'Dancers Disco' Oatmeal Cookies

Yesterday my cousin, her boys and I flew to her sister (yes, another cousin) and her family up in San Francisco. When I told my little niece (aka my mini me), she told her sisters and brother: "Auntie Mai Linh is going to Dancers Disco!" It took me some time to understand what she was saying and what she meant. But after saying it out loud, I heard what she was talking about. Dancers Disco almost looks like San Francisco!

up: View on the Golden Gate and Downtown from Alcatraz Island, today

down: Christmas tree on Fisherman's Wharf, today

For Christmas I was planning on making boxes of baked goods to give to my aunties, uncles and my grandma. So I figured to make some test batches. After baking for hours and hours I made a lot of cookies! A double batch of oatmeal cookies from scratch and  a batch of snickerdoodles from a box. I ended baking with making some plain and cranberry scones. After seeing the dozens of cookies and scones I choose to bring some to Dancers Disco aka San Francisco, to share with my cousins and their families.

The Snickerdoodle cookies went to my nieces Christmas party at school, with frosting and sprinkles. And half of the cookie and scone batches I left at home. For my 姐姐(big sister aka older cousin) and the kids to enjoy. The scones are just my normal sweetened scone recipe, with some added cranberries. And the Oatmeal cookies, they are fabulous! Maybe if you read my other oatmeal cookie recipe (Going bananas for Oatmeal cookies), you've heard about my obsession with these cookies.

"Ever since I visited my family in Callie in the summer of 2012 I'm hooked on oatmeal cookies. But I never had the guts to try it myself. I remember the sweet sugary tasty delights I ate during my months in CA." 

So here they are, the recipe to this divine yummy! So staying true to my little niece, I name this recipe after her idea of San Francisco.

Dancers Disco Oatmeal Cookies
(San Francisco Oatmeal Cookies)
About 4 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of rolled oats
1 1/3 cup (half the package) of Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits
1 cup of Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 cup of dried cranberries (or dried cherries)

Note: For all your Dutchies (and other non-Americans), I'm not sure if you can find all the ingredients at your local market. So the moment I get home I'll try to look for substitutes! And also for a healthier variation on this beloved cookie! Just stay tuned....

Heat oven to 375°F/ 190°C. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until blended.

Stir in oats, toffee bits and coconut, if desired, with spoon. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared sheet. The dough can be pretty thick, so press the dough a bit down. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove to wire rack.

I brought my cousin 1 1/2 box of cookies and 1/2 a box of scones. Now, not even 24 hours later, there is 1 scone left and around 1/2 a box of cookies. That's how good they are! Enjoy! 

人人乐 Market

Asian Market is Asian Market, where ever I am they will always look the same. The only difference; outside China, the signs have English (or Dutch, or French, Korean, etc etc) translation. I've been to many Asian markets in my life. Holland, France, America and China, almost everywhere I stay for a longer time I end up in a Asian Market. I always wonder around, be amazed with all the products, produce and other nicknacks. Take my time to find familiar things and be astonished by new things. Reading labels, finding out that every sauce in the Chinese kitchen is made from soybeans. That curry pastes are not always vegetarian. That the Asian taste is enhanced with E-numbers and MSG.

For many years my family and I go to this big warehouse on a industrial site. There is a huge (for Dutch scale) Asian Market/Warehouse 'Tai Pan'. As a child (and even now) I spend most of my time there along the freezers. They leave all the crazy goodies there. Frog legs, durian, all kinds of frozen fish and seafood, ducks. I can still wonder along the freezer and the aisles. 

人人乐 (ren ren le) was my daily supermarket I went to in China.
Ren Ren Le or translated Everyone Happy (translated word by word meaning people people happy). And I guess everybody was happy with this supermarket. They will catering to all your needs. Close by the university campus, great hours, with a fresh produce dept, fish, meat, deli, bakery, toiletries, kitchenware, clothes, you name it! They had a crazy candy department. With flavors I never imagined, durian, jackfruit, red date and more craziness. Like dried meats and tofu and seasoned spicy chicken feet!

