red beans & red sox

during the off season, i'd sort of forgotten about the whole "electric, warm camaraderie, giant cement block in the east bay" feeling. until last night, that is. on my BART trip over, i saw two girl friends debate back and forth whether the a's fan (tall, brunette girl) was deserving of the right to wear her a's cap in front of her (red sox cheering, short, blond girl) friend. according to the sox fan, if the friend couldn't name a current roster member, she couldn't don her green and gold headgear. luckily, the amazon friend could have easily stomped out the east coaster with one kick of her knee-high boots, and she sported her cap by the time we arrived at the coliseum. but everyone seemed pumped as we exited the station and made the hike across the bridge, braving the blustering wind.

i entered the coliseum to loud cheers of "let's go oakland," friends smiling and hugging after a 6-month hiatus, and kids screaming (nicely) for balls. and there i was with a new treat in tow. in the past, i've bonded with my oven the day before a game, turning my tiny 6×8 kitchen into a sweltering sauna covered in flour and sugar, but this week, i took my baking/cooking/experimenting to work. see, i needed a microwave, and being the environmental and health conscious people that the mister and I are, we don't have one. but microwaves, you're probably thinking, and baking? well. yeah. sort of.

this week's creation is. wait for it. wait for it. wait for it. mochi! or more accurately daifuku. that's mochi (sweet rice flour-based dough) filled with red bean paste. i got the idea from one of my favorite blogs, and have been waiting for the right moment to break out some mochiko (sweet rice flour). monday, i did a test run, where i learned a few things.

1. if you do anything other than re-heat leftovers or cook a frozen dinner while reading a 2-week old "TIME" in the work kitchen, everyone and anyone will be curious.

2. and if you tell them you're making treats for baseball players, they may, just for second or two, think of reporting you to HR for questionable mental status.

3. you need to have every single thing that you can imagine nearby. like saran wrap. pot holders. a hair tie. and lidocaine.

4. yes, lidocaine. the mochi, covered with plastic wrap, creates steam, and duh, steam burns, leading me to burn my left hand's middle finger. but all the better to point at the red sox fans the following day. it's even color-coded appropriately.

monday's test included green mochi filled with strawberries. they tasted ok, but i had overcooked the dough, burned my fingers, and then cut the mochi pieces too big. thankfully, i had tuesday to make my real, presentable daifuku.

an aside: many, many thanks to Lolo at veganyumyum.com (she's been featured on martha stewart!!!) for her clear, concise directions and super-handy internet video re: daifuku. i don't think i would have gotten anywhere without these! and she always has such inspirational photos. one day, i hope my creations look half as good as hers! 

and now, moving on...

tuesday proved a whole lot better. 24 hours of constant burn gel application helped a ton, and i held back on overusing the food coloring. the "gold" daifuku could have used more color, but at least they didn't resemble a 24-hour neon sign like the green ones the day before. this time, i used red bean paste (this and the mochiko can be found at most well stocked asian groceries. i found mine at super mira in japantown).

tuesday evening, i waited along with a few fans by the bullpen and successfully delivered a box of billy red bean(e) daifuku to andrew bailey. after explaining that i'm not crazy (well, not certifiably) and that i deliver baked goods to the bullpen when i attend games, he gladly accepted on behalf of the bullpen. later, between innings, a few players, including bailey, popped up with daifuku in their hands, eating away as the game progressed (at a snail's pace), which was cool! what wasn't cool was my slowness at getting out the camera, which means that i have no evidence of daifuku consumption. but really, the guys ate them.

and with this baking season kicking off to a good start, i'm starting a new statistic: the bullpen baker's bullpen ERA. tuesday's bullpen held a 0.00 ERA over 7 1/3 innings--not too shabby! and i give most of the credit to the bullpen, with a smidgen to their box of red bean chewy treats. now play ball!