Peace, Love, & Chocolate

Vosges

Collezione Italiana

Rooster
"Arresting in its visual shape & draped in bittersweet chocolate, the interior houses a combination of Italian Taleggio cheese, organic walnuts, Tahitian vanilla beans & bittersweet, dark chocolate."

Balsamico
"12-year aged balsamic vinegar from Modena blushes with dark chocolate & roasted Sicilian hazelnuts."

Olio D'Oliva
"Extra virgin olive oil drips into white chocolate topped with dried Kalamata olives."

Polline Di Finnocchio
"Wild Tuscan fennel pollen grows prevalently among the hills near Siena & Firenze. This delicate, chartreuse green pollen is so light that the slightest gale will set it in flight, making it difficult to college & thus extremely pricey. However, this catch is worth every effort, for its delicate flavor explodes into great lengths as it combines with dark chocolate. The finish leaves a green, floral anise that lingers on & on."

Sale Del Mare
"Sicilian sea salt is added to our burnt sugar caramel & then set juxtaposing a sweet milk chocolate ganache. Finished with a mark of a pine nut, this truffle is a beautiful balance of salt to sweet."

treats-no-tricks

This is how I celebrate Halloween weekend... no costumes or crazy parties, but definitely filled with lots of goodies.

 {Bouchon Bakery Macarons}

 {homemade sushi}

 {Better Than Crack Brownies - recipe by How Sweet It Is}

 {Goat Cheese & Summer Black Truffle Pizza - Cecceoni's West Hollywood}

Fall Favorites

While on the calendar it is officially fall, the weather here in socal has taken a u-turn back to summer.  With temperatures nearing the 90s this week, most people are basking in the last warm days of the year.  But I'm secretly wishing for crisp cool days where I can enjoy all my fall favorites: scarves, comfy knits and pumpkin flavored everything.

1.  Starbucks - Pumpkin Spiced Latte

2.  F21 - Knitted Colorblock Sweater
3.  Piperlime - Mia Tracey
4.  Deborah Lippmann - Single Ladies
5.  Zara - Two-Tone Leopard Print Scarf
6.  J.Crew - Heather Carbon Tights

Wine Gallery

 

{fresh burrata, proscuitto di san danielle, roasted red peppers, baby arugula, 

toast points, finished with a touch of balsamic reduction}

I really need to make it a point to come to the Wine Gallery more often. The wine selection is great for such a small place, and their list of California wines, something I'm at least a little familiar with, is even better. The service is always good (as with most places in Corona del Mar), and surprisingly, the food is AWESOME.

This was my first time trying the Cade Napa Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, which is a Bordeaux style Cabernet Sauvignon and it was delish.  It really is my kind of wine - fruity, full bodied, smooth, long, finish.  YUM!  I had never heard of Cade Winery, but apparently it is Napa Valley's first organically farmed, LEED Gold Certified Winery.  Seems like it might be an interesting winery worth visiting next time I'm in Napa, which I hope is sometime very soon (I swear Napa is like Disneyland-- no matter how many times you go, there are always a million more places you still have yet to experience)!  

{crostini toast points topped with roasted shiitake mushrooms & 

goat cheese over a brush of truffle oil}

 {beef sliders topped with vermont cheddar & white truffle ketchup}

Omiyage

{Bouchon Bakery - Beverly Hills}

I have been obsessed with Bouchon macarons and chocolate bouchon brownies ever since I first tried them at their Napa Valley location a couple years ago.  So, I was super excited when I heard they were finally opening a bakery at the Beverly Hills Bouchon Bistro location. In Hawaii, we bring "omiyage" (gift/souvenir) to family and friends when visiting or returning home from a trip.  Since I was flying out of LAX and sort of in the area, I just had to stop by Bouchon Bakery to pick up omiyage and of course, extra macarons for the plane!

{caramel macaron}

Summer 2011 Bucket List revisited: #4, #6, #12

6. Eat my favorite summer treats: gelato, watermelon salad, blueberry pie

{gelato - I had pistachio, as always}

{watermelon & chevre in olive oil w/ salt & pepper}

{The majority vote for best blueberry pie in NY is from Briermere Farms, about 80 miles outside the city. Finding exceptional blueberry pie in NYC has been difficult, so I continue returning to the place that first sparked my blueberry pie search; Pearl Oyster Bar (Cornelia St & W 4th St) for their blueberry crumble a-la-mode.}

4. Try a new Jean Georges restaurant

I'm on a mission to try all of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's restaurants in NYC. On my last trip to Hawaii, it was a pleasant surprise to find a Jean-Georges restaurant on Kauai called Kauai Grill, & it happened to be the restaurant to watch the sunset over Hanalei Bay.

