Confessions of a Foodaholic

Eggs Benedict

2011-03-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

Whenever my husband and I go out for breakfast, I always gravitate to eggs benedict. There's just something about the rich hollandaise over soft poached eggs. The ham and English muffin are just a bonus in my mind. My fave is when a restaurant has special eggs benie like a Salmon Benie or I once had a Cuban Benie. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. LOL

One morning, I was feeling adventurous and really had a hankering for eggs benedict. Rather than our usual oatmeal or congee for our usual at home breakfast, I decided to give eggs benedict a try. I searched All Recipes for a simple yet highly ranked hollandaise sauce. I had to make sure I had all the ingredients at home. The Blender Hollandaise Sauce was the winner.

I poached a few eggs. I did both the swirling and vinegar methods; it was a bit messy but it did the trick. Toasted some bagels since I didn't have English muffins. Topped them with some ham and baby leaf spinach; gently laid the eggs on top and drizzled the super yummy, super easy (and super yellow since I only had Omega 3 brown eggs - the yolks are orange!) hollandaise sauce. Wow, it was definitely restaurant worthy!

Chocolate Covered Bacon

2010-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, now I've heard many people say, "Chocolate covered bacon! EWE, gross." But I say unless you've tried it, don't diss it. :P Actually I was one of those people not too long ago. A few years ago, while I was watching Breakfast Television, the host back then, Simi Sara had mentioned while on vacation she had eaten the most decadent chocolates with bacon bits inside. I thought EWE but then my hubby said it sounded pretty yummy, salty, sweet, creamy, and chewy. Hmmm, I hate to admit it, but he was right, it didn't seems so bad.

So I purchased some thick slab maple bacon. I panned fried half a batch and baked the other half. Made myself a batch of dark chocolate ganache. And dipped the bacon strips in the ganache.

Just thinking about them now makes me all giddy. They were YUMMY! The panned fried ones were definitely crispier but were a bit messy to deal with since the strips were not nice and flat like the baked one.

I shared them with my sister L and my nephew M who were visiting from San Fran. Unfortunately, L had to leave early for work and had forgotten her stash, so M ate all of them and said they were one of the best things he ever ate.

Flash forward to 2010 (that was in 2008), my other sister B was heading down to San Fran for a wedding, and L said "Bring me some chocolate covered bacon," since she's been thinking about them for the past 2 years! So I hastily made her some. I wasn't impressed with the recent batch since I didn't get a chance to get the thick cut maple, just plain old bacon from the grocery store, but L loved them anyway. Said they were pretty tasty and satisfied all her craving... salty, sweet, creamy, and chewy. :D

Cupcake Experiment

2010-09-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't made cupcakes in a while and have been itching to make some for quite some time. I unfortunately have parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews who all happen to be born around the winter holidays, so around this time I'm desparately begging people for a celebration just so I can make the dessert.

It just so happens that a very close family friend invited us to a farewell dinner for her daughter T who would be returning to Taiwan for work. She's never had my desserts, so yeah me.

I've been wanting to find a new go to white/ vanilla cake recipe. So I searched all recipes for the highest and most rated recipe. I think I have made this one before but don't remember the end results so thought it was worth another try. It was okay, but I don't think I will stop searching since I think even boxed cake mix taste moister (is that grammatically correct? - moister, more moist...) Anyway, I still had some over riped bananas (didn't get to use all of them during the cookie recipe), so I split the cake batter in half and added a mashed banana into it. Not half bad, I actually think it tasted better as a banana cake than a vanilla cake.

Well, to make a long story short. For the vanilla cuppies, I made strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream (with too much fresh strawberry puree, that's why it's a bit splotchy - oops, but oh so tasty) and turned the banana ones into banana split cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate ganche, chopped toasted walnuts, colored jimmies, and a cherry to top things off.

T thought they were heavenly. Yeah me again! :D

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-09-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

I recently picked up a copy of Martha Stewart's Cookies book at Winner's (on sale for $16.99). I love cookbooks like this one. There are photos for every recipe! I do have many cookbooks with little to no pictures, but when that beautiful photograph shows you what you can make with that particular recipe, it's a giant incentive to tackle it.

Anyway, I'm so excited about this book. I want to try each and every recipe. But will have to spread out the recipe testing since hubby and I are on a diet to look fantastic for our trip to Hawaii next year!

But I have to at least try one. So as I'm perusing through the photos, I come across the banana walnut chocolate chunk cookies. I have super ripe bananas that I know I will just toss in the trash since it's too ripe for regular comsumption. Well, why not save those bananas (I paid good money for them), and try this recipe out. :D Wow, it's a banana nut bread and a chocolate chip cookie in one! It's so good.

I did share with my nephews who devoured half a batch in one day, and I hired a personal trainer last week, can you guess who ate the other half? :D

Take care, my friends. I hope you will give this recipe a try.

Recipe for Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar (if bananas are super ripe, can cut a little on the sugar, I used 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks (I used chips)

1/2 cup coarsely shopped toasted walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together both flours (Sifting will not work since you will end up straining the whole wheat - ask me how I know that), salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

2. Put butter and both sugars into a bowl and with mixer on medium speed, beat until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla, mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, and walnuts.

3. Using a spoon, drop dough onto baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks. Let completely cool. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 days.

Cake, Cake, Cake

2010-08-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone! I know I've been bad with this blog. I have no excuse except I got busy and yes, lazy. I'm sorry. I don't know how often I will blog, but I will try to post when I come have something interesting and lovely to share. :D

I have made quite a few baked goods during this hiatus of mine, and here are some of my faves. Hope you like them too.

I made this duckie cake for my good friend, Aurore. It was her first baby shower. She didn't know if she was having a boy or a girl, but she knew she wanted ducks. As soon as she saw this in the Wilton yearbook, she couldn't be persuaded to look at anything else. :P I've never made a pillar cake or used the Wilton globes, but it was a fun experience.

The cake was a vanilla sponge cake filled with my homemade strawberry jam and a white chocolate ganche frosting. Everyone at the shower couldn't believe we were going to serve the cake. It's a cake! It's suppose to be eaten. (LOL) But we did save the top tier for the father-to-be since he was sad boys weren't invited to the party.

This was a farm animal cake I made for my cousin's friend's baby's first birthday. (That's a lot of 's...) It was to be Baby Kaitlin's first taste of cake. Oh, the pressure was on. My goal: to turn the innocent and sweet Kaitlin into a cake-aholic. (hahaha)

Her mother chose a vanilla sponge cake with fresh strawberries and a fresh mango Swiss meringue buttercream. I was worried the combo would be weird, but it tasted lovely and fresh and very summer-y. Kaitlin's mom left me a message afterwards, saying that Kaitlin loved the animals (her faves were duckies and piggies) and both kids and adults pretty much went gaga for the cake. Yeah for me! Baby cake-aholics are born! :P

Finally, I made this 9 layer (it would have been 10 except I ran out of filling) Boston Cream Pie cake for my sister's birthday. We had both separately seen this creation on Chefs vs. City the Boston episode. Boston Cream Pie was invented at the Parker House Hotel, and they serve it as a 10 layer ginormous cake. When I saw it, I wanted to make one. When my sister saw it, she said she wanted to eat one. (LOL- we are so related)... So that was set, she was getting a GIANT Boston Cream Pie for her birthday.

I used vanilla sponge cake, pastry cream for filling, chocolate ganache as frosting, and toasted, hand chopped almonds. My husband asked me why I didn't use the food processor which would have been faster and cleaner, well, I was too lazy to take out my FP and then having to clean it afterwards, so I spent 30 minutes hand chopping almonds. It made sense at that time... :P

The cake/ pie was delicious! I loved it and would have it as often as my wasitline would allow it. It's so good. Maybe you will bake one too.

Happy eating, everyone!!

Pajo's The Wharf at Steveston

2010-05-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally arrived in Vancouver! It's this summer weather that made me fall in love with this city. The days last forever; it's not too hot with just a light breeze. The trees and flowers around town are in full bloom. Work days seem to end after lunch, so we Vancouverites can head to the waters, mountains, streets, patios, balconies, and parks to get our daily dose of sunshine. It's the perfect place! It's the Okay, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead because once you get me started, I can't stop. :P

Once the sun starts to shine I get the itch to head to me favorite outdoor eatery, Pajo's. I've had many fish and chips in my lifetime, but Pajo's (especially the one on The Wharf) is one of the best. They only open during sunny days which makes eating outsie so much more special.

Their menu selection is consists of fish (cod, salmon, and halibut), burgers (which are some of the yummiest burgers in town), hot dogs, sides (which I never seem to make room for), and of course chips or better known on this side of the pond, fries. The fish and chips are served in paper cones which are too cute. And all their tables have holes in them to put your cones in for easy handling. They supply you with an abundant of condiments including tartar sauce, malt vinegar, ketchup, lemon,...

D and I went late in the afternoon, and they were packed (as always), but the food was just as I remembered it, delicious! There would have been more pics except for the fact D ate all his cod and managed to grab 2 pieces of my halibut before I even finish taking pics of the building. :( But I don't really mind since I have an entire summer to eat at Pajo's.

Korean Spicy Tofu in Japan

2010-01-21T14:46:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago my husband and I took a vacation in Asia. We visited Hong Kong, Macau, China, and Tokyo. We had a splendid time eating our way around Asia. We are already planning our next trip!

This was our first meal in Tokyo. We headed towards the new Muji in Shinjuku (there are 2), and we found a nice little Korean tofu restaurant across the street. The waiter was very friendly and tried very hard to communicate with us in our non-existing Japanese and his almost non-existing English. We all had a good laugh, but we managed to order with a lot of finger poking and head shaking.

We had a choice of soup base, either miso, soy, or pork broth (we both chose miso). We then had to choose the level of spice (I went for 2 chilis and D went for 4). Then we picked our main ingredient. D had the chicken, and I had the beef.

Afterwards the waiter brought us each a bib which he demonstrated how to tie around our necks. We looked around, and every single patron had one on. We love messy eating, but D is one of those men who would rather wear his food over a bib. But when in Japan, we did as the Japanese do.

A few minutes later our bubbling hot pots arrived on trays with veggie condiments, a bowl of steamed rice, and a light dessert. I've eaten many pots of Spicy Korean tofu, but WOW! The tofu was so smooth and so tasty. The beef had a little bit of fat on it just like bacon. It just melted in my mouth. Plus the miso soup really added some richness. I had a taste of D's. It too was delicious. The hot pot was definitely lighter in taste and much spicier. We both ate greedily and finished every drop of soup. We were so satisfied, but not overly stuffed that we were able to walk out of there and did a full day of exploring! YEAH!

Chris and Carly's Engagement Cupcakes

2010-01-20T00:14:00.000-08:00

My good friends Chris and Carly asked me to make cupcakes for their engagement party. They gave me full range to do whatever I wanted. I was so honored and excited. This gave me the perfect opportunity to make a cupcake tower.

I've been craving to make one since I saw Sharon Wee's first cupcake tower (Sharon got her instructions from CakeJournal). It's so elegant and yet so simple to make.

They were expecting 60 guests and preferred a variety of flavors. I decided on making a combination of minis and regular size cupcakes, so everyone could have one of each flavor. I ended up making cupcakes in four flavors - vanilla, chocolate, chocolate peanut butter cup (Carly's favorite), and raspberry cheesecake.

The wedding colors are brown and blue. As it turns out Carly told me the wrapping paper I chose for the tower is the exact same print as their invitations! I also made tiny Italian flags for Chris and his family. They are proud Italians!

Everyone at the party was so impressed with the cupcakes and the tower. I was quite touched by their comments. Plus there wasn't a single cupcake left. Now that's the best compliment ever.

Cupcake Fundraiser for Haiti

2010-01-16T13:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

As you all know Haiti is in a crisis right now and needs our help. I want to do more than just donate a few bucks, so I am fundraising on my own. I am selling cupcakes and will donate 100% of the proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross Haiti Earthquake Fund.

