Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Homemade dough; Cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, raisins, and walnuts

A couple of months ago I bought a bread maker. I know, I know, a lot of you cooks out there are probably thinking, "HOW DARE YOU DARE TO BUY A MACHIIIIINE!!" But really, for those of us that don't have a lot of time to knead, let rest, knead, let rest, rise, etc etc, the bread machine is a dream come true for bread/carb lovers.

Lately I have been experimenting with a few different bread and dough with the bread machine. I actually wanted to make this simply because I had all of the ingredients in my cabinets at home. I did not make the vanilla frosting to go on top of it because it looked nice and sweet without it already.

I used walnuts, raisins, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon inside of the buns. I ended up not using all of the ingredients in the buns, but I know next time not to use butter sparingly and to add everything to the buns. The reason these are so great is that fresh bread, cinnamon, and butter flavor. These are simply amazing right out of the oven!

Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

Mushrooms brushed with olive oil and stuffed with Spinach, Fetta Cheese, Garlic, Green Onion, and a bit of salt.

Often times I like to make the food that I hear people talk about, or that I see people eating on TV, or something delicious that I've tried in a restaurant. I was recently watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, one of my favorite shows and often a source for food inspiration, and stuffed mushrooms were mentioned.

I've always enjoyed the taste of mushrooms, cooked (like on pizza) or raw (like in my salads). In my childhood days where I allowed myself to scarf down three or four slices of deliciously and wonderfully oily pizza, I always made sure to pick the slices with the most mushrooms. Even then I never felt like I had enough!

This is my first try at stuffed mushrooms. I decided to go with this particular type of vegetarian stuffed mushrooms because the recipe called for Fetta Cheese. Brian is the biggest fan of cheese that I know (he can eat a box of cheese cubes by itself and in one sitting), and Fetta is one of his favorites. While I usually steer clear of super stinky cheese recipes,(although it is really and truly growing on me) I decided to try a cheesy stuffed mushroom recipe.

This is honestly one of the most delicious appetizers I've ever tried. The spinach, garlic, green onion, and Fetta Cheese mix + olive oil + sprinkling of Parmesan on top just filled my entire house with a wonderful aroma. I feel like I am almost 100% converted to a cheese like-r because of this appetizer!

Stuffed mushrooms are surprisingly easy to prep and make. Don't let the 'vegetarian' part fool you; they are jam packed with flavor, and you will not miss the meat at all. I will be making these time and time again to accompany different meals, or alone as a snack. My relatives will be eating these at the next holiday family dinner, I'm sure of it!

I served these stuffed mushrooms with spaghetti with roasted garlic sauce and spicy Italian Sausage.

Pink Heart Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcake, Cookie, Icing, and Frosting from scratch; Red Food Coloring from Albertson's

There is just something about cupcakes that is so cute. I always want to use cute, light, and dainty colors when I make cupcakes. I thought that I would not be able to produce this cute light pink color with the albertson's brand red food coloring that I bought, but I think it actually turned out quite nicely. Slowly slowly I will try and collect some different colors from here. Look at all those beautiful colors! Luckily they are only $1.99 and my dream of owning most or all of these colors can easily become reality (unlike my dream of figure skating at the Olympics, but that's another story for another blog :) ) I'm currently eyeing the Buttercup Yellow and the Delphinium Blue.

I made these cupcakes for my friends and family this past Valentines Day I forgot to take "in the process" pictures, so I only have the end product pictures. The little heart shaped cookie cutter is probably my favorite, and the cutest and most versatile equipment. I've used it for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, dog yummies and cookies, valentines day...the list goes on. I unintentionally made the frosting lighter/fluffier, but I think it works well with the look of the cupcake, don't you think?

I'm sure these cupcakes would be cute for a bridal or baby shower too, if you plan on making these :) You can write words or even the initials of the couple within the heart!

