Taking a Moment....To Study

So today was going to be all about the VERY tasty eats on the gorgeous Caribbean Island of Curaçao but I have a busy week full of studying and need to get cracking on it. I'm excited to be taking the Servsafe exam on Wednesday! One step forward toward my goals. That and because the laws are changing, I'd like to be a step ahead and be prepared. And so I'm taking it seriously because one, I don't want to take it again, of course, and two, the fact that you have to pay for it and since I'm heading to Bolivia and other surrounding countries in three weeks, I really don't want to be spending money on tests and unnecessary stuff when I can be spending it on good food, Yungas Road, and buses, you know.

So next time, I'll be writing about the good eats and posting some recipes of mine. Will be making my Pistachio Marshmallows, Edamame hummus, Turon, and anything else that comes to mind and what I can fit in before I leave. CAN'T WAIT!

So I leave you on this beautiful and VERY HOT Southern California Sunday morning with some pictures of very sweet, delicious delights, and something interesting too.


Mardi Gras style cupcakes

Birthday cupcakes for my friends son for his 1st birthday. I'm his favorite aunt! :)

Bacon Wrapped Dates with a Balsamic Reduction Sauce. Perfect Combination.

Lemon, Fresh Rosemary, and Garlic making an appearance...

...In this wonderful Garlic Sauce which also included olive oil, salt, and three more garlic bulbs. Easy to make and adds tremendously good flavor to any dish you decide to indulge in. In this case, I used it in a mixed seafood dish. This sauce goes with anything or well, almost anything!

Raw Oyster Rockefeller with a Shallot Vinaigrette Shooter. Tried it at a meeting I went to. Pretty tasty to me. Just have to work on my gagging reflex!

My homemade Black Forest Cake. Everything by scratch. Now this cake will always be my guilty pleasure. I've got somewhat non-dessert eaters craving this. I've been having multiple dreams about making this cake soon just for me to eat it all by myself. It's that bad. Trust me when I tell you this is the best cake ever. I'm up for a challenge if you don't believe. You will be a believer when I'm done with you!

Made this birthday cake for my travel bud Vanessa for her party I attended last night. Dyed the whipped cream to a turquoise color cause it's her favorite. Made her cake all shiny with sugar and shaped her V with black sugar. Semi-sweet chocolate cake with cinnamon and cayenne and had strawberries and cream between the layers.

When the weather is cool, I ride my bike to work to get that fresh air, wonderful exercise, and get to listen to all my super cool music too. The last time I took the ride, I caught a glimpse of this lizard while riding up the first of two hills going home and I had to stop. The tail is such an incredibly beautiful color. Tried to get close to it and this was the best picture I could get. I discovered later it is a blue tailed skink. A very interesting spotting, indeed.

Food Trucks GALORE! Part II

Here are my thoughts on the following Southern California food trucks I visited at a Food Truck event I attended (For the record, I did not eat all of this by myself!):

Shrimp Pimp Truck



I visited this truck again after my first visit to this truck was a success the last time I was at a food truck event. Normally, I would try something new BUT I ended up craving the Shrimp Po Boy (below) for awhile after I had it, so I just decided that I could do whatever I want and I enjoyed the sandwich again!



This consisted of lovely greens, tomatoes, shrimp tempura, and a spicy kick from the remoulade sauce on top of a soft and toasty French roll. Craving satisfying.

I give the Shrimp Pimp Truck a thumbs up!

Sweets Truck



We now have a truck full of good ol sweets! There actually wasn't much of a variety here but did see a delightful looking red velvet cupcake (below) and it was calling my name! I apologize for the half eaten cupcake! I was riding my bike that day and the cupcake bounced around a little and wasn't picture perfect anyway. :)



Very moist, enjoyed the chocolatey taste, and I absolutely LOVED the frosting and that says something because I'm not much of a frosting kind of girl. I also would like to add I liked this cupcake way more than the cupcake I got to try at Sprinkles, the first known cupcake shop. Hands down.

I give the Sweets Truck a thumbs up!

