Hollywood deliciousness

Yes.... it's been a while. I'm lazy and I'm not ashamed to say it. I had an amazing weekend filled with great friends, great entertainment and of course great food!

Cleo in Hollywood is a MUST for everyone who lives here. Portions are small and slightly pricey but extremely worth it. Order a variety of things and share it family style. We had everything from Octopus, hummus, brussel sprouts, pork belly, artichokes/olives. It sounds like nothing just spelling it out to you but it was by far the best food I have tasted. The waiter was great with my gluten issue and I did not get sick :) I must go again.... and so should you. 

http://www.cleorestaurant.com/

Other creations

Ask and you shall receive! A few people have asked that I post entries about my crafts along with my baking and cooking. I will start doing that. The link below is to my "creations" album in Facebook.

Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.610137527646.2149608.30511746&type=1&l=a721fa6bf9 

Gluten Free is the way to be!

Over the past few months, I discovered that I had Celiac Disease (CD). Never in my dreams would I have ever imagined how much gluten could affect my body and my health. It was like night and day. I don't want to bore you or freak you out with my past and present nightmares of CD so we will skip it and move on to the important stuff.

How does one, who has baked all their life, drastically change the science and ingredients of baking in order to make it Gluten Free (GF)??

I was hesitant to do my first batch of anything in fear that it would taste awful. I have had my fair share of GF and Vegan goodies and they have been..... interesting...... but not my cup of tea.

So we start off simple. Chocolate Chip Cookies. That should be easy right?! WRONG! Even the simplest recipes need to be carefully examined. Is your baking powder GF? How about your vanilla extract? Well, I went to whole foods and made sure all my stuff was quality and GF.

Mine came out slightly flat but still chewy and delicious. It also had a crunchy consistency on the outside and they were a hit with my taste testers. SUCCESS!

Under the sea!

Well I was asked to help cater a birthday party and I accepted! Her theme of course was great. The little mermaid!! Everyone loves ariel. Since the movie is older, there wasn't much for cupcake toppers so I went ahead and created my own. Sorry this post is a little late. I've been so busy that I'm past due on a few posts. Enjoy!

Coconut craziness

I love coconut. I found this recipe on Bon Appetit. Vanilla bean coconut cupcakes.

The icing was creamy but I wish it came out a little thicker. Either way it was great and I topped it off with toasted coconut flakes. I ran out of vanilla beans so I used vanilla paste instead and it was an excellent substitute.

Strawberry cupcakes

I recently went to Sprinkles in Beverly Hills and decided to have their strawberry cupcake. It was fantastic-- moist, delicious and you could definitely taste the fresh strawberries.

Since I don't live near that area I decided to make a cupcake like the sprinkles strawberry cupcake at home!! I received many compliments and I was happy with the taste of this creation!!

Balsamic Strawberries

Balsamic vinegar and strawberries?!?!?!

YES!!! one of the best combinations! Get three containers of strawberries (wash and cut them of course) then add 4 TB of balsamic vinegar and 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix it up and refrigerate them for at least one hour, this will allow the strawberries to macerate and all the juices to combine and taste delicious!

YUMMO!

Support this family owned business! Owned by a wonderful family in Santa Cruz; this store guarantees satisfaction on baked good, breads, sauces and so much more!

Don't be shy.... go splurg!! I just did  ;)

http://www.normsmarket.com/store/



Pony Crazy!

So my husband and I have a friend who LOVES My Little Pony. Apparently My Little Pony is a craze amongst older men for some reason..... most likely because their daughters or nieces watch it and it is probably an addicting show. Well, it was his birthday and I decided it would be fun to surprise him with magical My Little Pony cupcakes!!

There are no party stores in our area that sell anything related to this show so I decided to make it all myself. Knowing he likes Rainbow Dash, I developed "double rainbow" cupcakes with a My Little Pony theme. I created my own colorful cupcake toppers and the rest is pretty much explained in my pictures. Enjoy!

Olive Oil

Ferg and I stumbled upon this little treasure earlier today. It's an olive oil lovers dream! They also sell different balsamic vinegars, olives, martini mixes, pastas and jams. 

Support local family owned stores in camarillo!

Check out the site!

http://www.epicureanoliveoils.com/

Neat Chart

If you like making crafts as much as I do, you always get stuck thinking what is the best adhesive for the materials you are using. My husband stumbled upon this and I figured I would put it on here because it's very helpful. Sorry this isn't food related, but I just had to share!

German Chocolatey Goodness

I'd never made whoopie pies before so I was a little intimidated to try it out. My first batch of the cookies came out great. My second batch came out a little flat and I figured it may be because the butter softened too much or the oven was already too hot.

These german chocolate whoopie pies were made with a simple basic soft chocolate cookie, an extremely easy coconut filling and a chocolate ganache. Putting them all together was like a fun little puzzle.

I had also made a mint chocolate whoopie pie which I was slightly dissapointed in. the peppermint filling was seperating and I contribute that to my butter. It seems like it needs the top quality unsalted butter with quality powdered sugar in order to not seperate. I always have the same problem when making buttercream so hopefully I can perfect that this year as well.

Tres Leches

I've tried tres leches before and it usually involved baking the cake section in a Pyrex, poking holes in it, pour the milky goodness over it and smothering it with a made from scratch whipped topping. I found a recipe in my Bon Appétit book for a round tres leches cake. Its a lengthy step by step process so I was a little intimidated but i went for it!

I baked the cake in one single round pan and slowly cut the round in half horizontally. I then did the milk/caramel process. Long story short... it was a hit. The time frame was definitely worth it. One thing I did do differently was I pre-cut my strawberries and put them in a Tupperware with my black berries and coated them with sugar for a night in the fridge. My strawberries were a little tart so this helped sweeten them up a little.