Cupcakes are sold in an order of 6 for $12. You can have any combo of cake flavor and frosting (but please one combo per 6 cupcakes). I hope to send orders out once every 2 weeks for the next little while (first orders sent out the last week of January - however I did take an order for Super Bowl weekend, so drop me a line if you need a special date).

Please consider this for the next party, get together, or rainy day treat. If you and anyone you know is interested, please drop me a line ( or email me at cpwong00@hotmail.com). I am not a professional baker, just a home baker, but all my goodies are made from scratch with alot of love and care.

THANK YOU!!!

Cake flavors:

Vanilla

Chocolate

Lemon

Coffee

Sponge

Frosting Flavors:

Vanilla

Chocolate

Cream Cheese

Peanut Butter

Cayenne Dark Chocolate (my Iron Cupcake Entry)

Lemon

Orange

Strawberry

Mint

Chocolate Mint

P.S. I apologize to those living outside of Vancouver, but at this time I can only accommodate those in the Metro Van area.

Brenner's Birthday Cake

2009-10-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for my cousin's son Brenner's second birthday. He is very much into trucks, so when he asked for a truck cake, this Wilton's dump truck cake was perfect.

It was my first 3-D cake, and boy was I nervous. But I think it came out pretty cute. Despite the detachment of a couple of tires during transport, everyone at the birthday BBQ seemed to love it, all 50 of the guests! But all that mattered was that Brenner liked it. Or at least I think he did. (lol) What do you think?

Birthday boy confused about his cake/ toy?

Justin's Super Mario Cake

2009-08-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Back in June was my baby nephew Justin's first birthday. Now, he's a kid who's spent his entire life getting hand me downs and being neglected for his diva of a brother Jayden. Poor kid even eats left overs that his big bro can't finish! (Lol) I had made Jayden a three tier Elmo cake for his first birthday. Yes, I know... a three tier cake for a one year old is a bit much, but that's what my sister wanted.

Justin needing attention on his birthday.

The boys LOVE Super Mario Kart. I think Jayden's first words were Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Bowser, mom, then dad and in that order. Justin mimics all the cars and cheering noises. It's hilarious to see my parents playing the game with so much concentration you'd think they were defusing a bomb while the two grandkids are squished between them screaming out their Mario lingo. I don't think we could have choosen a better theme.

My sister started giving me pictures of extreme cakes which were way beyond my skill level. There was one with Mario punching out of the cake (I think it's from Su-Yin) and my favorite, one that was four tiers with a castle and all the Mario Kart characters.

I searched high and low and couldn't find one I liked or could make, so instead I designed one from scratch. I used Cake Journal's tutorial to make a fondant plague that goes on top of the cake. I googled the internet and picked a Super Mario's coloring page. My original picture was a Super Mario Kart one, but it was too detailed to make the plague. Instead I opted for the Mario and Luigi a.k.a. Justin and Jayden. (Lol) My royal icing and the weather did give me some difficulty, but I think the outcome was not bad for a first try.

I made the rest of the decorations with marshmallow fondant. The stars were made with star cookie cutters, the clouds from five petal blossom cutter, the trees from circle cutters then I elongated then with a rolling pin, the mushrooms were cut from tiny circle cutters then smooshed into shape, and the turtles were just rolled into little ovals wrapped with white fondant strips and imprinted with crossing lines using the back of a knife.

Oh, and the cake was a chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting layered with mini chocolate chips and toasted pecans. It was good. In the end, Justin was king for the day and that was all that mattered. :D

Hello Kitty Pops

2009-08-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again!! I know, I've been bad. Even I was starting to think I had truly given up on the blogging. Blame it on my new time consumer, Facebook. :P

However, recently I've been baking again and am excited about some of the creations I have made. Like these Hello Kitty Cake Pops. Aren't they just the cutest! I got my inspiration from Bakerella. She comes up with the best cake pop ideas.

My sister asked me to make the desserts for her house warming party. I made a pineapple upside-down cake, a chocolate cheesecake, key lime tarts, and chocolate truffles. She's not really into Hello Kitty, but her two little boys always fight over our baby sister's stuffed Kitty, so I thought I would make them some pops just for fun.

They were mint chocolate pops and were consumed quite greedily by my nephews and all their guests. Now if only I knew how to make Super Mario pops, then I would be the best aunt ever!! Oh, Bakerella, I have a challenge for you. :P

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2009-03-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone! I'm so excited to be back. It has been a crazy few months, but I'm so happy to be able to write again. This is a little late, but I made red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day. Even though I grew up in the south, I'd never had red velvet cake before. It's an all time favorite among Southerners and is perceived as a decadent treat for special occassions. It was the flavor of Jessica Simpson/ Nick Lachey's wedding cake, and remember on Steel Megnolias, it was also the groom's armidillo cake. (lol)

I searched my cook books and the internet. Most recipes were fairly similar for the cake, so chose the one from Martha's 2002 Holiday Baking Magazine. However, it was very interesting to see the variety of frosting. According to several sites, the original red velvet frosting is cooked with butter, sugar, milk, and flour. It seemed a bit weird, so I opted for a popular topping of cream cheese frosting. And YUM-MO!! I'm in love!! Hope ya'll like it. :)

Recipe:
Red Velvet Cupcake
makes 12
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups canola oil
2 large eggs
* large squirt red food coloring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* The recipe actually asks for 4 tablespoons red food coloring, but I couldn't bring myself to add that much. Since the only purpose was for coloring, I just eyeballed the liquid red food coloring (which I purchased at the grocery store) to my liking. The vinegar and baking soda combo is also suppose to change the brown cocoa red which is where the name comes from.

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat sugar and oil on medium speed until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add food coloring and vanilla, and beat until well combined.
4. Add flour mixture and buttermilk in alternating batches, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
5. In a small bowl whisk together baking soda and vinegar. Add to the batter, and beat 10 seconds.
6. Evenly divide batter among cupcake liners. Bake in oven for 20-23 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean from the center of the cupcakes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting (from allrecipe.com)
Ingredients:
2 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until creamy.
2. Mix in vanilla, gradually add sugar until all combined and smooth.
3. Store in refrigerator after use.

Iron Cupcake Challenge: Sabayon Cupcakes

2009-01-22T14:04:00.000-08:00

This month's main ingredient was a big challenge for me. I love the idea of a glass of wine while having a romantic dinner, cooking, socializing with friends and family, or just to kick back and relax. I have tried on many occasions, but unfortunately I just do not have a

palate for more than half a glass.

However, I do have numerous family and friends who are wine connoisseurs. When this challenge was given, I asked for help, and I received many great ideas. I hope to one day try them all.

But for Iron Cupcake Earth I decided to make a sabayon cupcake. Sabayon is a French dessert of fresh fruits topped with a wine custard. I found many recipes which used different wines from reds to whites from dry to sweet and even champagne. That's when I chose to incorporate the white wine, gewurtraminer, from Pelee Island Winery served at my wedding. It is excellent with fruits, cheeses, chicken, seafood, spicy foods, and Asian cuisine. It's a bit on the sweeter side (that is probably why I love this wine) and can be considered an apertif (I did my research). It is perfect for the sabayon I had in mind.

I made two sets of vanilla cupcakes topped with fresh berries and the custard. One set to be toasted lightly and another just as is. The cupcakes were wonderfully delicious and fresh. They will be a favorite of my family for many years to come.

Recipe for Sabayon Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

Vanilla Cupcakes (makes 12)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk

Sabayon Custard:

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup wine

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Fruit:

1 cup of fresh fruits in small pieces (I used strawberries and blueberries)

1 tablespoon sugar

splash lemon juice

Toasted Sabayon Cupcake along side a Sabayon Cupcake

Directions:

To prepare cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake pans.

2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs in at a time until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla.

3. Combine flour and baking powder. Add slowly to the creamed mixture until well blended. Stir in milk until the batter is smooth.

4. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

5. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To prepare fruit in cupcake:

1. Mix fruits with lemon juice and sugar. Set aside for a few minutes.

2. Carve a cone shape hole out of each cupcakes and spoon fruits into the cupcakes.

3. Let sit while making the sabayon. This will allow the juices from the fruits to be absorbed by the cupcakes.

To prepare sabayon:

1. Put the egg yolks, sugar, and wine into a medium heat proof glass bowl. Whisk to mix.

2. Place the bowl on a double boiler over simmering water. Do not let the water touch the bowl, otherwise, the eggs will cook and scramble.

3. Whisk the mixture until it is frothy, pale, and ribbony (about 12-15 minutes).

4. Remove from heat, and whisk in the lemon zest. keep whisking for a minute or two to cool the custard slightly.

5. Spoon sabayon over the fruits and cupcakes. If you prefer, with the oven boiler or a kitchen torch, quickly brown the sabayon.

6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Okay, now for the technical side of the challenge (it is a competition after all). The prizes from our sponsors include:

* An Etsy Prize-Pack from artists:

- Dogbone Art

- Lots of Sprinkles

- Cakespy

* A set of Head Chefs Kitchen Utensils by Fiesta Products

* A Hello Cupcake Cookbook by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

* An elegant Jessie Steele Apron

* A cupcake courier from Cupcake Courier

* A Taste of Home Cookbook

* A cute Tee from Upwithcupcakes.com

* An added bonus for January, a treat from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery and Cupcakery Supply

* Iron Cupcake Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.

Thanks for visiting this post. Now go out there and vote! :D

Jessica's Killer Chocolate Birthday Cheesecake

2009-01-16T01:11:00.001-08:00

I know it's a little late, but HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!

I'm going to make 2009's first post a really yummy one. My baby sister is officially an adult in Canada. She can smoke, drink, gamble, and vote legally now. I hope she doesn't do all that at once.

I usually make her birthday cakes, and this year was no different. However, she didn't want the usual cake with Happy Birthday plastered all over it. She wanted something extremely decadent and grown up to share with her friends. After going through several options with her, we decided on a chocolate cheesecake. It was up to me to make it WOW.

I hadn't made a cheesecake in over 10 years since my hubby's specialty is cheesecake (he uses the Philly Cream Cheese recipe, and calls it his own after he smothers it with fruit topping - lol). Even though D's recipe is pretty good, I knew Jess wanted something more. So I searched through all my recipes and found three that I liked. I ended up mixing these recipes and got one heck of a killer cheesecake. I thought I'd share with all of you, and hopefully you'll have the same response. Enjoy!

Jessica's Killer Chocolate Birthday Cheesecake

Ingredients:
5 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sugar
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
4 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dark chocolate, chopped finely
Garnish:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dark chocolate, chopped finely
Fresh Clean Strawberries
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chopped toasted nuts (I used pecans)
Melted white chocolate

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Melt butter. In medium bowl, combine graham crackers, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter. Mix well, and pour into a 9" springform pan. Press weill into pan. Bake until set about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
3. To make the ganache, place 1/2 pound of dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream in sauce pan. Remove from heat as soon as it starts to bubble and boil. Pour into dark chocolate and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. Stir until ganache is smooth.
4. Reduce oven to 275 degrees F.
5. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add remaining sugar and beat until well combined (about 3 minutes).
6. Add ganache to the cheese and mix on slow speed until well blended. Scrape down the sides as needed.
7. Drizzle in eggs one at a time and mix until blended. Beat in sour cream and salt. Scrape down sides and mix until well blended.
8. Pour batter into crust and bake until the sides have set but the center appears soft (about 1 hour and 45 minutes).
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Using a knife, run around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. When completely cooled, cover cake tightly with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. Let the cake set for at least 4 hours, preferably over night. This allows the flavors to come out.
10. Deck out the cake. I made another batch of ganache which I first dipped the strawberries in before pouring the rest on top of the cake. I mixed the chopped nuts with the mini chocolate chips and pressed the mixture onto the sides of the cake. Topped the cake with the strawberries and drizzled melted white chocolate with a fork all around.
11. Slice cake and serve. YUM YUM YUM! It gives 12 very generous portions.

* Note: this cheesecake is beautiful and delicious as is and can be served without all the "fussy" decor. It can also be made as a plain cheesecake, by leaving out the ganache in the batter and substituting it with a teaspoon of vanilla. Or made as any other cheesecake by substituting the flavoring. It's a versitile recipe!

