Interview Jon Stewart at the USO

I love Jon Stewart, or as I like to affectionately call him, JStew. And this interview only makes me love him more. Check it out here; you're in for a great read.

Highlights include:
Actually, it's too difficult and unfair of me to just pull one quote out of the air for you. It disrupts the stream of JStew goodness that you get from the article. The whole is much greater than the sum of the parts here, and so I will leave you to enjoy the whole.

Thanks to the Night Owl for sending this to me.

Video: Last Friday Night Team TARDIS

HAPPY FRIDAY! And what better way to celebrate Friday than to watch a montage of Doctor Who set to Katy Perry's T.G.I.F.

Doctor Who may be gone for now, but at least we have this video to remember the good times! Super kudos to the creator of this video (I can't imagine how long it took [1] to identify the episodes with the scenes of interest and [2] to string them together at the right pace and time!!!!!)

Thanks to Batgirl for sending this to me. 

TV: iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed The World

Steve Jobs is just about everywhere these days.

Well, he's not receiving tribute just on the paper side. Mythbusters and Discovery Channel team up to produce a TV special called iGenius: How Steve Jobs Changed The World. 

Here is a trailer. I wish I had cable so I could watch this. 

Video: HP ePrint Commercial

I really love this commercial. Probably more than justified.

News: Kindle Versus Nook

OH NO (S)HE DI-DN'T. (I wasn't exactly sure which gender I should assign to DC comics.)

DC Comics (owner of Batman, Watchment, etc.) recently announced it would provide all its comics to Amazon Kindle's online library, but will not do the same for Barnes & Noble's Nook Bookstore. In a swift act of revenge, Barnes and Noble took all of Marvel's books off of their stores physical bookshelves. Customers may purchase these titles through Barnes & Noble, however they will receive them only via mail and not in-store.

You can read the full article here on CNN.

Food: Banana Muffins with Crumble

Remember that banana party I was talking about earlier? Well, here's part deux!

Below I present the timeline for how this recipe came to be:
Hour 0: Those bananas are looking nasty.
Hour 0.5: Screw studying. I'm gonna look up banana bread recipes.
Hour 1: After much perusing on Cook's Illustrated, I decide upon their The Best Banana Bread recipe.
Hour 3: I invite some friends over for the bananas party. We plan on going bananas in two days.
Hour 4: To make this recipe more sharable, I decide to turn them into cupcakes!
Hour 12: The bananas begin to scare me. They're soft to the touch, and I'm pretty sure we're talking about rebounds-to-the-touch soft. Turns out you can keep your bananas longer if you refrigerate them (even though their skins will turn darker faster). I'm pretty sure this advice is meant for newly bought bananas, but the theory should still work with my close to death bananas, right?
Day 1: Banana cupcakes seem so plain. So unexciting. I remember reading this post from Baking with Em & M and thinking I would crumble everything. Crispier and crunchier is always better in my world. And so I looked for a crumble recipe on Cook's Illustrated--I borrowed one for an apple crisp recipe.
Day 2: It's banana time, baby. 


What's something I learned from this recipe? Even when bananas may be pretty revolting to look at, they may be used to make pretty fantastic banana bread.

Huge thanks to L for taking these with her fancy-pants camera!
(Maybe if I'm lucky and willing, one day I'll invest in one...) 

Banana bread muffins with crumble
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated "The Best Banana Bread" (March 1998) and "Apple Crumble" (January 2007)

Recipe makes approximately 21 muffins 

Ingredients:

For the banana bread batter: 

2 cups of flour

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

3-4 mushed bananas (approximately 1.5 cups)

1/4 cup plain yogurt

2 eggs, beaten lightly

6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla 

For the crumble: 

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

A pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla 

3 tbsp butter, very soft and cut into three pieces

Recipe for the banana bread batter:

[1] In a large bowl, combinbatter flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix together well with a fork. 

[2] In a separate bowl, peel and mush the bananas until relatively smooth and even. Add the yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla to this banana bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon. 

[3] Gently fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. An overly smooth batter will result in a rubbery bread. To avoid this, do not over mix. Adequate mixing can be recognized by the complete disappearance of any dry, white elements. 

Recipe for the crumble: 

[4] In a large bowl, combine the flour, white and brown sugar, and salt. Add the vanilla. Mix with a fork. 

[5] Add in the soft pieces of butter. Using an electric mixer, mix until the butter has broken up into very small pieces. If necessary, use a fork to break up some of the more 'stubborn' pieces of butter, and then return to mixing with the electric mixer. 

To prepare the baking pan:

[6] Line the cupcake pan with cupcake liners. 

[7] Fill each cup approximately 3/4 of the way with banana bread dough. Pour a very generous portion of crumble onto each cupcake. 

[8] Bake cupcakes for 17-18 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Time may be modified in order to ensure that an inserted fork comes out dry upon insertion into the cupcake. 

[9] Let cupcakes cool and serve. Refrigerate for up to four days. 

Music: The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Oh my God, possibly my two favorite stringed instrument musicians are working together on a new album. A new album called The Goat Rodeo Sessions is coming out, with Yo-yo Ma (Cello), Chris Thile (Mandolin), Edgar Meyer (Bass), and Stuart Duncan (Fiddle).

I loveeeee Chris Thile & Yo-yo Ma, but I never expected them to work together! (In fact, they address their very different musical genre backgrounds in the behind the scenes video two below.) This interview with Ma though got me dreaming a little bit. (Try and ignore the glaring misspelling of Thile's last name).



