a greyhound party

/


mum's friend hosted a greyhound party!!
all of these puppies are from the same litter... save for their mum {who is the one with the black-ish/dark grey-ish coat}
aren't they handsome?
the greatest thing about a greyhound party, or any puppy party, is that you can pee wherever you want. and people won't think you're wasted!


xoxo


yeh

watch out, eddie huang!

/

i finally convinced mum to bring pork into our house. 
i was going through withdrawal... being 300 miles away from baohaus is a lot harder than it looks!
so mum and i pretended to be eddie and made our own baos.
we made the steamed buns that we make during our annual dumplings of the world festival {recipe below}
and instead of forming them into the old school ball shape, 
we made the taco thingies that are so much more conducive to adding cucumbers and cilantro {no crushed peanuts here, sadly. mum is allergic}
i wasn't lucky enough to score pork belly-mum got the leanest loin she could find-but beggars can't be choosers.

the result was unbelievable goodness. maybe the best thing mum and i have ever made.


they were so doughy and sweet and comforting! the kind of comfort you can only get from mum's home-cooking. 
and pork. 
pork, how i've missed you.
these were almost better as good as baohaus' :-)

george gershwin tried to get in on the fun but nobody would help him fill a bun :-(
.....................
i don't usually post recipes, but it would have been cruel of me to keep this from you:
steamed buns!!
adapted from grace wiertz young's recipe 
{i don't know who grace is, but this recipe has been in my family since i was two and only wanted to fill them with kraft cheese}

ingredients:
1 package yeast
3/4 cup warm water {110 degrees}
4 cups flour
1/4 cup warm milk {110 degrees}
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup veggie shortening + additional shortening for greasing the middle of the buns

clues:
dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water in a small bowl until it bubbles
put 3 cups of flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center
add the yeast mixture, remaining 1/2 cup warm water, 1/4 cup of shortening, the milk, and sugar --> stir to combine
add remaining cup of flour in fourths until a dough forms and is no longer sticky
knead for 5 minutes on a floured surface
put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise for 2 hours
punch down the dough, knead for 2 or 3 minutes
melt the additional shortening in the microwave
divide dough it into 12 equal pieces and shape into flat oval-shaped circles on top of individual squares of wax paper
brush the top of the circles with shortening and fold them in half
let rise for half an hour
steam in a bamboo or metal steamer for 10-15 minutes
and...
voila! 
fill them with whatever you want! if you're lucky, your mum will buy you pork belly. 
if not, other kinds of meat will do...
top them with cukes, cilantro, and crushed peanuts
dip them in soy sauce and sriracha!

if you don't make these, you are seriously a dufus.


xoxo


yeh

week 29: the meatball shop

/

i was not afraid of the boogie man.
i was not afraid of the dark.
rather
my biggest fear as a wee one
was sitting down at the dinner table on spaghetti night
and looking down at my plate
and finding that my poor poor spaghetti
was contaminated by a 
big 
fat 
traumatizing 
meatball.

why? oh why must i eat this, mum? it is ruining my beautifully olive-oiled spaghetti!! 
i cried. i begged for mercy.

protein blah blah blah you wanna grow old and be frail and brittle bullshit bullshit?
{was something like her response}

it was clear:
if i wanted dessert,
that ball was going in my mouth.
boy, was life was tough. 

the struggle continued 
and continued
and my adolescent years proved to be successful in finding ways around the dreaded meatball
but eventually
hype and hipness persuaded me to go to
this is me at the meatball shop
and this is maria's best attempt at taking a picture of her newest celebrity crush,
the owner
{scruffy dude in the back}

what a fun place!
i love all the hustle and bustle of the lower east side
and i love looking at all the stylish kiddies that hang around that area.
there was a bit of a wait for a table, but that adds to the tastiness :-)
above is a picture of the multiple choice dry-erase marker menu on which maria and i kind of blindly picked our balls.

yay balls!!!
they were nothing like my childhood meatballs.
these were really good, and juicy, and rich in flavor
and big
but emphasis on the juicy!
and there was an amount of taste that you don't expect with ground meat.
it just bursted with flavor!
the balls just burst!
and the fact that they weren't corrupting spaghetti 
by being served in non-offensive sliders and heros
calmed my dark-childhood-memory-induced anxiety.

we also got a hero:
beef balls
marinara
&
provolone
on a whole wheat baguette
sometimes the thought of a baguette gets me nervous.
is it going to be hard to bite?
is it going to scratch the inside of my mouth?

you will all be relieved to know that this baguette was soft and doughy
and worked well with the balls
as to not make the sandwich self-destruct upon consumption.

it was like a neater, more highbrow, italian version of the sloppy joe. 

it was a comfy sandwich, indeed. 
one that i've since dreamt about numerous times.


ok, let it be known:
if you go to the meatball shop and do not order dessert, you are an idiot.
their ice cream sammiches are monstrous.
so monstrous that eating one like a sandwich might be impossible. 
but when thur's a scoop of house-made chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two no-bake peanut butter cookies sitting in front of you, it doesn't matter how it gets to your face, you just want it.
{ohhh}

maria got the ginger snap and vanilla combo.
it was fine, you know, if you like ginger snaps.

i'm really glad that my meatball spell has been broken.
although
after having these
i'm not sure i'm going to be able to have any other ones.

.............

23 restaurants to go, boys and girls.


xoxo


yeh




the meatball shop is on stanton and allen in the lower east side
and it's open late!