But most of my wondering along Asian market aisles happens in LA. From Delmar market, to Hawaii market, Korean markets, Hong Kong Plaza, and many, many many more! Duck tongs, intestines and organs, turtles, seaweeds, fishheads, octopus and roots I never saw before and all kinds of kitchenware and utensils. 

Made you curious? Look up your local Asian Market and take some time to take a look! If you're an Asian food lover, these markets would definitely make 人人乐 (everybody happy, pinyin: ren ren le)

up: I found this picture in the stacks and boxes of pictures we have. My dad is an amateur photographer, always taking pictures, analog and digital. So I guess this is one of his pictures.
Asian market around Rosemead, LA County, Januari 1990

middle: Emy and I in the Korean supermarket, astonished by it's products and seafood department.
Greenlang, Rowland Haight, California, June 2012

down: Fresh food department of the Ren Ren Le, Na'nan District, Chongqing, Februari 2013

Here are some of my favorite Asian Markets:

Tai Pan Oriental Foods
Laagraven 2B

3439 LG Nieuwegein

THE NETHERLANDS

Toko Tjiau Jiang

Croeselaan 199-203

3521 BM Utrecht

THE NETHERLANDS

Dun Yong

Stormsteeg 9

1021 BD Amsterdam

THE NETHERLANDS

Ren Ren Le

Located next to the CTBU (Chongqing Technologie & Business University,
重庆工商大学) entrance & 五工里 lightrail (wugongli) station

No. 19 Xuefu Ave. Nan'an District

400067 Chongqing

CHINA

Hawaii Supermarket

120 E Valley Boulevard

San Gabriel, CA 91776

USA

San Gabriel Superstore

1635 S San Gabriel Boulevard

San Gabriel, CA 91776

USA

Hong Kong Plaza

989 S Glendora Avenue

West Covina, CA 91790

USA

168 Market

1421 E Valley Boulevard

Alhambra, CA 91801

USA

The Battle of the rolls; Eggrolls vs. Springrolls

up: Sheet from Artist book Los Angeles #3, September 2012

With infographics on how to make Eggrolls and Springrolls, idea's and thoughts on food and cooking

down: Springrolls and Eggrolls, West Covina, LA County, summer 2012

Ching·rish

Wikipedia's defintition: Chinglish (sometimes spelled as Chingrish) refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language. 

The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative or deprecating connotations. Other terms uses to descrive the phenomenon include "Chinese English", "China English" and "Sinicezed English". The degree to which a Chinese variety of English exists or can be considered legitimate to dispute. Or maybe a little different.  

In the end English and Chinese are two totally different languages. Even if they create a Chinatown in LA, making a part of America a little bit of China. Chinese is still Chinese and English is still English. No resembles, in sounds, speaking, movement and writing. 

Although it may not always look different. So now and then the differences become incredibly clear. For example when you go grocery shopping. The stores look the same, smells the same and still nobody will speak a word of English. And then you end up in a Chinese poulterer. Endless rows of chickens, in almost every color possible. Big signs with many pictures of poulty, all the different varieties. Chinese chicken, corn chicken, purple chicken, Peking duck, quail, etc etc.

up: Chinese Chicken in LA County, december 2013

down: Chinese Chicken in Chongqing province, april 2013

The amount of meat on the chicken is incredible. Chicken almost start to look like turkeys. No matter how the chicken is prepared, there will always be a lot of meat. It made me think back, to my time in Chongqing, when food was flowing but meat was always sort of scarce. With scarce I don't mean that meat was hard to come by. But somehow, everytime I'd order chicken or a chicken dish, I ended up with more bones than meat. Like they cut off all the meat for other uses and only give you bones, with a skin of meat. 

Maybe it is not that weird. Although both countries are huge and thrive on mass production.

America is still the king of 'Big, Bigger, Biggest', XL McDonald's menu's and the American dream. Where money rolls and food overflows. And China, rumored to take over the world, is still a county that is developing and battling to feed all their people. Making their take on chicken (maybe) slightly different?

