Beauty Teas

I try to stay current with new food products, especially functional beverages since my thesis revolves around these drinks. The beverage market is booming....think about it the more water you can sell, the more money a company makes. How cheap is water? It's the cheapest ingredient out there. The bottled water industry purifies or filters water, packages it and sells you a 18oz bottle for $1.00. Let's put this in perspective for you all. There are 128 ounces in one gallon, which means that you are paying $7.00 per gallon of water.
Compared to other food products there is definitely less money going into the Research and Development of beverages. The base formula is a sweetener, flavoring, pH controller (citric acid, sodium citrate), and maybe preservatives. Companies make "unique" products by adding functional ingredients such as tea extracts, supplements (i.e. vitamins, minerals), or stimulants (i.e. caffeine, guarana)

The next boom to hit markets will be beauty teas. Apparently beauty teas are big in Japan, but in the upcoming years we should be seeing them in American markets. In 2007 Coca-Cola and L'Oreal (yes the make-up company) teamed up to make a tea-based beverage called Lumae that will help promote great skin from the "inside out." I find this to be a great play on words. Extensive research must occur for these kinds of claims to be substantiated, so if the company can prove that consuming these ingredients will improve the skin, many kudos to them. But from another standpoint, if two major companies are pooling their resources and spending the money to develop Lumae, they have to know what they are doing and in theory should produce a legit product.

In 2006, Coca-cola and Nestle teamed up to introduce Enviga which has ECGC and is supposed to aid in burning Calories. There has been controversy surrounding this beverage and that this drink is not really as good as it seems.

Cornell's IFT Product Development team developed a beauty tea called TranquiliTea for this year's competition. I am curious to see how they were able to substantiate their claims when companies like Coke are under scrutiny with their carefully worded claims. The article reads that Aloe vera is the key functional ingredient in the product. I've been drinking this Korean Aloe drink (it tastes like grape juice with pieces of aloe) ever since I studied in Korea in 2002 and didn't realize that I was helping my skin become healthier. Maybe it would help if I could read the Korean wording on the bottle.

My little rant about Food Products in America. We travel to other countries and see novel products. A few years later you see them in the American market and think, "That's not novel."

Here are some examples:
*Pretz sticks and now Pringles Stix.

*Mixed Alcoholic Drinks in Cans- Back in 2004 when I was living in Australia it was a commonplace to purchase mixed alcoholic beverages in cans. Yes, I purchased rum and coke premixed in a can. This will soon be common in the American market too.

I guess the positive benefit of the "borrowing" of ideas is that eventually there will be American counterparts to the foods I miss from other countries.

Daring Bakers-May Challenge-Opera Cake

The "Daring Bakers" is an online baking group that sponsors a baking challenge every month. If you're interested in baking and challenging yourself, this is a great group to join. The group is filled with bakers with a range of skills from novices to professional bakers. I'm a newbie to the group and this is my first challenge ever!

May's challenge was to make a "spring" opera cake. Instead of creating a typical chocolate opera cake, the challenge involved having to make it "spring"-like by only using light colors. So as much as I detest white chocolate, I used it for the recipe. My immature view of white chocolate that it's pseudo chocolate that is not doing a good job trying to disguise itself as chocolate.
An opera cake consists of five layers: cake, a simple syrup, buttercream, ganache, and a glaze. This is the first challenge I have participated in and was quite overwhelmed with the challenge. I've consumed an opera cake before, but had never made it.

Here's pictures of my guava opera cake decorated for spring. I was trying to go for a cherry blossom theme to my cake. I made a vanilla simple syrup and added guava paste to the buttercream. The guava taste was quite faint so what I made was really a pink vanilla frosting opera cake.
Also, about the butter cream it was great when I first made it. I stored it in the fridge overnight and then when I tried to whip it back up the next day the emulsion broke a little bit. So for this recipe I'd suggest making and using the buttercream on the same day you're assembling the cake.



Well, I completed my very first challenge. I will be looking to these other Daring Bakers for inspiration: Clumbsy Cookie's Mango Coconut Cake, No Recipes' Fire and Ice Cake, The Feast Within's Cake , and Pretty Tasty Cakes' Apricot Pistachio cake. There are so many creative bakers there that make beautiful cakes! For the next challenge I will work towards creating beautiful pieces too!

