はたちになりました！I am now 20 years old!

I am officially a legal adult! ...well in Japan that is. One more year for legal age in America.

Normally when people ask me if I feel older when it is my birthday, I will say that I don't really feel any different, I am just the same as I was yesterday and the day before that. However, this time, I actually feel the difference in no longer being a teenager. I got a new haircut and some cute new clothes and I feel that it definitely helps me to portray my maturity.

*Flashback to a week or so before my birthday*

I decided I wanted to get my hair cut so I went to a Japanese hair salon called AXIS hair salon. The service here was so similar to that of the hair salon I went to with my  mom in Japan, I was treated so well. I felt like a Queen! My hairstylist did such a wonderful job with my haircut. I got EXACTLY what I wanted.

Front view

 View from the back

Side-angle view

Here is my wonderful hairstylist! She was so great. It was nice being able to speak with her in Japanese as well. It made me feel right at home. AXIS hair salon also caters to non-Japanese speakers as well, but they are able to accommodate those who may only speak Japanese.

Now for clothes...

Recently I have not been able to dress up as often as I would like or at least wear "normal" clothes. I have been wearing scrubs or a nursing student uniform almost every day of the week. 

Yawn..I am getting a bit tired now so I think this will have to continue on another post. 

Tah-tah for now my dears.

Good night~

Coconut Custard Warabi Mochi

Warabi mochi is a variation from the typical mochi one envision when they think of mochi. This mochi is more translucent and a bit softer in texture, kind of similar to what one would imagine if combining mochi with jello or jelly. 

For this I used warabi mochi powder and some water, following the measurements on the package.
Traditionally warabi mochi is served by dusting or coating the outside of the mochi with kinako powder mixed with a little bit of sugar. Then kuromitsu is drizzled over the top for an extra kick of flavor.

HOWEVER

I decided to mix it up a little and make a custard cream to go with the warabi mochi. But not just any custard cream, a coconut custard cream. Let me tell you what, that was one of the best decision I could have made. The custard was so velvety and the sweetness paired so nicely with the texture of the warabi mochi.

 For the custard I used:
-1 can coconut milk
-3 egg yolks
-3 TB sugar

Method:
1. Warm the coconut milk in a small pot until it is heated, but not too hot to the touch.
2. Pour the coconut milk into a bowl that is over a pot with simmering water (double boiler). Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water in the pot!
3. Beat egg yolks and sugar together with a fork until combined, the sugar doesn't have to be dissolved
4. Trickle in the egg/sugar mixture slowly into the coconut milk while whisking. 
5. Do not stop whisking!...For about 30 minutes or until you get your desired thickness.
6. Pour into a bowl and set in the fridge to cool and firm up a bit more

*My custard came out a bit runnier than I would have hoped, next time I think I will whisk it for a little bit longer (it still tasted good though!).

Here I tried to fill the warabi mochi with the custard cream, but it was a bit difficult. Instead, I decided to just top the warabi mochi with the custard and that worked out well.

Desert is served!

Half eaten and you can see the warabi mochi better now that some of the cream has been devoured. I had some very happy customers that night!

This is definitely worth the time and effort, it was delicious!

Much love,
Crystal

"Pleats Eat Me" -Steamed Pork Buns

Photo credit to my mom for this pic

"What better way to end a hard work day, or any day for that matter, than with a hand full of soft buns?" Is what I thought to myself when I started making these babies. When I was looking for recipes for the dough, so many called for pau flour, and that I did not readily have in hand. Luckily I came across Food52's recipe, and that is what I stuck with.  

Because there were only three of us for dinner, I decided to halve the recipe and it turned out perfectly!

The ingredients (and amounts) I used are:

-1 heaping tsp active dry yeast

-1/2 cup whole milk (you can use any milk)

-1/2 TB olive oil

-1+1/2 C. all purpose flour

-1/4 tsp salt

-1+1/2 TB sugar

The method:

1. Put milk and oil in a small pot to warm it up, I am sure you could also use a microwave for this step if you'd like. The only thing is to make sure it is lukewarm (not hot to the touch) for the next step.

2. Sprinkle the yeast over top of the milk and oil mixture in a bowl, stir it with a fork and let it sit for about 10 minutes, you should start to see some bubbling after the time passes.

