Toms and Tiny Toms

Since it's all about Father's Day I decided to get the LO and Daddy some matching shoes. Tommy is exchanging his shoes for a different stlye, but how cute are the tiny Toms? Not only is it a great purchase, but knowing that someone else is getting a pair too makes the deal even sweeter!

Father's Day

It's Father's Day! We've been waiting for this day for a long time. It's officially Tommy's first Father's Day and we wanted to make sure it was very special. We spent the morning at The Rooftop Restaurant at the London Hotel. It couldn't have been a more perfect location. Outdoors, relaxing, beautiful view of the city, wonderful staff and wonderful service. They know how to treat their patrons well. This place is perfect for little ones because it's outdoors so you don't have to worry about being too loud. (We were a little worried because Keags didn't take his morning nap yet. yikes!) We were seated and a high chair was already prepped for us. They had a $45 per person menu which included wonderful pastries (croissant, chocolate croissants, french bread, and apple turnovers) you get a choice of a champagne drink, coffee or tea, an entree and choice of dessert. I had a peach bellini, the breakfast burger and a chocolate almond cake. Tommy had a mimosa, chicken and waffles and a wonderful lemon curd tart with burnt meringue and sorbet. The best part were the pastries and the desserts. Keagan too enjoyed the buttery croissants and fresh baked french bread. My dessert was delicious. It was served with coffee buttercream and a coffee milkshake. Tommy's dessert was beautiful and delicious. Our entrees were so so. I won't even bother to say anything about them. Nothing memorable. The staff entertained Keagan and were very playful with him and we had the freedom to roam around with our LO. It's been a wonderful Father's Day so far!

Wednesdays @ Jones

My sister introduced me to Wheel Food Wednesday at Jones Coffee in Pasadena. Every Wednesday, a few select trucks are invited to serve their food in the Jones' parking lot. There's live music inside and outside. The word is getting out about this event and it was pretty crowded today. Today there was Rasta Taco (Jamaican tacos) BadAss Burgers, a shaved ice truck, lobstatruck, and the Grilled Cheese Truck. The Grilled Cheese truck had the longest line. Next time we will try that one if it's out. We opted to get the lobster roll at the Lobstatruck. It was small, but delicious. I love the bread they used and it was piled with buttery lobster. ($12 per roll) We also got the grilled cheese burger from Badass Burgers. ($12) It was a burger sandwiched between grilled cheese sandwiches and it was pretty amazing. If you are free on a Wednesday evening, I highly recommend this event. Bring a few chairs because there are only a few and they are hard to come by.

Chocolate macarons

I've been wanting to make macarons FOREVER. Not macaroooooooons, but the french macarons. The problem? Intimidation. They seem super complicated. They're so adorable and delicate. So, I did a lot of reading online and watched a few Youtube videos and it didn't seem too hard. I decided to give it a shot today. The batter can be whipped up in 15 minutes. The piping is a technique that takes practice. And then you have to make sure you don't overbeat the ingredients, but at the same time you have to deflate the whites. What??

A little bit about almond flour. You can't find almond flour just anywhere.. But we found it at Whole Foods today. You can find it where they have all the different types of oats and flours or they even have some in the baking section. I've heard that you can get it at Trader Joe's too.

They are super fun to bake and assemble and the final product is really good. The macarons were crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Summer Berry Pudding

I always look forward to the summer berries. Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are so sweet and they're available everywhere. This dessert only comes out in the summer (at least from my kitchen). I love being able to use fresh berries when they're at their peak. It has to be made a day in advance...or you can make it super early in the morning, but that's just too early for me. Other than it having to be done hours in advance, this dessert is super easy, and oh so beautiful. The colors are outstanding and it screams summer. I topped it with rum whipped cream which was a nice addition. This recipe is from Barefoot Contessa's Family Style cookbook. It sounds like a strange recipe. Bread soaked in fruits and their juices? There was something about it that seemed really appealing. I had to give it a try.

The only change I made was that I reduced the sugar in this recipe to 1 cup because the fruits are already sweet so I didn't think it needed any more.

My parents kept asking in detail how this was made. You can't quite figure out what it is. Is it cake? Is it just berries? Is there anything else? How does it stay together? It's puzzling. Nonetheless, they enjoyed it. Even my grandmother had seconds!

Ingredients

2 cups strawberries, cleaned and sliced
2 cups raspberries
1 cup blueberries or blackberries
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1-1.5 pound brioche crusts removed

Directions


Coarsely chop the strawberries and put them and the other berries in a sauce pan. Add the sugar and water and cook over high heat until the berries are heated and just giving up there juices. About 5 minutes. Add 2 pints blueberries, 2 pints raspberries and cook for a few minutes.

In the bottom of a 7.5 inch wide and 3 inch tall souffle dish ladle 1/2 cup of berry sauce. Carefully place sliced bread to cover the entire bottom of the dish. Cut bread to fit like a puzzle if needed. This will be the top layer. Then ladle more berries to cover the bread. Repeat until you reach the top of the dish. The final layer should be the berry sauce.

Using a plate that fits just inside the top of the mold, place it on top of the pudding. Put the mold in a pan and weight the plate. Refrigerate the pudding overnight.

To serve, un-mold the pudding onto a serving platter by running a knife along the edge and flip over onto a platter. Serve with whipped cream!

Rum whipped cream:

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp rum
3 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip the whipping cream. When peaks start to form, add rum, sugar and vanilla extract.

yum!

Apple Pie

I was skeptical when my sister told me how great this pie was. I didn't believe her, but holy cow this pie was unbelievable. It wasn't too sweet, the apples were just perfectly cooked (not too soft, not too crunchy), and the crust was super buttery and could be eaten alone. It was everything and then some. I couldn't flip the image so there it is. It's Henry's Farmer's Market brand. If you get the chance to get one, get it...just make sure it's not the sugar free one.