Fast Ramen Noodle Upgrade

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I'll admit to still eating ramen noodles from time to time--you know the kind you ate in college because they cost .10?  Yeah, those ramen.  I have an upgrade for you today, and it won't take much more time than just tearing open the spice packet. I buy the carrot shreds at the store all the time to add to salads, but you could use the cheese grater to grate your own.  I prefer napa cabbage in this recipe, but I didn't have any on hand, so I sliced regular green cabbage super thin and it worked out great. I am super lazy when it comes to garlic and ginger--I buy it already chopped up in the squeeze bottles you find in the produce section.  Makes it easy to always have ingredients on a hand for a quick stir fry.

Serves 1 as a meal, but if you added some potstickers on the side (hello, Costco frozen ones are awesome), you could stretch this to two servings.  Easy to double.

Ingredients

1 package of ramen noodles (do not use spice packet)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ginger, minced (I use the squeeze bottle from the produce section)

1/4 C. shredded carrot

1/2 C. thinly sliced cabbage (napa or green)

1 head baby bok choy, sliced crosswise (about 1 cup)

Sauce

1/2 Tbs each of dark soy sauce  and low sodium soy sauce (or just 1 total Tbs of whatever soy sauce you have)

1 Tbs sweet chili sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

Sriacha to taste (opt)-I like about 1/4 tsp

Garnish

Green onion

cilantro

sesame seeds

Start cooking your ramen noodles in boiling water.  Heat up a medium non-stick skillet with 1 Tbs vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic and ginger to hot oil and stir for about 10 seconds until fragrant and then add the vegetables.  Saute for 3-5 minutes until veggies are soft but not soggy.  Add the cooked noodles (make sure to drain them first)) and add the sauce.  Heat for about 1 minute and garnish with chopped green onion, cilantro and sesame seeds if you like. 

Wild Rice and Turkey Soup

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 It's soup season, and leftover turkey is the perfect reason to make this yummy soup. 

Ingredients

1/2 c. wild rice mix (Winco bulk bins are perfect for this)

4 c. turkey broth or chicken broth , divided (1 cup to cook rice, 3 for the soup)

2 ribs celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, diced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 c. butter

1/2 tsp. ground thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 c. flour

2 c. half and half (or 1 c. milk and 1 c. heavy cream)

2 c. cooked turkey, diced or shredded

Salt and Pepper to taste (about 1 tsp each)

 

1. Cook the rice mix.  Use 1 cup of the broth and the dry rice mix and bring to a boil and then turn down to low, cover and simmer for about 35-40 minutes until tender.  The 1/2 cup of dry mix will cook up to about 1 1/2 cups of rice. 

2.  While the rice cooks, chop the vegetables.  In a large stock pot (I use my 6 quart enameled cast iron pot), melt the butter over medium heat and add the onion, celery and carrot and bay leaves.  Cook and stir until translucent and softened (about 8 minutes).  Add the ground thyme and stir for about 30 seconds.  Remove the bay leaves before the next step.

3.  Add the flour to the sauteed vegetables and stir with a wooden spoon to form a paste and cook for 1-2 minutes to cook off the flour taste and build some flavor.  Slowly add the remaining 3 cups of broth (add about 1/2 cup at a time and stir in to avoid lumps in the flour).  

4.  Add the half and half (which I don't usually have on hand, but I do have milk and I keep shelf-stable cream in the pantry all the time, so I use the combo of milk and cream).  You can make it with just milk, but treat yourself with the richness of cream. 

4.  Add the turkey/chicken and cooked rice.  Bring to a boil slowly over medium heat (stir constantly to avoid burning).  Check for seasoning and if needed, add salt and pepper.

 Serve with some delicious bread and a salad and you are good to go!

Sourdough Bread for Beginners

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I love bread.  I especially love homemade bread.  I've been doing the rustic no-knead bread for many years and love the simplicity.  Turns out sourdough isn't hard--it just takes good time management (and an active starter).  

