homemade delicousness

i went to washington a couple weeks ago. i was spoiled with good weather, home made food, great wine and beer, and tons of great company.
the views were outrageous and sometimes burgers and beers just taste better on a porch overlooking the puget sound. in addtion to this whole lovely adventure, aunt susan cooked up some stuffed jalapenos and fresh sauteed mushrooms. i was in heaven. she had her own special jalapeno de-corer thing-a-ma-bob and they were held in this canister that was made for the grill (check it out here:jalapeno rack) god, i love williams sonoma. i cant wait to actually live in my own place and have an excuse to buy these types of novelities... a girl can dream. anyway, to all my cooking friends out there, words to the wise: ALWAYS hand pack your burgers and grill the buns.

envelopes & sprinkles

after i received the "small envelope" there was an out-pour of amazingly supportive, inspiring and funny words said, emailed and texted to me from friends and family. its funny how a crummy situation can be turned into a graceful and blessed one. i suppose i shouldnt be surprised that the people in my life are so supportive, loving, honest and funny but it gets me every time. i think when you dont expect that much from people, they are always bound to surprise you. thats the beauty of life, love people as they are and they will always surprise you with their love, generosity and kindness.

      my oldest sister, jennie, emailed me some advice. she said to eat cake pops. clearly she has all ready forgotten that im on a diet. i wont let the small envelope completely ruin my hard work this week, however, i will blog about them. i want to make a disclaimer: i knew about cake pops long before they were popular. trust me, i wouldnt claim this if it wasnt true. i have never been one to be on the cutting edge of anything, but i was there when cake pops happened. in fact, i have never even made a cake pop... i make cake balls... im that cool. the recipe i used had been on "all recipes" for ever. i dont even remember the first batch i made, i was that far ahead of the game. cake balls are great for soooooo many reasons. i dont even like sweets but i love me a cake ball, actually, i usually only eat half. dont think im all strong and stuff and i can stifle my desires, because i cant. put a bag of chips in front of me and they are gone instantly... shout out to sean h for indirectly making me put the bag of doritos cool ranch down. i owe him one. 

       anyway, cake balls are fun. they are fun to make, fun to eat and fun to decorate. plus they are divine. i mean its simple really: cake, frosting and chocolate, all mixed into a ball. i dont see how you can go wrong, and you cant. they are easy to make. however, dont be over zealous when melting the chocolate to dip them in. i learned this the hard way. always procrastinating, i was in a hurry and melted the entire bag of chocolate on the stove. if you bake... you know what happened next... a pot of HARD chocolate. really not ideal friends, not ideal at all. well once i learned this little golden rule of baking, they have been perfect ever since. perfect is subject to the observer though... in so many more ways then one. but in regards to cake balls, mine never look like peices of art you would see at the getty or the sf moma. mine are kinda train wrecks. i think its more fun to just plop them in the bowl of choclate and not worry about the small details. plus, sprinkles make everything look better. i feel like i should live by this moto. not the perfect part, but enough about when life throws you lemons, make lemondae. lemons are sour, lemonade is sour. why not say when life throws you lemons, take the lemon zest and make scrumptious lemon cake pops with a cream cheese frosting. i mean if life is harsh and delivers you a small envelope, you wont want to make anything, youll want to eat, cry, drink some wine... or vodka and soda if your on a diet... get into your sweats, listen to some depressing music and read a depressing music. oh wait, thats just me.

        i need to mention though, starbucks sells cake pops. they are not nearly as good as mine but i think they are a tad bit easier on the eye. if your into over produced art and have a thomas kincaid on your wall, these ones are right up your alley. if not, maybe youll be lucky enough to try one of mine. dont hold your breath though.