One Year Ago~ Stage Restaurant

One year ago, I was bawling my eyes out at a restaurant. I had just returned back home to Hawaii from my Study Abroad in Taiwan and my boyfriend said we were going out to dinner to celebrate my birthday early. (My boyfriend lives in Hawaii so I'd be back in Illinois for my real birthday).
*I apologize in advance for the poor descriptions of the food. I ate there over a year ago and never posted the pictures of the beautifully presented food.*

Dinner began with an amuse-bouche of cheese and a alcoholic chaser. I didn't care for the strong alcoholic flavor but it was presented well.
We started the off ordering two appetizers. Caramelized Diver’s Scallop
with Yuzu Beurre Noisette Emulsion, House Made Croutons,Green Apple, Parsnip Puree and crab with grapefruit (I forgot the name and am not giving it justice).




Mike ordered a duet lamb entree and I ordered a fish dish. My dish came complete with foam and a Misto to spray on a lemon dressing. I think this is the first restaurant in Hawaii that is trying to include the popular molecular gastronomy themed food. Think Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 or Richard on "Top Chef."



For dessert we ordered the Fantasy Chocolate Sampler. Nine different chocolate desserts all on one plate. My favorite was the chocolate crunch bars (which you can get at Alan Wong's). Pastry Chef Mark Okamura used to be the pastry chef at Alan Wong's Restaurant.



I also got a birthday dessert too. And on the dessert plate was a box...a tiny box.

Yup, so that's when it happened, Mike popped the question....and I did not answer him. I just started crying and asking him, "Are you sure?" (yeah, I'm soooo romantic :P). I guess my crying was causing a scene because a nice group on a table next to us sent us two glasses of champagne. Mike had to ask me again because I was crying so much that I forgot to answer him. Well, it's been over a year now and the countdown has begun. In less than 100 days we will be married. I'm super excited and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with such an amazing guy!

Even though the food was just mediocre, the night was definitely one to remember!

Stage Restaurant
Honolulu Design Center
1250 Kapiolani Blvd., 2nd floor
Phone 237-5429

Fish in Illinois??? Spicy Tuna

I've been living in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois (in the middle of nowhere in Central Illinois) for the past three years. One food item that I try to stay away from here is fish. Growing up in Hawaii I never thought twice about how lucky I was to experience a multitude of cuisines. I was also fortunate enough to consume fresh fish all the time. When I first moved here I bought frozen tilapa and was disappointed. Boo, frozen white fish. I haven't consumed fish here since.

I was craving ahi (tuna) and decided to check out the market, and lo and behold I found cryogenically packaged tuna from HILO, HI! I was so excited! I even decided to make spicy tuna. Spicy tuna is a mixture of raw fish, hot sauce, and other flavoring. If done right, it's so yummy! I've never made it before, but kind of guessed the recipe based on what I eat atKurukuru Sushi. I do not have exact amounts but just made it and kept adding ingredients.
Chopped Ahi (tuna)
Slice green onions
Sesame Seeds
Sriracha Sauce
Soy Sauce
Mayonnaise
Sugar


I mixed the spicy tuna and then ate it with hot rice! Oiishi! (delicious!) You can also add tobiko (flying fish eggs) to the mixture but I did not want to press my luck and search for these tiny fish eggs in Champaign.

Urbana's Farmers Market

Every Saturday morning from 7am-12noon there is a Farmer's Market at Lincoln Square in Urbana. It's a 5 minute bus ride away or a 15 minute walk away from my apartment.
The produce is a bit on the pricier side, but most of the produce is organic so the prices are comparable to organic produce found at the supermarket.
I usually catch the bus down there, walk around, stop by Art Mart, the post office, and sometimes Mirabelle for some bread, and then catch the bus or walk home.
The other week I stopped by the market to pick up goat cheese from Prarie Fruits Farms. (This cheese is amazing!) I also bought some beautiful swiss chard and asparagus.
I am not part of the local food movement but I guess this is my part in supporting the local community. As a daughter of a small business owner, I try to support local businesses rather than big chain companies.

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Eating Squirrels???

