All I Want for Christmas

After searching the entire island of Hawaii and Internets of Amazon.com for 2 months we have finally bought an acceptable computer desk.

I was stoked. I would finally get to blog. I only have photoshop for my raw photos on my desktop.

But no! The table is unfinished and has to be stained. Jake says it will take a week. He could tell I was disappointed and got started on making it right away.

I couldn’t take it. So I am sitting on the floor with the keyboard, sweating after dragging all of my desktop computer parts out of the extra room where 20 unpacked boxes still sit. The computer is covered with furry dust and is screaming at me to update five billion virus scanners and security updates and also wants to reformat my camera card.

I don’t care. I am blogging. And we finally have curtains. I am happy.

I got an early Christmas present when Dianne Jacob came to give a workshop on food writing.

I don’t recommend moving and trying to organize a workshop at the same time, just FYI, but it was totally worth it in the end. About 5 bazillion people had to help me out, a lot, to make it happen, and I owe them so many favors that I will be repaying in baked goods for the rest of time.

Dianne was even better in real life, which is really hard to believe, I know, because I already liked her so much. She was warm and funny and really has such great taste, as she loved my Lantern Ilima lei. It matched perfectly.

We picked her up at the airport before the workshop and ran into Chinatown to get some food. She bought my friend and I each two char-siu buns (which are ten thousand times better in Chinatown than 7-11) and we got a couple of smoothies to go.

At the workshop she prompted our creativity with writing exercises, examined a favorite post, told us the hard truth about cookbook writing, and we shared our frustrations with blogging.

I think the advice that stuck with me the most, weeks later, has been: “Have an opinion. it’s so much more interesting.”

She has lots of opinions and she conveys them in a smart and funny way. It’s possible to be positive without being gushy, I’ve decided. I was really trying to learn from that. I’ve been fired up again to write more and write well.

Dianne bought me lunch nearby. We ate some garlicky ong choi and some stir fried mochi (only in Hawaii!). Dianne said that the mochi had great char from the wok. She told me the technical term but I can’t remember. My internet research led me to Wok Hei.. That smokiness was the smooth edge between burnt and savory. It made me want to go to Chinatown every day.

Catherine Toth met us for the last five minutes of lunch and gave us cake pops. I unfortunately had to share with my kids. I have no idea why I didn’t take a picture of how cute she is and how cute her cake pops were. Shame on me.

After the workshop we went to eat again with the ladies and gentleman from Les Dames I drove Dianne to the airport again, and raced home with a head full of food writing. I have too many New Year’s resolutions that have nothing to do with dieting.

I have been making way too many of these.

In between batches there are neighborhood kids trying to “Catch That Chicken!” whilst scrambling underneath our house.

Then there’s the Jackson chameleon in our car port. He must’ve been looking for his relatives.

We are alive, eating, and Hawaii-living.

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?

Island Style Filled Chocolate Bon Bons

Lilikoi Filling

• 1/2 Cup lilikoi puree
• 1/4 Cup white chocolate chips
• 5 marshmallows
• 1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Heat the lilikoi puree, white chocolate, marshmallows, and powdered sugar in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring after each. Once it is completely melted, whisk in the powdered sugar. It should be very thick soup. Let cool for 5 minutes and then put in the fridge until you need it. If it is too liquid you can add more powdered sugar. I put in even more lilkoi puree to one batch for extra punch.

Christmas Style Filled Chocolate Bon Bons

Eggnog Filling

• 3 Tbsp eggnog
• 1/4 Cup white chocolate chips
• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Heat the eggnog and white chocolate chips in the microwave for 20 seconds, stir, and return to the microwave for 10 more seconds if needed. Whisk in the cream cheese and powdered sugar and beat until thick. Put in the fridge until needed. Add more eggog for stronger flavor (but you’ll need a little more powdered sugar).

Peanut Butter Bonbons

• 1/2 Cup chocolate chips, melted
• 1 Cup natural style peanut butter
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar

Combine the melted chocolate, peanut butter, and cream cheese in a stand mixer (with the regular paddle). Beat it together for 30 seconds, scraping the sides twice. Add the powdered sugar and mix again until it is crumbly but can be rolled together in your hands.

