Should You Find Yourself In Honolulu....

Go to Leonards Bakery and get a box of malasadas. These Portuguese fried dough confections are to die for. I like mine injected with haupia (coconut filling) or plain custard. They also offer them plain or injected with chocolate and guava fillings. If you happen to find yourself in Honolulu during the first weekend in February, Prez. Obama's alma mater, Punahou School also have awesome malasadas at their annual Carnival. I used to live across the street and those malasadas in the brown paper bag are the epitome of fried dough carnival yumminess.

Vegetables are Yummy Too

Although I do not condone vegetarianism, vegetables can be prepared in a way where I don't miss the meat! For a recent party, we visited the farmer's market where we picked up some delicious early girl tomatoes, cucumbers, squash blossoms, and baby squash. Yuan busted out his immersion blender and made delicious gazpacho and cucumber soup which we served as individual shots.

We also experimented with puff pastry and made these veggie tarts. We used the squash blossoms fresh but roasted the squash and tomatoes before assembling the tarts. Goat cheese was used as a glue and we sprinkled with fresh thyme and parmesan cheese before popping them in the oven for about 15 min.

Goat Brie - Mold!

Cheese Update! My goat brie has been in its ripening container (aka tupperware) in the fridge and I have been flipping it and changing its diaper (papertowel lining) every other day or so. At a week old, my cheese began molding. I have never been so happy to see something molding in my fridge.

By week two, the entire surface of the cheese was covered in a layer of fine white fuzz.

Two more weeks to go! Hope it is edible...

A Useful Discovery

I have taken to using my coworkers as a dumping ground for all the stuff I make just because it's fun to make stuff (after a photo, of course). Thus far their response has been quite positive.

mini blueberry muffins dipped in cinnamon-sugar,
made with the last blueberries of the season

Tomato Consomme - Behind the Scenes

Hmmm, what to do with a sack full of yellow tomatoes, again from Hector's garden, and a free Sunday.... Call Yuan! Instigate a food day!

While the Princess is gardening and tending to her cheese mites in Davis, the city-dwelling squabblers relish the occasional day free of obligations and replete with local produce by hanging out in his sunny apartment, watching movies on his kitchen tv, and fiddling around with said produce. That's where the tomatoes come in.

Take a sack of almost over-ripe tomatoes. Rough chop. Add a little salt. Puree. Drain through a sieve, ideally lined with cheesecloth so that your consomme will be clearer than ours was. But ours still turned out rather lovely, don't you think?


Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes at threesquabblingasians? Does the curiosity keep you up at night? Fret no more, loyal readers, for this is how it goes down:

Right around now is when Yuan looks up at me and says, "Are we ridiculous?" You be the judge.

Goat Brie - Day 3

And on the third day, cheese God decreed, "salt thy cheese!" So I did. First, I removed my cheese from their plastic baggie bubble in the fridge and took them out of their molds. I cut my puck in half and stacked them for a more cheese-like thickness since my original puck looked like an albino thin mint. Then I sprinkled/rubbed non-iodized salt on the surface of my cheese.

Next, I brushed on some activated charcoal ash. Apparently, the ash helps to mellow the flavor of the cheese and makes the cheese surface more hospitable to growth of molds. ew...mold.

Finally, I built a little wood skewer platform for my cheese in a small tupperware container (I threw a couple toothpicks in there), lined it with clean paper towels, put an airtight lid on top of it and put it back in the fridge for three to four weeks of ripening.

Now I have to wait and see if my cheese will mold...and resist my temptation to dispose of moldy items.

Multi-colored Edible Orbs

Bernie's Backyard Banty Eggs


Farmer's Market Tomato Basket