While studying for my qualifying exam one of my professors told me that I should subscribe to a Food Safety listserv from Kansas State. Every day via email I am sent the headlines about foodborne illness, food recalls, etc. It's kind of interesting and it's a great way to keep up to date on the latest happenings. And sometimes stories like these pop up: Green Foodies going nuts about squirrels" The gist of the story is that in London people are starting to purchase and consume squirrel meat. People are paying about $8.50 a squirrel. From what I gather, these are the same squirrels that we see scampering around the US.


***My Shameless non-food plug: Go David Archuleta! I just watched the Finale. David A.'s "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" was awesome! He better win. After Clay didn't win a few years ago I stopped watching American Idol for a while***

Rainbow Rice Krispies Treats (nah, it's Fruity Pebbles)

Talk about a super potent load of sugar in all in one bite! I decided to venture from the traditional Rice Krispies Treat and make a Fruity Pebble version. While growing up my mom did not buy us sugar-laden cereals (which I am definitely thankful for). But sometimes those bright rainbow colored cereals just scream, "Eat me"
The recipe below is for really crunchy treats. The typical rice krispies treats recipe calls for only 6 cups of cereal and results in the pliable consistency of the commercial "Rice Krispies Treats" bars . I like mine really crunchy so I usually add more cereal to them.




Recipe:
1 10oz bag of marshmallows
3T margarine
8 cups of Fruity Pebbles Cereal

Grease or spray with oil or margarine a 9x13" pan. On low heat, in a large pot, melt the margarine, then add the marshmallows and melt it down into it's a smooth sticky goo. Stir the marshmallows while they are melting. Take the pot of the stove and add the cereal into the mix. Transfer the marshmallow cereal mixture into the pan. Use a piece of wax paper to evenly press the mixture into the pan. Let cool for 20-30 minutes, cut into squares. Wrap each individual square and store in an air tight container.
*You will have to work quickly before the marshmallows start cooling and become stringy and web-like in texture.

Mix in rice krispies to minimize the sweetness of this dessert. Also, you could also put it on a stick and make Fruity Pebble Pops.

Freezer Burn

I have to post about this because it was a pretty traumatic experience for me. Today I got stuck in a -20C walk-in freezer for over twenty minutes.
My IFT product development team was meeting and after five hours of working I wanted to go get a frozen snack to eat. So I walked over to the other building and unlocked the door to the freezers, opened the freezer door, got my snacks, and when I tried to get out of there, I realized that I was stuck and had no way out unless someone found me. Banging on the door or yelling would get me no where since the freezer was located in another locked room (I did yell and hit the door just to make myself feel better).
I have a tendency to panic and have an overactive imagination. Images from the book "Alive" flashed through my head. No I was not stuck for days on a mountain and no I was not thinking cannibalism; I was thinking, "There is a chance that I could die in this freezer." But the rational part of my brain was in control and I quickly thought to look for any emergency switches, phones, etc. Nope, but I did shut off the cold air flow. I did not care if I messed up anyone's experiments, I figured I had at least a good 10 minutes before anyone would find me and I was not going to be able to handle that temperature for very long. After ten minutes went by I found plastic bags to wrap around my running shoes to minimize the cold entering the mesh of my shoes. I'd like to think we all have a little MacGyver in all of us.
I figured that the longest I would be stuck there would be 1 hour tops. Someone from my group would start worrying or a facilities staff would check out the freezers because of the increase in temperature. It's amazing how slowly time passes by when you're just waiting. Then I started to freak out a little bit. "Should I sit or should I stand? If I sit I'll conserve energy, but then I might get frostbite, so I'll stand and wiggle my fingers and toes..." "Should I breathe into my jacket to conserve heat? Hmmm....can't cry, can't cry, need to save water." "Do I hear someone coming, is this my chance to yell and pound the door?"

The feeling of overwhelming helplessness hit me. I lead a pretty great life; I have wonderful family and friends who love and care about me and I enjoy living my life. There is also so much more that I want to do and achieve. With little conviction, I tried to telepathically send a message to my group members. I then started singing my wedding song to myself. Mike sings it to me over the phone sometimes and I guess in times of need it's a comforting song.