Making Bonbons

You’ll need some plastic molds that are dome shaped. I had success with many different domes. Milk chocolate is the hardest to unmold because it is so soft. Darker chocolate and even white chocolate for some reason is easier.

For the chocolate, it does work with chocolate chips but I recommend going with something a little better. I used Trader Joe’s huge dark chocolate bar (well, just a part of it) with good success.

Get a glass bowl with a lip and place it over a sauce pan that has an inch or so of water in the bottom. The bowl should not be touching the water (this is a double boiler). Heat this over medium heat until the water is simmering. Place about 1 Cup chocolate pieces in the bowl, and stir with a silicone spatula until melted and very shiny. If you have a candy thermometer heat the chocolate until about 110 degrees. To tell the truth, I don’t use mine usually. I heat it until it’s pretty hot when I stick my finger in it, but I can still barely stand it.

(Don’t you love my instructions?)

Then remove the chocolate from the heat, throw about 1/3 cup more of chocolate pieces in there, and stir it around until the chocolate is all melted.

Immediately put a little dollop of chocolate into a few of the molds (work with only a few at a time as to not let the chocolate cool down too quickly) and then start brushing it (yes! with a paintbrush!) in the inside of the mold. You don’t want the light to show through the chocolate. You may have to do two coats with a cooling in the refrigerator session in between.

Once you’ve painted the inside of the molds (up to the top! But not over the edge.) place them in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

When the chocolate is hardened in the molds then add the filling. Fill just under the top level so you have room to drop a little more melted chocolate over the filling. You will probably need to reheat the chocolate to hot again over the double boiler before doing this. If the chocolate is too cool with this last step, the chocolate will not harden properly and will feel too soft.

Put the chocolate molds back in the fridge and wait until they harden. Then pop out the chocolates. Usually I have to kind of tap and press a little on the molds to pop them out. The milk chocolates were the hardest—I ended up freezing them for a little while to get them out.

Clean your molds between batches. Do NOT put them in the dishwasher even though you just got a new dishwasher and you think it’s a miracle. Lesson learned.

Now, what do you do if you have some leftover chocolate?

Why, I can think of at least one thing.

In with the New

Obviously it's not yet January 1st, but we're getting started with The New a little early around here.

Maybe you'll forgive me for my long silence when you hear we've been moving into a new house.

My new favorite things?

A double oven.

And a dishwasher.

And some new kitchen towels.

Mozely's favorite thing is pulling the towels off the handles. Funnest. Game. Ever.

Yessssss. It's all about the new kitchen.

How I lived this long without a dishwasher, I'll never know. I mean, I know plenty of people throughout the history of time have lived without a dishwasher, but now that my husband and I won't have to be passive aggressive about who should be doing the dishes next, my life is way better.

My entire existence has been so difficult lately that I'm ready for some relief. Between remodeling, babysitting, working, being sick 3 times, and everything else, I'd say that I wouldn't immediately recommend packing up all of your crap on top of that. And my, what a lot of crap one has when you start actually examining how many boxes it takes up.

I'm not even going to tell you how many boxes it took to pack up my cookbooks. Eek. And my kitchen. Double eek.

In between all of the madness, I got the sweetest package in the mail from one of my readers and now e-mail buddies.

These pictures do not do them justice. I received them and packed them right before we moved, and then couldn't find them. I couldn't find the lens I like (packed away), and then I couldn't edit the pictures in photoshop (desktop packed away). Uh, did I mention we moved in 2 weeks ago and I still haven't even started unpacking anything except the kitchen?

Anyway, I love these towels. They are huge, which is so important for kitchen towels, plus they are cotton and they absorb liquid so well. And they are crazy cute. Shar draws these herself and has them printed. I'm afraid to use them too much because all of my towels are nasty stained, but she promises that they wash so easily even if you do wipe up chocolate off of kids faces or try to clean your oven. Ok, so maybe don't clean your oven with it. She is so reliable and does things right when she says she will so if you want to order some of these from her she will send them to you. If you are in Hawaii or coming to Hawaii she will be selling at the upcoming craft fairs:

Aliiolani Elementary, Saturday Dec. 3rd

Okinawan Center at Waipio, Dec. 7th

Moanalua High School, Dec. 10th

Her too-cute towels were recently featured in the Advertiser as one of the "Things We Love" feature they run on Fridays. I couldn't agree more.

