Oatmeal Chia Cup

Easy overnight oat to serve as breakfast. You can be creative for the topping. 

Ingredients

Old-fashioned rolled oats - 2 TBSP

Chia seeds - 1 TBSP

Milk - 1/3 cup, could be non-diary milk

Yogurt - 1/3 cup, any kind

Fruit - 1/4 cup blueberries, sliced strawberries, raspberries, or other chopped fruit of your choice

optional Honey - 1 tsp, or other sweeteners of your choice

optional Dried fruit - 1 TBSP raisins or other

optional Nuts - 1 TBSP, chopped or sliced almonds, cashews, walnuts or other nut of your choice 

Steps

1. Combine the oats, chia seeds, and milk in an 8-ounce or larger jar. Stir to mix the ingredients together. Let stand for 10 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken slightly. 

2. Once the chia and milk mixture has thickened slightly, top it with layers of yogurt, honey (if using), berries, raisins and nuts. 

3. Cover the jar with a cap and refrigerate until needed, or for up to 5 days. 

4. Eat your breakfast straight from the jar, mixing everything together as you go, or pour the contents into a bowl, if you prefer. 

Spam Musubi

Spam musubi is composed of a slice of grilled Spam sandwiched either in between or on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori in the tradition of Japanese onigiri. It is very convenient to serve as snack or school school lunch. 

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 6 cups, prefer sushi rice
Spam - 1 can, sliced lengthwise into 7 pieces, or your preferred thickness
Sushi nori - 3 1/2 sheets sushi nori
Furikake - 1/3 cup 
Teriyaki sauce or soy sauce

Steps

1. Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Arrange the sliced Spam in a single layer in the skillet. Cook until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from the heat & set aside for Spam musubi assembly. You can also use air fryer to brown the slices.

2. Add rice to clean Spam can, pressing down firmly and evenly, so there is about 1-1 ½ inches of rice. Gently pound the can to let the rice block out.

3. Place a strip of nori on a cutting board or clean surface (shiny side down). Place rice block in the middle of the nori. Spread some teriyaki sauce or soy sauce on the rice block; Sprinkle a generous amount of furikake seasoning; stack up a slice of cooked spam. Wrap the nori around to seal the musubi. If the nori is not sticking together, add a few cooked rice grains as "glue".

Blueberry Muffin Cookies

I was attracted to this recipe because it promised to "taste like a muffin tops". It was cakey soft and full of juicy blackberries.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 and 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp 
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter - 3/4 cup, softened to room temperature
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup
Light or dark brown sugar - 1/4 cup, packed 
Large egg - 1, at room temperature (I used egg replacer)
Pure vanilla extract - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Lemon zest - 2 tsp
Fresh lemon juice - 2 TBSP
Milk - 1/4 cup
Fresh or frozen blueberries - 2 cups (280g) 
optional for a little crunch: coarse sugar
optional Lemon Glaze

Confectioners’ sugar - 1 and 1/2 cups,  sifted

Fresh lemon juice - 2 TBSP
Half-and-half (or heavy cream or milk) - 1–2 TBSP

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. 

3. With the mixer running on low speed, add the egg, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Beat on medium-high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed.

4. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients and milk. Beat everything just until incorporated. Do not overmix. Dough will be very creamy, sticky, and thick. 

5. With a spoon or silicone spatula, carefully fold blueberries into cookie dough. Handle with care because some may break a little. Cover dough tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes and up to 2-3 days.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
7. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. Scoop cookie dough, about 1.5 Tablespoons each, and place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. If desired, sprinkle each with a little coarse sugar. Gives the cookies an extra crunch. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the cookie springs back when lightly poked with your finger.

8. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

9. To make the glaze, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, and half-and-half together until smooth. Add more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or more lemon juice/half-and-half to thin, if desired. Spoon over cookies. If applied lightly, the glaze will set within a couple hours. ( I skipped this to reduce sugar count)

Lemon Sweet Roll

These soft lemon rolls are like classic cinnamon rolls. You will love it with the caramelized lemon sugar. The frosting is optional if you want to reduce the sugar count. 

Ingredients

Dough
All purpose flour - 2 and 3/4 cups

Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Lemon zest - 1 tsp
Whole milk - 3/4 cup
Unsalted butter - 3 TBSP
Dry yeast - 2 and 1/4 tsp
Large egg - 1, at room temperature (Used egg replacer)
Filling
Unsalted butter - 1/4 cup, extra softened
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Lemon zest - 1 TBSP, packed
Lemon Cream Cheese Icing
Cream cheese - 4 ounces, softened to room temperature
Unsalted butter - 1 TBSP, soften to room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar - 3/4 cup  
Lemon juice - 2 TBSP
optional: extra lemon zest for garnish

Steps

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest together in a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Combine the milk and butter together in a heatproof bowl. Microwave or use the stove and heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm to the touch (about 110°F). Whisk in the yeast until it has dissolved. 

3. Pour wet mixture into the dry ingredients, add the egg. Mix until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 3–5 minutes. You should have a smooth ball of dough. If the dough is super soft or sticky, you can add a little more flour. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover loosely, and let the dough rest for about 10 minutes as you get the filling ingredients ready.

4. After 10 minutes, roll the dough out in a 14×8-inch (36x20cm) rectangle. Spread the softened butter on top. 

5. Mix together the sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest. Sprinkle it all over the dough. 

6. Roll up the dough to make a 14-inch log. Cut into 10–12 even rolls and arrange in a lightly greased 9- or 10-inch round cake pan, pie dish, or square baking pan.

7. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the rolls to rise in a relatively warm environment for 60–90 minutes or until double in size.

8. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake for 24–25 minutes, or until lightly browned. You might need to loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil at half time if the roll are getting browned too quickly. 

9. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack.

10. In a medium bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined, then beat in the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until combined. 

11. Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls and serve immediately. If desired, garnish frosted rolls with a light sprinkling of lemon zest.

Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

BURN 11th Anniversary Party

This was for 11th anniversary party for BURN running club who has 10 different chapters in the bay area, include tri-valley chapter that I joined. So the request was to list all 10 chapters, 6 major marathons, and display 2013-2024. On top of that, the party was hosted in a local park, so the elements on the cake had to survive in the California's July weather... 

The flames were made with Candy Melt, medals, figures and BURN were made with fondant.

Archer Cupcake

This year, GS Diablo Day Camp theme is Taylor Swift's Era. As an archery elf, my daughter brought these cupcakes to share. They are designed based on the "Archer" song. The album cover is pastel pink, blue, and yellow. The cake toppers are made with Cricut machine.

Half Dome Cake

A wedding cake for my friend who first met her husband at Yosemite. The base layer is a 12"x12" Chiffon cake with purple yam filling. The half dome is shaped from a stack of 6" chiffon cakes. The frosting is Swiss Meringue Buttercream, the bridge and rocks are made with fondant.