Here's one of their songs, "Attaboy."


And how could I resist not posting a behind-the-scenes, making-of video. Clearly, I couldn't.


Get excited! This album comes out October 25th! These next few weeks are way action-packed. Steve Jobs' bio on the 24th! The Goat Rodeo Sessions on the 25th! Mindy Kaling's new book on November 1st!

What great things I have to get me through the increasingly blustery weather. :)

Food: Banana Nutella Crepes

Sometimes, going bananas can be a good thing. Take for example, banana crepes! Banana bread! A few weeks ago (this post has been sitting on the backburner for a while...), I had a little banana party, where I served up some yumm-ay crepes and muffins.

Does this sound good to you? If yes, read on! If not, it doesn't have to sound good, it can just look good (clever, right? Maybe not.).

Open...

...sesame!
(God, I wish I had a fancier camera. Or maybe better lighting. )

Banana Nutella Crepes (Recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp vegetable oil 

1 cup flour

1 tsp white granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 + 1/2 cup whole milk

3 large eggs

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Nutella

Semi-ripe bananas (personal preference will dictate if your crepe has firmer or softer banana slices).

Recipe:

[0] Wipe oil onto skillet using a paper towel. Set the skillet on low heat for 10 minutes. 

[1] Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. 

[2] Combine milk and eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk until evenly mixed. 

[3] Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl. Whisk until even. 

[4] Add the butter, and the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl. Whisk until even. 

[5] Set the skillet onto medium heat. 

[6] There is a very specific technique to determine the optimal pan temperature for crepes. Place a tablespoonful of batter onto the skillet. After 20 seconds, the side facing the skillet should appear brown. If the crepe is too light or too dark, adjust heat accordingly until this 20 second rule has been met. 

[7] Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto the center of the pan. While counting to twenty, tilt and rotate the pan to create a larger thinner crepe. Using a wooden spatula, flip the crepe over for another twenty seconds. This side should appear with light brown freckles. 

[8] Set crepe onto a cooling rack or a porcelain plate. 

[9] Repeat for remaining batter. Stack crepes on top of each other to cool. 

[10] Spread a liberal amount of Nutella to the crepe's surface. Cover crepe with desired amount of sliced bananas. Micdesired decorated crepe for 15 seconds if so desired. Eat and enjoy! 

Food: Won Tons

This post's tag line: Making Won Tons! It's like origami but for food!

Many weeks ago, M and I worked on a little Won Ton making project! They were super easy to make (once we figured out how to fold them), and the monotony of doing 80 of these was pretty relaxing. I was doubtful at first as to whether or not we'd actually use all 80 wrappers for the Won Tons, but we did! Surprising, right? These can be eaten right after being made, or you can freeze them for the future.

Some lessons I learned throughout this:
[1] There are two types of won ton wrappers. One is yellower, and the other is whiter. I prefer the latter. The former is eggier, and I am less familiar with its use in cuisine.
[2] Before you begin the folding process, I recommend flouring the plates where you will place the finished Won Tons. I didn't do this step, and some of my won tons stuck to the plate. I discovered this as I was Ziploc bagging them into the freezer. Luckily, none of mine tore in the process! Next time I plan on flouring the plate a little bit.
[3] As my fellow blogger Jen likes to say, many hands makes for light work! (I really love this saying, by the way.)

Before we hit the recipe, let's look at some pretty pictures.

Your mise-en-place (post ingredient mixing). Wanna know a secret?

 There are frozen vegetables under the plates to keep the finished won tons cold

 while new ones are being made. 

Many won ton folds later...the final product!

After boiling, this is how they appear.

 I cut one in half so you could see the inside. 

Normally I choose to make soup.
This time though, I wanted to try a sauce. Turned out pretty well!

Pork Won Tons
Adapted from The Wei Chuan Cookbook: Chinese Rice and Noodles
Makes 80 Won Tons

Ingredients:

1 lb ground pork, lean

1 + 1.2 tsp salt

1 + 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 + 1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp cooking wine

1 tbsp to 1 + 1/2 tbsp  sesame oil (you add more oil for leaner pork)

2 eggs, beaten

80 won ton skins (Shanghai style)

Recipe: 

[1] Combine all ingredients and mix well.

[2] Place a small amount of meat mixture 

[3] Fold as indicated in the pictures below

For Won Ton Soup,

[4] Boil won tons in water. Stir lightly initially to prevent won tons from sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

[5] Set aside, and cool.

[6] Add to your favorite bowl of chicken soup and noodles! 

For Schezuan Won Tons,

[4] Boil won tons in water until they are floating. Stir lightly when won tons are first placed in the pot to prevent their sticking to the bottom of the bottom. 

[5] Remove won tons from pot and let cool/dry a little.

[6] Prepare the sauce using the following: 

6 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp ground garlic

2 tbsp green onion, minced

[7] Add desired amount of sauce to won tons. Toss lightly. Serve.

Tips on folding Won Tons: 

[Figure 1] Place meat in the center of the won ton. Place water in the yellow shaded areas. Fold along green line. 

[Figure 2] Fold along green line towards you. 

[Figure 3] Fold the left and right edges away from you. Look to Figure 4 for reference on how it should appear afterwards. 

[Figure 4] Place water on the surfaces indicated in yellow. The solid yellow area indicates the side visible to you. The spotted yellow area indicates the side that is not directly visible in the picture. The pink lines represent what were the green lines in Figure 3. 

Figure 5. The final product. I have outlined the wonton's edges in blue to aid in your visualization .