Oyako Donburi

Oya means parent. Ko means child. Put it together and you have a parent and child dish-the chicken and the egg. It's kind of a sad name. Nonetheless it's a wonderfully delicious, Japanese, poor man's dish. The chicken simmers in a sweet sauce and the egg on top just seals the deal. Served over rice and you have a very filling meal. I would've taken a photo of it, but to be honest, it's not the most beautiful dish. I couldn't get a good shot of it, so you'll have to use your imagination. The greatest thing about this dish is how easy it is to make-and you have most of the ingredients in your refrigerator. It can be made in about 15 minutes. This recipe is from about.com. It's a great site for really reliable Japanese dishes. Enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:

4 cup steamed rice
3/4 lb chicken thighs or chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 2/3 cups dashi soup stock
7 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp mirin
3 Tbsp sugar
4 eggs

Preparation:

Cook steamed rice.
Put dashi soup stock in a large skillet and put on medium heat.
Add soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in the soup.
Put chicken and simmer on low heat for a few minutes.
Add onion slices and simmer for a few more minutes.
Lightly beat eggs in a bowl.
Bring the soup to a boil, and pour the eggs over chicken and onion.
Turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid.
After one minute, turn off the heat.
Put steamed rice into deep serving bowls, then serve simmered chicken and egg on top.

Easter

Easter has come and gone. That was so fast. From Easter egg dyeing and Easter egg hunts to Easter pageants and Sunday meals- it was so much fun this year. Having little ones around allows me to buy in to all of the things that go along with this holiday.

We spent Saturday dyeing our eggs with my nephew. The dye kits are amazing nowadays. They have great colors, shrinking wraps, stickers and a wax crayon all inside that little box! I have to say that the shrinking wrap was the neatest thing. You slip the plastic around the egg and then submerge it in boiling water and the plastic wrap magically adheres to the egg. I didn't believe it would work, but it did! Sunday included breakfast, church, egg hunts, an amazing dinner and my contribution: red velvet whoopie pies.

We had whoopie pies from Corner Bakery recently and they were amazing. I normally shudder at the idea of cake like that with who knows what is inside. Ding Dongs and Twinkies are not my idea of a tasty treat. Although my husband could eat a dozen and then some. These whoopie pies were really really good-try them-you'll see what I mean. My friends will order a platter of them for birthdays or for gatherings-they're a great dessert to put out.

I do plan on making some from scratch, but I admit I cheated this time. I only had one hour to make dessert and I wanted to keep it simple. I received a canister of Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcake mix from my brother in law and I decided to use it, but not to make cupcakes. I made whoopie pies instead. It's the same idea except instead of putting them in cupcake liners, you use a small cookie dough scooper and place a mound of it on silpats or parchment paper. I only put 6 per sheet because they spread. Once they are completely baked, you must remove the silpat or the parchment from the baking sheets immediately so they don't continue to cook. I used a simple cream cheese buttercream frosting for the inside filling. My family liked them. I will be searching for the best whoopie pie recipe. The happy face is my uncle's contribution. He loves cream cheese frosting. He didn't want to see it go to waste.

See the tiny jello eggs? Aren't they so adorable? That's my Auntie for you. She's so creative.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I love having bananas. I buy them often because my husband and my son love them, but the best part is when they go bad. Very baaaaaad. Well, not that bad because then I can't use them, but you know, when they're so mushy and soft that they're practically inedible? There are so many banana recipes out there, but I decided to use this recipe. I love using sour cream in my cakes. It makes the end product so moist. I decided to make 12 muffins and 2 loaves instead of 4 loaves. This recipes makes a whole lotta banana bread. Oh, and I added the chocolate chips because I love them. This recipe is from allrecipes.com and it got over 2000 glowing reviews. It's gotta be good, right? My house smells amazing right now.