3. Sift the flour, sugar, and salt together in a separate bowl

4. When the wet ingredients are ready, slowly pour it into the dry ingredients while stirring

5. When a dough-like substance begins to form (you may need to use your hands to incorporate everything), put it onto a flat surface dusted with flour for kneading for about 5 minutes or until the dough starts to become elastic and stick together

6. Now let your dough rise for 1-2 hours (I did 2) in an oiled bowl with a damp towel over it. Make sure the bowl is in a warm area.

7. Once the dough has risen, punch it to let some of the air escape and roll it into a log

8. Cut the log into 6 pieces (or less if you'd like smaller buns) <-- "Who wants smaller buns?"

9. Roll out the pieces until you have your desired thickness, using extra flour if it feels a bit sticky (keep in mind that these will puff up quite a bit in the steamer)

10. Pinch the edges of the dough really well, this will make it easier to pleat

11. Now, this is the fun part, you can fill them with whatever you'd like! It is totally up to you. You are now the chief of the fillings. You could even make a sweet version with some red bean paste or even a custard, mmm. 

I made two types of fillings consisting of:

-Pork/tuna

-Cabbage

-Shiitake mushrooms

-Garlic

-Shoyu (soy sauce)

-Brown sugar

-Ginger (from the tube)

*The measurements are based on what was on hand and what kind of taste I like. So get to experimenting what kinds of flavors your tastebuds like.

I precooked these in the iron skillet (one of my favorite pans) before filling the dough. I did this just to make sure that everything inside was cooked and it tasted good.

This part was interesting. This was the first time I have pleated anything but dress pants, I think I did alright for a first-timer. I bow down to those who have mastered the pleat, it's  quite a feat! (Sometimes, I just can't help myself)

BOOM! How about 'dem steamed buns! This was not because of my master crafting though, just good camera angle skills. A girl's gotta be honest with herself, haha.

Don't worry if it isn't perfect, the pleats are just for looks. As long as the filling stays inside, you are good to go!

12. Place these in a steamer lined with wax paper/parchment paper/(I was even considering using cabbage leaves, but it might make them soggy)

13. In about 15 minutes, take them out to serve with your favorite sauce (I used hot mustard and it was SO good!)

*Careful of the steam when you are taking them out!!! 

This is the final product out of the steamer.

Here is the tuna filling. Oh my goodness, I am drooling looking at this picture and remembering last night's dinner.

This one is with the pork filling. Photo credit to my mom for this pic too. 

The verdict: A MAJOR SUCCESS

The dough was just flawless. It was nice and soft and held in the filling really well. I was really surprised at how big they got while they were in the steamer. 

I will definitely be making these again, and I will probably experiment with some new tasty fillings as well! Until next time,

Much love,

Crystal

The Little Flower That Could

My dad and I felt like going hiking on this fine morning so we packed up our bags, laced up our shoes, and headed out to La Perouse. Hey look, I'm a poet, and I didn't even know it! Haha!

We ventured across this trail that is going straight through a lava flow. This is called the King's trail because back in the day, the King would cross this trail, a highway of his own.

My dad and I didn't quite make it all the way to Kanaio, but instead we took a little detour to come to this beach area with spectacular cliff faces carved out by the crashing waves.

I came across this little beauty as I climbed up a hill to get a better view of the waves coming in.

It was all alone in the rocks, just one strong Hawaiian Poppy flower. 

This was the view of the cliffs from the top of the hill. 

Aaaaand, I also found a crab friend. Well, I guess he isn't exactly my friend, just a shell of my friend who molted on the rocks. I think he's cool none-the-less, especially with his lightbulb eyes.

Look! I found a half of a coconut.

That happens to look like a guy with a mustache. 

From here we had a well-deserved re-fueling lunch that we packed earlier and hit the trail once more to head on home.

I look forward to my next adventure. Hopefully you hear from me soon! That means I came back alive, haha.

Much love,

Crystal

Puffins (Papaya Muffins)

Look at that delicious papaya! The papaya's I used for this recipe were fresh from my wonderful neighbor's tree. I love sharing fresh fruits and veggies that we grow and it is always nice to receive some too. We had an abundance of papaya's that were in our refrigerator so I decided to bake some muffins with them. 

