Ow, ow, ow…I’m sitting here trying to write this little piece on my blackberry foraging experience but this splinter in my right pinkie is not helping. I cannot seem to get it out. Ouch. The experience of being able to forage for berries within an urban setting is such a new one for me. I never grew up plucking berries, we had other fruit in Singapore but most are high on trees and there was never such a prolific harvest.

I still am not sure if the bounty of berries is worth some of these wounds. The logical side of me disagrees with my instinctive gatherer self, I guess.

One thing I noticed while picking the berries was the ripe aroma of the fruit. As I picked, it was as if the summer sunshine was further ripening these lovelies. It was subtle but it had set the wheels turning in my head, about what I should make with them.

Another thing I discovered while foraging is that I am quite a determined person. It is a possible coincidence that it happened to be dinner time and I was running on empty but those thorny branches were not going to keep me away from my dessert possibilities. I used broken sticks to tug at the fruit-laden branches. It was a good trick but most of the time, I found myself just gritting my teeth as I grabbed at the branches with my bare hands. I didn’t care how those thorns would get me, I was focused on the fruit. It made me think about how my ancestors approached this foraging experience. Hunger is a strong impetus that has endured through the centuries.

So today, I present you the result of my blackberry foraging experience – a blackberry-pineapple dump cake.

A very simple way to create a quick dessert of summer fruit. This recipe works well with peaches, blueberries, strawberries, cherries and nectarines. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F. Spray a 13 by 9″ baking pan with nonstick spray. Layer the bottom with a 20oz can of crushed pineapples (juice and all) and 2 cups of blackberries. Then sprinkle yellow cake mix evenly over the fruit. After that, sprinkle 1/2 cup of brown sugar (packed) evenly. Lastly, drizzle 1/2 cup of melted butter over this. Bake for about 45 minutes. Try to get the melted butter drizzle as evenly as possible so that you won’t end up with dry bits of cake mix.

Delicious on its own, with some whipped cream or perhaps vanilla bean ice cream.

One of my favorite surprises in the garden this year is the borage. These prickly herb plants look like weeds as they self-seed and show up as volunteers all over the garden, but when the flowers bloom, it makes all the difference. I don’t know if you can do anything with the prickly leaves but I love putting the blue flowers in iced drinks. They just look really pretty in a lemonade. As you can see, I have some harvesting to do.

Today’s bits:

I wanted to visit Sapa, Vietnam this time when I was home in Singapore but things got busy and I took other trips. I would really like to go, especially since I have a good guide to take me around. In the meantime, I would like to read this beautiful book by Luke Nguyen.

With all the decluttering, I am now setting up a new office space in the house. I am leaning towards these acrylic organizers.

I always like that plain yeast or buttermilk donut. Maybe I should try this recipe out?

It’s been 5 years since I’ve been back to the San Juans, maybe this summer will be a good time to spend some time around those parts. Here’s a good guide from Sunset. [I miss the magazine, I did not renew my subscription when I was away in Singapore, time to renew it, I think!]

We had delicious burgers and fries at Five Guys last week, just before we saw Toy Story 3. What a fun night!

Today’s bits:

I decided on this shower curtain for the new walls in the master bath. It is making the bath look quite masculine. I think I just need some happy yellow daisies in there to make it look like a girl lives here.

Dinner swaps/cooking co-ops – what a creative fun idea to make dinner one night for several families to pick up and then enjoy the delicious dinners for another couple of nights during the week from your swap families. It makes me want to start one.

I am a big Nigella fan and when she loves something, I’m always quick to pay attention. I think she has great taste. She recommends this chic new book by her art director/book designer, called The Geometry of Pasta. I am a believer that any shape pasta can be paired with any sauce but this book tells you what goes with what.

My favorite thing to eat is shokupan しょくぱん (Japanese white bread). I like it plain, or with butter & a sprinkle of sugar, or some kaya (pandan coconut jam) or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 I love her but she is a such a tease!

O, Seattle, why do you do this? All I ask for, once a year, is to have a nice lovely summer. This past weekend felt like winter. Ok, a little spring-like but it was way too cold for almost July! Please, let the sun come out to play, please?

It was a busy weekend here at Scarlett. I cooked up a Thai food storm in the kitchen and got to spend time with my dear friends. I got to show off some of my cooking skills and recipes picked up from cooking school in Thailand. I did make an old favorite recipe – Fried Prawn Cakes – they were popular!

Today, we celebrated Father’s Day with dad and the rest of the gang with some brunch. It was delicious and always fun to get together and share food. There were fish & chips and creamy crab bisque.

