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Singaporean Curried Vegetable Noodles

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I got to take a mini trip around the world with Tara’s Multicultural Table. Tara actually has a similar background to me, including Filipino, Japanese, German, and the Southern United States. Her passion for different cultures through food is apparent through her delicious blog. Looking through her recipe index was painful — there were so many things that I wanted to make, how could I choose between Northern Thai Curry, Mango Cinnamon Basil Smoothie, Afghani Kebab with Gravy, Macarons with Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling, Yaki Udon, Cong You Bing (Scallion Pancakes), or Sichuan Wontons in Chili Sauce.

My decision was made instantly easier when I spotted her recipe for Curried Vegetable Noodles.

One of our favorite dishes to get when we order takeout or visit the local dim sum restaurant is Singaporean Curry Noodles. It has the perfect level of spiciness (flavor, not heat) and the little nuggets of meat and vegetables break up the monotony of the noodles. I was a bit lazy and used some stir fry vegetables and packaged sauce from Trader Joe’s, but I counter-acted that laziness by topping the noodles with some home-grown Thai Basil.

To make it closer to the takeout version, throw some chicken, pork, or shrimp in with the noodles. Or, as my fiancé suggested, the addition of some egg would add a nice amount of protein.

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Classic Mini Waffles

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Waffles are one of my favorite things to eat. I always order them over pancakes or French Toast when I’m at breakfast or brunch. The reason is that I can’t make them at home. I don’t have a waffle iron, let alone a waffle recipe or mix.

That’s why I was excited for this month’s Secret Recipe Club pair-up with Rebekah from Making Miracles. Rebekah had not one, but two recipes for waffles! I chose to go with her “Classic Waffles” because Not only does this recipe whip up in a jiffy, but it is a tried and true “Family Favorite” from Rebekah’s family.

This recipe also gave me an excuse to use my parents’ “Circus Waffle Iron” to make some mini-waffles. Because of that, I halved the recipe and still was able to get around 12 mini waffles from it.

Check out Making Miracles for more about Rebekah’s family, food, and memories and the Secret Recipe Linkup below to so who else participated in this month’s reveal.

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Mango Ginger Tart with Pistachio & Coconut

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When my sister was graduating with her undergraduate degree in English last May, I had to show up to the ceremony with a little treat for her to eat afterwards.

This tart is incredibly easy to put together and is flavorful yet light. I first saw it on Zen Can Cook, thinking it was odd that a recipe so simple would be on his site. Then I knew it was destiny when fellow DC food-blogger Olga of  Mango & Tomato re-created it with some crystallized ginger. How could you go wrong with mango and ginger?

My sister & I in Philadelphia
All bundled up, ready to be enjoyed

I was a bit lazy, which yielded a more “rustic” result. I used pre-chopped mango from the store instead of slicing my own, which made the tart a bit more clunky and testy when slicing. But the end result was still scrumptious and looked perfect for the occasion in my Panibois Baking Molds wrapped with ribbon and cute graduating owls. 

Fleur de Sel Caramels

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I finally got to knock something off of my bucket list! My fiancé and I have been wanting to make caramels for a while, especially after we used our candy thermometor to make some crunchy toffee this past winter.

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had the delight of perusing Lynsey’s site, Lynsey Lou’s. I had several recipes I wanted to try out from this southern gal’s recipe index before I spotted the caramels: Blueberry  Lemon Cupcakes with Pomegranate Frosting, Cheez-it Crusted Chicken, Homemade Marshmallow Creme, Brown Butter Caramel Cookies, and  Garam Masala Muffins.

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These caramels, by way of Barefoot Contessa, really hit the spot. I am quite picky about the texture of my caramels and like them on the soft side, but not too runny so that they get all over your face. I would bring these to room temperature before eating, lest you crack a tooth! Next time I might try cooking them a little less so that sugar doesn’t harden up quite so much, as well as experimenting with some flavors.

If you’re feeling up for it, you can dip some of the caramels in chocolate. It was messy, but well worth it (hence the lack of photos).

Check out the other Secret Recipe Clubbers below, or head on over to Lynsey Lou’s.

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Green Velvet Graduation Cupcakes

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Graduating college is a big deal! It’s tradition for me to make cupcakes or cookies for my sister’s graduation (high school, associates degree, undergraduate, and soon to be graduate!). Her schools colors are green and yellow so I opted for a “green velvet” cake and my tried and true cream cheese frosting.

Velvet cakes, I’ve found, are actually a pretty good crowd pleaser. It’s not a vanilla cake, and not quite chocolate. And these were even more awesome because I made some edible graduation caps to go on top. I was inspired by this post and used colored candy melts with my brownie bite pan and candy cup mold. And yes, I sorted out all the green colored mini M&Ms and cut the green out of strips of rainbow sour belt, but I was determined to have a super cute graduation cap and tassle!

The cupcakes were a hit and we surprised my sister at an end of the year Girl Scout event with a mini party in our hotel room.

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Party setup in hotel room