where to find me: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/cake-balls/Detail.aspx

soul mate

i dont want to be that girl that constantly talks about her diet on her blog... but... i am dieting and since i have to make decisions on food based on calories, i feel like its turning into that. hopefully next week i will have this diet thing figured out and i can stop mentioning it in every post... until then, i feel the urge to discuss garden burgers. as previously mentioned, i used to be a vegetarian and i have never really lost the nack for eating veggie. i mean if i didnt live in orange county, i would put some serious thought into digging up my veggie roots but alas, the oc has very little room for quality veggies and i am not the type to cook every meal at home. i really dont know how people do it. so garden burgers are one of my favs when they are done right. while i was visiting the filling station cafe in orange, me and my friend heidi ho shared a veggie burger and a zucchini quesadilla. i will discuss the quesadilla some other time. the burger was delicious. the thing i love about veggie burgers is there is so many flavors and spices in them that you really dont need to add cheese or any condiments. sometimes its great with some balsamic dressing but honestly, go plain and savor the ingredients. i had another DELICIOUS veggie burger at daphnes, it was on pita bread bun, with feta cheese and was just mouth watering and fluffy. anyway, the reason i love heidi is because although she is on a diet too, she is never afraid to splurge. for example, she cooked me this tasty although WAY too healthy dinner last night. tofu and veggies, NO RICE, and water. it was delicious and me and marissa (abs of steal inside and out) ended dinner with some sort of tofu ice cream mini sandwich. i love these girls because they are not afraid to eat, splurge and go crazy but they eat crazy healthy during the week. i think at one point heidi said when she gets hungry she eats an almond. man, when i get hungry i eat fritos and onion dip. i admire my little heidi ho's dedication and passion to being healthy and trimming the lbs. i also admire her for never saying no to waffle sandwiches... post on that soon to come... or beer. heidi ho always knows how to have a good time and she is like my little blonde norwegian soul mate.
back to the filling station, it has a wonderful little patio where there are flowers and good people watching. its right by the orange circle so if you have the urge you can do a digestion walk and go antiquing and dig for treasures... two things that i personally am not a fan of and give me anxiety thinking about but im trying not to be selfish here.


where to find me: http://www.fillingstationcafe.com/index.html

pavlov's dog

some of the simplest decisions in life, are the hardest ones to make. where to eat dinner? what to eat for dinner? red or white wine? soda or water? diet or splurge on cake? go for a run or lay in bed reading the most depressing book ever? i suppose life is all about making decisions. we constantly have to decide things.  you decide to go to work when you could stay in bed, but then you might loose your job, so you decide to get out of bed. emphasis on the word decide. for example, i decide every monday i am going to go on a diet but this week i have to make decisions based on the diet and not what i want to eat. yesterday i ordered a salad with no dressing while tm decided to eat taquitos and yummy cheesy queso. then when i got home i decided to have a glass of wine but i had to look up the calories: 120 on average. then when i was about to leave the house i saw my mom making one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE snacks: fritos and onion dip. let this not be mistaken with the can you buy in a jar and it looks like a jello mold. im talking about sour cream and onion soup mix: another beautiful union. its the simplest little snack but it gets me every time. i feel a theme here, salty chips get me every time.... anyway, i resisted the temptation but then i was just dreaming about them and almost salivating at the thought of them. i was like one of Pavlov's dogs every time the bell rang i salivated. it was awful and i couldn't kick the urge so when i got home, like a good little food addict, i went into the fridge and had some onion dip and fritos. lets focus on the positive though, although i shouldn't be eating onion dip and fritos on a diet, i DID ration it out on a plate and refused my self seconds. it was the simplest decision: to eat fritos or to starve my mind and tummy of a strong desire to indulge. i choose somewhere in the middle and i have no regrets.

where to find me: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-French-Onion-Chip-Dip

adventures in sushi

i always thought eating sushi with cousin ricky would be fun. he seems into food, adventurous and has an appetite. i was oh so excited when i was home one day and could actually join him and my mom in their sushi adventure. we went to niko niko sushi. i was thrilled. edamame, salads and specialty rolls oh my! however, ricky disappointed. he is on some crazy lame diet where he cant have any carbs or processed meats or nitrogen. i might have gotten that wrong, diets are so annoying and complex. dont worry, mine is great. this is day 2 and i have all ready worked out! GO ME! back to the story, ricky didnt splurge with me in this adventure and instead he got a very boring albeit tasty sashimi salad. i have to say that it wasnt as bad as my moms lack of anything raw so she always opts for the teriyaki chicken bowl. thankfully we have ME to liven things up. i ordered the best thing i have ever ordered. i often go out on a limb and regret my decision almost immediately. josh always makes the best food decisions but they seem so boring and safe. im adventurous... when it comes to food... since i have only been to mexico and canada i think its safe to say josh wins in all other categories in regards to adventure. not sushi though. i got a spicy tuna roll topped with fresh albacore and garlic oil sauce and fried onion strips. granted the fried onion strips were not so healthy but they were oh-so-delicious. just an fyi- i wasnt on a diet when i ate this. this was last week on wed... and we all know how long my diets last. but i feel like it was pretty healthy. this roll was scrumptious. i love sushi but i dont love quail eggs. my friend marissa eats the most insane food when she goes to sushi. i swear she has a stomach of steal and i plan on featuring her in the blog very soon. plus, its super annoying because she weighs all of 100lbs. lame.

