Taste Of Sweetness.....

Blog has moved...

2009-08-09T15:42:00.000-07:00

Change has come....

I'm switching this blog over to wordpress, you can visit me now at:

http://tasteofsweet.wordpress.com/

I've had the most fun with Blogger, it was a great and fun way at getting my food blog started. I am now moving over to wordpress so I can have slightly bigger pictures on my page with more room to play with.

:)

Grilled Shrimp

2009-08-02T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today for dinner, thought I'd make it nice and simple. Nice Big Beautiful Shrimp smothered in spices and toasting on the Grill... ;)

For me, Shrimp doesn't taste good unless it has some nice smoked paprika in it.

Grabbed this recipe from this months edition of Cooking Light.

Ultimate Cherry Pie

2009-08-01T21:04:00.001-07:00

Adapted recipe from Sugar Plum

This is the first time I ever made a cherry pie using real cherries as I've made it once before using that canned stuff. This is a fantastic cherry pie. I'll be honest, I never buy cherry pie from the stores because it either taste like mush or the flavor of the cherries is too sour. I like a nice solid hard cherry crunch and nice sweetnest to my pie. My favorite pie to make is Apple and I think it will always be my favorite but since it is berry season I gave this one a try and loved the results. I loved the use of Cake Flour for the dough, made it taste like a cookie wafer. :)

BBQ Pork Chops

2009-07-31T12:01:00.000-07:00

I never give up on a dish or particular meat that I can't get right. For some reason, Pork Chops have never been a specialty of mine. That is until I came across a very tasty recipe in Bon Appetit this week. BBQ style pork chops using a nice marinade to sit on the chops for 30 minutes outside of frig prior to cooking, which I think is what brought this meat so much flavor. It has all the ingediants I love to cook with, Garlic, Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar....you get the idea. I'll get recipe link location soon.

Spicy Shrimp Fettucine

2009-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Spicy Shrimp Fettuccine
recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Tilapia Fish Tacos with Peach Salsa

2009-07-29T20:34:00.001-07:00

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Victoria Butterfly Exhibit

2009-07-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

This was really nice, my daughter enjoyed seeing this. I'm not done posting about our trip! We did a stop in Victoria Canada at the Butterfly Exhibit. We made good use of our vacation trip and saw many things along our journey. click on pictures for better viewing.

Dale Chihuly Art Work in Portland

2009-07-19T17:26:00.000-07:00

Another interesting stop on our trip was to see the glass art work from Dale Chihuly, he is known for the beautiful artistry work in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Sauteed Tilapia with Honey Scallion Dressing

2009-07-19T17:07:00.001-07:00

This is the simplest recipe and my favorite way to prepare Tilapia. I love that it is so healthy too.
Cooking Light

Seattle Aquarium

2009-07-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

During our trip in Seattle we made a stop at the Aquarium where the kids had a fantastic time. I saw an Eel and Octopus for the first time. This Aquarium is way better than the one in Long Beach.

Oregon Coast

2009-07-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Oregon Coast....beautiful

A bit chilly but perfect weather for hiking and I love photography with an over cast sky.

Click on Pictures

This window shot is from the cottage window where we stayed at our friends house.

Arrogant Bastard Ale

2009-07-09T15:13:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to sneak a post in here for another great Beer find called and I'm not kidding, "Arrogant Bastard Ale." You must try this....if you love beer ;)

Multnomah Falls in Oregon

2009-07-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

We went on this really nice and steep hike at Multnomah Falls while in Oregon.

Vancouver- The Butchart Gardens & English Tea

2009-07-07T12:33:00.001-07:00

Another favorite stop along our journey was in Vancouver at the Butchart Gardens. The most beautiful gardens I've yet to see.

We stopped for some English tea and lunch, I was really impressed by this place.

I wish I had a different format for my blog just so you can see the actual size of these photos, please click on the photos to get the real picture.

Mt. Saint Helen as of Late June 2009

2009-07-06T23:38:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite adventures on this trip was seeing Mt. Saint Helen after the volcanic eruption of 1980. It's really fascinating to see new life forming there again. There is still a stream of ash or mud that forms along where the river ran through as well as the top of the Mountain peek. All the trees which should be three times the size normally is a light green color, new and freshly grown. I read the stories in about the loggers that lost their lives that day as well as some Geologists, it's very sad but beautiful to see new life growth again.

CLICK ON PICTURES FOR BETTER VIEW

Nijo Sushi in downtown Seattle

2009-07-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

So...lets get onto to the food part of the trip... :) One of my favorite stops in Seattle was at Nijo Sushi that got lots of rave reviews on yelp. It was the most difficult place to find because it was tucked away off the street in an opening of an alley way. We almost gave up looking for it at one point. I'll let the pictures tell you how delicious this place was........I'm still drooling over how good this place was...

Don't forget to click on the pictures to get a bigger and closer view.

lots more pictures to come...

Seattle- Space Needle, Pike's Marketplace and The Original Starbucks.

2009-07-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

We read some rave reviews about Espresso Vivace Sidewalk Bar in Seattle that we tried the very next morning after arriving there and my latte was amazing. They added a little carmel and that made the perfect touch to this drink. When we found this coffee place we noticed this festival of sorts going on around us, after looking around and noticing some........dressed up men in women's clothing we caught on that we were in the middle of a gay pride parade. ;) Hilarious! This guy in the red wig posed as I was catching his picture.

Seattle is for those that don't know, the first place Starbucks opened it's doors. Pike Marketplace is the area known for the fish being thrown across the room, though we waited we didn't see any flying fish. There is amazing fresh produce that they are just handing out for you to try every where you turn. Seattle reminds me very much of San Francisco with the steep streets with so much going on around the area. It's busy, traffic congestion but it's because of the two lane highways that run pass the city unlike our 6 lane freeways that get us around in California. From my understanding they have no place to extend freeways or highways because it is surrounded by water. I love all the lushes green that surrounds this city, as soon as you leave the city life of buildings, cars and traffic you are driving in plush big thick green trees all around you.

Click on photos for larger view.

Portland, Seattle to Vancouver

2009-07-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a fabulous vacation trip. We flew into Portland and drove to Seattle than up to Vancouver and back down to Seattle and off to the Coast where we stayed in a lovely beach house and ending our trip back in Portland. I never seen so much green in my life! I now want to live anywhere between these cities. :) Less people and more green!!!!! My home town here in California is unfortunately all about the crowds and less about the beauty of it's surroundings. I took so many pictures and I can't wait to share them. I had some amazing food stops along the way, I wish I spent some quality time with food photography so I can at least share it here on my food blog. I will point out some great food stops.

Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut-Curry Sauce

2009-06-25T14:44:00.001-07:00

This is the most tasty Thai sauce I've ever made. I love Thai and for this to come out this good makes me excited to make it again soon with chicken. The sauce alone with some white rice in there is also tasty. Adapted from my favorite place for recipes...Cooking Light.

Blueberry Scones

2009-06-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

My ideal breakfast is scones of all kinds, my latest make is the Blueberry scones with a brown sugar crumb topping. Scones go perfect with my morning chai and it is the reason I love them so much.

Wine and Beer Tastings- Good finds.

2009-06-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some nice recommendations that we have tasted in my household lately.

Quail Creek Shiraz 2008- inexpensive and has a light finish which I think works nicely with a light dinner meal.

AllaGash- Curieux Ale Aged In Oak Bourbon Barrels- The best tasting beer I ever had, it's a $10 dollar beer for one 9.4 Fl Oz which is probably the most expensive beer I've ever had but worth the penny.