Gingerbread Cookies

2008-12-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Okay, since I am still waiting for D to come back from work (so he can help carry the last bit of Christmas shopping I have to do - I know, I am so behind), I'm going to try and get this post up quickly.

First, I want to apologize for the bad pictures. It was dark, I was tired, and my camera hasn't been the same since I dropped it at the beach. I am hoping Santa will bring me a new camera for Christmas. :D

I have been searching for a good and easy gingerbread cookie recipe. I like to make a gingerbread house each year, and I usually get the boxed set which are impossible to eat without breaking your teeth. I came across one on www.allrecipes.com. It boasted excellent remarks from other bakers. I tweeked it a little bit, and I can say this one is a keeper. I plan to make my house tonight, so hopefully I'll get pictures of it and post them up in the near future.

The pictures I have here are the cookies I made for family and friends to give out during the holidays. I have gotten wonderful feedbacks. So maybe this recipe will be one of your family favorites too.

Recipe:

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tablespoon orange zest (I used zest of 1 whole orange)

2 tablespoons molasses

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Sift together all the dry ingredients.

2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, mix well. Mix in orange zest and molasses.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

4. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

5. Roll out to about 1/4" - 1/8" thick (flour surface as needed) and cut out shapes using cookie cutters or if you are creative, knife. Place shapes on cookie sheets about 1" apart.

6. Place cookie sheets in freezer for about 15 minutes. This helps the cookies keep their shape.

7. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are lightly toasted on the edges (less time if you like a softer cookie and longer if you like a harder one).

9. Cool on cookie rack and decorate to your hearts content.

Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!
I know I've been slacking (no posts since October -Yikes!), but I have been busy taking pictures as much as possible, so I can catch up in the near future.

In the meantime, thank you all for your support and encouraging words on both my cooking and blogging. I would like to wish you and your family a Yummy Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year!!

Love,
Claudia :D

Mom's Birthday Cake

2008-10-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

My mom's birthday was last week, and I've been wanting to make her something special. Cupcakes just wouldn't do. I hadn't made a tiered cake in quite some time so I decided I would make one for my mommy. I love making fancy pretty things. :) I scoured through thousands of flickr photos and all of my cake books for ideas. I have to say I was inspired by so many cakes. You guys and ladies on flickr are true artists!! So many ideas, so many beautiful cakes, but I needed something simple since I only had one day to do it. I had to cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family of 18 the same weekend.

I made a sketch of what I wanted to do so my mind will stay focused. I see so many of you out there with gorgeous drawings of your creations, but all I could muster was swirls for the flowers and dots all over the cylinder and hexagon (brings back memories of geometry in JHS). It's a pretty pathetic drawing since I'm a stick figure type of gal, but it helped immensely on staying focused. I had my sisters over to brain storm on flavors and colors. We originally agreed on MMF covered dark chocolate cake with ganache and cheesecake, but I was making cheesecake for Thanksgiving, so we switched that to sponge cake with lemon curd and homemade strawberry jam. Our mom loves pink but we didn't want a princess-y girlie cake so we went for ivory/ light pink with pink accents.

I even signed up for gumpaste classes hoping I could make beautiful bouquets of calla lillies, roses, orchids, and every other flower that was offered in the class description. Just my luck, first class was cancelled due to low enrollment, so I went to another school, signed up, purchased all the supplies, and waited only to find out it was postponed. As my last option, I went to my local Michael's to take their classes, but classes had already began. Boo hoo hoo... what do I do?!? I had all the supplies already so I just played around with the rose kit a couple of days before and came up with flowers that remind me more of magnolias than roses. They took me forever since my klumsy fingers kept ripping the petals and pulling the entire flower out of the wires. I ended up with a handful of passable ones that I dusted with pearly dusts in different colors. They aren't that pretty, but I liked them anyway especially since I made them all by myself. I'm sure the light bulb will go off, and I'll have a good chuckle once I get into a class.

In the end, my mom loved the cake and was quite impressed with the flowers even though I saw all the flaws. The cakes tasted much better than I had anticipated (we finished all of it), so all in all I'm quite proud of it and can't wait until my next one. :D

Awesome Desserts in Hong Kong

2008-10-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, and it's been even longer since I've posted ones that aren't related to baked goods. (Well, there are more cupcakes, cookies, and a birthday cake coming up.) As I was looking through my summer photos today, I came across these.

This is a little dessert shop my mom took us to. She had seen a Hong Kong dining show introducing this place. I don't have an address (no business cards available) and since I don't read Chinese no English name to share. Sorry. But I do know it's located next to Newport Theatre which is a famous older movie theatre in the Mong Kok District.

It's a very popular joint among the locals and movie goers. It's tiny and super crowded, and they manage to maximize every square inch. If you don't have a full table, you are forced to share. So a small table for four could seat six most of whom are strangers. But no one seemed to mind, and in fact it added to the atmosphere.

They had a small menu, but special dishes were posted on the walls. My mom insisted on trying the "Stir Fried Rice Noodles". It's actually fresh mango chunks with noodles which I believe is probably some sort of coconut gelatin strips.

It really did look like rice noodles, but with a firmer texture almost like fresh young coconut flesh. The mangos were perfectly ripe and the mango puree was so smooth. The dish was fabulous!! I could have eaten another bowl of it all by myself.

My sister Jess ordered the "Steamed Rice Rolls" which were black sesame "noodles" stuffed with black rice and fresh mangos and topped with coconut milk and sesame seeds. It was served warm and not as sweet as the other desserts. I liked it, it was very creative, but on a hot Hong Kong night, I preferred the cold offerings.

My mom also ordered the newest dish "Fruit Salad with Hawthorn". It was a mixture of fresh fruits including cantalope, honeydew melon, mango, and hawthorn gelatin topped with evaporated milk. Hawthorn is good for you on hot days. It helps detoxify your body from the heat. It is also an appetite enhancer. Before this trip I've only had hawthorn candy, so it was a treat to try it prepared differently.

As for me, I chose a "Tower of Shaved Ice". Yum - my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Since my trip to Taiwan a few years back, I've been obsessed with shaved ice. I have it everywhere I see it, and I still think Taiwan serves the best. But that's left for another post.

The shaved ice is served with a variety of fresh fruits. I chose strawberries and watermelon. Some of the other options were mango, coconut, cantalope, honeydew, Asian pears, and mixed beans and gelatins (which is the original way to eat shaved ice). Almost every table had ordered this "Tower". The ice, though not the finest I've had, was pretty fine and was surrounded by fresh strawberries and watermelon balls. It was then all topped with watermelon juice and condense milk. Oh, it was so refreshing and sweet. I loved every bite and slurp. (l0l)

As you can see, between the three of us we did a pretty thorough job on the desserts. Everyone else pretty much ordered one dish per couple. (lol - We love our desserts). I can't wait until my next visit, so I can try a few more creative sweets.

Iron Cupcake Challenge: Dreamy Basil Mango Citrus Cupcakes

2008-09-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

This recipe literally came to me in a dream. When I heard this month's Iron Cupcake Challenge is basil, I was estatic since I've been growing my own pot of sweet basil. My baby's been with me for about half a year now, and it's grown from a measley 3" pot to a whopping 10" pot, which it is outgrowing!

But when I think of basil combinations, I could only think of garlic, tomatos, eggs, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese cuisines... Okay, all my favorites, but not my favorites for cupcakes... I could go licorice, but I'm not a big fan of licorice. I consulted my friends and family, who were all very encouraging to make basil cupcakes, but we were all stuck on how. My cousin Tony who is a French chef suggested lavendar. Hhhhmmm, he suggested getting lavendar tea and infuse it into the cupcakes.

I've never eaten anything lavendar, but I was willing to give it a try. I was so excited with this idea that I went directly to six stores/ tea shops to buy lavendar tea. But poor me, I didn't find any. People looked at me like I was crazy. Oh, if only my two attempts to grow lavendar had worked, I wouldn't have this problem. Needless to say, I was disappointed and now contemplating skipping this challenge.

That night I went to bed thinking how was I going to tell everyone I chickened out. I guess with the stress of letting friends and family down, in dreamed a recipe. I know, sounds crazy. It was as if I was watching a movie, like Chocolat or Like Water for Chocolate (a couple of my favorite movies). I had used basil, mangos, and oranges, and the reaction from eating them made people do funny things. (lol)

I added lime at the last minute to cut the sweetness

I woke up and told D I have to make basil cupcakes. He was like "For breakfast?" I didn't care, I jumped out of bed and started on the cupcake making frenzy before I could forget. Looking back at it now, I guess I could have written it down and made them later when I was more awake and together. But the baking madness had started. I tried to photo journal the making process like so many talented bloggers, but I didn't get too far with that.

Fruit Puree

By the time they were done, D had left for work, and I was the only one who could taste it. It was interesting. The fresh mangos and citrus flavors were awesome, but the basil was a taste that makes you go, what is that? It's so familiar, yet I can't quite place it. I knew it was basil, but it didn't taste like basil. I'm still undecided on this cupcake, but D thought they were good. I would make it again as a "special" dessert for a fancy dinner party, but I think it'll be one of those love it or hate it cupcakes. Maybe you will give them a try and tell me what you think.

Not so pretty cupcakes

Recipe for 12 Cupcakes:

Puree

1 ripe mango

1 lime (I added lime to my dream recipe since my mango and orange were very sweet)

1 orange

Handful of Basil

1. Dice mango and place in a blender (you can reserve some for garnish later if you like).

2. Zest the lime and orange, put half of zest into blender, and squeeze 2 teaspoon of lime juice and 2 tablespoon orange juice into blender.

3. Blend until smooth.

Cupcakes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk

fruit puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with liners.

2. In a medium bowl, cream butter and suagr. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

3. Combine flour and baking powder, add to creamed mixture and mix well.

4. Stir in milk until batter is smooth.

5. Pour into liners 1/2 way full. Spoon in some puree into the middle of each cupcake until 3/4 full.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

7. Cool on a wire rack.

Meringue Buttercream

3 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup puree

1. Whisk egg and sugar over a double boil

er until sugar has melted and the mix is warm to touch.

2. Using a whisk attachment, whisk on high speed until stiff peaks and glossy.

3. Switching to a paddle attachment, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat at medium-low speed until thoroughly combined before adding the next spoonful.

4. The mix will look soupy, this is normal. Continue beating on medium-medium/ high speed until mixture thickens about 15 minutes.

5. Fold in the puree to buttercream.

Frost cupcakes with buttercream and garnish with basil, citrus zest, and mango pieces (if there are any left - I ate all mine before the cupcakes finished - so I sprinkled on some sparkly sugar).

So vote for me at No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner starting Sunday, September 28 at 9am pst until Thursday, October 1 at 9am pst.

The fabulous prizes include:

* a featured prize from ETSY artist Metal Sugar

* the best-selling book, Hello, Cupcake, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

* the adorable complete line of Head Chefs from Fie sta Products

* a luxury hostess apron from Jessie Steele

* a cookbook from Taste of Home

* a much coveted cupcake courier from Cupcake Courier

Thanks for visiting!

Bailey's Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

2008-09-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

I made these last week for a friend's birthday, and they were the Bomb!!! Well, they are actually Lots of Sprinkles' Bailey's Bombshell. I've been eyeing Sharon's recipe ever since I discovered her blog a couple of months ago, so when Chris invited us to his birthday BBQ, I knew I would be making these cupcakes (I also made a batch of eclairs which turned out great!).

I made mine with Bailey's Hint of Mint Chocolate Irish Cream and topped each with mint swiss meringue buttercream. YUM! I even tried a new chocolate cake recipe which turned out to be a keeper. YEAH!

On the way to the BBQ, D kept telling me how good the cupcakes looked and smelled. He kept hinting, but I wouldn't allow him to have one until we got to Chris'. We had a wonderful time chatting and eating and eating and eating. I wish I had stopped to take a few pictures. (lol) There was so much food! For dessert (Chris also had tiramisu, a birthday cake, and fresh fruits) he served coffee with Bailey's which complimented the cupcakes so well. Everyone kept saying how decadent and good with a grunt they were. I guess great minds think alike.

