Saturday, May 29, 2010

Baked Ziti




I make this really delicious and easy baked ziti at least few times a month.  It's got chunks of sausages, spinach, tomato sauce and pesto sauce.  It's a great dish for both adults and kids.  My daughter is a picky eater but she loves this baked ziti.  This time, I added extra spinach to make it 'healthy'.  The beauty of this dish is that you start with tomato sauce and on top of that you add pesto sauce for another depth of flavor.  Another winning recipe from Epicurious.com.

For recipe, 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Ziti-with-Spinach-and-Tomatoes-2609

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Chewy chocolate chip cookies






Ahh, Alton Brown to rescue again.  His recipe makes gooey and chewy chocolate chip cookies that stays chewy even after 3 days.  Alton Brown simply calls it 'Chewy' and yes, these cookies are super chewy and soft the way I like it.  I honesty don't know what makes them soft and chewy but who cares, I love them.  

My favorite store bought chocolate chip cookies are from the Double tree hotels.  I still remember the very first bite I had when I was on a business trip in Denver somewhere years ago.  Then, believe it or not, Shop Rite supermarket branch I go makes their own gourmet chocolate chip cookies in the store and omg, they are super tasty.  Chewy, soft, sweet and nutty.  Yummm... 

Friday, May 21, 2010

The only cheese knife you'll ever need.


Finally found the perfect cheese knife.  I have been looking for a good cheese knife and while browsing Amazon, I found great reviews on this very genetic looking cheese knife.  The price was pretty good so I ordered one and put it to a test.  I cut up some fresh mozzarella cheese with it and wow, it actually cut the cheese without getting sticky and messy.  Amazing.  To be honest, i was really disappointed when I first received it because it was basically cheap looking plastic knife but I am in love.  I am not a big cheese eater but when I am in the mood for it, I know I what to grab first.

Found it on Amazon for about $12.


Sunday, May 16, 2010

Fleur-de-lis juice glasses




Have you ever seen Italian farmers on TV drinking wine from small glasses?  They just look very rustic and homey.  I used to drink my wine in one of those big tall wine glasses then I realized that I can drink wine in any glasses I want.  My mother in law had an old yogurt making machine that came with 6 small glasses...so I have been using those glasses to drink wine.  I don't have to hand wash them and they are a lot more stable on a table.  Gosh, I used to break a lot of those nice tall wine glasses.  Then I wanted more of these small glasses so searched internet and found these beautiful glasses.  They are actually juice glasses and hold about 5 1/2 ounces of liquid.  Luckly, they were on sale on a website called, Horchow; only $22 for 6 so I bought 12 of them in two colors, green and dark purple.  I actually rather have clear blue but these were basically the only options.  Actually light pink would be nice too.  I don't know anything that has fleur de lis pattern that isn't pretty.

Anyway, I love them and love them because they are machine washable.  Hopefully they can last more than a few years.  They will be great when eating outdoor too.  

Friday, May 14, 2010

Pasta and pesto sauce






Ever since my daughter was born, Target has sort of became my second home.  They have the best prices on diapers and other children's stuff.  $5 pants anyone?   While shopping there, I discovered a lot other stuff at really good prices like my favorite Lint dark chocolate bars with sea salt, water filters, toys, laundry hampers,....and one of the best item I discovered is pasta.  It's called Archer farm pasta which is Target's gourmet brand.  Anyway, out of all the dry pasta I have used including my other favorite, De Cecco, this is by far the best tasting pasta I have ever tried.  So I picked up a package of spagetti and made some home made pesto sauce with parmigiano reggiano, fresh basil, walnut, evoo and pine nuts.

The taste of fresh pesto sauce with good pasta is out of this World.  It really was delicious...and so easy to make.  

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My favorite bakery








I am VERY lucky to live close to this amazing bakery called Balthazar.  It's actually a wholesale bread factory where all their bread for their famous restaurant called Balthazar in NYC is made.

