Tag: dessert

Bonita, San Diego County, Mary

hans & harry bakery / bonita – san diego, ca

Hans & Harry is a local bakery down in Bonita that I have heard about forever, but never went to. Which is silly, since Jake and I are usually in the area every other week to pick up his kids for a weekend. We finally went by to check it out afternoon when I was especially in the mood to try some sweet treats (which, FYI, is pretty much every afternoon, ever).

[a wall of strudels greets you upon entry]

This is what greets you when you first enter Hans and Harry.

Be still, my heart!

All of the pretty, delicious looking strudels are waiting to enter to your belly.

[fruit studels]

Such beautiful strudels!

[one case of baked goods at hans & harry]

And this is actually only ONE of the cases at the counter. I think I must have zoned out because I didn’t photograph the rest of the offerings. Just know that there is MORE.

[peanut butter bar]

Though the strudel looked seriously awesome, I wasn’t in a strudel kind of mood. Instead we shared a variety of treats, one of them being this peanut butter bar.

The peanut butter bar was sort of a cross between a cookie and a brownie. It had a softer, chewier middle (like a brownie) with the outer crust a little crisper (and cookie-like). Overall though it was a little dry and not super moist – I guess I was thinking it’d be more like a fudgy peanut butter version of a brownie. Too bad it wasn’t. Continue reading “hans & harry bakery / bonita – san diego, ca”

Baking, Mary

repost: zombie graveyard cake for halloween

Halloween is right around the corner! And if you need a rockin’ cool cake to make for your Halloween party (or any other zombie related event), you should try your hand at making a zombie graveyard cake. It’s not too bad to make this sucker and the best part is that is doesn’t have to look neat – zombies like gorging on flesh, they’re not exactly concerned with how they look, you know.

This is a repost from my old craft blog that I decided to port over here for the holiday. Enjoy!

[zombie graveyard – view one]

The cake is a yellow cake with vanilla pastry cream (dyed red) and fresh strawberries in the middle with chocolate frosting.

[zombies coming up out of the dirt]

Continue reading “repost: zombie graveyard cake for halloween”

Mary, Recipes

salted caramel apple galette with pink pearl and cortland heirloom apples

Fall makes me think of things like falling leaves and pumpkins and warm soups and apples.

Apples! Sure, we can get apples year round but we don’t always get apples like these. I was recently given a few apples to experiment with from Frieda’s – two different varieties that I had never heard of!

The Pink Pearl (left) and the Cortland (right).

Pink Pearls were developed in the 1940’s by a Northern California breeder while the Cortland was developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva in 1898.

As you can see, the Pink Pearl has pink overtones within the flesh of the apple. It’s got a slightly tart taste. It’s not like “Granny Smith OMG tart” either – a bit more mild with a touch of sweetness. The cortland is very white and crisp and much sweeter than it’s counterpart.

These unique heirloom apples will be available at local Sprouts stores starting October 17th, so you can get some of these beautiful apples for yourself!

I decided to take these beautiful apples to produce this: a salted caramel apple galette.

Want to go on a apple galette making journey with me?

Of course you do!

First things first… we need salted caramel sauce.

Oh, I suppose you could just cheat and buy a jar of sauce. They do make a really wonderful one at Trader Joe’s. But I was feeling rather down in the dumps that day due the radiator in my car bursting and causing my car to break down that I wanted to do something therapeutic: like baking and making caramel sauce from scratch.

Caramel sauce it actually quite easy. Sugar and water, into a pan, set it to shimmer. And don’t touch it! No stirring!

Okay, maybe I swirl it around a little… but that’s just to see how amber it’s getting.

All of those crazy bubbles get in the way, I tell you.

Continue reading “salted caramel apple galette with pink pearl and cortland heirloom apples”

San Diego County, Mary, Multiple Locations, Liberty Station

slater’s 50/50 / liberty station – san diego, ca

It was high time for me to visit Slater’s 50/50. Jake and I had heard kind of mixed things about the place – some people really liked it and some didn’t and some just thought it was okay. I had to decide for myself though and after a few failed attempts at visiting, Jake, T and I went on that hella hot weekend we had a few weeks ago – when it was in triple digit temperatures. We went next door to Ace Hardware just for the A/C while waiting for our table. I do like their notification system – which sends you a text message to let you know when your table’s ready. Very neat!

