Irony

It's kinda ironic that I wore this shirt today and I didn't even ride my bike!

Google Cloud Printing

This is awesome!

Cloud printing on the go: "(Cross-posted on the Docs Blog and Gmail Blog.)

Back in April 2010 we announced Google Cloud Print, a service that in Beta allows printing from any app on any device, OS or browser without the need to install any software. Just last month we opened Google Cloud Print to users in the Chrome notebook pilot program. Today we are very pleased to announce the beta launch of Google Cloud Print for mobile documents and Gmail for mobile, which we will be rolling out to users throughout the next few days.

Imagine printing an important document from your smartphone on the way to work and finding the printout waiting for you when you walk in the door. Just open a document in Google Docs or an email in Gmail in your mobile browser and choose “Print” from the dropdown menu in the top right corner. You can also print certain kinds of email attachments (such as .pdf or .doc) by clicking the “Print” link that appears next to them.

This feature will be rolling out today and tomorrow for English speaking users in the US and will work on most phones that support HTML5, such as devices running Android 2.1+ and iOS 3+. To get started, you’ll need to connect your printer to Google Cloud Print. This step requires a Windows PC for now, but Linux and Mac support are coming soon. You can learn more at the Google Cloud Print help center.


Happy printing!

Posted by Tyler Odean, Google Cloud Print Team

"

Layered Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache

I love reading my friend, Mariko's blogs, especially if it has yummy pictures!

Layered Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache: "

This banana bread is a recipe that’s a tradition in the Jackson family, although there’s some disagreement among the kids as to which parent made the bread, often, from the bananas sitting too long on the countertop. Everyone agrees that credit for the recipe goes to an unnamed old friend, but the making of it is the important part. The re-told and confused lore attached to this recipe is probably the second best reason to keep it around.

The first being its true banana flavor.

Stories from my husband’s childhood on Moana Street have a similar feel to the vintage-colored photographs of kids with bowl cuts and chubby faces and smiles that have half-given up on the moment and say “Last picture, Mom.” Even the Hawaiian foliage in the background takes on an orange tone, emphasizing its surreal quality.

I like the version of the story that says that Jake’s dad made this banana bread. In the short time I had knowing him I saw the matter-of-factness he took on when tackling a cooking assignment. He was as equally interested in following the right of the recipe as he was in spicing it up. If the recipe turned out well due to exactness or experimentation he would be pleased with his result and excitedly offer a piece to every person at the table, proving his usefulness in the kitchen. He was definitely one that would see the recipe as a story rather than his own. I can easily insert a piece of banana bread into this memory. So for me, it is his, and I will stick with that memory. Maybe now that it has been 6 years since his passing that thinking of him is similar to paging through those orange tinted photographs. A feeling of simpler times. A time when coming home from school meant a slice of banana bread.

I went ahead and reinvented the wheel, because the second my sis-in-law introduced me to this moist, chewy, banana-laden quick bread, I saw its true intention:

Cake.

This should have been the cake at our wedding. It should have been an heirloom recipe rather than a fondant-covered, dry-crumbed centerpiece. Not as pretty, but definitely the kind of cake you would want smashed in your face. Definitely the kind of cake you would hang on to in your memory. Definitely the kind of cake you can pass on to your kids.

Because tasty doesn’t go out of style. No matter who cooks it up.

Best Banana Bread made into a cake

• 1 C butter
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C brown sugar
• 12 bananas (mashed if not using a kitchen aid) (the riper the better)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 4 C flour (Jill said she loves half wheat here)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• Optional: 3/4 C walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream sugars and butter. Add eggs and mix again. Add in bananas and mix thoroughly. Add in dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly incorporated.
2. If making a cake, divide batter between two prepared cake pans. Bake for 55 minutes.
3. Cool cake completely on a rack. With a sharp serrated knife, cut each layer into two (creating 4 layers).

Peanut Butter Ganache

Heat 2 cups chocolate chips (dark or milk as desired), 1/4 Cup milk or cream, and 2/3 Cup peanut butter (natural) over a double boiler. Mix until combined and chocolate is melted. Remove from heat. Pour ganache in a thin layer on each section of cake as you assemble. It is not necessary to cover the whole cake with the ganache as it is strong tasting. This ganache is not stiff—just slightly fudgy to lend flavor to the rest of the cake. The cake is really delicious on its own, however, and maybe you’ll be glad to pretend it’s a healthy snack as banana bread.

"

Step One

Step One: "

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. - Leonardo da Vinci

Step one to an organized, happy life, simplify. Dejunk and declutter. I am moving slowly closet by closet, room by room. Whittling down our stuff to essentials only. Organizing what we do have. Giving everything a proper place.

It’s hard, almost painful to purge, but at the same time, feels liberating.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius

I am printing out this quote by Confucius and putting it where I can see it and reminded. Life is, can and should be simple

"

What if?

What if?: "

Thanks Gina for posting this on your blog, something to think about.

What would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon

like we treat our cell phones?

• What if we carried it around in our pockets or backpacks?
• What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?
• What if we flipped it open several times a day?
• What if we spent an hour or more using it every day?
• What if we used it consistently to receive messages from the text?
• What if we searched for new applications?
• What if we used it as we traveled?
• What if we used it in case of emergency?

I know if I used my Book of Mormon like I used my cell phone I would have the spirit with me through out the day and would be VERY knowledgeable in the gospel.

Something to think about.

