Lunch at Tiffin's

...get it??

Sorry, readers, for leaving y'all hanging for so long. It's been a busy few months.

At the moment, Janel is microwaving brown sugar with a wet paper towel on top of it. (do so to soften hard brown sugar (see photo))...the lengths we go to to make fudgy chocolate chip muffins.

(Half an hour later)

Lisa is pouring the results of our labor into a cake tin. We adjusted the recipe a bit, using chopped up chocolate instead of chips and adding 2 tbs extra cocoa powder, as well as a bit of water to make the more moist. As Lisa put it, "Well, we'll find out. Live and learn!" I think this pretty aptly sums up our baking experience tonight.....

On another note, Janel's inaugural visit to Devon Ave. was highly successful! The two of us, along with Janel's friend Dingo, had the $9.95 lunch buffet at Tiffin, one of many Indian restaurants in the area. The price included a basket of delicious naan, sizzling tandoori chicken, and a tantalizing array of other Indian specialties. Dingo, being the pioneer that he is, tried the salad as well, and noted the presence of oranges among the lettuce...strange!

Our meal was followed by a trip to the Patel Brothers grocery store, the largest Indian food chain in America! The three of us enjoyed browsing the selection of spices and other unique items. Janel went home with a box of henna powder and frozen garlic naan, and I bought several packets of 20-cent Indian ramen and ready-made Indian dishes that came in pristine, un-crumpled packaging. These will hold me over next finals week.

Our muffins (now turned cake...) are done and a tad mushy at the center, but it's nothing we can't handle.

Until next time,

Janelisa

Fakin' Jamaican

Janel is in China--but never fear, loyal readers, she will be returning home this weekend, which means Janelisa will be back and cookin' up a storm in no time! In the meantime, you can check out what kinds of crazy Asian fare Janel is enjoying here.

Chicago is rainy and gray today, so to celebrate everything that Chicago is not, I made a Jamaican-style Black Bean and Coconut Cornbread Bake for my family:

After much perusing and squinting at the tiny labels on all the jars in the spice section of Jewel, I found Cajun seasoning and

decided that that was probably in the right ball park. Coconut milk also took me a while to find. I looked for it among the other milk variations (soy, almond, etc) but it actually comes in a can and is sold in the Asian food section--I think it's heavily used in Thai foods, like curry.

After reading over the recipe, I thought the cornmeal/flour/coconut milk mixture would end up

being too liquid-y. It wasn't, but there was significantly less of it

than there were beans/corn/tomatoes. Two 15 oz. cans of beans is a lot! If you are a big fan of carbs (which my family is), I would suggest preparing more of the cornbread mixture and reducing the amount of vegetables. That way, your final dish will be more of an entree than a vegetable side.

Also, a teeny-tiny label on the side of the can of coconut milk reads: "Coconut milk naturally separates and hardens. Shake well before opening and stir before using." Do that! I didn't see the label and thus opened the can and started spooning out coconut "milk" that had the consistency of soft butter...and then I discovered all the liquid at the bottom.

I didn't really taste the seasoning in the final dish, but I like mild foods so that was okay. The cornbread topping was really yummy--slightly sweet, with a hint of coconut flavor.

(Hey, the rain has stopped!)

With plenty of love and sprinkles,

Lisa

Ps- were any other fellow Chicago Groupon-ers disappointed to see that all 10,000(!) Flat-Top groupons were sold out by 9:30 this morning? Crazy!

Happy Go Pot-lucky

Hello, readers!

(Are you out there, readers?)

I'm writing to you from the inside of Lisa's kitchen, where elaborate preparations for a potluck picnic are currently taking place. Being the ambitious potluck-hostesses that we are, we've made a carrot-cake (with homemade cream cheese frosting!) and a vegetable pizza. ...I'm now an expert at preparing white, creamy substances.

This frosting doesn't require powdered sugar or whipped cream - just cream cheese, honey, brown sugar and a little butter. Yum! I feel a little bit diabetic now because I ate all of the leftover frosting... see left.

Here's Lisa with the vegetable pizza. This is no traditional pizza, folks.

Look at all those vegetables she cut! What a pro. You can't see it beneath the forest of vegetables, but there is a layer of cream cheese-ranch-mayonnaise sauce and a crescent roll crust underneath (lovingly prepared by yours truly).

These are sure to be smash hits. ...

Until next time (although Lisa will have to hold down the blogging fort until I get back from China),

Janelisa

Classy cookies for classy folks

As it turns out, when all necessary ingredients are present, cookies do not require several hours to make. Janel and I are going to a barbecue tomorrow, and we wanted to bring a dapper addition to the table. (The pictures do not do the suave quality of our cookies justice...bear with us)

To make your own cookies, use this recipe.

A few notes: we used regular chocolate chips instead of white chocolate chips due to our lack of white chocolate chips. Also, the consistency of the batter at the end of the mixing process may seem particularly dense. That is okay! They will turn out great...even if you're mixing with chopsticks.

Bon appetit!

So, one day in gym class..

two unassuming Asians met during some intense team building exercises. Beginning with a shared inability to successfully jump over a rope on cue, they discovered a mutual bond that would last for years to come.

This is the result of their friendship and quest for knowledge, both practical and..not, four years later.

Enjoy!