Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A Surprise With My Atemoya (Man Cau)
Hehehe... I was just talking to my husband if we should pick the two largest atemoya from the tree and let it ripe or not. So I went and look at the 10 fruits on my so called Priestly tree. I notice one of them at the stem part was a little open...as an expert..lol...this is a sign of the fruit being ripe. So I touch it and pull on it gently. Hahahaha...to my surprise the fruit came off. But it was just this little fruit. So I open it up and taste it...lol. It smell great and chewy too. It could be because it's not fully ripe the fruit was not that sweet. But it was white and at the texture that I like. I hope the other is chewy and sweet. :)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
New Bread Maker
So I finally got a bread maker. I've been wanting one so I don't have to knead dough anymore...lol This is my first white bread and it's not bad. I made it extra sweet so I can just eat it plain. In the future..maybe tomorrow, I will use this to knead dough for steamed buns. My life will be easier now that I don't have to knead dough...hehehehe. This bread maker was on sale for $60 at Macy's. It actually look pretty nice.
Monday, November 23, 2009
November Update of Tropical Fruit Trees
This is an exciting year as many of my trees are doing very well. I might get to eat some of the fruits this December.
My guava have tons of fruit on it. However, since it will not receive any sunlight for the next couple months, the fruits might not reach it's largest size. Might end up like last year where the fruit will be small with no taste. But it's still a good look tree...:)
The dwarf june plume (koc) also doing very well. But not sure when is the time to eat the june plum as it is still to small for me.
My Priesty Atemoya (man cau) is doing extremely well as it bearing 10 fruits. The two largest one might be ready to eat...hehehe. I seriously think this is a Lisa Atemoya since the skin is pinkish. I also found that there is a small piece of plastic that say Lisa on it. I think the nursery sent me the wrong tree. Too late to do anything about it now...lol
Lots of flowers and fruits on my sapodilla also...but not sure if they fruits will make it or not. The largest one is bigger than a quarter now.
My seed grown sugar apple is bearing it's first fruit and I didn't even pollinate it this year! The fruit is getting larger each week...can't wait to see how this one taste.
A surprise this year as my sweetheart lychee is blooming! Yes, I got this lychee tree last year and this year it's blooming. The key is to leave it outside until middle of November then bring it in. That gives it's chilling hours and now blooming. Hope the bloom will stay on and turning into fruits. So excited.
Purple caimito need to be in a larger pot. Will need to change it in spring. Lots of leaves fell off...not sure if it's because of the root bound or not.
My santol tree is taller...but still no sign of flower. Guess I will need to wait for another year..or few...:(
Hahahha...this is my jungle in the basement. I still need to move my dragon fruit in. This place will be packed with tropicals. Maybe I should move the santol upstairs once it snow.
My guava have tons of fruit on it. However, since it will not receive any sunlight for the next couple months, the fruits might not reach it's largest size. Might end up like last year where the fruit will be small with no taste. But it's still a good look tree...:)
The dwarf june plume (koc) also doing very well. But not sure when is the time to eat the june plum as it is still to small for me.
My Priesty Atemoya (man cau) is doing extremely well as it bearing 10 fruits. The two largest one might be ready to eat...hehehe. I seriously think this is a Lisa Atemoya since the skin is pinkish. I also found that there is a small piece of plastic that say Lisa on it. I think the nursery sent me the wrong tree. Too late to do anything about it now...lol
Lots of flowers and fruits on my sapodilla also...but not sure if they fruits will make it or not. The largest one is bigger than a quarter now.
My seed grown sugar apple is bearing it's first fruit and I didn't even pollinate it this year! The fruit is getting larger each week...can't wait to see how this one taste.
A surprise this year as my sweetheart lychee is blooming! Yes, I got this lychee tree last year and this year it's blooming. The key is to leave it outside until middle of November then bring it in. That gives it's chilling hours and now blooming. Hope the bloom will stay on and turning into fruits. So excited.
Purple caimito need to be in a larger pot. Will need to change it in spring. Lots of leaves fell off...not sure if it's because of the root bound or not.
My santol tree is taller...but still no sign of flower. Guess I will need to wait for another year..or few...:(
Hahahha...this is my jungle in the basement. I still need to move my dragon fruit in. This place will be packed with tropicals. Maybe I should move the santol upstairs once it snow.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Steamed Banana Cake (Banh Chuoi Hap)
We have some ripe bananas so I decided to make steamed banana cake. This is another Vietnamese dessert which is good with coconut milk or make it into che, sweet soup. This is my first time making it. The result is good...actually it was pretty good. I ate a big plate of it...yumm... This kind of cake is a little chewy since we used tapioca starch.
Ingredients:
10 ripe bananas
3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup rice flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2cup water
1 tsp salt
few drops of yellow color
Method:
1. Mix the starch and flour with water, sugar, salt, and yellow coloring.
2. Slice the ripe bananas into about 1/2 inch. Make sure not too thick or thin. Stir the bananas into the flour mixture.
3. Heat a pot of water for steaming. Oil two large pans and steam the pans. Now stir the banana mixture and pour into the pan. Pour about 1 inch high. You can make the cake thicker but this will take longer to steam. Steam for at least 40 minutes. Remove any extra water on top of cake. Let the cake cool before cutting.
Coconut Dip:
1 can 560 ml coconut cream
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1. Mix everything together and stir constantly over heat. Once the coconut milk become thicken then it's done. Remember to taste and see if you need more sugar.
To serve:
1. Slice the cake side way so it have the diamond shape. Pour coconut milk over and sprinkle some roasted sesame and peanuts. Sesame can be roasted in mini oven on 350F until golden. Same with peanuts. Enjoy!!!
Note: You can cook some tapioca pearl to add into the coconut milk to make sweet soup. For this you do not need the add cornstarch to the coconut milk. The tapioca pearl will thicken the soup. Remember to add more sugar for taste.
Ingredients:
10 ripe bananas
3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup rice flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 1/2cup water
1 tsp salt
few drops of yellow color
Method:
1. Mix the starch and flour with water, sugar, salt, and yellow coloring.
2. Slice the ripe bananas into about 1/2 inch. Make sure not too thick or thin. Stir the bananas into the flour mixture.
3. Heat a pot of water for steaming. Oil two large pans and steam the pans. Now stir the banana mixture and pour into the pan. Pour about 1 inch high. You can make the cake thicker but this will take longer to steam. Steam for at least 40 minutes. Remove any extra water on top of cake. Let the cake cool before cutting.
Coconut Dip:
1 can 560 ml coconut cream
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
4 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1. Mix everything together and stir constantly over heat. Once the coconut milk become thicken then it's done. Remember to taste and see if you need more sugar.
To serve:
1. Slice the cake side way so it have the diamond shape. Pour coconut milk over and sprinkle some roasted sesame and peanuts. Sesame can be roasted in mini oven on 350F until golden. Same with peanuts. Enjoy!!!
Note: You can cook some tapioca pearl to add into the coconut milk to make sweet soup. For this you do not need the add cornstarch to the coconut milk. The tapioca pearl will thicken the soup. Remember to add more sugar for taste.
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