Confessions of an Addict

My new addiction is frozen fruit. So amazing. In the winter, not all fruit is in season. So, I have found my new substitution for fresh fruit. FROZEN FRUIT!!!! yummy....I have been eating it all day long. My favorites are the peaches. They are so delicous. I take out the peaches, let them thaw, and gobble them up! The brand that I tend to lean towards is Dole.

Friday Link Love

Hello! Happy end of the week! I hope everybody had a great week and is looking forward to the weekend!! Here are my favorite posts from around the web this week!!!

I made the shrimp curry this week! It is absolutely uh-mazing!!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/341310/curried-shrimp

A great lunch idea for school or work...

http://www.marthastewart.com/858185/brown-rice-chicken-and-cilantro-salad

All about making ice cream at home! Have to get this book.....

http://www.amazon.com/Jenis-Splendid-Ice-Creams-Home/dp/1579654363

I wish I was having this for breakfast... haha (never)

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsMqNlxkyTQYvpKQ_0bltmW6aLXDN4B_scJ1xdaNkvvYzMnPD7AX59wg0mGFnvb9kq4HfCP1Sfv-RAAnlkpPtqBexcPzN4yE1CqxTxyFcZ0J2yPOc2DUELpR7Sab38N-oUu07eYngE68HH/s1600/10.2.11_1.jpg

Ooooh! Spooky halloween poison apples!!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/316701/poison-apples

Friday Link Love

Hi guys! I am starting to do Friday Link Love's on Friday's! For those of you who don't know what Friday Link Love is, it is a post that bloggers have on Friday where they post fun and interesting things around the web that week! So, without further adieu, here is my Friday Link Love!

How yummy does this bowl of pasta look?!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/08/naked-tomato-sauce/

I am going to have to try this banana cake! I also love Clementine Bakery!!

http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2011/08/clementine-bakerys-banana-cake.html

The owner of Cake Boss, Baltimore (a crazy cake store and tv show) has opened a shop here in L.A.!!!

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-duff-goldman-20110929,0,1453326.story?track=rss

Going to have to try these chocolate chips from Trader Joe's!!!

http://sweets.seriouseats.com/2010/06/what-are-the-best-chocolate-chips-brands-for-baking-cookies.html?ref=se-bb1

That's it for today! Have a great weekend!

Cinnamon Toast

In the morning, it is pretty hard to get me to eat my breakfast. I am groggy and not that hungry. But, if you put a plate of cinnamon toast in front of me, I will definitely eat my breakfast! It is really easy to make cinnamon toast! All you have to do, is take a slice of bread, toast it and then spread some butter on it. After that, just sprinkle on some cinnamon and a pinch of sugar, and you have one of the best breakfasts ever!

Peach Pie!!!

The Ripe Peaches from Whole Foods!

Me with the Non-baked Product!!

The Finished Product!!!

The other day when I was eating a juicy peach, my mom started telling me about how her mom would make this amazing peach pie every summer. So I said, let's make it. We were going to go to the Farmer's market the next day, but we couldn't wait that long, so we ran out to our local Whole Foods to buy fresh peaches and a frozen pie crust (we simply had no time to make our own crust).

This recipe which originally came from an old Pillsbury baking book is very simple. You only need pie crust, peaches, flour, butter, and brown sugar. How easy is that?! Here is the recipe...

Golden Dream Peach Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry for one-crust pie

10-14 fresh peaches (cut in halves, well drained)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup enriched flour

3 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

Prepare pastry for one-crust pie. Fit into a 9-inch pie pan. Arrange the peach halves in the pastry-lined pan. Place cut side up. Combine the brown sugar and the flour. Cut in the butter and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the peaches. Bake in a hot oven at 450 F for 10-12 minutes. Cover pie with aluminum foil. Then bake at 375 F for 35-40 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream! Enjoy!!!

Pictures of Paris/London

Some pictures from Paris and London, but don't worry, there will be plenty more to come!

Hello!

Hey there! Just came back from Europe and I had a fabulous time just walking, shopping, eating, and sleeping! Haha! Story of my life..... If I had to chose five meals of the trip that were outstanding they would be:

Croissants and Hot Chocolate at Cafe Angelina (Paris)

Chocolate Banana Crepe from Le Comptoir (Paris)

Lebanese Food at a place where they only have the name in Arabic (London)

Chicken and the best Plum Tart at 7eme Vin (Paris)

Fabulous Indian food from Malabar (London)

Now, I will go into depth about these amazing meals!

At Cafe Angelina, where we had breakfast in Paris at least half of the time we were there, the pain au chocolat, or in American, the chocolate croissant was so buttery, flaky and chocolatey! The hot chocolate there was rich and every sip was full of fabulous flavor! Everything at Angelina was scrumptious!

My friend, Joanne, recommended that we go to Le Comptoir for dinner. Unfortunately, we were not able to go there for dinner but, we did have the most amazing crepe there for lunch. My brother and I both had decadent chocolate banana crepes and my parents shared a marvelous egg and cheese crepe. We walked over to Luxembourg Gardens and ate our amazing crepes on a park bench. That was by far my favorite afternoon of the trip!

When we had Lebanese food, everything was an adventure. I had never had Lebanese food before other than the exception of hummus and tabouleh. Lebanese food is delicious! I had shish taouk which is chicken grilled in lemon and garlic displayed on a skewer. It was really good and full of spices. For dessert, we had baklava and mint tea.

At 7eme Vin, we had classic French cuisine. My brother and I both had the roasted chicken with rosemary cream sauce and rice and broccoli on the side. The chicken was outstanding. It was cooked perfectly and everything about it tasted fabulous! Then for dessert we had their special which was, what we would call in America, a plum buckle tart. The plums were juicy and sour and the crust was buttery and crunchy.