Ching·lish

Being in Chongqing or Los Angeles isn't all that different. In a way I think the Chinese or even Asian community in Los Angeles are still living in their home country. Although they adopted the American Dream and his citizenship, they can still live in the Asian community they grew up in.

Before I left for China, some people advised me to take a cultural course. So the difference in culture wouldn't be so big. Many people warned me for cultural shock and having problems fitting in. Arriving in China, I had no problem with the culture. No shock, but fitting in was an other problem.

Now being back in Los Angeles, again surrounded by Chinese. It doesn't look that different. They have the same problems with traffic, the same kind of markets, the same language. Most Chinese speak Chinese, most Americans speak English. The few some in the overlapping area speak both. And some think they speak the other language.
Mai's definition:  Ching·lish Chinese English, when a native Chinese speaker thinks they're speaking English.
In the end, still nobody understand each other. There are still to many dialects. Where the people in Chongqing don't understand the Beijing dialect. Here in-laws can't communicate, or grandparents with their grandkids.

up: Bowl, cups and teapots in Tongren, Chongqing, China - June 2013

down: Bowls and tongs in Rosemead, Los Angeles County, California, USA - December 2013

Everywhere I look I still find the same kind of scenes. It is in the way they hang their laundry, arrange their kitchen, stack their shelves, their kitchenware, their movements.

The biggest difference between LA and CQ is not the culture, not the language barrier. The difference lies in the fitting in. China is a country build on family and connections. I think this strong believe in family and bounds is rooted in all raised Asians. So the difference between LA and CQ isn't something visible, it is family. The key element of fitting into an Asian community, something that wasn't there in Chongqing. But will always be here in Los Angeles.

Baked Catfish

Yesterday we had baked catfish for lunch and dinner! Last year when I visited my family, my friend Emy and I were treated to this feast. While Emy and I rolled eggrolls, my cousin baked fish and prepared all the sides. Because it was summer, we cleared out the front yard and had ourselves a nice front yard dinner.

My cousin's husband is a fishing fanatic! So last year our catfish meal was triggered by his large catch of catfish. I remember, walking to the bathroom and seeing the mother-in-law rubbing a fish. I got intrigued and stayed in the kitchen for over an hour. In her best Chinglish she explained what she was doing.

Apparently the catfish is a very interesting fish. It has no scales but a this slimy skin. It looks more like a mammal then a fish, it is very meaty and less bones then a normal fish. The mother-in-law showed me how to clean the fish. By putting it in hot boiling water, the slimy skin will be easier to clean. Rubbing it down with a scourer until the skin goes from dark to white. Then chopping off the fins and whiskers. Getting rid of the guts inside and as a final blow, off with his head!

 

top 4 picture: Last years catfish catch. Cleaning catfish in the kitchen, West Covina, July 2012

down: Four of the eight catfish from the Asian market, cleaned and all, West Covina, December 2013

December is already here and with that the cold is coming in. So this time no yard, just a cozy inside meal. Apparently for baked catfish, you need fresh catfish. All the frozen self caught catfish in the garage where out of bounce. My cousin and I had a early morning, went to the Asian market and bought 8(!) life catfish. Again I went through the whole cleaning process.

At home, we quickly started prepping for lunch. Cutting veggies, picking mints, chopping peanuts, setting up the table. With the fishheads my cousin made a sweet and sour soup.

Sweet and Sour soup, on top the bowl, below the preps

Baked catfish itself is not so much work. But all the sides make it very time consuming. It is just like Banh Trang or springrolls. Eating baked catfish is just like Banh Trang. The table is filled with food. Steaming bowls of water and rice paper. Wrap, roll and dip!

Mouthwatering? Well Catfish is not easy to come by in Holland, definitely fresh ones. But now worries, it looks a lot like Banh Trang with a big fish! So If you want to eat something similar, with meats or vegetarian or vegan, with all the sides, check out my DIY Springroll-rollfeast chapter! Enjoy!

