Tommy + Lisa = Keagan

Torrance Bakery Chocolate Chews

2011-12-31T14:07:00.001-08:00

My girlfriend from the South Bay introduced me to these amazing treats. I didn't believe that they could be THAT good. I was hooked at first bite. They aren't like your traditional cookies-they're a cross between a cookie and a meringue. There's no flour involved. Just a whole lot of powdered sugar instead. The outside of the cookie is light and crispy and the inside of the cookie is chewy and gooey. It has a rich chocolate flavor. I found this recipe from losangelestimes.com. They're able to get recipes that an average joe just can't. My gain!

When you bake them, use a small ice cream scooper so the sizes of the cookies are consistent, but then use a knife or a small off set spatula to flatten them out a bit. If you don't flatten them out they taste like they're almost raw on the inside-although it still tastes good, but just not how I like them or how the bakery makes them.

Torrance Bakery Chocolate Chewies

Active Work Time: 30 minutes * Total Preparation Time: 1 hour

Rather than cracking a number of eggs, you can buy cartons of liquid egg whites at supermarkets.

1 cup egg whites

1 3/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 pound walnut or pecan pieces

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the egg whites, cocoa, salt and sugar on medium speed until the batter is stiff and all ingredients are well incorporated, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the walnuts or pecans by hand.

Place the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet; work in batches. Bake until the cookies are a bit shiny and slightly cracked, 10 minutes. They will look underdone but do not overbake.

48 cookies. Each cookie: 125 calories; 34 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 1.67 grams fiber.

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-11-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

Due to the cold weather-it was time to pull out the chicken pot pie recipe. We've all been a little under the weather so nothing like a little pot pie to warm us up. This is a super simple dish to make-it just requires a little chopping and if you've got the time to make the crust really nice then not only does it taste good, but it will be pretty look at. I, on the other hand, did not have the time to make the crust pretty as you can see. I had to throw on the crust because my little one has been recovering from his cold which means I had to cook while I held him simultaneously. The great thing about this is that once it's all chopped, you just combine the chicken and veggies and let it boil for 15 minutes. The sauce requires you to stir consistently, but it takes no more than a few minutes.

*I added onions to the vegetable mixture as well as to the sauce just because I like the flavor. I also used low sodium chicken broth so I needed to add a little more salt at the end to taste. I used Trader Joes pastry crust which is a little on the sweet side, but the contrast of savory and sweet was really good. I put them in small ramekins which was perfect for my LO, but my husband and I ended up having 2 each! The recipe calls for you to make sure you seal the edges of the pastry crust, but I didn't and I didn't have too much spillage. I placed the ramekins on a sheet pan to catch whatever spilled over. I halphazardly placed my crust on top and left some spaces open for the steam to be released. Cook time for the small ramekins was 30 minutes.

The best part about this was that my son ate every part of it-carrots, celery, peas and chicken! I couldn't NOT share this recipe. It's really pretty darn good.

Ingredients

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Banana pancakes

2011-10-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've been on a banana craze lately. I buy bananas just to wait for them to be too ripe to eat just so I can use them to bake something. This morning I made banana pancakes. They are from the allrecipes.com website and they had a ton of great reviews so it didn't seem like I could go wrong. I usually make mini pancakes just because that's what size is good for my son. As you can see it made a ton of mini pancakes. I added walnuts to mine just to give a little more texture-about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. A great weekend breakfast!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions

Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; batter will be slightly lumpy.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

Granola

2011-07-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make my own granola for quite some time. I see people do it all the time. I watched an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and this one place made granola pancakes and it sounded so good, so I finally pulled out this recipe and set off to the market. I realized that you can put whatever you want in your granola. It's really up to you. I think it's the honey blend that's important. That's the part that is key to making the type of granola you like. This makes TONS of granola. I almost don't even know what to do with it! My son actually loves eating the granola nuggets-and I don't feel so bad because it's got good stuff in it.

We've been eating it as a snack, topping our yogurt with it and making granola pancakes with it which are amazing. I HIGHLY recommend mixing it with your pancake mix. It gives it such a nice texture.

I used the granola from allrecipes.com, but I modified it to my own liking. Here is my modified version:

Ingredients

8 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups flax seed meal
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup honey
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional ingredients: oat bran, sunflower seeds, cranberries, raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
Combine the oats, wheat germ, coconut, flax seed meal, almonds, pecans, and walnuts in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly and not too thick on the baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 30-49 minutes. Stir once halfway through.

Truly an amazing recipe for a classic homemade granola!

Tender Greens

2011-07-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

My dear friends A+L+B took me to try Tender Greens this week. There are a few other locations on the Westside and Hollywood, but I've never been. It just opened here in Pasadena on Friday and I wonder where it's been my whole life. I didn't know what to expect-the name in itself does not make the place sound appetizing in the least. Tender Greens gets most of their ingredients from Scarborough Farms in Oxnard and small local farms. Most of their food is organic. I'm not one of those "everything must be organic" type of people. I'm actually turned off by places that are strictly organic-it doesn't sound like it would taste good, but this place is amazing. If you're skeptical like I was, this place is the place to change your views of that! Pasadena isn't really known for any really good restaurants, but this is a new favorite of mine.

They have perfectly roasted vegetables, fresh salads, soups, fried chicken, mashed potatoes..it suits all different palates. And their desserts are supposedly really good too. I only had their chocolate pot de creme sprinkled with sea salt, which was fairly good. I had their tuna nicoise salad, tomato soup, and fingerling potatoes with parmesan cheese. Everything was delicious. Their salad wasn't overdressed, their tomato soup was made with fresh tomatoes and their potatoes weren't overdone or dry.

The service was amazing as well...I hope it stays that way-I know new places tend to have great service at the beginning and then taper off once the novelty of it has worn off.
I've been thinking of this place since I've gone...I think I'll go again tonight and take my husband. You must go!

621 East Colorado Avenue
Pasadena CA, 91101

Tel: 626 405-1511
Fax: 626 405-1508

Hours:
Sunday-Thursday: 11:30am-9:00pm
Friday-Saturday: 11:30am-10:00pm

Converse Slips

2011-07-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

We couldn't help but to get these. They are the cutest things I've seen. The best part is that there are no laces to fuss with. The back of the shoe pulls back and all you have to do is slip your foot in. It comes in a few colors. I've seen red and blue, and pink and black. I can't wait to put them on the LO.

Gyoza

2011-07-07T16:13:00.001-07:00

One of my most favorite foods in the world is gyoza. I could eat 30 of them on my own. Gyoza means dumplings in Japanese. There are a million different ingredients you can put inside and my mom will tell you that she NEVER puts garlic in hers, but to each their own. In this gyoza I used ground pork, water chestnuts, cabbage, dried shiitake, nira (garlic chives), ginger, salt and a little bit of sesame oil.

I didn't really measure the ingredients so I can give you approximate amounts... I used a package of ground pork, 3 inches of ginger-skin removed, 1/4 head of a cabbage, a can of water chestnuts, 8 or so dried shiitake (soak in water for 10 minutes and then chop finely) I chopped the nira into tiny pieces (If you can't find nira, you can use one clove of garlic finely chopped) I add about a teaspoon of salt and a few drops of sesame oil.

I chop all of the ingredients and mix together.

Then the fun part. Filling and folding. I remember watching my mom fill and fold each gyoza thinking about how daunting it was. Boring. I tried to avoid her when it was gyoza night because guaranteed she would ask for help. I hated this part of the process, but somewhere along the way this became somewhat therapeutic to me. Now I could sit for hours on end filling and folding them. I got the hang of pleating the tops of the gyoza. You could definitely just wet the wrapper and not do a fancy pleat, but it's a nice detail to add and at every Japanese restaurant you'll find it done this way.

You can fry them, steam them, put them in soup...it's endless. My favorite way is to fry them in a pan with a little bit of oil until you get a crispy bottom, then add a few tablespoons of water to the pan, cover it with the lid and let the rest of it steam.

The Japanese way to eat these is to dip it in a mixture of soy sauce, rice vinegar and a few drops of sesame oil. It's definitely worth the time!

Toms and Tiny Toms

2011-06-19T13:27:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-19T12:26:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2011-05-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've baked. I'm sad to say that. But today, I had all of the ingredients so I decided to go ahead and try these out. This is a super fast recipe. You can make it in no time and the ingredients are things that you usually have on hand so that makes this even better. The chocolate stout cupcakes are definitely my most favorite recipe, but they're a bit time consuming so for the sake of time, these were a good alternative. The cupcake batter is super runny, and it uses not only oil, but sour cream as well. Those two components create a super moist cake. The peanut butter frosting was not peanut buttery enough for me so I added an additional 1/3 cup of it. I liked the idea of putting cream cheese into the frosting-it just created a wonderful creamy texture and surprisingly not a lot of tang. I decided to top half of them with chopped salted peanuts.