Ingredients

1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

A Momentous Occasion

It isn't my birthday nor did I do anything to deserve this, but today marks a momentous occasion. Why is it such a momentous occasion? It's because my husband cooked me dinner for the first time in 3 years. 3 years. Don't get me wrong, it's not like he's never in the kitchen. He is the best sous chef that anyone can ask for. He will dice and slice and chop whatever I need, but he's never been the one "in charge" of a meal. Maybe it's because I'm territorial when it comes to the kitchen, or maybe it's because I'm bossy...I get that from my mom.
He's been at home this week playing "house dad" and that role included dinner tonight. I got to sit back and play on my computer while he made dinner since the little one was already sleeping for the night. I couldn't help but to spend a great deal of time taking pictures of him cooking and the foods he was preparing-just because it was a big deal! I wanted to remember this day.
Dinner was amazing. It was such a manly meal. Perfectly cooked steak, fresh corn on the cob and baked potatoes with all the fixins. He said, "See, this is what it could be like if I were a stay at home dad." Uh, keep dreaming, honey, but thank you for dinner.

Chili Kale Chips

Don't they sound interesting? When I read about them in Food Magazine, I had to make them. I've been trying to incorporate more vegetables into our meals so I thought this would be neat to try. My husband didn't seem too keen on the idea and if he knew that there was sriracha chili paste in it he definitely wouldn't give them a chance. It's easy to make and it's a much healthier alternative to the potato chip. The crunch on these things is ridiculous. It's an amazingly airy, crispy crunch. The crunch alone would make you want to eat one. At least it made my husband want to try it. They're SPICY and there's something so addicting about them. At around 10 at night I found myself craving some more. They're only good the day they're prepared. I tried them the next day and they were soggy and hard to chew. blech. They're well worth it if you plan to eat them right away!

Chili Kale Chips

2 bunches of kale, stems removed
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tsp. sriracha chili paste
salt to taste

Set oven to 300 degrees F. Place oven racks on top and bottom third of the oven.


Remove the leaves from the stems of kale and tear kale leaves into 2 inch pieces. They will shrink once baked. Make sure they are washed and dried.

in a separate bowl, toss together oil and sriracha. Drizzle over the kale leaves and toss to coat. It's not a lot of sauce and it's not supposed to be drenched. It's kind of the essence of the sauce you're trying to get. Sprinkle salt over the kale.

Place the kale on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake for 35 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let it stand until cooled. Enjoy!

Tomato Season is Here

It's tomato time! I received these plants from a fine, fine gardener. I get a few each year and I've had really good luck with them despite my black thumb. These need tons of sun and water, but they're starting to grow and I can't wait to pluck them off the vine. This is the first one of the bunch.

101 Noodle Express

Our dear friends brought us dinner tonight just because. Just because they are amazing people and we love them dearly. They brought over some beautiful flowers from the farmer's market as well as a big bag of kettle korn and not to mention dinner! We were eager to try these beef rolls that A kept talking about. We've had them before at other places, but this place supposedly had the best beef rolls around.

The food was from 101 Noodle Express in Alhambra. Although it's local, we had never been before and we have no idea why! They ordered dumplings, a noodle dish and their infamous beef rolls. I think I could eat the beef rolls for days. They come 8 in a serving (a very generous size) and they were delicious. Beef, cilantro and vegetables all rolled into a scallion pie type of tortilla. It was delicious. We will be going by this place again soon!

Easter @ the Arboretum

Being a member of the Arboretum definitely showed its benefits today. The park opened an hour earlier for members for their special Easter event that was being held from 9-3. We beat the crowds-at least for a little bit. They had everything from Easter egg hunts, sidewalk chalk, magic shows, jugglers, face painting, bunny towel making, egg dying, ornament making, a wood sculptor, kettle korn, an ice cream truck, Jamba Juice and more. For an additional $5 entry fee for the LO you get to go and enjoy an afternoon of fun. We wanted to take pictures with the Easter bunny, but that was only at the brunch section which was another $30. They had a little section for tiny ones like Keagan to crawl around and collect Easter eggs and a bigger section for the big kids. It was very well organized utilizing the students in the community to help. What a great family event! If you go now, they are having a special for annual memberships-only $50 for the year! I think Keagan will have more fun when he's older, but nonetheless it was fun to be there today. We can't wait until next year!

Portos

Portos is a Cuban bakery/deli in Glendale. They were once a smaller eatery, but now they have expanded and have become this huge place. There's often a line and sometimes it even goes out the door. It's a busy place, but you can get your food and eat there. They have everything from amazing cakes to sandwiches and small bites and pastries.

I know of people that ordered their wedding cakes from Portos-they can make and recreate anything you want.

When J told me she was going to Porto's-I had to place an order for a few things. I'm sure there are a million things on their menu that are amazing, but off the top of my head I thought of their potato balls, beef pies and guava cheese danishes. Yum!

http://www.portosbakery.com/

I've waited a long time for this day...