Kickin'off December

Since my arrival in America I've been so busy. If I'm not helping out with the kids, or visiting grandma, my cousin will sweep me away for a trip to Mexico or Vegas. My days are filled with yelling kids, Chinese and great food, self made and in restaurants.

It is not that I want to keep it to myself, but I just never seem to have the time to sit down and write. So as a small teaser I show some of my food experiences here and I will tell you what is coming for this holiday month.

Breakfast on our stateroom balcony, on our cruise to Ensenada Mexico

Santaclaus is coming to town. Slowly the sunshine state is turning itself to a winter wonder land. Huge christmas trees and decorated palmtrees. Such a weird difference. Tomorrow my cousin and I will pick out a Christmas tree, my dad and I will hang the lights and it will be the start of the annual food tree!

Normally featuring Twinkies, Candy canes and all other delights and snacks. This year I will add to this feast tree with some homemade cookies and perhaps some other baked goods.

The first christmas tree of the year. This huge tree at The Grove in LA is complete with flying Santa and his reindeers.

After Thanksgiving last month, I think my cousins are planning a more Asian style Christmas dinner. I'll get my hands on the Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) recipe, Shrimp rolls and my favorite spring rolls. And best of all, I will get the vegetarian versions from my aunt!

For my grandma, aunts and uncles I will make a Christmas Baked goods basket. I will fill you in on my Christmas themed baked goods, like cranberry scones and cookies. Stay tuned, no recipes for now. Just some pictures of the Christmas trees and some food pics!

up: Family dinner at Grandma's, my aunt made Banh Xeo

down: Out for dinner at my dads favorite restaurant, Japanese surasi bowl, Sashimi covering sushi rice

down: Supposedly a real and tallest Christmas tree, located in Citadel Outlets
up: Christmas tree in Vegas

An Apple Pie for Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I never celebrated Thanksgiving, just because we never celebrate it in Holland. It was a very exciting day. A few days of prep and a full day of cooking prepared a feast for 60 something people.

Just like always, my cousins prepared an almost outrages feast. We had three turkeys, a prime rib and many many sides. Salads, shrimp rolls, corn bread, beans, squash, mash, corn, rice, pork verde, salsa, stuffing. With a great bar on the side and a huge dessert table, filled with pies, fruits, cakes, cookies and asian desserts.

My first Thanksgiving, Woodland Hills California
One of the Turkeys, the venue and the beginning of the dessert table

For years and years my mom makes apple pies for every occasion. Birthdays, friends coming over, holidays. So when my cousin visited us many years ago, of course there was an apple pie. My cousin and her hubby loved it. When my brother and I spend our summer in 2008 in LA our family requested self baked Dutch apple pie. My brother and I slaved away and found the best recipe.

In the summer of 2012 when I visited the family again, my friend and I made an apple pie for Independence day. Tweaking with the recipe and adding some strawberries and almonds, with a American flag decoration.

4th of July Dutch Apple Pie

This time was my first time baking with some assistance of my two nieces. They love to cook an bake and want to help with everything in the kitchen. The helped me peel the apples and mix the apple mixture. We all had a blast baking. After the house filled itself with the warm cinnamon and apple smell, my cousin and I went out shopping. When I came back, one of my apple pies was picked. My other cousin and the girls just couldn't wait to taste the pie!

Dutch Apple Pie
for the crust
5 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks of butter, cold and cut in cubes
1 lemon, zest
2 large eggs, beaten
Splash of milk

Sieve the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it in. Rubbing the butter between your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. At this point you can add some flavorings, so you can add you lemon zest.

Add the eggs and milk, work it into the mixture gently until you have a ball of dough. Try not to overwork the pastry to much. Flour the ball, put in a bowl and cover. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour.

for the filling
5 big apples
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 cups of raisins, soaked in hot water
1 lemon, zest and juice

Your choice of apples is very important for your pie. In Holland I would always recommend Goudreinetten. In the US I bake with Granny Smiths, but don't always like the tartness. So this time I used Fuji. It works out quit well. Most important is a firm apple, with a mild sweet-sour taste.