Bool Truck



Bool is a Korean BBQ food truck offering anything from tacos to Korean BBQ with a Spanish and Brazilian mix. I chose the Bool Gogi Beef Taco (below).


Thoroughly enjoyed everything that was piled onto the soft and warm corn tortillas. The beef was tender, flavorful, and accompanied by kimchi. A little spicy at first but I was able to handle it.

I give the Bool Food Truck a thumbs up!

Vizzy's Coastal Cuisine Truck



Vizzy is a food truck that offers upscale cuisine for cheap. I was eyeing the venison burger with a maple-dijon sriracha aioli, charred sweet onion, queso panela, and bacon for $11 bucks, but then spotted something else that caught my eye just a little bit more and decided to go for it instead.



I ended up choosing the Truffle Popcorn with White Truffle, Sea Salt, Toasted Pepper, and found Sweet Dried Figs added into the mix. I will always jump for a chance to have anything with truffle in it! I quite enjoyed it but felt that the popcorn was a little too toasted aka some of it was burned. It wasn't too much of an issue but it was noticable. Putting that aside, the popcorn was tasty and I'd go for it again.

I give the Vizzy's Coastal Cuisine Food Truck a shaky thumb!

Nom Nom Truck



In the last food truck post, I mentioned that you should follow the Nom Nom Truck. Now I'm telling you to take me seriously and really listen to me... FOLLOW THEM! I can see why they went far on the Food Network. The banh mi's they serve are just bomb. The Lemongrass chicken is so tender and full of flavor. The toasty French roll is perfectly toasted and not soggy. Sometimes I feel like there will always be another place that does a certain dish better (mainly this concerns sushi!), but really, if this sandwich is almost perfect, is there really a need to dig even more? I say no.




I, of course, give the Nom Nom Truck a thumbs up!

Fish Lips Truck



Now I love sushi, but even I am skeptical of sushi food trucks. Just find it a little odd. So I decided to just suck it up and check it out. I ordered the Salmon Hand Roll (below). It was just okay to me. Nothing super spectacular but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I just prefer to eat my sushi in a sit down restaurant. It's your choice as to where you choose to eat your sushi.



I give the Fish Lips Truck an in the middle of the road thumb, but leaning towards down!

Del's Lemonade Truck



Always brings back memories. I will always love frozen lemonade with the bits and pieces of the sweet lemon peel mixed into this wonderful delight.

I give the Del's Lemonade Truck a thumbs up!

Tapa Boy LA Truck



The one thing that stood out to me the most when I was looking at their menu was the dessert. The turon. I don't know if you've had this, but everytime I've ever been offered this growing up, I NEVER turned it down. So simple but yet so satisfying. The Tapa Boy LA truck offers it in four ways, all at the price of only $2.50:

Turon Old School - Banana egg rolls with jack fruit, rolled, and fried
Turon New School - Same as above, but without the jack fruit, and with a hazelnut filling
Turon Flan B - Flan egg rolls, fried
Turon Tri-Star - If you can't make up your mind, get one of each!


I regret the decision I made. I ended up choosing the Turon Tri-Star because I wanted both Turon Old School and Turon Flan B. Not really a fan of fillings, so I ended up getting two Old Schools and one Flan B. Straight old school is the way to go! I don't need to change it up. Except when it concerns flan! You know it. My weakness. Yeah, I didn't share this one with anyone! :) And it was way too deliciously good.

Now, why did I regret my decision? Well because it was ridiculously cheap! I should have got TWO orders! One order of Turon Old School and one order of Turon Flan B! The Tri-star just wasn't craving satisfying. It was making my craving worse! I wanted to go back but a friend of mine had told me they sold out fast and she wasn't able to enjoy it at all. My heart sank. And I told her I didn't even know why I was sad; I can make it on my own whenever I want! So eventually I got over it and now have lumpia wrappers sitting in my freezer, waiting to be used. :)

I give the Tapa Boy LA Truck a thumbs up!

If there is one tip I could give to anyone concerning food trucks, events or just seen on the street, I would say: As soon as you know there will be a food truck around, jump on it because there is no guarantee you'll get what you want. Food trucks don't have an endless supply of food. They sell out eventually.