Finally, my group realized that I was taking quite a long time and thought, "Oh no, she might be stuck in the freezer." I was saved by Emily and started to cry when she found me. So I am now safe and warm and will never walk into that freezer alone again. I also realized that time and life is precious. I do not think I have ever been this scared in my life. Sure, I can joke about it now, but it's an awful feeling to be trapped and feel helpless.

*These pictures were taken prior to me getting stuck.

Nutter Butter Creme Patties

One of the best things about returning home to Hawaii is indulging in the local delicacies and enjoying my mom's cooking. It's also exciting to be in a house that is FILLED with a lot of food. I am not exaggerating but I swear that our pantry and fridge is stocked so well that a family of four could comfortably survive on that food for over six months....well maybe five months. That's probably why I have enough food in my studio apartment to survive for over a year. And after talking to my sister, she's the same way. Considering the fact that we did not grow up during the Depression or during a natural disaster, we attribute our squirrel-like tendencies to the amazing pantry we grew up with.
I think my appreciation for good food stems from the fact that my mom is an amazing cook and baker! Tack on the participation in 4H, the decision to major in Nutrition, go to culinary school, and then now study Food Science in graduate school. Yes, food is part of my life.
I digressed. Every time I go back home I return back to Champaign, IL with a suitcase full of goodies. It's usually filled with local and Japanese snacks, but this time I brought back Nabisco Nutter Butter Creme Patties. Kraft owns Nabisco and you would think I could purchase these cookies on the mainland, but nope, I haven't found them at Meijer, Walmrt, Schnuck's, or County Market. I grew up eating these filled wafer-like cookies and I always liked them more than the nutter butter sandwich cookies. So for those of your fortunate enough to have the creme patties sold in your neighborhood, lucky you.

Dry Ice , Carbonation, Grapples, and more

This is what some food scientists do at the end of the semester...

Carbonated Fruit....
We had extra dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) yesterday and started playing with it. E. though that it would be neat to carbonate fruit.
Think about biting into a piece of fruit that has the tingly sensation of drinking soda.
I think it's similar to the infusion method that is used to make"Grapples" which are apples infused with grape aromas. I am not quite sure how the Grapples are infused but the website states that "concentrated grape flavor and pure water" is used.
*Off on a tangent, a few of us "foodie" food science students tasted Grapples at one of our "'Top Chef" socials and and decided that the apples are okay. These apples smell delicious-think Bubble Yum Grape Bubble Gum, but we really couldn't taste the grape flavor.

Back to the carbonated fruit, I started scrounging around the lab trying to find other items to subject into dry ice. We tested an apple, pear, and a spinach leaf. We placed the test subjects into a cooler filled with dry ice and let the carbon dioxide diffuse into the fruit. Dry ice sublimates (goes from solid to gas) at room temperature, so as the CO2 gas was formed, it was trapped in the cooler and entered the cells of the fruit and interacts with the water in the cells.
Anyways, I googled it and apparently other people think that carbonating fruit is cool too. Check out this blog with a chocolate carbonated banana recipe.

The team has spending countless hours on our IFT product development work that I think we're starting to become a bit loopy. :) Nah, we were just being typical food science students.

My first rhubarb experience

Call me geeky, but once in a while I go to the store and purchase produce that I have never cooked before and test out a recipe. It's quite silly because sometimes I am not even certain what the item is supposed to taste like. This week, I decided to purchase rhubarb. I've always heard of rhubarb and strawberry pies and that the leaves contain oxalic acid which is poisonous. In my twenty-six years of existence, I have never tasted this magenta celery-like vegetable.
I decided to make a dessert. I'm more of a crumble than a pie fan, so decided upon a rhubarb crumble. Then I started thinking about using puff pastry and rhubarb to make a flaky dessert.

I began by tasting the raw fruit and decided that it must be a cousin to celery. It is just as crispy as celery but has a tartness to it. This got me thinking, "How and why did people start using rhubarb as a pie filling?"
According to Wikipedia rhubarb was used for medicinal purposes in China and then was eaten with sugar in England in the 17th century. Then in the 1820's it introduced on the East Coast and made it's way West. I guess it did not travel to Hawaii yet, because you rarely see rhubarb products in Hawaii.

I ate the rhubarb puffs warm and it was quite tasty. Then I realized that I was pretty much consuming sugar with a little bit of rhubarb.