Turkey and Turkey Bacon Sandwich with Cheese Balls

Whole Wheat bread and Italian Mix Salad from Fresh and Easy, Spread by Tapatio, Turkey Bacon by Oscar Meyer, Turkey by Carl Buddig, Cheese balls from Rite Aid

On the show Friends, what is Joey Tribbiani's favorite food?


SANDWICHES!!


One of my all time favorite food is the simple yet DELICIOUS sandwich. In high school, I used to eat a sandwich every single day. Even my weekly shopping list in college consisted of various sandwich making materials.

I love sandwiches for several reasons: they are easy to make, there is room for creativity, almost any side (fries, soup, salad, chips, fruit, etc.) goes well with it, and it always tastes great.

Often I like using turkey bacon because really it tastes almost exactly like the real deal, and you wont have to worry as much about eating the white fatty parts (I was always reluctant to scarf bacon down because of that reason) or clogging your arteries! It is also easy to control how crispy you like it, and there is also less oil splattering.

Brian and I were watching an episode of the office where Michael, Pam, and Ryan were eating cheese balls and I suddenly needed to get my hands on some cheese balls. While the original blue can with a yellow lid Cheez Balls by Planter's no longer exists, Brian was able to find a replacement at a local Rite Aid. While its definitely not as good as the original, it goes quite well with a sandwich and it satisfies a cheese ball craving quite nicely.

Sunday at the Farmers Market

These are my go-to flowers. I always kept fresh flowers at my apartment, and they are still a must even at home! These really pretty and cheap at about $2.00 a bundle and lasts for forever in flower-years (about 2 weeks).

Absolutely in love with these flowers! How adorable are those yellow puff balls?
Really, what could be better than bright and fresh flowers in the Spring?


The fresh honey sticks Brian bought for us. These bring back so many memories! This was my favorite treat as a child when I used to go to this exact farmers market in Alhambra with my mom after my piano lessons. There is a man here that sells fresh honey; you can buy these tasty sticks for 8 for $1.00!





I've spent the past few Sundays at the local Farmer's Market with Brian. I used to love sleeping in on Sunday's but there is just something so exciting and fresh about the Farmer's Market in the spring that I don't miss the sleep at all. I really love shopping for fresh, and often times organic veggies and fruits (and its always nice on my conscience to buy locally from our farmers). It's nice to meet the growers of these products for a change; they're really proud of what they produce and as strange as it may sound, I can taste it in their products. It's also a nice change from the boring, same old Ralphs or Albertsons. Plus, these farmers often have new and exciting things to offer the taste buds!

I found my new favorite stand during this latest visit. As many of my friends know, apple is one of my favorite fruit. That's why I was so excited to find an apple stand complete from apple vinegar, to apple jam and jelly, to fresh fresh fresh apple juice! I had never had apple jam, jelly, or butter and I was ecstatic to try some. Brian and I picked one of the most interesting concoctions on the stand for our first taste Ha's Apple Farm jam. We picked a spread that combined two of our favorite things to eat: Fuji Apple and Jalapenos.

Seems daring doesn't it? But my taste buds are really quite the little daredevils and I LOVE trying new food. We rushed home to toast a slice of bread and....I can assure you that my mouth was singing praises that day. The jam is just sweet enough, and has the consistency of honey. This spread has a delicate taste of fresh apples (drool. I LOVE APPLES) but there is a definite kick to it. Spiced apples? I'll eat this any day, any time.

Next trip: apple butter or pear jam

Happy Friday :)

Smiley face strawberry and banana pancakes courtesy of Brian, pancake mix by Aunt Jemima

I went to my grad school admitted students dinner tonight. I wanted to take some nice pictures of the food we ate, but it was more of a classier formal/business event and I couldn't bring myself to hover over my food for too long with a camera. I did manage to sneak a few pictures. Not sure how they look yet, but if they are decent I'll be sure to share. Hope everyone had a great day!