Unfortunately, neither D nor I had any dessert since we were so stuffed from dinner. Boy, am I glad I licked all the bowls and spoons clean at home. Poor D will have to wait until next time to try one.

Bailey's Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

(for illustrations, check out Sharon's blog)

Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 24 - half recipe to make the 12 needed)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup warm water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins.

2. In a large bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. Add the all wet ingredients, and mix until combined (about 3 minutes).

4. Divide batter among cupcake tins filling about each cup half full.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating halfway.

6. Cool on a wire rack before frosting.

Ingredients:

12 chocolate cupcakes

1/4 cup Bailey's or your favorite Irish Cream

1/2 cup white chocolate

Milk

Cocoa Powder

1. Cut out a hole in the middle of the cupcakes. Keep the carved bits in a bowl. (I cut my holes too large, so I shaved off the bottom part of cake and put the top back on).

2. Melt the white chocolate on a double boiler and cool slightly before adding half of the Bailey's. Stir thoroughly and add milk a little bit at a time until you get a thick creamy texture. If it gets too runny, refrigerate until it thickens.

3. Spoon cream into the cupcake holes (place tops back on if desire) and put aside.

4. To make the cake balls, add the remaining Bailey's into the cake crumbs. Stir. The mixture will be sticky. Roll the mixture into 12 balls. Refrigerate until firm and then roll in cocoa powder.

5. Frost the cupcakes with frosting of choice (I used swiss meringue buttercream flavored with mint extract. Sharon makes a caramel whipped cream to compliment her Bailey's with Caramel).

6. Top with a cake ball.

7. Serve and enjoy!

New England Clam Chowder

2008-09-12T19:52:00.001-07:00

I made this last week when the weather seemed more like mid-autumn rather than late summer. I served it with toasted slices of baguette and a green salad. This soup is hearty, super tasty, and fast and easy to make. It's the perfect way to warm up.

I first saw this recipe on Food TV (one of my favorite channels, but I can only watch after I've eaten, otherwise I get really hungry) on Dave Lieberman's show. D was with me and he said, "Make that, and I'll eat it." So I did and have since on many occasions. It's definitely the BEST clam chowder I've ever had, and everyone I've ever made it for has agreed. My brother in law even exclaimed that it's the most clam filled chowder he's ever seen. (lol) So if you like clam chowder, you have to try this recipe.

New England Clam Chowder as prepared by Dave Lieberman

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 celery stalk, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

3 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock

2- 10 ounce cans clams in juice (I've bought one bigger can in lieu of 2 small cans once, butI find using 2 cans taste better, I think it's because of the amount of juice in the cans)

1 cup heavy cream

2 bay leaves

1 pound potatos, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and celery, sauting until softened, stirring often.

2. Stir in flour to distribute evenly.

3. Add stock, juice from clams, cream, bay leaves, and potato. Stir to combine.

4. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until potatos are done (about 15-20 minutes).

5. Add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until the clams are firm (about 2 minutes).

Serve and enjoy! :D

My First Eclairs

2008-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

I remember as a child my dad would buy us boxes of eclairs and cream horns as special treats. They were days my family, even my mom whose not into sweets, would sit around the dining table and devour all the contents in these boxes within minutes. We would laugh at each other since we would be covered with the cream oozing out of the eclairs and powder sugar dusted all over us from the cream horns. Ahhh, childhood memories...

Well, I haven't thought much about those days until I came across How to Eat a Cupcake's post about making eclairs. (She has a great site where we get to vote on what type of treats she'll make.) Hers looked so yummy that it made me want to make eclairs.

I was at first a little skeptical that I could tackle this recipe since I've read a few other bloggers/ bakers have given it a try and had trouble with this fussy pastry. But with some encouragement from friends and family I decided to give it a try.

I got it right on the first try. YEAH. It's probably just beginner's luck, but I'll take it anyway. I used Martha Stewart's recipe from her Baking Handbook (it has become my baking Bible). It wasn't that bad to make, but it was time consuming and a lot of cleaning afterwards. I did have a few minor problems. I had made the chocolate glaze too thin and ended up having to dunk and spoon on 3 layers, making my eclairs look messy. Plus since I piped the cream into the eclairs through a hole on one in, I discovered some of the cream didn't make it into all of the pastry. I had a few hollow eclairs. :(

Nonetheless, they tasted pretty good. D was at first reluctant to try one (he too is not into sweets), but after I told him they were fancy longjohns (lol) he gave them a try and gave me a thumbs up.

Recipe for Chocolate Eclairs:

Ingredients:

Pate a Choux

6 ounce semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 1/4 cups heavy cream

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Pastry Cream

1. Make pastry cream at least 2 hours beforehand

Pastry cream recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine milk, 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together yolks, cornstarch, and 1/4 cup sugar. Whisking constantly, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture. Continue adding and whisking at 1/2 cup at a time until all of the milk has been added.

3. Pour mixture back into sauce pan and cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens (about 2 minutes). Do not overcook, otherwise you will have scrambled eggs.

4. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add butter, and beat on medium speed until the butter melts and the mixture has cooled (about 5 minutes).

5. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly to the surface of cream and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

2. Make Pate a Choux when ready to make eclairs.

Pate a Choux Recipe:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

1. In a medium sauce pan, combine butter, salt, sugar, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from heat.

2. Using a wooden spoon, quickly stir in all the flour until combined.

3. Return pan to medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly until mixture pulls away from the sides and a thin film forms on the bottom of pan (about 2 minutes).

4. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute to cool the mixture slightly. Increase speed to medium and add eggs one at a time, beating until each is incorporated before adding the next. Test the batter by touching it with your finger and lifting to form a soft peak. If a soft peak does not form, you may need to add another egg, adding a little at a time. Use immediately.

3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two baking sheets with parchment. With a ruler and a pencil, mark lines about 3 1/2 inches long on the parchment, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart. Turn parchment over with marked side down.

4. Fill a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch plain tip with pate a choux. Pipe along the lines on the parchment paper. Gently smooth tops with a moistened finger to ensure even rising and a prettier pastry.

5. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Continue baking, rotating the sheets halfway through until the pastries are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.

6. Transfer pastries and parchment to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat 3/4 cup cream and corn syrup in a small sauce pan over medium heat until bubbles begin to appear around the edges. Pour milk over the chocolate. Let stand about 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally.

8. Insert a wooden skewer into one end of the pastry to form a small opening to pipe the pastry cream in.

9. In a mediu bowl, stir the pastry cream until soften. In another bowl, whip the remaining 1-1/2 cups cream to stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream in 2 batches to lighten.

10. Transfer cream mix into a pastry bag with a filling tip (1/4 inch plain tip). Insert the tip into the opening of each pastry and pipe to fill. You can also cut the pastry in half and just spoon or pipe in the cream.

11. Dip the top of each eclair into the chocolate glaze, let excess drip off, and place, coated side up, on a wire rack to set.

12. Refrigerate in single layers in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Ivy's Cupcakes

2008-09-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I made my first cupcake sales!! I have only been making goodies for friends and family, so I am very estatic that someone outside of people I know want my cupcakes. When Acme asked for the SPCA cupcakes, she told me to provide my info, so anyone interested could order my cupcakes. She made me signs and little flyers for people to pick up. I was very nervous yet excited with the fact that someone might want my cupcakes. I worried that no one would like my cupcakes, and that my friends and family have just been nice by saying they taste good.

So when I received an email from Ivy asking about ordering cupcakes, I was jumping for joy. She said she had my cupcakes at the SPCA and wanted some to take to a farewell party. YEAH!! Then she asked how much I charged, oh no, I hadn't figured that out yet... Oh well, I knew what all the designer cupcakeries were selling them for and I knew how much they were being sold for at the grocery stores. I didn't want to scare her, so I went for the just a little more than grocery store prices. (Now I know why bakeries charge more, making from scratch and the packaging costs alot.)

Right away she told me she wanted two dozen. YEAH again!! And she would like a variety... hhhmmm, my recipes can be halved to make a dozen at a time, so I suggested her to order two types of cakes with two types of frosting and I could interchange them. She requested chocolate/ chocolate, vanilla/ chocolate, vanilla/ vanilla, and chocolate/ vanilla cupcakes. She wanted them elegant and not too cutesy. I asked and she said flowers and colored sugars were okay. I went through some of my flickr contacts' pictures for inspiration. So many beautiful cupcakes, if any of you have the time and like looking at cupcakes, search through flickr. There was one with a purple flower on top of vanilla buttercream. I thought it was very elegant, so I went with that.

I tried piping flowers out of royal icing, but they wouldn't dry in time, so I cut out purple and pink fondant flowers before heading to bed. Once in bed, I couldn't sleep. I felt the pinks and purples were too cutesy, so I got out of bed at 2am and made a new batch of fondant and cut out 30 large and 60 small white flowers instead (I always make extra since I'm a total clutz). After that I fell asleep soundly. A few hours later I got up early to make the cupcakes and buttercream. I tested the packaging (which I purchased at Michael's the day before) to make sure the cupcakes wouldn't bang into each other (tissue paper helps). I still had to decide what to do with the flowers... I went through my boxes of stuff, and pulled out two bottles of pearly dust I had purchased a while ago.

I dusted some of the gold onto a flower and WOW so elegant. I went with it. I dusted half the flowers with gold and then found some light pink royal icing and painted the other half of flowers with the pink icing. I topped the flowers on the frosted cupcakes, and if I may toot my own horn, they were so pretty. I felt they still needed something, so I added silver dragees to the chocolate frostings and pink flowers and sprinkled clear crystal sugar on the vanilla and gold ones. Now they were complete.

I boxed them one more time and walked around to make sure they were secure in their bed of tissue paper. When I was satisfied, we (the cupcakes and I) waited patiently for Ivy to pick them up. When she called, I felt my heart jump out of my chest. I was so nervous. But she really liked them, and thanked me for them. Later that night she wrote back and said they were a big hit at the party. I'm so happy! Even now I can't stop smiling. Thank you, Ivy for the opportunity!!

Steamed Fish with Lime and Chili - "pla neung manao"

2008-09-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided I need to take a break from cupcakes. The next post will most likely be a cupcake one (sigh)... I can't help it. I've caught the cupcake bug! :P

Anyway, today I'm going to feature one of D's favorite meals ever. The first time I had this was back in '97 in Pattaya, Thailand on the beaches of Coral Island. The whole fish was covered with chili and lime and then steamed to perfection. When we visited this past summer, we couldn't find a good vendor selling this dish. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

But now I can make my own. This recipe was the main reason why I purchased Lemongrass and Sweet Basil by Khamtane Signavong. It's sweet, savory, sour, and SPICY. It's so good and so easy. The flavors are easily adjustable to taste and preference. The recipe I list below is my adjustment to D's palate.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 pounds of firm white fish (we love halibut, if no fish, use scallops and/ or shrimp)

* Chinese cabbage (napa cabbage) chopped in large pieces

* Handful basil leaves

* 2 tablespoons sliced lemongrass (bigger pieces for easy removal or tiny pieces if you prefer to eat it)

* 2 teaspoons finely chopped cilantro

Sauce Ingredients:

* 2 red Thai chili finely diced

* 3 garlic cloves finely diced

* 2 tablespoon fish sauce

* 4 tablespoon fresh lime juice

* 2-3 teaspoon sugar (powder preferred)

* handful of finely chopped cilantro

1. In an oven/ steamer safe plate (I use a pie plate) layer with Chinese cabbage, basil, and lemon grass. Lay the seafood on top.

2. Place in steamer, cover, and steam over boiling water until done (about 10-15 minutes). I don't own a steamer, so I use a large skillet with a lid.

3. In the meantime, you can make the sauce by combining all ingredients and mixing well until the sugar dissolves. Taste to adjust to your palate. Extra sugar may be needed depending on your fish sauce. Add more chili peppers if you prefer more spice.

4. When the seafood is done, remove from steamer, drain off the juices. If you would like to remove the lemongrass, do so now. If you would like to plate the dish, do so now.

5. Spoon the sauce over the seafood and cabbage and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. You can also garnish with lime wedges.

