Perfect Chewy Sugar Cookies

Happy Holidays! I'm back with a recipe review on what I'd like to think is the perfect sugar cookie.  Many moons ago when I used to be a barista in college, the coffee shop I worked at would get in sugar cookies which I loved. They were rolled in sugar crystals and had a hint of almond. I've been wanting to re-create this cookie since then and I think I've found a pretty good recipe that matches those flavor profiles.

Easy Pasta Dinner

Greetings! Here's a new recipe for you to try- an easy pasta with fresh tomato sauce. It's a great weeknight summer dinner dish because it's fast and light.  You also get bonus points if you use homegrown tomatoes- which I was able to use thanks to visiting my parents who off loaded a bunch of fresh & ripe cherry tomatoes.

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

Weekends = fun breakfasts and today was a good day for blueberry pancakes made from scratch. Homemade pancakes are just as easy as using a box mixed and way better as well. I have been looking for a better recipe to use as usually my pancakes don't always turn out to be so fluffy. Thanks to the internet though, I quickly found a good recipe that was simple in steps from Once Upon a Chef.

Back to Blogging!

Hello! I've decided to get back to blogging on this blog. I don't have specific goals other than it will be food focused; cooking, eating and discovering new places to eat in and around where I live. Stay tuned- recipes and ideas will be popping back up here soon!

Julia Child's Potato Soup

I think I bought Julia Child's cookbook last year and have only made a few recipes out of it. One of the most easiest and tastiest recipes is for potato soup. This isn't your super creamy rich potato soup, but more simple, yet satisfyingly delicious potato soup.

Recipe adapted from Julia Child's cook book

Ingredients:
3 cups leeks thinly sliced
3-4 cups russet potatoes, chopped
3/4 tbsp salt
1 tbsp butter
2 quarts water
3 tbsp half and half

Directions:
1. Heat up water on the stove while you chop and slice the leeks and potatoes
2. Add leeks, potatoes, salt to water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 40-50 mins.
4. Once soup is done, use a hand mixer and mix the soup on low to break up the vegetables.
( if you have a hand blender, it's even better.)
6. Add butter and half and half and stir until incorporated.
7. Enjoy!

PS- try it with some left over holiday ham sliced up- it makes a great soup for cold winter days!

Homemade Chicken Soup

Well, this year has not been good for blogging for me. I am honestly going to try and pick this up again because I like it and really do enjoy cooking and learning new things in the kitchen. I don't think I've been too creative in the kitchen this year and I want to change that.

So let's start with something that is perfect for fall. Chicken soup. I've had a hard time making soups from scratch- they never come out as I intend them. This time, however, I think I finally nailed it. My recipe is based loosely from The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Soup recipe, however, I did tweak it be on my own and didn't do much in terms of measurements. I think what really made the soup work was that I browned the chicken first, before adding stock and the vegetables. I also used chicken w/ bones, which I really do think helps bring out the flavor. Here's my recipe (and again measurements aren't exact):

Ingredients:
1 bone in chicken breast
2 chicken legs
1 yellow onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
6 carrots, diced
Parsley, roughly chopped (about 3 tbsp)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp of thyme
1 quart of chicken stock (4 cups)
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 cups of water
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheesecloth

Steps:
1. Heat pan & add olive oil. Once your pan is properly heated, add chicken breast and chicken legs. Brown on each side for about 5 mins each- just enough to brown the skin.
2. Remove chicken from pan and add chicken stock. Make sure to run your spoon under the chicken bits still stuck to the pan (they'll add flavor).
3. Add back chicken to the pan, plus the two cups water and chicken bouillon.
4. Add carrots, celery, onion to the pan and bring to a boil.
5. Once the soup is at a boil, reduce heat to simmer.
6. Add parsley and bay leaves to the cheesecloth & securely tighten w/ baker's twine and add to the soup. Shake in thyme.
7. Cook for about 1 1/2 hours, adding salt and pepper to your liking.
8. Remove chicken from the pan and shred & then add back to the soup.

I actually didn't eat the soup the night I made it. Instead, I let it cool and refrigerated it to the next day and then warmed up. The nice thing about this is you can remove the fat that hardens up at top and customize your soup if you're like me- sometimes I want chicken and rice soup, other times I enjoy chicken noodle soup. Just cook up some rice or boil some pasta and add to your soup. Enjoy!

Basil Walnut Pesto

I think every couple of months I remember about this blog. Oops! I'm going to try this again. Let's talk about Basil Walnut Pesto and how great it is. I actually never liked pesto (always too much of a bite from the one's I've had), but since I had all this Basil growing in my patio garden, thought I may try to make my own.

I'm a bad blogger. I've been getting used to leave work at decent hours and I have been enjoying that too much to type up fun recipes. But I'm back for now! This one is an easy one.

Homemade fried rice. It's easy, versatile and less bad for you that your local take out place (and way better than Panda Express).