We were seated in a corner table. Pretty much my thoughts were, “Gee, do they have enough TV’s in this place?” Must be an ADD person’s heaven. Me? I thought it was distracting. But maybe I’m the only one (or maybe that’s the point).

[combination plate – onion strings, french fries and panko fried mac n’ cheese – $6.95]

We decided to get the combo plate for appetizers. Jake and I both thought we were getting regular mac n’ cheese, since it was further below on the menu – we both didn’t notice it was fried mac n’ cheese. Oops.

We each got one mac n cheese ball. It was very crispy on the outer, with a melted, cheesy middle. A little on the bland side. Not as great as I thought it would be, especially since I was expecting just mac n cheese… but that was my fault for not reading the menu properly. These were okay.

The onion strings/rings things were good, I dug those. French fries are french fries. I will say though that we were hoping for fries on our plates, but when we realized we didn’t get more fries, we ordered 2 more orders. One order tasted like they dropped a salt shaker on it, it was so salty that it was inedible. We had that one taken off our order after we told the waitress though but did not get another order – wasn’t necessary. Besides, the fries weren’t that awesome.

[build your own burger – starting at $8.95]

All three of us did the “Make Your Own” sandwich thing. This is T’s creation – which had fried chicken instead of a hamburger patty.

Continue reading “slater’s 50/50 / liberty station – san diego, ca”

Mary, Recipes

caramel cracker cookies (make your own candy, put it in a cookie, woohoo)

I’ve made these chocolate caramel cracker things a lot – usually around Christmas time when I decorate them all up and give them away as desserts. Then one day I day a thought… what if I put that crazy candy inside of a cookie? So I did it. And then I immediately gave away a bunch of the cookies because it was too much to have that deliciousness just sitting in my house. If you need some deliciousness in your house though, might I suggest making these? You might want to give some away, too. Or hey, keep ’em for yourself. I won’t tell.

First things first! We gotta make the candy. It’s easy, I swear. Don’t be frightened of the word “candy”. We won’t even use those scary candy thermometers or anything! Promise.

Brown sugar, butter, and condensed milk is what you need for the caramel goo. The chocolate chips are for later.

Get a tray and put your fancy silpat mat on it – or just aluminum foil. You’ll want this – it’ll make it easier to remove the candy and you’ll thank your stars you did that step.

For the goo, you just melt the butter and sugar with about half a can of sweetened condensed milk. Sit around and watch this on the stove and stir it every so often. You want to cook it until it starts to bubble and thicken up. From there, you’ll want it cook it for another 2 minutes. It’ll look all frothy and lovely, like below:

Pour the goo over your saltines.

Mmm, goo.

Continue reading “caramel cracker cookies (make your own candy, put it in a cookie, woohoo)”

Multiple Locations, Mission Valley, San Diego County, Mary

beach bowls, kona pies and girly drinks at islands restaurant

I’ve been to Islands quite a few times. Those skin-on french fries they are are highly addicting. But they’ve got other stuff, too! You know burgers, whatever. And sandwiches! And tacos! And also new things, like paradise mai tai’s and chicken beach bowls.

I’ve sure you’ve been here before, too. Let’s keep this short and sweet, yes? (See emphasis on the sweet at the end…)

[Maker’s Wedge and Paradise’s Mai Tai]

Jake and I both opted to try one of their new drinks – I chose the Maker’s Wedge (right – maker’s mark, ginger liqueur, pine juice, lime and agave nectar) and he went for the Paradise’s Mai Tai (which had Bacardi rum, Myer’s Rum, lime juice with a tropical mix). There was also a drink with Jagermeister… but yeah, no, thanks. Not going there.

Someone other than our server took our orders, so the most amusing part was when our server put the mai tai in front of me and the whiskey drink in from of him.

Heh heh heh.

