A Scientist in the Kitchen

The best way to meet food bloggers is to join food blogging events. In this way you get to meet food enthusiasts with the same interest as you do. Food bloggers make for an awesome community in the web and there is surely someone who has the same passion as you. Here’s some blogging events I like to join:

Weekend Herb Blogging initiated by Kalyn at Kalyn’s Kitchen – if you like herbs and vegetables, this one’s for you.

Presto Pasta Nights by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast – share your recipes of pasta and noodles of all shapes, sizes and flavors.

To market.. to market hosted by yours truly. I started this event as I like to go to farmers’ markets and am curious to know how they look like in other parts of the world.

Check of Is My Blog Burning by Andy for more food blogging events. I’m sure there is one that would suit your taste.

I wouldn’t wonder if those events don’t hook you to food blogging. Next thing you all might be an addiction treatment to food blogging!

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My university, the University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB), is one of the oldest agricultural colleges in the Philippines. The College of Agriculture recently celebrated its 99th Foundation Day early this month. UPLB leads in the production of hybrid vegetables and fruits. Twice a year, a garden show is held to showcase ornamental plants and the latest varietal release of vegetables and fruit trees. Over the years, herbs has been a fixture as well, something I’m going to get my fill of next month. I look forward to this show each year, getting ready to buy plants and seeds that I can plant at home. I got my kaffir from here. Always there is something new to discover and to plant, but there are also old favorites such as orchids and bromeliads I look forward to. I am looking forward to next month’s show (another show is held every October).

Last year, I was able to take a lot of pictures of the flowers in bloom.

Now, isn’t it refreshing to watch these flower blossom? At other times of the year, there are several shops for flower delivery.

For the recipe, I just can’t get enough of the taste of kaffir. Last February, I was in a food festival where Myanmar students cooked this noodle salad. Adding fresh kaffir leaves (sliced very thinly) makes this a very refreshing dish. You can go vegetarian with this dish.

Vermicelli salad (inspired from a Myanmar noodle salad)

250 grams vermicelli
Juice from two lemons
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup ground roasted peanuts

For toppings: Thinly sliced cabbage, chopped scallions, mungbean sprouts, thinly sliced kaffir leaves, egg omelets sliced thinly (optional), chili flakes or sliced fresh chili

Soak vermicelli in water for 30 minutes. Drain water and pour hot water. Drain hot water.Put in bowl. Mix lemon juice, honey, and fish sauce. Add the lemon mixture to the vermicelli and toss well. Add the peanuts and toss again. Transfer to a serving dish. On another plate, arrange the toppings. Each person takes some vermicelli to his plate and adds the toppings according to his taste.

It must be a year of cookies as I read a lot cookie recipes in my Google Reader. So much that I am tempted to bake them myself, but baking cookies, for me, takes so much energy and so  much of my time, I’d rather have some cookie delivery at home.

Well anyway, last month, during my dad’s birthday celebration, my sister and I were planning to either bake a cake or make some birthday cookies. Take note make and not bake. We planned on ordering chocolate chip cookies from a friend and decorate them. Eventually, though, the cake won and here’s how it came up. It is a conglomeration of recipes I found from magazines with a cinnamon flavor. I like cream for frosting so I used that and the filling was made up of chocnut candies (a local chocolate-peanut candy), roasted peanuts and cream.

Dad’s birthday cake

1 and 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

1. Sift flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda and salt together for three times.

2. Cream eggs and sugar for five minutes. Add oil, vanilla extra and beat for another five minutes.

3. Add the dry ingredients and beat till dissolved.

4. Brush baking pan with butter. Pour the batter and bake at 300oF for 40 minutes. Cool down before decorating.

For the birtday cake, we baked two batches to have a layered cake.

The recipe for the frosting follows later.