"Cinnabon" Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve been reading the Daring Bakers blogs and their recent challenge was to make Cinnamon buns. I’ve made cinnamon rolls before but they were a disaster, extremely dry and it had an “eggy” taste. I didn’t even take a picture of it, that’s how disappointed I was. I got the recipe from the Food Network after watching Alton Brown’s episode of The Dough Also Rises. This time around, I decided to look on Recipezaar.com. The reviews for this recipe were really good so went to the market (again) and got all the ingredients. I got started and realized I forgot the milk =/ and made another trip. *Sigh*

This recipe is a winner! I followed the ingredients but the cooking time the recipe called for was too short. At 20min. the dough was not all the way cooked. So I put it back in for about another 10 min. I inserted an instant read thermometer and took the buns out when it reached 180˚F. The recipe I used the first time said to take out the buns when it reached 190˚F but that resulted in dry buns. The frosting was delicious!

You can find the recipe here.

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

I was reading Fanny’s Blog and found the recipe for Grapefruit Yogurt cake. I've never made a yogurt cake but her picture and description intrigued me. I knew I had to make it. This was also the first recipe I'd seen for grapefruit. I followed her recipe exactly except for the size of her pan. I didn't have a 7½" pan so I used an 8½" pan which is why my cake turned out flatter then hers. I got a little impatient waiting for the grapefruit juice to soak into the cake so I made a number of holes. Next time, I'm going to try and be more patient =] The cake was just lovely; very similar to my Blueberry Cake, dense but still very moist. I'm going to make this for my sister, who loves grapefruit. Even Mr. Cutie Pie liked the cake.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

This is my favorite cake I've made so far. It was dense and moist. It didn't have a heavy butter flavor and the brown sugar topping was nice and crispy. When I visited my sister in Baltimore, we made the cake into muffins and they turned out just as good. For some reason, I like the cake after it's been refrigerated. My sister doesn't seem to care either way.

I can't remember where I found the recipe. I just saved it on a word document, so when I find it I'll let you know.

LA Tofu Festival 2007

Tofu Festival vendors

YAY! I finally got to go =] but the bigger yay was that I got my carnivorous Mr. Sweetie Pie to take me. It was such a HOT day, seriously 100°F. If you know me, you'd know that I hate the heat and I get grumpy too =/ But Mr. Sweetie Pie was such a great sport but he didn't want to eat a thing; he did hold all the food for me to take a picture though.

more vendors

Pad Thai with Tofu

This dish was probably my favorite.

Curry Tofu

This was my second favorite but still really good. The curry was a Japanese style curry and the faux meat had great texture and taste.

Tofu Bibimbap

The vegetables were fresh and crispy.

Earthen Restaurant

1639 S Azusa Ave, Hacienda Heights, CA, 91745 (626) 964-1570

My sister and I went to Earthens for lunch and ordered green onion pancakes, sautéed vegetables, and tofu with mushrooms. The pancakes were a bit oily but the seasoning was very good. I loved the vegetables, they're my favorite kind of vegetables though (it was sautéed with garlic). The tofu with mushrooms weren't special. I would recommend coming here for the pancakes. I had tired their vegetable dumplings once and it had way too much pepper.

Little Boy Cookies

Little Boy Cookies

This time while I waited at my friend's house for bowling league to start, her little boy decided that we should decorate some cookies.

The little boy decorating them

And here he is putting the faces on the cookies. He actually wanted to make pirate cookies but since we didn't have enough time before we went bowling, he used M&Ms.

Rib Eye Roast

For Mr. Cutie Pie's birthday I made him a Rib Eye Roast, tater tots and for dessert, a Dove Ice Cream Bar (cause his parents already got him an ice cream cake). I've made a roast once before and it was more "medium done" than "medium rare", which is the way Mr. Cutie Pie likes it. This time around, I made sure to get the right cut of meat and took the roast out 10ºF before it reached the desired temperature for "medium rare" (145ºF). Since I don't eat meat I can't tell you how it turned out but Mr. Cutie Pie (and his dad) assured me it was very good.