6. Serve with steam rice and enjoy the taste of Thailand!

Richmond, BC's SPCA Cupcakes

2008-09-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Local Blueberries

My cousin Acme works at the local SPCA. Her love for animals is limitless, so when she asked me to bake a few cupcakes to raise funds for the furry creatures, I couldn't say no.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Well, I got a little overboard and ended up baking about 120 cupcakes. I know just a little overboard. :P It was a labor of love, but I'm not complaining. I loved every minute of it. It was my opportunity to try different recipes and different piping techniques.

Vanilla Kitty Cupcakes

I really had bigger plans, but my skills are still quite limited, and since these were for people outside of family, they might not be as forgiving. So I kept it simple, and I think they came out pretty cute (for the most part).

Vanilla Doggie Cupcakes featuring "Foaming" Mouth Dog

Jess came over and helped me make the chocolate doggie and kitty theme candies. I certainly wouldn't have been as patient as she was, I prefer cakes, cookies, and cupcakes. She painstakingly colored in each layer of chocolate for the details. She was a bit upset with the "foaming" mouth dog, but I thought it was cute.

SPCA Cupcakes

In the end, I don't know how much my cupcakes raised (I'm afraid to find out I spent more than the SPCA got). But I had tons of fun and can't wait to do more cupcakes!

SPCA Cupcakes

To help out an animal in need, please donate to your local SPCA or BC's SPCA. Thanks!!

Dark Chocolate Cayenne Truffle Cupcakes

2008-08-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been obsessed with cupcakes. What's not to like. They are the only cakes you can eat on the go; they are the only cakes you can eat all by yourself without feeling guilty (I usually will eat three at a time); they are some of the most artistic desserts in the most fun flavors and with the cutest decorations; they work for all occasions from birthdays, weddings, showers, or just because I feel like having one today day (which getting an entire cake would seem like a huge indulgence), and the biggest reason I make them is because they are the only kind of sweets my husband will eat willingly.

As I went searching for cupcakes on the world wide web, I discovered there are many like me! There are so many sites and blogs about cupcakes. I would spend hours each day devouring the contents on these sites. Everyone out there is so creative and inspirational.

Cupcakes on their way to be tested.

That's how I discovered Iron Cupcake: Earth. Yes, like Iron Chef but with cupcakes, and everyone on Earth can participate. Each month there will be a secret ingredient and each participant will have to come up with a recipe, post it on their page with photos and descriptions, and have everyone else can vote on their creations. How fun is that?

This month's challenge is the CHILI PEPPER CHALLENGE. The prizes this month are a cupcake courier from Cupcake Courier, a luxury hostess apron from Jessie Steele, a cookbook from Taste of Home, an original artwork from Esty artist, Cakespy, a set of cute kitchen utensils from Fiesta Head Chefs, and the best-selling book Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. How awesome is that!

As a newbie baker, I found this to be a bit intimidating. I've had a peek at other challengers' sites and WOW, there's some unique and gorgeous cupcakes out there. But D thought this would be a great opportunity for me to expand on my usual cupcake recipes.

So this month I'm starting small and simple. My inspiration is a box of chocolates D had given my for Valentine's Day last year. They were a box of spicy dark chocolate truffles from Daniel's Chocolates. At first bite, you just taste the smooth, bitter dark chocolate, but then afterwards the back of your throat will feel a slight heat from the peppers. It's quite an aphrodisiac. I wanted to recreate that feeling.

The saved one

I think I came pretty close with this recipe. I made a batch for my personal taste testers, my family (all 16 of them). Everyone raved how yummy they were, and everyone loved that kick from the peppers. I ended up having to fight my nephew for the last one since I didn't take any good pictures beforehand. He took a tiny bite off the top of the frosting. Oh well, at least I got it back and took these pics.

So try my recipe, it's very simple (it's a variation from Martha Stewart's One bowl chocolate cake), and don't forget to vote for me at

No One Puts Cupcake In A Corner from Sunday, August 31, at 9 a.m. pst until Thursday, September 4, at 9 a.m. pst.

Dark Chocolate Cayenne Truffle Cupcakes

To make cupcakes:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 cups sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups warm water

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two standard 12 cup muffin pans with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper. Whisk ingredients together gently.

3. Add the eggs and yolk, milk, oil, vanilla, and warm water to the dry ingredients.

4. Whisk mixture until the wet and dry ingredients are well incorporated.

5. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full.

6. Bake for about 20-25 minutes.

7. Insert toothpick through the center of one cake, if it comes out clean, the cupcakes are cooked. If it comes out with crumbs attach, put back into the oven for another 2 minutes. Repeat as needed until toothpick comes out clean.

8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make dark chocolate frosting:

1 pound best-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 tablespoons boiling water

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup powder sugar

Pinch of salt

1. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Turn off the heat, and stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely (about 15 minutes).

2. Once melted, place chocolate on counter to cool.

3. In a small bowl combine cocoa powder, baking soda, cayenne pepper, and boiling water. Stir until well blended.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes) scraping down sides as needed.

5. Add melted chocolate, beat on low speed until combined (about 1-2 minutes) scraping down sides as needed.

6. Beat in cocoa mixture until combined (about 1-2 minutes).

Spread or pipe onto cupcakes and enjoy!

Peaches and Grapes from Japan

2008-08-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

While shopping at the Elements Shopping Mall in Hong Kong ( same place where I bought the PETiTS cupcakes), my family and I decided to check out the upscale grocery store Three-Sixty. They sell many foreign products at foreign prices, but we weren't turned off by the prices since there were food items we haven't seen since past travels. We were actually quite excited and spent over an hour scouring up and down all the aisles. Plus there were samples available, my family never turns down free food or drinks. (lol)

We came out of there with several bags of goodies, but our prize purchases were two Japanese water peaches and a box of Japanese perfume grapes. (I'm not sure what the true names are, but water peach and perfume grapes are direct translation from Cantonese).

I've never had the grapes before, so I was excited to try one. Both Jess and mom said they don't like them much due to their weird perfume-y taste. Looking inside the box, I can see the grapes were HUGE. I don't really like grapes with seeds, and I know big grapes equal seeds. Bummer.

But these were very expensive grapes, so I wasn't going to let them go to waste. As you can see one small box was $336 HKD which is about $48 USD. At that price if it meant eating them all by myself, I was up for the challenge.

I bit my first grape in half, so I can pick out the seeds. The skin was thick and crunched when I bit into it. The flesh of the grape actually popped out of the skin when I chewed. And you know what, NO SEEDS! Yeah, I love these grapes. But wait, they taste weird. It did taste kind of perfume-y. Hhhhmmm, not so good.

Dad had a few, stopped eating and said he rather have the peach. Oh man, I was going to have to eat all of it myself. Great... But as I was sucking the flesh out of the skin (the skin can be a bit tart), the taste grew on me, and I was starting to enjoy them.

Watching me eat, Jess decided to give the grapes another try, (our family gives food many chances to change our mind - pork fat candy, I have a feeling we will meet again). She actually liked the skin more than the flesh. She felt the skin was the best part being crispy, crunchy, and fruity, kind of like candy.

Watching Jess eat, mom eventually came around and said she would lend us a hand in finishing. We knew she couldn't help herself, and we eventually polished off the entire box. Yum!

Now for the peach. Ohhhh man, these are so good. They are much better in Japan (I think Japan exports their rejects), but these were better than any other peach I've had outside of Japan. If you've had one before, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you have not, you must try one at least once in your lifetime.

When we first had them in Japan some 15 or so years ago, we visited a fruit stand where the shop owner was furious with dad when he tried to pick a peach up. The owner came over and yell at dad and showed him a sign that said "NO TOUCHING". Dad was confused since he'd never shopped for produce without touching or smelling. The owner said by touching even with gentle pressure, we would bruise the fruit and the juices would break through. Then he guaranteed us that each peach was equally sweet, juicy, and ripe, and it would be the best we would have ever eaten, if not we can come back for a refund.

We bought one for $6 USD. Yep, it was outrageously expensive. We never did get our money back, instead we had bought a whole box to carry back to Hong Kong to share with dad's family.

When we saw they were selling them at Three-Sixty for $45 HKD (about $6.50 USD), it was a bargain, and we grabbed two! (And went back for a couple more the next day!)

A little advice, when you bite into one, have a large towel available preferably somewhere near your mouth and arms. It's that juicy! The juice just flows like a water fall out of the fruit, hence the name water peach. The skin is thick and can be eaten with the flesh, but this leads to more overflowing of juices due to the force of the bite. Instead after the first bite, we chose to peel the skin off, which comes off like peeling a sticker from its sheet. The juice is sweet and fragrant, very similar to peach candy or more like the Japanese peach drinks.

A fellow blogger, whose Japanese, told me the peaches are killer with vanilla ice cream. OMG, that sounds so divine!! I must try them with ice cream next time.

Shark Fin Soup in Macau

2008-08-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

While in Macau, my parents and their friends insisted on having dinner at this place. They were introduced to this restaurant by a famous local friend (he has connections) last time they were in Macau. We had spent most of the first and part of the second night in town walking around all the old and narrow alleyways looking for it. It happens to be a few blocks from Pastelaria Koi Kei.

We finally found it. YEAH! But as you can see from the first picture, it didn't look impressive on the outside. I was thinking my parents and their friends must have gotten it wrong, but they recognized the owner who immediately called the celebrity friend, who was out of town at that time, and verified that our group was indeed this famous man's friends. Once that was all settled the owner told us she knew what to serve us but wanted to know how much we wanted.

The first dish (the only one I had time to take pictures of - boo me) which was the soup - WOW! It's their signature shark fin soup. I've had my fair share of shark fin soups, but I've never seen shark fin soup like this.

The fins are cooked separately from the soup and are ordered by weight. I think we ordered one kilograms worth. Jess said last time they were here is was about three times as much and looked like a mountain. Again WOW!

The soup is chicken broth, but not like any chicken broth I've ever seen or tasted. It tasted so chicken-y, free range chicken-y. The broth was creamy in color, not clear, and the aroma made my stomach growl. As I had my first sip, my tummy was all warm and happy. I'm smiling as I'm rethinking about it. hhhhmmmmm... :-)

I don't think anyone can ever make chicken broth like that at home. Look at all that shark fin in just one spoonful of soup and every spoon was that full!! I was in heaven. I walked out of there totally satisfied and knowing I could never have another bowl of regular shark fin soup without sighing and remember that one night in some tiny alley in Macau.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Honey!!!

2008-08-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

Today is my husbee's birthday. It is also my uncle's birthday. They are both poker fanatics, and I was going to make them a poker theme cake to share. I have been planning it for a while and was super excited to give it a try. But you ask where is the poker theme cake? Well, it's been delayed since my uncle is out of town for today. :-( I wanted to make one anyway for D, but he's not much of a cake man, but doesn't mind cupcakes.

I wanted to make really special ones since he's not getting a cake on his birthday, but he insisted on something simple with little to no decorations. He wants something more manly. I can still make manly decorated cupcakes, but he said NO. hhhhhhmmmmm..... He also doesn't care much for chocolate or anything too sweet. hhhhhhhmmmmmm..... It's much easier cooking him dinner. Well, I know he likes strawberries and mangos, they are pretty much the only fruits he really likes.

I made a strawberry and mango puree, and I made a batch of cupcakes from the sponge cake recipe from my sisters' cake and a batch of meringue buttercream. I also made a batch of Martha's one bowl chocolate cupcakes (this is a similar recipe, the one I made is from Martha's Stewart's Baking Handbook, so if anyone needs it, let me know) since I love chocolate (and these cupcakes don't disappoint).

I folded 1/2 cup of the puree into the buttercream to give it that something extra. I then layered the cupcakes with the puree before piping a swirl of buttercream and topping them with fresh strawberries.

I tried one of each, they are not bad. The chocolate cupcake is really moist and yummy, and the sponge one is really spongy, not too sweet, and de-lish. I didn't really taste the mango which is disappointing, but I think D will love them anyway.

Happy birthday, baby. I hope all your wishes come true. I LOVE YOU!!

