Christmas in July

Merry Christmas… in July!  We just love Raiza Costa, so when she opened an online store we were super excited to try her baking kits.  She freely shares her recipes and tips on YouTube and we have already made some of her delicious treats, but we definitely wanted to support her and love her first kit that was sent out… the Heart Patterned Cake Roll.  She packed her Dulce Delight box full of goodies that were all individually separated and labeled.  The white chocolate endured some trauma during the shipping process due to the heat, but it tasted just as delicious as would be expected.  We watched her tutorial to get some visual tips and then went for it.  We were a little nervous to just flip the cake over from the pan to powered sugar dusted parchment paper, but it was really no big deal.  We did "ooh" and "ahh" when we finally got a glimpse of the bunny design… very impressive and such a cool technique to learn.  We recently saw Spamalot at the PCPA Solvang outdoor theatre, so we figured a red bunny was a good choice. ;) 

We Made It!

Remember this post????  Well, a year later and we finally made it to Lette and we're in love.  These little treats are super expensive, but super swoon worthy.  The coolest part about getting these little guys was that to get here my mom and her friend ran the Pasadena 5k with me this year.  Thank goodness it was only a 5k... I just don't have it in me to run those crazy long distances like I did before.  The LA Marathon is coming up and then after that I'm retiring, haha.  I think I will focus on making glorious signs to cheer all my running mates on instead.

    

HNY!!!

My 28th Bday was December 31st and to celebrate my mom and I had an Iron Chef cook-off!  Well, not exactly, but that's what we called it anyway.  We actually made two recipes from Ina Garten... her Pain Perdu and her Salted Caramel Ice Cream.  We were going for a sugar coma rather than a drunken oblivion this year (although I do admit that we did enjoy a Landshark).  My mom and I have really embraced Ina this year and I think it's because my dad would always joke with us about Ina.  We love her though, so we decided to celebrate the end of the year with her recipes and some fun memories.  So with that said, here is a picture of our Pain Perdu for two and caramel before it turned into ice cream goodness!

The Ninth Day!

I'm trying to get into a Grad program and there are so many hoops to jump though... it's crazy!!!  When I went to CSUB, I just walked right in and out of a Grad program.  I learned so much through the Reading and Literacy program, but alas, budget cuts don't favor reading programs.  This was definitely a blessing in disguise because I'm now a Speech Pathologist and LOVE my job!!!  But... I'm not finished yet.  I still have to get through three more years of school and before that, get accepted into Grad school.  One of the steps for the application process is to take the GRE, which of course was out of town.  So we tried to make it as fun as possible and make it into a road trip!  One of our good friends (who by the way is a fantastic quilter) joined us and helped us find where to go.  We get lost easily.  I while I was testing they were watching a movie and eating.  They discovered this cute little pasty restaurant and they brought me back the most delicious beet soup EVER!!!  Since then, we've decided that we need to try to recreate our versions of their bites.  Therefore, our ninth gift to our friend and blog contest winner has a pasty theme.  Hopefully ours come out just as delicious and the ones we got in SLO.    

Fight Nights!

Here is your analogy for today:

Sweetened condensed milk IS TO my favorite ingredient to cook with right now AS dulce de leche IS TO my favorite treat to eat right now.

I was in lala land for awhile there when it came to dulce de leche. I had heard of it before, but never really understood it until... I was getting ready for UFC 144. Of course we were rooting for Ben "Smooth" Henderson and this fight night called for something special. Since the fights were in Japan I googled Japanese candy/desserts, but didn't find anything I thought I could make. I decided to go with something Brazilian, since I was going to watch the fights with friends from Bakersfield Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I then came across the super fun Dulce Delight and her youtube channel. She introduced me to sweetened condensed milk and it changed my life. For about a month all I wanted to do was make Brigadeiros for people.

So, even though I haven't mastered a Japanese dessert yet... there was still a happy ending. I learned all about dulce de leche, Benson won, and I didn't screw up any pots or plates making this candy!!! win, Win, WIN situation!

But... the most "winning" part of all this is that we actually got to meet Ben Henderson!!! He is such a great person and definitely deserves all the success that has been coming his way.

French Macarons!

I ran in Pasadena this past weekend and while I was roaming the streets with friends from run camp, I couldn't help but notice these sweet little cookies called macarons housed in equally sweet boutique-like bakeries. They are French and they are so colorful and cute. So, of course, when I got home I started researching these little guys. Many have confused them with the coconut treat, the macaroon. While you can make a coconut macaron version, these are two different things. Confused? Don't worry... I was too. And to top it off, the origin of the name macaron is actually Italian and not French. Regardless, they are delicious and after being surrounded by them this weekend, I had to try and make them. WARNING: I really messed up on the filling because I didn't have the correct ingredients. I was going for Dulce Delight's recipe, but ended up just making a powdered sugar version, which was disgustingly way too sweet. I'll make it the right way next time. :) Another great reference was from Sorted Food. I was going to use their recipe because I liked how they added different colors to their mix, but all their measurements were in grams and doing any kind of math baking conversions at 1 am is definitely not happening, so I found this recipe from Giver'slog instead and it worked perfectly. With the exception of the filling, these turned out better than I expected for the first time. "Macarons have a reputation for being difficult, but honestly, they are not." :) It's true! They are surprisingly not hard at all to make, so give them a try! Happy Baking!

P.S. Since we're talking about SUGAR... I lucked out at the post race Sugar Ray concert and got Rodney's guitar pick. He has been with the band for about 24 years now!!! LOVE their music and energy. So great to see them live!

Sugar Ray Fun Facts:
Mark's first band was named the Shrinky Dinkx (Skrinky Dinks are one of the coolest craft materials ever) and their 3rd album is titled 14:59 (Andy Warhol reference anyone!?!). I love this band!!!