I teased him about his girlier drink while we waited on food to arrive.

[Islands Beach Bowl with grilled chicken]

Island’s newest Beach Bowl is chock full of veggies with your choice of either grilled chicken or mahi mahi and includes fresh grilled pineapple, red bell peppers, snow peas, water chestnuts, red onion, broccoli & diced scallions in a hoisin sauce and all of that served over brown rice. This bowl screams “I’m good for you and low in calories” (just under 576 calories) and you might just want to opt for this one after viewing the calorie intake of the burgers on their menu.

Continue reading “beach bowls, kona pies and girly drinks at islands restaurant”

Recipes, Products, Mary

banana cream pie with caramelized walnuts and grow bananas

I have a weird aversion to bananas. I think their texture is kind of weird. But I like them when they’re in stuff, so I’m not opposed to things like banana bread, or banana muffins or things like that. When I was contacted recently by a rep who offered me bananas, I thought, “Huh? Really? Bananas?”

I accepted the offer though and was able to learn more about the company behind Organics Unlimited and their program called GROW (Giving Resources and Opportunities to Workers). GROW helps fund programs for farm workers and their families in the areas where Organics Unlimited bananas are grown (in Mexico and Ecuador). These programs include scholarships, study groups, dental programs and vision exams. A portion of each purchased GROW box is donated to the GROW fund to help support these programs to bring educational and health care programs to these underdeveloped banana growing regions.

The bananas I received were from this GROW box – you can tell by the sticker placed on the bananas! GROW bananas are available at Jimbo’s Naturally stores and can sometimes be found in Sprouts, Ralphs, and OB People’s Food Store.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the bananas. So many ideas ran through my head; I got suggestions on Twitter and Facebook. Bread? Cookies? Pie? What?

I decided on making a pie. A banana cream pie. With caramelized walnuts.

Want a make a pie, too? Follow my instructions below.

Take photos of bananas in the yard.

Hope no one else is watching you take photos of bananas in the yard.

Proceed to bake a pie shell without properly tucking it into the pan.

Lament about how ugly your pie is going to look.

Sigh dramatically. Notice that no one else is around to hear you sigh dramatically. Repeat.

Make delicious vanilla custard stuff from scratch and feel slightly better about the ugly pie crust.

Slice the bananas. Think to yourself, “Organic bananas look just like regular bananas!” Laugh at self.

Decide to cut the bananas on a bias. Decide you should use the word “bias” more often.

Continue reading “banana cream pie with caramelized walnuts and grow bananas”

Linda Vista, San Diego County, Mary

la gran terraza / linda vista – san diego, ca

San Diego Restaurant Week is upon us yet again from September 16th-21st. It’s a great time to try out many of the wonderful restaurants in San Diego for either lunch or dinner at a reduced cost to help you get delicious food in your belly without making your wallet cry.

For preview week this year, I was invited to dine at La Gran Terraza, located on campus at the University of San Diego.

I have to admit, I had no idea they had a restaurant open to the public on campus.

The La Gran Terraza is nestled in the back of one of the buildings on campus, not far from the student lounge. Connected to it is a bar type restaurant called O’Toole’s. La Gran Terraza is in the back with the pretty, pretty view of the canyon.

Heather, my hot date for the evening, said she could see all of the way down to the ocean while I got mostly the canyon view. You can definitely hear what’s going on in the adjoined bar, but it’s still quiet and private enough to feel separated from that atmosphere.

[bread tray]

After placing our orders, we had someone come by to offer us their breads. They had a wheat looking one, a cheese bread, and a cranberry nut bread. I opted for cheesy and cranberry nut bread. The cheesy one was my favorite of the two.

[imprinted butters]

The USD imprinted butters amused me. The servers were quite good about asking if we wanted more bread throughout the evening, but without being overbearing about it. I like that.