Food Trucks GALORE!

Highlights from the Food Fest - Truck Style event I attended a month ago.

More importantly, I FINALLY GOT TO TRY A BANH MI FROM THE NOM NOM TRUCK!

That was my main reason for going to the Food Fest, held here in my area of Southern California. For those who don't know, the Nom Nom truck was on the Food Network show 'The Great Food Truck Race', basically 'The Amazing Race' + Food Trucks within the US. The Nom Nom truck kicked booty in EVERY race they had that season, except sadly, they went down the last episode, the finale. :( Come on, they should have just gave it to them! Anyway, ever since then, I, as well as many others, have been DYING to see what they are all about.

They mentioned that you can follow them on their twitter: Nomnomtruck. That's where you'll be able to track them down for a darn good meal. Now me, I don't have a twitter nor I really don't have the need for one, so that's where my sister comes in. She follows them for me! :)

Here is what I had to do to get what I wanted and the result:


The start of something good..

FOUND THE NOM NOM TRUCK! The picture doesn't do the line justice. The line was much longer than it looks below. I think I waited between 30-50 mins in that line. I lost track of time.

Patience is a virtue.

I nom you too!

The moment you and I have been waiting for...I grabbed the Lemongrass Chicken Banh Mi.



You really want to know what I thought? Here goes...

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!

Yes, it WAS that good. The baguette was just perfectly crisp, not soggy at all. Couldn't have asked for a better sandwich. Lemongrass Chicken. The chicken was so tender and full of that WONDERFUL lemongrass flavor that you know I love. Cilantro. Marinated carrots and daikon radish. Cucumbers. Jalapenos (Which I actually took out. Docs orders.) And mayo.

Seriously, I really enjoyed it and was 100% pleased with it. My sister also tried her luck later that day and was extremely lucky because the food truck sold out 3 people after her! And she agreed with me. Waaay better than she thought it would be. Please follow them and try them out. I guarantee you won't be disappointed!

Now, I didn't just leave with just a Banh mi! There were quite a few food trucks with pretty much every cuisine around I wanted to visit but I was short on cash and time due to a cake I had to make that evening for a surprise bday party, so I decided to just settle with two more food trucks and hope that something like this would happen again very soon!!

The next food truck I visited was Sugar Babies. They are a cupcake place located somewhere in LA. I've been hearing about them a lot lately so I wanted to check them out.

I ended up getting two cupcakes because they were small and well because I just did! I scored a Strawberries N Cream cupcake and Red Rose aka a red velvet cupcake.


Yeah, pretty miniature cupcakes. My thoughts: Both cupcakes were dry. Probably should have taken them out of the oven sooner because they were smaller than the normal size cupcakes. I did enjoy the chocolate flavor from the red velvet though. Will give props for that.

And lastly, I couldn't resist checking out this truck:

The Shrimp Pimp Truck! Yeah, I had to. Besides that I was just craving shrimp. The usual. The favorite. You know. I ended up getting a Shrimp Po Boy.

The Shrimp Po Boy consisted of an awesomely perfectly toasted French Roll, oh so good Shrimp - tempura style-, Greens, Tomatoes, and a spicy kick from the Remoulade Sauce. It came together wonderfully, deliciously, and beautifully.

***I craved the Banh mi and the Po Boy for quite awhile after that weekend.***

It was a wonderful and filling day at the park with all these food trucks. Go chase after all the food trucks on the streets now! YUM!

***Vanilla Cupcakes with a Vanilla Buttercream Frosting***



Despite how I feel about Valentine's Day (Don't agree with it; things like this shouldn't be planned. Do whatever you want whenever you want.), these were for kids and you just have to go with it. They'll figure it out later! :-p

I kept this batter that I made from scratch simple since kids were going to be the ones to enjoy this batch of cupcakes. No need to add in my usual spices and such! I made a regular vanilla cake batter with a vanilla buttercream frosting that I dyed using my rose pink and red gel colors. The red helped to enhance the color and attain the deep-to-hot pink color that I wanted. And topped it off with sprinkles. Nothing too fancy. Just wanted to make sure the class left with smiles on their faces. And they did.