I'll be back to posting regularly and I'm excited to be re-energized with writing and blogging because

DIANNE JACOB IS COMING TO TOWN!

Seriously, it is like all kinds of Christmas around here. This is so much more exciting to me than Santa. I told my husband I don't even need any Christmas presents.

(except a kindle. because we have way too many freaking books. I know you agree with me. just give in already. maybe we need 2. oh, and then, naturally, we'll need to buy some ebooks.)

If you are still wanting to sign up, we have limited spots available, plus we made a few changes and were able to drop the price to $75. I'm also excited about the group that is coming. I think the socializing at lunch might be my favorite part.

Come back around on Tuesday. I've got a Lilikoi Bar recipe for you.

Just to keep up our Christmas cheer.

Thanks to Foodiacs, Down to Earth and Mama T, Harvard Common Press, and Mutual Publishing for providing food and giveaways at our upcoming workshop!

Halloween is about Yes.

Yes.

Yes, I did make popsicles with Pop Rocks. Lemonade base.

Awesome. And crackly.

Yes, I did buy $30 shoes for my daughter for Halloween.

I looked around and even the low tops were $30.

Fantastic.

Yes, I did buy makeup just so I could wear it on Halloween because I don’t own makeup.

And Yes, I did look like a $2 you-know-what because I don’t know how to put on makeup.

Cool.

Yes, I did make Candy Bar Cookies.

No. No picture.

Yes. I ate them all. I had a little help.

Scrumpdidlyumptious.

 

How was your Halloween?

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

I have a problem with pumpkin. Call me an addict. When the season comes around I want to bake pumpkin non-stop. Poor husband isn’t as in love with the sweet, wet squash as me. No matter. More for me.

I made two pumpkin cakes in two days. The first one was a bust (I still ate it), and the second was sweet victory. I was inspired by the infamous pumpkin crunch cake that is floating around the internet, which has very little pumpkin flavor and HORROR of horrors, is made entirely with boxed cake mix and is essentially a dump cake. I know, it’s tasty, but this just blows all of those others out of the water.

I think this cake needs no other explanation than the sum of its parts:

Pumpkin cake layers (thanks to David Leite for his perfect pumpkin cake)

Pumpkin pie layers

Cream cheese frosting layers

Crunch in the frosting

Amaya said, “Thank you for making this cake! You make the best food Mommy.”

Dang it. She tricked me into giving her another piece.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake (click to print)

If you don’t know David Leite’s website, Leite’s Culinaria, you’re in for a treat. Tested, awesome recipes, and David’s writing make a great website. This was the best pumpkin cake recipe I’ve made as most pumpkin cakes are dense, soft, and not suited for layering, however tasty. This one was perfectly pumpkin-y without being too soft.

This is a really long recipe. So worth it. Husband approved, and he only got one bite because he’s off sugar until Halloween.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees

Prepare two 8” round cake pans. Place cut circles of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan and butter the bottom and edges.

Pumpkin Pie Layers:

• 1 Cup and 2 Tbsp canned pumpkin
• 1 Cup canned table cream (found in Latin food aisles or supermarkets)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 Cup sugar
• 1/3 Cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spices

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients and divide equally between the two cake pans. Cook for 15 minutes in the oven. While it’s cooking prepare the pumpkin cake layers.

Go to David's web site to get the cake recipe:

David Leite’s Pumpkin Cake Make just the batter.

I did not put in all of the spices. Just the cinnamon and just a pinch of black pepper. I'm sure it's good with all of it though.

1. Remove the pumpkin pie layers from the oven. Turn the heat down to 350 degrees.

2. Spoon the cake batter over the pumpkin pie layers, evenly and gently. You don't want to mix the layers. Smooth it out with the back of a spatula and firmly hit the pan on the counter a few times to remove the air bubbles.