I used the same recipe as the 'Surprise Banana Muffins', replacing the mashed bananas with mashed papayas and I altered a couple of the measurements.

This recipe made 10 muffins

For these muffins you will need...

1+1/2 C papaya guts, without the seeds of course 

2/3 C sugar

1 egg

1/4 C + 1 TB butter (melted in microwave for 15 sec)

1+1/2 C flour

1 heaping TSP baking soda

1 TSP baking powder

 1 pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F

2. Beat the egg with a hand mixer until it is pale in color and a bit frothy

Or if you are feeling up for an arm workout and you don't have a hand mixer, you can always just use a whisk.

3. With the mixer still on, add in the sugar and melted butter then fold in the papaya innards with a rubber spatula

*My papayas were extra ripe so I didn't have to mash them when I scooped 

4. Sift in the dry ingredients, also folding this in. I added the dry ingredients in three parts so that it would combine nicely and I wouldn't overwork the batter

*Avoid over mixing

5. Spray the muffin tin with non-stick spray and scoop the mixture into each well.

I filled the tins pretty high, but not quite level with the top edge

You can even see the pieces of papaya!

6. Pop these babies in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean 

BOOM! Look at that, golden brown and delicious. 

This time the tops are actually popping out of the top, YAY!

7. Once the muffins are done, place them on a rack to cool completely

Here was Attempt #1 without beating the egg, butter, and sugar mixture together and with a level TSP of baking soda

These came out pretty dense and were not as fluffy as I had hoped. 

They may look deflated and sunken, but they still tasted pretty darn good.

Attempt #2

This was using the exact recipe as I have posted above. This made nice fluffy muffins that were really moist.

Just look at those nice pieces of orange papaya in there, mmm-mmm! 

 These muffins tasted amazing!! The more bites I took, the more it tasted almost like caramel and slightly milky, and I hadn't even added any milk! My obaachyan said that these are even better than our family's banana bread. Trust me, that is a big deal. Every time she comes to visit us, she asks us to bake her a couple of loaves of banana bread to take back with her to Japan. This time, she asked me to make a huge batch of these papaya muffins to take back with her. 

I would say that makes this recipe a success! 

Much love,

Crystal

Bird Butt

We drove up to Haleakala's Hosmer's Grove on this lovely day. At a little over 10,000 ft in elevation, Hosmer's Grove is one of my favorite places to visit, have lunch, and just get away from all of the hustle and bustle of life. 

My dad and I went on the little trail hike that goes through the forest. We stopped at the lookout area where you can spot birds native to Hawaii. I got a few snapshots of the birds, but today there weren't very many compared to what we have seen before.

Birdy #1 

Birdy #2

Birdy #3

Here is where the fun began! This little bird was very quick and kept hopping from berry bunch to berry bunch, the camera just couldn't keep up ("yeah, blame the camera", haha) Most of the pictures I got of this little guy were out of focus and blurry. 

This picture that I took was not so bad, but it didn't come out as clear as I would have liked. 

The butt shot however, seemed to be perfectly in focus! Well, now at least you know what the back side of this bird looks like.

After our short hike/walk, we had a nice little picnic as a family, including my mom, dad, obaachyan, and Ace, our dog. I will more than likely be coming here again before I leave for school in August. 

Much love,

Crystal

Punch It Pizza

Pizza party Friday night! As Jonathan Sacconejoly would say. *Side Note* I love the Sacconejolys, they are such amazing people and their children are so adorable!! 

Starting with the dough, I used Food Network's recipe. I was browsing through many recipes for pizza dough and I decided to try my hand at this variation. 

What you need:

1 packet of instant yeast

1+1/4 C. lukewarm water

1+1/2 C. whole wheat flour

2 C all-purpose flour

1 TB olive oil

1 TB honey

1/2 TSP salt

The how to:

1. Add the yeast to the water, stir it around for a second, and let it do its thing while you gather the rest of the ingredients

2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until it forms a ball, Food Network says to use a food processor, I used my trusty two hands.

3. Place the dough ball in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel for 45 minutes

It grew!! This is what the dough looked like after about 45 minutes of letting the dough rise.