Sour Cream-Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe courtesy of Sky High Cakes

1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/8 cup dutch process cocoa*
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 egg
Peanut Butter Frosting, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350. Spray the tops and line two muffin pans with 13 cupcake liners.

Add dry ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer. Turn on low and add sour cream and oil. When completely mixed, add water in 1/4-cup increments until the batter is uniform. Add vanilla, vinegar, and the egg, mixing on medium until combined. The batter will be very runny. Using a cookie scooper, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling 3/4 full.

Bake for ~23 minutes, until a skewer inserted in a center cupcake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes and then cool on wire rack completely before frosting.

Yields 13-14 cupcakes

Peanut Butter Frosting
5 oz cream cheese, at room temp
4 Tbsp butter, at room temp
pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup peanut butter

Beat cream cheese and butter on high, until light and creamy (2-3 minutes). Mix in salt and powdered sugar on low speed until just combined and then beat on high for 2-3 minutes, until the frosting is fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix on high until completely combined.

Swiss Chard

2011-05-11T20:14:00.000-07:00

Look at the color of these things! They're beautiful! In one crop there were stalks of magenta, orange and purple-all picked fresh from my Aunt's garden. Some of these were about 2 feet long! I decided to cook them and serve it as a side. I sauteed some onions and garlic, added the swiss chard and finished it off with a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. A simple, delicious dish that goes well with anything!

Mike and Anne's

2011-05-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Sundays are meant to be like this. Nothing planned-nowhere specific to go. We took our little man out for a walk this morning and he ended up falling asleep so we decided to have breakfast out. We walked to Mike and Anne's in South Pasadena. This restaurant is our go to place when we're in the mood for a local breakfast that's within a reasonable walking distance...it's really not that close, but it's fine. My husband always has doubts that I can make it there without pulling a muscle, or complaining about a sore side.

So Mike and Anne's is a good place for breakfast-we like to sit outside in the patio. The food is good-it's not the most amazing thing in the world, but it's good food. I'm never blown away by it, but it's never a disappointment. We ordered the lemon ricotta pancakes and now that I think about it, I can't remember tasting the lemon. It was really good today. It's been somewhat forgettable in the past, but today it was really good. It's not fluffy like a pancake. It's kind of course yet super moist and has this great unexplainable flavor-the ricotta adds such great flavor to the dish. My husband ordered their corned beef hash as always and it was good.

It was just a great way to start our Sunday.

Bo Kho-Vietnamese beef lemongrass stew

2011-05-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

My husband always raves about his mother's dishes, as most men do. He talks about her stews and broths and noodle dishes with the highest regards. I usually lean more towards Italian food or American food just because that's what I know, but I've decided to take advantage of all the Asian markets around me and to see if my husband can maybe one day say the same about some of the Asian dishes I make. I recently bought the book "In the Vietnamese Kitchen" written by Andrea Nguyen. It had great reviews online so I figured it was a good starting point for a novice like me. Her book is beautiful by the way-filled with amazing photos and very descriptive details about the dishes. Just reading about each of the dishes is so interesting. There are a ton of dishes I'd like to try.

Last night I made Bo Kho. It's a stew filled with beef, carrots and has the essence of lemongrass, star anise and bay leaves. You dip large pieces of baguette in it and dip your beef in a salt, pepper and lemon mixture. It's hearty and homey and great on cold days-unlike today. I think we were all breaking out into a sweat eating it on such a hot day. Not so smart.

It takes a few hours to prepare it from beginning to end (mostly because it needs to cook for about 2 hours.) I started it last night around 7 and it didn't finish until 9 or so, so I just decided to save it for the next night.

My husband said that I should make the dish and he'll ask his mom to come over tomorrow for dinner to critique it. greeeeeat. He said that it would be the best way to learn. His mom could just tell me everything that was wrong with my dish and I would be a better cook for it. So, I agreed-I'm determined to learn and who better to learn from than my very own amazing cook of a mother in law?

So, my in-laws came over tonight for dinner and she said she could smell my stew from the street. She said it smelled like bo kho. Phew, that's a good thing. When she got here she took the ladle, spooned a small sip into it and said..................
"eh, it's okay." And then she went on to tell me what was wrong with it. My M-I-L is the sweetest thing, but when it comes to cooking, she knows her stuff so I grabbed my pen and paper and took my notes.

1. "You put tomatoes in it? You don't put tomatoes in it."
2. "You didn't put potatoes into it? I do."
3. "No chili powder? Next time put it in."
4. "Curry powder. Just a little bit."
5. "Black bean stuff- makes it salty and richer in flavor."
6. .....

The list goes on. My father in law was kind-he's a very soft spoken man. He said it was good and that it smelled like the real stuff too, but that "something" was missing.

I think my husband felt a little bad for me. He didn't want to translate everything his parents were saying about it at the dinner table. He made sure to tell me a few times how much he liked it. I guess ultimately that's what's truly important to me because he is the one I'd be making it for in the future...

Next time, I will do all the things my MIL told me to do, but for my first time, she said it wasn't bad, and that's one step in the right direction. I'll take it.

Oyako Donburi

2011-04-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-20T21:08:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-20T20:43:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-17T19:38:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-16T22:48:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-04-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-10T15:41:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-02T20:16:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-02T20:02:00.001-07:00

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

2011-04-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

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.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-03-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

My husband asked me to bake cookies again. He's the cookie guy at work. His co-workers ask him if he has any cookies so he's asked me to make some so he can take them to work. Tonight I have decided to bake off the rest of my whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.

I'm definitely not one to care too much about using healthy ingredients when I cook or bake. I just use what tastes good. Well, at least I used to not be so concerned. After having a baby and as I get older, it's just not that easy to maintain my old weight, so I better start caring. So here's the best of both worlds. Sort of. At least as healthy as you can get with chocolate chip cookies...not that they're healthy in any way, but whatever. I got this recipe from Orangette. She knows how to pick 'em. This is an amazing cookie recipe AND it uses whole wheat flour. It can't get any better than this. It reminds me a lot of the New York Times Cookies, but with less guilt. If you're looking for a whole wheat cookie, this is the one.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes (see note above)
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces, or bittersweet chips

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. (If you have no parchment, you can butter the sheets.)

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to blend.

Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and mix on low speed until evenly combined. (If you have no stand mixer, you can do all of this with handheld electric beaters and/or a large, sturdy spoon.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. (I was able to fit about 8 cookies on each sheet, staggering them in three rows.)

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. Transfer the cookies, still on parchment, to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies are very good while still warm from the oven, but I find that you can taste the wheat more – in a good way – once they’ve cooled.

Yield: about 20 cookies

Guisados

2011-03-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Last week we headed out to try a new eatery in East LA with my dad. He's super adventurous and is always looking for new places to eat. I always think it's interesting that he chooses Mexican food because the last time we ate it, 3 out of 6 of us became violently ill. My husband included. Fun times. I guess what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. This time we tried a place called Guisados. It's kind of a modern take on Mexican food. The best part is that they hand make their tortillas. They were really delicious. I almost wish they just sold the tortillas on their own. They have a variety of tacos, but they recommend the sampler which consists of 6 mini tacos. Enough for one person. You don't get to choose the 6 tacos you want-it's the chef's choice. They said that their most popular taco was their chuleta, but it wasn't my most favorite. I really liked their mole poblano taco. I ordered an additional one after. My husband liked almost everything-I think it was a little too spicy for his taste. He just liked their plain old quesadilla. But it's not what you think-they use Mexican cheese and it's grilled so it's got a great grilled flavor. Their tamales were filled with fresh corn which was good and they always start off your meal with a little styrofoam cup of cream of cilantro soup. Overall we enjoyed ourselves. The owner came by and thanked us for coming and told us to visit their partner store called Cook in Monterey Park. We will be trying that place soon.

Dunking Platter Cookies

2011-03-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

My Auntie Joy makes these cookies and sends them down with her sister (my other Auntie) whenever she comes down to visit. They are my absolute favorite non chocolate chip cookie cookie. They're crispy and thin, filled with toasted coconut and tiny little currants. This recipes makes like a thousand cookies, so cut it in half-or freeze the dough and save it for another day. They are truly delicious!

DUNKING PLATTER (JOY'S DELIGHT COOKIES)

(a) 2 cups margarine (4 cubes)
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla

(b) 2 cups corn flakes (Kellog's Product 19 preferred)
2 cups oatmeal
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teasoons baking powder

(c) 1 l/2 cups currant (1/2 cup enough)
1 cup shredded coconuts
1/2 cup chopped nuts

(1). Blend first 5 items together. above
(2). Add (b) to (a)
(3). Stir in next 3 items (c) into above(2)
(4). Make 1-inch round balls
(5). Line balls 1 inch apart in cookie pan and flatten them with bottom of glass bottle.
(6). Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.
(Bake longer until dark brown for crispier cookies.)