Equipment you need

Large mixing bowl (I use a metal or a plastic bowl)

Wooden spoon

Kitchen scale

Cooking pot with lid -between 4-6 quart size (cast iron dutch oven is ideal)

Parchment paper

Ingredients

90 grams (1/3 C) of starter at the peak of activity (info below)

385 grams ( 1 7/8 C) of water

10 grams (1 3/4 tsp) of kosher salt 

520 grams (4 C) of bread flour 

Timing (start one day, finish the next)

3:00-4:00 pm feed your starter

8:00-9:00 pm mix your dough

Overnight-let dough rest on counter

Morning (8:00-10:00 am)-Shape and let rest for about 30-60 minutes

Late morning bake your bread

1. Prep your starter.  Feed your starter the afternoon before you want to bake.  My starter is very active and will go from unfed to peak activity (increased in volume nearly 3x) in about 4 hours in my kitchen--could take longer or less time in your kitchen.  

2.  Use your kitchen scale and use the tare feature (the zero-out feature) so that every time you add an item you can start the gram count over.  Don't forget to zero out the first time when you put the large mixing bowl on it. Add the 90 g of starter, zero out scale.  Add the 385 g water, zero out the scale.  Add the 10 g salt and stir it gently to dissolve salt and starter. 

3. Zero out the scale and add the 520 g of flour.  Remove from the scale and use the wooden spoon to stir everything together until it is all mixed and shaggy (takes about 1-2 minutes).  Dough will not have any dry flour, but it won't be a pretty ball either. 

4.  Set the timer for 15 minutes and cover the bowl.  When the timer goes off, you will do a "mini knead" called the stretch and fold.  This will help develop the dough's gluten and start making the dough look like dough!  Get your fingers a bit wet to keep them from sticking and grab one edge of the dough and pull it up 3-4 inches and then fold it down to the center of the dough.  Turn the bowl a 1/4 turn and do it again until you've gone around the bowl a couple times.  Set the timer for another 15 minutes and then do it again. You'll notice a pretty dramatic difference in the dough over the 2 stretch and folds.  

5.  Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel (my bowl has a lid, perfect!) and leave it on the counter over night.  You want the dough to nearly double in size--in my kitchen that takes about 10 hours.  

6.  Morning!  Time to get the bread ready for baking.  Your dough needs one last set of stretch and folds, but this time, you'll stretch it a lot more.  Get your fingers wet and use a hand on each side of the dough to slide underneath the ball and pull it up and out of the bowl about 12-18 inches.  Let the dough start to just hang down and stretch as far is it will go.  Pile the dough back onto itself into the bowl, turn the bowl a 1/4 turn and do it again (you'll notice it won't want to stretch/dangle quite as far, but keep gently shaking/jiggling to get the dough to stretch out more).  Repeat 2 more times.

7. Prep a medium bowl to hold the shaped loaf while it rests (proofs) before baking.  Put a piece of parchment into the bowl and sprinkle with flour. 

8. Shape the dough--after you've done the stretches, pick it up the same way and tuck the ends under to start making a ball with a smooth top.  Grab a small handful of flour and rub it over the smooth, round top.  Carefully turn it and put some flour on the bottom too.   Now place the dough round into your parchment lined bowl with the bottom of the dough on the bottom of the bowl so that you see the pretty, smooth top.  Note:  If you want to get fancy and have a banneton, you put the dough in upside down--but don't do a banneton your first time.  My banneton took about 2 times to get "seasoned" and not end up with dough sticking to the basket).  

9.  Let the bowl with the shaped dough rest in the fridge for about 45 minutes while the oven preheats (NOTE: If you need to let the dough hang out in the fridge for longer than 45 minutes, no problem...leave it in the banneton all day if you need to and bake when you have time). 

10. Preheat oven to 475 degrees for a full 30-45 minutes.  

11. Take your dough from the fridge and carefully grab the parchment and place the whole thing, parchment and all, into your baking pot.  Slash a relief cut across the dough (use a very sharp knife or a fancy razor called a lame).  Put the lid on and place in the oven (I like to set my pot on a cookie sheet to make sure the bottom doesn't get too browned).  Bake covered for 30 minutes. 

12. Remove the cover on the pot and bake an additional 20-25 minutes until it is very golden and the internal temp is between 202-206 degrees on an instant read thermometer.

Place bread on a rack to cool for about an hour before cutting. 

