12
August
2008
marci and craig got married this weekend! they had a really nice small outdoor ceremony, and then a big reception with a HUGE buffet. i think everyone had a good time.
and here she is!
here’s marci and craig cutting the cake:
marci has the best expressions 
okay, i took the time to make the cake, so i made sure to document all the steps. here we go!
first step, baked all the cakes. then each column shows the assembly of each of the three layers. last picture is the cakes chilling in the fridge.
next is the assembly of the layers with dowels for support (small ones cut to the height of the layers, then one long one through all the cakes). also put a simple bead border.
right after i put the bottom and middle bead borders, mr. and mrs. taketa said they were going to drop by to help me put the cake in a box, so i took a break to clean up a bit AND WASH THE DISHES (dun dun dun). anyway, that was kind of disastrous - cameron had to take me to the emergency room to get 5 stitches for my finger. it took 5 hours! but we did get to watch the opening ceremony at least. anyway, apparently you shouldn’t wash knives the way i do, and you shouldn’t wash them too hurriedly. wise wisdom from wing.
anyway, before we decided i needed to go to the emergency room, i piped the top bead layer with my left hand don’t worry, no blood got on the cake. THAT would have been a real disaster.
then the big transport the day of the wedding (plus a picture of my sad finger)!
dede wilson (author of the book) said to make a sign so people don’t get mad at you for driving slow. the trip wasn’t bad at all though. the box was exactly the size of the base, so it was real snug. then the box was on a wooden board with a mat to prevent it from slipping. the board was on top of some towels in the passenger seat to make it level, and i sat next to the cake to keep it steady. we spent a long time worrying about moving the cake, but that ended up going real smoothly.
when we got there, i added the smaller dots to the sides, and then mrs. taketa and i started thinking about arranging the flowers. anyway, then the florist showed up, and apparently someone asked her to help us do that, so she arranged the top part (which ended up looking really nice). after the ceremony we found out she just put them on the top (i guess she was too busy to put on the other layers?) so we made a simple arrangement for the cake and the table before the reception started. the extra buttercream was already in the car so we didn’t attempt sticking too many flowers on the cake.
i think over the course of making this cake, i ingested too much buttercream, so i kind of need a break from it. i think the cake tasted pretty good though. anyway, before i attempt more cakes, i want to perfect the cake part, because that was probably the most challenging part. gotta study harold mcgee and test out how to get the perfect consistency every time. plus, i want to try some other flavors!
(harold mcgee’s the coolest - he went to caltech! i gotta read his book when i have time.)
wing 
baking 
5 Comments »
31
July
2008
there was a frozen pizza at costco with tomatoes, basil, and cheese that looked really tasty, so we tried our pizza with those toppings.
when it first came out i was like, “oh god, this looks terrible.” the cheese was like everywhere, and it was real watery from the tomatoes and cheese. BUT, even in this not so glorious state, it was delicious. we tried it with some balsamic vinegar too, like when you eat mozzarella, basil, and tomato with some balsamic vinegar. that was also good.
anyhow, the second time we made this, i patted the tomatoes dry and the cheese too, didn’t put too much sauce, and then it wasn’t watery. oh, also i like to eat cold pizza, but this one definitely tastes better warm. i guess because we put so much mozzarella, and when it’s cold all you can taste is like rubbery mozzarella. just stick it in the oven or toaster oven (i considered wrapping it in foil and sticking in the toaster at work but that might have been disastrous so i just ate my sad cold pizza that day), and it tastes great!
wing italian No Comments »
24
July
2008
i volunteered to make marci and craig’s wedding cake! marci is cameron’s cousin, and she’s getting married in august. she originally wasn’t planning on having a cake, so i volunteered to do it because… it sounded like fun!
anyway, i bought this GREAT book called wedding cakes you can make by dede wilson. she covers every aspect of making a wedding cake, and most importantly, taste is top priority. so i bought a bunch of cool equipment i decided to make the basic vanilla cake since it’s my first cake. anyway, she recommends making a 6″ test cake, so I made that last week or marci’s wedding shower. mrs. taketa helped me a bunch with assembling this first cake, since she used to do some cake decorating.
so first i made the buttercream earlier in the week since it can be refrigerated for a week, frozen for a month. look at my shiny new mixer!
she’s so beautiful, and i bought a matching red spatula. i think i should name my mixer. cameron suggested “missy” but i am not feeling it. for the buttercream, it starts off as a meringue, and then you add some hot syrup, then the butter after it cools, and finally a little vanilla. i actually added 2 sticks extra of butter because i’m bad at reading directions… but it was still tasty.