3. Return the cakes to the oven and bake for about 37-45 minutes. Check the cakes with a toothpick or sharp knife after 35 minutes and remove when just done. The toothpick, when removed from the cake, should have just a few crumbs clinging to it. If it comes out with raw batter, cook for longer. This part really depends on your oven. If your oven cooks unevenly, probably rotate the cakes a couple of times during cooking.

While the cakes are cooking, make the cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 12 oz cream cheese, softened slightly (1 and a half boxes of cream cheese)
• 8 Tbsp butter, still cool, but not cold
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 2 Cups powdered sugar

1. In a food processor/cuisinart fitted with the blade, process the cream cheese, butter, and sour cream until uniform and whipped. Add the powdered sugar and process until completely mixed, about 20 seconds. You will have to scrape down the sides a couple of times. Put it in the fridge until ready to use.

When you remove the cakes from the oven, turn on the broiler and prepare the crunch. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes from their pans. Run a knife around the edge of the cakes and invert to remove. Let cool completely.

Crunch for pumpkin cake

• 1 cup yellow box cake mix
• 8 tbsp butter, divided
• ½ Cup walnuts, chopped into small pieces
• ½ Cup brown sugar

1. Sprinkle the nuts and cake mix over a quarter of a baking sheet. Don’t worry about being exact, but the cake mix should be in an even layer. Break up the largest pieces of cake mix, but little pieces are fine.

2. Drizzle four tablespoons of butter over the cake mix. It’s ok if it isn’t completely wet, just try to sprinkle it over as evenly as possible.

3.In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar and remaining butter. Spread this evenly over another unused portion of the baking sheet in a thin layer—about 1/8”.

4. Broil for 3-5 minutes, pulling it out when the brown sugar layer is bubbly and glossy and the cake part looks still yellow but just barely getting browned on the edges. You have to watch this very closely and it depends on the heat of your broiler.

5. Let the crunch cool completely. Then use a metal spatula and remove the brown sugar layer to a cutting board and chop it up. Mix the pieces in a bow with the cake crunch part and set aside for assembly.

Assemble the cake.

1. Place the first cake on a serving platter with the pumpkin side up. Put about 1 cup of frosting on the cake and spread over the top of the cake. Layer the second cake on top of that with the pumpkin pie layer on top, again.

2. Spread another cup or more of frosting on the sides and top of the cake in a thin layer to seal in the crumbs. Put the cake in the fridge for an hour or two to let seal.

3. Remove the cake from the fridge and put another layer of frosting on the whole cake—use as much of the rest as you like—I didn’t quite use all of the frosting.

4. Sprinkle the crunch all over the cake, also on the sides. Serve. Serves a lot, or just you. I won't tell.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles

I have a confession to make.

I eat breakfast in the car.

Sometimes I drink a smoothie, but often enough I’m holding a bowl of something and trying to drive at the same time.

This is all while I’m racing to get Amaya to school on time (we’re on time at least twice a week) because getting ready in the morning is like the movie Groundhog Day. We start the same way every day and I can’t figure out how to do it right.

Now, if I have to eat breakfast in the car, wouldn’t it be nice to have something that didn’t require two hands? And included all my favorite breakfast foods?

Granola, yogurt, honey.

Now we’re talking.

I really only love plain yogurt, and I love Greek yogurt, except for that yoplait one because that stuff is made thick with GELATIN instead. What’s up with that?

Chobani has tons of protein and active cultures. The plain yogurt has a tartness that I can’t deny and when I taste flavored yogurts I find myself wondering if it’s really yogurt. I like it when I open up a package of Greek yogurt and I can see that thick cream. Yum.

I’d love to eat this in the car on the way to work. Popsicles for breakfast are awesome.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles (makes 3 Zoku popsicles)

• 1/3 Cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• 2/3 Cup milk
• 1/2 Cup granola
• 2 tsp honey or to taste
• extra honey for drizzling—optional

1. Stir together the yogurt, milk and honey. Pour a teaspoon of granola into the bottom of each popsicle mold. Place the popsicle stick in the mold.
2. Pour some of the liquid over the granola and when it reaches half way up the mold, add more granola (1-2 Tbsp per mold) and then fill it up with the liquid. Sprinkle the rest of the granola on top.
3. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove and drizzle with honey if desired. Serve.