Alternate:  Baguettes

You can use the same dough and shape it into baguettes!  After step 6 where you do the last stretch and folds, instead of forming one ball to rest, divide the dough into 2 or 3 pieces and lightly flour your counter.  Form a rectangle and roll it up to make the tube. Pinch the seam closed and roll the dough to get a longer loaf.  Its best if you have a baguette pan so that the bread will hold its shape.  Let the baguettes rest on the counter until doubled in size (about 2 hours).  Preheat your oven, but put a pan on the bottom rack with a couple cups of water in it.  The pan of water will provide the steam to get the crusty exterior (with the round loaf you don't do this because the lid on the pot keeps moisture inside and is self-steaming).  My oven happens to have a steam mode, so if yours does, use it!  Bake at 450 for about 30 minutes until nicely golden.

Easy Roast Pork Sirloin Roast with sautéed Apples

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 I like a nice Sunday dinner--and with fall weather, warm comfort foods are just the best.  Pork sirloin roast is an inexpensive cut of meat (frequently on sale for $1 per pound in family packs).  I bought a pack with 3 roasts (one 1-pound and two 2-pound) and used my vacuum sealer to save the other two. With this cut of meat, you need to do a bit of prep and then cook it just right or else you end up with shoe leather--no good.  You could start this the day before or as soon as a couple hours before you cook it. 

Serves 4-5

15 minute prep

75-90 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

 2 pound pork sirloin roast

1 c. chicken stock

Marinade

1/4 c. Olive  oil

1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

1  tsp Dijon mustard

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning (could also sub sage or rosemary)

2 tsp. kosher salt (or 1 tsp of table salt)

1 tsp. black pepper

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large zipper bag and add the roast.  Seal and press around to coat  the roast in marinade.  Refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  In a small or medium roast pan (could use a cast iron, small roaster or even a glass baking dish that you cover with foil) and add the roast and all the marinade and the chicken stock.  Place in the 450 degree oven uncovered for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, baste the roast with the cooking liquid and continue cooking covered at 250 degrees for 45-50 minutes (its about 25 minutes per pound), or until the internal temp gets to 145 degrees.   

There are some nice drippings to use as a pan sauce.  Let the roast rest, covered for about 10-15 minutes before serving. While the roast rests on the counter, prepare the apples. 

Sautéed Apples

2 small-medium apples, peeled and diced

1 Tbs. butter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. brown sugar

In a medium non-stick skillet melt the butter and add the diced apples over medium heat.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until apples start to soften.  Add about 1 tsp of water and cover and let cook for about 1 minute.  Apples should be soft enough to press with the back of the spoon to mash slightly.  Add the cinnamon and brown sugar and cook another minute. 

Key Lime Pie Frozen Custard

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Key lime pie is one of my favorites.  I love the tart/sweet combo.  This summer, since we're still all social distancing and spending way more time in our own kitchens, I started experimenting with homemade ice creams.  I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker (from Costco) and had been keeping the canister in the freezer thinking I'd like to make ice cream now that it was hot outside.  Fourth of July weekend was a perfect excuse. 

This custard-based ice cream is easy, but you need to plan ahead.  You CAN make it the day you want to eat it, but if you can mix it up the night before you'll have more flexibility in having it ready when you want to eat it. You need to plan for about 30 minutes making the custard, 2-4 hours to cool it (I start with an ice bath and then the fridge to speed things along), 30 minutes to churn and then 3-4 hours to freeze before serving (ok, you can serve it right after churning as a very soft serve).

This recipe uses a little bit of corn syrup, which helps reduce ice crystal formation, so that you don't get grainy ice cream.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C. half and half

1 C. heavy cream

3/4 C. sugar

2 Tbs. corn syrup

1/8 tsp. salt

5 egg yolks

2 Tbs. lime zest (around 3-4 limes)

1/2 C. fresh lime juice

Crust cookie "add in"

5 whole graham crackers

3 Tbs. sugar

1/4 C. melted butter

Equipment needed

Medium saucepan

Medium bowl

Fine mesh strainer

Citrus zester

Ice cream maker

8x8 baking dish or a large loaf pan

Thermometer (opt)

Get things set up before you start so that you can work efficiently.   Does your ice cream maker need the canister to be frozen in advance?  Make sure you've got that taken care of!

