The Best Marinade EVER.

If you like things with a hint of sweet, this is your stuff.

Becky's Amazing Marinade
yes, it's really amazing.

1/2 c bbq sauce, any variety
1/2 c water
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp minced garlic (fresh!)
1/4 c soy sauce
1/2 c memmi (this is tempura base, udon soup base, etc)

mix together. Pour over meats or veggies (try with portabellos) and let sit for at least 30 min (30 for pork steaks, 1 hr for chicken, 1 or more hrs for veggies). TOSS ON THE GRILL! Everything it touches is golden!

Pride Parade weekend and birthday fun

Mah birthday was a couple weekends ago. I love cakes with whipped cream and berries, but my lovely allergy tolerance doesn't allow me much dairy. So this is a hybrid dairy-non dairy version. It does, however, HAVE to be dairy for the cake since it is so rich.

Becky's Bday cake

Cake-
2 c all purpose flour, unbleached
1 1/2 c turbinado sugar
2 tsp baking powder (the stuff in the tin, not the box)
1 tsp fine sea salt
8 tbsp melted butter (let it cool for a sec though) - i think thats a whole stick
2 beaten eggs
1 c whole milk
2 tsp plus a smidge vanilla extract (use the good stuff, don't skimp!)


filling-
2 pints strawberries (one pint rinsed, one pint with the green stuff removed and sliced)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tub of light coolwhip

heat the oven to 375, F. Butter 2 - 8" cake pans (yes, really use butter). Cut out a circle of wax paper and stick it in the inside in the bottom. Kind of smoosh it down till it sticks to the butter. Dust everything with flour.

Mix the sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt in a big bowl. Make a little indentation and add the wet ingredients in that spot. Mix all together with a fork or a whisk till the bottom of the bowl is all mixed up. Divide into the 2 pans and bake for about 25 min (set a timer, and then they are done when a toothpick comes out clean). Cool for about 30 min - 10 min in the pan, 20 on a rack.

mix the sliced berries with sugar and half the coolwhip. sandwich it within the cake layers on a nice pretty plate. top with coolwhip and the pretty big berries!




Chinese Broccoli - Gai Lan

This is my fav vegetable in the world. Currently, i could eat this every night, however, i only go to golden foods once a month. Pick fresh, pretty bunches without yellowing.

1 bunch Gai Lan
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 upper thumb joint sized hunk of ginger
6 tbsp veggie stock (i keep a waterbottle of this stuff premixed in the fridge most of the time)
4 tbsp oyster flavor sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
a couple shakes ginger powder.

boil water (about 10 c) with ginger and baking soda. While this is coming to a boil make sauce - bring stock, oyster sauce, vinegar, ginger powder, and sugar to a boil, turn to simmer for 4 min, and then just low to keep warm. When water in the big pot boils, add Gai Lan and boil for about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water, and transfer to a plate. Chop quickly (about 5 slices down each stalk), and top with sauce. TAADAA!