where to find me: Niko Niko Sushi : RSM, CA

pancake galore

its monday. this means its really "diet" day. yup, its that time of the week where i decide enough is enough and i start a diet. this time i swear im sticking to it. the thing about dieting is its all fun and games until you wake up craving pancakes. speaking of pancakes, this was my favorite easter food this year. it started with banana pancakes at my sister krissys house. they were delicious. i was quickly transported back in time to emilys kitchen... one very early morning after one very long night... i remember being introduced to these famous banana pancakes. i think hers had a secret ingredient which i believe was some sort of alcohol (naturally), whatever it was, it was DIVINE. especially when served with fresh mimosas. yummy. i thought my pancake fix was complete but then i showed up at my dads. he served me this mound of pancakes with whipped cream, fresh strawberries and "cheesecake". i think he called pancake surprise or something. regardless, like i have said before, my dad never fails in the kitchen and he hit it out of the park on this one. plus, since its diet monday, i wanted to share this mildly healthy recipe. it was one pancake on bottom, then a heap of sugar free cheesecake pudding, topped with a pancake, another heap of pudding and finished off with strawberrys and low fat whipped cream. granted my version of "healthy" is different from the average persons but trust me on this one, its freaking BRILLIANT. i thought i only wanted a bite because i am more of a savory person and less of a sweet person. im telling you, you need to make this for the next weekend breakfast you have... kids will LOVE it! i was pleasantly surprised when the sweetness level was totally average and subsequently perfect for me. i have put a lot of thought into this and i think its because you do not need syrup. i love syrup on banana pancakes... but only when the syrup is warm. which btw, if you are eating your pancakes with syrup at room temperature, you are seriously missing out on so much in life. speaking of life, why of why are there bathing suits in target and all over every.single.freaking. catalog i get in the mail?! i mean i thought living in orange county was a good enough reminder but now i have to be reminded to go on a diet like 100x a day. clearly this has not affected me since i have been "going on a diet" for at least a month now but thats not the point. the point is when i am dreaming on pancakes galore and i get an image of me eating them in a bikini, i loose my appetite. i wish i could just get tan in sweats. now that would be awesome.

where to find me: daddios kitchen

baconmania

someone once told me that cooking with bacon was cheating. i gave it some thought and almost consider she might be right. then i had a bacon bite. a little bacon nugget filled with macaroni and cheese. it was delicious and it was then that i realized: she knows nothing. i visited the oc fair food truck today and brought some company to ensure i could try as many wonderful delectables as humanly possible. my mom and friend tm were great company and thank god they were there since i basically sat around and took pictures while they hunted down the best of the best. the bacon mac and cheese nugget took the cake for sure. speaking of cake i also had a sweet potatoe bacon cupcake. it was good but would have tasted better with coffee, as most desserts do. back to the bacon bite. i had a bite of this bite sized treat and then tm had a bite. we booth "ooed" and "aahhhed" and i knew instantly that this was a success. tm is a great friend for many reasons: he corrected every paper i have ever wrote, he complains endlessly about my grammar and lack of capitalization, he bought me a grammar book for dummies for my birthday, he likes coffee, he is funny and we run together (read: drink coffee, walk and talk). he is a funny guy but ever since he started his blog, http://pleaseoptionmyblog.blogspot.com/, he has become selfish. he never shares his jokes anymore. he just stores them in his little lawyer brain and waits to post them for all the world to see. this is annoying. whats more annoying is that i threw away the last bite of my bacon wrapped pb&j bacon bite. now that's depressing.

where to find me: http://ns.ocfair.com/ocf/calendar/ViewEvent.asp?EventId=1736