Um... helloooo!

Check out this DELICIOUS creme de cacao chocolate torte I made for my sister's birthday cake. I got the recipe from a Hershey's cookbook. It came out awesome! Chocolaty = good. There was the chocolate torte cake, the chocolate "creme de cacao" whipped cream filling, and the chocolate glaze on top! Mmmmm I also made yummy little chocolate leaves by brushing melted semi-sweet chocolate onto rose & tomato leaves. Note: the rose leaves worked AWESOME, but the tomato leaves were much harder to work with. The rose leaves are waxy and strong, while the tomato leaves are too soft and hard to peel from the chocolate once its hardened.

Overall, it took some time to make this cake but it was a lot of fun and well worth it! So yummy! :)

Cookies!

I don't know why I never posted these!! I've gotten into cookie decorating! Here are cookies I did for Halloween last year:

And these are cookies I made at a cookie decorating class I took a couple months back in San Francisco - so fun! I have to find the recipe for the shortbread cookies and post it - they were bangin'!!

Jellyfish painting!

Jellyfish painting I made for my mom for Mother's Day this year :)

baked potato soup

This is one of my favorite dishes ever, and this was my first time making it from scratch. It came out SO GOOD and it was really fun making it. It tasted a lot like those twice baked potatoes, but in a SOUP! Click here for the recipe I used. When I made it though, instead of one small onion I used about 3/4 cup chopped Leek. And I garnished with shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chives, no parsley. I also didn't use any hot sauce. And I would recommend not using any basil. Next time I make it, I'm keeping it out. I didn't like the hint of basil going on.

mint chocolate cupcakes

So I had been having some MAJOR cupcake failures - no matter what flavor I made; chocolate, vanilla, strawberry... they came out tasting like corn bread!!! Like, HUH?!? They were all too dense, dry and very bland. Turns out - sifting is a VERY IMPORTANT STEP in the baking process. I wasn't sifting my flour!! whoops. So, once I rectified this oversight, I made my first (very) successful batch of cupcakes from scratch - these mint chocolate cupcakes. 

My favorite ice cream has always been mint chocolate chip. I was watching cupcakes wars and one of the contestants made mint chocolate cupcakes and I was like, uh... yup! Gotta try those! So I used this recipe I found online from the repressed pastry chef. And like the repressed pastry chef writes, I too was surprised that the recipe did not call for any eggs or milk... but the cake turned out AWESOME! 

I used their buttercream frosting recipe also, and just added some green food coloring + a little blue food coloring to make it that perfect mint color. 

I couldn't wait till I finished icing them all. I had to have one. 

Remember fellow bakers, if the recipe tells you to sift flour or any other dry ingredient... it's not kidding.

Grandma Maroni's Meatballs

Made these last week. I woke up after a Sunday nap... with a craving for spaghetti and meatballs. Realizing I had never made meatballs before... I decided "today's the day". I remembered my mom's crazy delicious meatballs that she made after watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay. They were Grandma Maroni's meatballs, and they were the best I've ever had. So I looked up the recipe and tried them out myself. O.M.G. were they good!

Super bowl cupcakes and cookies

Made these with my friend Jordan for the Super bowl! 

There were more... but they got eaten before I could take a pic.

Twice. Baked. Potatoes.

Heaven.

I went to college in Poughkeepsie, NY and one of my favorite bars served what they called "Irish Nachos". They were seasoned waffle fries; crispy and perfect, topped with 3 kinds of melted cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chives, with a side of sour cream for dipping. Let me tell you, they. were. HEAVEN. SO FREAKIN' GOOD. And they were of course even more heavenly after a few beers. The best bar food I have had to this day. And I keep my eyes open, trying to find another that makes them, and makes them as good for that matter. But nowhere can top 'em. 

These twice baked potatoes reminded me a lot of them. Its essentially the same ingredients; potatoes, bacon, chedder cheese, chives, and sour cream. And oh. my. god. were they HEAVEN.

Click here for the recipe I used.

Guacamole Series

I painted these for my kitchen. I call it the "Guacamole Series". Guacamole is something I make regularly, by request from Doug (my roommate and bf). If I didn't get tired of mashing the avocados and chopping the onions and cilantro... he would i'm sure - ask me to make it everyday. But if I'm not feelin' it, there's always Taqueria.