Grandmother's Buttermilk Cornbread

2011-03-08T20:06:00.000-08:00

This is my go to recipe for cornbread. It's so simple and delicious. Sure, you could buy the pre-made mixes, but this is so easy that there isn't much more to it. I made it for Thanksgiving and my Aunt actually put some aside so she could save it for later! My husband often asks for me to make it just because. I love it warm with butter. Last night I doubled the recipe and poured it into a 9x13 inch pan. We had hot bowls of chili with all the fixins and a side of warm cornbread fresh out of the oven. It's nice to double the recipe because you have more than enough for guests to take home and some to snack on the next day like I am doing now.

Ingredients
(allrecipes.com)

* 1/2 cup butter
* 2/3 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup cornmeal
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I used a plain old regular pot to melt my butter in. After the butter melted I added the rest of the ingredients in the same pot. People were concerned about adding eggs to the hot pot, but the sugar lowers the temperature somewhat and as long as you're continually whisking, the eggs won't cook. It's so good!

Pretzels

2011-03-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was intrigued with these pretzels. They looked so darn cute. The mini ones especially. These are an adaptation of Martha Stewart's recipe which I found on Smitten Kitchen's blog. Overall, they were good. They remind me of the ones that they sell on the streets. They're not the Auntie Anne's type where they're super buttery and squishy. They're firm and dense. My husband really liked them. The only change I made was that I didn't sprinkle salt on it and I drenched them in melted butter at the end. I ate it with parmesan cheese, my girlfriend ate it with mustard and my husband ate it with cinnamon and sugar. To each his own. They take a little bit of work, but they are great snacks!

Soft Pretzels
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Updated with a few tweaks 2/20/2009

Makes 16 full-sized or 32 miniature

2 cups warm water (100°F to 110°F)
1 tablespoon + 2 tablespoons sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons canola or other neutral oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1 large egg
Coarse or pretzel salt

Vegetable-oil cooking spray

1. Pour warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar into bowl of electric mixer fitted with a dough hook* and stir to combine. Sprinkle with yeast, and let sit 10 minutes; yeast should be foamy.

2. Add 1 cup flour to yeast, and mix on low until combined. Add salt and 4 cups more flour, and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium-low until dough pulls away from sides of bowl, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add another 1/2 cup flour, and knead on low 1 minute more. If dough is still wet and sticky, add 1/2 cup more flour (this will depend on weather conditions); knead until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a lightly floured board, and knead about ten times, or until smooth.

3. Pour oil into a large bowl; swirl to coat sides. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to completely cover all sides. Cover with a kitchen towel, and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Heat oven to 450°F. Lightly spray two baking sheets with cooking spray (parchment paper, ungreased, also works). Set aside. Punch down dough to remove bubbles. Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead once or twice, divide into 16 pieces (about 2 1/2 ounces each) or 32 if making miniature pretzels, and wrap in plastic.

5. Roll one piece of dough at a time into an 18-inch-long strip. [I find the pretzels much easier to roll on an unfloured board, oddly enough, but see what works for you.] Twist into pretzel shape; transfer to prepared baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel. Continue to form pretzels; eight will fit on each sheet (you may need a third sheet if making miniatures). Let pretzels rest until they rise slightly, about 15 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, fill large, shallow pot with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil. Add baking soda (and step back, it foams up quickly) and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Reduce to a simmer; transfer three to four pretzels to water. Poach 1 minute on each side. Use slotted spoon to transfer pretzels to baking sheet. Continue until all pretzels are poached.

7. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzels with egg glaze. Sprinkle with salt. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack, or eat warm. Pretzels are best when eaten the same day, but will keep at room temperature, uncovered, for two days. Do not store in covered container or they will become soggy. I actually just put them in a tupperware with no lid and kept them in the microwave to store.

Strawberry Crumble

2011-03-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

I had some leftover crumble so I decided to make a strawberry crumble. Mmmmmmmmmmm...
I tossed the strawberries with some sugar and let it sit for a few hours. I put them in individual ramekins, topped it with the crumble and baked it in the oven at 350 for 35 minutes until they were bubbling and perfectly brown on top. I served it with vanilla ice cream and it was delicious. See the apple crumble recipe posted on 2/26 for crumble recipe!

The Huntington Library

2011-02-27T21:08:00.001-08:00

We love having spontaneous outings. At 8 this morning we made plans to have lunch and go to the Huntington Library with our friends. We are so thankful for having so many dear friends with little ones that are around Keagan's age. It's been so fun getting them together. At lunch there was a lot of hand holding and many kisses being exchanged. Priceless!
Our friends treated us to an afternoon at the Huntington and we had a wonderful time. We spent most of our time in the Japanese Garden and the Chinese Garden. They are both so beautiful. Keagan especially enjoyed the Chinese garden because of the koi fish and ducks that were in the water. The Japanese garden was beautiful as always, but it's always so crowded there. They had children performing today for hinamatsuri at the Japanese Garden so it was even busier than usual.
We will definitely be back. It's a beautiful way to spend the day especially with little ones.

Apple Crumble

2011-02-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

I always thought that crumbles were a tricky thing. If you lay on the topping too thick then it doesn't cook all the way through and part of the crumble is raw. If you lay it on too sparingly, then the fruit juices bubble up and cover the crumble causing the whole thing to sink and get soggy. If you don't cover all of the fruit with the crumble then the juices sometimes just bubbles over completely making a huge mess. I've accepted that I just didn't get it.

I saw this recipe on epicurious.com and because it received 4 wine glasses, I gave it a try and it was a great success.

I debated between using Gala apples or Granny Smith apples, but thank goodness I actually followed the recipe and used Granny Smith. DEFINITELY use Granny Smith apples. Anything else would be too sweet.

My husband helped peel, core and cut the apples. He likes doing that kind of stuff. The topping was made earlier in the day and I just refrigerated it until I needed it. There's definitely too much crumble for this recipe, but I'm saving it to make another crumble tomorrow. I'll try a different fruit though.

The butter has to be cold. You can't use soft butter or it turns into a creamy mixture and you don't want that. The end result should be pea sized crumbles. I first started out using my pastry cutter, but that was too hard. Hands were the best tool for this job. I actually laid a fairly thick layer of crumble on the apples using about 2/3 of it. I also grated a little bit of fresh nutmeg into it although this is optional as the original recipes does not call for it.

It was served warm with a side of vanilla bean ice cream. The ice cream makes the perfect pairing.

This is a great easy, simple, crumble recipe. I can only imagine the endless possibilities with it. It's going in the archives

Ingredients
* 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
* 1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
*1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg (my own addition-opt.)

* Nonstick vegetable oil spray
* 4 pounds large Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored, each half cut into 6 slices
* 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

* Vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Mix oats, 1 cup sugar, flour, and nutmeg in bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until topping comes together in moist clumps. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Make sure you chill it if you're not using it right away.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Mix apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in bowl. Transfer to dish. Sprinkle topping over.

Bake crumble until apples are tender and topping is brown and crisp, about 55 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon warm crumble into bowls. Serve with ice cream.

Dominos Pizza

2011-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

For some reason we love Pizza Hut-I know it's pathetic. There are other great pizza places, but when we're feeling bummy and not wanting to cook, we always end up ordering from Pizza Hut. We especially love their burnin' hot buffalo wings. Tommy sweats just looking at it. However, tonight, we decided to try something new. Dominos. I've heard all their commercials about how they've changed their recipe and ingredients and I've been very curious to try it out. So many times we've been tempted to order it, but we feel a devotion to PH. So tonight, we were determined. We ordered a thin crust pizza with pepperoni and pineapple and an order of their hot wings. Final verdict? We were pleasantly surprised. The pizza tasted like it was homemade and the wings were grilled which gave it a nice BBQd flavor. However, there was too much chicken skin and I can't stand that on my chicken. The crust was nice and crispy and the flavor was good. We're not full though-even after polishing the entire thing off. It still doesn't beat Pizza Hut-at least not in our books.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

2011-02-25T20:04:00.000-08:00

It's my brother's birthday, so in honor of my alcohol-loving brother's birthday, I decided to make chocolate stout cupcakes. How appropriate is that?

I almost don't want to share this recipe. It's THAT good. It's ridiculously good. It's the best chocolate cupcake recipe-EVER. The crumb is fine, it's super rich and moist, but it's not dense. The flavor is subtle yet deep. It's not overly sweet. The stout just enhances the flavors somehow, someway. I could eat it plain. They say it's more of an "adult" flavor because of the beer, but I don't think so. You can't taste the beer. I asked 13 of my guests that ate it and none of them could taste it. My 2 year old nephew scarfed it down without any trouble and he is probably one of my most honest critics!

