use real butter

It’s a good thing I stuck to my menu, because it was cold tonight – perfect for hot and sour soup! I also made spring rolls, which I haven’t done in over ten years. I just hate deep frying in general. But these worked out well and I’ve gained a lot more kitchen experience and equipment in the last ten years to make the process relatively painless.

**Jump for more butter**

I had a craving for this Japanese-style ginger salad dressing the other night. I’ve had it in a handful of Japanese restaurants and the stuff is addictive. One of many things I love about the web is that I can access a dozen recipes at the drop of hat and figure out how to make something – like this dressing. It’s actually carrot, ginger, sesame oil, sugar, vinegar, and miso paste. I love it.

Tonight I got a hankering for burnt sugar. I love caramelized sugar and I realized that may also be why I like toasted marshmallows – burnt sugar! Flan is a perfect vehicle for caramelized sugar. I think I also just want to get a lot of practice working with candying sugar because I want to become proficient enough at elevation that I don’t have to worry about bricking it. The cool thing was when I coated the pan – it ended up (unintentionally) with a pretty neat pattern.