Rib Eye Roast
Ingredients
4 to 6 lbs of Rib Eye Roast (I got a 5 lb roast which included 2 bones)
5 cloves of garlic cut into slivers
Salt and coarse black pepper
Instant read thermometer

Instructions
About and hour before roasting, remove the meat from the refridgerator and let it get to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350°F
Make small slits all over the rib eye (about 7) and fill each slit with a few slices of garlic. Season liberally with the salt and coarse black pepper. Pleace the rib eye on a rack set inside a roasting pan and roast for about 2 hours to untill the thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 135ºF for medium rare.

Remove the meat to a platter, and tent with foil to keep warm and let it sit for about 15 min. still the thermometer reads 145ºF.

You can make a sauce with the drippings in the pan by adding wine, beef stock and some seasoning (such as fresh thyme leaves).

Thyme Au Jus
2 cups red wine
4 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves.

Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over 2 burners set on high heat. Add the wine to the pan drippings in the pan and cook over high heat untill reduced, scrapping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Whisk in the thyme and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Cookies

M&M and Chocolate Chip cookies

Since Mr. Cutie Pie doesn't like a lot of sweets, chocolate chip cookies are just about the only thing I know he'll eat for sure. A lot of the cookies I've made in the past have been too flat for my taste. The perfect cookie size and texture for me would be fat, soft and chewy. I usually followed the recipe on the back of NESTLÉ®TOLL HOUSE® Morsels packages but the cookies were too thin for me. I've also tried Alton Brown's recipe for The Chewy cookie and although it was chewy, the cookies were still too thin.

I wanted cookies like the ones I bought from Campitelli Cookies . I finally found the recipe while looking through Mr. Cutie Pie's mom's cook books. I didn't have a lot of unsalted butter (less than ⅓) so I looked for cookie recipes that used a combination of butter and shortening. The whole recipe needed ⅔ butter and ⅔ shortening so I just cut everything in half. The recipe also stated that for a rounder cookie, add another half a cup of flour. The resulting cookies were exactly to my standards. The only difference I would make next time would be to make the cookies bigger.

Reese's pieces cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies
⅔ cup shortening
⅔ cup butter or margarine, softened (I used unsalted butter)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
12 oz semisweet chocolate pieces (1 ½ cups)

Heat oven to 375°F. Mix thoroughly shortening, butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. (For a softer, rounder cookie, add an extra½ cups flour)

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (if you're making large cookies, bake for about 12 minutes but do not over bake). Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

About 7 dozen cookies.

Southern Biscuits

After making the Buttermilk Biscuits, I was a bit disappointed in the taste so I decided to make Alton Brown's Southern Biscuits and his had a much more buttery taste and a flakier texture. I think the reason why the Southern Biscuits rose nicely was that the biscuits were placed just touching instead of a an inch or two apart.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I got the recipe for these buttermilk biscuits from my newly purchased Baking Illustrated - Cook's Illustrated. I've made two other thing (Classic Brownies and Boston Cream Pie) using Cook's Illustrated recipes and wasn't thrilled with the results. This time around, I'm sad to say that I had similar results; perhaps I just have too high a hopes for Cook's Illustrated.

Rich Marble Pound Cake w/ confetti icing

I was over at a friend's house waiting for our bowling league to start so I decided to bake something. I was flipping through her many cake and dessert books and trying to match what she had available in the fridge for me to use and decided to make this pound cake.