Peel and core the apples. Cut into cubes and mix with the lemon juice. This will stop the apples from browning. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, zest and raisins. Until all the apples are coated. Taste, if your not happy with the taste add some more sugar or cinnamon.

I don't like raisins, so I always leave them out. You can add other fruits or nuts to make up for it, or just have a plain apple pie. I like to mix in blackberries, they will give your apple pie a purple filling. Or raspberries, for a pink filling. To get some crunch you can add almonds or walnuts.

for the assembly
Butter, for greasing
Sugar, for sprinkling the top
Baking tin
Rolling pin
Flour, for dusting
Beaten egg, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C on baking. Grease the baking thin with butter and dust the inside with flour. This will make a non stick layer. Take 2/3 third of the pastry. Dust the surface and roll the pastry to under 1 cm thickness. Cover the bottom and sides of the tin with the pastry. Using a fork make holes in the bottom, this will help crisp up the bottom.

When the tin is totally lined with pastry, make sure there are no cracks. Add the apple fillings and make it even. Now get the rest of the dough and roll it out. Make strips around 2 cm wide. Lay them crisscross over the apple filling. Until you used all your dough and you have a pattern.
If this is tricky or you want kids to help, just let them roll the pastry into thin strips. And lay over the pie in the way explained above.

When done, brush the pastry with egg and sprinkle with sugar. This will help the coloring and makes your pie lovely golden brown. Put it in the middle of the over for an hour. Until the house starts smelling like baked apples. When done, let it rest outside the oven for at least half an hour.

After the big success of the apple pie yesterday,

my cousin requested another apple pie for the second day of Thanksgiving

To spice things up, I made a raspberry apple pie

Note: The biggest problem that I have in the US while baking apple pies, is the amount of liquid in the pie. After baking the apples release their juices and it stays in the pie. It doesn't solidify after cooling, so I normally pour most of the juice out of the pie.

Serve it up in slices, both warm and cold very tasty. Great with a scope of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

"Chinese food" according to Alison Gold

Alison Gold, an 11 year old American blond curly girl, loves Chinese food. Patrice Wilson, a Nigerian man, fell in love with Chinese food when he was 7.  Put them together and "Chinese Food" happens.

Chinese food is a big thing over in the US. Easy, fast and somehow traditional. Well if you look in the right places. So I'm going to check it out, again. I'm setting off to California. Visiting my Chinese family and celebrate Thanksgiving, Sinterklaas, Christmas, New Years and my birthday with them! The last week I've been preparing like crazy, buying gifts, doing laundry, packing my suitcase. It slowed down the amount of posts. I'll keep on blogging from there, hopefully every day. First things first, the flight and the jetlag. So in the meantime, enjoy this great American vision on Chinese food! 

Enjoy!

Sweet coconut and Mediterranean Vegan Scones

I really like scones, I could eat them all day. The only thing I don't like about them is the dairy component. Maybe you have read it before, but I'm not a big fan of dairy products. I don't like milk, yogurt and the whole works. For me the idea of drinking another species maternity milk is just not ok.

Ever since I was little I wondered if it was good for you. The documentary 'Forks over Knives' also looked into it and gave remarkable results. Saying that milk from animals is not good for you. I can tell you all about it, but the movie just does it better. 

For that reason I'm always looking for other alternatives for these products. For a lot of my baking I already found ways of getting around the dairy products. But for scones I just never got around the milk and butter. Until I found a recipe for vegan scones. I started to play with it and the end result was incredible. No dairy, no sugar, just whole food and delicious.

Before and after baking, a mix of savory and sweet scones

Vegan sweet coconut scones
Makes 15-20 small-medium size scones
For this sweet scone I use Coconut blossom sugar, a sugar made out of the flowers of the coconut. In comparison to other sugars it is scores low in glucose, is packed with vitamins and minerals and is unrefined. Making it a healthy sugar that gives us a lot of slow energy!