We had the hamachi appetizer, grilled onaga, nut & seed crusted moi (pictured below), & coconut panna cotta with fruit salad & lime sherbet for dessert.

12. Watch the sunset on my birthday at the St. Regis Princeville Resort on Kauai

{the sunset from Kauai Grill at the St. Regis}

It's been quite a good summer.

findyourcraving

Summer 2011 Bucket List revisited: #7

7. Serious Eats' Doughnut Tour

I wouldn't take the Serious Eats guide to the best doughnuts in NYC, well, seriously.

We began at Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center, winner of the best custard + jam doughnut. They warned that it was served only on weekends, but it should have specified that it was only on Saturdays. We were there, of course, on a Sunday.

{the doughnut we were meant to try}

Next up was the best mochi doughnut at Koryodang (32nd St btw 5th & Broadway). This doughnut was not good. It's called a Sweet Rice Twist but it tastes like doughy nothingness, with no textural evidence of mochi.


The mochi doughnut that should have been on the list is from Cafe Zaiya (41st btw Madison & 5th). This one is sweet & delicious, with the consistency you would expect of a well balanced mochi-doughnut. You'll probably end up leaving with more than one.


Next, we headed to The Donut Pub (14th St & 7th Ave), winner of the best doughnut holes. The site recommended the red velvet cake, which we tried, but I would rather have a Dunkin Donuts munchkin any day.


There are 15 other places on the guide, but by this point, none of us felt like traveling further to sample another sub-par pastry. The verdict: save yourself some time & head straight to Doughnut Plant, which remains, by far, the best doughnuts in NYC.

mumblepurr

The Homestretch

With just 7 weeks left until I'm due, I can't help but start to dream about the food and drink I can start consuming again soon. Just looking at these pictures is torture! I plan to have each and every one of these things as soon as I can after delivery!

Red Wine

DuMOL "Ryan" is one of my favorite Pinot Noirs. Our bottles have been waiting patiently for us in the wine fridge for the past 8 months.

Sushi

Foie Gras

This variety is from Gilt Taste and I have it on my list of gluttony for after I give birth!

Soft & Imported Cheeses

Again, a Gilt Taste variety pack on my list of gluttony!

Cured Meats

Yes, Gilt Taste again!

Over-easy Eggs...

or anything raw!

Subway Spicy Italian Sandwiches

...or any deli meat sandwich!

first things first

 

{Zippy's Chili and rice, fried saimin, and fruit punch} 

 Just landed in Hawaii and obviously our first stop on the way home was Zippy's!  Why can't I get fruit punch this good in California?!  And chili and fried noodles, too, while I'm at it...

I'm looking forward to spending this weekend enjoying my favorite foods (lau lau, lomi salmon, meat jun, mac salad, and Shige's saimin are already on the menu!) in the company of family and friends, while soaking up the 80% humidity I miss sooooo much!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

Vosges Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes

{Vosges Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake mix}

I am quite a fan of Vosges chocolate, especially their Milk Chocolate Bacon Bar, so it makes sense that I would also try their pancake mix.

I should disclaim this post by noting that I absolutely HATE making pancakes. I will slave in the kitchen preparing 3 hour dinners, bake pretty much everything from scratch, and make a homecooked Thanksgiving turkey dinner...but have some sort of weird mental block when it comes to pancakes. So if I want to eat pancakes for breakfast, I buy Bisquick Shake N Pour and have Jason make them.

So I attempted to make these pancakes. There were a few steps I can't figure out the point of doing separately ( 1. mix buttermilk and egg white; 2. mix melted butter and egg yolk; 3. mix 1 & 2 together and then combine with dry mix). I feel like I could have just mixed all the wet ingredients and then combined it with the dry, but I followed the directions anyway.

Another weird thing is that you can either put the very large chunks of chocolate "chips" into the pancake before you flip it to cook the other side, or just cook the pancakes without the chocolate chips and put the chocolate chips between the cooked pancakes. For some reason, I thought I would mix the chocolate chips into the batter.

The verdict:

1) The pancakes good. They were not fluffy, more of a mix between crepes and pancakes

2) Rather than buy this mix, just buy Bisquick Shake N Pour and a Vosges Chocolate Bacon Bar. You will basically get the same result, the batter will be easier to make, and it will be a few dollars cheaper!