Today’s bits:

How have I missed out on Juana Molina before? Take a listen if you like ambient, electronica and good vocals.

Allison Miller can really play those drums, I’m just sayin’.

I have cupcakes on my mind this week – I want some brown liners for these cupcakes that I’m planning to make.

I need more Cray-pas Oil Pastels for my new Taro Gomi book. I just want to color, doodle, scribble and did I mention, color.

[via Willi @ DigginFood] A tomato trellis makes so much more sense than a tomato cage. It’s hard to find a cage that is strong enough for plants with the larger fruit but if the weather in Seattle keeps up this way, I doubt that I will have to worry about it.

You can call this whatever you like but I call it “I’m so glad to be back!”.

As you can tell, I was picking through my seed packets yesterday and sorting through what I might have time to plant in my backyard. Grow, grow, grow, I say!

Have you seen these adorable little frocks Alicia has been sewing for her baby? I love them!

These brick succulent planter idea from Readymade is genius! I think I have the spot just for these.

I’ve been thinking about Alfajores that Matt Armendariz made and didn’t want to get into exploding a can of condensed milk. Dave Lebovitz has good method of making dulce de leche in the oven, minus the can.

How I would love it if someone dedicated this song to me – Yo-Yo Ma & Diana Krall’s You Couldn’t Be Cuter.

I am very curious about this manual Espresso Maker at Matteria.

I picked up a loaf of challah bread the other evening to make Mike a bread pudding since he had a “run-in” with the dentist.

It turned out delicious but what I really wanted to share is what I had for breakfast this morning. I took 2 slices of leftover challah bread, toasted it up and drizzled honey (thank you, J!) all over it. It was heavenly.

Can you feel fall in the air yet? I’m enjoying this cool and crisp weather, stomping on leaves with my new boots, admiring the orange, yellow, reds and browns on the trees, drinking cider, dreaming up stews/soups and lighting candles. Fall doesn’t last for long – get out there and enjoy it while you can.

K really likes dessert so I managed to scrounge together the ingredients of this crumble for her two nights ago. It was very scrummy.

Ingredients:

For pineapple filling (recipe from Shiok!)
4 cans (1lb 4oz) pineapple chunks in natural juice
3 sticks cinnamon
7 cloves
1 star anise, broken into pieces
2/3 cup sugar (you can taste and add more if you like)

For the pastry
360g butter
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
70g icing sugar
4 egg yolks

Preparation for filling:
Drain pineapple chunks and save the juice. Chop the pineapple in a food processor but do not puree it too fine. You want some small chunks. Pour pineapple into non-reactive pot, combine with caster sugar and spices. Cook on medium until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to medium-low and continue stirring until pineapple caramelizes and mixture dries up into a golden amber. I leave it overnight in the fridge if it’s still too moist to handle.

Preparation for pastry:
Sift flour, powdered milk, baking powder, icing sugar and salt together. Rub in cut-up pieces of butter with fingers or use food processor. This is quite a large amount to rub in so if you use your fingers, it will be some work. Try the food processor. When mixture is crumbly, add egg yolks and knead in. When manageable, divide into 2 or 3 discs in plastic wrap. Leave in fridge for an hour or so. If you leave it for longer, the butter will harden so you will just have to let it sit out for a while to soften. That way, you will be able to manage rolling out the dough.

The recipe is from a Singaporean site and I’ve found that the dough can be quite crumbly to manage. It’s all about the humidity and how it affects the flour performance.

It can be frustrating to roll out the pastry but have patience, do it slowly, it will be worth it. I understand now how people would want to make big batches of these.

Assembly:
Roll dough flat, about 1/4″ inch. Use pineapple tart mold or small cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Brush with egg (beat one egg) then top with a tiny scoop of pineapple jam.

Enjoy!

I did bake my Christmas cookies and here is proof:

They were both pretty and scrummy.

I fell ill on Christmas evening and have been down since. I am feeling better and hope that I can ring in the New Year’s without a sniffle. It was a quiet holiday for me and I really needed rest. Maybe my body is trying to tell me that 2008 was way too busy and that I need to slow down in 2009. One can only hope, right?

I tried this recipefrom the NY Times last night and it turned out beautifully. I didn’t take a picture but you will believe me, won’t you? I cheated a little and used a pre-made graham cracker crust but I sprinkled some cinnamon and lime zest on before pre-baking it. I am sure you will be rewarded if you make crust from scratch.

It’s never easy to find a good pumpkin (except for those small sugar pumpkins) to make puree for pie but the flesh of kabocha is tender, smooth and luscious. Once blended with the cream cheese (I used neufchatel), it made a wonderful custard filling for the pie.

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