Robins Egg Blue Baby Cakes

buttercream vanilla cupcakes...before they wore their fondant "hats"

sticky marshmallows on their way to becoming fondant




Cupcake mix from Pillsbury; Frosting, Fondant, and buttercream from scratch

I think cupcakes are my favorite sweets to make. Cupcakes are tinier than a regular sized cake so they're already automatically cute. Even the "naked" cupcakes look delicious and cute to eat! Decorating these baby cakes is always so much fun and I can make mistakes because it wont ruin everything. And the best part is that Brian or I can eat all the blotched ones later (I think I'm the reason he's a fatty).

I made these cupcakes for Christmas using Pillsbury vanilla and devil's food cake mix. I try to make most things from scratch (I just love that from scratch-y homemade taste :))but it really saves time when I'm planning on making a small factory load of cupcakes to give as gifts. And Pillsbury always achieves that homemade taste when I'm too lazy or have no time to make everything from scratch.

I used buttercream to "glue" the fondant to the vanilla cupcakes and and dotted them with little white pearl icing. I cut the fondant out with round cookie cutters and then used a rolling pin to thin it out to the right size. Then I used vanilla frosting and teal food coloring to decorate the chocolate cupcakes.

Pumpkin Whoopies

Oh how I miss thee...



Outer Pumpkin cookie/cake from scratch, Libby's Canned Pumpkin, Albertsons Cream Cheese

One of my favorite sweets to make and to eat! These little cookie sandwiches are adorable and easy to make. I made these for Christmas and Thanksgiving and I think I ate about 20 of these before my family could get their hands on them. The best part is the cream cheese filling. I love any type of sweets with cream cheese frosting or filling.

It is so easy to use pumpkin and I can not praise it enough. So many good things about these:
1. Easy to use in recipes
2. Tastes amazing
3. Healthy
4. Really good for dog's digestive system! Natures cure for pup diarrhea or constipation (I never thought I would use diarrhea or constipation in my food blog)
okay that last point is only a plus for dog owners but really, it naturally works wonders on a dogs tummy!

My favorite brand to use is Libby's canned pumpkin. The bad news is that the last time I tried to buy canned pumpkin, I drove to 5 different grocery stores only to leave empty handed. Then I went home and looked online to find that recently there was some type of pumpkin epidemic: There was flooding and the farmers were not able to produce enough pumpkins!

I haven't been able to get my hands on any canned pumpkin and I haven't had any pumpkin goodies in my mouth since December...when will this nightmare end!!??

Christmas Goodies in April

russian tea cakes and gingerbread cookies and frosting from scratch, cupcake filling from Pillsbury, white box from Container Store, ribbon from Michaels

I realize that I am way behind on posts when I am only now writing about Christmas goodies and it is already mid April. This year I tried to keep things simple by including only my favorite treats: my favorite Russian tea cakes, gingerbread cookies, and devils food cake cupcakes.

For the past two years I've invested in little white boxes. Since I down-sized the portions this year, I realized that maybe next year I purchase smaller boxes. I wasn't able to get a decent picture of the goodies in the box, but I assure you the cookies and cupcakes were happy nestled in my favorite red polka dot food-safe tissue paper. As usual, I had a great time shopping at Michaels for ribbon to add the finishing touch!

I will include pictures of the devils food cake cupcakes in a different post; they aren't super Christmas-exclusive looking and can be made for various occasions like birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, etc. so I decided to give them their own little post :)

Hot Fresh Classic Apple Pie

I actually made this apple pie during a more appropriate season. I really wanted to make a homemade apple pie from scratch..well..because one day I want to be one of those little old grannys that make really great pies!

This fall apple pie was my first attempt at pie, and it was definitely delicious. However, I ran into some trouble with trying to peel all those apples, take out the seeds, and cut them. I think that I might invest in a tool to help in cutting the apple if I want to make this more often.

The pie was delicious, especially hot and right out of the oven! Those little cubes are actually baby cubes of butter. It comes out of the oven buttery and the crust flakey.

I used a recipe I found on youtube. Youtube comes in handy because it also shows you the exact steps, which makes more complicated recipes easy as PIE!