In conclusion, I am not a fan of rhubarb. It has a beautiful color, but in order to enjoy it, you have to mask it with massive amounts of sugar. But if I'm bored one day I'll cut up some celery and mix it with sugar and bake it in a crumble...

Sometimes you just have to chop your thumb....

Lettuce & Knife:1 Lauren:0

This is a pretty picture of my thumb. Believe me, 5 hours ago it was not a pretty sight. It bled for at least five minutes while I compressed it with a gauze and held my hand above my head. I'd say this was one of the worse beatings I've gone through while cooking. Well, besides the time I cut myself during the timed event of deconstructing a chicken during a culinary school exam (my ego was bruised more than my finger). Yes, my neighbors could probably hear me cussing and I rarely swear.
While nursing my wound and feeling my pulse in my finger, I realized that my blogs lack the scientific finesse that I initially wanted to incorporate into my blogs. I was doe-eyed and ready to conquer the blogging world with my insight and wanted to be the next Harold McGee. So from now on, I'll incorporate more food science into my blogs. I'll write more about why it is wiser to always use a sharp knife rather than a blunt knife, why cakes do not rise, etc.

If you give a mouse a cookie

After making that big ticket purchase of a laptop I started spiraling downhill and am now on a massive shopping spree. I'd liken this event to the book, "If you give a Mouse a Cookie." How can you not start purchasing the extras for your new precious toy? It started with a wireless laser mouse; then I decided to buy a 4GB USB to back up my research. It continued with the purchase of a 3-year accidental warranty from Best Buy (my track record with computers and the fact that lightening can cause power surges is a good reason for this).
I then took a stroll to the Illini Computer Center and purchased Microsoft Office 2007 and then thought, "hmmm....I also need Adobe Photoshop." So I purchased the Adobe Creative Suite 3. Did I really need it? No, but I love Photoshop and plus I now have Illustrator and Acrobat.
My laptop still needs physical protection so I am currently looking for a stylish neoprene case...

Yes, I have become "Lauren Mouse." Cookies are now like crumbs and I am moving on to greener pastures and seeking multiple layered chocolate cakes filled with a decadent ganache.

Top of Waikiki

Yes, I have been cooking, but no I've been caught up with due dates and deadlines that I haven't had a chance to upload pictures and post them.

For now I will review "The Top of Waikiki" restaurant. I went there with my parents and the bf and we were all a bit disappointed. The general consensus was that we would rate the restaurant 3 out of 5 stars.
We ordered a bunch of food and some things were delicious, but overall I don't think I would go back to the restaurant. We started off with appetizers...my mom and i both ordered the lump crab cakes (Morton's is still my number one), Mike ordered the spicy tuna and kona kampachi sashimi with sea asparagus (see picture below). He really liked this appetizer and it was the first time I had eaten sea asparagus which was crunchy and had a slight bite to it.
Mom ordered the grilled roasted garlic rib eye steak with hamakua mushrooms (picture below) , dad ordered some kind of steak, Mike ordered the seafood paella risotto, and I was going to order the hawaiian snapper chinese style with szechuan seafood udon until I realized the fish was going to be in a soup. I ended up ordering two more appetizers in place of an entree. I selected the coconut shrimp with soba and the lobster-crab cake salad (both pictured above). The coconut shrimp was cooked well and was tasty, however the soba salad was warm and overcooked. According to the menu on the website, it looks like the soba is now served cold. Warm overcooked soba is almost like eating paste and was quite disappointing. We wrapped up the night sharing a mango creme brulee and a chocolate "no banana" split. I was not expecting much from the desserts because if the food at a restaurant is mediocre, it is highly unlikely you will encounter a stellar dessert. And I was correct. The creme brulee was yummy but the banana split thing was composed of 6 hard discs that we think were cakes that had been kept in the freezer and defrosted. The concept was innovative, but was not executed to its full potential.
So to reiterate my review, it's okay. It's definitely not on my list of recommendations. For the prices of the dishes, you are betterMUCH happier going to Roy's, Alan Wong's, or Chai's.

Top of Waikiki
2770 Kalakaua Ave
Waikiki Business Plaza, 18th Floor
(808)923-3877