Here we have tiramisu made for me by one of my parents in the classroom I was in during the spring time. She was once one of the top pastry chefs in Korea. I heard about her on my first day at work when I started a week after I got back from my adventure. I had been waiting for her to cook me something and this was DEFINITELY NO LET DOWN! I love the fact that it was a completely different tasting tiramisu that I have never tasted. She added the coffee of course, but I also got a hint of citrus and really, it worked for me. Oh just to be able to cook with her in her kitchen for a day!
How cute are these cupcakes! This was at work in another room adjacent to the room I was in. One of the parents brought in these cupcakes for her son's birthday. She is friends with the Executive Chef at the Hyatt Valencia who had made these cupcakes. The blue frosting was for the water and the Chef made the ducks using candy airheads and starbursts. Very creative!
This is the first cake I have ever frosted! I used to beg my parents to let me take cake decorating classes back in the early elementary school years but never got the chance to. Sad! That pretty much left me to learn on my own and so this has definitely been long overdue!
This is a Black Forest Cake (definitely one of my favorites!). I had made this for work as a gift to the parents of the classroom I was in. What I did was made the chocolate cake batter, baked the cakes in the oven, allowed them to cool completely, and decorated them. I scooped cherry filling onto the bottom layer, then added the next cake layer, added the rest of the filling, and topped it with the last cake layer. I used whipped Vanilla frosting over whipped cream because there wasn't going to be any room for the cake in the fridge at work and didn't want the cake to go bad. So I frosted the cake with the frosting, grated dark chocolate on and around the cake, and topped it off with a couple sliced fresh cherries. There you have it!
This cake was a hit at work! Parents loved it and the others who I worked with said it looked professionally made! Now I don't think it was a 100% considering that it was my first time decorating, but for a first time, I did good! The only thing I could have done differently was that I could have baked the cakes with the cherry filling already on two of the cakes and that would have been easier for me to layer the cakes and would have also saved time. Either way, it would have been fine, so no complaints here!
Next up, we celebrated my friend Rebekah's birthday in May at the Candlelight off the 118 fwy. This place is BEAUTIFUL. It's too bad that it is so far down the 118 and not somewhere usual like in the LA/Santa Monica area. It is a dining area but turns into a indoor/outdoor club in the later evening.
Here we have a selection of four differently made fries. Clockwise from bottom left corner we have: waffle fries, garlic-parsley fries, wedges, and sweet potato fries. I preferred the garlic-parsley fries and the sweet potato fries.
Something I definitely loved--ahi tuna sushi wrapped in soy paper. I knew I would love these before I had one. Even enjoyed the sauce, though it was a little to spicy for me! Overall, the only thing was the soy paper was a little too soggy and the whole thing was hard to eat due to it being hard to keep it wrapped.
Last but not least, I ordered her cake at the S&S Donut Shop in my area of Valencia. Donut shop, really? Yes, the cakes here are really the best! We discovered that they even made cakes here at my friends wedding earlier this year. So moist, so light, the oh so good bavarian cream, and lightly whipped frosting---something I actually really enjoyed, and I'm not really a frosting kind of girl. So we decided to get her this cake from there. Of course she loved it and so did we! On a sidenote, if you go to the S&S Donuts in Newhall, I heard one of the ladies working there makes really good eggrolls using the same recipe for the past 40+ years. I have to give that a try sometime soon while I'm still in this area. You will only find good reviews of this place.
And finally, one of my favorite places in the middle of nowhere---Le Chene. Le Chene is located in Agua Dulce, off the 14 fwy on Sierra Hwy. I discovered this place about 8-9 years ago when my dad used to take me there for his CE's (Continuing Education; Healthcare field) for work. He would learn new things in the Pharmaceutical field and I would get free dinner and not pay attention to the speakers! So to this day, I have been there about 4-5 times. I learned a lot about tasting and textures there and really grew to love some things just by going there. So the last time I came here was in April with my friend Diana. I owed her food and since we both love Le Chene, we agreed on this place! Sorry the pictures are a little dull. The lighting is low in the restaurant and I wasn't going to allow my camera to flash in the middle of the restaurant. Just take my word that the food looks and is good!
Escargot. YES ESCARGOT! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT HERE! I tried this the first time I stepped foot into this restaurant. At first I was not even going to give it a go (shocking, I know!) but once I gave in and decided to just try it once JUST to say that I have tried escargot, I realized that I loved it! Really the flavors they use in this dish are simply outstanding. Ever since then, I have also made sure to have escargot as my choice of appetizer! I have yet to experience these same flavors at any other restaurants when concerning escargot. PLEASE give it a go! http://www.lechene.com/
Next I chose the salad over the soup.
Diana chose the soup over the salad. This is Lettuce Soup. Quite interesting, have never had it before. Diana let me try it and I actually liked it. It's a very light soup. I think when her dream of going to Paris comes true, she will end up trying this there and try to compare the two!
This is her Filet Mignon Au Poivre served alongside cauliflower puree and roasted vegetables. Although I didn't get the Filet Mignon that day, I have experienced it here and I love it, so she made an excellent choice!
I of course got the Salmon Feuillette. Definitely one of my favorites here. Salmon served with a puff pastry on top, alongside asparagus, cauliflower puree, and roasted vegetables. So delectable.
Try the dessert here too. Everything here is fantastic.