[lobster martini / lemon soju, shaved fennel, blood orange-vanilla sorbet]

Continue reading “la gran terraza / linda vista – san diego, ca”

Del Mar, San Diego County, Mary

del mar rendezvous / san diego restaurant week preview 2012 + giveaway

San Diego Restaurant Week is nearly upon us again – and one restaurant is putting together a sweet deal for San Diegans to get out and get a great meal this September. Del Mar Rendezvous is celebrating restaurant week over three weeks instead of the usual one week and it starts this Saturday, September 8th and runs until September 30th. They have a special $30 prie fix menu and a slew of wine, beer and sake specials to go along with your special meal.

In addition to the special menu, they’re also teaming up with Uber for a $30 Uber ride. Uber is a personal driver service that you use with your iPhone or Android phone to request driver service in a luxury vehicle. I tried out the service when I visited Del Mar Rendezvous last week – check out the end of this post for my recap (and a special giveaway)!

[peek at the SDRW menu – see full options here]

I was excited to be invited back to Del Mar Rendezvous for more delicious treats and offerings. Since I’ve visited in the past, I’ll try and just touch and recap on the newer items I tried this time around. For this visit I invited my dad to tag along with me to try all of the delicious offerings.

[steamed dumpling sampler – 2 ha gau (shrimp), 2 su jiao (veggie) and 2 xiao long bao (pork)]

I adore dumplings in all forms and sizes and couldn’t pass up trying out their Dumpling Sampler which is featured as one of the first courses on their SDRW menu. You get 2 of the shrimp, 2 veggie and 2 of the pork soup dumplings for tasting. Having recently had really excellent dumplings in Irvine, these kind of fell short of my exceptions. I thought they were just okay – maybe if I hadn’t so recently had such tasty ones these might have seemed better in my eyes, but they lacked in the flavor department just a little bit. I’d definitely try the Honey Glazed Spare Ribs if you’re coming for the first time here rather than the dumplings, were are just okay. They not as soft, supple and tender as other dumplings I’ve had but they’re also not the worst. They’re just okay.

[three-cup chicken – chicken thigh meat, sauteed with fresh basil, garlic, ginger and red chilies served in a sizzling clay pot]

The Three-Cup Chicken is a traditional Taiwanese dish that is a restaurant week exclusive dish. This is a dish that the chef usually prepares at home for his family and also served only to the staff at Del Mar Rendezvous. This special dish is cooked over high heat to release the bone marrow and then simmered over low to allow the dish to concentrate all of the flavor into the chicken and sauce, producing a rich and flavorful dish.

This dish reminded me very much of my mom’s chicken adobo. The long period cooking time allows the flavors to develop and deepen and creates a very flavorful dish. The meat is fall off the bone tender with pieces of whole garlic cloves and other intense flavors. I enjoyed eating this with bits of brown rice to help soak up the flavor. A very hearty and tasty dish!

Continue reading “del mar rendezvous / san diego restaurant week preview 2012 + giveaway”

Mary, La Jolla, Multiple Locations, College, San Diego County

the secret cookie service / san diego, ca

A brief knock on the door. I peek outside and see a well dressed guy in sunglasses, black slacks, white shirt and a tie holding a briefcase. I quickly usher him inside. Agent Snickerdoodle has arrived with my special delivery and I’ve been waiting all night for it to arrive. What’s in the briefcase that could be so important?

Why, cookies, of course!

[hand delivered brown paper bag contains the goods]

The Secret Cookie Service has been in operation since September 2011, delivering late night cookie treats to the students at UCSD. The service has recently expanded to deliver to nearby neighborhoods and has recently set up shop so the students at SDSU don’t miss out on any of the cookie service goodness.

While they are mainly an at-night service, placing an order 24 hours in advance can net you a daytime delivery if you don’t live the vampire — or student — lifestyle.

Agent Snickerdoodle, after passing a screening from my dog, Maya, handed me this seemingly plain brown paper bag that contained what I’d been jonesing for all night. I couldn’t wait to dig in and try out this stash!

[mysterious white envelopes holds the cookies together during transport]

These random looking white bags are not really random at all.

For they contain delicious treats.

COOKIES!

