little "addicted" with cooking and trying out recipes.  Here's one that I've tried a couple of days ago and it turned out pretty good.

4 tsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. water
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 c. vegetable oil
2 Lb. flank steaks
½ c. cornstarch
3 large green onions

Make the sauce by heating 4 tsp. vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Don’t get the oil too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to medium and boil the sauce 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens a little bit. Remove sauce from heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4 inch slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a 45 degree angle to the top of the steak so you get wider cuts. Dip the steak pieces into cornstarch (you can choose not to dip it)to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit about 10 min. so the cornstarch sticks. As the beef sits, heat up 1 c. oil in a wok (or skillet). Heat the oil over medium heat until its hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just 2 minutes, or until beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little bit so that it cooks evenly.

After a few minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour most of the oil out of the skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the sauce, cook for 1 minute while stirring and add green onions. Cook for 1 more minute. Now at this point you can either remove the beef with a slotted spoon or tongs and discard the sauce OR thicken the sauce with a cornstarch-water mixture to desired thickness and serve it over rice with the beef.


Source: http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/01/mongolian-beef.html

1 month down and eternity to go

It's been a month now since Jesse and I got sealed in the temple.  I can say that it has been one crazy month but I tell it has been the most wonderful one whole month of my entire life.  A lot of things have happened in that short time, things that both Jesse and I will forever cherish in our hearts.  Here's a glimpse of what had happened.  

The highlight of the past month :)

(Photos by Naomi Yanga)

Our awesome wedding reception in Manila, thanks to our families and friends.

(Photos taken by Edwin Redrino)

I still have tons of pictures to show from our wedding reception, I love all the little details during that day.  More pictures coming up from our 2011 Manila trip and life after Manila,haha!