Pasta with Garlic and Oil

Last weekend I was on a roll. I made a quick and easy dinner of Garlic Spaghetti for Jason and myself, plus some yummy brownie-esque cookies. I'll start with the pasta dish, made possible from an America's Test Kitchen cookbook that I picked up at the thrift store some time ago.

Pea Soup

Did you have ham leftovers from the holidays? Did you freeze any of it? Well, if you did, and you know, even if you didn't and just bought some, I found a pretty darn good pea soup recipe. I love pea soup, even though I rarely eat it. This is mostly due to me not understanding how to make good soup. Good soup takes time- lots of simmering time. And I'm not too patient

Perfect Vanilla Iced Latte

Happy New Year! I am going to tell you how to make the perfect iced latte. Now, this drink is based more on technique and does not rely on measurements. Why, you may ask?

Scalloped Cheesy Potatoes and Ham

This is the perfect dish to make with your holiday leftovers and perfect  for cold winter nights- even if your winter nights are in Southern California.. it still gets pretty cold here. I made this dish after

Apple Pie Gone Wrong, A Return

I've decided. I am finally back to getting back to posting about my adventures in baking, cooking and all that jazz. Work was cutting into updating this blog in a way I could have never imagined. Here's hoping that 2012 will not turn out this same way. I will try and let it not.

So, I couldn't think of a better return post, than with a disaster post. Because disasters in the kitchen do happen. And often, they happen when you don't take the time to thoroughly create your dish. This is what happened to me when trying to make an Apple Pie for Christmas.  I was rushing around and really have the time to make an apple pie. But I wanted to, because you have to have pie at Christmas, right? Well, wrong in this case. Here's where I went wrong:

Apple Pie Gone Wrong
1. I didn't follow the directions. I skipped on using all the recommended butter because I thought I could get away with it (there was already so much!). Wrong- if you're going to make an Apple Pie, make one... with all the butter. Most of it was in there anyways- taking out a couple of tablespoons was a bad idea.
2. The crust wasn't rolling out right- it was too crumbly and falling apart. Instead of just doing it over right, I thought I could just re-shape it and patch it up in the pie tin. It turned out so ugly.
3. I rushed through it all and basically the result is what you see in the picture. Uh- well! There is always next year... lesson learned. :)

Apple Pie Gone Wrong, 2011

Stay Tuned... in this coming week, I'll have more updates on things that turned out right.

Homemade Coconut Ice Cream

It's been a long week. I thought I was on track to tons of  blog updates this past week- but it's been a very intense and crazy work week.  Perhaps this week I will get to posting it all. Let's start with dessert. I made a very tasty coconut ice cream this week. It's a very simple and rewarding recipe. It's a coconut lovers dream!

Saturday Morning Cheese Blintzes

I'm actually not a fan of cheese blintzes, but Jason is and I wanted to make him some for some time. I finally got around to it a couple of weekends ago and thought I could make these suckers as quick as you make pancakes. Turns out cheese blintzes are served warm and are suppose to bake in the oven

Rice and Egg

Do you have a childhood dish that seems like only your family ever ate? When I was a kid, my mom used to make my sister and I rice & eggs. And it's exactly what it sounds like. Steamed white rice and a scrambled egg. We usually ate this for breakfast and if my mom was feeling fancy she would add mushrooms or green onion to the egg. Now I realize this may sound like a weird breakfast dish, but it really takes me back to my childhood & it's comfort food for me.

Take to Work Lunch: Asian Inspired Salad

I can post "Take to Work Lunches" on Saturday right? Good. With the recent purchase of some cute lunch boxes called "Easy Lunch Boxes" and some planning and preparition on my part, I took my lunch to work 3 out of the 4 days this week. Which for me, who usually sleeps in a little too late and rushes out the door all while knowing if I don't pack a lunch,

Happy 4th of July!

Nothing beats the simplicity of a burger, or in this case mini-burgers on King's Hawaiian poppy seed bread rolls straight from the King's Hawaiian bread factory itself.

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Coffee Cupcakes!!

Last night I stayed up late to make some coffee cupcakes for my sister. See, my sister graduated college a couple of weeks ago and we were to celebrate with homemade coffee cupcakes. (She is a coffee-holic.)But I was sick the whole week & weekend of her graduation and I never made them. But hey, at least she got some tiramasu from CPK that day. 

Anyhow, I was back at in my parent's hood and this time, toting the coffee cupcakes

Homemade Pizza and Breadsticks (and Marinara Sauce)

Not only did I make blueberries and cream cookies this weekend, I also made a really good pizza on Monday. This required some preparation on Sunday, but it was well worth it. Let me tell you about this pizza dough recipe. I've mentioned it before. It takes some patience, not in kneading the dough, but just time. Time and planning to make the dough the night before so it can be refrigerated and time again to allow the dough to rest and rise the next day. But it's well worth it and way better than Trader Joe's pizza dough (sorry TJ's, it's true!) and anything from a chain pizza place.