Song of the Week: Rum Hee

Remember Rum Hee by Shugo Tokumaru? It's been around for almost 2 years, and was apparently used in a VAIO ad campaign in 2009. This guy is awesome. If you miss spring, and summer, and all things happy and sprightly, if you need some tinkling bells and jolly sounds in your life, press play right now.

Shugo Tokumaru - Rum Hee by souterraintransmissions

Shugo Tokumaru has an album out, Port Entropy, that contains Rum Hee plus other adorable songs like Lahaha. According to various websites, Port Entropy came out in April 2010, or maybe it came out last week, it's hard to tell. It's out now though.

Baby food and the Foley Food Mill

I ran into somebody who works in advertising. He sold me on a Mirro Foley Stainless Steel Food Mill, even though he has no financial interest in my buying one. I guess he is just good at his job, eh?

The main selling point of this rather simple, clunky item is that it's great for making homemade baby food CHEAP. The clincher was when the guy said, "As I used it, I could just feel the amount of money I was saving by not buying the stuff in jars. My freezer was FULL of baby food. Plus, if you have guests over and need a side dish, everybody loves pureed sweet potatoes." Also he told me that you don't have to peel or core anything beforehand. The food mill will strain out the seeds and skins and stuff for you. Oh man, I had to have it!

Purchased at Brown & Roberts

So here's what I do to make baby food. I am not into ice cube trays, so I've come up with the "frozen globs" method.

First, cook the food. I'm mostly talking vegetables here, or tree fruits. You can bake it (works well for butternut squash--halve it, scrape out seeds, put facedown on foil, bake). You can steam it (carrots & yams). I'm sure you could also boil it.

Then, put your food in the Foley Food Mill and start cranking. This part is a little uncertain for me. The box did not have any instructions. (I did find a PDF of vintage instructions online.) Basically, turn the mill 3-4 times the "right" way, then turn it once backward to clear it. Repeat. And repeat. This is an old-fashioned machine and it does take elbow grease. It takes me at least 5 minutes to mill any particular vegetable.

Next, I spoon globs of the puree onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment. I place it in the freezer for a day or so. Then, I label a freezer bag, pile the frozen globs in there, and stash it back in the freezer. I thaw one glob at a time by popping it in a small container and refrigerating. Amazing!



At $35 I really need this thing to pay for itself, and I think it's working. The organic hippie baby food I would normally buy costs 80 cents a jar, and a jar is probably about the same as one glob. So I'd need to make 44 globs to replace that number of jars. I'm pretty sure I've done that already. From here on, it's all gravy!

A closeup of some globs. Isn't this yam strange? It is something Japanese--purplish outside, surprising yellow-green inside. The baby loves it fortunately.

Side note: The food mill is also good for mashed potatoes of course, and for making fine applesauce. Another useful discovery--I bought a can of whole tomatoes because it was on sale, and turned it into tomato puree because that's what I actually needed.

Have you ever used a food mill like this? And/or made your own baby food?

Shrimp broccoli stirfry with noodles

New discovery at the supermarket. Pouch of 2 is under $4.
Here's how to make an easy stirfry using these noodles.

Ingredients

• 1 T toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 pound or more of broccoli (can be frozen or uncooked/fresh)
• 2 cups shredded bok choy or cabbage
• 2 T water
  
• 1/2 pound cooked shrimp
• Ka-me Stirfry Hokkien noodles (2 pouches)
• 1 T hoisin sauce
• 1 T tamari/soy sauce
• 1 t black-bean chili paste
• green onion garnish (optional)

Assembly

1. Oh this is easy. Heat sesame oil in a large pan, then steam-fry the vegetables. This means throw them in the oil til sizzling, then add the water and cover for about 5 minutes. (If the broccoli is cooked but previously frozen, this will just heat it up nicely.)
2. Add the shrimp and the noodles. The noodles need some pulling apart with fingers before being added.
3. Add the hoisin sauce, tamari and black bean paste. Stir together until everything is heated through and the noodles have started to get soft.
4. That's it! Serve, garnish with green onions if desired.
   

This photo is so bad I decided it's actually arty.
This is not tinted or anything, just naturally bizarre.

Winterwear

It's fashion week somewhere and you know I am all up in the latest stylezz. Kidding! But I have been thinking about my own style, such as it is. In the past 4 years I have pretty much settled on my "uniform." Here are my BULLETED thoughts!

• Gauzy sheers, layered for modesty
• Layering, such as a tank top with a short-sleeve button down, unbuttoned. A long-sleeve T with a flutter-sleeve shirt. Lots of cardis.
• V-necks, scoop necks.
• A-line skirts, tiered/ruffled skirts (within reason)--nothing above the knee
• Solids or ombre, only rare patterns or stripes
• Boot cut or flared pants, khaki, grey or black (or med wash jeans)
• Colors: grey, white/cream, black, charcoal, burnt oranges, dark reds, pale pinks, washed out greens
• Accessories: Pops of color, like a red or green necklace with a black/grey outfit.
  

I would like to get more unique pieces, like with strange seams or interesting shirring or folds. I could probably use an infinite number of layers from camisole to long-sleeve T to cardigans.

Hey, have you tried polyvore? I made a little collage thingy.

Again with the gray & cream by profkitty

Lemon

This photo has been languishing in my drafts box for a long, long time. It was part of my food blog gift in 2009. Hello beautiful, juicy, organic lemon. You are lovely!

But you know, I can't remember what I used it for. Do you have favorite uses for lemon? If you had one perfect lemon, what would you do with it?

Here are some ex tempore ideas:

• squeeze into several glasses of fresh, cold water for a nice light detox
• cut into wedges to spritz over fried fish
• use the juice plus zest in some tarty-tart baked good
• slice super-thin to have with bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers
• toddy-time with honey, hot water and rum or whiskey
• vodka tonics (oh boy, I haven't had one in a LONG time)
• squeeze over a buttered chicken, then stuff into cavity and bake
• make up a batch of lamb-stuffed grape leaves
  

Chicken salsa chili

This was originally going to be a taco-flavored chicken/salsa stew, but I put in some beans as an afterthought and it turned into chili. Pretty good for 6 ingredients!

Ingredients

• 1 jar Mrs. Renfro's peach salsa
• 6-8 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, chunks
• chili powder
• 1/2 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans
• olive oil
• water

Assembly

• Brown chicken in olive oil, sprinkle with chili powder while you're browning (maybe about 1 t total, or more).
• Put chicken in slow cooker and cover with salsa. Add black beans. Break up bouillon as best you can and sprinkle around. Pour water over all until the mixture is about the consistency you want your chili.
• Cook on low for 8+ hours. Serve over white rice.

I also made cornbread on the side slathered with butter and honey. Outstanding.