then i made the yellow cake. i messed up the first time and overmixed it so it was too dense. i made it again, and it was okay. then the cutting/assembling!
making the cake smooth is really hard, but dede had lots of good tips. and my nice new rotating cake stand was helpful. anyway, here’s the finished cake:
i didn’t put moistening syrup in this one, but for the real one i definitely will because even this small cake started getting a little dry. the cake and buttercream tasted really good though. not overly sweet like a lot of cakes. look at the pretty layers:
it was a lot of work making this little cake, but i’m really excited about the wedding cake!
wing baking 6 Comments »
18
July
2008
my mom didn’t have time to make delicious food for me, but she gave me a pack of nian gao (chinese rice cakes?) to bring back. so first we tried making it the way my mom makes it. this is the white rice cake kind of nian gao not the sweet brown kind we eat at chinese new year’s (both are very delicious).
mom’s nian gao
some nian gao (like half a pack?)
some chinese mushrooms, soaked and chopped
at least 1/2 head napa, chopped
3-4 oz lean pork, sliced thin
a little chicken broth
some green onions, possibly ginger/onions, chopped up
soy sauce
rice wine
pepper
1. soak the nian gao in water overnight.
2. marinate the pork with some soy sauce, pepper, wine.
3. stir fry the pork with ginger/onions if you have them.
4. when the pork’s not quite done, put in the mushrooms.
5. then put in the napa.
6. then put in the nian gao and green onions with a little chicken broth.
7. cover, stir, cover, stir
8. when nian gao is soft, it’s done (5 minutes or less). can add soy sauce if needed.
comments: whenever i ask my mom for her recipes, it’s kinda hard to figure out the amounts since she doesn’t measure things. anyway, i really like my mom’s nian gao because it’s really simple, has good light flavors, and is really delicious. of course, ours didn’t taste like mom’s. 
but it was still pretty good. ours came out a little watery - i guess too much chicken broth.
with the other half of the nian gao pack, i tried looking for a recipe for the shanghai nian gao, but i only found some recipes for shanghai noodles, but those weren’t really like how i remember shanghai nian gao or noodles. i just went on my memory, but it turned out pretty good!
nian gao (kinda shanghai style)
nian gao (about half pack?)
choy sum, cut into 2″ pieces
pork, sliced thin (maybe .5 lb.)
dark soy sauce
wine
white mushrooms, sliced
green onions?? (i can’t remember)
1. soak nian gao overnight.
2. marinate pork with dark soy sauce, wine (maybe pepper?).
3. stir fry the pork (be more generous with the veggie oil)
4. when the pork is almost cooked, add the mushrooms
5. add the choy sum
6. add the nian gao and green onions. add more dark soy sauce if needed?
comments: this actually turned out really tasty even though i can’t remember exactly how we cooked it. for me, the main thing about shanghai nian gao is the dark soy sauce and oil sauce. i think i’ve had it with spinach, but choy sum was on sale and tasted good. the white mushrooms were on sale too, so i just added them, and they were happy as they soaked up the tasty sauce. this one isn’t as light as my mom’s and it’s got some stronger flavors. both are great!
wing asian 2 Comments »
30
June
2008
we had a really fun trip back to california in may - friends, family, food, ditch day. too many things so i just put together a few of the highlights.
#1:
souplantation, lingenberry juice (ikea), carnitas at el torito, ramen at daikokuya in little tokyo, salad at the ath.
#2:
jean cutting birthday cake at BJ’s, in-n-out on the way back from six flags, meatloaf sandwich and “the mess” (below the fish) from schooner or later in long beach, fish at the long beach aquarium.
#3:
food that bing made (TASTY) - guacamole, yummy salad, marinated steak + (not pictured) mexican rice, chicken marsala, almond jello? i can’t remember! lots of good food. then we played games that night for 7.5 HOURS (picture of cameron and bing when we played loopin’ louie). in the morning when i got up, they were playing again!
#4:
this meal was a reminder of all the great chinese food i’ve missing out on since i moved i miss my mom’s food too. she didn’t have time to cook while i was there but she did give me some nian gao to take back and cook (gotta put that up later). anyway, this meal was at full house (arcadia). it was so good. and they have $10 peking duck (the tasty skin parts + all the rest of the duck too).
#5:
ditch day! it was funny because we thought we’d actually get to sleep the night before ditch day. it’s okay, we had a lot of fun and no one fell asleep while driving.
we all use math everyday!
wing eating out, travel 2 Comments »