For the milk substitute, I used rice-coconut milk adding to the coconut flavor. There are also nut, bean or other vegetable milks. Almond milk, hazelnut milk, soybean milk, rice milk, etc. These milks are all available in green shops, but are also getting more availible in supermarkets. You can also make it yourself, like my recipe for DIY almond milk (scroll down in the post).

For the flour you can use any kind you want. Because you add baking powder you don't need a raising flour, like in the traditional scone recipe. So go traditional and use all propose flour, or mix it up, going 50/50 with some spelt flour, of go wholewheat flour.  Of course, going wholewheat is healthier because of the fibers.

Sweet coconut scones with rhubarb jam

2 cups of flour, plus extra for dusting
3/4 cup of shredded coconut
2 tablespoons of coconut blossom sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup / 4 teaspoons of solid coconut oil
3/4 cup of milk substitute, plus extra for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix in the coconut and sugar. Rub in the coconut oil evenly with your fingers. Slowly mix in the milk, working the dough as little as possible, until you have a dough that barely sticks together.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly until it is easy to handle and smooth. Roll out to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. It might take some time to brown them, so for the last five minutes place in the top of the oven.

Star-shaped sweet coconut scones

Best served warm, after resting for at least 5 minutes on the balking sheet. To stay in the vegan and healthy vibe, serve with good quality and low in sugar jams. 

Mediterranean Scones
Makes 15-20 small-medium size scones
Pay attention to your coconut oil, because this is a savory scone you don't want the coconut flavor to come through. Check if you have a neutral tasting coconut oil!

2 cups of flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup of black olives, chopped
1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/4 cup / 4 teaspoons of solid coconut oil
3/4 cup of milk substitute, plus extra for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt, pepper and baking powder. Rub in the coconut oil evenly with your fingers. Stir in the olives and tomatoes and slowly mix in the milk, working the dough as little as possible, until you have a dough that barely sticks together.

Turn the dough out on a floured surface. Knead the dough slightly until it is easy to handle and smooth. Roll out to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. It might take some time to brown them, so for the last five minutes place in the top of the oven. Best served plain and warm after resting on the baking sheet.

Savory scones in a round flower shape

These vegan recipes for scones are great for everyone who loves scones, but wants it just a bit healthier. Only plant-based products, less fat, less or no sugar and delicious. Time to organize a tea party and share your home made scones with friends and family, enjoy!

Traditional sweet & new-fashioned savory Scones

For me scones are proper British delights. Something you would get in the afternoon with a high tea or cream tea. I always figured it was somehow like a pastry, but apparently it is more like a bread or cake. Many years ago some friends of our family went on a hiking trip in England. When we visited them to see the pictures, she came out of the kitchen with a big plate of self-made scones, clotted cream and English jam.

Years and years went by, never wondering about scones. Never trying them in my visits to England. During one of my cookbook browsing sessions I came around a recipe for savory scones. I thought I would give it a go and was pleasantly surprised!

Feta, olive and tomato scones
Makes 8 -12 scones

400g/14oz of self-raising flour
85g/3oz butter
50g/1 1/2 oz of pitted black olives, chopped
50g//1 1/2 oz of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
85/3oz grams of feta cheese, crumbled
200ml/7fl oz of milk, plus extra for glazing
Pinch of pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour, salt and pepper into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly with your fingers. Stir in the olives and tomatoes. Then stir in just enough milk to make a soft, smooth dough. While kneading, work in the feta.

Roll out on a floured surface to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Best served warm, after resting for at least 5-10 minutes. Spread with butter, with cheese or plain.