She didn't have a stand mixer but she had a hand held mixer. The directions for the pound cake was to use a stand mixer with the flat beater adjusted on

Ingredients
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup natural (not Dutch-processed) cocoa powder
6 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk

To make the cake: ~haven't been back to her house so can't complete the instructions at this time~

Hot Vanilla Souffle

I've always wanted to make souffles because of the supposed difficulty involved in making sure they rose properly. Turned out it didn't take much, just don't open the oven door. This is because a sudden exposure to cold air could cause the souffles to collapse. I got this recipe on Food Network.

baking in the oven and rising nicely

We had to go to the gym from an hour so by the time we got back, they collapsed =/ Souffles will only hold their shape for about 20min so it's recommended to eat them asap.

my collapsed souffle

my collapsed souffle w/ chocolate sauce

Chocolate Chocolate Cake Cookie

Boston Cream Pie

Classic Brownies

I discovered Cook's Illustrated at the gym, of all places. I wanted some reading material while I ran so I dug through the pile of magazines and found the March & April 2004 issue of Cook's Illustrated. The recipe for Classic Brownies, Not Cakey, Not Fudgy, Just Right caught my eye. On a previous Saturday I was over at a friends house making cakey brownies, since this was the way Ben liked them. The "brownies" turned out to be more of a chocolate cake. This time around I wanted brownies just as the title promised, Not Cakey, Not Fudgy, Just Right.

The tester cut back on the usual 2 sticks of butter to 1 and half sticks for less greasy brownies and used cake flour (which is milled from softer wheat that all-purpose flour and contributes less protein, or gluten, to a recipe) to produce a less gritty and finer-textured product. One of the goals the tester set out to do was to pump up the chocolate flavor and she did this by increasing the amount of unsweetened chocolate instead of combining chocolate and cocoa powder because increasing cocoa by small amounts did not add much to the chocolate flavor.

The resulting brownies had an extremely intense chocolate flavor. Anyone that knows me probably knows about my obsessing with chocolate (especially dark chocolate) and even at my level, the recipe's chocolate flavor was just too overpowering. The recipe called for 6oz. of unsweetened chocolate so while at the grocery store I picked up 2 bars of Ghirardelli's 100% unsweetened chocolate. I'll probably substitute some semi-sweet chocolate for the next batch.

Texture wise, it was melt in your mouth goodness and just as promised wasn't too fudgy or cakey =] If you do refrigerate it though, make sure to microwave it for about 13sec. or else it'll feel like biting into a block of fudge. I did add one adjustment to the recipe, I sprinkled some chocolate chips on top (what?! I can't help it).

The Stinking Rose

55 N La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 (310) 652-7673

I love garlic and this place gives me just the right fix...but...now that I'm a vegetarian I haven't been back there.

They've got really good garlic starter breads and if you want even more garlic, they have a minced garlic and green onion sauce you could use. I've gotten their FORTY CLOVE GARLIC CHICKEN (roasted on the bone) which was really juicy, their NEON RAVIOLI (w/ garlic basil Alfredo sauce) which was really creamy and delicious. Their DUNGENESS KILLER CRAB wasn't fresh when we got it but their GARLIC ROASTED PRIME RIB is really good. After the meal they bring you little candies that are suppose to help hide your garlic breath but they really don't work (tastes good though)

I love all their quirky decor too. They've got garlic in almost everything there, they even sell garlic condoms. It's also very romantic so bring your special someone

http://www.thestinkingrose.com/

Lascari's Italian Deli & Restaurant

14104 E Lambert Rd Whittier, CA 90605 (562) 698-5899

Good Italian food! The last time I came here was for my sister's bday meal with the family. The starter bread use to be better, now it's sour dough (but I guess it's good if you like sour dough). I always get their FETTUCCINE ALFREDO w/ extra broccoli =]. Their meals come with a small salad which is always fresh.

From what my friends say, their LINGUINE and CLAM in their white wine garlic sauce is really really good. They also have PRAWNS and MUSSELS which are suppose to be good too. They always have specials so be on a look out for it.

They have another location in Brea across the street from the Brea Mall in the plaza with Jamba Juice. I've never been to that one so I don't know if there's a noticeable difference.