HOWEVER, I served it with a beer float. Not a root beer float, but a beer float. I used vanilla bean ice cream and topped it off with Guiness beer. It was the perfect compliment to the cupcake.

I honestly think my mission to find the ultimate chocolate cupcake is over.

This is yet another recipe from epicurious.com. The recipe is actually supposed to be a cake, but I made it into cupcakes. I also halved the entire recipe and it still made 24 cupcakes. Here's the original recipe which will make 48 cupcakes or 3 layered cakes. The original recipe does not include instant coffee, but I think coffee brings out the chocolate flavor so I added it. When you pour the batter into the cupcake tins, fill it about 3/4 of the way up. No more than that-or it will overflow and stick together. Make sure it's evenly poured into the liners or they will rise crooked.

As for the frosting, I didn't cut the portions in half. I made all of it and had some left over, but I piped it on pretty thick. If you don't plan to use a lot of frosting, then half of it would do fine. You must let it set for at least 2 hours. I left it in my fridge for about 4 hours and it set up perfectly.

Cupcakes
serves 48 cupcakes or 3 round layered cakes

* 2 cups stout (such as Guinness)
* 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
* 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
* 1/2 tsp instant coffee (My own addition)

* 4 cups all purpose flour
* 4 cups sugar
* 1 tablespoon baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 4 large eggs
* 1 1/3 cups sour cream

Icing

* 2 cups whipping cream
* 1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

For cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 48 muffin tins with cupcake liners. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among cupcake liners. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 19-22 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack; cool 10 minutes. Take cupcakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until icing is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.

When icing has set, pipe onto cupcakes. We chose to top it with a strawberry slice which was a nice balance.

You must make this cupcake! Enjoy!

Tonkatsu

2011-02-23T19:14:00.001-08:00

Tonkatsu is a deep fried meat cutlet. It can be chicken or beef, but the classic version is pork. My mom brought over 4 pieces of beautiful pork tonight so I prepared tonkatsu for dinner. (This is the second time my parents brought over food for us this week. I think each time they drop food off they have the inner hopes of being able to see their grandson! Fail. Both times. He was already sleeping!

Back to tonkatsu. Salt and pepper the meat on both sides. Pound it out to about 1/2 an inch thick. Then dredge it in flour first, then eggs(beaten), and finally with panko (Japanese bread crumbs).

Heat up the pan. Add oil (I used canola oil) and make sure the oil is hot enough-to test it, you can throw in some panko and see if it sizzles right when it makes contact with the oil Fry on both sides for about 4 or so minutes until it is nice and brown. Usually when the oil bubbles are smaller in size, then the tonkatsu is ready. When you take it out of the oil, let it rest on some paper towels to absorb some of the oil.

Serve it with tonkatsu sauce and some shredded cabbage-my husband will have it no other way! He must have cabbage!

Strawberry Cupcakes

2011-02-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is supposedly the Sprinkles' strawberry cupcake with strawberry frosting
adapted from Candace Nelson's recipe on MarthaStewart.com. But most likely they left out a few ingredients and added some other things too...I mean why would they give out their secret recipe? My husband's mad because I didn't follow this to a T. I made a few changes. I didn't use all purpose flour. I used cake flour. I added 4 tbsp of strawberry preserves to the strawberry mix and I used strawberry milk instead of plain whole milk. Whenever I make strawberry cake, there's just not enough strawberry flavor so I feel like it needs to be amped up if possible. I think these few changes made a difference. I hate strawberry cake that's really just a vanilla cake with the essence of strawberry.

cupcakes

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (I used cake flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt (I used kosher salt)
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature ( I used strawberry milk)
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon grated
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.

Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, lemon zest and strawberry puree; set aside. My own addition was 4 tbsp of strawberry preserves to this mix.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 19-22 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

sprinkles' strawberry frosting

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold (I used room temp)
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted ( I used 3 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Do not overmix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

I piped these using a star tip and I learned a new piping technique-the rose! Actually, it's really simple. It's stupidly simple, but isn't it pretty?

These were really good...and I don't throw that phrase around too loosely when it comes to cupcakes. My husband (who is super picky) really liked them too and he's usually really critical of my baking especially when it comes to cupcakes. But he has to be because he knows that I'm on a mission to find the perfect recipe. The cupcake was moist, and the strawberry flavor really shined. I love the speckles of real strawberry that comes through in the cupcake and the frosting. This one is a keeper.

Happy Birthday Mika!

Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-02-15T21:30:00.001-08:00

They're called the "Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes" from Cook's Illustrated. I was waiting to be blown away. I told my husband that they would be the best thing he ever had just because Cook's Illustrated doesnt mess around when they say it's "ultimate". Usually I'm pressed for time and I tend to rush through things, but I was determined to take my time with this one. The cupcakes were pretty good, but the ganache was totally unnecessary. It made the whole thing way too sweet in my opinion. And the biggest mistake was not making the frosting they recommended. I went with a different recipe just because the frosting in the Cooks illustrated edition wasn't quite what I was looking for. I wanted to pipe on the frosting, but all in all it was just too sweet. I'll definitely use the cake recipe, but I'll omit the ganache in the center and try their actual frosting recipe. I'll post the recipe a little later...

Tagine

2011-02-15T20:42:00.001-08:00

It was the best Valentine's yet...but maybe I say that every year. My husband picked Tagine for our evening out and made plans to leave the little one with my parents. Tagine is located on Robertson in Beverly Hills and they serve unbelievably delicious moroccan food. It's a little hard to find because it's so small. It's located next to a liquor store and the valet is across the busy street. I took a picture of the door of Tagine because it was so beautiful. The restaurant was very small and dimly lit. The walls are painted in a dark green color and there were candles lit at each table. Both walls had benches alongside them covered with pillows. It apparently only seats 12 couples at a time. We chose the tasting menu and it consisted of 6 dishes. I was sad after I finished each dish-I don't think food has ever left me wanting more.
As a starter we had hummus which was served with grilled berbere bread, marinated olives and a beet salad.
1st course - lemon sorbet served on top of a bed of a cucumber, pepper salad
2nd course - cornish hen and Moroccan spices placed between sheets of crispy phyllo dusted with powdered sugar.
3rd course - Scallops with mushrooms
4th course - sea bass with a potato puree and buttery mushrooms.
5th course: lamb with honey sauce, peaches, dates
6th course - apple tatin, raspberry sauce, homemade ice cream topped with chocolate soup.
The chocolate soup was amazing...liquid chocolate served tableside poured over the ice cream. Delicious...

I definitely want to go back. Right now.

The Dumpling Truck

2011-02-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

I've seen this truck all over South Pas. Mostly by Garfield Park. We went for a stroll today through South Pas and happened to pass by the Dumpling Station and we decided to finally give it a try. They have a few different kinds of dumplings: veggie, pork and leek, pork and veggie, kimchee and beef, kimchee and pork, and a few others. We decided to go for their combo deal: a drink, 8 dumplings and a side for $9.75. You can have your dumplings steamed, pan fried or deep fried-your choice. We got the kimchee and pork deep fried and pork and veggie pan fried with a side of garlic wasabi fries. The dumplings were good. They use a thick skin which I personally like. The kimchee dumplings were a little spicy mixed with pork and glass noodles. The pork and veggie dumplings were good, but I couldn't really taste it after eating the kimchee. It was served with a sauce-not sure if it was soy sauce of ponzu-I wasn't really paying attention. The fries were crispy, covered with wasabi mayo. Overall, the food was good and I would definitely try it again. Next time I want to get the banana nutella wontons. Doesn't that sound good?

Auntie Ems Kitchen

2011-02-13T12:50:00.003-08:00

We had brunch with Auntie Thea today at Auntie Em's Kitchen in Eagle Rock. Keagan didn't look like he was feeling too well so we decided to get our food to go. I love their steel cut oatmeal with strawberries. It's got such a great texture to it and when it's topped with cream and syrup, it's delicious. I needed something salty to go along with it so I got their waldorf salad which was just okay. Nothing memorable. Auntie Em's is known for their cupcakes and desserts. They had heart shaped sugar cookies frosted with phrases like "sexy me" or "U R cute" in honor of Valentine's Day. They also had red velvet heart shaped cakes also decorated with the typical Valentine's day phrases. They were on "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" a while back for their infamous cupcakes and Auntie Em's won. Their cupcakes are really tasty and moist. I like the homemade look they have...no piping-just frosted by hand. Sometimes it just works well that way. We had a few cups of coffee and packed it all up to go and we spent our morning back at home just hanging out with Thea.