Salmon With Coconut Thai Style Spinach

2009-06-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

There is humor behind this dish, I first attempted to make a dish from one of Closet Cooking's old posts on this Thai flavor dish he made ages ago. After using Light Coconut Milk instead of the real deal I screwed the flavor up pretty bad, so I rescued this dish by adding Parmesan cheese to the spinach to give the creamy texture I should have got out of it in the first place and I added 2 Tsp of Red curry paste in addition to the 1 it called for to give it some intense flavor. Came out great I would make it this way again but I'd also like to try it's original form first. :)

BBQ Slow Cooked Shredded Pork

2009-06-06T13:48:00.001-07:00

I'm not the biggest fan of preparing or cutting up pork, the smell of the uncooked meat bothers me but I wanted to give this a try seeing that there were 74 excellent reviews to this recipe. I have to admit this is the best BBQ Pork recipe I've ever come across. Simply delicious, tasty, finger licking good! One of Cooking Light's Best...

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-05-26T16:00:00.000-07:00

Adapted from Joy The Baker

Halibut With Mango Salsa

2009-05-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

This is excellent, nice light fish with a beautiful mango salsa. Have I mentioned how much I love the Cooking Light Mag ?

Spiced Honey Glazed BBQ Chicken With Vegies

2009-05-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

What I love about this chicken is the nice spice blend that goes on before I brush it with honey. Very tasty combination and a definite recipe keeper from Cooking Light

Stir Fried Shrimp With Garlic And Chile Sauce

2009-05-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

This has a nice spicy hint. It looks similar to the Thai shrimp dish I did a few days back but I promise it is completely different in taste. This one is spicy and filled with garlic vs. the Thai ones has a nice coconut taste. From Cooking Light

Grilled Chicken with Tomatillo Sauce

2009-05-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

Click on picture for a bigger more delicious view.. :)

Yet another borrowed recipe from Cooking Light. This is also another winner. Grilled Chicken with a tomatillo sauce. The rice also has a nice hint of Chile in Adobe sauce. Very healthy and so tasty. This chicken is marinaded for a couple of hours before hitting the grill and it makes the flavor of the garlic and olive oil stick nicely.

Turkeycake

2009-05-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I found a tasty recipe at my most used magazine collection of Cooking Light. This is actually a recipe for what to do with your left over Thanksgiving Turkey. I'm loving this recipe so much, it's the combination of cheese, bread crumbs, potato and turkey that makes this delicious Turkey Cake so yummy. I added to this meal a tablespoon of Orange Marmalade in replacement of the cranberry sauce. :)

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

2009-05-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Click on picture for close up view :)

I found such a tasty Chicken Sandwich recipe in the Cooking Light Magazine. This is a recipe keeper. The only adjustments I made, I used whole wheat kaiser rolls and 3 more TB's of hot sauce, I could not taste the heat with the 3 TB that was requested.

Strawberry Shortcake With Sugar Lavender Glaze

2009-04-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

click on the picture for a more bigger, clear view...

I made my first Old Fashion Strawberry shortcake, I know these have been around forever, but I tasted one for the first time just recently. The glaze recipe was something I wanted to add to this, so I made sugar water syrup with 3 TB of Lavender leaves once it got thick I used a sieve to discard the flowers and poured this into the strawberries for additional flavor. It came out so tasty. The shortcake itself reminded me of a scone. The left over shortcake will taste great in the morning with some Orange Marmalade inserted inside.... and with my ice cold chai...heaven...

Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp

2009-04-24T11:20:00.001-07:00

For this week's Magazine Monday post, hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice I found this delectable Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp. I love Thai Food it is my favorite ethnic food. I love the taste of coconut in just about anything. When I came across this recipe I had to give it a go. Did I mention how easy this is to make? 30 minutes! I found this recipe in Cooking Light.

Cupcake With Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Filling...

2009-04-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

Adapted from Baking Bites

Gnocchi With Wild Mushroom and Sage Ragu

2009-04-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

For this week's Magazine Monday Event, hosted by Cream Puffs in Venice, I found a tasty Gnocchi recipe in Bon Appetit.

I love Italian food but rarely ever make it or eat it for that matter. Italian food is on the heavier side of what I'm use to eating. Every once in a great while I head over to my favorite Italian restaurant and fall in love with it all over again. I can't eat Italian food without wine, it's a necessity for me and I'm not sure why it has to be that way. Lucky for me, there was a lovely white wine recommendation in Bon Appetit that I tried and loved with my dish, it's called Torrontes. There's only one dish that I always order on the menu of any Italian restaurant and that's Gnocchi. So, when I came across a glimpse of a Gnocchi recipe in the new May 2009 issue of Bon Appetit I just had to give it a try. There is no picture, which usually leaves me wondering if I want to try a recipe not knowing how it should come out, but I'm very aware how Gnocchi are supposed to taste and look like. Let me start by saying, this was not easy at all for me. Dealing with dough and getting it to the right consistency is a struggle, I don't find it a problem with baking but it is definitely more difficult to deal with in cooking. My Gnocchi came out incredibly soft, the sauce was a nice light white wine base, though I do prefer the thick white sauce and would hope to find that version in the future, this did satisfy me and I'm really sleepy after eating it too. My tummy feels heavy. I loved the way this turned out, but considering I made my Gnocchi from scratch it was time consuming.

Gnocchi
2 Pounds russet potatoes
kosher salt
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp ground black peper
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1-1 1/4 cups AP flour unbleached plus more for dusting

Ragu-
1/3 cup Olive Oil
4 Cups mixed wild mushrooms
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 TB chopped garlic
1 TB minced fresh sage leaves
2 TB minced Shallots
1 Cup Torrontes White Wine
1 cup heavy cream
Parmesan cheese as needed
Parsely 1 TB

Still looking for the link to this on Bon appetit, the directions to the recipe to follow. I'm not sure why it is not posted on their site, so I'm typing this up straight from the magazine.

Gnocchi
Preheat oven to 375F. Bake Potatoes on a bed of kosher salt in a baking dish, about 45-50 mins. (I boiled them it was much faster). While still warm, halve potatoes and scoop out the flesh. Pass the flesh through a potato ricer, or push through a coarse sieve until you have about 4 cups. In a bowl, combine potato, egg yolks, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Work the mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add 1 cup of the flour and knead, patting and pressing the dough until all the flour is incorporated. Add the additional 1/4 cup flour if the dough feels too moist. It should be soft but shouldn't stick to your hands. Transfer dough to a work surface and roll into a 3-inch-diameter log. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll dough into 1/2 inch diameter ropes. Flour the ropes, then cut crosswise at 1/2 inch intervals. Shape the gnocchi with the back of a fork or cook as is. Let dry at room temperature for 20 mins before cooking.

Ragu-
Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Add oil, then sprinkle in mushrooms. Without stirring, let mushrooms caramelize for 7-8 mins. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and cook, stirring for about 1 min. Add the sage and shallots and cook for 1 min. Add the Torrontes and reduce by 1/2. Then add cream and simmer until slightly reduced to sauce consistency, about 5 mins. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi. They are done when they float to the surface. Lift gnocchi out with a skimmer and transfe to a platter. Pour sauce over the gnocchi. Grate Permesan over the top, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

Black Bean, Chicken and Red Pepper Soup..Stew...

2009-04-06T17:30:00.001-07:00

After seeing Black Bean Red Pepper Soup at Closet Cooking and a protein version of it at Annie's Eats, I decided I wanted protein in it so I went with Annie's eats. Both look tasty..with slightly different ingredients. When I get burned out on meat as I always do, I'll have Kevin's vegetable version of it. This is a tasty black bean dish that I will keep on my repeat menu.

Strawberry Loaf Bread

2009-04-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the baby creeping up on my shots. I cut a piece off from this and put it on the table and started taking pictures, all of a sudden through my camera lens I see this little hand reach over the top of the table and pick a piece off so I naturally kept shooting. Than seconds later you see a little finger scooping out the strawberry. My little munchkin loved this bread. I started off making my favorite strawberry scone recipe but realized I lacked the yogurt to complete it so I added some of my own ingredients in there and decided to go with a loaf bread. It came out quite tasty and seeing that my little one really liked it, it was a successful experiment.

