"Always Kiss the Cook"

Wow, costume updates on Mondays, cooking on Tuesdays, what''s next?!

 

So this week I decided to experiment with three food items that I have never used before: udon noodles (not so daunting), miso, and tofu. Yes, despite being a vegetarian, I have never made tofu myself.

Three new ingredients!

 I used a recipe from a book called The Tofu Book. Basically, that is. It called for leeks which I didn't know what to do with and didn't have time to find out so I left them out (four never-before used items maybe a bit too much?) and seaweed (which I haven't used before but did not include only because I couldn't find it at our grocery store). It did NOT call for udon, but sticking with the Japanese theme and trying to make a soup into a meal, I decided to add them.

I started by pressing the tofu. Per the advice of friends, I used three, large, heavy books and pressed it twice while I prepared other things.

Pressing tofu.

 The miso I bought had a very similar recipe to the one I was using on the side. The only difference was that it recommended cutting it with a stock, so I used vegetable (of course).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Apparently miso should not be boiled. This was very good to know because I was going to use the miso as stock and cook my noodles and carrots in it.

So I boiled some water with vegetable stock and added my noodles and chopped carrots. While this went on I dissolved some miso (about a tablespoon maybe? It was pre-cut) in some warm water and cubed my tofu. Once the noodles and carrots were about done, I lowered the temperature and added my miso and tofu and let it sit on very low for a while.

Here is how it turned out:

Taste test: alright, but not as flavorful as I would like. Maybe some more stock and/or miso. Or maybe more miso and no stock. I needed to add a little salt. Isaac agreed that it was a little bland, but he liked it otherwise. And it would be nice to have more veggies in it. Perhaps potatoes? Overall, not as successful as last week's dinner.

Costumes Part Three

Sorry I didn't update on my costumes last week. I made shockingly little progress at all the week before. This week was much more productive.

Here is my belt for my Jareth costume. It sparkles. Need I say more?

All of these tiny rhinestones don't really like to stay attached so I tried Modge Podge on the backside (so as not to cover the sparklies). We will see if they hold up.

And I am almost finished with my Yoko Kurama costume. I just need to make a sash and finish the ears and tail. Oh, and the wig. Guess I need that, too. And find my shoes. Damn.

During the course of making this, I had to have my mom come over to help with the fitting. In case you don't know, it can be difficult to fit things to yourself without help. Especially under the arms. I had to interrupt my mom for this and she suggested getting a dress-maker dummy. While this would be a great idea, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend. The cheapest I found one was about 50 dollars, but I'm not sure it was adjustable (which is not a necessary feature, but it would be nice). The others were closer to 100 dollars, and I'm sure more with shipping such large, awkward objects. I haven't actually looked in a store yet, but I'm sure Joann would have something.

Then I ran across this link: How to Make Your Own Sewing Dummy on eHow. Brilliant, right? I think it would be fun to try. The most expensive part would probably be the stand. Anyhow, I ran the idea past my mom, and she thinks it would be fun to try. So this might be my next project. Totally psyched. Then I don't need help with fittings! Yay! I will post that when it happens.

I also started the pants for my Shuiichi Kurama costume, but they weren't far enough along to justify pictures. It's been a while since I have done pants, it took a while to remember how to put them together! The Yoko pants turned out well and the Shuiichi ones are fine so far. They are a little more complex. I also remembered after I finished my Yoko ones that I wanted to put in a pocket... I will make sure my Shuiichi ones have one, but I will have to go back and add one to the Yoko pants... Ugh.

Oh, I have also added another costume to my NDK list for this year: Katamari cousin. My friends talked about a group cosplay with someone dressed as the Prince and others dressed as his various cousins from the games. If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy. The basic premise is that the King of the Universe destroyed the stars (or something) in a drunken fit and his tiny Prince has to roll things up on the Katamari (a big ball which sticks to things smaller than it to grow) and make new stars. It is fun and silly. As you go through the game, you encounter various cousins.

It was decided recently that this will actually happen. So Amie will be the Prince and I believe we have someone who will be the King, and two or three others. I think that I will be June, shown here:

And hopefully we will all have Katamari. Hopefully with velcro things to stick on them! Fun fun! More soon.

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”

~W. C. Fields

Since I completely skipped my costume update of the week, here is a cooking update instead!

So tonight is my cooking night, again. I was pressed for time and quinoa came to mind. I did a quick search on my phone for quinoa recipes and this came up: Quinoa and Black Bean. Sounded delicious to me! First thing I did was change the servings from the default 10 to 4 (I like left overs).

It was pretty easy overall. Simmer the quinoa in seasoned vegetable broth (seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper) and when it is almost finished, add corn and beans (I used canned for both, though the recipe calls for frozen corn). Before the quinoa finished simmering, it smelled amazing! I did end up needing to add more vegetable broth.

Here is the end result! Again, I need serving dishes...

Verdict? I thought it was quite tasty! Isaac liked it, too. I think the seasoning came out well, considering I hardly know what I am doing. I probably added the most cumin because I like it. Very little cayenne pepper and pepper. However, even though it was altered for four, I felt as though we barely had enough for two... In the future, 10 may not be too many servings.