2011-02-13T12:50:00.001-08:00

South Pasadena Farmer's Market

2011-02-10T21:00:00.001-08:00

This farmer's market is open on Thursdays from 4pm-8pm. It's located on Mission street right next to the metro station. This farmer's market is so quaint and charming. They have everything from fresh produce, nuts, flowers, honey, fresh breads, and fresh seafood to amazing cooked foods. We went for dinner and deciding what to eat was not easy. They have BBQ, pupusas, tamales, samoussas, Mexican food, Indian food and the list goes on. We love the fresh grilled corn that you can slather with butter and different seasoning salts. We chose Mexican food tonight from Nana's. Their carne asada super nachos and burrito were decent. We probably won't get it again. I did enjoy their salsas however. You can truly taste the freshness of the ingredients. I was very impressed by the Indian fusion food which I got to sample at one of the stands next door. Their naan stuffed with spinach and dipped in tzitziki was amazing. It was delicious so I think I'll go with that next time. We bought some great pita chips and garlic hummus which was so good. What a great way to spend the evening.

The Arboretum

2011-02-08T21:08:00.001-08:00

We spent the day at the arboretum with our friends and had the most amazing time. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. There's a sense of calm and serenity there. The Lees are not first timers here. They were fully prepared with 6 loaves of bread for feeding the ducks and fish, bottles of water and a blanket to sit on. We, on the other hand, had nothing...now we know! We spent a lot of time feeding the catfish and geese and sitting out on the lawn just watching the kids play. After 3 hours of being there we sat under the waterfall and decided to get a membership. It's $70 for the family and we hope to be going back very soon.

Baby Toys

2011-02-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

For the learning to crawl stage-these toys are perfect. They move/glide around and your baby has to chase after them. The look on Keagan's face was priceless when he saw them at home. He was so excited to play with his new toys. Boppy has the snail and Keagan loved to play with it so we knew it would be a good buy. The inchworm won an award for toy of the year so we thought we'd give it a try. Keagan likes his toys, but low and behold, he ended up playing with a water bottle. The inchworm and the snail both fall over and then it's kind of pointless, whereas the water bottle rolls and crinkles when it's on its side. Go figure it's the simple things the kids really like.

Chúc Mừng Nǎm Mới! Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2011-02-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

I need to be more in touch with the Lunar Calendar-especially since my son is part Chinese/Vietnamese! This is Keagan's first lycee, laisee, lai-see...red envelope from Uncle Alan and Auntie Lu! Hope everyone had a wonderful Chinese New Year!

Double Gulp

2011-02-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

I had to post about the insane size of this drink. I told my husband that I was REALLY thirsty and that I wanted a BIG drink with LOTS of ice, so he graciously offered to go to 7-11 for me. He came back with this mondo thing. I think I drank a quarter of it...that's a lot! It's so big that you have to use two hands to carry it. Can you believe that someone could actually drink this thing? I had to compare its size with Keags.

Brioche

2011-02-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased the Cooks Illustrated Holiday Baking magazine. I can't stop looking through it. I initially wanted it for the red velvet cake recipe, but after looking through it there were so many other recipes that sounded amazing. I decided to make the brioche. It's a 2 day process because it has to proof overnight in the fridge. When I got home I baked it and there's nothing like the smell of fresh baked bread that fills your home. I couldn't wait to slice a piece of bread and eat it warm, slathered with butter. The crust was flakey and the inside was soft and buttery-it has a hint of sweetness from the sugar and it paired nicely with a cup of sweet cream tea. I'm eager to make another loaf today, but now I find myself exhausted-just wanting to sit in front of the TV and watch my favorite show-Modern Family.

Milestones

2011-02-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

He's 7 months and 3 weeks and it's been so much fun watching him grow. He's skirtin' around all over the place and he's making these funny sucky faces. He's using his right leg and left arm to army crawl around. He's got 2 teeth on the bottom that came in @ 6 months. He's eating mostly pears, avocados, mangoes, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. He sat up on his own @ around 6 months, but he'd rather be on his belly. Just wanted to document some of these milestones...this post is probably more for me than for anyone else that might be reading this...

The Counter

2011-01-31T22:41:00.001-08:00

Tommy actually got home at a decent time tonight so we went out for a casual dinner. We decided to go to The Counter on Lake. We first experienced the Counter up north a few years ago and were super excited that one opened up here in Pasadena. Overall, it's a good burger joint. The customer service at this location however is really great. They're very accommodating with little ones and are just darn right nice. I made a funky burger tonight...blue cheese, buffalo sauce, and bacon. I love their deep fried pickle chips though. I could eat those all night. And their 50/50 of fries and onion rings are yum.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2011-01-31T21:58:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we are celebrating the January/February birthdays with the family. I have decided to make carrot cake cupcakes. (They're my brother-in-law's other favorite dessert.) I love this recipe because you can do it all in one bowl and you can mix it all by hand. No stand mixer or hand beater necessary. Such an easy clean up. This is yet another fail proof recipe if you're making a cake and NOT cupcakes. It's moist and delicious and it has the perfect balance of cinnamon-not too much but just enough to get the essence of it without being overpowered by it. It's classically topped off with a cream cheese frosting. I thought I could just convert them into cupcakes and it was an EPIC FAILURE. They spread up and and out and it was just a huge mound of cake. I managed to flip them out-almost in one huge mass and cut away the edges, but it just wasn't pretty. So I decided to make the actual cake instead and give out the cupcakes as snacks. I used this recipe, and you can just put it all in a 9x13 dish, but I like to do it in 2 round 9 inch pans with frosting in between, on top and all around.

Ingredients

* 4 eggs
* 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
* 1 3/4 cups white sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 cups grated carrots
* 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts-preferably toasted first

Cream Cheese Frosting
* 2 sticks of butter, softened
* 2 packages of cream cheese, softened (16 oz.)
* 3 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan or 2-9 inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix together all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.) Stir in carrots. Fold in nuts. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan(s) for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. For the frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost the cooled cake.

It's Taco Time at the Wongs

2011-01-27T22:24:00.000-08:00

We remember so well what it was like at the beginning with a newborn. It was not easy. Tommy and I ordered take out every day for the first 3 months...cooking was out of the question. I didn't have the energy for it. Alan and Lu make it look easy, and they probably don't need me to bring dinner over to them, but I do it anyways! Tonight was taco night. I went to the local Mexican market and bought carne asada and marinated chicken. We packed the typical condiments, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, cheese, sour cream, onions, and avocado salsa (from Trader joe's-I've never seen it before, but it was good!) For dessert I baked Ina Garten's pear clafouti from her Barefoot in Paris cookbook. She called for Bartlett pears, but I used bosc pears which was a fine alternate. Clafouti is like a custard filled with fruit. Usually cherry, but you could virtually do any fall/winter fruit. It's a very simple recipe and it's easy to assemble. I love the way the pears peek out of the top of the batter. I was only able to capture the clafouti before I baked it. We were pressed for time and before I knew it, the clafouti was baked and we were out the door. The Wong's had vanilla ice cream and it was just what we needed to go with the clafouti.
At the Wong's I was able to hold Boppy (10 weeks) as she slept in my arms. I could just kiss her all night. It's the sweetest thing.

Key Lime Pie

2011-01-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

It was my brother-in-law's birthday and one of his favorite desserts is key lime pie so I decided to make it for him. This is a wonderful recipe and it's so easy to make. I cheated a little bit and bought a pre-made crust and I didn't use key limes. I have a lime tree in my backyard so I used those instead. My limes look yellow...and they are yellow, but they're not lemons, they're limes. Really! I'm almost afraid to list the recipe because it shows how easy it was to make. This recipe is from allrecipes.com and it received tons of rave reviews. It's no wonder-it's a fail proof recipe and when you use a star tip to pipe out the whipped cream, it's worthy of a few aahs.

Key Lime Pie
Ingredients

* 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
* 3 cups sweetened condensed milk (about 2 cans)
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 3/4 cup key lime juice (about 25-35 limes depending on their size)
* 1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind.
Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

Gerlach's Grill

2011-01-26T18:56:00.001-08:00

It's a totally unassuming place. It's next to a liquor store and it's so small that you can barely even see it. There's a tiny window and a tiny little patio-you wouldn't know what it was unless you knew what it was. It was written up in the LA Times several years ago and we've been loyal customers ever since. They serve a different array of food, from kebabs, to Mexican food, but it's their fresh seafood that draws a crowd. We usually order their calamari, maybe a falafel here and there, but always the fish tacos. Their fish is super fresh. The taco plate is served with 3 tacos, hummus, greek salad and one pita bread. Delicious!