2 cups AP Flour
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 tsp BP
1/2 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Cake Flour
1/4 Cup Orange Juice
2 Cups Strawberries
1/4 Cup Heavy Creme

Mix it all together with rubber spatula just until combined if it is too moist and not that of dough consistency add more cake flour. Brush the top with Milk and sprinkle brown sugar and bake until it springs back or still slightly soft in the middle.

Scallops Wrapped in Bacon With A Spicy Sauce

2009-04-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Scallops is a hard meal to have as a main meal. This dish for instances works out perfectly as a nice appetizer unless you find yourself eating 4 or more of them. I came across a spicy sauce recipe from Tyler Florence, one of my favorite cooks to watch from the Food Network. I made this for dinner, but in the future I will do it as an appetizer as how Tyler Florence makes them in his recipe.

Asian Inspired Salmon

2009-04-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

"There's a party in my tummy....so yummy..so yummy..."

If you have kids you know where this comes from ;) ....I found yet another amazing Asian inspired Salmon recipe at Blog Chef, I can really taste the soy sauce and garlic in this one and it's a keeper. I wanted to remake that Misoyaki Salmon recipe I made a week ago but I didn't have most of the ingredients on hand so I found a recipe that requires ingredients I always have in my frig.

French Lentil Soup

2009-03-31T17:34:00.001-07:00

It's been beautifully sunny since the start of spring, but we still get that cold brisk in the air as soon as 4 pm roles around. So, I'm still in the mood for soups. I found a tasty looking French Lentil Soup at Bon Appetit and decided as I had a little conference call with my husband that a light side would work out great with this like Sushi. :) Salmon and Tuna to be exact....

I went to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner last night, best steakhouse ever. I had a nice juicy fillet topped with asparagus and crab meat along with creamy spinach in Parmesan and we topped it off with the best souffle I've ever had in my life and I can just say it is one of my top 4 restaurants in California. I give 5 stars and I recommend this place to anyone that lives near one. I've had their food before but I'm still impressed every time I visit. It's funny because I've had their food in 3 different locations, I never seem to eat at the same location.

Plan on visiting California soon? Or maybe you are lucky enough to have one of these in your home town, if so check out the food... you will not be disappointed:
Morton's Steakhouse
Roy's Hawaiian BBQ
La Finestra
Rockin Baja Lobster

Mango Kulfi Pie...

2009-03-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

I've attempted the mango dessert I've been wanting to try after making this Strawberry one. It's actually pretty easy and it taste just like Mango Kulfi without all the work. Using only mango pulp, sweetened milk and some crushed cardamon seeds, freeze for 2 hours and my invention is made. :) I have this sitting in a wafer cookie pie crust.

French Onion Soup with Ciabata Bread

2009-03-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight for dinner I needed to have cheese, its' been so long and my favorite cheese is Fontina. So, what better idea than to have French Onion Soup. Perfect, light and satisfying.... I grabbed this recipe from Chief genius herself, Giada!

Spicy Okra

2009-03-25T21:09:00.001-07:00

So, I'm on an Indian kick the last couple of days and I borrowed another recipe from Manjula's kitchen. This is so tasty! The area of India my husband grew up in this dish is called Pinda. Very similar to how my mother in law makes it and so tasty. That's the thing about India, there are so many different languages from the North to the South, so many different flavors of food from how one area makes it to the next. I know my mother in law uses chili powder and ginger garlic paste in almost everything she cooks and noticed in Manjula's Kitchen she doesn't, yet they both taste really good just slightly different. It's interesting..

Indian Yellow Fried Rice

2009-03-24T21:08:00.001-07:00

There are only two kinds of rice I enjoy eating, Thai Fried Rice and Indian Yellow fried rice, just scrumptious. If I can eat rice as my main meal and be satisfied that is how I know it is good, unlike plain white rice, Mexican or Chinese rice where it needs to accompany some other dish in order to enjoy it. I'm just not a fan of a plate full of food, your main dish needs to be so good that you don't need a side dish, and rice usually is never a main meal, that is until I found a very tasty Yellow Fried Rice from Manjula's Kitchen, I'm so excited to have found this blog, there are so many recipes I'm excited about trying in the future.

Chicken Marsala

2009-03-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

I don't use chicken breast very often when I cook, I prefer the taste of legs and thighs. So, aside from a few stir fry dishes, I make a tasty Chicken Marsala dish. It's best to either buy pounded chicken or pound it down yourself to 1/4 inch thickness as the flavors of the sauce and a nice thin chicken piece taste better than a big thick breast of meat. I believe I started this recipe using all recipes, but added my own flavors each time I made this dish for more flavor. So my version is as follows:

For 2 Breasts-

1/4 cup of flour
1 tsp of cayenne
1 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of Oregano
1 tsp of salt and pepper
mix and dredge the chicken in the spices once the chicken has been pounded thin. Sauté in 2 TB butter and oil. Brown and set aside.

Cut up 1 large onion or shallot, 1 package of Mushrooms of your choice and sauté in that same pan, add 2 TB oil and butter. Once this has become soft, add 1 cup of marsala wine, 1/4 cup of chicken broth and 1/3 cup of cream, whisk and let this cook for 20 mins or so, until the sauce has thicken slightly. Add chicken back to pan let that cook for an additional 15 mins coating chicken in the sauce and keep lid on. I make a side of sautéd zuchinni to go with it but you can also make whole wheat spaghetti pasta to sit this on top of as it is traditionally done this way for less carbs I cut the spaghetti part out.

Strawberry Frozen Pie

2009-03-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've had this little Pillsbury baking book for almost two years now and every summer I swear to make this and don't. Well, let's call this my intro to Spring....

My great grandmother from my mom's side of the family made this for us when we were kids. I can still remember my first bite of this dessert, I remember looking at mom and saying, "This is so good I can eat the whole thing myself." The strawberry flavor is subtle, it is more like a vanilla creme with a hint of strawberry. Than you have chunks of frozen strawberries in it. My next attempt at this dessert will be with the use of Mangoes, simply because it is a all around favorite fruit in my house. Though I have witness the mangoes coming out all over the place in the stores recently I know they are not at the peek of their season yet so the color or juiciness is not right yet as it would be in the next couple of months. Though I'm not sure if frozen mangoes would do this type of dessert any justice I want to try it out to see.

You will have to email me to get the recipe for this. I'm okay with posting recipes from magazines and food bloggers because I can link them but when I get the recipe from a book I feel bad to post it because I'm sure the author would prefer the customer to buy his/her book instead of finding their recipes all over online. It kind of defeats the purpose of having a published book right? :)

Misoyaki Salmon

2009-03-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

I think I stumbled on the most delicious Salmon Recipe yet... I found it at Stickey, Goey, Creamy, Chewy. The polenta I made to go with it was like eating paste so I will not bother posting that sucker.

Porto's Bakery- Happy Birthday To Me.. ;)

2009-03-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

One of the best bakeries around town is Porto's, and most people that love the taste of really amazing baked goods knows about this place. You must love sweets to appreciate this place. For my birthday today, my husband got me the triple white Chocolate Mouse cake.....Can I just say, how @*#@**^! insane this cake is? Big pieces of shaved white Chocolate on top.....

That's very thin layers of white chocolate shavings you see on top and around the cake.

