Black and White and everything inbetween

Like little yin-yang chocolate treats, these peanut butter crackers are made even more special when coated in two types of chocolate. Feel free to change it up any way you like, instead of peanut butter, use Nutella, or even both. Don't like white chocolate? Melt up some dark chocolate and sprinkle with a dash of sea salt for a sweet and salty treat.Ritz Cracker Sandwiches

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers (I used whole wheat Ritz because that's what I had on hand)
Creamy Peanut Butter
White and Semi-Sweet Chocolate to coat

Taking about a 1/2 tablespoon of peanut butter, spread it on a cracker and top with another. Continue until the entire sleeve of Ritz crackers is gone (minus the ones being munched on in the process of creating peanut butter cracker sandwiches).

Line a pan with foil or parchment paper. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl on top of a pan with about an inch of simmering water. Dip one half of the sandwich in the white chocolate, set on the pan to set in the fridge for about 10 minutes. When the chocolate is set again, take them out and repeat with semi-sweet chocolate for the other uncoated half of the cracker sandwich. Place in the fridge again to finish setting (or if you're impatient like me, 5 minutes in the freezer should do the trick. ^_^)It should make about 16 sandwiches.... depending on how many Ritz you eat before they get peanut butter sandwiched between them... or if they've survived this ordeal... how many you eat before they get smothered in chocolate...

Chong Yao Beng 葱油饼 (Chinese Green Onion Pancakes)

Every so often, I feel homesick and start craving everything I don't usually eat. Even bao (chinese buns) of all types begin to sound appealing. There's something about making my own chinese food from scratch with a deficiency of proper ingredients that makes the process more worthwhile and the final product yummier than anything store-bought.

Since so many people have asked, this is as good a time as any to post up the recipe. Keep in mind, it's more of a guideline as opposed to a true recipe since amounts of water and flour are more of a ratio as opposed to an amount.
Chong Yao Beng
(approx - 2:1 ratio of flour to hot water)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup hot water
A dash of salt
1 cup of chopped green onions/scallions
Sesame oil

Place flour and salt in a bowl. Heat water until a low simmer is achieved. Pour 1 cup into the flour mixture and mix with a spoon. The water helps the dough begin to form gluten before you even start mixing/kneading. When the dough begins to form, you can abandon the spoon and use your hands. Add more flour or water depending on the wetness/dryness of the dough. You want it to hold together without being overly sticky. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Tear off a small ball and roll out into 4-5 inch circle. Rub with a little sesame oil and scatter green onions on top of the circle. Roll up, pressing lightly to make a tight tube. Starting at one end, curl up the tube into a snail shape.Taking the palm of your hand, flatten the coil into about 3/4 cm thickness. Some of the onions may poke through the dough as it gets thinner. Don't worry about this too much. The thicker the pancake, the longer it'll take to pan fry and the chewier the texture.

When all of the pancakes are formed, heat a nonstick skillet with about a tablespoon of oil. If you want a nicer color, use sesame oil. Vegetable oil will give less color but is healthier. Panfry until cooked through, flipping the pancake after about 3-4 minutes. The dough will begin to look clear before turning opaque as it cooks. Continue until all of the pancakes have been cooked. You can also form the pancakes and fry them as you go.

If you want to make a dipping sauce, I combined a bit of chili-garlic sauce, sesame oil, fried scallions leftover from the pancakes, soy sauce, pepper to taste.