Pastelaria Koi Kei in Macau

2008-08-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Pastelaria Koi Kei

As I was flipping through a magazine that I had picked up in Asia Destination Macau, I came across an article about the streets of Old Taipa Village, a historical area of Macau. And one of the places featured was a cookie store I had been to, Pasterlaria Koi Kei. It is highly recommended by both locals and repeat tourists. It is the number gift purchased in Macau.

Macau's Old Red Light District

The store is located on the narrow street of Rua da Cunha commonly known as the food street in Cantonese. The area was previously a happening red light district, but now it's home to a few residents, restaurants, and shops selling cookies, candies, BBQ pork, jellies, and many other famous Macau snacks.

The streets were fairly quiet since it was close to 11pm. All the other stores were closed and most residents were already in bed. But as we approached our destination, I noticed that every person walking away from us was carrying a yellow brown plastic bag. And then that's when I saw it.

Busy Pastelaria Koi Kei

With bright lights and people spilling out, Jess groaned, "Oh no, we'll be here all night. Last time we were here, mom went nuts and bought 4 big bags of cookies." She decided to stay outside and wait for mom since she didn't want to fight with the mob of shoppers, and I was thinking she had the right idea.

But the clerks were shouting, "Free samples," and were passing out cookies and candies that would put any Costco to shame. I wanted some of their 300 plus varieties of treats, so I took a deep breath and ventured in. Before I knew it I was given original almond cookie, chunky almond cookie, walnut almond cookie, a handful of mini almond cookies, almond cookie with pork floss, and many, many other varieties of almond cookies. These were not cut up pieces or sample sizes. These were full size cookies right out of the boxes! I was getting so parched from tasting, I had to leave the almond cookie area.

Jess Making It Out Alive

I walked around to the dried fruits and candies section, which had less people, and before I knew it, Jess was right beside me asking me to pass her some samples. The clerks were wonderful. When we wanted to try something and they didn't have a sample available, they would just grab a new box and open it for us. We tasted everything! Most items were yummy, but some were really an acquired taste, like pork fat candy - well I don't know if that's what it is, but it was a candy with meat in it that tasted like a piece of cold fat. I'm gagging just thinking about it, but there were several people buying boxes of them including my mom.

After an hour in the store, my mom bought four bags of cookies and candies which Jess is holding in the photo above, but then thinking she didn't have enough mom went back in and bought two more bags.

Pasrelaria Koi Kei's Famous Yellow Brown Bag

I bought six boxes of mini almond cookies, two boxes of phoenix egg rolls with seaweed and pork floss, one bag of lemon ginger candy, one bag of mango peanut nougat, and a box of variety almond cookies. All my stash fit into one bag, so you can see how much mom bought. She did go nuts in there!

Mini Almond Cookies

I know some of you out there might say, "These are available where I'm at." Pastelaria Koi Kei does sell their products in many Asia super markets around the world. But as an auntie told us, "This is where they make all these treats. This is the original store and bakery. Everything comes out of here. The selections are greater and fresher. Plus you won't be able to experience this kind of shopping back home." But with our giant stash of treats we did get to share a little bit of our experience at Pastelaria Koi Kei with all our family and friends.

Pastelaria Koi Kei

Rua Do Cunha, No. 11-13

R/C Taipa Macau

Tel: (853) 2882 7458

PETiTS by Deschamps in Hong Kong

2008-08-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

While shopping at one of Hong Kong's newest malls Elements, I discovered PETiTS by Deschamps. It was packed with customers inside and congregating all around the store front were people with forks digging into plastic cups and little boxes filled with cupcakes.

Store Front Display

I really wanted one, and my sister Jess wasn't one to pass on sweets. We ventured in and browsed through the cupcakes, cakes, cookies, and chocolates on display.

Green Tea Cupcake on Stand

The store itself was quite dark and very modern. The sales associates were very friendly and allowed me to take photos. I don't think they baked the treats onsite since the store didn't smell of baked goods. The cupcakes on the cupcake stands which are the ones featured on their signage were just for show.

PETiTS' Display Case

But we were definitely more interested in the cupcakes for sale. There were three fridges filled with cupcakes and cakes. The flavors included tiramisu, coffee, mango, lychee, Bailey's, white peach, s'mores, cinnamon apple, cookies and cream, caramel, eggy, and many more.

PETiTS' Display Case

They all looked delicious, and it was so hard to decide. Then we saw a chalkboard that listed mini cupcakes 3 for $48 HKD, regular cupcakes 1 for $25 HKD. Well, even though the choices for the minis were less, but they looked just as good, plus this way we could share 3 instead of 2. How could we go wrong with that?

PETiTS' Display Case

Jess immediately decided on the Bailey's, and the Eggy was too cute to pass up. Our final choice was Shaddock. We didn't know what it was, but it had on a chocolate hat and that sealed the deal.

Back at the Hotel

The sales associate boxed our treats in a fancy box and placed it in a fancy bag with a fancy sticker, but all we wanted to do was rip the whole thing open and dig into the cupcakes. We rushed back to the hotel and immediately dug in.

Eggy, Shaddock, and Bailey's Mini Cupcakes

Well, once out of the box, they definitely looked better than they tasted. The cakes of all three were quite dry and the flavors were bland but sweet. Now I'm sure they didn't bake onsite.

Eggy Mini Cupcake

The Eggy Mini Cupcake, though extremely cute with the sunny side up egg frosting on top, didn't have much flavor. I assume it's suppose to taste like eggs, but it just tasted like a sweet white cake (not even vanilla) with a marshmallow topping. There was a custard filling, but it wasn't very creamy.

Shaddock Mini Cupcake

The Shaddock Mini Cupcake was the best out of all three. We weren't sure what the flavor was suppose to be. We just assumed it would be a chocolate cupcake, so we were surprised to find it filled with lemon custard with lemon peels. It also had the non-flavored cake base as the eggy. The frosting was marshmallowy (not as sticky as the eggy), which was lighter than buttercream but heavier than meringue, but it complimented the tart custard fairly well.

Bailey's Mini Cupcake

The Bailey's Mini Cupcake was our least favorite. It might have something to do with the fact that we thought it was topped with crunchy sugar crystals instead it was gelatin cubes. We didn't taste any Bailey's and once again it was the plain white cake, but with no custard to cut down the dryness.

All in all we were disappointed with the cupcakes, but then we also didn't let any of it go to waste. And if I ever get to visit them again, I think I will try their regular size ones and give them one more chance to change my mind. All those customers couldn't be wrong!

PETiTS by Deschamps

Shop 2004, Level 2, Elements, Union Square,

1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 2882 7477

Cabining in Chilliwack

2008-08-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hello again! I've been MIA for some time, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. The trip was awesome, but I am also so happy to be back. I ate so much and saw so much. Between my sis and I, we took over 2000 pictures! I know 2000!! I've been trying to upload some of them onto my flickr account for the past week and am still uploading. So if you have time, check out our pics.

I really want to write about all the yummy and questionable delicacies I've tasted, but I'm still sorting through all the photos and memories. As soon as that's all done, I promise I'll share with everyone.

In the meantime, D and I went camping this holiday weekend with a few friends. I've never been camping so I was very excited. Well, we didn't really go camping, since Chris has a cabin, so it was more like cabin-ing.

Chipmunk Peninsula

Chris' cabin is right outside of Chilliwack which is about 1 - 1 1/2 hours east of Vancouver. We arrived Saturday and came home Monday afternoon. It was a very relaxing weekend with lots of laughter and food. I baked an apple pie, biscuits, brownies, and my yummy chocolate chip cookies which I made soft and chewy (by accident) by baking at 350 instead of 375. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take photos of the baked goods, but everyone seemed to enjoy them, and I didn't have to bring any leftovers home.

Chipmunk Peninsula

Each morning Chris made us breakfast. And wow, he can cook. He even made eggs to order for all six of us! Beside the eggs, we had hashbrowns, sausages, bacon, toast, homemade strawberry jam (which tasted like fresh strawberries - Chris, I will be needing that recipe), and my biscuits. Oh, just thinking about it now is making me hungry!

Chilliwack Lake

After breakfast we headed to the beach at Chilliwack Lake. Okay, it wasn't a beach-beach, but it was as close to one as a lake could get. The view was right out of a Kokanee or Coor's Light commercial. It was gorgeous. The girls laid-out, Joe went to catch us some dinner, and D and Chris just bummed around by getting lost in the forest, almost killing Joe, and tossing the football. The water was so refreshing and FREEZING. We found out the lake water is supplied by the melting glaciers on the mountains. It was like jumping into a big glass of ice water! Every single person out there tried to swim in the lake, but no one lasted for more than 20 seconds. Your toes would go numb just standing at the edge, but it did feel good in the hot, hot heat.

Joe fishing

We were out there for about 3 hours, none of us girls seemed to see much color, but all three guys have turned brown and red. Maybe we should have bummed around with them instead.

Joe wasn't successful in his conquest to catch us dinner. So to humor him, we accompanied him to Chipmunk Peninsula, where Joe took off on his adventure and the rest of us got eaten alive by flies. They were every where! Right away we knew Joe wasn't going to have any luck since we could see the fishes were eating the flies. But he wasn't going to give up so easily. After circling the entire lake and with much coaxing from us, he finally returned to shore empty handed.

Mossy Tree

He was disappointed, and we all had a good laugh. Luckily we planned ahead and had brought steaks and potatoes for dinner. Chris slow cooked them on the BBQ, and it was one of the most tender and best tasting steaks ever! I will have to try that next time at home. After dinner Chris started the fire pit and we roasted marshmallows, watched the stars, listened to the sounds of nature, and enjoyed just being good friends hanging out.

Update

2008-07-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

I'm currently in Hong Kong. It's very late right now and I just got off the phone with D (I think he just woke up actually). I apologize in advance for the missing pictures and for any babbling I might do.

I've spent an entire day eating all kinds of wonderful foods. I've had 5 full meals today (hee hee) and ate pretty much from 9:30 am till 10 pm tonight. I'm so not looking forward to standing on a scale especially since I already need to shed some pounds. I'm hoping all this sweating I've been doing will counter all the eating. :-P

So far I've visited Thailand which I wrote about before, Singapore which the 1 1/2 days there wasn't enough, and Malaysia which had awesome food and durian which I will share in a future post. And tomorrow will be another day full of eating. I can't wait! I will write more in the near future. In the meantime, happy eating, everyone!!

Greetings from Thailand

2008-07-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Sawadikah! Hello everyone,

I am currently in Bangkok,and this is my last night here. Tomorrow I will be heading to Singapore before visiting Maylasia. I'm so excited since I haven't been to Singapore or Malaysia. I've had a wonderful time eating and sightseeing so far. I took tons of photos, but silly me, I didn't bring the camera adaptor to download my pics, so at this moment I have only words to share.

The first night I met up with my nieces and nephew. They have grown so much since I've last seen them. It was so much fun listening to their experiences that has happened in the last year. Of course they miss D a lot too. Mimi is closest with her uncle, and she was heart broken to not see him here. She wanted to fly to Canada that night to see him. Instead I promised her we will bring D next time, and he will take her out. :-) I'm already planning the next trip.

After that we explored the temples and road a boat to the floating market in Bangkok. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, so there wasn't much to buy. But the photos are beautiful. I can' t wait to share. Then we headed to Pataya. There we got Thai massages, saw the famous Tiffany Show, went to Coral Island, road elephants, visited beautiful gardens and snake farms, watched traditional Thai dancing, and ate and ate and ate. The best eatings were at the street vendors and markets. There was so much interesting fruits that I've never seen before, and everything was so yummy.

I will update everyone soon with more details and hopefully with photos। In the meantime I will keep eating and taking pictures! Take care, everyone and see you soon!

MImi, Neo, and Nisha's Cookies

2008-07-08T00:33:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to Asia for 3 weeks with my parents and youngest sister Jess. Poor D has to stay behind and work. I will miss him so much, but I know he will miss me more.

My favorite- Doggy Cookies

I am writing this post as we are waiting for the plane. It's late, so I might ramble on or not write intelligently, so please forgive me. Our flight is delayed until 4am. It's a good thing we are still in Vancouver, so we have the amenities of home, but we are all staying up just in case we hit the snooze one too many times.