The Alcove

2011-01-22T17:04:00.000-08:00

The Alcove is a great little place on Hillhurst Ave. in Los Angeles- a street that's studded with little eateries. We went to celebrate my brother in law's birthday. We've been to the Alcove a few times and I am reminded of why we go back again and again. It's a charming place with a great outdoor seating area-surrounded by trees and greenery. Here, you order at the counter and then you sit wherever you please. The counter is filled with baked goods like red velvet cupcakes, blue velvet cupcakes, bread puddings, cookies and cakes galore. I couldn't resist but to order the bread pudding-one of my all time favorite desserts. They described it as a french toast with chocolate chips, but a thousand times better. I was sold. They serve it warm with two dollops of whipped cream on the side. I thought it was a little orange zest heavy, but I'm just not a huge fan of orange in my chocolate goods. I know-they go hand in hand, but it's just not for me. The chilaquiles was good, but their beans looked grey. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, the good food and watching the cousins play together.
Happy birthday, part 1, Chris!

Orecchiette

2011-01-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

Orecchiete means ears in Italian. They're pasta shells that look like little ears and I love them. I found this version at Mario's Deli in Glendale. They're "grandi" so they're a little bigger than the usual. I used them for a marinara pasta and they're perfect when they're cooked al dente. We topped it with Italian parsley and shaved parmesean cheese, a garlic baguette on the side and a glass of red wine (my first glass in months!) What a great way to end the day.

Just another Wednesday

2011-01-19T12:41:00.001-08:00

Keagan gets his cast off today! We both took the day off so we could be with him when they do it...yes, we're first time parents. But then we ended up dropping him off at my moms because she wanted to take him to Keiro so Tommy and I ended up having the morning to ourselves. Just us. We forget what that's like. We thought it would be a perfect opportunity to have breakfast together. We went to Marston's in Pasadena and didn't have to wait-it is a Wednesday morning after all. We ordered the famous cornflake crusted french toast, the 3 cheese omelette made with swiss, gorgonzola and cheddar and a side bacon. I was actually fairly impressed this time around with the french toast. Last time it was super dry and there wasn't one part of it that was "french toast." This time it was crunchy on the outside and somewhat moist on the inside. The omelette was okay. Nothing exceptional, nothing you couldn't make at home. We just relaxed over our hot cups of coffee and breakfast. What a nice way to start the day.

Target Days at JANM

2011-01-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

Japanese American National Museum. Once a month at JANM in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, they have what's called a Target day. Admission is free and for each admission, Target matches it. It's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. They have arts and crafts and demonstrations and you get to see the museum for free. You can spend the afternoon having lunch in Little Tokyo, head over to the museum and then finish your day with a bowl of frozen yogurt, a cream puff from Beard Papas or a Japanese pancake filled with sweet red bean (imagawayaki). You can find out information on the JANM wesbite!

Cousins

2011-01-18T21:27:00.001-08:00

Aki + Keagan. This is what we always imagined it to be. My sister's boy and mine, growing up together...hopefully as best friends. It's been so neat to watch their interactions. Keagan grabs Aki and Aki moves away and this repeats 800 times. However, Aki doesn't move far enough away for Keagan to not be able to reach him. Aki just smiles and turns away. When Aki's around, Keagan won't nap-he is so fascinated with him. Here they were at the park-the first of many, I hope. My favorite boys...together.

Mission 261

2011-01-18T21:15:00.001-08:00

We've been friends for how long? A little less than 20 years? It's crazy. We've said all the cliche things like "we'll grow old together" or "We'll watch our kids grow up together" but before we knew it, it was all actually happening. Our group is slowly growing with the addition of husbands and now babies. It's crazy to think back to our first time meeting one another to where we are now.

This was our Christmas Exchange that we hold annually. This year it was at Mission 261 in San Gabriel. We ordered tons of food and after our traditional group photo we left in the pouring rain.

Lu just had her baby about a month before this photo was taken...can you believe that? She looks amazing!

Kennedy (17 months) Keagan (6 months) The rest of us (Getting old)

Baby Leg Warmers-

2011-01-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

I'm addicted to baby leg warmers. They're so adorable. I can't help but order a few...or ten. This is my newest collection for Keagan. It came in handy to cover up his cast. So many designs, so many styles. Which to choose? I ordered them from Green Lil Piggies in Riverside, California. They're such a great little company and their customer service is amazing. The only down side is that they're like socks and I'm already missing one. I've been searching for days, but can't seem to find it. Where the heck did it go?

Linnea

2011-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

I just held her in my arms for a few minutes and she gracefully drifted off to lala land. I remember those days...a bit hazy, but I remember them. As Keagan skirted around on the floor, Linnea fell sound asleep in her pack n play. It was such a sweet sight. It's a joy to watch your dear friends join you on this venture of parenthood. L and A are such great parents already. Our kids are literally going to grow up together and I couldn't be happier. I loved being able to spend time and eat as we talk about our kids. Who would've thought that we'd be doing this 20 or so years ago?

coconut M and Ms

2011-01-17T21:41:00.000-08:00

If you're a coconut fan-you must try these! They are so good. My girlfriend Em introduced them to me and they are yumm-O!

Chicken enchiladas

2011-01-17T21:35:00.001-08:00

I was going to make tacos tonight, but when my sister said she was making enchiladas, I decided to make some too!

Again, no recipe...not that you need one. I just threw this one together because I had some stuff on hand.

Ingredients:
corn tortillas
rotisserie chicken shredded
cheese (any kind is good-jack, cheddar...I used jack)
green sauce (I used one from the market. It's a chile verde sauce)

Set oven to 350 degrees.
warm a tortilla in a pan for a few seconds. Then dip it in the verde sauce. place chicken and cheese inside the tortilla and roll it up. Place in a 9x13 baking dish. Repeat until the whole dish is filled. Once every roll is made, top with remaining verde sauce and top with cheese. Bake in the oven for 2o minutes until cheese is melted.

I served it with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and topped it with sour cream which I mixed with lemon and a little salt.

onion rings

2011-01-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

mmmmmmmmmmm...onion rings. I had a million onions left so I decided to make some. I was inspired by my friend MW who just made some and sent me a photo of hers. I am a die hard fan of Ina Garten. I just love her. I'll post desserts and things I make from her cookbooks. She is the best. Her recipes are spot on and fail proof. These onion rings are from her cookbook. They're a bit time consuming, but worth the effort. She likes her onions sliced thick, I like mine thin. They can be prepared either way. I love the idea of cornmeal mixed into the batter-it gives it a really crusty edge and great texture. I'm just going to summarize her directions for the sake of time.

Cornmeal-fried onion rings
2 large spanish onions (or whatever you have)
2 cups buttermilk
kosher salt, pepper to taste
1 1/2 all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 qt. vegetable oil

1. slice onions and separate into rings
2. combine buttermilk, 1-1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper in a bowl.
3. Add onions to the buttermilk mix and let stand for 15 minutes
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Heat oil to 350 degrees. take onions out of buttermilk mix and dredge in flour mixture and fry.

Place them on paper towels to collect extra oil. keep warm in the oven (set to 200 degrees for up to 30 minutes)

Enjoy!

okonomiyaki

2011-01-17T21:15:00.001-08:00

This is one of my most favorite Japanese dishes. They're Japanese pancakes and it's like a poor man's dish, but aren't those the best? There isn't really one right way of making it. I actually don't even follow any recipe really. All you really need is cabbage-and cabbage is something I almost always try to have in my fridge because there's so much you can do with it. I like my okonomiyaki with bacon-cuz that's just another staple in my fridge. People will probably tell you this isn't authentic, but even my cousin in Japan makes his just with cabbage and bacon so...to each his own.

Basic okonomiyaki batter:
2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup dashi
4 eggs
cabbage
bacon
bonito flakes
kewpie mayonnaise
okonomiyaki sauce

Mix the flour, dashi and eggs together in a bowl. Add shredded cabbage and coat the shredded cabbage thoroughly. Lightly oil a pan. Add the cabbage mixture and shape it into a pancake shape. Make sure the okonomiyaki is cooked thoroughly or else it will have that raw flour taste-yuck. Before you flip it, add strips of raw bacon onto one side and then flip it over.

Top it with bonito flakes, mayo, and okonomiyaki sauce. Yum!

Mama Vuong

2011-01-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

My husband always ooh and aahs at his mom's cooking. And I can't blame him. She's amazing. I won't even bother replicating her dishes. There's just no point. We went over for dinner the other day and she made Vietnamese eggrolls, a Vietnamese salad and chicken porridge and it was so good. I will never able to make eggrolls or porridge like her, but the salad is easy enough!