BBQ Smoked Shrimp

2009-03-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite type of shrimp dishes to make. Though I'm not a big shrimp fan to begin with, it's not so bad to have every once in a while. This recipe came from Food and Wine May 2006. Just by looking at the stove in these pictures, this was way before I got my new appliances that's how long this recipe has been around, I most likely have been making it since the Food and Wine issue came out in May of 2006. I posted this recipe when I had my old blog and I'm honestly too lazy to take a new picture. :)

Sorry about the delay on getting the link, this was difficult to locate.

Some Kind Of Beautiful....

2009-03-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

I had to share my beautiful pictures of the Mountain getaway trip we went on this weekend....
Click on the picture to see a bigger version. :)

Since we met up with some friends there, I decided to bake up a tasty apple pie, though I have posted pictures of it before I think it photos nicely before the top crust has been added.

Cookies With Chocolate Filling

2009-03-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Cookies with Chocolate Creme filling. I found this in an European Butter advertisement in my cooking light magazine. I am one to believe what kind of butter you use makes all the difference in the taste of what you are cooking and baking. Though I know lots of bakers are big believers of unsalted butter for baking, I've actually found it to be better using salted butter or European butter for what I bake up.

Striped Bass Meuniere

2009-03-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

I found this delicious recipe in Cooking Light . Though I did not use Bass, but any firm fish was recommended either Mahi Mahi or Halibut. I used Halibut and I added to this recipe 1 tsp of Cayenne and 1 tsp of Mexican Chili Powder and it gave it so much more flavor. As a side I also found in Cooking Light this spicy broccoli with grape tomatoes.

2009-02-23T20:16:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than an Ice Chai....

ok....so maybe Crème brûlée might be just as good...

I'm lagging on the recipes I know, I've been making repeats lately but I have a few up my sleeve this week. ;)

Shortbread Tart with Cream Cheese Filling

2009-02-08T14:01:00.000-08:00

I love tarts...

It is a Shortbread Tart with cream cheese topping.

cinnamon sprinkles to give my heart some color... ;)

It's heart theme week...for valentines day!

Sopas using left over Enchilada chicken

2009-02-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

What to do with Enchilada left overs....

I love to make Sopas the next day with my left overs. I just dump the rest of the chicken left over into my Enchilada sauce and let that cook and get thick.

Pull out your Masa and make your little disk sink in the middle and place Enchilada mixture on top and sprinkle some Ranchero Cheese and there you have the perfect lunch. :)

Mmmm...I love this dish.

Chocolate Lava Cake- Early Valentines Day idea ...

2009-02-07T13:57:00.001-08:00

This is a valentine treat if you haven't come up with one for your special someone yet. This is so simple to make, it's all about the timing.

I bought 60% Valrhona Chocolate for this, I just think it is the best chocolate for truffles and baking in general but you can use Ghiradeli too. You will need 3 (2) ounce bars of chocolate.

In a double broiler, whisk 2.5 ounces of chocolate with 1/4 cup of heavy cream
than place in freezer to chill.

In a double broiler again, whisk 3.5 ounces of chocolate and 1 stick of butter

With hand mixer blend in 2 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 cup Cake flour. You need to be quick about the eggs as you don't want them to cook in the hot chocolate. Once combined add to prepared greased remkin cups.

Scoop up with a mellon baller the chocolate you placed in the freezer and drop into each remkin cup. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 mins.

If you have chocolate left over, you can also melt it over the top of your remkin once you remove it from the cup as a nice ganache as seen in photo 2 and freeze for 20 mins to give it a nice hard topping or eat with it melting all over the place. Either way is just fantastic...

Mmmmm....

Authentic Mexican Chicken Enchiladas

2009-02-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

I grew up on authentic Mexican food so I have a dislike for Tex-Mex Food. My dad is Mexican and my grandmother taught my mom some really delicious meals. The difference between Tex-Mex vs. Authentic Mexican food is in the intensity of the flavors and time spent cooking the meal. For those of you that don't know Mexican food was introduced to the Texas folks way back in the early 1900 hundreds when Mexicans crossed the border into Texas and what the Texans did was mix their flavors with the Mexican food and that is how it came to be Tex Mex. For instance, Fajitas is not Mexican food, it is Tex Mex. I remember some one once asking me "Don't you order Fajitas when you go to a Mexican restaurant?" As if that was the thing to order. I said no, in fact, I've never order Fajitas before, I've tasted my husbands order of them but I'm not a fan. I need lots of sauce in my Mexican food and I need to taste the combination of peppers. Tex-Mex version incorporates flavors that take away from the taste of the pepper. Usually a big chain of restaurants is what you will find in Tex Mex cooking and little small hole in the wall restaurants is where you will find your authentic Mexican food right down to the tortillas being made from scratch at a table right in front of you. I definitely do go to Tex Mex restaurants but I don't consider it Mexican food but rather American.

Authentic Enchiladas is a time consuming dish to make. There is one way to easily tell if you are eating authentic or Tex Mex enchiladas and that is by the color of the sauce and the texture. A very light color and loose sauce is Tex Mex and a dark color with a thicker sauce base is authentic. I make it from scratch, no can used condiments and a good 4-5 hour completion time. Well worth it and perfect to make on a cold and rainy day.

Enchilada sauce:
You start with your basic Chili Pod or if you want some real heat some Mexicali Chili Pods.
1.) First start off by taking out the stem and removing all seeds.
2.) Than toast in a pan, until slightly darken or dark spots appear on the chili pod
3.) Soak in some warm water for 2 hours or until soft. (do not boil them that will cause you to remove the roasted flavor from the chili pod and don't allow them to soak for more than 2 hours that too will remove the roasted flavor)

As this is soaking you can throw in a pot some water to cover all your boned chicken pieces about 8-12 pieces to serve 4-6 people. You can remove the fat first to get the sliminess off the chicken or you can remove the fat after you boil it, keep in mind you will be using this broth for the sauce.)
Add 4 TB of Chicken Bouillon. You will find this in the Mexican section of the grocery store. Add one chopped onion, 1 TB of garlic, Salt and pepper (to taste) bring this to a boil. When chicken flakes easily off the bone it's done. Let it cool. reserve chicken broth.

Back to the sauce: once the chili pods have softened add them to the blender, along with 5 chopped tomatillos , 1 Roasted Tomato , 4-6 roasted red peppers (depending on the heat you want) this is a semi hot taste add more for more heat and less for mild. Plus 1 TB Garlic, Salt, Pepper and 1 Cup of your cooked chicken broth in which you are cooking your chicken in. Blend. You should have a really nice medium dark red color thick sauce with specs of black from the roasted peppers. Once this is blended really good, add it to a large sauce pan and let it simmer, it will darken even more in the pan, if the sauce is too thick and it usually is add more chicken broth until it is a nice semi thick sauce.

Back to your chicken: remove fat and shred chicken from the bone. discard bones and fat. On a separate plate dice green onions, and cut slices of Ranchero cheese, you can also cut some radish and cabbage and scoop of sour cream if you like that as a topping.

Heat Oil in a small separate sauce pan, cover entire pan in oil as you are now going to deep fry your corn tortillas. Fry for 3-5 seconds until the tortilla hardens in the pan just slightly. Using your tongs, turn the tortilla over and fry the other side. Have your enchilada sauce in the burner next to it as you now will add the fried tortilla to the sauce and coat it on one side then turn quickly to coat the other side. If you leave it in the sauce too long it will break to pieces, you need to be quick about turning it. Using a large spoon to easily transfer tortilla to a plate that should be sitting on another one of your burners as this could get really messy. Add your shredded chicken, sliced cheese, onions and roll the tortilla quickly as it will be hot. Sprinkle with some Cotija cheese set aside to let the cheese melt. Repeat procedure until you have all of your enchiladas plated than top with cabbage, radish, sour cream and salsa. Goes good with a side of fried beans and cheese. I'm not a big rice fan but that is usually how it is served at restaurants.

