{Taste Test} Baked Mochi

Happy Monday! We're back from our college road visit road trip. It was rainy and cold but we still loved all of the schools we toured.  Did you miss me? I missed you but tried to keep up with my bloggy buddies on the road.  We missed some excitement at home too --both a bear cub running around our area and an escaped prisoner on the loose!*  

But enough about current events, I'm talking Baked Mochi here today.

What is Moch (pronounced mo-chee)i? According to the package, it's a traditional Japanese food made from short grain sweet rice.  Then it is steamed and pounded to bring out the chewy and nutty flavor.   Sounds interesting! It's also dairy,soy, gluten and wheat free, low fat, vegan and Kosher certified.  I found this package at the grocery store and it was in my fridge for awhile before I finally decided to prepare it.

The directions said to cut the mochi into 1-2 inch squres with sharp knife. It's pretty hard to cut.

Bake them at 450 for about 10 minutes until they puff up and turn golden brown.

Some of the serving suggestions were:

• Your favorite toppings like:
• Whipped cream
• Cream cheese, nuts and honey
• Ice cream  and chocolate sauce

I had chocolate sauce and sprinkles for dipping. The mochi is not very sweet so a sweeter topping/filling heightens the flavor.  They did puff up and were chewy and nutty.  These were raisin and cinnamon flavored but I didn't taste much of either flavor.  They also come in savory flavors like sesame garlic.  As I was writing this post I found their recipe page  and so many other creative ways to make mochi. I might need to go find another one!  Have you ever tried mochi?
*The bear cub was humanely captured and released back into the wild not so close to civilization and the prisoner was captured as well.

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Linking up:
Creative Mondays
Cooking and Crafting with J & J

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Just Buzzin' Off (for a bit)

I'll be taking a little blogging break next week so we can visit colleges with Miss High School. Bee (get it?) back soon!

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An Out of Town Gig

On the road again...sing it Willie!

Mr. Click's band had a 2-gig weekend and one of them was out of town! Whoop whoop, get on the tour bus. Just kidding we drove ourselves.

It was a busier than usual weekend with one gig on Friday night, then SAT's in the morning for Miss High School and off to gig #2 (she stayed with Grandma).

 They put us up at this fancy resort in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

While they were setting up and doing sound check, I got to check out our room.  "Amenities" is my middle name.

We were upgraded to a king room away from where the high school prom was also being held there. #lucky

 This little seating area was so comfy.  I got to relax and read my book for awhile.

I love a good hotel bathroom. I couldn't capture it all in one photo but the shower was ah-mazing.

 I must not get out much because this room number system was new to me.

The theme of the party where they were playing was Western or red, white and blue.  This was our version of that.  Also not the best selfie in a mirror.

 I mean, it's slightly Western, no? #notevenclose

There was a dinner and then the band played a few sets.  They had a lot of people up and dancing from the first song.

You can see the keyboard player got the Western memo. :)

The nice thing about staying where the gig was that I could head back to the room when I was tired. Morning coffee in the room is one of my favorite things.

In PA, at least where I live, the convenience store called WaWa reigns supreme. If you're from other parts of the state you might prefer Sheetz.  We don't have any Sheetz stores around us so when I saw the hotel was right next to a Sheetz I had to go check it out. I was pleasantly surprised and the coffee was pretty good too!
If you got to see the band, what would be your song request??

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{Recipe} Kickin' Corn Chowder - Vegan & Oil Free

This is a quick and easy recipe that uses Trader Joe's Roasted Corn (frozen).   You could use any corn you like but the roasted corn gives it a nice flavor.

Ingredients:

2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 yellow onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

2 bags Trader Joe's Roasted Corn

3-4 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp red chili paste *optional*

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

To make:

Sauté onion in water or broth until translucent.  Add red pepper, potatoes, corn, chili paste, paprika and garlic powder.  Stir and cook on medium heat, adding more water/broth as needed. Cook about 10-15 minutes. Add 3-4 cups of broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until potatoes are softened (about 20 minutes).  Use immersion blender to blend soup to desired consistency.  You can make it smooth or chunky, I like it chunky! Season with salt & pepper. Serve over rice for a hearty meal.

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