Ingredients for the salad:
shredded cabbage
shredded lettuce
shredded carrots
shredded red onions
shredded chicken
cilantro

dressing:
nguc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce)
sesame oil
a little sugar
a squeeze of lemon

toss together and top with dried onions. Delicious.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

2011-01-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

I made 3 cupcakes this weekend. The first was a lemongrass cupcake, but the flavor of lemongrass didn't come through. The milk is steeped with lemongrass, but the flavor is so subtle that you can't taste it as you're eating it-you kind of get a hint of it after you've taken that first bite and even then you're not so sure what the flavor is. Overall-it gets a score of a 0. So I moved on to the pink lemonade cupcake. I've been wanting to make this one for a while and I'm glad I finally did. These cupcakes are beautiful to look at. The pink color is absolutely adorable. The texture of the cupcake was perfect, but the flavor was just okay. I think the artificial flavor of the pink lemonade concentrate was what made it taste a little strange. I don't think I'll be making this cupcake over again.

The Oinkster

2011-01-17T20:52:00.001-08:00

I had the day off for MLK's birthday and it was the best day off I've had in a while. My brother and I started the day off with a trip to Starbucks. That's just what we do when my brother's home from school. Then for lunch we all headed out to the Oinkster for lunch. There's something about the Oinkster that I love. The idea of slow fast food is genius. I had the BBQ pulled pork sandwich and I must say I was a little disappointed. It was good, but a bit salty and the flavor was just okay. I should've gotten the oinkster pastrami. Their Ube shake was delicious and I'm not even big on ube. Keagan got his first taste of pastrami thanks to Uncle Chris. His facial expression was priceless, but he kept pulling Uncle's arm for more.

A Hectic Start to the New Year

2011-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

My husband and Keagan took a fall down the stairs yesterday. Tommy slipped on his pajama pants and took a fall. He decided to take Keagan to the ER with my mom just to make sure he was okay. After the x-rays, we were assured that Keagan was fine and had no broken parts. Phew! But later he wasn't putting any weight on his left leg at home so we were a little concerned-as anyone would be. We received a phone call today saying that they found a hairline fracture on his femur! So we rushed home from work and headed to the orthopedic department and they decided to put on a full leg cast. Keagan cried as they put it on, but once we picked him up he was happy go lucky again. It's the smallest cast I've ever seen. It's almost kind of cute. So sad....but so cute. 2 weeks with this cast. Poor little guy!

cocoa nibs

2011-01-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

What are they? They're the shell of the cocoa bean. These are roasted and broken into little bits and they are delicious. My little sister bought me 2 bags of them from the well known chocolate shop in Seattle called Theo. The bag itself is beautiful. I've made a few things with these tiny bits of goodness. I was inspired by my favorite blogger Orangette. I made her cocoa nib sables and they were decent. They were actually quite disgusting fresh out of the oven. I know-fresh baked cookies-Gross? Yes. My husband didn't even like them and he likes anything with sugar. Definitely better when they sat out for a bit. She said so herself in her blog that they were better the next day and in this case, it was very true. Here's her recipe. They were good cookies, but not my favorite. It's a nice butter shortbread type of cookies, rolled into a log and refrigerated overnight. The speckles of cocoa nibs are nice though. They're pure cocoa flavor without any of the sugar.

Whole Wheat Sables with Cocoa Nibs (from Orangette.blogspot.com)

2 cups (9 oz.) whole wheat pastry flour, OR 1 cup (4.5 oz.) all-purpose flour plus 1 scant cup (4 oz.) whole wheat flour
14 Tbsp. (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (3 ½ oz.) sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup (about 1 ¼ oz.) roasted cacao nibs

If using the two flours, combine them in a bowl, and mix with a whisk or fork.

In a medium bowl, with a large spoon or an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth and creamy but not fluffy, about 1 minute (with the mixer). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and add the nibs. Beat briefly to incorporate. Add the flour, and mix until just incorporated. Scrap the dough into a mass and, if necessary, knead it a little with your hands to make sure that the flour is completely incorporated. Form the dough into a 12-by-2-inch log. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Set racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Use a sharp knife to cut the cold dough log into ¼-inch-thick slices. Place the cookies at least 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared sheet pans.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown at the edges, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies for a minute on the pans, then transfer them (with or without their parchment) to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies are good on the first day, but they’re best with a little age, after at least a day or two. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a month.

Yield: about 48 cookies

New Years Day

2011-01-02T18:46:00.001-08:00

In Japanese we say Akemashite omedetou!

I headed over to my mom's at 8:00 to have our traditional new years breakfast and watch the rose parade.

Breakfast was beautiful. From the sweet black beans to pickled radishes, sashimi, ozouni (mochi soup), kimpira gobo (burdock root), fish cakes, and dried fish, my mom spent much of the past days creating each dish. Our names were written on our chopstick holders.

The festivities at my grandmother's house began at 1:00 and we usually have about 20 people come. The food is outrageous. Traditional Japanese food. Not only is the food delicious, but the way it is presented is something else. Each piece is strategically placed. We spent the afternoon/evening eating and chatting and spending time with each other, while watching the football game.

Hopefully this is but a glimpse of what the new year has in store for our family.

Happy New Year Everyone!

New Years Eve

2011-01-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe this year is over. It really came up fast.

I've been stressing about tonight because of the little one. What if he won't sleep? What if he wakes up? The stresses that go along with sleep training! We decided to brave it and just bring him everywhere with us. I'm glad we did.

In the morning we made mochi (Japanese rice cakes) at my moms. It's hot and fresh out of the mochi machine and we shape them into a ball-like shape. There is nothing like fresh mochi. I can't quite explain it, but it is warm and chewy and delicious. I could eat 10 in one sitting if I could. We stole a piece here and there, dipped them in different things like butter or a sweet soysauce concoction or even with a sweet radish and soy sauce dip.

My mom was busy in the kitchen preparing for the new year-TONS of traditional food being made, which one day I'll have to learn how to make.

The rest of our day:
We spent the first part of our evening visiting the Toshimas. They got to meet Keagan for the first time. It's been a meeting long overdue! It was brief, but we got to see the girls and Reiko and Scott too so it was nice!

We headed over to my grandmother's house for ramen and hung out for a bit. At the end of the year it is tradition to have toshi koshi soba. Long noodles representing long life, but we kind of cheat and have ramen. I ended up having 2 servings. What a fatty!

Then it was off to the Lees for our annual New Years Eve celebration. As we get older, our parties aren't as crazy as they once were and I think I like it that way. We now have kids running around and lots of mommy talk going on. It's nice having lots of mommy friends. Keagan slept the entire time as we rang in the new year over a bottle or two or three of bubbly.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope for a year filled with new adventures and time spent with loved ones!

Halloween 2010

2010-12-30T22:49:00.001-08:00

A baby's first Halloween is a big deal. What do you dress up a 4 month old as? It's hard to be original. I wasn't about to make a costume. So I searched high and low for the perfect costume. My husband poo poo'd my idea, but eventually learned to love it. We were the hot dog family. My sister made Keagan hot dog labels and Tommy spent time smudging mustard and ketchup all over our aprons. We spent time at our church for a mini Halloween party, then celebrated with our friends at our home. He held hands with Wayles for the first time . We then trick or treated around the neighborhood with Kat and Char.

Slawdogs, Polkatots and Auntie Thea

2010-12-30T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today we headed out to Slawdogs in Pasadena for a quick lunch. TL came home early so we decided to head out. I ordered the most interesting dog. It was stuffed with peanut butter, wrapped with bacon, and topped with bananas. I can't imagine most people ordering this, but one of my philosophies in life is to try everything (well almost everything) and I am so glad I did. You only live once, right? And who knows-maybe this hot dog will never ever be created again. It was delicious. Sweet + savory=amazing. Thank you to the creative creators at that Slawdogs!

We picked up 6 Polkatots cupcakes. We wanted to share them with Thea. In the past I wasn't too impressed with their cupcakes, but this time around, they were really tasty! We got strawberry shortcake, red velvet, Happy Monkey (a banana cupcake), Lemonade (lemon cupcake with a lemon buttercream), cookie monster (cookies and cream) and Dolcissimo (a dulce de leche cupcake).

Auntie Thea came over to visit. She's been in Italy for 4 months! We are so happy you are home and we hope to see more of you!

Here's to a relaxing night at home. We need nights like this to unwind.

The Keagster

2010-12-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

His name is Keagan Masaki Vuong. Where did his name come from? We found it online and loved it. What does it mean? It means ardent. He's a cancer which means he's sensitive and does not like the unexpected.

He's funny like daddy, has eyes like mommy and has a full head of hair which curls in every direction. He's teething, drooling, scootin' around and eating solids and brings a smile to our face every time we look at him. 6 months came up fast.

Splendid Littles

2010-12-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

Target has launched a new line for babies! Splendid Littles! I am a big fan of the Splendid line. I own a few of their pieces for my own wardrobe and now they're coming up with a line for the little ones! They're known mostly for their striped pieces. Now the little man and I can match!

