Wow, when did this become a cooking blog?
On today's menu, Boñelos Aga'. You know it if you are from Guam, banana donuts!! Yum!
It took me a few tries to perfect it, but I think I got it now. I made a smaller than usual batch, but there are just two of us eating them.

3 ripe bananas (regular bananas)
1 cup of flour, plus half a cup just in case
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar (more if you like a sweeter donut)
Powdered sugar or granulated sugar for dusting
Oil for frying

These are deep fried, so your pot can be small but deep. (I use a small pot and make about 4-5 donuts at a time in it)

1. Heat oil
2. Mash bananas
3. Add the flour, baking powder and half of the sugar. Mix well by hand.
4. Add remaining sugar and mix.

The texture should be like pancake batter. When the oil is hot, use a tablespoon to drop the batter into the oil. The donuts will rise to the top. Flip after 1 to 1.5 minutes to brown evenly. Remove from pan and place on paper towels.
I do not dust with sugar regularly so I have not perfected the timing for this. I am not sure if you should do it while it is still warm or once they have cooled. In theory, if you do it while they are warm the sugar could melt, so cooled would make more sense to me. You could always just keep a bowl of sugar beside the donuts and people can dip. Haha, that is the way I do it when I want extra sugar. I think that they are sweet enough without the extra sprinkle of sugar, though.

If the donuts just don't seem dark enough, by all means flip them again and allow for more browning. This recipe is the closest I can get to writing stuff down. I hope you can figure it out. Comment and I will help if you need it.


I know they look really wonky, but I decided to try putting the batter into a ziplock and using the bag as a pastry bag to drop the batter into the oil. I wouldn't suggest this method as the batter is a bit too thin to do it this way without making a mess. However, using a spoon to drop the batter will make a more round donut. I was happy with the texture of the donut so I didn't care too much about the shape. They still taste yummy even when they aren't round.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Not in my house. We have no decorations, no lights, no festive anything...until now! I wrapped some of the presents that I have purchased. I am not done with shopping at all, but I at least have a nice list of everything I am going to get. That is half of the battle, right?
Anyways, here are the pictures of the presents, which sums up the holiday "decorations" in my home.

Yes We Did

Like me, some of you are part of a generation that is so young there are few things we can claim as our own. We can't say "I remember where I was when that historical event happened". We are members of the generation most believe to be lazy and uncaring of the future, selfish and self absorbed. Most events we know of come from our history books and the stories passed to us from the elders in our lives. Unfortunately for our generation, most of the things we could talk about were tragedies (specifically 9/11).
Today, we have a joyous event to add to our list.
We can now say where we were when we heard the United States of America had elected Barack Obama. Where were you when young voters, and voters period, came out to vote in record numbers? People even lined up for hours to cast their ballot for the leader of their choice. Where were you when the first cheers went up announcing a victory for not the democratic party, not the black community, not the minority community, but a victory for every person who believes that this is their chance for change? I know where I was and I am happy to be able to say that I was apart of American history today.
This is a new age for America. A new time where we come together for the greater good and leave behind old thoughts and feelings. We are going to come out ahead again.
Today, Yes We Did.

Beef stew recipe, Deva style

Mmm...I adore warm beef stew over white rice. There is a restaurant back home, Rambie's, that served a fantastic beef stew. When we went back in July 2007 the only Rambie's to be found was at the Micronesia Mall, and they did not have beef stew on the menu that day. It was a sad day to be sure. I wish I could have had a taste to see if I could dissect what it was exactly that made that particular stew so fantastic. Since I couldn't figure it out, I had to come up with something. I did some internet searches and located a recipe with an unusual ingredient, Lechon Sauce. So, here is the recipe that I can no longer find and has been adjusted to my way of cooking.

Beef Stew
1 package of brisket, trimmed and cubed
2 large potatoes
1 small package of baby carrots or 4 regular carrots peeled and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (I use low sodium)
1 onion, diced
1 can of beef broth
1 can tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. lechon sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef in batches to achieve proper browning to all pieces. Remove from pan and set aside. Saute onions in salt and pepper until translucent, add beef back to pan. Add beef broth, tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Add carrots and simmer for 10 minutes. Add potatoes and remaining ingredients, cook until vegetables are tender.
Serve over white rice.

I have done this recipe in a pressure cooker, adding all the ingredients at once except for the carrots and potatoes. Then, once the beef was tender, added the veggies and cooked through. Needless to say, that reduced the cooking time quite a bit.
You could also use a more tender cut of beef to cut the cooking time.

You can also add chili peppers or use the spicy lechon sauce instead to add a different dimension to the dish.

What? You're knitting again?!?!

Ophelia
Originally uploaded by empress_deva

It is very hard to read a book while reading a knitting pattern. I am struck with the impossible decision of which to do. So, I have put the books down for a couple of weeks (waiting for some to hit the shelves anyway) and have picked up the sticks.
I am working on Ophelia and hope to have my first completed knit since my first scarf. I can be honest - I am not a finisher. I am a starter. I have come quite far with this garment, though. I also love the yarn and the way it is looking, even though I am not too fond of the color.
I am knitting it up with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in color pineapple (yellow). I bought the yarn at Tuesday morning a couple of years ago. I finally ripped open the package when I found the Ophelia pattern.

Total eclipse of the senses?

Somebody please explain the Bonnie Tyler "Total Eclipse of the Heart" video to me, please. Doors slamming open, men dancing around in loin cloths, choir boys with glowing eyes (taking bright eyes a little too literally perhaps?), biker guys clasping fists to their chests while prancing on steps, Bonnie Tyler in a white dress fleeing through long hallways with red curtains blowing in the wind? Okay, maybe I missed something. Always like the song, now I am sorry that I ever saw the video. Was it a horror movie gone wrong?

I'm 27 for a moment...

I turned 27 this week. Happy birthday to me.
I was struck at how old that is. I remember when I used to think that 30 was old and 50 was ancient. Life was going by so slow, time dragging while the world was spinning, waiting for me to take chances, to do fascinating and wonderful things. I couldn't wait for life to grab me and it seems as if it is going past me instead. I try to catch hold of moments, savor and store. Yet I catch myself wondering what I did each day, weeks and months go by faster. I wait for the weekends, rush dinners and phone calls, find myself catching up instead of keeping up with friends. It is the middle of March in 2008, where has the time gone?
I spoke with an old friend yesterday. I realized that I hadn't seen her since middle school. Middle school! Where has the time gone? She is married, I am married. We spoke of things we had been up to in the last 15 years, described our lives. We talked about people we knew back in the day, what everyone else was up to. We counted who had kids (and it seems like everyone does) and who is married, who turned out how we thought they would (nobody did) and who we still wonder about.
Life gets busy, people and places get away from you while you grow up and move on. Today I will try to remember to slow down a bit as life continues, to savor and store so that I can remember these days. The nights I spend talking with my husband, laughing and telling jokes. This quality time we have with just each other...before time slips away yet again.

Listening to: Five for Fighting - 100 years.

I'm fifteen for a moment
Caught in between ten and twenty
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm twenty two for a moment
And she feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
Fifteen there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
Fifteen, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live
I'm thirty three for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm forty five for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
Fifteen there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
Fifteen I'm all right with you
Fifteen, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
Sixty seven is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...
I'm ninety nine for a moment
Dying for just another moment
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
Fifteen there's still time for you
Twenty two I feel her too
Thirty three you’re on your way
Every day's a new day...
Fifteen there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to choose
Hey fifteen, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got a hundred years to live