SHIM + SONS

wishing you s'more summer fun!

I love simple + sweet food kits. They can be used as favors [like our caramel apple kits we gave away for j + Miss E's birthday party, hostess gifts or I-think-you-are-a-great-friend gift [the best kind of gift in my book!]. Food kits can also be quite affordable, easy to assemble and fall under the category of "I would definitely enjoy and use it if I received it but probably would not make one for myself". Last month I was inspired to make s'more kits and as I was brainstorming packaging ideas I came across some cute s'more kits that were given away as wedding favors.

I could have gone the homemade marshmallow + homemade graham cracker + gourmet chocolate [with a package of sea salt] route but I went the around-the-corner-market route. I repackaged the marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate into clear glassine bags and placed them into a glass jar from Ikea. I love using glass containers for packaging because they are attractive and reusable.

I printed out a "wishing you s'more summer fun" label on to sticker paper and placed it on the outside of the jar. I also included "directions" on how to make the s'mores. Have you tried baking them in the oven? I highly recommend this route if you are campfire-less or don't want to roast your marshmallows on the stove. The final touch was tying a bow of gingham bias tape around the lid of the jar. I've given a few away to friends and made some extra kits to store in our pantry [you can place the re-packaged chocolate in the fridge to make sure it doesn't melt]. 

We will be leaving soon for a family trip to California. I am excited to hold my new niece, spend time with family, see old friends, meet new ones and eat some good food! If you have any recommendations for restaurants/shops in LA or the SF bay area, please let me know. My plan is to squeeze in as much fun + food as possible! Wishing you all s'more summer fun! 

portland :: tastebud

I recently mentioned my new found love of Tastebud's Montreal-style bagels. After eating all the bagels we picked up at the farmers market in one day I thought I was going to have to wait another week before getting my next fix. But then I discovered Tastebud's All You Can Eat Pizza on Sundays. I don't know about you but I generally steer clear of buffets and all-you-can-eat restaurants since the focus tends to be on quantity over quality. I had a hunch that Tastebud's "pizza buffet" might be different.

The restaurant has a lovely outdoor area and since we were the first patrons to arrive [I wasn't sure if there was going to be the long lines that we're accustomed to over at Apizza Scholls], we snagged a table on the patio. 

A few minutes after we were seated they brought out two different salads, a caesar with bagel croutons and a spring green salad tossed with lemon + olive oil.

Five minutes later several piping hot pizzas were served. I was impressed at the steady rotation of pizzas coming out of the kitchen. The fiddlehead pizza was really good.

But I have to say my favorite was the sausage since it had a little bit of heat to it.

I hope the next time we go back we will be able to check out their homemade desserts!

portland :: two tarts bakery

I love tiny things. I love bakeries. It is no wonder I love Two Tarts Bakery in NW Portland. I'm not sure I can pick a favorite sweet treat because everything is so good. I love the lil' mama [their version of the Oreo] and lemon bars, J loves the fleur-de-sel chocolate chip cookies and j loves the lemon thumbprints. Oh, and did I mention they serve ice cream [the boys give the salted caramel two thumbs up] and ice cream sandwiches?     Y-U-M-M-Y!!

my love for small kitchen appliances

As a minimalist I struggle with my love for small kitchen appliances. I own a waffle maker, panini maker, ice cream maker, pizzelle maker and two different table top grills [one for sukiyaki and korean stews and the other for grilling meat]. I try to limit my visits to Williams-Sonoma because they always have the latest and greatest small kitchen appliances. Just the other day, Jen turned me on to this amazing frozen pop maker. Yes, of course my current popsicle molds are just fine but it does not make popsicles in 7 minutes!!

My love for small kitchen appliances is balanced with my obsession with uncluttered counter tops. [You will only find a toaster and rice cooker on our counter tops.] So although I am often tempted by pretty small kitchen appliances I know that if I don't have room to store it I won't purchase it.

Which brings me back to my beloved pizzelle maker. I don't make them as often as I should, but they are so simple to make. I use variations of this recipe, which is the recipe that came with our pizzelle maker. I sometimes add lemon zest or substitute the vanilla extract with almond extract. After taking them off the iron I use a large circle cookie cutter to make them all uniform [perfect for ice cream sandwiches]. You can eat them plain, roll them into cones, sprinkle with powdered sugar or dip them in chocolate. I love to eat them with a scoop of ice cream and berries, a perfect mid-afternoon treat!

he knows the way to my heart

It is no secret that my husband [Appah] is the chef in our household. He loves to cook and is one of those people who is completely natural in the kitchen. On countless occasions I have heard, "Sally, you are so lucky to be married to [my husband]." And I agree! Although Appah and I share the same core values and beliefs, our personalities and interests are pretty different. But our love of good food is one area in which we are totally connected. 