They aren't open on Mondays (which I've had to learn the hard way =/)

http://www.lascarisdeli.com/mainmenu.htm

Lu's Garden Restaurant

17289 Colima Road, City Of Industry, CA 91748, (626) 964-5709

Good food but also very very oily. The porridge that comes with the meal is really good and it has chunks of yam in it. It's a good place to come for lunch but it gets really crowded and can be difficult to find a place to sit. You don't have to know Chinese, just point to what you want. You stand in line, pick three dishes, find a table and they'll bring it to you.They do have a number of vegetarian foods here so that's a plus for me.

Mystore Bakery - Cafe

17521 Colima Rd., City Industry, CA 91748, (626) 912-9729

A little bit more expensive than JJ Bakery and pretty similar in taste. This place has been around for just as long time but no one seems to come here as much. They've got similar items. I think their bread is just slightly softer than JJ Bakery and they've got some really good TARO CAKES =] yummy in my tummy.

They also have an assortment of cookies (mostly American types) which JJ Bakery doesn't but they don't have as many individually slices of cakes.

Oba Oba Brazilian Steakhouse

1600 S Azusa Ave, City of Industry, CA, (626) 839-9950

The first time I was here I wasn't a vegetarian. I remember the meat here was really good and they had a wide variety (but more during dinner), they even have rabbit and quail.

You get a little piece of wood colored green on one side and red on the other. The waiters bring the meat over to your table when you have the green side up and stop when it's on red. They bring the meats on long metal rods/skewers and they cut pieces off it and you're suppose to use the small tongs to bring the food to your plate.

Aside form their wide array of meats, they've also got a salad bar, some hot foods, and some sushi. I've actually gone back there as a vegetarian - Do NOT come here if you're a vegetarian! but I'm sure that's a no brainer. I just wanted to bring Ben here. He's a meat, bread, and cheese guy so I thought he might enjoy it (and he did).

Everything besides their meat is not fresh so just save your stomach for the meat. A pretty expensive place though. It's about $20per person. Rates vary btw lunch and dinner but I'm not sure the exact amount.

Thai House

5624 E La Palma Ave , Anaheim, CA 92807, (714) 693-9288

I wanted Asian food in Anaheim Hill and ended up here. It's a small restaurant with a friendly staff and decent food. The vegetarian selection here is not as good as Banana Bay and the egg rolls weren't very good. I got VEGETARIAN NOODLES and Ben got some kind of FRIED RICE. His dish okay too. The WONTON SOUP here is good.

The food wasn't that memorable so I've only been here once.

Concourse Bowling Center

3364 E La Palma Ave , Anaheim, CA 92806, (714) 666-2695

It's a fun atmosphere but because this place is popular, there are a lot of little kids. not that I hate kids but I don't like them standing in my lane when I'm trying to bowl (and it doesn't help when their parent don't give a crap what their kids are doing)

Both Ben and I got our first bowling balls at their pro shop and the guy was very helpful. He didn't get frustrated when I went back about 3 times to get the holes re-drilled.

http://www.concoursebowling.com/

Yorba Linda Bowl and Ten Pen

18171 Imperial Highway, Yorba Linda, CA 92885, (714) 777-3818

For some reason, I bowl the best when I'm here. It's not the hippest bowling alley around but I still like it. Definitely a laid back atmosphere. I come here just about every week. When it's cosmic bowling time, it gets a little funky. The lights are old and this place just wasn't meant for late night bowling. There's coupons avaliable on their website
http://www.yorbalindabowl.com/

Ten Pen Store
(714) 701-0393
Very helpful staff here and they seem to know what they're talking about. Ben got his wrist brace here and the guy behind the counter wasn't trying to get him to buy the most expensive one or anything. It's just very limited in selection since the store is so small.

West Coast Seafood Buffet

1655 S Azusa Ave Ste D Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 (626) 581-9893


The quality of the food was low and Todai has better sushi and hot food selection. I would just go to Todai for a seafood buffet.