For fun I also tried some non-Zoku ones, and the granola of course got soggy, but it was nice, like oatmeal. (I know, you’re thinking, Frozen Oatmeal? but it was chewy and good. I like the berries as well. This one was a better serving size for breakfast.

Let’s face it, I eat a big breakfast.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles, Non-Zoku version (serves one)

• 1/4 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• 5 Tablespoons milk
• 1-2 tsp honey
• 1/4 Cup granola
• 2 Tbsp mixed berries (can be frozen)

1. Combine the yogurt, milk and honey in a small bowl. In a pint glass jar, layer the granola, liquid and berries. Place the popsicle stick and freeze for a few hours until firm.
2. To serve, run the outside of the jar under warm water for 10 seconds. Pull out the popsicle and eat.

 

Chobani yogurt is perfect for cooking and baking and freezing. I like greek yogurt much better than sour cream, even! I looked over the recipes for Chobani kitchen and found a Thai curry I want to try (which would be a REALLY great way to save some fat on coconut curry). You should check it out.

Do you use yogurt in your cooking? How?

This post is sponsored by Chobani. All opinions and content (except links) are my own.

Red Curry Noodles

This recipe is crazy easy and delicious.

Just make sure you make enough, or your munchkin will finish it off for you.

Even if she just lost a tooth.

(in fact, this recipe is probably good for people with a loose tooth.)

Sometimes I do long for an evening with the rain hitting softly against the closed windows, and a sweater. We don’t get those in Hawaii too often (rainy evenings I mean. I suppose there are sweaters for rooms with too-much air conditioning.). I can’t remember the last time I was inside my house with the windows closed.

This bowl reminds me of the comfort in a warm dinner.

Make it your dinner. Adjust the flavors. Don’t be afraid of tasting and testing. I had to try a couple of times to get it right, but I think I’ve hit the right combination of ingredients that will make this a success at your house. The first time I made it I used yellow curry paste, but I think the red is better.

Use whatever vegetables you have. This could be great with snow peas, carrots, mung bean sprouts… Add some cilantro if you are so inclined. Chicken if you’d like an omnivore option.

Try some different types of noodles. I know this would be delicious with rice noodles. I think thicker is better.The first time I made it I used regular ramen noodles, but they just were too soggy. Chinese noodles with egg as an ingredient just stood up better to the curry, and were a little thicker. The noodles clung to the sauce so well. I love that velvety soup. I could drink it.

I did.

Here’s my fake instagram picture. ‘Cause I’m jealous of those ihappy people.

Red Curry Noodles (serves 2-4) print this recipe!

I used a fairly mild red curry paste. I used more than 2Tbsp of the paste and just had a hint of spice. I’ve had very spicy pastes as well. If you don’t know the strength of your curry, start with less than 1 Tbsp and work your way up. Or make your own. Then you’ll know how spicy it will be.

• 1/3 Cup coconut cream (can be scraped from the top of an unshaken can of coconut milk)
• About 2 T Red Curry Paste (I used Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste)
• 1/2 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 1/2 Cups broccoli, cut into pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 Tbsp, or more, fish sauce (if you don’t like the taste of fish sauce, use less. I like that little bit of funk, myself)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 Cup water
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• salt to taste
• 1/2 Cup tofu, cubed (optional)
• Sriracha sauce, optional
• 2 packages dried Chinese noodles (16 oz each package) or other kind of noodle

1. Heat up 2-3 quarts of water in a large saucepan for the noodles.

2. Heat 1/3 Cup coconut cream in a fry pan over medium heat. When the cream starts bubbling and glistening, add the curry paste. Stir it with a wooden spoon until mixed well.

3. Toss in onion, bell pepper and sauté until softened and just slightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, fish sauce, coconut milk and water. Stir. Add brown sugar and broccoli and bring up to a simmer. Cover but stir occasionally as it cooks.