Heart Cookies

Our first stop will be Thailand where I will get to spend a day with my nieces and nephew. I miss them so much. It's been over a year since I last saw them. We always had so much fun baking and cooking together.

Butterfly Cookies

As a treat for them, I made them special sugar cookies. I hope they will like them. A few are kind of kookie. You can tell when I ran out of ideas and just started sprinkling. But hey, I know those will probably be the most well received since they have extra sugar on top.

Star Cookies

I hope I will find internet connection while I'm traveling, so I can share my experiences. If not, I will update everyone once I get back. I wish you all a wonderful July!

Flower Cookies

Bathing Suit Cookies

People Cookies

Round Cookies (decorated with left over icing)

Linda and Barbara's Birthday Cake

2008-07-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

This is a cake I made for my two sisters, Linda and Barbara. Their birthdays are exactly a week from each others, and since Linda came to visit us from San Fran, it was wonderful to celebrate their special days together.

I took the design idea from Leda's Bake Shop in Sherman Oaks, California. Of course theirs is much prettier, but I did hand make every since fondant rose petal by petal rather than rolling a strip of fondant. I think it's more delicate looking.

The cake is a vanilla sponge cake layered with mocha pastry cream covered with chocolate meringue buttercream and marshmallow fondant decorations. The cake recipe is from the William Sonoma's Mastering Cake book, the pastry cream is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and the buttercream is from Taste Goblet.

Surprisingly it turned out quite tasty and not too sweet, well with the exception of the fondant which my 12 year old sugar addict nephew couldn't get enough of. I wonder if this recipe will work as cupcakes? I guess I'll have to find out and share in the near future.

Crying Tiger (Suer Roong Hai)

2008-07-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

It's been extremely hot these past few days in Vancouver to the point where I only want to each cold/ raw dishes. D and I have had our fair share of sushi and cold noodles (unfortunately, nothing worth noting, so no write ups). I actually wanted to eat in after so many meals of eating out.

I looked through the freezer and fridge to check out my ingredients; I had the makings for an awesome salad, but D's not much of a salad man. So I then skimmed through a few cookbooks for inspiration and came across "Crying Tiger - Suer Roong Hai" in Lemongrass and Sweet Basil Traditional Thai Cuisine by Khamtane Signavong. I've made it before, and it's pretty good, but I had other plans for it that night.

The following is an excerpt from the book about this dish:

This is a very special dish from Isan. Legend has it that it owes its name to a time when the many tigers that roamed the thick forests there would come to the villages in search of food, especially cattle. The first tiger would take the best part of the meat, then the second tiger would discover this and cry loudly because it had missed out. Some people also say that the grilling meat makes a noise like a crying tiger - whichever version you favor, the dish is irresistible.

I decided to turn this steak dish into a salad wrap like I've had at Vietnamese restaurants back in Texas. I wished I thought to take pictures before we started to eat because everything looked as good as it smelled and tasted. It was very refreshing. D actually ate the leftovers with rice the next day, and it was just as good. I hope you'll try the recipe and enjoy it as much as D and I did.

I tweaked the recipe a little bit to accommodate my available ingredients and time shortage. The following is what I made that night:

1 pound flank steak

Marinade:

4 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 finely diced Thai chili pepper or 1 teaspoon chili powder (can adjust for more or less heat)

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

3 teaspoon sugar

4 cloves finely chopped garlic

Wrap/ Salad Ingredients:

Lettuce leaves

Cucumber slices

Mushroom slices

Tomato slices

Pineapple pieces (can or fresh)

Cilantro

Onion

Fresh Garlic

Rice Paper (which I didn't have, but wished I did)

Sauce:

3 cloves finely chopped garlic

1 Thai chili pepper

2 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice

2 teaspoons sugar

1. First marinade the steak at least 30 minutes.

2. To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until sugar has dissolved. Taste to see if any adjustments are needed (some brands of fish sauce are very salty - may need to add more sugar and/ or a little bit of water).

3. Prepare all the veggies for the wraps/ salad.

4. Remove steak from marinade and place on heated grill or pan. Cook until desired temperature. I cooked mine for about 10 minutes on each side for a medium. The steak will shrink, this is normal.

5. Let steak rest for a few minutes, then slice thinly against the grain and place on platter.

6. Serve over veggies with the sauce for a Thai/ Vietnamese style salad, or wrap in lettuce and/ or soften rice paper with desired veggies.

7. Enjoy and if eating it wrap style, have lots of napkins on hand.

Auntie J's Mini Cupcakes

2008-07-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend D and I were invited to dinner with Auntie J and a few of his old buddies. Auntie J is like a second mom to D, and she always has a feast prepared for us whenever we can make it out to her place. In the past I'd bring a simple salad, but I wanted to bring something really yummy to share with everyone, and since Acme's cupcakes were a hit, I decided to make mini versions.

Unfortunately, after work and running all my errands I didn't have much time; I was left with only 1 1/2 hours to make the cupcakes and 2 batches of meringue buttercream! I cheated and used a box mix for the cupcakes. While they were cooling, I made my first batch of buttercream, but I think with the heat and humidity of that day, the buttercream never quite fluffed up. I was so disappointed since the previous attempts came out so wonderfully. I was starting to get stressed.

After whipping the cream for more than 30 minutes, I felt that my Kitchen Aid mixer was about to die, so I threw the whole bowl of buttercream into the fridge. I decided to skip the chocolate buttercream and only make the lemon. I made the candied lemons but burnt them while I was dealing with the buttercream. This was not my day. I knew I should have stuck with a salad. I was tempted to just chuck the whole thing, but I still had maybe 15 minutes and about 60 mini cupcakes begging me for frosting (and smelling oh so good - I realized I hadn't eaten anything the entire day).

I pulled out the buttercream from the fridge and whipped it a little bit more. It helped, but I didn't have time to beat it for another 15 minutes. It had to do as is, so I spooned some into a piping bag, and tested it on one of the "ugly" cupcakes and tasted it. WOW, it was SO GOOD!! I ate about 5 more after that. :-) Okay, back to the cupcakes, I spooned a little bit of lemon curd on each cupcake then swirled on the buttercream.

I searched in my baking cupboard and in the fridge for something to decorate the cupcakes with... Should I use sprinkles... no... fresh lemon slices... nah... oh, there is a basket of strawberries and a basket of raspberries. It was an easy choice, the combination of raspberries and lemon is like peanut butter and jelly.

I took 24 mini cupcakes to Auntie J's. Dinner was awesome, the company was great, and the cupcakes were all gone at the end of the night.

Birthday Cupcakes

2008-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

I made these cupcakes for my cousin, Acme's birthday. I didn't know it was her birthday until yesterday when my uncle invited us to dinner tonight. It gave me the perfect opportunity to make cupcakes! And they are so good and easy to make!

Ever since I watched Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Week, I've been obsessed with cupcakes. I've been dying to go to all the cupcake places around this area especially Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle. I've also tried a couple of recipes. I've made Trophy Cupcakes' Chocolate Graham Cracker Cupcakes which were SO GOOD and failed miserably at Bakerella's Cupcake Pops (but will try again once I've licked my wounds - Bakerella, I bow down to you).

For Acme I made vanilla cupcakes and frosted two different flavors. One was with lemon meringue buttercream and the other was with chocolate buttercream. I got the meringue buttercream recipe from Taste Goblet. It was my first try at meringue buttercream. I've been avoiding it because I was scared of making the meringue, but this recipe was really easy and so, so, so good. I could eat it straight out of the mixing bowl!! It is THE best I've ever tasted. Taste Goblet, you're such such an angel for the super detailed and descriptive recipe.

For the lemon cupcakes I made one batch of buttercream, one batch of lemon curd (recipe from William-Sonoma's Cakes), and one lemon's worth of candied lemon slices. I folded in 1/2 cup of lemon curd into the buttercream to give it the lemon flavor. Once the cupcakes cooled, I spooned a layer of lemon curd on top of the cake, then piped a mound of buttercream, and topped it with a slice of lemon (on some I sprinkled them with white sparkling sugar).

With the chocolate one, I mixed in 6 oz. of melted semi-sweet chocolate into the buttercream (add in after the butter step). I piped it onto the cakes and sprinkled them with chocolate shavings (a few I decorated with fondant flowers).

I made both buttercreams last night and didn't use them until this afternoon. The lemon came out great after beating it again with the mixer, but I had some problems with the consistency of the chocolate one. There were a lot of air pockets, and I wasn't able to smooth it out, but it still tastes great. So I would suggest using the chocolate meringue buttercream immediately after making it.

After it was all done, I had to taste both of them. They were both SO YUMMY!!! I have to say, I am quite impressed with myself. :-P I just hope my cousin will like them as much.

Surf and Turf Dinner with a side of noodles?

2008-06-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

This is the look our dog Chia gave me last night as I was preparing dinner. She stuck to me like glue hoping I would accidentally drop just a tiny morsel of food for her to grab before I could pick it back up. Ah, but unlucky for her I was making steak and salmon, and no way would I drop that on the floor. (lol)

It was a one pan dinner, so great in the cleaning department! First I seasoned the steak, a sirloin, with salt and pepper. I like to keep things simple. I have seasoned it many ways in the past including with steak sauce, garlic salt, seasoned salt, mixture of soy and worchestershire sauces, oyster sauce, ... but salt and pepper is still my favorite. I put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in a heated pan and gently laid my steak in it. I like my steaks rare to medium rare, so it only takes about 4-5 minutes of each side. My cousin, Tony, taught me that if the steak feels similar to the cushy part of my palm under the thumb, then my meat is medium rare. I love this tip because in the past I've always either over cooked or under cooked.

For the sides, I usually make caramelized onions, garlic spinach, and mushrooms in butter and red wine sauce, but I wanted something different. I was craving potatoes, but when I went to the market, I found these super fragrant tomatoes on vines. I never noticed them before. Size-wise they are between a roma and a cherry tomato. I bought a few vines full and am so glad I did. I had sliced them in half and cooked them in the pan around the steak during the last few minutes of cooking. No seasoning, no oil needed, they just soaked up the steak juices. They are SO sweet and tomato-y. WOW! I don't know if I would put them in soups or pasta dishes since they are almost like a fruit, but it was a pleasant surprise.

After I finished cooking the steak and tomatoes, I sliced a Yukon gold potato, seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme, and e.v.o.o. and threw them into the pan. It was a bit laborious to cook in the pan, I could have fried them or stuck them in the oven, but I was going for less cleaning. In the end it wasn't too bad. It took maybe 10-15 minutes to cook all of it. If I had thinner slices, it would have been done much faster.

So now onto the salmon. Same as the steak, simple salt and pepper, but this time at the end of the cooking I hit it with a few squeezes of lemon juice to cut out any hints of fishy-ness. And done! So quick and easy...

Oh, but D had other plans for me, he was feeling noodle soup for dinner. I guess one pan clean up was too good to be true. I started to protest, and he said he would make it, so I had to jump in. His concoctions usually leaves a BIG mess and an even bigger tummy ache. :-P So I threw a pot of water onto the stove, pulled out any "leftover" veggies from past meals, and found some scallops, black forest ham, and pork dumplings. Once the water boiled, I tossed a handful of Chinese noodles and the dumplings to cook for a few minutes, and then threw everything else in. I seasoned it with a little salt, white and black pepper, and some chicken bullion. Done!

Oh, but Chia looked so sad not having had anything to sweep off the floor. Plus everything smelled so good. In the end she didn't get any sirloin, but she did get a gourmet meal of turkey and veggies with gravy from Natural Choice dog food. :-P

Craving for Fried Okra

2008-06-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a very hectic day even though it's Sunday (and we didn't even get to church - so bad). D had a class until 4pm and a business meeting afterwards. I needed to drop off our auntie and uncle from New Zealand at the pier for their cruise to Alaska (they'll be having 24 hour food service and king crab legs - I'm so jealous) and then run tons of errands.

By the time I was done, I was starving. All I've had the entire day was a bowl of cereal for breakfast, it was almost dinner time, and I had no food at home. It was fast food or fight my way into and out of the market for fresh fruits and veggies. I decided to go healthier and head to the market. Of course I would choose the weekend to finally get groceries. The place I go to is always packed, but weekends are insane. I've actually seen two ladies fight over a bag of grapes!