4. Now this is when you get to....Punch it!  BAM! 

5. I kneaded the dough a bit then separated it into these two portions, wrapped each with plastic wrap, and put them in the fridge for about 4 hours. The recipe says to let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours before use.

6. Rolling out the dough to the thickness you like. 

Next time I'm going to try do do a thinner crust because that is what I prefer.

7. Add your toppings, being careful not to overload it or else it may not cook throughout.

Here is one of my favorite combinations of toppings to make my own version of a margarita pizza. YUM! This one has shrimp, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil from the garden, and what was left of the provolone cheese (not much).

Here's the pizza I made for my dad. He likes to have provolone and pepperoni on his.

This was the first time I used a pizza stone and it was a little messy to tell the truth as you can see the cheese had melted quite a bit and when I was taking it out of the oven, the toppings started to move with the cheese around the pizza.

8. I put the pizza in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until the crust was crispy and the toppings were all cooked nicely.

Sorry for the bad photography skills with this picture, but this is the end product of the shrimp pizza. I actually added some left over caramelized onions on the top of it and it added SOOOO much to the flavor of the pizza. I highly recommend it. I would definitely have this pizza again, but I think I will experiment with another recipe for the dough and see how it turns out. I'll let you know how that turns out later, until then...

Much love,

Crystal

Guess Who?

This, my friends, is my wonderful obaachyan (grandma). She came to visit us for about a month from Japan.  This is a quick snapshot of one of our many morning walks along the beach and through parks. She gets up at the crack of dawn just like I do, so we can have a nice walk before it starts to get too hot outside.

Here's a very pretty purple flower that my obaachyan pointed out as we were walking in our neighborhood.

I love being able to go for little morning strolls because I have the warmth of the sun rays on my skin, it gets my body moving and stretched out for the day, and to top it all off, I get to talk story with my obaachyan the whole time and hear about some of her own pretty amazing adventures. 

Later on that day, I went to play some tennis as well. Good morning walks, lead to other good decisions, I guess. It has been a while since I have practiced playing tennis, and this was a great day to start. I am so glad I went to hit some balls around the court, it reminded me of why I liked it so much in high school. I will definitely not wait so long to pick up my racket again. 

Much love,

Crystal

Surprise Banana Muffins

On this particular morning, I noticed that our bananas were getting pretty ripe. So my mind went straight to using them to make yummy banana muffins of course! 

Muffin Ingredients

4 large ripe bananas-mashed (the more the merrier though!)

1/2 cup sugar (the more ripe the bananas, the less sugar you have to add)

1 egg

1/4 cup + 1 TB butter (melted in microwave for about 15 sec)

1+1/2 cups flour

1 TSP baking soda

1 TSP baking powder

1 pinch of salt

...and for the filling

1+1/2 TB nutella "chocolate spread"

1 TB plain greek yogurt

**Any filling will work for this as long as it is not too runny, to make it thicker you can add greek yogurt to it, but keep in mind that doing so can make the filling a bit tart, so the more yogurt that is added, the more sweetness you will want to add balance the flavor. 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F

2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to get out any lumps (sifting will also help to make the muffins fluffy)

3. Cream together the sugar, egg, and melted  butter then add the mashed bananas 

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined (don't over mix!)

5. Spray the muffin tin with non-stick spray and fill each little well about 3/4 of the way full and bake for about 15 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Once they are done, set them on a rack to cool completely

7. While you're waiting for those babies to cool, mix together the nutella chocolate spread and the greek yogurt. Go ahead and experiment with the chocolate to yogurt ratio to the flavor that you like.

After all, thats what cooking and baking is all about!

Once the muffins were cooled, I cut out a hole for the filling, being careful not to make a mess of the part I was cutting out because after I filled it, I put that "lid" of the muffin back on.

Look at that delicious filling, it almost looks like pudding. Actually, thinking on that now, that wouldn't be a bad idea. 

 I do recommend that you fill them right before serving so that both the filling and the muffin keep their textures. However, I did set aside a muffin with the filling in it overnight to see what would happen, and good news, it still held up pretty well. 

Here I popped the top back on and hid the cut as well as I could. There you have it, surprise banana muffins that are so moist, fluffy, and delicious! Enjoy~

Much love,

Crystal