Savory feta, olive, tomato scones on the left and traditional lightly sweetened scones on the right,

great with Port Salut (French cheese), butter and blackberry jam

After making the first batch I was hooked, it was so easy to make! After a lot of savory scones I wanted something sweet. The week before I spend a long weekend in Tours, in the center of France. I was visiting one of my good friends who I met in China. On my last day there I asked her to take me to a supermarket to buy my grandparents some Bonne Maman. The best jam and marmalade there is in the world! While looking for a apricot jam for my grandparents, I came around great flavors. Ending up with hands full of jars. Back at home I selected the flavors of jam I wanted to keep and which to give away. I love blackberry jam, so after a week looking at the jar I figured that the jam would be even greater with a scone!

It became necessary to make plain or lightly sweetened scones. I found this great traditional recipe, just as easy as the savory one!

Traditional scones
Makes 8-10 scones

225g/8oz of self raising flour
Pinch of salt
55g/2oz of butter
25g/1oz of caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz of milk
Optional for glazing: 1 beaten egg, or just some milk

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter evenly with your fingers. Stir in sugar and just enough milk to make a soft, smooth dough.

Roll out on a floured surface to 2 cm thick square like figure. Cut into 5-6 cm squares or rectangles, triangles, roughly the same size. Or go traditional and use a round cookie cutter. Place them on the baking sheet and brush with milk or a beaten egg. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Let them rest for some minutes, then serve up warm. Traditional with clotted cream and jam, but butter or marmalade are also lovely. 

Result of one of my baking frenzies at night. A baking spread of banana oatmeal cookies, 

pretzels and savory and sweet scones.

These great recipes are easy to make and always a great success, but highly addicted! So if you make them before the lunch, you might not have any after. Enjoy!

Powerfood, the newbies and oldies

Since some years it starting to pop up in the supermarkets, powerfood. But what are they, these power foods? Supposedly they are foods packed with high levels of heart disease-fighting nutrients and the fewest number of calories. Also known as super foods. This marketing name is prohibit to use in the EU if there is no specific medical claim supported by credible scientific research. So then we use the term functional foods, what originally comes from Japan. But basically it all covers the same ground, Functional, Power or Super food.

The power foods are expending. Every now and then new sorts of power foods are coming on the market. Showing that it is, in fact, a marketing tool. But there lies some sort of truth in the whole power foods. They are high in vitamins, minerals and low in calories.

For me it started with Coolbest's Power Fruits, the pomegranate, acai berry and cranberry juice. I'm a sucker for pomegranate juice, so I went crazy for the stuff. But always wondered if it is really good for you. My mom gave me this article she came around in a magazine, about these powerfoods. It made me dive into the world of powerfood and discovered that I already use a lot of them! Enough talk, lets get into it. Let me show you some of the powerfoods I already use. Some more as golden oldie, other more as newbies that are recently getting more popular.

Chamomile and Goji berry tea from China

Newbie Goji Berry
This little fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. These sweet fruits are big players in the Chinese medicine. They should help the libido, enlighten your mood, slow down aging, lose weight, fight acne and is good for you organs.

In China the goji berry is used in many medicines, but also in the kitchen. To make smoothies, soups and teas. I remember this berry from my time in Chongqing, it will appear in bottles of my students. Or in the tea I would order at some cafe's. The first time I saw it was in the Moonbar in the Sichuan Art School district of Chongqing. One of my friends ordered a tea and got this lovely chamomile flower tea with goji berries. I was intrigued, it looked so pretty. The taste was subtle, soft and just a bit sweet. Back in Holland I missed the pretty little orang-like bulbs in my tea. So I went out and found the dried variation in many shops and markets.

Golden Oldie Oatmeal
Everybody knows oatmeal. I always figured that it was healthy for you, but how it was presented to me as a kid made it very unattractive. Oatmeal is so healthy for you because of the high fiber, good for your cholesterol and lowers your blood sugar after eating. I never cared for muesli or porridge, so never ate oatmeal. Until I found this great oatmeal recipe, for sugarfree cookies. Since then I'm going crazy for these cookies. Interested? Check out the 'Going bananas for oatmeal cookies' post!

Newbie Quinoa
The marketing around Quinoa peeked just before 2013, making it one of the newest so called superfood on the market. These seeds are not really grains or other related to the grass family, but more to beetroots and spinach. High in protein, vitamins and minerals, gluten-free and tastes great.