Anyway, to get to my point... I came across fresh okra. I love okra, especially fried okra! Not many Chinese have eaten okra, but having grown up in the South, I've always eaten fried okra. (yummy, yummy) These okras were so

fresh and plump! It brought back childhood memories of my parents taking us to Grandy's for fried chicken, hot rolls with honey and butter, and my favorite, fried okra. I can eat a ton in one sitting. I was definitely satisfied after my BIG plate of okra!

I don't know what's the proper way to make fried okra, but this is a quick and easy way:

1. Cut the okra (about 1 pint) into rings

2. Soaked them in milk (you are suppose to use buttermilk, but I improvised).

The coating consisted of flour and a mixture of seasoning and spices. You can use just about any kind you like but this is what I used today:

6 heaping tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

3. Dredge the milk soaked okra in the flour mixture,

4. Carefully working in small batches fry in hot oil. Each batch should be done in about 2-4 minutes.

5. Remove from oil and put on paper towels to drain excess oil.

If you like crispier okras, double fry them.

Once done, they can be eaten as is or with a condiment of your choice like ranch dressing, chipolte dressing, or ketchup. Enjoy!

Cleaning Out the Fridge

2008-06-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was going through the fridge trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I had already taken out some pork chops to grill, but didn't have anything to complement them. I had a variety of veggies on hand but there was just a little bit of this and that (5 stems of asparagus, one onion, a handful of mushrooms, a quarter head of lettuce, a couple stalks of green onions, half bunch of cilantro, two jalapeno peppers, two cups of blueberries, and leftover blueberry puree). I needed to go grocery shopping so badly, but didn't have the time, and my hubby was STARVING. He then said he was craving noodles, so grilled pork chops (I was thinking of making an onion, garlic, mushroom sauce) were out of the question.

Lucky for me I found two tiny packets of pickled vegetables at the very back of the fridge (something I don't even remember buying that's how far back it was). I decided to make pickled vegetable with pork noodle soup. The pickled veggies are not what they sound like. They are not sour like a cucumber pickle, they are more like cured veggies (I think it's cabbage) since they are salty and a little spicy. It's called ja choi in Chinese which directly translates to fried vegetable. I really don't know if they are fried in the preparation though.

I started a pot of water for the Chinese noodles (which I had three opened boxes... I'm starting to realize where my storage shortage is coming from), and another pot heating up chicken stock with a handful of cilantro. I cubed up the pork chops, marinated it with a little bit of soy sauce, and browned them in a wok and set them aside. Then I chopped up all the veggies I had in the fridge added a few garlic cloves and stir fried like a crazy woman. First I put the onions into the wok to caramelize a little, then added the garlic, jalapeno, and mushrooms for a few minutes before stirring in the pork and pickled veggie and finally the asparagus and green onions. The ingredients are full of flavor so the only seasoning I needed to add was a dash of black pepper.

Now I needed to assemble the dish. I put a handful of noodles in the bowl, a few pieces of lettuce, some of the stir fry, and topped it off with the soup. It sounds like a lot of work, but it took me less than 30 minutes, including cleaning the pots, to get it all done. This dish is also great with rice, or prepared with chicken, beef, or tofu. It's traditionally only uses onions and the pickled veggies, but it's also tasty with celery and other sturdy vegetables. It was perfect for cleaning out our fridge.

Now I had to figure out what to do with the left over blueberries that I had gotten for the Father's Day cake.

D doesn't eat blueberries (he'll pick out the blueberries in a blueberry muffin), so I was left to either eat 2 cups all by myself with a side of puree, or find a recipe to incorporate them with what I have at home.

I found a recipe for blueberry crumb cake in the 2002 Martha Stewart Holiday Baking magazine. I didn't have enough blueberries, sour cream, or butter, but I substituted the puree for the 1/4 cup shortage of sour cream and half the blueberries in the batter (I saved the rest for the crumb topping). I used what was left of the butter for the crumb topping which was only about 1 1/3 stick). I had to bake it for an extra 15 minutes than what was suggested (equaling to 55 minutes). I couldn't find the exact recipe on Martha's website, but this is a pretty close one Classic Blueberry Crumb Cake.

I know in baking you should never stray from the recipe, which I've learned the hard way more than once. But as you can see from this and past posts I am sometimes fairly relaxed. This time around I was lucky. The cake came out very yummy and not too sweet. Now I just have to convince D to give it a try and get in some much needed grocery time.

Simple Chinese Breakfast

2008-06-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last night D and I found out we need to go on a business trip to Seattle again. Last week while sleepless in Seattle (lol), I had started this blog. So this morning I made D's favorite, a simple and quick breakfast of congee, eggs with basil, and spinach with garlic.

Congee is basically rice porridge which is cooked with a little bit of rice and a lot of water. You can have it plain with side dishes or add flavorings and ingredients like fish, chicken, vegetables, use stock instead of water, use beans instead of rice... You can be as creative as you like as long as your taste buds can handle it. Today I cheated and used leftover rice and cooked it with water, so it became pow fan which is more like rice soup.

I stir fried baby leaf spinach with half a bulb of garlic. Yes, that's a lot of garlic, but we love garlic. We are foodaholics as well as garlic-holics. I feel garlic loses a lot of the harsh smell and taste and becomes really nutty and yummy once cooked through. Or maybe that's just me and I've been walking around stinking like garlic all this time (lol). The garlic is a little smashed and practically left in whole cloves since I'm very lazy with mincing garlic (takes too long and makes my hands smell).

I also made D's all time favorite of basil and eggs. It's a Taiwanese dish that D has grown up with, and he requests on a regular basis. When we've had it elsewhere, it's always been in an omelet form where as I've never mastered the art of omelets so I've always made it as scrambled eggs.

My baby up close

I've never eaten fresh basil before meeting D, but it's an important ingredient in Taiwanese cooking. So he introduced me to basil when we first met, and I'm obsessed with it now. I've even grown my own pot of basil, because it's expensive the way I use it, which is a lot, (now that I think about it, just like garlic).

I've tried growing them in a garden from seedlings, and I ended up nurturing weeds that looked like basil for about a month before my mom told me that I wasn't growing basil. I was so disappointed. Then my father-in-law bought a entire tray of basil to be planted, but they only died within a week. Again disappointed. Finally, my sister from San Fran told me that it wasn't possible to grow basil in our weather. She's been trying herself and hadn't succeed because we don't get enough sunlight or heat throughout the year. I was so sad thinking I would have to control my basil usage.

My basil before a "hair" cut

But a few months ago while at the local market buying basil, I came across small pots of basil that cost less than the tiny bag of basil I usually buy. Of course I usually eat Thai basil, and I think this was sweet basil, but it was still basil, right? So I picked the fullest out of all the 3" pots and went home so proud of myself. D immediately was like "oh no, she's going to kill again".

My basil afterwards and D oh so happy

Well, I did research on growing basil and got lots of tips online. My basil travels from windowsill to windowsill following the sunlight around our apartment. I give it bi-weekly plant food feedings, and when we are out of town for more than a couple of days, I find it a sitter. It's even survived a case of fungus flies. I was so scared it's little roots wouldn't make it. D says I treat it like it's a baby. And my baby has grown into an 8" pot! I'm so proud. Well, my next venture is to try to grow my baby a sibling of Thai descent. Wish me luck!

Father's Day

2008-06-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the cake I made for my dad for Father's Day. I got the idea from one of the Wilton's Yearbooks. I used to make tons of character cakes for my nieces' and nephew's birthdays before their move back to Thailand, but I haven't made one in almost two years. I was a bit rusty in the piping, I had forgotten many of the techniques, but eventually they started to come back. In the past I could decorate one of these cakes in about an hour, but this one took me practically an entire day. In the end, it wasn't perfect, but it is still a cute cake.

I tried a new recipe for the cake that used fresh blueberry puree made with over a pound of blueberries in the batter. The cake came out grayish/ purple (not a very appetizing color, but so full of antioxidants), and the middle had a layer of fresh mixed berry mousse. Yummy!

I brought the cake to dinner with my family. We went out to a Chinese restaurant downtown. The food was alright, but the company was good. Not everyone was there, but we had four generations present, all the way from my 94 year old grandmother to newborn nephew Justin (a future cake recipient). We all caught up in our activities, including grandma's recent trips to the casino,my dad's plans to go fishing, my uncle's input on this fishing trip, my aunt's update on her trip back from China, and Jayden's and Justin's brotherly bonding experiences. My sister said Jayden's been a very loving older brother sharing many slobbery kisses and hugs but will occasionally throw away Justin's bottles when he wants some mommy attention (lol).

Jayden being spoiled, I mean fed, by grandma.

Justin after his dinner waiting for that big burp.

In the end it was a long dinner, and we never did get around to eating the cake. My parents took it home, and I'm sure my sisters will be enjoying it especially my baby sister who seemed very protective of the cake and the cookies I made yesterday. She's starting her finals tomorrow, maybe she needs all that sugar for some energy boost.

Either way, Happy Father's Day, Daddy, I love you, and good luck on your finals, Jess!!

Beautiful Cookies

2008-06-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

I baked these the same night I made the chocolate chip cookies. I am making my dad a fish theme Father's Day cake, and I needed a fish cookie. I found the smallest batch of sugar cookie recipe I could find, and wa-la in my trusty The Martha Stewart Cookbook is a half batch of sugar cookie recipe.

I started decorating them last night after my husband D called to say he was going out with the boys. But he came home early since he wanted to go see You Don't Mess With The Zohan rather than play poker. I had an hour to put things away and get something to eat fast, so I suggested we go to the sushi place across the street from our apartment. I'd been there once and loved it and couldn't convince D to go before hand. Once there though he was impressed. I was so sad I didn't bring my camera, but D said we could come back soon to take pics! So look for it in a future post.

Anyway... this is a picture of the fish I decorated.

But the real reason I wanted to make the cookies was to make these...

I had seen these cookies in Peggy Porschen's Romantic Cakes and have been searching for fancy butterfly cookie cutters.

Well, I finally found a set at Sur La Table and here's the result. I haven't tried the other styles, but I'll save those for next time.

Until then, cheers!

Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-06-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Last night I made chocolate chip cookies for my husband to take to work. I usually make little treats for his clients and colleagues for the weekend. In the past I've made mini cupcakes, lemon cookies, and decorated sugar cookies. But everyone's all time favorite are these crispy chocolate chip cookies. One of the clients ate an entire plate of them while chatting with my husband. They are that yummy!

It's a recipe I found in The Martha Stewart Cookbook, but it is also available online. Apparently these cookies are also Alexis' favorite. They are so simple and quick to do. I make them mini size at half the batch with the original amount of chocolate chips.

The cookies are thin and crispy and perfect with a cold glass of milk, a cup of coffee or tea, a BIG scoop of ice cream, or just as is.

Enjoy!

To New Beginnings

2008-06-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This is my first blog ever and what better subject to start with other than my favorite ... FOOD! It is my husband's idea since he thought it would be nice to share our experiences with food (including the good and the bad).

My entire family is full of foodaholics. My parents opened restaurants just to ensure that we can eat whatever and whenever we wanted. My parents and in-laws are all excellent cooks. I strive to be able to cook like anyone of them someday. It's so hard to learn their techniques since none of them understand the concept of measurements. It's always just a little bit of this and a little bit of that... Well, I try and my husband is my guinea pig. :-P

I love all kinds of food and will try anything at least once. Some of the strangest things I've tried include snake while in China for business and on my honeymoon in Taiwan, lobster pee (at least that's what they told me it was) mixed with a very strong local spirit. It wasn't very tasty, but I felt pretty good afterwards.

I also love to experiment with new recipes. Some of my family's favorites include my clam chowder, steamed fish, roast turkey, and key lime pie. All so simple to make... I promise to share photos and recipes the next time I make any of these.

So until next time... Cheers, everyone!

P.S. I want to send my love to the newest foodaholic my baby nephew, Justin, who was born yesterday. Welcome to the family, and I can't wait to share a meal with you.