1. Crack the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk, set aside.

2. Zest the limes, set aside.

3. Juice the limes, set aside.

4. Make the custard.  In a saucepan add the half & half, cream sugar,  lime zest, corn syrup and salt.  Heat on medium stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and you start to see bubbles around the edge-do NOT boil.  Slowly pour a thin stream of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  This will bring the eggs up to a higher temperature without scrambling them.  Pour the hot mixture back into the saucepan and keep cooking on medium and stirring with a wooden spoon until the custard coats the back of the spoon (its about 175-180 degrees)--about 3-5 minutes of cooking.  Do NOT let it boil.  You'll notice it become thicker and bubble around the edges.   While it cooks, wash out the bowl that held the eggs so it is ready for the finished custard.

5. Pour the hot custard through a fine mesh strainer back into the clean bowl--this will strain out the zest and any eggy bits.  Also pour the lime juice into the custard through the strainer (catches any seeds or pulp). Stir it up.  Resist licking the spoon.   Cover with a piece of plastic wrap placed right on the surface of the custard to avoid a film forming.

6. You need to cool the custard down to 40 degrees.  You can just refrigerate it overnight or you can speed things along by putting the bowl into a bowl of ice water. 

7. Make the crust cookies.  I like to add the cookie bits to the ice cream, although you could leave them out or just sprinkle them on a bowl when serving.  In a gallon zipper bag add the graham crackers and crush with a rolling pin.  Add the sugar and butter and mix right in the bag.  Pour onto a parchment lined baking sheet, press into a giant cookie that is about 1/4 inch thick and bake for 5-7 minutes  at 350 until golden.  Let cool.  Crumble.   I added about 1 T of shredded coconut to my mix before baking because I love it, but I know lots of folks don't.

8. Churn the custard!  You are getting closer.  First, get the 8x8 baking dish and line it with plastic wrap.  Get your ice cream machine going (mine requires that I freeze the canister at least 24 hours, so I just store it in the freezer).  Follow the directions on your machine and add the cooled custard.  It will take around 30 minutes to become a very thick soft-serve. 

9. Scoop the custard into the prepared 8x8 dish, smooth it out, sprinkle it with the crust cookies and press them in.  Cover with more plastic wrap and pop into the freezer for 3-4 hours.  This will let it firm up enough to scoop and put on cones.   You will definitely want to lick the dasher from the ice cream machine at this point. 

This ice cream is so delicious.  Serve it on your favorite cone or just dig in with a spoon. 

Lemon variation

If you also like lemon meringue pie, you could do this with lemons instead.  Increase the lemon juice to 2/3 C. Everything else is the same.  I made this version too and left out the crust cookies--reminded me of Aggie Ice cream from USU.  Only better.  And closer to home.

Strawberry Strawberry Cupcakes

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Raise your hand if you've ever planned a trip around a cupcake shop visit?  Silos Bakery? Check.  Georgetown Cupcake? Check.  Magnolia? Sprinkles?  Check, Check.  I like cupcakes.  I've searched for lots of copy-cat recipes to all those famous shops and none have met my expectations (too lightweight, too dry, too heavy...just not right).  So I went with a default trick of doctoring up a cake mix for my cupcakes.  The real star of this show is the strawberry flavor--and it comes from freeze-dried strawberries.  Since I'm home like everyone else in the world trying to avoid the coronavirus, I went wandering through my food storage and brought up the can of freeze dried berries.   They are PERFECT for cupcakes.  You get tons of strawberry flavor and you don't need any artificial flavoring!  You can buy them in smaller packages at Trader Joes--maybe even regular grocery stores.

Cupcakes
1 Duncan Hines white cake mix
1 C. milk
3 large egg whites
1/3 C. vegetable oil
1/4 C. crushed/powdered freeze dried strawberries (not fresh berries)
1/2 C sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and get 24 cupcake liners ready.  Pulverize  about 1 cup of the freeze dried strawberries in a zipper bag  with a rolling pin (you'll get enough for cake and frosting).  Mix up the batter by following the directions on the box, but sub out the water with whole milk.  Add the sour cream and the strawberry powder.  Mix just enough to get it all mixed together with no streaks of white remaining.  Divide the batter into 24 cupcakes (I think I got 22).  The box said to bake for 18-22 minutes BUT I went with 16 and it was just right.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 C butter, room temp
1/2 C cream cheese, room temp (4 oz, which is half a brick)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp coconut extract
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 Tbs freeze dried strawberry powder
3 C. Powdered sugar
1-2 Tbs milk

Use paddle attachment on the stand mixer and cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Add the extracts and strawberry powder.  Alternate adding the powdered sugar and milk (on low) and mix on low until all combined.  Switch to the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high for 3-4 minutes to get all fluffy and light pink.