Apple Pie Scone- My Signature

2009-01-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

There's one thing I can eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and be satisfied and that's a scone. I just love scones so much that I really think I can possibly live off of them. I decided to make my own scone, my signature scone using my favorite ingredients. I got my inspiration from Baking Bites, her Strawberry Scone blew me away I never tasted a scone so good. I used the basic scone recipe and added my favorite ingredients from there.

Baking Bites Strawberry Scone (you must try this)

Apple Pie Scone-

Basic Scone
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Pwdr
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
4-5 Spoons of Butter

I added to my scone recipe

1/4 cup Unsweetened applesauce
1/4 buttermilk
2 Chopped and peeled Fuji Apples
2 TB Brown Sugar

Icing-
I used 2 TB Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Cup Confection Sugar

I got the icing idea from Baking Bites Strawberry glaze, with the exception of using applesauce.

All you do is add all dry ingredients together, cut butter into the flour mixture until large clumps are gone, then mix in the rest of the ingredients, cut into triangle shapes and bake at 350 for 15 mins or until golden on top. The apples still have a nice little crunch and soft in the inside, the crust flakes on top but is moist inside. So delicious.

Add glaze topping when the scones are still warm and it really taste like apple pie. ;)

I have pictures to post, I won't be able to get them up until Sunday but they look as good as they taste I promise. I'm proud of myself for coming up with this I really am, I don't come up with recipes if you are a regular on my blog you know I'm all about trying everyone else's recipes so this is really exciting for me. I think also if I had some granola on me it would make such a lovely topping sprinkled over the icing.

FYI: These should be put in the oven the next day to reheat to keep the outside crunchy otherwise they go very soft and not scone like texture.

Smothered Steak Burger With Zucchini Fries

2009-01-17T22:54:00.000-08:00

I found this burger recipe in Cooking light and wanted to give it a try, though I enjoyed the mushroom sauce and all, I think the meat I purchased was not up to par, I feel like if I used ground sirloin as instructed in the recipe I would've liked the results better so I shall try this one again soon. I found a great side with my burger, some yummy and really easy to make zucchini fries that I came across on Retorte's site. Love them! I plan on making these more often as a great side dish with just about anything.

Beer Battered Fish and Chips

2009-01-17T22:40:00.001-08:00

I love fish and chips and love it even more that they are so easy to make. There's two things I've come to learn about Fish and Chips that I have made so many times in the passed, one that you need Halibut fish to make them the ultimate tasting fish and two that you use a really nice dark heavy beer in the batter like Samuel Adams. With that being said, I introduce you my favorite fish and chips recipe. I can't find the link to this, I grabbed it from Gourmet Magazine May of 2006.

Feta Burger

2009-01-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'm revisiting an old recipe, It's a recipe I had once posted to my other blog that I have now redirecting to this blog. I found this Feta Burger to be so tasty. Chunks of feta cheese buried deep into a thick lean piece of meat, mmm. It is good and I actually thought this was a very clever shot I had grabbed of it so many years ago, it is my burger vs. the magazine's picture of the burger pretty close if not exact right? I adapted this recipe from Bon Appetit

Chai Cheesecake with Ginger Crust

2009-01-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have one more recipe to post from the Holidays and I'm done, it is the Chai Cheesecake. This struck my interest when I came across it and immediately I put it aside to give it a go. Especially since my husband's entire family are huge Chai Tea lovers. So the idea to make this for them specifically was my challenge, one that it could be just as good as chai tea or two that it could be too strong for a cheesecake. One thing about chai tea, not that kind at Starbucks but the real Indian Chai using a very strong spice called cardamon is it can overtake the taste of the actual chai tea itself. I had my concerns while into the process of making it, but it turned out very nicely with a hint of caradmon spice, well, that is until a few days in the frig and I found it too be incrediably strong and not tasty at all. I had put some in a remkin cup for us to try here at home as I made them the cheesecakes, but by the 3rd day I threw it out because the really strong caradmon taste must have incorporated into the cheesecake as days passed. So, it is very tasty if you love chai but I recommend to eat it the day it is made or the day after. This recipe was adapted from Bon appetit 2007

Once again, sorry for the crappy photo but you can click on the link to see a good picture of it.

Key Lime Cheesecake

2009-01-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

My mom is huge on tart desserts, for Christmas Eve this year I made just for her a Key Lime Cheesecake, which surprisingly is very sweet and tart at the same time. In the pictures, you will see a very thin yellow layer over the crust, that is a very tart lime curd made out of just key limes and several egg yolks with sugar. Since the cheesecake part is sweet with just a hint of lime flavors this tartness at the bottom really pulls this dessert together. I actually made this last year for Christmas Eve as well and got a request for it this year too. I had grabbed this recipe from Bon Appetit 2006,

I know the pictures really needed more light and focus, I was not going to post this at all because of it but I figured if someone was looking for a recipe to this, they wouldn't care how my pictures came out but just that they found a recipe for it, click on the link for a good photo of it. :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

May 2009 bring all the positive people more happiness this year than 2008 did!

Apple Pie...My Favorite...

2008-12-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite pie's of all time is the infamous Apple Pie. I just love the taste of apples with cinnamon and a nice crunchy crust. I took a pie crust recipe from a different pie found in one of my magazines and used the same pie filling that I always use. The last time I made apple pie the crust was a disaster, I decided to take a different more easier route this time and it worked to my advantage. No mess and oh so delicious. My husband, sister and her hubby gave me the thumbs up on this and in fact we finished it by the next day. :)

Pecan Pie With Oatmeal Crust

2008-12-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

So, let me get to the desserts I made for the Holiday, starting with a very easy Maple Pecan Pie.
What makes this pie different from any other? I used Oatmeal for the crust, what a great idea right? I won't take the credit for it though, I grabbed this recipe from Cooking Light. I myself am not a fan of Pecan pie, but find many people are so I made a pie for almost every one in my circle of family and friends to enjoy.

The Holidays were so boring for me this year, I wanted them to just come and go and be done with. Mostly because I didn't get to enjoy them in my own home, it involved me sitting for endless hours and it felt like I just zoomed in and out of my Parents house in a hurry Christmas Eve since we had to go to both my parents and his parents house. I did get to enjoy some Posole, Tamales, Roast Beef and Champorado before rushing out the door of my parents house. One more holiday to go and I can start planning my vacation for next year's Holiday season to avoid them all together. I loved Christmas day because I not only got to cook I got to see my little one get excited over her Christmas toys. My man got me Giada's Kitchen cook book that I really wanted and I can't wait to try out some of those recipes.

Rib Eye Roast

2008-12-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

Later in the Evening on Christmas Day, as if the Ham didn't keep us full for majority of the day I tried the Rib Eye Roast recipe that also came in my newsletter from Bon Appetit. Though, I bought Pork meat it too came out really nice. It was the first time ever I got to ignite the pan into flames, ok, so my husband had the honors of doing so because I was too chicken to do it. I pulled him away from the Laker game which he paused and played it back so he didn't miss a minute of it. The sauce was really tasty using cognac and a full bottle of red wine. I let this roast for 6 hours and the meat came out so incredibly tender it just flaked off the bone. I recommend this recipe! I only had this picture of half of the rib roast as I packed the other half of this up for my sister and her man to take home to enjoy.

Bourbon Glazed Ham

2008-12-29T01:11:00.000-08:00

For Christmas Day, we are usually eating Christmas Eve leftovers or head over to a Jewish Pizza place as it is the only place open on Christmas day. This year I decided to make the traditional Christmas day meals, starting off with a Bourbon Glazed Ham for brunch with a side of green bean casserole. I was lucky enough to find this recipe from a newsletter I received from Bon Appetit just a couple of days before Christmas. Though in this recipe it calls for Bourbon, I opted with Cognac and it came out superb. With the nice crunch of pecans in the sauce just put this recipe over the top.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Happy late Hanuka... !

