CantaloupeAlone

The Old Kiln Scallion Pancake or 蔥油餅 (cong1you2bing3) My expectations are usually pretty high, especially if my boyfriend (a Taipei local of 30 years and a chef) point out food to me. I bike to Yonghe 6 days a week for week, and it seems that every day I pass a "well-known" scallion pancake stand in Gongguan, next to the 福和橋 Fuhe Bridge called Old Kiln Scallion Pancake 舊漫窯烤蔥油餅. Biking makes me snacky, and scallion pancake is a great snack. Menu The kiln. What is it for exactly? Condiments: chili sauce, white pepper, and soy The Old Kiln Scallion Pancake 舊漫窯烤蔥油餅 is not good. I was served a tepid, greasy fried scallion pancake. I ordered my pancake with an egg, which in my past experience has meant a fried egg. At Old Kiln Scallion Pancake 舊漫窯烤蔥油餅 cool scrambled eggs are spooned inside the pancake. A time-saving trick that seems invalidated by a poor menu. So, did I go on the wrong day? Was going at 11:30 am the wrong time? Did they pawn out the day-old pan...

Graham cracker squares You may be thinking to yourself, "Why isn't Naomi / Cantaloupe Alone posting more recipes." Well fair reader I am recently acutely aware of what I am eating (read post Christmas cookie detoxing still ) and its pretty boring. Lentils, black beans, and chickpeas and the vegetables is about it. This week I needed a break from my high fiber, carb -light kitchen. I needed a light snack. Crispy and a little sweet, not a full on cookie, but you know something. Graham crackers are also the base of about a hundred and one other delicious snacks too which could include: nutella and banana, a bit of apricot jam and sharp cheese, apples and more peanut butter, cream cheese and a sprinkle of something sweet. Can you imagine being the proud baker who shows up to a camping trip with homemade graham crackers for s'mores ! You may not ever live that one down. These graham crackers are pretty good. I looked around and found this recipe from Serious Eats, ...

Onions and yeast, ah the smell of it makes me drooly Onions and wheat never go out of season (really just have a long shelf life) nor do they go out of style. In the dead of winter a hot loaf of bread is a breath of fresh air. Focaccia is a non-baker's friend. Its just pizza dough with extra oil. You don't have to knead if you have a food processor, and I suggest having a food processor. The other nice thing about this recipe is that the dough gets better the longer you let it sit in the fridge. Which means you can make mulitple batches of the dough in advance and bake it up in a snap without much effort. Its alittle richer than your average pizza dough recipe, but don't let that stop you from making pizzas with it. Onion Focaccia 5 cups flour .25 oz (or 2.5 tsp) active dry yeast 2 tsp sea salt 1 tsp honey 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup oil 1 3/4 cup warm water 4 onions 1 tsp olive oil, more for drizzeling red pepper flakes to taste 1 tsp apple cide...