4. While the curry cooks, cook noodles in boiling water until al-dente and drain. Run cold water over them.

5. Add water to make it the right consistency (should be more like soup) and adjust the seasonings, adding more salt or fish sauce or brown sugar if needed. Add the tofu, if using, in the last couple minutes of cooking. Stir it in gently. If you want it to be spicier, add sriracha sauce to taste and stir.

6. As soon as the broccoli is cooked through, take it off the stove. Serve the noodles in a bowl and ladle the curry over the top of the noodles. Serve immediately.

Crepes are Especially for You

Last week Amaya woke up in the middle of the night, drooling and crying. When she opened her mouth, we saw that she had a white, swollen tongue.

The next three days were awful. Awful. Awful.

We took her to the hour-away doctor on day one, where she was diagnosed as having some sort of mouth fungus (unusual in kids her age) and we were supposed to pick up a prescription that afternoon at our local pharmacy.

Oops. It wasn’t there. I called, the office was already closed. I called 4 times the next day about it, then again the next. In the mean time, Amaya was completely miserable.

Every time she put a bite of food in her mouth, she would immediately spit it out.

“It doesn’t taste goooood,” she cried.

She didn’t like water, ice cream, popsicles, nachos (her favorite food) or anything at all. She sobbed in despair, hungry and feeling punished.

This was so hard to watch for us. We tried buying her anything she liked, and even demanded her to eat because we worried she would dehydrate. She took a few, miserable bites.

On the third day I tried to give her oatmeal. She was so happy about oatmeal. She ate three huge bowls of it. Later the next day it seemed she was getting better.

First thing we did was buy fruity cheerios, which are basically fruit loops for guilt-ridden parents.

We immediately started giving her treats of all kinds. We took her out to eat, she got to choose, and she was so happy about eating. She has been saying for a week now: “I’m so glad I can eat again!”

I made her crepes for breakfast. With chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and raspberries. Basically, dessert.

I’ve never seen crepes make anyone so happy.

There are a million crepe recipes out there, and they’re pretty similar. My dad has one that’s really thick, which may be like the secret crepe recipe.

But I’ll tell you a couple of things to take your crepe to the next level.

Grate some lime or lemon zest in to the sugar for the batter and rub it around in there with your fingers. It is fantastic. The cooked crepe has just a hint of that sweet zest.

If you have a 12 inch saute pan, Use just under a 1/3 cup of batter for each crepe. The batter should swirl around once and that’s about it. I tilt the pan as I’m pouring in the batter.

Your heat should be at medium. I really recommend this cook’s illustrated recommended pan for your non-stick cooking: The T-fal professional total non-stick 12.5” pan. It’s inexpensive and I’ve had it for a year now and it’s still going strong. Pretty much everyone agrees though that non-stick pans don’t last very long, unfortunately.

Flip the crepe when the edges are just barely turning brown. It will be dry enough for you to flip it over with a little help from a chopstick or spatula. If you have to slide the spatula underneath the crepe to lift it up, either you pan isn’t non-stick enough, or it’s not finished cooking enough. Food should lift easily away if it is finished cooking. I’ve used my cast iron skillet for this too, and it works. It’s just too heavy to swirl around.

Chocolate Sauce for Crepes

When I was growing up this is the only way we ate crepes. With chocolate sauce. I never questioned it. I also have to recommend eating your crepes with your hands. My parents always got mad at me for it, but you know what? It tastes so much better without a fork in the way.

• 1 1/2 Cups Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup milk

1. Put the chocolate and milk into a microwave safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat for another 30 seconds, stir. If the chocolate is not completely melted at this point, heat for another 10-seconds and stir again.
2. If the sauce is not loose enough for you, you can add a tablespoon more of milk and stir, but wait until the milk isn’t so cold and the chocolate isn’t so hot. Otherwise it will seize up and get grainy.

Serve with crepes (pour chocolate down the center and roll it up), bananas, strawberries… Anything. After an afternoon in the fridge the leftover sauce has a fudge-like texture that you can’t help dipping into with a spoon. Straight.