Baby caught messing with the tree....
I have ornaments popping up everywhere but the tree!

I have some recipes to post, a couple still in editing that I have posted before this post. Will get them up asap.

Christmas Baking..

2008-12-14T14:51:00.000-08:00

And so the Christmas Baking begins....

Sugar Cookies
recipe to follow...

Though I enjoy this Holiday very much, I think it's unfortunate how the economy is doing and all the jobs lost this year, I just don't feel enthusiastic about Christmas. I got a ticket a week ago, and it is true what they say about getting a ticket from a cop, bad things are to follow. Cops are like a black cat crossing your path. My husband got into an accident the next day with the other car and it will be in the shop for the rest of this and next month. Christmas can be irritating too, I can't stand it when people tell you what they want for Christmas, I mean I understand if it's something a group of people discuss together but when someone just announces what they want for Christmas and it be something expensive or cash, it freaking irritates me to no end. Unless you're a child why would a freaking Adult tell you what they want for Christmas? It's just so terribly ghetto. When people ask me what I want for Christmas you know how I respond? I say, I don't need anything, I really don't want anything. The offer is gracious but I rather they buy for my daughter as Christmas is for the kids anyways not us grown ups. :) I didn't learn that until I had my daughter, you become less selfish when you have kids of your own. (At least for some of us anyways). Before the baby I was all about the great deals in the mall, what was I going to buy myself. Not anymore, I have too much.

Chili Rellenos

2008-12-10T14:41:00.001-08:00

My mom's Chili Rellenos with Ranchero Cheese and spicy ground beef..... A nice homemade chicken soup or broth with tomatoes in it would really compliment this dish if it is poured over the chili relleno by a few tablespoons. Not too much you don't want it soagy but a few tablespoons will give it a nice saucy taste.

All you do is buy some Pasilla chiliis, fry them until the skin turns a slightly darker color then remove to cool. Once cooled, removed the skin, slice open a pocket area of the chili remove the seeds and stem insert as much ranchero cheese as you'd like and some spicy ground beef (just stir fry ground beef in cayenne and smoked paprika spice two tables spoons each.) Once that is done roll the Chili in flour, than dip the chili in an egg that has been beaten to a slight peek and fry in olive oil, toss and fry the other side about 3 mins each side. Wa la....

Magazine Monday- Apple salad with walnuts and dried Cherries

2008-12-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

For this weeks Magazine Monday event, I have a new favorite salad recipe I found in Bon Appetit September 2008 issue. So quick and fast to prepare, you always need one of these simple recipes for days you just don't have the time to cook. The combination of walnuts, thinly sliced apples and very light and sweet dressing topped off with dried cranberries, though the recipe calls for cherries, I substituted for cranberries and found the flavors very tasty. I love good recipes finds.....just love it.

Stocking Stuffers- The Baking Books....

2008-12-01T16:29:00.000-08:00

I really want to try the cocoa cookies that Retore made, I think those would taste so good sandwiched in that new Dreyer's Limited Edition Peppermint Ice Cream that is out right now.
oh yeah...

If I can find a stocking wide enough, this is my rather large stocking stuffer list.....I suppose I need to hang Santa's Bag over my fireplace... hehe..

Giada's Kitchen- as recommended by Cream Puffs
Field Guide To Cookies- by blogger Dessert First
Italian Desserts by Anthony Parkinson
The Sweet Melissa Baking Book By Melissa Murphy
Tartine By Elizabeth Prueitt
The Essence of Chocolate by Robert Steinberg
The New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Bittersweet by Alice Medrich
Madhur Jaffery's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffery
Sweet Maria's Italian Cookie Tray by Maria Bruscino Sanchez
Biscotti and other low fat cookies by Maria Polushkin

Blueberry Cheese Danish- In the Making

2008-11-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

Solvang is the place to go to get the largest variety of danish's served in the smallest town in California. There's no point going there without picking up one. It had me thinking the other day, I am a good 3-4 hour drive away from Solvang and I sat there and questioned myself if I was up to the challenge. I did it, I made my first danish and it was a smashing success, except for the part that it grew in the oven into a rather large version of a danish. Nothing like the picture in my magazine, but nonetheless it tasted really nicely with my iced chai this morning. ;)

Recipe adapted from The Bread Basket www.tasteofhome.com

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding With Espresso Whipped Cream

2008-11-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

For this week's Magazine Monday Event, hosted by Retorte, I have a very old recipe I've been saving to try for the Holidays. I finally used it and I highly recommended this bread pudding recipe found in 2005 issue of Food and Wine Magazine.

When I came across this recipe years ago, I new I had to give it a try during one of these Holiday seasons. Who doesn't like Krispy Kreme right? I love bread pudding and what better time to make this than during the colder months. Though this is the first time I ever made bread pudding, I did find this recipe easy to follow but a bit time consuming after each step to complete it. Unfortunately nobody believed me during Thanksgiving dinner when I told them this Bread Pudding was made out of Krispy Kreme donuts. If only they lived in my house to smell the donuts cooking in the oven. What I love about these donuts are the really nice soft texture, even though all bread puddings are of that consistency, this one keeps a really nice firmness as well. The Espresso Cream topping takes the cake, if you love coffee don't skip this step it really is the cherry on top. It was a beautiful finish to an already tasty dessert.

Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

2008-11-25T12:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm not cooking this big feast of a dinner as my mom loves to put her all into this holiday. I'm eager to make the desserts though, last year I went with the traditional Maple Pecan Pie, but this year I wanted to try a different path. How often do I get to make a cheesecake? I pulled out Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home To Yours" and decided to go with the Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake recipe. I've been wanting to try this recipe since I bought the book last year but I'm only willing to make such a dessert unless I have a large gathering that can help us eat it up. :) Excuse my slice of cheesecake picture, as I always forget to run the knife under cold water first and this is what you get when you don't do that. :)

I also have a few other desserts up my sleeve...

Coconut Crusted Salmon With Tamarind Barbecue Sauce

2008-11-23T22:13:00.000-08:00

I'm always looking for new ways to make Salmon, I came across this recipe and thought the ingredients sounded interesting together. Turmeric with Coconut? Yet this came together nicely, the taste of a rather strong spice as Turmeric with a subtle hint of coconut and panko combination worked out really well. The sauce was sweet as Tamrind is suppose to be but the use of shallots, tomato paste and ground red pepper gives this sauce just the right texture to satisfy my palate. We cleaned our plates with this dish. The recipe was adapted from Cooking Light.

Magazine Monday's- New Mexico's Chili Glazed Chicken with hominy polenta

2008-11-19T11:11:00.000-08:00

For this week's Magazine Monday event I wanted to try something out of the new issue of Bon Appetit for December 2008. I wanted something healthy and this New Mexico's Chili Glazed Chicken with Hominy Polenta sounded healthy. I love hominy, it tasted really nice and light with this chicken and the sauce was very sweet and spicy but if you want heat you should add in pepper flakes for that. It only took 30 minutes to make. I love quick and light meals. I really liked the way the dish came out but the next time I make it I will add less honey and more spice, it was more sweet than what I'm use to.

Shrimp Curry

2008-11-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

I made this very delicious Shrimp Curry last night. The taste is very similar to Thai cooking but the dish is South Indian food. I was told South Indian food uses lots of coconut milk like Thai cooking does. My husband's family is from Gujarat, the food is not sweet at all but rather spicy they don't use Coconut milk in their cooking. One of the fascinating aspects of India is the variety of languages and different food tastes that come between the North and the South. I prefer South Indian Food only because I love Thai food and there are very many similarities in the sweet and spicy flavors.