Everybody knows that London is famous for their fabulous Indian food, so we just had to have Indian food when we were in London. We went to Malabar which is hidden on a dark side street with pretty much nothing else but homes and apartments on it. It was a small space, but the food was phenomenal! My favorite was the yellow dahl which is lentils and other spices cooked together. The dahl was so flavorful and spicy!

There will be pictures and pictures to come!

Watermelon! ;D

Because watermelon is so in season, I cannot wait to try this delicious looking recipe! MMMM! Watermelon lemonade! In fact, we just got watermelon from Whole Foods, so maybe I'll have to try it today or tomorrow! I will totally keep you updated!

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/watermelon-lemonade/

xoxo,

stella

vietnamese tacos...

interestingly enough i found a food truck that has vietnamese tacos. never thought i would come across this....

http://nomnomtruck.com/la/menu/

xoxo,

stella

Pizookies!!!!!

On the last day of school, we always decide to do something special! So, this year, we made pizookies! Pizookies are deep dish cookies with vanilla ice cream on top. They are literally the most amazing desserts ever. They are the ideal comfort food and ought to cheer anyone up! We went to Sur La Table to get our ramekins and we had a bit of a confusion! Get the 4" ramekins if you and someone else are going to split the pizookie. If you are having a pizookie alone, get the 3" ramekins. Have fun eating your pizookies and comment to tell me how they turned out!

http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/baked-goods-sweet/chocolate-chip-cookies-a-la-mode/

xoxo,

stella! ;D'

P.S. The batter also makes UH-mazing cookies!

Gjelina!

Hey guys! My new favorite restaurant is called Gjelina and it is on Abbot Kinney. First off, the environment is so warm and comforting. The lights are dimmed and you can sit either at a communal table or at a reserved table. I actually prefer the communal tables. They have fabulous lemonade and AMAZING mushroom, goat cheese, fontina, and truffle oil pizza. Everything blends together perfectly! Gjelina is overall an A+ place and you should definitely try it!!

http://www.gjelina.com/

Cupcake Wrappers and Bakery Boxes!

Hi everybody! Today I was surfing the web and I found these adorable cupcake wrappers and bakery boxes. They are so upbeat and colorful! What I love about the pink bakery boxes is that they are so traditional and classic yet fun and cute! Also, if you don't already know, I am obsessed with polka dots, so I L-O-V-E these cupcake wrappers!!!!! I know that I am just going to have to get them for my mom's birthday, May 8, which also happens to be Mother's Day! http://shopsweetlulu.bigcartel.com/

The Wednesday Chef!

Hey guys! I am so hungry right now (waiting for dinner to be done) and I am getting hungrier by the minute as I surf The Wednesday Chef. The Wednesday Chef is a fabulous food blog with salivating recipes written by Luisa Weiss who live in Berlin, Germany. Here are the recipes that I am going to have to make and tell you guys about! French chocolate granola, maple pecan muffins, chickpea salad with four-minute eggs, arugula and potato soup, sesame noodles, pappardelle with peas and parmesan, and many, many more!!

My Dinner!

Hey fellow readers! Just had an amazing yet simple dinner of a salad with chicken. The salad had corn, avocado, bell peppers, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and chicken. To top it off, there was a simple french vinaigrette which was very tasty. I write to you on a mostly full belly, eating a bowl of vanilla chocolate chip ice cream and half of a kitchen sink cookie! Anyway, I am blogging to you about a food quote. It is "When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste,". This is totally true. I stress the totally in that sentence because when cooking you can add a little salt here and there, whereas when baking a handful of flour could alter the recipe completely! Interesting, huh?

Try it you'll like it!

The other day I tried a ginger, date, and molasses cookie. Thought it would be horrible, but it turned out to be pretty good. It was a little bit on the chewy side, but I did not mind (although my braces did!). That just goes to show you that the saying "Try it you'll like it", is completely true!

xoxo,

stella

Templates

Hey guys!! I am trying out some new backgrounds for my blog and I want to know if you guys like the one that I have up now! Please post a comment and tell me what you think and what you possibly would like!!!

xoxo,

stella

Burgers....

Who doesn't love a great burger?? I know that I love going to a great burger place and having my ideal burger. My ideal burger is a medium-well 1/3 of a lb. burger with red onion, avocado, and chipotle aioli on the side. MMMM!!! That is what I always get when I go to the Counter. The Counter is hands-down my favorite burger place. (Their sweet potato fries are just sooooo amazing!!!!!!) Just looking at this picture makes me salivate!

Breakfast Time!

Hi guys!!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while... School has been a little bit stressful. :( So, breakfast has now become one of my three favorite meals {haha:)}. The only problem is that when I come down in the morning I don't feel like eating a big breakfast and I don't have that much time (because I get distracted playing my ITouch when I first wake up!!!) . This is one of my personal favorite breakfasts because it is a great start to the day and because I can eat it without being rushed. First, take a piece of bread and toast it. The bread should be more like a baguette or sourdough bread. Then put 1/4 of an avocado (sliced) on the slice of bread. Finally give it the finishing touch which is a sprinkle of salt and pepper! I love this breakfast and I hope you do too! More to come.......

Crepes at the Grove

Happy New Year everyone! So today, my mom, my brother, and I went to the Grove for a little outing.When we had lunch, I had a fabulous crepe at this place called The French Crepe Co. (http://frenchcrepe.com/main/index.php). Jack (my brother) and I both had these delicious crepes with nutella, strawberries, and bananas inside. Topped with a little bit of powdered sugar for me and mountains full of whipped cream for him, we both enjoyed it so very much. I highly suggest that if you are in the area, you stop in for a crepe! Remember to vote on my poll!