[reese’s pieces cookies]

These aren’t peanut butter cookies per se, but they are loaded with Reese’s Pieces, one of my very favorite candies. There’s a sweet peanut butter flavor from the candy but the cookie itself is just a base for holding the pieces. There’s a good candy to cookie ratio here – I got a Reese’s Pieces in nearly every bite. The cookies are very soft and chewy. My second favorite of the bunch.

[mint chocolate chip cookies]

The mint chocolate chips were still kind of melty and sticking to the white envelope. The nice thing about that is that it let me know the cookies were baked fresh very, very recently and I love when chips are partially melted still. That’s the best part of warm cookies! These were quite soft and had a good minty-chocolate flavor.

Agent Snickerdoodle informed me that this is one of their best selling cookies and I could definitely see why.

Continue reading “the secret cookie service / san diego, ca”

Mary, Recipes

strawberry delight for a hot summer’s day

The first time I ever had a dessert like this I was in the Midwest and it was made with blueberries instead. It was referred to as “Blueberry Delight” and I remember being a bit blown away by such a simple dessert. This is a layered dessert, something very well known in the South but I had never had it out here in California before… It’s got a cookie-like crust, a sweet cream cheese layer, your fruit, and then whipped cream or whipped topping and nuts to top it all off. It’s simple, easy to make, and deliciously creamy.

I had picked up a fresh basket of locally grown strawberries and I thought, “Well, I bet I can turn Blueberry Delight into Strawberry Delight!”. Any mixture of berries will do for this dessert, really, and I think fresher is better for this one. The dessert starts to look kind of droopy after a day or two, so it’s best to try and gobble this one up quick and all leftovers need to go into the fridge.

[beautiful, ripe strawberries]

I picked up these beautiful strawberries at The Fruit Stand off Morena Blvd. They had some fine looking fruits and I could not resist getting this basket.

To prep, I just washed the strawberries and sliced them. I added about two tablespoons of sugar to macerate the strawberries.

[pecan shortbread-like crust]

After finishing the berries, I prepped the crust. It’s a very simple mixture of flour, sugar, pecans and softened butter. The mixture comes together quickly and spreads out easily in the pan. I pushed it with my fingers to spread the crust out evenly. This is the only thing you’ve got the bake! 15 minutes and you’re done. This is also something you should do ahead since a cooled crust is necessary.

This crust seriously tastes like those pecan sandies cookies they sell in the store.

[trying to quickly defrost my whipped topping]

I forgotten to tell Jake to leave the whipped topping out for me on the counter, so when I realized that my topping was still frozen I grimaced a little and then figured I’d try this.

The crust had just come out of the oven so I put the two tubs on top of the crust.

Hey, it sort of worked! It did at least speed up the process a little bit so I was able to work with it to make my sweet cream cheese layer.

Continue reading “strawberry delight for a hot summer’s day”

Mary, Recipes

all you need is (mango) love – mango granita

It’s been hot. The heat has made me thankful for tank tops, ice cold water, air conditioned movie theaters, and delicious frozen treats. And while it is super fun to go out and get some ice cream at a shop, sometimes it’s nice to try making it yourself at home, too.

I was at Jake’s again for the weekend and Jake has been wanting me to try making a mango sorbet for quite some time. We had it at Khan’s Cave for my Dad’s birthday back in April and liked it so much that we wanted to try making it at home. We finally got our hands on some ripe mangoes so I could experiment and try making this frozen treat.

Just about every sorbet recipe I read talked about using an ice cream maker to chill the sorbet. I didn’t have one of those on hand so I decided to try making a granita instead, which is sort of a cross between a sorbet and an Italian ice. You don’t need much to make this! Just a few ingredients, a long pan, a fork, a freezer and some time to kill.

[the cast of characters]

You need three things: ripe mangoes, lime juice, and sugar. That’s it!

[cubed mango]

Jake and I were able to pick up a couple of ripe mangoes for fairly cheap at the Farmer’s Market in Lemon Grove. Mangoes are kind of a bitch to cube. They’ve got that crazy, fibery pit in the middle making them hard to cut through. I managed to just slice around it in pieces and cut off the peel as I went. I used both mangoes for this.

Continue reading “all you need is (mango) love – mango granita”