Recipe was adapted from Random House

Beer Chili

2008-11-07T16:58:00.001-08:00

Recipe Adapted from Bon Appetit

I was in need of a beer with dinner tonight so I had to come up with a dish that would go good with beer. What better dish than a chili made with a 12 oz beer added to it. I plan on making this again. I love good recipe finds.

Movies and Food.
Why is it every time I see a movie and the characters are drinking wine I must drink some too. Does anyone else do this? Every time I watched Ocean 11 and it's sequels, Brad Pitt was constantly munching on something it made me hungry for nuts. It's a mental thing, it really is. I wonder how many other people out there get hungry from watching movies? I'm not a popcorn fan, there's something about eating plain butter and salt that grosses me out. It makes no sense why they serve loud food at movie theaters, you can't hear the movie when you have a starving person sitting near you as they scoop and crunch for two hours with maybe breaks in between. Why not ice cream? It's quiet and so much more tasty.

:)

OBama Our Leader....

2008-11-05T11:51:00.000-08:00

Obama made a historical moment happen before millions of eyes across the Country yesterday and I'm so proud to be apart of that movement. It's reported that 95% of African American's voted for him, 65% of Hispanics and 60% of young voters. There's hope for change yet... I just remember the gut wrenching emotions that went through me when Bush became President, this time during this election, I am relieved and have nothing but restored hope in this Country again.

Pumpkin Cookies

2008-11-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

My little lady bug :)

I carved this pumpkin, not to bad eh.... :)

Recipe adapted from Joy The Baker.

Finding recipes that work out in my favor are always a treat, I'm so glad I came across these pumpkin cookies as I'm not much of a pumpkin fan to begin with but these worked out great. I will be making them again in the near future. I had told my mom all about them, so I think I'll be baking her up a batch soon.

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween, I took my little one out trick or treating for the first time and though she was shy to meet the people at the doors, she took the candy they handed to her without a problem. (She doesn't eat candy but she likes people to give her stuff.) Someone down the street from us had put together a haunted house that stirred up a big attraction, as we got word of it on the street. We took a drive by and a rather large crowd gathered at the residence to take part in it. I love people that get into the Holiday spirit those are my kind of people that I enjoy having company with.

November 4th Will You Be Voting?

2008-10-30T11:24:00.001-07:00

It's really important to vote, I actually never have before in the past because I never felt like I had a good choice of candidates. This is the first time in many years that we have a great man that can lead this country in a positive way. I know I'm ready for Bush to leave the President seat, I've been ready since he set foot in office. Early voting has already taken place. I want to be apart of it don't you? Tomorrow is the deadline to mail in your voter registration forms, you can walk it in to the Secretary's Office thereafter.

Date: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 7:00AM – 8:00PM

What's Your Favorites?

2008-10-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

My pictures to my recipes are still stuck on my camera so I decided to make a post on my favorites until I can get the pictures uploaded and get myself back into posting recipes. I have some fun Holiday recipes to post....

I made this up out of boredom and fun, I"m keeping myself entertained ;)

What are my favorite places to eat at?
Roy's Hawaiian BBQ
La Provencal
Kings Fish
La Finestra
La Super Rica Taqueria
Sushi Mac
Carneys
Exotic Thai
Saladang Song
La Cabana
King Taco
Rockin Baja Lobster
Woodlands (south Indian food)

What would I eat every week if it wouldn't make me gain weight?
Gnocchi and Flautas

Dessert of Choice?
Creme Brulee....following very closely behind that are cheesecake and Shrikhand

What will I not eat unless starving and it was my only choice?
Brains, Liver, snails, Cow's Tongue ect.....

Favorite Ice Cream:
Mint Chocolate Chip.....peanut butter cup is a close 2nd

Favorite Fruit:
Mango....strawberries are a close 2nd

Favorite Vegetable:
Zucchini.....spinach is a close 2nd

Favorite Alcoholic drink: Dirty Martini
Favorite beer- Pale Ale
Favorite Wine- Red Bicyclette at the moment (all of them are good)

Most Common drink with my meals?
Water Or Ice Tea

Favorite ethnic food?
Thai or French

What is always kept in stock in my frig?
Milk, Cheese, Vegies, Garlic, Onions, Fruit, Beer, yogurt, Butter, Soy Sauce, Cilantro, Chai Mix

Choice of Fish?
Halibut

I'm Standing at the check out and feel a sudden sugar rush, what do I pick up?
Twix

Am I a freezer junkie or believe in keeping it fresh?
I keep it fresh.

What's in my freezer?
Ice Cream, sugar snaps, Vodka, batteries, strawberries, Okra, Spinach, puff pastry sheets

What do I rarely eat but do like...
I rarely eat Pizza, maybe once a year tops.

To Cook or To bake...
To bake..

Favorite thing to bake...
Cookies and Cheesecake

Restaurants of major disappointment: El Torito, Alcapulco, Outback Steak House, Mimi's Cafe and Crown & Anchor in Thousand Oaks.

You notice how hard it is to have ONE favorite thing without adding in a very close 2nd on all of these....

Tostadas

2008-10-15T21:33:00.001-07:00

I grew up on this one. Tostadas for those of you that don't know it is a Mexican dish using a deep fried corn tortilla which can be purchased in the grocery store already done and you add toppings of your choice. There are so many ways to make this using pork, beef, chicken or veggie style. Here's what I do...
I purchase a rotisserie chicken in the deli and shred it, I like to add some more flavor to it by adding 2 TB chili garlic sauce and about 4 TB of BBQ Sauce it gives it a nice sweet and spiciness and bake that up until it gets dark tips on the BBQ Sauce.
Re fry some beans (don't buy store bought, the taste does matter if you make your own)
boil the pinto beans for a couple of hours or until soft than heat some EVO in a pan and add the boiled beans using a spoon that will release the liquid from the boiled beans. Add very little of that liquid. Fry and mash, toss in about 1/4 cup of salsa and cilantro if it is not in your salsa already and you have some tasty re fried beans. After that's done you spread the beans on the Tostada than add some shredded chicken, lettuce, radish, some Cotija cheese and top with salsa. Quick and easy if you already have beans made from another dish and you want to finish off your left over beans the next day.

Apple Pie

2008-10-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

So, after watching the return of Pushing Daisies I was itching to make a pie. I went with the classic Apple Pie, using the double crest dough version from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home To Yours, " and decided to use the apple pie filling from All Recipes since I didn't have any Tapioca that was called for in Dorie's version. Though I thought of this apple pie adventure to be a disaster, with leaky pie crust all over my burning stove, I did use the incorrect pie pan but I knew this going into it. The sappy dough turned into a soup, but I didn't give up there. I decided to just add the apple pie mixture to the dough and see what comes of it. As I let it cook for longer than I was suppose to, and when I pulled it out of the oven I was unsure if this one will survive, I tasted it and was "eh" about it. I considered just tossing it out at one point but through it in the refrigerator anyways. The next day, I really wanted a slice, so I took a peak at it, cut a slice, tossed it in the microwave and gave it a second chance and was so glad that I did. It came out so damn good! The crust was a bit buttery and flaky which turned out really good. I also added the sauce mixture to the apples instead of topping the crust with it as instructed in the recipe but after reading the reviews lots of people did the same thing. It just made sense to do it that way. So, goes to show, even if it looks like a disaster doesn't mean it will taste like one. ;)

Indian Chicken Curry

2008-10-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. -Arthur C. Clarke, science fiction writer (1917-2008)

This recipe is adapted from my mother in law and for so long I just couldn't get it to work out not even half as good as hers. This last time I made it, I can't believe how great it came out, very similar to hers.

