more cooking experiments

I love mad scientist mode, it's my only time to play these days and whether or not the experiment works out, we eat.  Latest experiments are dumpling filling -- I didn't have time to go hunting for dumpling wrappers--and puto. 

Edit 2/13/19:
The original post was rather long & detailed. 

1) Dumpling filling - Meh, didn't like the ground pork but it went well with ramen noodles. 
2) Puto, a Filipino snack, a white steamed cake.  First recipe using pancake batter, success.  I could stop there but I want to know the difference between the cake flour recipe & rice flour recipe.  I just received bigger silicone molds.  Oh, but I'm out of milk at the moment.

I had to go to Auntie's house to dig up more information to file her final income taxes.  While I was digging, I found a folder with her recipes.  I'm so happy.  I got  so much walnut, cinnamon, and sugar from her pantry, now I have a way to use it up and make more space in my freezer.  There was one recipe called Food for the Gods.  I don't recall Auntie ever serving this to me, but I went & got the dates to make it.  I also found the lemon cheesecake I was trying to figure out.

Friends have been raving about their air fryers.  It's just an air convection oven.  I had one in the 90's and bought into the accessories, like I'm buying into the Instant Pot accessories.  Loved the  90's version, bought a new one when the motor broke but something changed.  It was louder & crumbs would blow around the kitchen!  I only still have it because I have the accessories.  I got the smallest one.  I did (frozen) coconut shrimp & (frozen) fish fillet tonight.  So quiet!  So crispy!  It's a keeper.  I'm getting rid of the old jet oven & everything that went with it.