pquinene

I've been so busy since January 1 filling up my freezer with "fast food" that I haven't had a chance to post. Sometime in those weeks I did get to make simple banana doughnuts. We call them bonelos aga (bo-nye-lus a-ga) on Guam. The batter is shaped and squeezed from one hand into the oil.

Super festive and beautiful!!!! Love it!

Made cookies and candy for the holidays. Now I've got to package and ship them off to Guam: Jam thumbprints, raisin cookies, and chocolate-almond-toffee.

WOW!!!!

Growing up on Guam, pumpkin pies are not popular...but fried or baked pumpkin turnovers are. Though the turkey and mashed potatoes made it to the table, most preferred our typical Guam bbq spread.

I made buchi buchi, or fried Guam pumpkin turnovers for our upcoming Thanksgiving celebration (the red background). The uncooked pastry is in my freezer. I also made the baked version, or pastit, in Guam's native language (black background). Freezable desserts make life a little easier .

Wow! That is calling my name. I love coconut! I'm having flashbacks that I might have tried this before. Did you use freshly grated coconut? I just Googled a recipe and will have to try my hand at making it.

That's a very cool and creative design!

Yesterday, I finished making apple turnovers. My daughter walks in from school this afternoon, "Where's the apple turnovers?" I told her, "It's not to eat everyday." I love having "fast food" in my freezer because they are a lifesaver when I'm not in the mood to make a big to-do for meals. APPLE TURNOVERS

I filled and formed apple turnovers yesterday. I can't wait to bake some hand pies today!

I made siopao (show-pow) almost all day yesterday. This is siopao filled with Spam, cheese, and egg. Steamed buns are known by various names, but are called siopao on Guam and in the Philippines. It's normally filled with shredded chicken or pork on Guam, and adzuki beans in Japan. However, I ran out of filling and used what I had on hand. Most islanders have had an affinity for Spam since WWII when the US military provided it to troops and villagers.

Making my freezer stash of turnovers/empanadas. This particular crust was too buttery...but they were delish! The left one had cheesy scrambled eggs n bacon. The one on the right is beef w/ veggies and potatoes.

I took a yeasted dough recipe and made pantosta - hardened bread we like to dip in coffee.

This was dinner on Sunday. The dishes are generally served at a fiest / bbq, L to R, clockwise: corn titiyas (tortillas), flour titiyas with Spam kelaguen (ceviche-like dish), marinated steak, red rice (achote), marinated onions in fina'denne' (sauce with hot peppers), shrimp kelaguen, crab and broccoli salad:

Your food looks great! We've had our Egg for a year now and love it!

We make ceviche-like dishes on Guam called kelaguen. Basically, we take raw or nearly raw sources of protein (beef, deer, shrimp, nearly raw chicken...and even Spam) and "cook" it with lemon juice and salt. We also add minced onions and hot pepper. In the photo below, I made shrimp kelaguen with corn titiyas (tortillas) made from fresh masa.

I made corn soup using smoked chicken that we prepared in the Big Green Egg smoker. The mesquite aroma and flavor with the coconut milk broth was amazing!

I made Guam rice cakes, or poto. It's as close to the traditional dessert as I can get to without being on the island. POTO

Beezee, it can be both! I've had it with a side of scrambled eggs and ketchup for breakfast three days in a row...super yummy! Most islanders eat them as a snack, just reheated in the microwave. I even tried it with a smear of Nutella...boy oh boy!

I've been busy working on a novel. However, a few days ago I did make young coconut tortillas. In Chamorro, the native language of Guam/Mariana Islands, it's called manha titiyas. It's a mixture of young coconut, coconut milk, sugar, bit of butter, and all-purpose flour. YOUNG COCONUT TORTILLAS

Mmm, makes me want to sit down and enjoy!

Sarah, the sticky shells sounds like it could be similar to a glass of ice water sitting on the counter in a warm room. Or, it could be your new brand of powdered sugar. To find out for sure, try a batch with your old brand right now and see what happens. I have always used the name-brand powdered sugar -- Dominos 10x -- and it has a bit of cornstarch. Perhaps your new brand doesn't have any cornstarch or enough cornstarch. Starch does help dry out the batter. I do know that when I first take the empty or filled shells out of my freezer, they are a tad sticky until they come to room temperature. Once at room temp, that bit of moisture on the surface dries out. I had lots of problems when I first started making macarons with French meringue. After countless trials in my electric oven, I finalized a recipe that has worked perfectly and have never had a bad batch. I actually found that adding tapioca starch -- yes, tapioca starch -- with the caster sugar and cream of tartar to make the meringue, I've had perfect shells using French meringue. I use 0.5 oz. of tapioca starch to 1.5 oz. caster sugar to 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar to 4 oz. of aged egg whites to 8 oz. powdered sugar to 5 oz. finely ground almond flour. The ratio of each ingredient is specific to all the steps I took in making a very reliable recipe. Instead of rewriting my procedures, here's a link. Since your macarons are somewhat soft after cooling, flip them over so the bottom sides are up and bake in a 180-degree-Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. This should make them very crispy and dry without darkening them. Once you fill and age your macarons in the freezer or fridge, the cookies will absorb moisture from the filling and soften up to chewy/creamy deliciousness. Hope this helps!

Kim, you did such a gorgeous job!!!