When we first started dating I thought it was odd how my husband would rarely talk during a meal. I, on the other hand, am a multi-tasker and can eat and talk A LOT [and very quickly I might add]. One day I remember asking him what he was thinking about while we were eating and he told me he was thinking about the next combination of food he was going to put in his mouth. I knew at that moment that this man really understands, enjoys and savors good food. 

One of my favorite dishes Appah makes is a spicy thai-style crab. Since crab is not in season Appah recently experimented making the dish with shrimp. He cooked the spicy shrimp outside on our big camping propane stove. [Yes, if you were our neighbor you would see Appah making tasty food on his wok and using our deep fryer to fry chicken + donuts on the patio!] It was delicious although we both agreed the crab meat adds so much more flavor to the dish. One of my goals [remember my list?] for this year is to write down all of Appah's recipes so we can pass it on to the boys. I think he has only written down one of his recipes. And don't bother asking him a recipe because he does it all by sight and taste.

I've been trying to encourage Appah to start a food blog although I still haven't sold him on the idea. He travels quite a bit throughout Asia and I always want to see photographs of the yummy food he eats [I only hear descriptions, but I need visuals I tell you!]. I'll keep working on him and maybe I can convince him to at least write a guest foodie post.

i love...sweet treats!

sweet treats

I made Smitten Kitchen's chocolate caramel crackers several months ago while we were still living in Korea. They were a big hit with the boys and I was thinking I would make another batch to give to the boys' classmates for Halloween. I loved the sweet + salty combination. They are super easy to make which is a big plus for me right now since I don't have access to any of my baking equipment. Speaking of sweet treats, I am quite tempted to order some Whimsy & Spice goodies, everything looks so yummy! Oh, and I have to try making these pumpkin + hazelnut doughnuts sometime soon.

This week I was planning to do a bunch of fun stuff like updating the shoppe with my new 2010 calendars + holiday stationery [everything has been photographed, I just need to go through them all], but I got a bit sidetracked with a sick boy at home. Things are starting to look up though--my boy is feeling better, Appah just returned from a long business trip and tomorrow is Friday! I'll be back next week, hopefully back on track. Have a wonderful weekend!!

c is for...

...cute packaging...

...and cupcakes [from St. Cupcake].

The boys don't have school today so we're going to enjoy our three-day weekend!! I'll be back next week with a special giveaway, preview of some new holiday stationery and the first SHIM + SONS calendar [two designs in fact]. Have a good one, friends!

food inspiration

There was a point in time when I was reading dozens of craft + design related blogs. Slowly over time I became overwhelmed with the number of blogs + sites out there. I find that too much inspiration can be paralyzing for my creativity. But when it comes to food blogs, I just cannot get enough. I could look at photographs of mouth-watering food all day long.

I noticed that I'm much more likely to try a new recipe if: 1) the list of ingredients are short and simple, 2) there is a pretty picture to accompany the recipe and 3) a friend has tested + approved of it. Martha flickered about Molly's broccoli soup with lemon-chive cream and I knew I had to try it out. And I have...twice. It is so good and pared with some yummy crusty bread, makes for a nice mid-morning snack or lunch. I've also been making a batch of Smitten Kitchen's Crispy Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies every week for the past month. [I like to make cookie dough, store in in the fridge and make small batches here and there since I love warm cookies. In fact I have a batch baking right now.]

 

I think I've made Myra's banana bread about a hundred times already. I usually make them into muffins, half with mini chocolate chips [Baby J doesn't like chocolate]. What are your favorite on-line recipes? Food blogs? Food websites?

I've also been inspired by others to do some meal planning. There are so many wonderful [and inexpensive] korean restaurants around town, so we definitely eat out more now that we're living in Korea. But I know the benefits of having some staples [e.g., homemade chicken broth] in the fridge.

 

Do you have any tips or helpful advice regarding meal planning? If so, please share in the comments below and I'll draw one name on April 9 and send you one of my favorite utensil sets.

teatowels + tassies

A few months ago I was looking around for some new teatowels but couldn't find any here in Busan. So when I saw this gold gingham linen in Leslie's shop I was inspired to make my own teatowels. The texture of the fabric is softer than a lot of the linens I have in my stash and this particular linen seems to soften with each washing. I cut the piece of fabric in half [50cm x 55 cm] and was planning to press and sew a 1/4" inch hem around the edges but noticed how nice the raw edges looked. So I opted to "fray" the edges [by pulling individual strings from each side] a bit more and in no time at all I had a set of teatowels.

And they happen to match the yummy pecan + lemon tassies I made over the weekend. [The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cookies book.]

There is a lot more crafting and sewing I want to do, but I know it will have to wait until next month. Big J finishes up his second term in a few days and then we're heading off to Hong Kong + Macau for spring break. We seem to be burning through Appah's hotel points + frequent flyer miles, but it is totally worth it. If anyone has suggestions for places to go/eat/shop in Hong Kong or Macau, please let me know!