Happy Halloween!

Getting these cupcakes in just in time for Halloween! Can't believe that I am admitting this, but I was one of many people who wanted to sign up to bring a drink to work for our Halloween potluck party. I KNOW. But I was yelled at because "I can cook and it would be a crime for me to sign up for drinks when I can make something goOod!" Geez, I've only been thinking about my December/January travels through Central America and now Columbia! So I was pretty much banned from signing my name there and ended up signing up to bring in a dessert because I figured it is cheaper to make cupcakes from scratch then making a lunch dish.

So have fun, play in the kitchen, get messy, and experiment with different looks and designs this Halloween!

BoOoo! Happy Halloween

Cupcakes Delight

I can cook and bake wonderfully but when it comes to decorating, well, I was only given the sports gene, not the artistic/creative gene! So I decided, for fun, to take a cupcake decorating class in hopes of finding out what I can and cannot do and working on that. The class was taught by one of the Pastry Chefs at the Playboy Mansion, so right off the bat I knew this would be a good class to take. Obviously if she wasn't good, she wouldn't be working at a place like that.

I'll provide all the information I gained in the class as well as pictures of the instructor with her cupcakes and the steps I took to make my own. I hope everything I post here is helpful in some way. The class was pretty fast paced and grabbed as much info as I could in the time limit we had.

I found on my own that this is something I know I'd like to work on, but more of a hobby for myself to do on the side. I also have the huge urge to buy all cake decorating tools and turning my kitchen upside down! :) I'm also considering taking a 3-D Cookie class to step up the everyday cookie. Oh the things I do that easily excite me!

Cupcake Useful Tips In The Kitchen

♥ Cake is best when served at room temperature
♥ When coloring frosting, use gel or paste, not liquid in order to not get a watery frosting consistency
♥ Use an ice cream scoop so each cupcake is the same size
♥ To obtain perfectly flat cupcakes, bake at 340 degrees F
♥ Fill cupcake tins half full
♥ Do not hold the frosting-filled bags unless working with it in order to keep it thick and not heated through body heat
♥ Don't make Buttercream Frosting on a hot day; for the day, our Chef used shortening. On a hot day, the butter will just easily melt and be hard to work with
♥ To stuff a cupcake: use an apple corer, stick the cream into the cupcake by using a pastry tip or cut off the top with a paring knife
♥ Fondant: Gelatin, Glycerine, and Powdered Sugar. If it hardens, microwave for 10 seconds. If too hard, just throw away
♥ Marzipan: Almond and sugar confection used in desserts, cake decorating, and can be shaped as part of cake decorating

Getting Started.


Have your pastry bag folded over and fill with the frosting. Unfold the bag, as shown below, when filled with frosting.



Instructor demonstrating the inside-to-outside technique. Below she demonstrates the outside-to-inside technique of decorating a cupcake.



Demonstrating one way of stuffing a cupcake by injecting the pastry tip into the cupcake.


Making "grass".



Working with Fondant.


Making my favorite flower, the sunflower.

Her finished cupcakes:





YUM is all I have to say!

My Cupcakes. Practice will make perfect.



First cupcake is the outside-to-inside method and the second one is the inside-to-outside technique. Like I said, all practice work. I'll get better eventually. :)


Complete with cute red and pink hearts. ♥


Sunflower.





Butterfly and Two Ladybugs in a Lovely Spring Garden.




Finding Nemo. You know it!


Pretty in Pink Flower.

The last three cupcakes were somewhat rushed through due to our time limit and me spending SO much time with the other cupcakes (You can't rush good work in the kitchen!) that I kind of just played with the frostings and made random decorations.





And lastly, I played a little and added a happy :) face to one of the plain decorated cupcakes. I wanted to do the regular happy face with the black eyes and mouth but needed five more minutes to be able to do that.



This class has truly inspired me and made me confident enough to know that I don't need the "creative" gene to decorate a cupcake. It just takes practice. And I'm happy that my good friend Eunice will now trust me to bake and decorate her bridal shower cake later on in the future!