Ice Cream Before Dinner.

I had a sundae bar at my party and since I forgot to post it I thought I'd start with dessert this time. I put out vanilla and chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, chopped peanuts, sprinkles, chocolate syrup and strawberries. But, much to my husband's disappointment, I forgot the cherries. Oh well, it was still yummy.

Chicken Bouillabaisse. This was a new recipe for me and I made it in my first Le Creuset pot. It was a birthday gift and I'm so happy to finally have one. It browned the chicken perfectly. I also tried to make the rouille that goes along with the recipe, but instead of a mayo like consistency I ended up with watery, oily egg yolk. YUCK. The chicken was still good without it.

The chicken recipe was from this cookbook. I love Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. Thank you to my brother and sister in-law for the gift. Love you.

Do you collect cookbooks? What are some of your favorites?

Congratulations to the Cookbook Winner

http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ won my first giveaway. Congratulations. Your cookbook was shipped today. Happy Baking.

Thank You to Fashion Meets Food

A little too excited about my new Wii game...but can you see the cute scarf?

A big thank you to http://www.fashionmeetsfood.com/
I won the scarf giveaway and I love it. If you get a chance, check out http://www.affordablescarves.com/

It's Party Time

Prosecco with Blood Orange Soda.

Dark Chocolate Truffles dusted with powdered sugar.

Goodie Bags with Granola for each of my guests. I made these the weekend before. It's so easy to make and super yummy.

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil on Crostini. I served balsamic on the side.

Fresh Whipped Cream and Nutella for the Crepes

Croissants with the best strawberry jam ever (made by a coworker)
Thanks Teryn!

Crepes

Prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe.

Since cooking is my favorite way to spend the day, that's exactly what I did all weekend. I was originally going to make all French food but I got a little distracted at Trader Joes and ended up with quite a variety of ingredients. I had a group of friends over Saturday night and we feasted on French and Italian (albeit Americanized) treats. If you'd like any of the recipes, please let me know.
How did you spend your weekend?

Hey, It's OK Tuesday.....

I got this idea from this hilarious blog http://whisperingwriter.blogspot.com/, If you've never seen her blog, check it out. It's too funny. I thought I'd take a little break from food posting today and use her idea.She got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog.

Hey It's OK......

To wear socks with holes in them. I'd rather spend money on food.

To have to pet and coo at every animal you see. This is how I have 3 cats (which is also ok)

To sneak in your own bottled water and candy to a movie. Rip off snack bar prices, no thanks.

To be irritated with the guy crossing the street and texting at the same time. "Hello, pay attention or I'll hit you. "

To have abandoned American Idol since Paula left. Can Ellen even sing?

To buy a churro at Disneyland every time I see a stand selling them. Nobody makes them like they do. YUM!

To not understand why my husband can put his dirty clothes next to, on top of or near the laundry basket, but not actually in the basket. Geez.

To wish is was the weekend already.....but it's only Tuesday.

Cookie Love= My First Giveaway

Baking cookies is one of my favorite things to do, so in honor of my 101th post I'm giving away a cookbook. The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook, because who doesn't love a chocolate chip cookie? Yum!
Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, June 23 after 5pm. To enter, tell me what your favorite cookie is. Also, please include either your e-mail or blog address so I can get in touch with you if you win. Happy Baking!

Hey, It's Okay Tuesday....

I got this idea from this hilarious blog http://whisperingwriter.blogspot.com/, If you've never seen her blog, check it out. It's too funny. I thought I'd take a little break from food posting today and use her idea.
She got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog.

Hey It's Ok......

To think the games on Facebook are cool and to be slightly addicted to Bejeweled.

To take photos of your food at a restaurant, yes snotty girl sitting at the table next to me I'm talking to you. I'm a food blogger and proud of it.

To spend way too much time picking out a birthday card even though it never gets as much attention as the gift.

To get really excited about a $5 clearance sale sweater you found at Old Navy that goes perfectly with your Target clearance sun dress.

To be afraid to have children or better yet to be afraid to have girls. I see how they dress now and talk all attitudy......so not cool. I'd be grounded FOREVER.

To refuse to watch scary movies. I'm still traumitized by Scream and that was years ago.

To be annoyed with my Wii Fit. Sorry, I haven't been on in 6 days and I've gained 1/2 a pound. I've been busy playing Bejeweled. Maybe if you were nicer to me I'd visit you more often.

Leftovers....ugh!

