Recipes I Love

Whenever I find myself stumped on what I should make for dinner, Mel's Kitchen Cafe has the perfect, fun, creative, easy idea. I've made her Garlic Tuna Pasta with Asparagus, her Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken, her Skillet Chili Mac, her Tuscan Macaroni and Cheese Bake, her Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya, her Chicken and Rice with Coconut Milk and Pistachios, and most recently, her Hot Pizza Dip Bites. As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. I just love miniature versions of things, packed with all the same great flavor. I made mine with a bunch of different toppings: turkey sausage and olive, chicken apple sausage, and turkey pepperoni.

Definitely the cutest recipe I've seen in a while. My family enjoyed them very much, too. Looking forward to trying another of Mel's fantastic recipes soon.

More NOLA/ Thanksgiving

Well, besides the Po-Boy Festival and admiring the nature and architecture, I did some other things while I was in New Orleans. I went to Angelo Brocato's Italian Ice Cream Parlor in Midtown with my friend who lives in that area, and we got some Italian cookies and some gelato.

I didn't have my phone with me because it was charging at my friend's apartment, so I didn't get a picture of the beautiful display of pastries under the glass. I did, however, get a picture of the beautiful display of cakes and other goodies at Whole Foods, on Magazine Street, where we went next.

Whole Foods is amazing, it's like Trader Joe's but even better. They have all different kinds of wine, fancy cheeses, international/healthy foods and a large selection of fruits and vegetables. They even had wine and cheese tasting samples inside the store. I bought some Camembert which I enjoyed over a few days with some crackers and blackberry jelly, plus some tangerines.

A visit to New Orleans would not be complete without some adult beverages. I enjoyed a variety of things: whiskey and coke, a Pimm's cup from a jazz club on Frenchman Street, a bellini flavored margarita from the little mall by the river, and a cosmopolitan at Port of Call, a little pub a few doors down from the place where I was staying.

They have great ambiance, candles on the tables for lighting and a big fish tank to watch as drinks are enjoyed. They make it feel like being inside a ship at sea. 

Thanksgiving was great, too. My mom and sister and I shared the holiday in Palm Springs, CA with my great uncles, my second cousin and her family, my uncle, aunt and cousins, and some other relatives and friends. There were about 20 of us all together. My great uncle was the host, and he had to specially order tables and chairs so there would be enough room for everyone to sit. It was like being at a restaurant. He even has his own bar.

Someone was making drinks, and I requested a martini. I usually like my drinks sweet, but sometimes a nice martini is the perfect choice.

We also had all kinds of lovely appetizers... bacon wrapped figs (amazing idea I will have to make for my own party one of these days), cheese spreads and crackers, and caviar pie with crackers. 

And of course, the main event: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, home made creamed corn, and an assortment of other delicious side dishes. It was very nice.

Now I'm back in my normal routine at home, starting to get ready for Christmas. Maybe we'll start decorating the house this weekend, and soon I'll be baking a bunch of cookies and other sweets!

The Beauty of New Orleans

Every time I visit New Orleans, I am struck by the architectural and natural beauty that surrounds me. The buildings, the neighborhoods, the trees, the river, the bayous... they're truly unique. They reflect an older time that will never be forgotten.

Yes, even the grand Bourbon Street has a place in history... I took the liberty of censoring a bit, because this is a nice blog. ;)

I stayed in this hotel once, Hotel Le Cirque. At night, the outside lights up to all different colors.

When's the last time you saw this many buildings in one picture?

When you walk down St. Charles Avenue, you see so many beautiful trees.

Often, they're decorated with all kinds of Mardi Gras beads. This city celebrates Mardi Gras all year round.

Here's a St. Charles streetcar. These streetcars are hundreds of years old, and still in working operation to this day.

This is the more modern Canal Street streetcar. These streetcars are so fun to ride, it's like being on an old-fashioned train.

This is the Mississippi river. Every time I visit the city, I visit this river. This last time, I enjoyed a nice little lunch of jambalaya, Camembert cheese, crackers and blackberry jelly by this river.

This is Bayou St. John. One of my friends lives near here, she's lucky she gets to see it all the time.

One more post to come, where I'll talk a little more about New Orleans and the rest of my Thanksgiving vacation. :)

Celebrating Sandwiches

Well, I certainly had my share of sandwiches over the past week. The festival was fantastic, and I tried two kinds of po-boys there:

1. Oysters Rockafeller: fried oysters with lettuce and mayonnaise. Very tasty!

2. Hot sausage with collard greens and pickles. Different, but surprisingly pretty good.

There were a lot of people at the festival, and wherever there's a crowd in New Orleans, a "second line" (impromptu parade with a little band and people following it down the street) is bound to break out. That's so much fun.

