Coconut Ice Cream

This was the last of my holiday kitchen adventures. My mom personally requested my Coconut Ice Cream for Christmas Eve, I just forced the Egg Nog on them too. The room was split between Egg Nog and Coconut fans, but I think my personal favorite is the coconut. It was a good batch, super rich and creamier than I could have ever hoped for.

My super cute mom even bought ice cream cones in anticipation! Isn't that adorable? It was about 40 degrees outside, but everyone had a cone in hand. It's also a good sign when you get emails asking for the recipe the next day. Something about me and coconut, we just work well together! My next ice cream flavor idea is a bit more tricky... let's just say it involves a little bit of alcohol and little bit of fruit. Though, this may have to wait a while, since tomorrow I will be headed out on a road trip! I'll be making stops in Ashland, Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, so send fun restaurant tips and sights to see my way! Everyone have a happy and safe new year!

Egg Nog Ice Cream

I'm generally not the biggest Egg Nog fan. I like it, but I can usually only stand a few sips before I realize it's just too much. I have to say, I don't feel that way about Egg Nog Ice Cream. I think it's because Egg Nog as a drink is too creamy, but how is it possible for ice cream to be too creamy? It's just not possible! Needless to say, I really did love how the Egg Nog Ice Cream came out.

I paired it with some of my cracked Macarons that did not quite make it to the holiday parties.
I even experimented with Macaron-Egg Nog Ice Cream sandwiches!

The almond flavor of the Macarons went nicely with the Egg Nog flavor! I think Macarons and Egg Nog Ice Cream might be repeats for years to come on the holidays...

Christmas Macarons

Happy holidays everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates, but as I will be posting in the next couple of days, I've been super busy baking, ice cream churning, and quilting lately! My most favorite holiday baking was done in my super talented friend, Jill's kitchen, where she taught me how to make one of the tastiest cookies I've ever had... a French Macaron! If you've ever attempted to bake these before, you will know how temperamental these cookies are. Everything needs to be measured exactly and the temperature has to be right on, or else you get a cracked cookie. Not a good thing for Macarons. Since it's the holidays, I wanted to go with some red, green, and white sprinkled cookies. We started with the green.

Not only did we put a little powdered food coloring in the dry portion of the mix, but also in the wet portion, of egg whites and sugar.

This gave us a very pretty, saturated green color, perfect for the holidays.

Waiting patiently for the moment of truth. Do our Macaroons have "feet"? Oh yes they did! Those little crinkly bottoms are the feet of the cookie, such an important detail of the perfect Macaroon.

I was squealing with excitement. Really, I was! I mean, look how cute they are..

Next was the red set.

I have to admit, we did end up throwing out a whole tray of red cookies, because the temperature was a bit off and there was some definite cracking. The cookies were still good, just not as pretty as the ones below.

Sitting all pretty, waiting to be frosted.

Next came the white Macarons with sprinkles.

And then some more..

I made a buttery buttercream frosting for the filling of these little guys. Unfortunately, I had little time to photograph these before taking them to 3 separate parties, though, I did get to sneak away a couple of white ones for this photo opp.

Tomorrow, more on Macarons, and another little holiday kitchen adventure...

It's Pumpkinini!

I've been meaning to post this since Halloween, but I guess now is a better time than never. I'm not the biggest Pumpkin flavoring fan, but I did enjoy this cup of Pumpkin Ice Cream!

I'm not sure I've ever had an ice cream I didn't like, to be honest. It just might be my favorite food. Even though it's raining out and winter is here, my mother made a special request for me to make a few batches of homemade ice cream for Christmas dinner this year. After trying my Coconut Ice Cream, she insists on me making Coconut again. So I've prepared a few batches of Vanilla base to make her Coconut, but also to make something a little more holiday inspired, Egg Nog Ice Cream! It's coming along, so pictures will be posted soon.

My Thanksgiving Baking

I know it was last week, but I never did post the two Apple Pies I baked! After a being at the multi-cultural potluck until 3am, I woke up bright and early the next morning to bake pies. I got started at 8am with the crust. Once that was ready, I chopped up approximately 9 large apples.

Sometimes I'm tempted to just bake it like this.

Better yet, like this, after it's been dotted with butter.

But in the end, what harm would another layer of a buttery crust do, really?

Did I mention I made two pies?

Here is pie number one in all of it's baked glory.


And pie number two, fresh out of the oven.

Notice the bubbling juices..

Those bubbling juices left my house smelling like apple pie for days! Torture, because after Thanksgiving, I had no pie left!

Holiday Baking Begins

The holidays have left me baking up a storm in my kitchen. Before Thanksgiving, I went to a multi-cultural potluck/dance party. There was such a great range of cultural dishes, Japanese, Philippine, Swedish, American, and my contribution, Armenian Cheese Boereg. I made this dish a while ago, and I was really starting to miss it. It all starts with a mixture of Mozzarella, Feta, eggs, and parsley.