It's the long awaited day. I don't know when I thought this day would come. I didn't think it really would. In the back of my mind I've been hoping and wishing, but it just wasn't happening. Until today at around 3:00, my husband texted me and wrote: "my mom wants to come over and teach you how to make chicken pho." My mouth dropped. I was suuuuuuuper excited. All I could text was "yayayayayayayayayayay!!!"

I have to preface by saying that there is nothing that can compare to homemade pho. I know every mother has their own version and there are a million different ways to make it, but my MIL makes one amazing bowl of pho. It's so rich in flavor and it doesn't have a greasy finish. It's got such a clean broth that puts restaurants to shame. Shaaaaaaaame I tell ya!

So, my M-I-L came over at 6:00 with her pot in hand and all of the ingredients needed to make pho. I had my husband's phone for photos and video, pen and paper in hand and I was ready. I tried to take it all in. Step by step...asking as many questions as I could. I was hesitant to help because I didn't want to miss anything she was doing. It was an intense hour and a half just because I felt like history was being made right in my own kitchen. And even as I write this I'm trying to replay all of the steps and ingredients in my mind so I don't forget. This type of lesson is priceless, isn't it?

My house smelled amazing. You could smell the star anise and that cinnamon-y rich soup that just made me close my eyes and breathe it all in.

In my head, I feel like I can recreate this amazing dish, but in actuality, I'm sure it will be an epic failure. My notes are scribbles, and it'll take me a while to actually rewrite what I learned today, so for now-a photo.

Jones Coffee

We met up with my sister and her family this morning at Jones Coffee in Pasadena. We love this coffee place. It's got a warehouse feel and it's just very laid back. And not to mention their coffees which are delicious. Everyone that works here is kind and friendly. They all seem to be a musician or artist of some sort. Apparently many of the chandeliers, paintings, and photographs that are displayed are created by the actual baristas. They roast their own coffees right on site so it can't get any fresher. Their pastries are delicious as well. We ordered a cheddar bacon scone and a bread pudding which were both really good. The outside of the bread pudding was crusty and the inside was perfectly moist. My sister ordered a vegetable quiche which lacked salt, but their homemade white bean chili more than made up for that. They have the main area where people can eat/drink and hang out and there are a few chairs and tables out in front of the place. My nephew also discovered a small room in the back with a couch and a rocking chair where you can study if you want. This place just has a very laid back vibe. It's earthy and rustic in its own way. A nice change from your Starbucks or Coffee Bean.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I'd like to master the cheesecake. Meaning, I'd like to be able to make it without a crack in it and for the cake to be super rich and creamy without any gritty lumps inside. There are apparently a few tricks to the trade.

1. Don't overbeat the filling-what does that mean anyway? I'm not sure, so I truly mixed it in my kitchen stand as few times as possible-only until it was right at the beginning of being completely incorporated.
2. Make sure the oven isn't too dry. Place a bowl of water inside the oven while you bake (in an oven proof dish obviously.)
3. Make sure you run a knife along the edges IMMEDIATELY after it's done baking and before it cools-then if the cheesecake sinks a little, it won't stick to the edges causing the crack. Ahaaaaaaa.
4. The ingredients MUST be at room temperature. I leave everything out overnight. Eggs, butter, and especially the cream cheese.

We didn't have anywhere to go until 10 in the morning so I decided I would cram in a cheesecake. Once you've taken all precautions that I've listed above, I think it's pretty easy and fast to make...I made this in about 30 minutes and then an additional hour for baking. When I opened the oven, I didn't want to look because I was afraid of that dreaded crack that runs through many cheesecakes...but to my surprise it was a flawless cake-no crack! woo hoooooooo!!!!! Taking all precautions has its benefits!

I let it sit in the refrigerator about 4 hours before I served it. The texture was creamy and smooth. The crust tasted like a chocolate shortbread cookie and it didn't crumble when I cut into it. It wasn't overly sweet, but the raspberries definitely were a nice complement.

White Chocolate Cheesecake
(Philadephia Cookbook)

Crust:
1/4 c sugar
1 cup flour (or graham crackers-I used chocolate graham crackers)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 stick of butter

Filling:
4 sticks of cream cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz white chocolate chips, melted and cooled

Directions:
Set oven to 300F degrees for a dark colored springform or 325F degrees for a silver colored springform. Wrap the bottom of the springform with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.

