Deep Green Smoothie

Yan March 16, 2015

中文：绿色蔬菜水果沙冰

My husband always says March is the most depressing month in Michigan, because everywhere else is warm and flowers are starting to bloom but Michigan’s winter shows no sign of leaving. I can’t agree more. O(∩_∩)O~

I can’t do anything about that, but I can eat more fresh vegetable and fruits! Deep green smoothies have been a breakfast stable. They are healthy and nutritious, and more importantly, they are quick and fast too!

I always keep deep green mix in the refrigerator.

Ingredients：

1 pack green mix (5 oz)
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1/2 banana
1/4 cup crushed ice

Directions:

Peel the grapefruit, orange and banana, and cut into bite sizes. Add to VITAMIX (Amazon link) container.

And then add crushed ice and vegetable mix.

Turn on Vitamix. Gradually increase speed from 1 to 8 or 9, and then switch to high. Blend for another 20 to 30 seconds. You might need to use the temper to push vegetable down.

Here you go, healthy and delicious in a bottle! O(∩_∩)O~

Chocolate Strawberries

Yan March 11, 2015

中文：巧克力草莓

Chocolate strawberries can be simple and simple. You just need to melt the chocolate and dip strawberries in it, and then, wola, chocolate strawberries! But they can be sophisticated too. Chocolate needs to be tempered to enhance its shine and taste.

I am in a lazy mood today, so I am going the easy way. The strawberries I bought yesterday from Meijer are surprisingly sweet and delicious. So I pair them with 72% dark chocolate.

Ingredients:

12 strawberries (try to pick equal sized strawberries)
1/2 to 2/3 cup dark chocolate
3 to 4 tablespoons white chocolate

Directions:

Wash and drain the strawberries. Pat them dry with paper towel.

Melt the dark chocolate with a double boiler; whisk until chocolate is silky and smooth.

Melt and white chocolate the same way in a separate double boiler.

Line a flat plate with plastic wrap.

Hold the strawberries pointed side down, dip into chocolate, and then place them on the plate until chocolate is set and harden again.

Drizzle the white chocolate over chocolate strawberries. Or you can do what I do here. Fill a pastry bag with white chocolate and then pipe out even thin strips on strawberries.

Nice afternoon tea snacks. O(∩_∩)O~

They can be awesome gifts too！

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast with Blueberry Sauce

Yan March 6, 2015

中文：法式肉桂面包片

This is one of my favorite weekend breakfasts. Golden brown French toasts topped with honey and blueberry sauce, 2 to 3 slices of bacon, and a cup of hot coffee are as good as any breakfast can be. O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

6 to 8 slices of cinnamon swirl bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
a pinch of salt
butter / oil for pan-frying
honey
powder sugar

For Blueberry Sauce:

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions：

Place frozen blueberries, lemon juice, and brown sugar in a thick soup pot. Heat over medium high heat until blueberry sauce thickens up a little bit. It takes about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sauce getting burned at the bottom.

Heat a cast iron griddle over medium heat.

Whisk together egg, milk and salt. Soak each bread slice in the batter for 3 to 5 seconds.

Add butter or oil to the griddle, and pan-fry the bread slices until golden brown. Flip them over and pan-fry the other side until golden brown too.

Place them in a plate, sprinkle with powder sugar, and top with honey and blueberry sauce.

Coffee Macaroons

Yan March 1, 2015

中文：咖啡马卡龙

I want to try coffee macaroons, so I use the burr grinder on my espresso machine (this one from amazon) to make the finest coffee and add it to the macaroon batter. It turns out pretty great. The dark and slightly bitter coffee flavor goes well with the macaroon sweetness.

Although I grind the coffee beans as fine as I can, my tongue can still sense a little bit roughness from it. But I am fine with it. O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients:

25 g almond flour
7 to 8 g fine coffee powder
55 g powder sugar
12 g granulated sugar
1 large egg white

Direction:

Combine powder sugar, coffee powder and almond flour. Pour the mixture into food processor (food processors on amazon). Run the processor for about 10 seconds. And then shift the flour mixture. Discard any big almond pieces.

Prepare a medium/large size pastry bag and NO. 12 tip.

Line a cookie pan with silicone baking mat.

Beat the egg white with an electronic whisk at medium speed for a couple minutes. Add sugar when beating, little by little. Stop beating when the stiff peak forms.

Fold the shifted almond flour mixture into egg whites. Fold it gently until the batter can fall smoothly like a silky ribbon.

Fill the pastry bag with almond batter. Squeeze a dollar coin size batter onto the silicone mat, about a quarter inch in height. Repeat it until all the batter is finished.

I want to make little cute coffee macaroons this time, so I squeeze smaller batter circle onto the baking mat. There are 30 in total, which means I can make 15 macaroons out of them.

Tap the bottom of the cookie pan when done to smooth the cookie dough tops.

Let the pan sit on countertop until the surface becomes dry to touch. It might take 30 to 60 minutes depending on the humidity around.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Bake in the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. DO NOT open the oven to check cookies when baking.

Let cookies cool down on silicone mat a bit before transferring to a cooling rack.