"

Stickr - Create Sticky Notes on any Website

Stickr - Create Sticky Notes on any Website: "

Stickr is a neat tool for creating sticky notes about any webpage you come across. Those notes are saved into your Stickr account where you can use them as bookmarks. Your Stickr notes can include links, text notes, images, and videos. Stickr notes can be kept private or made public. To use Stickr you need to install the Stickr browser extension or bookmarklets. Watch the video below to learn more about Stickr.

"

My Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls

My Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls: "

These are my Mom’s Famous Crispy Chinese Egg Rolls and a recipe that I published way back in 2007 but somehow got lost in the Internet void. Thank goodness that this recipe was part of my cookbook so I still had the text and photos. ~Jaden

***

This is one of those recipes that is a little more time consuming to make, but one that’s my favorite because 1) it’s my Mom’s recipe 2) everyone who has tried them instantly declare they are the best they’ve ever had 3) you can make a big batch of them and freeze them. I usually call a couple of my girlfriends over and we have an eggrollin’ party where we’ll make a massive batch of them, enjoy them fresh that night and have enough for all to take home and freeze. If you are making these with friends, I’d suggest doubling the recipe so each person has some to take home to freeze. I promise you they will taste just as good fried after frozen and you will never taste better egg rolls than these. BUT – you must follow my Mama’s rules.

Ready?

Mama’s Rule #1: Your egg roll filling ingredients must be drained of excess moisture and cooled before rolling. Soggy, hot filling makes soggy egg rolls.

Mama’s Rule #2: Use the right kind of wrapper. The size I get is 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm) around and come 25 wrappers to a package. These wrappers are light, paper-thin and fry up to a shatteringly crisp crunch. Oh yes, before I forget – “spring roll” and “egg roll” are interchangeable and mean the same thing. Sometimes my regular American grocery store will have “spring roll pasta sheets” that are in the refrigerated produce section. Do not use those – they are way too thick! Let’s just say that if it has Italian writing on the package, it probably ain’t the good stuff for Chinese egg rolls.

Rule#2A. Treat the wrapper right. You also want to keep the wrappers covered with a damp towel at all times to prevent the edges from drying and cracking.

Mama’s Rule #3: Roll small and tight! Sloppy and loosely rolled egg rolls will break apart and allow oil to seep into the inside of the roll. Mama says baaaad. One time I was watching a celebrity chef on television making monster egg rolls the size of a cola can. Who in the heck can wrap their mouths around that thing? It looked hideous. Mama’s egg rolls are elegant and skinny. Don’t be too greedy and overstuff them! And roll them tight so that the filling doesn’t fall out while frying! Remember the days when you were younger and rolled your own…um…cigarette? Channel those rolling skills back.

Mama’s Rule #4: Lay the rolled egg rolls neatly with a piece of parchment, foil or wax paper in between each layer if you are stacking them on top of each other. Keep them covered with plastic wrap or a towel to prevent drying. If you are freezing, freeze them in like this first. Once frozen, you can gather them up and transfer them to a plastic freezer bag. If you roll them out and jumble them all together in a big pile, they’ll eventually stick to each other and you’ll tear the delicate skin trying to pry them apart.

How to make my Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls

The printable recipe is below, but here are step by step photos on how to wrap. The recipe is for ground pork as the filling, but as you can see in these photos, the filling is very flexible. I’ve used chopped shrimp, ground chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, very thinly sliced pork (almost like matchstick sized). In these photos, I used crawfish and diced Chinese sausage!

These photos are just a guideline to teach you how to wrap (and the wrong way to wrap Chinese Egg Rolls!)

After you fry the filling, you’ll want to spread it out to cool on a baking sheet. Tilt the baking sheet and prop it up so that all the juices accumulate. You’ll discard this juice. Too much juice in filling makes soggy eggrolls.

Lay the wrapper on a clean, dry surface as shown. Spoon just 1½ tablespoon of filling near the bottom corner. Resist the urge to over stuff with too much filling!

Lift the bottom corner up and begin rolling until you reach halfway up.

Fold over the left side, and then the right side towards the center.

Continue folding up with a tuck-roll-tuck-roll motion. Dip your fingers into the cornstarch slurry and brush all over the final top corner. Finish up the roll and seal.

See how tightly the egg roll wrapped? Any holes or large air pockets will allow oil to seep in, resulting in a greasy egg roll!

The wrong way:

Common mistake is to not fold over and tuck good enough. See that big space? Oil seeps in and will make your egg roll greasy.

Big holes = your egg roll will fall apart while frying.

See the difference between the above photo and this one?

Mother's Famous Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe

Servings: Makes 50 egg rolls Prep Time: Cook Time:

Once you make these egg rolls, you'll never make them any other way! Make sure you get the correct egg roll wrappers. They should be FROZEN and very thin, almost paper thin. Do not use egg roll wrapper found in the refrigerated section (usually near tofu) in Western supermarket - they make starchy, thick, gooey egg rolls with big bubbles on outside when you fry. It's important to make sure you keep your wrapper and rolled egg rolls under plastic wrap so that they do not dry out!

Ingredients:

50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup (60 ml) of cool water
Oil, for frying

FOR THE GROUND PORK
1 pound (690 g) ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE VEGETABLES
2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ head of cabbage (about 9 ounces/255 g)
3 small carrots
6 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or 25 g dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded
1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
2-inch (5 cm) section of ginger
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
2 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. To make the filling, combine the ingredients for the ground pork together. Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processer and pulse a few times to get a fine dice.

2. Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Add the cabbage, carrots and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.

3. Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you're ready to wrap (see photos for instructions on how to wrap). Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.

4. To fry the egg rolls, fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.

NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.

---

©Steamy Kitchen, 2011. | Permalink | No comments

"