Tuesday, June 28, 2011

More June things...

1. I made Pasta alla Vodka from The Pioneer Woman. It was just as good as she said it would be. Creamy, rich, and you can't even taste the vodka but you can *feel* it. After one serving I felt like I'd had a drink, but in pasta form. Might just make another batch tonight :)

2. I also made some blackberry muffins using the wild berries that have been growing in my yard. Simple and delicious. :)


3. My best friend JoDee and I went and got cupcakes from KK's Gourmet Bundt Cakes at their Santa Maria, CA location.

I got the strawberry cheesecake and red velvet. 
They were so pretty I almost didn't want to eat them...
but I knew they would taste just as good as they looked.

Just look at that red! The chocolate chips on top were a nice touch, too.

Before July, I'm going to try to make some rosemary shortbread cookies. Not sure how they will turn out, but apparently they're a classic from the Victorian era, so I'm intrigued. :)

Monday, June 13, 2011

Favorites of This June

I'm going to adopt a feature I see on some of the other blogs I read and share about some of my favorite food-related memories of this month. A lot has happened and the month is only about half over, but here it is.

1. Making Mel from My Kitchen Cafe's Tuscan Macaroni and Cheese with my boyfriend in his on-campus apartment the night before his college graduation. We had to borrow some of his roommate's utensils, which was a humorous challenge as his roommate was also in the process of packing to move out, but we got it done :)

 The graduation was lovely, too.

2. We also made Michelle from Une-deux senses' Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal the previous weekend. Who knew oatmeal could have so many fantastic possibilites? Michelle did-- she features several kinds of delicious fruity/sweet baked oatmeal, of which this is only one, but quite a good one.

3. Getting three different varieties of cookies from my penpals from afar....

Gingerbread and custard creams from Christian in England...



And home made caramel apple cookies from Ashley in Virginia :)


4. Dinner in Santa Cruz after my sister's graduation at this fun little vegetarian space-themed cafe:




My Huevos y Papas burrito was excellent :)


That's all for now... more to come :)

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Sweets!

An anime convention isn't complete without some Asian candy/sweets... and that's one thing I enjoy the most. I certainly enjoyed my share of them this time, along with some other sweet snacks.

Blueberry pocky. I've seen strawberry pocky before... chocolate.. vanilla... but not blueberry. I can't actually try this kind of pocky because I'm mailing it to my friend, but I am sure it's amazing.

Lychee pocky-- another intriguing flavor. Which I am giving to a different friend. I've really got to start getting my friends non-edible souvenirs so I'm not tempted to eat them myself.

Cappuccino pocky-- this one I did try. I think I actually bought about four boxes of this kind because it is amazing. It's a cocoa cookie covered in cappuccino cream.... alliterative and delicious!

Japanese Kit Kats! They have milk chocolate and white chocolate.

The white chocolate was pretty good. There were also cheese flavored Kit Kats but I did not get that kind because I thought it would probably be sort of weird.

I went walking for a little while and found this adorable little gourmet cupcake shop...

...and got a creamsicle cupcake, strawberry, fleur de sel (the caramelly one), chocolate with red velvet frosting, and classic red velvet. Each was very good. 

So, that was a lot of fun... can't wait to go back and try even more!

A Fantastic Memorial Day Weekend

Over the holiday weekend, I went to San Jose for the yearly convention I have been attending. One thing the bay area is known for is amazing food... and, as I learned, they sure know how to make some incredible pizza.

The first night, my friends and I went to this place downtown called Pizz'a Chicago. They serve Chicago style pizza, deep dish and loaded with toppings.

We started off with some caprese salads to share... and it was very good. Sometimes when I get a caprese salad the mozzarella is a bit rubbery for my taste, but the mozzarella on this cheese was perfect... creamy and just chewy enough.  The tomato was lovely and crisp, and the basil gave it a terrific fresh taste.

As for pizza, my boyfriend and I split what they call The Black Hawk... it has sausage, sweet red peppers, lemon zest, two kinds of cheese, and oregano leaves. Fancy and tasty... what more could you ask for?

This is the inside of the restaurant. I like how they decorated the sides of the booths with those jars of noodles. 

This is some of my other friends' custom-made pizza. Just look at the size of that pizza... pretty amazing. 
This is the best pizza I've ever had in my life. Amazing fluffy, thick crust, toppings bursting with body and flavor, and so very filling. Next time I go to San Jose I am totally going there again.

Coming up in the next post: sweets!