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!

Crepes for Breakfast

Good Morning Bloggers! Today is Saturday which I am soooo happy about.
Does anyone watch How I Met Your Mother? There is an episode where Ted is excited to find out that Robin knows how to make crepes and it inspired me to give it a try again. Quite a few years ago my grandma gave me a crepe pan and I was thrilled to use it. However, after tearing, burning and basically destroying way too many crepes it went to the back of the pantry. This time, I vowed to be patient and just have fun. If I destroyed them, oh well. But I didn't. My culinary abilities have definitely improved. They were perfectly cooked and I was able to flip them Julia Child style. I am now back in bed, blogging while a food coma sets in. I hope you'll give crepes a try. They are delicious.

Pizza

I love pizza. There is something so comforting about the spicy, tomatoey, doughy goodness. I decided to try Traders Joes garlic & herb pizza dough as well as their pizza sauce the other night. A friend gave me her pizza stone that she wasn't going to use and I was excited to try it out. I had so much fun shaping the pizza dough. A couple more tries and I might be able to flip it in the air. I topped it with mozzarella, cheddar and parmesean cheese as well as some sauteed mushrooms. About 15 minutes later at 450 deg and my pizza was hot, bubbly and delicious. I will definitely be making it again.

Cooking & Baking Eats

Zucchini and Goat Cheese Crustless Quiche. If you like goat cheese, you'll love this dish. I have discovered I do not care for goat cheese but my honey loved it and wants me to make it again. You can find the recipe at www.foodnetwork.com

Nick and Toni's Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola. Absolutely delicious and a great dish for company if you make the sauce the night before. You can find the recipe at www.foodnetwork.com

Strawberry Coffee Cake. My apologies to the blogger that originally posted this as I can't remember where I found this but wish to give you credit for the recipe. It's sooo yummy. Blooper: I completely missed the step to add the streusel topping. It was great without it but I'll remember it next time.

Lemon-Garlic Spanish Chicken Thighs and Rice Pilaf. I could eat this dish at least once a week for dinner. I substituted turkey kielbasa from Trader Joe's rather than chorizo. You can find this recipe on Rachael Ray's website.

Lemon Yogurt Cake. This recipe is from my Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook that I'm still working my way thru. Her recipes are always perfect. This cake was moist, lemony and soooo yummy. I'll be making this again soon.

Turkey Chili and Sweet Potato French Fries. I can't say enough how much I love Trader Joes. This was so quick to make and just a little bit healthier than standard chili cheese fries. The sweet potato fries can be found in the frozen food section of TJs. I baked them until crispy. I heated up 2 cans of their turkey chili with beans on the stove. Topped the fries and chili with a little shredded cheese and dinner was ready in no time at all.

Rocky Road Brownies and a Cookie Thief

My favorite thing to do in the kitchen is bake cookies or brownies. I have some friends at work that I pack little baggies of treats to share with. I usually send a few to a neighboring branch and the last couple treats have not made it to their intended recipients. There is a cookie thief in my company! My poor friends are calling wondering where their weekly caloric sugar rush is....What is a baker of treats to share to do?!? So, to replace the oatmeal cookies I sent out yesterday (that disappeared) I am hand delivering some rocky road brownies tomorrow morning. Any ideas on cookie thievery revenge? Don't get me wrong, I'm totally willing to share with whoever it is that is so desperate for homemade baked goods they will take someone else's treats, but culinary justice must be served. LOL