When cupcakes are completely cool, pipe frosting onto your cupcakes (I found that I actually preferred the ratio of frosting when I used the smaller tip than my jumbo star tip).  You can freeze these completely frosted if you want (I tested that out for you...an entire cupcake, with its pretty frosting will defrost in about 15 minutes and taste delicious). 


Freeze dried strawberries are the trick.  You can't use fresh strawberries because everything will be too wet and diluted.  The freeze drying concentrates the flavor.  Game changer!  

Amigurumi Patterns

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I learned to do some basic crochet from my mom and grandma when I was in junior high.  I did the usual scarf and dishrag.  I even got fancy enough to do some bookmarks and baby blankets--and then I put it away for a very long time.  When the Disney+ series The Mandalorian came out and there were no baby Yodas to be bought anywhere, I started thinking I could make one--and lo and behold, several other folks thought so too.  There are many patterns out there for making "The Child"--some were so good and so popular the big corporate Disney sent cease and desist notices.  I ended up making about 5 Baby Yoda crochet dolls (aka Amigurumi crochet), and I am finding it very satisfying to make them.  I picked up a kit at Sam's Club for Harry Potter and was debating the Disney Princess kit when I came across a pattern online.  

 
These are the only 2 dolls I've made so far, but they sure are fun.  If you want to try your hand at Baby Yoda, check out Hooked On Fandom's excellent pattern (free!).  I've tried it with a hook a size up as well as a size down and liked both results.  I tinkered with the pattern to make a 2/3 size "pocket" Yoda, and it was fun...but I have not developed good pattern making skills yet...too many errors in mine (which I've hidden with clothes).  For Baby Yoda, I decided I liked his robe being made out of fleece rather than crochet--which is probably not allowed in amigurumi, but I don't care.  It's my craft right?   



With Cinderella (which could also be Belle or Tinkerbelle pretty easily), the pattern of stitches is really good, however, the order of the instructions for construction/sewing was not good.  It looks like the original pattern was in Russian, and someone translated.  Even with some experience with the Yoda dolls, I found Cinderella and some of her construction pretty challenging (the hair band and the white dress flounce were the very hardest part).  

For both dolls, you will need to know how to do the Magic Circle--which is how you start any sphere shape.  I found the tutorial at Winding Road Crochet to be super easy to follow.   As a general tip for any project, make your first row, the chain-on row fairly loose.  Not sloppy, just not as tight as you would for any other row.  Otherwise its tough to get your hook back into those loops again. 

Here is my reorganization of the Cinderella pattern (check out her website for some great pics):

Materials:

• Yarn:  dress (blue), trim (white), black, flesh, hair (yellow)
• Safety eyes 6 mm
• Fiberfill
• Beads for a hair band (optional)
• Embroidery needle (long with large eye)

Abbreviations:
R = row
mc = magic circle
ch = chain
st = stitch
sc = single crochet

sk=skip stitch
DC = double crochet
TR = treble crochet
hdc =  half double crochet
htr = half treble crochet
sl st = slip stitch
inc = 2 sc in the next stitch
dec = single crochet 2 stitches together
BLO = back loop only
FLO = front loop only
( ) = number of stitches you should have at the end of the round/row
( )x6 = repeat whatever is between the brackets the number of times stated

 

Body + legs
With white yarn: First leg
R 1. 6 sc in mc (6)
R 2-6. 6 sc (6)

Second leg
R 1. 6 sc in mc(6)
R 2-6. 6 sc (6)

Don’t cut the yarn! Just leave it hanging so you can pick it up again later in the body.
R 7. Crochet 3 ch from the second leg and join it with the first leg, 6 sc on first leg, sc in next 3ch, 6 sc on second leg, sc in next 3ch (opposite side) (18)
R 8-10. 18 sc (18)
With DRESS yarn color:
R 11-12. 18 sc (18)
R 13. BLO 18 sc (18)
R 14. 18 sc (18)
With BODY color:
R 15. 18 sc (18)
R 16. (dec, 1 sc) х 6 (12)
With BLACK yarn make the necklace (if no necklace, continue with body color):
R 17. 12 sc (12)
Stuff the leg and body and set aside. 