2010 in a Nutshell

2010-12-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted since we got married and a lot has happened since then. It's been an amazing year. The greatest gift of life was given to us on June 23, 2010. Keagan Masaki Vuong was born at 8:35pm at 19.25 inches. The past 6 months have been quite an adventure as many of you first time parents can attest to. I have decided to try and blog about our adventures as a new family and as a couple beginning in the new year. This will be one of my new years resolutions.

The Sacred 7

2008-05-31T23:09:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the most awkward part about weddings is choosing the bridal party. There's the question of "is she going to ask me?" that looms over the friends of the bride. But I must say that was one of the easiest decisions for me. My girls didn't really need to be asked, but for the sake of formality, I did anyways. I don't think any of them were surprised to be asked which in turn reminds me that I have some of the bestest friends in the world. I have very special relationships with each one of them individually and I could not be more happy to have them stand by my side on our wedding day.
Matron of honor: My sister, Yuri. My soul sister. My other third, I should say.
Maid of honor: My little sister, Alex. My baby girl-that's not such a baby anymore.
Bridesmaids: Chung Yee, my best friend of 18 years from high school. There really
aren't words that can describe my friendship with her.
Jennifer, she's like my long lost sister whom I met through an ex! You
never know when and where you'll meet people that will impact
your life.
Stephanie, she's my twin. Quite literally! My girlfriend from church
who shares many of my joys and passions of life. No wonder
she's my twin. She's expecting in October!
Judy: Yet another best friend of 18 years from high school. We've
been through 2 decades of just about everything. She is one of
sweetest people I know and you'll know what I mean when you
meet her.
and last, but not least,
Fannie: Another high school best friend of 18 years. Fannie reminds
me of what friendships are about. She's intentional and takes
care of the people that are close to her and I am so grateful
that I've been a part of it.

I am overwhelmed by the friendships and the sisterhood that I have been given and am the luckiest girl to have them be a part my life.

Our Photographer

2008-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

We have chosen our photographer! We are very excited to have signed a contract with the amazing Tara Rochelle. My girlfriend, Judy used her for her own wedding and her photos were nothing short of perfect, so it was an easy choice for us. Tara is very easy going and down to earth and that's the one thing we were looking for in a photographer. She truly is AMAZING!

The Reception Site

2008-05-21T21:35:00.001-07:00

We wanted that feeling of "this is the place" and that's what we felt when we walked into the Sheraton Delfina of Santa Monica. It's got a modern, simple feel and that's what we were looking for. It's not grand, nor is it very formal, but we think it's just right for us. It's a small boutique hotel so it's a little different from other Sheratons. This is where we will have the people we love most share our big day with us.

Our Church

2008-05-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

So we are 13 months out and we have chosen our church! We are going to be married at Trinity Baptist Church of Santa Monica. After meeting with Pat Allison and looking at the church we have decided that this is the place our day will begin...

The Future Wongs

2008-05-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends Lu and Alan celebrated our engagement with us tonight. How sweet are they! We headed out to K-Town for some Korean BBQ at a new place called Mu Dong Lu Pao Po Kamidahhhhh. It's so fun to be with people that are in the same boat as you are. Lu and I spent 87% of dinner talking about our future plans for our weddings and there is no one that understands or can appreciate the joy of engagement than another engageeeee. This is one pair that we can let our hair down with. Anything goes when we're together and that's what makes our friendship unique. Tommy and I always love being with these 2. From "the best weddings ever" and to conversations of armpits - we always walk away with a fond/funny memory that will go down in the books. Thanks Lu and Alan for a wonderful night out. We are so happy to have you in our lives.

Mama and Papa Vuong

2008-04-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

We had dinner with Tommy's family tonight. YC came along and we had an amazing dinner- Vietnamese style. Mama Vuong is amazing. She can whip things up and everything tastes so good. It's one of those, you're totally stuffed, but you just want the flavor in your mouth, so you continue to eat- kind of meals. The kiddos were there too and we spent the evening putting tattoos all over everyone, playing tag, watching Dancing with the Stars, watching J play his guitar and eating. I am lucky to be marrying into a family such as theirs.

THE CYK

2008-04-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

My best friend celebrated with me tonight. After hours of catching up and yummy food I realize there is none like her. We had our Bing Bing and couldn't stop laughing about a bride riding up in a horse drawn carriage. It's definitely so magical like I can't express. Thanks CK! You're the bestest bestest.

Scott and Reiko and Mika-chan!

2008-04-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a get together long overdue. We finally got together with Reiko and Scott and I got to meet the new addition to their family-Mika! We had Sunday brunch at Cookshack in South Pas. and had a great time catching up. Tommy and I will only be so lucky to have a baby like Mika. She is so sweet and has such a happy spirit. She wasn't fussy or whiny. And even when she cried it was such a teeny tiny sound. We both took turns holding her as she observed everything around her. She's so observant and curious about her surroundings. Thank you Scott and Reiko for treating us to brunch and for letting us spend time with the little one. We look forward to our next get together which will be sooner than later!

Family Fun Time

2008-04-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I were overwhelmed at family fun time this past Sunday.

*A little background about our Sunday dinners: Every Sunday my family gets together for a "themed" dinner. We pick a region or a main dish and everyone has to choose a dish from that particular region or we have to bring a dish that revolves around the main course. So far our dinner themes have included Chinese, Italian, Cuban, Greek, American and Japanese. It's always exciting to see what people bring.

I usually bring the dessert, but this Sunday they asked me not to.

My grandmother brought a mango cake with a congratulations message on it for me and Tommy and my dad popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon. It was such a special celebration from my family and a wonderful way to celebrate our engagement with them.

Thank you T fam.

Good Friends

2008-04-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

Tommy and I have been lucky to find friends like M and R. They must be one of the sweetest couples we know. They took us out to Chez Nous in Toluca Lake to celebrate our engagement. After a bottle of champagne and a bottle of delicious pinot noir, we found ourselves 4 hours later wondering where the time went. I don't think there was a moment of silence between the four of us. That's just the way it goes when we get together. We spent hours talking about marriage, Africa, our travels, buying homes, work and everything in between. Thank you for a wonderful evening out. We are truly blessed by your friendship.

Our Engagement Celebration

2008-04-06T15:51:00.000-07:00

Our friends D and W put together a little engagement celebration for us at Honda-ya in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. They reserved the back "tatami" room for our group of about 20. Next to us there was another birthday celebration which made it all the more fun. We were all rowdy together. We sang happy birthday in different languages, made the birthday boy give a speech, and in return they were chanting, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" We had tons of food and sake and found ourselves describing the proposal over and over for everyone. Sharing about Tommy's tears was possibly a huge mistake, but nonetheless it made for a great story and now something he can't live down. After tons of wah wah photos and chatting amongst friends, we realized that this was such a great way to start our engagement. Thanks to everyone that came out with us. We had such a great time.

March 30, 2008-The Proposal

2008-03-31T16:08:00.000-07:00

It was my 31st birthday so I went to SD with my friends.
On our way back on Sunday, Tommy said that he wanted to surprise me with his own birthday getaway. After having lunch with K and E at George's at the Cove, Tommy and I headed to our next destination. Little did I know what was coming. He typed "R" "I" into the navi so I had an idea that it was the Ritz. We pulled into the beautiful Laguna Nigel Ritz Carlton and it was nothing short of breathtaking. We were personally escorted through the hotel by Gina. She gave us a mini tour of the hotel and then told me that I would start my afternoon in the spa. What?? I had no idea. Tommy set up an appointment for me to have a 1 hour massage. I was told to take my time until 5:30. That gave me 2 hours to relax. Rose was my massage therapist. She was super sweet and we spent a good 15 minutes just talking together. As I finished with my massage, there was a bag waiting for me from Tommy. It had my dinner dress and heels, along with makeup inside. As I was leaving, the staff left a birthday present for me at the reception desk. A beautiful candle and body spray. What an amazing treat. Tommy met me in the spa lobby and we headed to 162 for dinner. We had ocean view seats and we got to watch the sunset. As we finished up our dinner, Tommy said that he needed to use the restroom so he headed up to our room. I signed the tab and collected my things from the spa and headed up. I knocked on the room door and Tommy opened it. He spread red rose petals and lit candles all over the room. We were upgraded to an ocean view so we could hear and see the ocean crashing. He invited me outside onto the balcony to enjoy our view. He first started to wish me a happy birthday. Then went on to say how this wasn't all just for my birthday. He began to tell me about the past 2 years, but he couldn't go on because we were both crying. Then he just said, "I want you to marry me." Then he got down on one knee and put the ring on my finger. It was an amazing proposal.