Once that gets mixed, it turns into this lovely, mushy, squishy cheese filling.

When taking the fillo out of the package, make sure to cut it in half lengthwise. Use half for the bottom and set aside half for the top portion.

Scrunch the fillo and layer with butter.

When half of the fillo is done, begin layering the cheese mixture.

Spread an even layer of the cheese mixture, then finish off the rest of the fillo dough.

When you get to the last 2 layers of fillo, layer those flat, not scrunched. Refrigerate prepared boereg for a few hours (or up to a day) to chill. After chilling, pre-cut the boereg into squares. Mix an egg and some milk, pour over cut squares. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees, or until golden brown.

I think I used about 2 sticks of butter in this particular boereg.

And it was pretty good!

Mushroom, Spinach Pizza

I love having lots of vegetables handy. Almost each time I buy mushrooms, my instinct is always to make pizza.

And that's just what I did last night for dinner. I used a generous amount of leftover ingredients from the quiche that I prepared over the weekend to make this pizza pie. It had a whole wheat crust, mozzarella, swiss, and feta, tomato sauce, mushrooms, and spinach. Somehow, I still have leftover veggies... what to make next.. hmmm...

Happy Birthday Quiche

This weekend, I attend a brunch potluck party to celebrate my friend, Julian's birthday. Julian requested that I make a vegetarian quiche, so that is what I did. I started with a Rosemary, Thyme, Parmesan Pâte brisée crust.

Making a crust in the food processor is so much fun!

It's always pretty to see all the herbs when I roll the crust flat.

I somehow rolled it, so that it fit perfectly.

After baking the crust for a few minutes, the little dots of butter started to show.

This quiche featured onions, asparagus, mushrooms, and spinach.

A little cream, egg, and some seasonings later, I popped the quiche into the oven for about an hour.


I was pretty pleased with the turnout. The quiche dish was empty by the time I left, so I guess that's a good sign! Now, what to do with all of my leftover veggies in the fridge... let's see...

Pie, Pie, Pie

Has anyone else been keeping up with the The Kitchn'spie contest? Well, not only have I been keeping up with it, but I also submit two pies! For the classic category, I submit my favorite Apple Pie and a classic quiche, Quiche Oignon & Cumin.


Now, the other pies submitted on the page are fabulous. I mean, fabulous! But, I'd really love those pie dishes, so please vote for me! Voting ends Friday, so get those votes in!

Turkey Burger Surprise

This may look like an average burger, but let me tell you... this one is pretty special.

Not only does it have a whole wheat bun, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and chedder, with a turkey patty - but this turkey patty has a hidden gem inside. A pineapple! Really! This, by far, is my favorite way to make any burger! Turkey or beef! It adds a juicy dimension that even after bitting into the burger, it's still not obvious that there's a pineapple hidden inside. It's just juicy and delicious! See the original recipe here.

The Felt Club Aftermath

Thanks to all of those who came out to visit Felt Club yesterday! And a special thanks to Jenny who put the whole thing together! It was such a great time! And it was also the reason for my lack of blog updates! I was so busy doing all of this..

There's my little booth right before doors opened! I'm glad to say that it was a lot emptier by the end of the night, making clean up a breeze! I was pretty excited to feature a few brand new products on my booth, like these 3am tote bags!

Why 3am? Because that's what time I started sewing them.. 3am, a few hours before Felt Club opened doors. Yep. I was also very relieved to finally be done with the librarian embroidery kits that I've been working on since almost exactly a year ago today. I'm kind of embarrassed it took me so long to put these out! But, they're out! And I'm really happy with how they look, so I think they are worth the long wait!

These embroidery patterns, along with a few other items from my booth will soon be appearing on my Etsy shop hopefully some time this week. Needless to say, I am exhausted and feeling a bit of a bug, so I am home from work today. Thanks again to all of those who stopped by to say hi, it was great meeting with everyone, especially those who read the blog and/or have purchased items from me in the past and have enjoyed them over the years. It's always nice to get that extra motivation to keep crafting!

Felt Club!

The reason for my lack of updates is as follows:

I'll be a vendor there in a few hours... I'm pulling an all-nighter for the second night in a row! I hope my zombie face won't scare away shoppers! I've taken pictures of most of the new things I have created, but for now, I will continue to craft until it's time to go... everyone come please stop by and say hi! I promise not to eat anyone's brains, even if I look like zombie girl!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

I love the fall. Of course, fall in California is a bit more subtle than most other states, but none the less, I love it. Mostly it's the leaves turning new and exciting colors, the need to wear heavy coats, and the fall harvest of exciting vegetables! Yes, vegetables totally excite me! And the smell of the holidays - you know, that spicy, cinnamon-y smell? It's so nice this time of year. Thanks to breakfast this morning, my apartment smells pretty wonderful right now!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes did the trick! I don't know about any of you, but I like my pancakes chubby! Just add some pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg to any old pancake recipe and I'm telling you, it will feel lot like Christmas.