Day Trip to Julian for Oktoberfest and Pie

Growing up in the midwest, I'm used to celebrating the Fall season. The Fall means sweatshirt/hoodie and jeans weather. Football games and tailgating. Leaves turning colors. Picking apples, eating caramel apples and drinking apple cider from the Apple Barn. It seems forever since I've experienced those things.

I was very excited when I read about Julian's Apple Days, however I missed it last weekend. Fortunately this weekend was Oktoberfest in Julian. I left home early and got a good parking spot. It was a long, winding drive to Julian. The downtown area was small, just like the ones back home! The buildings and shops were small and quaint.

After checking out all the shops and side streets, I headed for the Oktoberfest which was located at the parking lot of the bank.

Picnic tables were set up in the parking lot. Oompah music was playing and bratwursts were grilling. The menu was bratwurst with sauerkraut, hotdogs, baked beans, and potato salad. They also had various pie slices and drinks. I didn't check on what beers they had since I don't drink.

I loved all the Fall decorations!

As for the food...it was horrible! But honestly what did I expect. The bratwurst is the kind that is is already cooked and only needs to be warmed through over the grill. I guess I was expecting the Johnsonville kind( that is like a raw Italian sausage). The potato salad was bland, but the potatoes were cooked perfectly. The beans were too firm and tasteless. I'm used to baked beans that melt in my mouth.

At Mom's Pie House, all kinds of yummy goodies sat on the counters. Cookies, breads, jams, and slices of pie.

Apple, apple-cherry, strawberry-rhubarb, boysenberry, and other berry pies that I can't even pronounce.

Flakey or crumb top?

Yummmmmy....

Look at all those pies! I would get fat working there.

Here's my Mom's pie. I picked out an apple-cherry flakey. There were MANY bakeries in Julian but the long line was at Mom's. So that was where I was going to get my pie. The pie was about $14 and I don't know what the size is. It's huge though.

Look at the height.

The pie was good. I loved the sweet and tart taste.

Khao Sung Ga Ya : Purple Rice Custard Dessert

Sometimes I get a craving for sweets and one of my favorite desserts is khao sung ga ya. I always referred to it as 'the purple rice dessert'. It's so delicious. It's baked black glutinous rice with a custard on top. I've been hesitant to buy any from the Asian grocery stores since they don't don't like they are prepared the same way my mom makes hers. (And mom's cooking is the BEST). This is my interpretation of my mom's khao sung ga ya. This was my first time cooking this and I think I may adjust the recipe slightly.

Khao Sung Ga Ya:

For the rice part -

1 cup uncooked black glutinous rice

1 cup uncooked sweet white rice

1/2 can to 1 can of coconut milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 t salt

For the custard topping -

1 can of coconut milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 large pkg Jello brand custard

5 whole eggs

5 egg yolks

The first thing to do is to take the uncooked black rice and place in a pot covered with water and let it boil for 5 minutes then remove from the heat to cool. Once cooled, add the uncooked white rice and stir. Add more water to cover the rice and let the rice soak over night. The next day you will steam the rice mixture just like you would regular glutinous rice. Once the rice is cooked, I remove it to a baking dish (9x13) to cool. In a sauce pan, I heated the coconut milk, sugar, and salt then poured it over the cooked rice. I was worried that my rice would turn out too firm once I baked the dish, that is the reason for the coconut milk. I think in my mom's version, the rice is much sweeter and firmer.


The next step is to prepare the custard topping. In a large pot over medium/low heat, I wisked together the coconut milk, sugar, and custard mix. Then I added the eggs and yolks. You will have to wisk this mixture over medium heat for 20-25 minutes until is reached the desired consistency (until the custard is thick).



Once the custard is ready, it is poured over the rice. The baking dish goes into a water bath and placed in the oven at 350 degrees until the custard browns.

You should let it cool for awhile after taking it out of the oven. I couldn't wait so I cut a piece. It's so good when it's still warm. I just love coconut milk, rice, and custard! In my mom's version, she adds carmelized/fried shallots on top of the custard. I've never liked that so I didn't add it to my recipe.

I decided to blog about this for a few reasons. Being Laotian, I'm always looking on the internet for Lao recipes. I had a hard time finding a recipe for this dessert. Manivan Larprom has a recipe on her blog ( http://thai-dessert-recipe.blogspot.com/2006/09/khao-sung-ga-ya-black-sticky-rice.html ). I love sharing recipes that I grew up eating. This dessert brings back so many fond childhood memories. I always watched my mom cooking it, but I never helped her with it. I'm amazed that mine turned out so good. I covered the leftovers and put it in the fridge. The next day, I heated up individual servings in the microwave for about 40 seconds and it tasted as good as yesterday.

My First Attempt At Khao Tom

One of my favorite sweet snacks my mom used to make as I was growing up is khao tom. It is steamed sweet rice with bananas wrapped in banana leaves. There are many versions of it (some have red beans mixed in with the rice, some have mung bean fillings, and there are savory versions). I've watched my mom make them plenty of times but I have never attempted to make them on my own until now. This recipe is my interpretation of khao tom.

2 1/2 C sweet rice that's been soaked over night
1 can of coconut milk
3 unripe bananas
1/4 C white sugar
pinch of salt
1 package of banana leaves
cooking twine or aluminum foil
Makes 12 bundles

To a large pot, I added the coconut milk,sugar, and salt on medium-low heat. Once it started to thicken up a little bit I added my presoaked, uncooked sweet rice. I stirred it until it got thick and almost looked like porridge. I took the pot off the burner and let the mixture cool down.

Once the rice mixture was cool enough to handle, I started to assemble the khao tom. I sliced the bananas lengthwise into quarters. I placed the cleaned banana leaf down, added a layer of the rice mixture topped with a banana slice, then another layer of the rice mixture.

Then the entire thing is folded up. I somehow forgot to take a picture of this step.

I used aluminum foil, because I didn't have any twine. Both are used to secure the bundles, preventing the banana leaf to become undone while cooking. I steamed all 12 for about 35-40 minutes.



And this is how it turned out. Not bad for my first attempt. It was delicious. I love the flavors of rice with coconut milk, sugar, and banana leaf.

Love Letters

Oh yes, another Valentine's Day has come and gone. What am I left with? Love Letters..Julie's Love Letters that is. They are coconut flavored (egg rolls) cookies/biscuits. They have a crispy texture. They taste sweet, sort of reminds me of a fortune cookie with coconut flavor, but lighter. As a child, my father would buy cookies very similiar to these for me everytime he went to an Asian grocery store. Whenever I want to treat myself or cheer myself up I buy a box of these. In these Love Letters, comes 28 cookies packaged in 2 sealed foil wraps. I can eat all 28 by myself! They come in other flavors, such as strawberry, chocolate cream filling, vanilla, and coffee. I've only had coconut, since that's what I prefer. I've already eaten 6 cookies while composing this post. I had better slow down.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sundays are meant for going to church and having dinner with the family. I love bringing along a dessert to share. Some days I get too busy to fuss over a fancy or time consuming dessert so I whip up easy chocolate chip cookies. My recipe makes a soft center cookie with a crunchy edge. I like it because it's not a flat cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1/2 C butter, at room temperature
1/2 C shortening
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 C flour
1 1/2 C chocolate chips, you can use real or semi-sweet

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, beat both sugars, butter and shortening until fluffy. In a seperate bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar mixture using a wooden spoon. Mix until evenly combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges turn golden. Let cool on sheets.