Not in the mood to eat this, and to be honest I think there was sooo much leftover cause it wasn't that good.

Super yummy sprinkled with parmesean cheese.

Yay for SMORES!

I usually don't mind having leftovers and I had a huge bowl of pesto tortellini I made for a party but was in no mood to eat. I hate throwing out good food so after rummaging thru the fridge and pantry I came up with tomato pesto soup which was really yummy. I blended up some marinara sauce with a little cream, add some extra basil and then heated that with the pesto tortellini. Broiled some garlic bread and dinner was ready. Too treat myself for my resourcefulness I made smores.....soooo good. I use graham crackers, nutella and mini marshmallows which I toast with a small torch I got with a creme brulee set.

Do you like to eat leftovers? What are your favorites? I love leftover cold chinese food, yum!

Los Arroyos in Camarillo

I love love love mexican food. Chips, salsa, lots of cheese....what could be better? I was so excited when they opened a new mexican food restaurant in Camarillo and I couldn't wait to try it. They have this same restaurant in Santa Barbara and I had heard good things about it. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

First of all, they do not give you chips & salsa. Pardon me, but, WTF?!? That is my favorite part. No chips & salsa? This was a major strike. You can order it as a side but then you have to pay for refills. I did order some, they were tasty but nothing fantastic. I ordered enchiladas for my entree which were good but a little dry. I poured some extra salsa on top and then they were really yummy.

The atmosphere is nice, but it's a weird ordering process. You pick your own seats after they hand you a menu, order at the counter and then they bring the food to you. They didn't give us a number or anything so I guess they go by memory on who ordered what.

I have to say, Yolandas still rocks and I'll be sticking with them.

BBQ

I love summer. Memorial Day weekend was the perfect time to start BBQ season off right. One of my co-workers has a beautiful house with an amazing backyard perfect for a lazy summer day outside. We invited a few people and everyone brought a dish to share. The food was great and the company even better. I can't wait to BBQ again soon. Michael, if you ever read this, thanks for letting us take over your home for the day. Luv ya.

Lakers Win!

Proud to wear Purple & Gold!

Smores cookies... chocolate chips, marshmallows and walnuts. yum!

Toppers Pizza (my favorite) pepperoni and
bbq chicken with cilantro & red onion.

Tonight the Lakers won. YAY! It was a great game. The boys yelled at the TV while the girls rolled their eyes and chatted. It was a fun night for all. Pizza, cookies and too much diet coke. I'm completely wired and thought it would be a good time to catch up on my blogging since I'll be on a caffeine high for a while longer.
Did anyone else watch the game?

This is why my Wii Fit is mean to me.

I love love love sprinkled donuts so when a co-worker brought them in I had to have one.

The flowered thing is my mini Starbucks to-go coffee mug.

I can't drink much coffee so I was thrilled when Starbucks sold mini mugs.

I made a latte for myself to go with my donut. YUM!

Co-worker 60th Birthday Party means catered Mexican food lunch.
So So delicious.

Co-worker birthday also means cupcakes.

This is spice cake with cream cheese frosting.

My honey and I went to the LA Farmer's Market a couple weekends ago to have breakfast.

This is his huevos rancheros with black beans and a horchata.

My first time tasting horchata and it was delicious.

I definitely drank more than he did. Luckily, he doesn't mind sharing.

Especially since I shared my pecan waffles and bacon from him.

It took FOREVER to receive my order but it was worth it.

I got this breakfast from the stand in the photo below.

DELICIOUS!

My honey wasn't completely full after his huevos so

he hunted up some jambalaya, collard greens and a corn muffin.

I have to say the only yummy part for me was the muffin.

The jamabalaya was a lot like chili and contained very little meat.

Also, I do not like collard greens but my honey thought they were ok.

Dinner was Cronies.

It's a great super casual sport bar that serves awesome sandwiches and nice frosty beer.

This is my tasty grilled chicken sandwich with fries of course.

Here is my honey's turkey burger. Also, very tasty.

Then, there is ice cream. Sweet, delicious, creamy ice cream.

This was my first time trying these flavors from Starbucks.

The hot chocolate was my favorite.

So, as you can see, I was scolded by the Wii Fit for my unhealthy behaviors. It hasn't yet come out and told me I'm fat nor has my Mii blimped up but I've heard that can happen so I'm trying to be good this week. Well at least until the Lakers Play the Celtics on Thursday, then it's pizza time. GO LAKERS!