University Cafe

1400 University Ave Riverside, CA 92507 (951) 686-6338

The food taste good but it's not very fresh (they use frozen vege in their fried rice). This is one of the few places in Riverside to get decent vegetarian food though. They have added a few more vege dishes to their menu since I've been there. My favorite is the BAMBOO TOFU on rice.

This place has a lot of Taiwanese style dishes and it's as authentic as you're going to get in Riverside.For non vegetarians, the SOY SAUCE CHICKEN is really good as well as well as the SWEET AND SOUR FISH (tastes better than it sounds).

I would NEVER come here for drinks only because their boba is always under cooked (so it's a little hard in the center). When you buy a dish you get a free green tea, black tea, or milk tea. I'd go for the green or black tea here.

Table For Two

3600 Central Ave Ste 1 Riverside, CA 92506 (909) 683-3648

Very good Thai food and setting (but more space btw tables couldn't hurt). I use to get the SEAFOOD SUKIYAKI with an added egg (until I became a vegetarian). They are generous with the amt of seafood they put in it but the taste is not always consistent (I think there's a different cook for lunch and dinner

They SNOW PEA AND VEGETABLES are a very good choice for vegetarians. Their PAD THAI is a bit too sweet. Their CURRIES are also good.

Luv-It Frozen Custard

505 E. Oakey Boulevard Las Vegas, NV 89104 (702) 384-6452

Sooo good! I saw it on the Food Network. I had their STRAWBERRY FROZEN CUSTARD. It tastes just slightly different from regular ice cream but its creamier and smoother.

www.luvitfrozencustard.com

Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant

24505 W. Dorris Avenue Coalinga, CA 93210 (559) 935-0717

As a vegetarian, I'm embarrassed to say this but : the BEST STEAK I've ever had.

Best Thai Cuisine

1735 Spruce St Riverside, CA 92507 (909) 682-4256

I have to disagree that the food is great or even good. Although it may taste okay, the fact that it's bathed in oil is a downer for me.

Dave & Buster's

20 City Blvd. West Orange, CA 92868 (714) 769-1515

Food was bland ... I got a GARDEN BURGER which I could have made myself. But I guess I can't really expect Dave & Buster's to have decent vegetarian food (the sauce it came with was ranch). They did have decent fries but a bit too salty for me.

Ben got the CHARGRILLED SIRLOIN & SHRIMP. He said it was okay but he'll eat anything that's meat (which he said so himself). The mashed potatoes that his dish came with had a lot of butter milk and butter.

Stater bread wasn't bad and the waitress was nice [but she did first bring me the MONTEREY BURGER (1/2 pound of premium ground beef, topped with melted white cheese and sauteed mushrooms, which looked good to my BF) before I bringing me my GARDEN BURGER].

We had a great time playing the arcade games though =]

Banana Bay

18230 Colima Rd Rowland Heights, CA 91748 (626) 839-5511

Good cheap food but the service isn't always that great especially on a busy night. They give generous amounts so you can always share with someone. A GREAT place for VEGETARIANS (which I am) because many of their dishes can be made into vegetarian dishes. I usually get the PAD WOON SEN vege or the PAD SEE EW vege (stir fried rice noodles with Chinese broccoli and soy sauces) but it's a bit oily.

I love their EGG ROLLS (vegetarian) and their FRIED TARO isn't bad either.For non-vegetarians, their THAI FRIED RICE, GARLIC CHICKEN, THAI BOAT NOODLE (not spicy), PAD SEE EW, and PAD WOON SEN are all great choices.

I don't really like the drinks here and since you're already in Rowland, you may as well try one of the many boba cafes just a mile or two in any direction.Dishes usually around $12-$15. The msic is usually TOO LOUD and be sure to bring a jacket because they turn up the AC.

Tastea

20 City Boulevard W Orange, CA 92856
10189 Westminster Ave Garden Grove, CA 92843 (714) 539-1832

Great drinks! If you're looking for something besides the usual boba drinks, this is the place. Their GREEN MILK TEA is very good. I tried their STRAWBERRY ALL THE WAY - not bad if you like pineapples and strawberries.