Head
R 1. 6 sc in mc (6)
R 2. inc x 6 (12)
R 3. (inc, 1 sc) х 6 (18)
R 4.  (inc, 2 sc) х 6 (24)
R 5. (inc, 3 sc) х 6 (30)
R 6-13. 30 sc (30)

Find eye placement at the level of Rnd 10-11, at the distance of 5 stitches from each other. Don't attach eyes yet, first you should Embroider eyelashes, then put the backing on the eyes.  Stuff the head.
R 14. (dec, 3 sc) х 6 (24)
R 15. (dec, 2 sc) х 6 (18)
R 16. (dec, 1 sc) х 6 (12)
Finish stuffing the head. Leave a long tail of yarn for sewing head on much later. 

Dress
Go to the center back of the body – R13:
R1. FLO: 3 ch, (4 DC in next st, 2 DC in next st) x repeat to the end of row, sl st (54).
R2-5. 1 DC in every st to the end of row, sl st (54). 1 hdc, 1 sc to make hem look even. Finish off by slip-stitching around the entire dress.

Arms (make 2)
With WHITE yarn:
R 1. 6 sc in mc (6)
R 2-4. 6 sc (6)
With body colour:
R 5-7. 6 sc (6)
Leave a long tail. Don’t stuff arms! Sew onto body.(if your doll doesn't have white gloves, use another color OR just body color)

Sleeve (make 2)
With WHITE yarn:
Make 9 ch.
From the 2nd ch from hook: 2 sl st, 4 sc in next 4 st, 2 sl st.
F.o., leaving a long tail. Sew sleeves to the body.

Dress band
With WHITE yarn:
Make 26 ch
From the 2nd ch from hook: sl st, (2 sc, 1 hdc and 1 DC in next st, 1 DC, 2 htr in next st, 3 TR in next st, 2 htr in next st, 1 DC, 1 DC and 1 hdc in next st, 1 sc), 3 sl st, (2 sc, 1 hdc and 1 DC in next st, 1 DC, 2 htr in next st, 3 TR in next st, 2 htr in next st, 1 DC, 1 DC and hdc in next st, 1 sc), sl st.

F.o., leaving a long tail. Sew to the dress.

Hair
R 1. 6 sc in mc (6)
R 2. inc x 6 (12)
R 3. (inc, 1 sc) х 6 (18)
R 4. (inc, 2 sc) х 6 (24)
R 5. (inc, 3 sc) х 6 (30)
R 6. (inc, 4 sc) х 6 (36)
R 7-10. 36 sc

As you continue to the next round, you will start the flap that will become the bangs:
R 11. (sk st, 5 DC in next st, sk st, 1 sc) x 5, 16 sc, turn.
R 12. 1 ch, 15 sc, turn. (repeat this row 6 times).
Make a roll and sew roll up.

Bun
R1. 6 sc in mc (6)
R2. inc x 6 (12)
R3. (inc, 1 sc) х 6 (18)
R4. (inc, 2 sc) х 6 (24)
R5-9. 24 sc (24)
Stuff. F.o., leaving a long tail.

Hair band
With blue yarn:
Make 25 ch
From the 2nd ch from hook: sl st, 3 DC, 2 sc, hdc, 10 DC, hdc, 2 sc, 4 sl st.
F.o., leaving a long tail. Sew to the hair.
Decorate with 2 beads.

Assemble Hair 

Place bun on the top-center of the hair and sew the bun to the hair cap. Now place hair on the head and find the position of the headband.  Once you are sure of the headband, remove the entire hair and sew the headband to the hair.  Once entire hairpiece is complete, sew to the head. 

Attach head to body

This is the most challenging part.  Center the head on the body and start sewing it in place.  You may need to use stitches that go from the head all the way through the body and then back up.  Just keep stitching until the head feels stable.