I love to make salads with quinoa or even lasagna kind of structures. Great with fresh herbs and other vegetables and seasonings.

left: Tumeric seasoned quinoa salad with pumpkin, mushrooms, zucchini, cucumber and baby lettuce leaves. Sprouts on top, olives on the side. right: Tumeric and curry seasoned quinoa with grilled bell peppers, wild peaches and haloumi cheese topped with fresh herbs like cilantro.

Oldie Walnuts
As long as I can remember I'm crazy about walnuts. I would sieve through my grandparents mixed nuts and eat all the walnuts before anyone else had the chance. These healthy nuts are rich in omega 3 fatty acids and supposedly will improve the elasticity of your blood vessels. I use walnuts for almost everything, as a snack, in salads, pies, cakes, cookies, you name it!

It has been a long time since I gathered for walnuts. But when I was visiting my aunt in the south of Holland near the sea, she told me about the walnut tree outside her studio. So for three days my friend and I picked all the fallen and sometimes almost fallen walnuts. On the third day we split our stash in three, ending up some kilos of walnuts per person. After drying for some time on the windowsill, I ended up with this lovely bowl of walnuts. 

Newbie Coconut Oil
The first time I used coconut oil was at a friends house. The moment the solid oil hit the warm pan a tropical scent filled my nose. I love coconut, the fruit, the milk, the water. The coconut is an interesting fruit. The water is very healthy for you, low in everything and very thirst-quenching, but the meat of the fruit is full with saturated fats. The milk and the oil of the coconut are harvested from this meat. Making coconut milk and oil high in saturated fats.

Because of this the coconut and his oil was always overshadowed with horror stories. The coconut oil and his saturated fats raise the cholesterol levels, what is known as unhealthy. But the coconut oil mostly increases the good HDL cholesterol. Another great fact is that the digestion of the oil is faster then other oils. Therefor it produces energy fast.

The burning point of the oil is very high and therefor great for frying and baking. It is a great alternative to other oils but also to butter and other fat agents. I use it for baking, instead of butter. For example in the 'no-bake chocolate coconut cake' or the oatmeal cookies I mentioned above. Available in Asian markets and organic shops, with and without scent.

Oldie Olive Oil
Not much to say about this one, rich in vitamin E and healthy fats. 

Newbie (Raw) Chocolate
The darker the better, the higher the percentage of cacao the least of other fillings there are. Making it high in antioxidants, lower in fat and sugars. Even more purer is the raw chocolate version, leaving more antioxidants in tact.

When I'm baking I always use dark chocolate. For one it has less fillings, so less fat, less sugar. Second, the taste is richer and therefor better in baked goods. And third, if you're a conscious baker and make a lot of vegan kind of goods, the dark chocolate is the only one who doesn't have any animal-based ingredients. A great way to use dark chocolate it by making one of my raw chocolate cakes. No added sugars, rich and showcases the chocolate at his best!

Oldie Raspberry

Raspberries are the only berries who are packed with ellagitannines, a antioxidant. They help protect your body against illnesses and slow down aging.

Every since I was young we would pick raspberries, we had a big plant at the back of our garden. Every summer me and my brother would pick them and eat this lovely red delicious bulbs. When there in season their lovely and sweet. Recently you can also buy them out of season, mostly frozen, a bit sour, but great in smoothies and pies.  

up: Raspberry, part of Berries, diagram and papercut, 2013

down: Japanese raspberry, part of Berries, diagram and papercut, 2013

right: My brother and me picking berries in our childhood garden, somewhere in the early or mid '90s

This was just a brief introduction to powerfood. There are of course many more of these powerfoods, like cranberries, acerola berries, sardines, acai berries, blue berries, wheatgrass, flax seeds, chia seeds etc. For now only some facts and ideas from me, recipes with these powerfoods will be arriving on this blog shortly. Until then, enjoy the ideas and recipes I already posted!