You can actually go there and watch bakers making artisan bread and other yummy goodies like croissants and danishes.  I often go there early in the morning before the crowd appears and buy loaves and loaves of bread and small pastries.   On Saturdays, they have more selections of pastries and tarts.  
Oh, they make these amazing sticky buns that will melt you away...So sticky, so sweet, so nutty and so yummy.  

From the top,

Rhubarb tart, their oh-so-french bread paper bag for baguette, potato onion bread, baguette and a large(like 20 inches long) sour dough bread.  I usually buy their olive bread but they were out of them.  Look at those air pockets.  Their baguettes are super crisp and hard hard side and soft and chewy inside just the way I like them.  

http://www.balthazarbakery.com/wholesale/index.php





Monday, May 10, 2010

Buttermilk Waffles




Yup, one of my favorite breakfast items: Belgian Buttermilk Waffle.  I am so jealous of those Belgians!  They've got the World's best chocolate, fries, mussels, beer and waffles to name a few.  I heard they are also known for making the World's best laces and linen but I guess that's a different story.

Anyway, I made this delicious waffles over the weekend.  The recipe I like actually recommends eating them with some sort of banana glaze but since I am not a big fan of banana, I usually skip that and eat them with just plain old maple syrup...and a few slices(or more) of butter.  yumm...

They are light, fluffy yet crisp outside.  I have this really old waffle maker I got from Amazon years ago but this little machine makes the best tasting waffles.  

For the recipe, 

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Belgian-Buttermilk-Waffles-with-Glazed-Bananas-232170



Friday, May 7, 2010




Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and ginger jelly.

I used my sister's recipe. They were the most moist and fluffy cupcakes I have ever had.

Yummm....

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Swedish fetish #1





I've always been very fond of Swedish goods.  If I think about it, it started when I was in HS. While other teenagers were eyeing on hot red sports car, I remember being attracted to an old man's boxy blue Volvo station wagon.  

When my husband and I bought a house about 3 years ago, I immediately knew I wanted to decorate the house with Swedish style furnitures.....until I realized how expensive that can be but I wasn't going to give it up.  

I found these beautiful dining chairs and a bench through internet research.  They were shipped from England but much more affordable than ones you can buy in the America.  I still did end up spending alot more than I wanted to but I ended up with beautiful furniture that will last lifetime and then more.

http://www.theswedishchair.com/

Roasted Chicken





There is nothing so delicious and easy as roasted chicken in my opinion.  I try to use organic chicken if I am making a simple roasted chicken.  Organic chickens are so much affordable these days and available in most supermarkets.

I've tried several different recipes for roasted chicken but there is nothing as simple and good as Thomas Keller's simple roasted chicken.  I normally use a regular baking pan but this time, I used a 12 inch cast iron skillet by Lodge.  I love love this skillet.  No expensive pans make better fried eggs than this simple cast iron pan....but that's a different topic all together.

The chicken was delicious as always.  You really can't mess it up as long as you salt the chicken generously.

I also made some roasted brussels sprouts on the side.   I just added some chopped garlic, salt and pepper.

Here is the recipe for the chicken, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348


Monday, May 3, 2010

Earl grey cookies and ice cream





It was a hot hot HOT weekend! The temperature reached to almost 90 degrees!

Anyway, here is a picture of cookies I made over the weekend(yes, in that heat). I had Martha Stewart's earl grey cookie recipe for a while and so I decided to give it a try. They are really easy to make and only requires 5 ingredients, butter(lots of B U T T E R!!!), 10x sugar(powder sugar), flour, salt, orange zest and of course earl grey tea leaves.

The cookies came out beautiful and really tasty(it better after all that butter).

Here is the link to the recipe. I don't post recipes that are not tested and proven by my family. hehe.

I had them with some vanilla ice cream too.

For the recipe, go to

http://http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/recipe/earl-grey-tea-cookies