It's basically a pineapple slush with a splash of strawberry. Their green boba is different but unlike most boba cafes they don't cook their boba in sugar so it doesn't taste like much.

One of my favorite drinks there is the LYCHEE FREEZE (can't remember the exact name). They have little bits of lychee and lychee jelly on the bottom which makes it all the better. =)

I've also had their TOOTEA FRUITEA. Very good but a bit sweet so avoid if you like more shuttle tastes.

http://www.tastea.net/

Tea Station

The best drink that I've gotten there is their TARO SNOW ICE. Although they use powder to make this drink, it's the only place I know that adds ice cream to a Taro drink. Their boba is soft but still chewy.


I also like their GREEN MILK TEA but I ask for it with less sugar. This way you can actually taste the green tea.

If you like green bean, try their GREEN BEAN SNOW ICE. If I don't get the TART SNOW ICE, I usually get this drink. Their jelly drinks are ridiculously sweet even after I asked them to put half the usual amount of sugar. Their STRAWBERRY YOGURT SNOW ICE is good too.

Original Pancake House

18453 Yorba Linda Blvd Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714) 693-1390

I've been here about 4 times now and have only really been satisfied on 1 occasion. The first time I got their APPLE PANCAKE: it was hot and guewy with lost of cinnamon -- Excellent. 2nd time I got the CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES: I could have made those pancakes at home with Bisquick; since I love chocolate this was a total disappointment. 3rd time I got the APPLE PANCAKE again: very little cinnamon and tasted pretty bland. 4th time I got the APPLE WAFFLES: very thin and not satisfying. I'm not sure why I keep going ... I guess I just hope the next time won't be as disappointing

Apple Pancake

Ben always gets their meat, egg, ham, and cheese dish and he always likes it, so I would recommend you get that.

- the wait on weekends from open to about 11am is horrible

Native Foods Inc

2937 Bristol Street Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (714) 751-2151

I was surprised at how good the food was here. My sister brought me here and although she's not a vegetarian, she enjoyed the food just as much as I did. We shared the CHICKEN RUN RANCH BURGER which was quite tasty; and we also got their GREEK GYRO but it wasn't as good. They could have seasoned the steamed vegetables better.

A really cool thing about this place is that they have paper take-out boxes instead of styrofoam which isn't biodegradable and actually hazardous to your health because the chemicals get in your food and remain in your body.

http://nativefoods.com/

Teuscher Chocolates & Cafe

9548 Brighton Way Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (310) 276-2776

I wouldn't say it's the best chocolate in the world but it is very very good ... and of course very very expensive. Their CHAMPAGNE TRUFFLES are melt in your mouth!

I bought my sister a couple of individual pieces (mocha, cappuccino, white chocolate truffle, champagne truffle, etc.) and a bar of their dark chocolate. She sad they were very good but unfortunately one of our dogs got to the dark chocolate bar before she did (don't worry, they're okay).

For me, I'd rather spend my money on Godiva and See's. It's just not that good to me to warrant spending so much for chocolate.

http://www.teuscher-beverlyhills.com/

First Class Pizza

731 S Weir Canyon Rd Ste 147 Anaheim, CA 92808 (714) 921-9270


I must say, the BEST pizza I've ever had. If you like pizza with a good crust, you'll love this place too. My BF gets pizza here EVERY Friday. His favorite is the SAUSAGE, PEPPERONI, and MUSHROOM.



Eat the pizza HOT! It's a lot better that way. My BF almost had a fit once cause his parents let it get cold before telling him his pizza had come.I get TOMATOES and MUSHROOM w/o cheese and light on sauce. I get it w/o cheese because I don't like cheese not because it's not good here (I know, I'm weird).

I can't tell you enough how good the dough is here! But you can get thin crust.A bit pricey though so try to get a coupon. They've got a huge TV and a few arcade games but I always get the pizza to go. They deliver but it's very limited.