Combine all ingredients in a mixer and mix well. Press mixture into a 9 inch springform pan and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Set aside and let cool.

For the cream cheese mixture:
In a mixer beat cream cheese and sugar. Add vanilla. Then add melted chocolate chips. Mix to combine. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated after each addition. Pour the mixture over the crust.

Bake cheesecake for 55 minutes. The cheesecake may look wiggly, but once you let it set, it will firm up. After 55 minutes, I turned off the oven and I left it in there...only because I was in a rush to leave. I left it in there for about 4 hours and then transferred it into the refrigerator for another 4 hours.

Let it sit overnight or for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Serve with raspberries and enjoy!

AYCE Shabu Shabu

Our go-to place for shabu shabu in LA is Kushi Shabu in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles located inside the Weller Court complex. Why do we love this place? It's baby friendly and they have all you can eat shabu for $38. We go here often with our friends and usually get the back room-which is perfect because we make a mess with our little ones and we make a lot of noise. Not to say that the whole place is running a muck with children-it's just us, and the people that work there are really tolerant. You can have as many plates of vegetables and beef as you want and the quality is really good. They don't skimp out on anything either. It's a solid full plate of food every time. It also comes with miso soup, rice, a small plate of tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and a jello/fruit/red bean dessert. We eat until we're stuffed, and then get to walk around Weller Court afterwards.

Pate a Choux

I was inspired by our visit to Beard Papa's. I decided to make cream puffs at home. Surprisingly these are not too difficult to make and it doesn't take too much time either. This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and overall they were good. The outer shell called the "pate a choux" is a perfect recipe, but the pastry cream to me wasn't quite what I was looking for. It wasn't as creamy as I like, but nonetheless the flavor was really good. I like it to be super rich and milky, but this was more egg-y and custard-y.

Garfield Park

We love this park. We just brought a blanket, our lunch and had a picnic on the lawn. Keagan got on the swings for the first time and loved it. The people are friendly and we must have had a few dozen conversations with fellow park goers. Everyone's very nice and have good park manners for the most part. We will be back again and again and again and...

Amy's Playground

We went to Amy's Playground in South Pasadena for a birthday party. Our friend's rented out the place for 2 hours for their LO's 3rd birthday. I was looking forward to it since I hadn't been to Amy's Playground before. It's a miniature Gymboree or My Gym. They have a mini bounce house, small play structures, a mini playhouse, slides, tunnels to crawl through and even a small section for little little ones. (Just a small play area with low walls and soft blocks for them to crawl on.) It's nice because you can see everything from one end to the other, so you can always keep an eye on your LO. I wouldn't recommend this place for older kids. It seems to be meant for kids ages 6months to 4 years of age. Their website says up to 6 years old, but it just seems small for kids of that age.

There's a little boutique and a hair salon that's attached to the place.

Our friends brought in food and drinks. Pizza for the kids, corner bakery for the adults. What a great birthday idea!

www.amysindoorplayground.com/

Tuesdays at the Americana

Every Tuesday at the Americana in Glendale, they have what's called Kids Club on the Green. They have live music and entertainment for kids. My girlfriend and I decided to check it out since we both had the day off. They set up a stage behind the fountain and tents with chairs under it for the audience. People brought their blankets and laid them out on the grass. It was such a great outing. The event takes place every Tuesday from 11am-1pm. We listened to a great band who sang, played instruments, and interacted with the kids on the grass. The kids were dancing and singing and having a great time. Our little ones just sat on the grass (and ate the grass) and listened. We met up with Uncle Ben who treated me to a cream puff for my birthday. We then spent the afternoon having lunch and shopping around. Another great thing to do in LA if you're looking for a fun afternoon with your LO.

Beard Papa's

This is their newest addition to the menu. The Paris Brest. What a strange name. I almost felt awkward ordering it-I tried looking up the meaning of "brest", but nothing came up. It's like a round churro filled with the same vanilla filling as their traditional cream puff. It's got a crispy exterior and it's soft on the inside. Overall it's very tasty and I would get it again, but I'm impartial to the cookie cream puff. That's the best! Their green tea boba is not so good. It tastes like a flower. That-I will never get again.