blog — molly yeh

giveaway

rhubarb simple syrup + a giveaway

in ,

i did a terrible thing last year: when eggboy pointed out that our house came with a very large, very low-maintenance, very beautiful rhubarb patch, i went out, did my thing, enjoyed a lot of blintzes about it, and then despite how many times i told myself that i was going to continue to have my way with all of that rhubarb, i did not. i used next to none of it. i neglected it and it died.

i have lived with this guilt for one year.

so the other day when i was working with all of the eggs to put in our little garden and saw across the yard that our rhubarb had sprang up, i ran as fast as i could safely run while carrying scissors to collect a very large armful of it. (it was more of a trot.) eggsister and i immediately dipped a stalk in sugar and ate it as if it were nature's fun dip, and then i chopped some up for rhubarb water to make this simple syrup. later, eggboy blew my mind by informing me that rhubarb is a vegetable and not a fruit. am i the last person to learn that??

i've been making cakes with it and giving away bouquets to everyone that crosses our path. celeste even took some on her road trip back to portland. (that's her in the photo hiding behind the big fat leaves, don't eat the leaves!) and once i'm all rhubarbed out, i am going to chop it all up and freeze it for the year. i'm feeling good about our little rhubarb patch. real good. 

i like this syrup because it allows you to experience rhubarb in all of its celery-ish sour glory without much other schmutz there to salt its game. sometimes i worry that rhubarb gets bitter about always having to share the spotlight with strawberries, you know. i like adding this to soda water and cocktails... what else do people use simple syrup for? snow cones? snow cones!!!

rhubarb simple syrup

makes about 4 cups, which is a lot of simple syrup, i know. there's no shame in halving this.

ingredients

2 pounds rhubarb, chopped

water

3 c sugar

a squeeze of lemon juice

clues

place the rhubarb in a large pot and cover it with water. bring to a boil, and then simmer it for an hour. (if you have the time, i like letting it cool overnight to really make sure that the rhubarb flavor is extra strong, but if not that's ok.)

strain the water into a bowl or large measuring cup and discard the rhubarb. measure out three cups of the water and pour it back into your pot. if you're left with more rhubarb water, you can discard it, or you can add it to the pot, just make sure that you have equal parts sugar and water.

whisk the sugar with the water and bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. stir in the lemon juice and let it cool.

serve with soda water, cocktails, snow cones, or whatever else you'd like!

enjoy!

ooh and do you see those fun coasters in the photos? they are from small gunns, a really awesome san francisco-based company! this week i'm giving away one small gunns linen set: a table runner, six coasters, and six napkins. to enter this giveaway, leave a comment with 1) your favorite use for rhubarb, and 2) your favorite color of these linens. i'll choose a winner next week! open to u.s. residents. update: this giveaway is now closed.

-yeh!

thank you so much to small gunns for sponsoring this post! for 30% off of your next order, use the code: sprinkles. for more ways to connect with them, check these out: instagram/facebook/twitter/newsletter.

taiwanese meat sauce + a giveaway

in

i had a startling realization two days ago when eggboy made an observation that some friends of ours are well read. it occurred to me that, as someone who spends her days playing with sprinkles and spent her college years playing the xylophone at an institution where some teachers nearly pat you on the back if you almost fail your one non-music academic class in the name of more practice time, i am extremely far from being well read. extremely far.

but that wasn't my startling realization.  

my startling realization came when i told myself that after the wedding, by gum, i will read more with the intention of becoming better read, maybe even well read. and so i envisioned myself after the wedding, reading books and... suddenly having one million less things to stress out about, and a much much much shorter to-do list. and. ok. that was startling. 

what will i do when i don't have 1,000 feet of bunting to make? a seating chart to puzzle together? zillions of pies to bake??? where will i go on my monday nights that's not to my dress seamstress's house??

what do people do after they get married?1?!?!!!! 

i'll read things that aren't benedict cumberbatch gossip blogs, i'll go on a honeymoon, i'll write thank you cards, i'll sweep up all the sprinkles that people throw at us after we smooch. but then what? is getting married like getting into college, when you receive your acceptance letter and then only do dance dance revolution for the next four months until orientation? 

you guys, help!

should i join a curling league?

i guess i could start thinking about dinner more. i love making dinner, i just get into these ruts sometimes when i get carried away decorating a cake and then get so hungry for salty food that dinner becomes whatever i can make the quickest. (it's usually a vegetable and a starch covered in sesame sauce.) so when i'm a married woman, yes, i'd like to plan ahead for meals like this taiwanese meat sauce that requires over an hour and a few more utensils but is worth it in every way.

the first time i made it, i was such an impatient patty that i didn't even wait to get the proper ingredients. breakfast sausage was subbed for ground pork, onions for shallots, and rice noodles for egg noodles. it was great, but then when i finally got to the store and made it with all of the right ingredients, its secrets were revealed to me: the gloriousness that is chinese five spice, super soft egg noodles, all of those shallots... consider me in love.

this recipe is slightly adapted from short stack's brown sugar edition. if you don't know short stack editions, you must check them out! they're adorable little cookbooks centered around one main ingredient, and a new one comes out every other month. i imagine they'd make great holiday gifts :) 

taiwanese meat sauce

slightly adapted from short stack, vol 12: brown sugar

makes 4 servings

ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 lb ground pork

1/3 c fried shallots (fry your own or purchase them at an asian grocery)

1/4 c soy sauce

3 tb dark brown sugar

1 tsp chinese five spice powder

1 tb rice wine vinegar

1 tsp black pepper

2 c pork stock or water

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled

6 c steamed rice or 1 lb cooked egg noodles

thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

clues

heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat and cook the pork, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes. add the shallots, soy sauce, brown sugar, five spice, vinegar, black pepper, and cook, stirring for 1 minute.

add the stock or water and bring it to a boil. pierce the eggs with a fork in four places and add them. 

cover and reduce the heat to low and simmer for an hour. the sauce will still be very thin.

pour over egg noodles, garnish with scallion, and serve.

 

-yeh!

if you'd like to win a copy of short stack, vol 12: brown sugar, leave a comment here with your favorite use for brown sugar! open to u.s. residents.