weekend

It's finally starting to feel like fall. 

I always look forward to my issue of Sunset magazine. 

Over the weekend, I went to dinner at a friend's house. She had a bunch of guavas from her in laws. Lucky for me she doesn't like guavas. They are so fragrant. I've been using them in my morning smoothie. Thanks S!
 

We also picked up some goodies from Cake Monkey.  The Oreo cookie was good, but I was a bit disappointed with their version of the hoho. I added making hohos to my list of things to bake.

A while back I picked up this knife set. I desperately needed a paring knife. I love the colors of the handles! Makes cutting fruit a lot more fun.

Day Off

E had a day off recently so we had a day date.

After we dropped off A, we headed to the Portola Coffee Lab for some coffee and caramel salted monkey bread.

Korean Pickled Veggies....jangachi.

I got a recipe from my friend L and it's so addictive! It's a combination of soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Chop up some veggies. You can use jalapenos, pickles, celery, onions, garlic etc. I used jalapenos, onions, and chayotes.

donuts almost make everything better

Last week was a good one...this week...well not so good though it is getting better. E tried to cheer me up all afternoon on Saturday which I really appreciated.

We headed to Japantown to Cafe Dulce for some green tea donuts. They also had bacon donuts and fruity pebbles donuts. We stuck with the green tea donuts. By the way is it donuts or doughnuts?

green tea donut

Then we yelped for a udon place. When we entered the restaurant there was a peculiar smell. Next thing I know A is saying in her loud voice...EEEwwww...stinky. We turned right around and exited the place. We ended up at Shin Sen Gumi for some ramen. 
 

I made a batch of pumpkin donuts. Warning these are really good! The recipe is originally from Bon Appetit which was then adapted on another blog and then I made some changes. This recipe is fairly easy (no yeast!). I say fairly because the hard part was waiting for the dough to chill. I only fridged it for 1 hour and it was fine. 

This is a great way to start your morning. Making donuts and frying your troubles away!

Pumpkin Donuts
adapted from Bon Appetit

1 3/4 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, room temp.
1/4 cup packed brown sugar*
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup buttermilk

*if you don't have brown sugar you can substitute it for granulated sugar.

oil for frying

For the glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 to 5 Tablespoons of milk

In a bowl, add the dry ingredients, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

In a pyrex measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk and pumpkin puree together.  

With the Kitchen Aid or hand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together until well blended, about 1 minute. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture. 

When the dough (it will be a little sticky) comes together, cover and refrigerate for about 2 to 3 hours.  On a well floured work surface, pat out the dough to 1/2 inch thick round. Using a 3-inch circle cutter (or smaller), cut circles out of the dough. Re-roll any dough scraps. Place dough on a cookie sheet, or something large, covered with wax or parchment paper. 

Add oil to a dutch oven or a pot, to a depth of about 3 inches. While the oil is heating, line a tray with paper towels. Heat the oil to 365 to 370 degrees F. Fry the donuts, turning once, until they are golden brown and cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Move the cooked donuts to a paper towel lined tray. Finish frying the rest of the donuts and donut holes.

The Glaze

Sift the powdered sugar and cinnamon together. Whisk and slowly add the milk. Dip the donuts in the glaze.

weekend sharing

We had a nice relaxing weekend and week so far. We walked around Lake Ave in Pasadena.
I was also able to try another pie crust recipe. Yup, recipe #3. I have one more to try!
I am just waiting patiently for fall. It's supposed to cool down next week. Has fall hit where you are?


It was so hot in Pasadena last weekend.  But it didn't stop us from walking around.

We made a stop into Pottery Barn Kids to cool down and let the kiddies play.

Now for some pie!

rolling out the dough

this time i used nectarines and raspberries

i didn't even do an egg wash on top.

Magic Bars

I made these for a friend's birthday last weekend. She has a real sweet tooth. I say that because these are uber sweet. You can call them magic bars, 7 layer bars, monster magic bars or hello dolly bars.

Love my smart stick blender. Easy clean up.

I added butterscotch chips, semi sweet chocolate chips, 
white chocolate chips, pecans, and coconuts.

drizzle condensed milk on top

Magic Bars
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (or walnuts)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (just under half a small can)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a heatproof bowl melt the butter in the microwave (make sure it doesn't get hot).  Add the graham cracker crumbs. Mix well and then press evenly into the bottom of 8×8 baking pan. Then evenly distribute the chocolate chips, pecans, and butterscotch chips into the pan. I usually layer the shredded coconut last, but you can do it anyway you want.  Pour the sweetened condensed milk over whole mixture.
Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is light brown.
Cut into small squares once it is cool.


While I was baking I heard a man's voice in the living room. So I went to check on A and she was playing legos and listening to this...a history lecture from Stanford University.  This girl cracks me up!

Weekend Sharing

For school, A has to do weekend sharing every Monday. Every weekend whether we are having a lazy Saturday or running errands or on an outing we take pictures and email them in on Monday morning to A's teacher. 

So here is my weekend sharing.

These days, I've been drinking green juice every morning for breakfast. It has spinach, kiwi, parsley, lemons, banana...everyday is a little different.

After my green juice, I started baking for my friend's bday. She requested no gifts, but I thought I would bake some cookies for her.

I did try two new recipes. I wish I would have stuck to my old peanut butter recipe cuz these ones didn't turn out chewy :(

peanut butter

Making brown butter for the brown butter chocolate chip nutella cookies. I saw the recipe on someone's blog and I had to make it! I loved the way it made my house smell.

a little sea salt on top

can you see the nutella? next time i will add more!

A was invited to slumber party so I dropped her off and went off to the birthday dinner. I forgot to take pictures at the birthday dinner. But the night ended with yummy Sprinkles cupcakes...I had the red velvet! Yum!

It happened to be A's first slumber party and they happen to be really good friends of ours, so I ended up sleeping over too. Yup, I slept over so my kid could experience a slumber party which is a pretty big deal for a special needs kid. She did really well and I benefited from my friend's L's cooking!

She made a monkey bread cake. Easy and so good!

you start with ready made buttermilk biscuits

throw it in a bag of cinnamon sugar & toss it around

butter a bundt pan and throw each piece of dough into it then pour melted butter on top

yummmm

Then L showed me her Whirley- Pop. A and I LOVE popcorn. I regularly make popcorn with a little olive oil and salt for A and me. This is going to change our popcorn lives.

a little oil and toss in the popcorn. then you just turn this handle while the popcorn pops.

perfect popcorn!

the last days of summer

Summer is now officially over now that A went back to school.

we saw a double rainbow! can you see it?

We had lovely dinners...

steak and fish tacos made by auntie bc

i made a french marmalade loaf

dinner at a friends...she made a yummy pasta dish

caprese salad

all home grown!

a day in la...

We spent a day in LA with some friends and decided to try some new places. Funny how none of them were that great.

First, we headed out to Larchmont.

we must have been hungry because the scones weren't that great but we devoured them.

then off to ktown for lunch

We spent some time at the Grove and then met some friends for dinner. I forgot to take pictures of dinner. It got great reviews on Yelp, but it was alright. Afterwards, we went across the street for coffee.

We had a fun day with friends. Of course we ended the night getting stuck in tons of traffic because of a USC football game. That's LA for you!