While I was at the festival, I stopped by the "artist's village" and got some pretty ceramic art tiles for my family that featured famous landmarks of New Orleans, like the French Market and Cafe Du Monde. I also bought a cool vintage purse at a clothing exchange store, and a nice instrumental jazz CD at a book fair along the street. I tried some nice bread pudding, too, of a white chocolate variety.

I volunteered at the festival during the evening, handing out maps so everyone would know where to find the po-boys they wanted according to which side-street coincided with the main street at which the festival was being held. People were very appreciative. I got a free t-shirt, too. Whoever created the picture on the front has amazing talent.

Later on, at a restaurant in the Mid-town area called Lil' Dizzy's Cafe, I also had a fried shrimp po-boy. So, suffice to say, I've definitely given my love to po-boys this time around.

Next post: some pretty architecture and scenery! :)

Halloween Fun and Upcoming Vacation

I had a fun Halloween. My mom and I made pumpkin stew, which is cooking a stew inside a pumpkin, and it was very good. The pumpkin flesh tasted just like spaghetti squash, with a very nice flavor.

You can see that the second pumpkin was the one we used for the stew. My dad felt like being a little silly and carving a face into it afterwards, haha.

It doesn't get much better than this-- warm, hearty stew on a chilly Halloween evening. We got some of the cutest trick-or-treaters, too-- some preschoolers who barely even knew how to say, "Halloween," but gave it a good effort. We also ordered pizza and watched classic scary movies.

So, now that we're done with the Halloween excitement, it's time for me to work a couple more weeks.... then, I get a week off, during which I will be going to New Orleans again, then Palm Springs for Thanksgiving. It will be so much fun. There is even going to be a festival on November 20th when I am in New Orleans, featuring one of the foods of which I have wanted to try more.

They will have all kinds of Po Boys there, and arts and crafts, and live jazz playing all day. Some other new things I plan on trying/visiting while in New Orleans: oysters, a mint julep, their famous bread pudding, bananas foster, Antoine's, Mahony's, Croissant D'or Patisserie, the antique shops on Royal Street, and more. Hopefully I'll have enough energy to see and do as much as possible!

Cute Party Foods :)

Tonight, my parents and I had a Coffee and Jazz party at our house to promote this new healthy coffee my mom is selling, Organo Gold. I made some crescent roll sausage snacks, caprese bites, and cheesecake bites. We also had some soft tacos, and chips and salsa with guacamole. Everyone loved the food and had a great time.

I got this idea from a cook book of mine. So easy-- just slice up some mozzarrella into cubes, marinate it in a little olive oil with a couple teaspoons of fresh chives and parsley overnight, then thread them onto toothpicks with plum tomatoes and some basil.

These were also fun to make. I just made them muffin size and cut them up into fourths, and added some blueberry preserves and strawberry jam ontop.

Looking forward to the next party and finding some new fun things to make! :)

A Fall Vacation

Well, I just got back from Sunnyvale and it was a lovely little vacation before starting my new job. I got to visit Stanford University, bought some very nice tea, and cooked/baked some fun things, too.

Stanford is a beautiful campus, and I took lots of pictures. They've got excellent architecture, pretty fountains, and plenty of fascinating outdoor sculptures. They even have an art museum, and a big outdoor mall with every kind of store you could want.

This Engineering building was one of my favorites. I bought a postcard with a picture of it and gave it to my mom.

They've even got pretty flowers everywhere. This one was especially fascinating, it was almost like a work of art in itself.

This fountain is really nice. The students there must enjoy having so many fountains around. :)

I've never seen a fountain like this before. Just imagine how fun it would be to run across it, or just stand under it like you were taking a shower.... haha.

Some outdoor art.... you can tell this campus is just brimming with creativity and innovation.

They've got a church, too.... it was so big the whole thing didn't even fit in the picture. I couldn't back up further to try to fit the sides because the sun was throwing the lighting off, but as you can see it's a lovely church.

My main focus during shopping was a visit to Teavana, where JoDee got me some delicious lime flavored tea during her visit to Oregon. I got to sample about three different kinds, and ended up taking a berry tea and almond biscotti tea home in a nice tin. The almond biscotti, which I am enjoying right now, actually tastes like its name in tea form. Exquisite.
 
To celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we got some challah from House of Bagels in Mountain View. It was baked perfectly, and we enjoyed it with some apples and honey. And of course, no trip to Sunnyvale would be complete without some good food. My boyfriend and I made some apple crisp with his mom, some banana bread, and some delicious grilled stuffed flour tortillas (aka quesadillas, basically) from one of my favorite cooking blogs.

The apple crisp went great with ice cream. We used a recipe from his mom's cookbook.

And the banana bread.... two whole loaves of it. Another classic recipe. There's nothing like the scent of banana bread in the oven.

I'm quite refreshed after a week away, and look forward to keeping busy this week.... plus, making those delicious quesadillas again and sharing them with my family. :)