Saute a medium size yellow onion in 2 TB Canola or Veg oil, let it turn a golden brown color.
Add in ginger garlic paste 2 TB, allow it to get fragrant and change slightly in color
ADD in 1 diced Jalapeno
Add in 4 TB of Coriander/Cumin Powder mixture
ADD in 1 TB of Chili Powder or more depending on if you like heat.
ADD in 1 TB of Garam Masala
ADD in 1/4 TSP of Mustard powder (do not add more, you can seriously ruin the dish if you do) it is a very strong spice.
1 tsp cumin seeds
Stir fry the spices until it darkens just a tab (don't burn spices)
Add more oil if it looks dry, there should be some moisture in the spices so they don't burn.
Add in one diced tomato
add 1/2 cup of water
Add 2 Diced Potatoes
Let that slow cook and in the mean time you can cut up your chicken pieces, remove all fat. Dark meat is what my mother in law has always used so it is the only thing I use, chicken legs and thighs.
ADD chicken and cover, I let it cook for 1 hour. Toss in some Cilantro about 10 mins before serving.

Makes great left overs, if you have sauce left over when all the chicken has been eaten up, boil a few eggs and add them to the sauce and have that as a meal.

White Bean Turkey Chili

2008-10-03T11:08:00.001-07:00

There are two things to aim at in life; first to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. -Logan Pearsall Smith, essayist (1865-1946)

Recipe adapted from a very old issue of Cooking Light. If you love southern food this is a must try dish and grab your favorite cornbread recipe I was craving my mom's cornbread with this. I made this recipe as is without any changes and loved it!

Thai Style Halibut With Coconut Curry Sauce

2008-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

True remorse is never just a regret over consequences; it is a regret over motive. -Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author (1913-1983)

Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger, this is tasty but I plan to make changes to it for next time. I was expecting a sweet taste for it being Thai style so in that aspect I was disappointed because it didn't taste sweet at all to me. I think the changes I will try next time is to use 1 tsp red curry paste, 1 cup of broth instead of 2, 1 can of coconut milk(regular and not light) instead of 1/4 cup and add in some heavy cream and cornstarch to thicken up the sauce a bit and pepper flakes for a kick. Definitely limes, they do bring out some taste in this recipe.

Another One Bites The Dust.

2008-10-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

My husband is becoming infamous for destroying wine glasses. Though the glasses given to you at a wine tasting event are very fragile and cheaply made, I still like to keep them to remind myself that I've already been to that tasting vineyard. I thought this was a good photo shot of the destroyed glass and how it blends in with the background.

Just the other night I had an amazing wine. I recommend it if you are a red wine lover.

Nappa Valley Meritage 2005
with it having:
69% Merlot
29% Cabernet Sauvignon
2% Cabernet Franc

Kung Pao Chicken With broccoli

2008-09-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a dish I make quite often, Kung Pao chicken version with and without Broccoli. I always us broccoli unless I don't have any on hand. Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Sauté Broccoli in 1 TB of Canola Oil and 1 TB of Ginger, add 2 TB of water let it get crisp then remove from pan.
Sauté chicken with some pepper flakes.
Mix together 2 TB Soy Sauce, Hoison Sauce, 1 TB Red Vin, 2 TB Garlic, 1 TB Cornstarch and 1 cup of Broth. Stir in peanuts if you like and add sauce and broccoli to the chicken. It's not that healthy because it is fried, but it's a good way to get your vegies in, especially if you are not a fan of broccoli.

Today my daily walk was interrupted by the men in black. I starred off into the distance noticing 2 men wearing ties, white shirt and black pants and my immediate thought was to turn around and go back the other way. They have already spotted me before I could react. I was cornered and then began the advertisement of God. I don't have any thing against any religion but I do have something against someone trying to impose their beliefs on me. There's limitations with what you can say to a stranger, religion and politics is off the table. Two topics that should be avoided with anyone you don't know.

Pear Salad with blue cheese and vinaigrette dressing

2008-09-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

My husband is not a salad fan, unless it is a side at dinner and even than he always goes for the soup option. So, when ever he's on a business trip I make salads, mac in cheese and turkey dishes for myself. Some of my favorites that I grew up on. I love fruit in my salad along with crumbled cheese if it be feta, cotija or blue cheese along side some sweet tasting vinaigrette. I had came across this Pear Salad with blue cheese and vinaigrette dressing in Bon Appetit and just had to try it along side a steak. I liked it so much that I can eat this salad as a main meal.

Slice up some pear, crumble some blue cheese, make your own vinaigrette by adding 2 TB of EVO, Sherry Vin, Honey, 1 Shallot and salt and pepper. Don't buy the bottled stuff at the grocery store it's loaded with junk that defeats the purpose of losing weight if that's what you are aiming for.

Strawberry Sunrise Scones- Adapted from Baking Bites

2008-09-13T15:30:00.001-07:00

So, I came across my favorite scone recipe yet. This tasty Strawberry Scone using orange yogurt and zest, many thanks to Baking Bites for this one. I was a bit worried when I came to a close of this recipe as the strawberries drew lots of moisture in my dough, but I added a little more flour and got it back to the "scone" consistency and I must say.... these are fabulous!

Texas Beef Brisket Chili

2008-09-12T13:09:00.001-07:00

There is so much flavor in this dish and the meat is so tenderized that it literally flakes off in your mouth after the first bite. I found it time consuming to make, this delicious recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit. Be prepared for a 4 hour cook and prep time.

Baked Spicy Tilapia

2008-09-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

I decided to bake up some spicy Tilapia fish fillets with a side of bruchetta. I had grabbed this fish taco recipe some time back and changed my mind at the last minute and wanted to do something healthy. Instead of heading back to the grocery store I turned that breaded fried fish recipe into a nice marinade by getting rid of the frying, the flour and egg mixture. I decided to let the spices of chili garlic sauce, red pepper flakes, honey, lemon juice, white vin, cumin and chili powder sit with the fish for 4 hours. Pop it in the oven and what a tasty fish this became.

Surprise.....It's On You.....

2008-09-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

This is very interesting and I just had to share. Have you been invited to dinner with a group of people and ended up having to not only pay for your food but for those other people at the table that don't pull out their wallets as well? This is how I look at some of these situations. If I got invited to go out to eat with the same people all of the time I would not be a sponge and expect these people to pay, especially if it is an expensive restaurant. For one, there should be no assumption that someone should pay for your food and two that you should have to pay for anyone else. If someone is treating you out to eat, you should always offer to pay, it's the polite thing to do.

Click here to see some really rude and ridiculous stories.

Korean Sesame Beef With Lettuce Wraps

2008-09-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

These are so good. Adapted from Cooking Light.

Scones using Sour Cream

2008-09-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've been trying every kind of scone I come across, from the plain milk recipe to using buttermilk or sour cream. I'm tempted to experiment with my own version. It can either work out or prove to be disastrous. I have ideas though... :)

I adapted this yummy sour cream version from Joy The Baker.

Fish Curry

2008-09-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

I tried for dinner last night fish curry, adapted from Spice and Curry. This is a flavorful dish, It actually reminded me of Thai curry because it had sweet and spicy combinations.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2008-09-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Recipe Adapted from Rachael Ray, this sweet tasty recipe put a smile on my little one's face. It also tastes very good if you add 2 TB of Red pepper flakes. The first time I had tasted lettuce wraps was at PF Chang's, it's on their appetizer section of the menu and I just loved the dish. That got me thinking lately about healthy ideas for cooking. I caught an episode of Rachael Ray's version and thought I'd give it a try. These are so good that my husband cleared the pan.

Fried Chicken- Marinated Over Night

2008-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have a really good Fried Chicken Recipe....It requires the chicken to be marinaded overnight in buttermilk and spices. It really does make a big difference if you marinate it overnight vs. 4 hours as I once did with this recipe. Grape seed oil is what I found to be the most tasty when frying this chicken. I adapted the recipe from Simply Recipes.