Happy Thanksgiving!

Life has been quite a roller coaster ride the past 2 and a half months or so. Haven't really had time to bake anything! And yes, dobo torte did not happen!

Thanksgiving was quiet this year... none of the hustling bustling trying to whoop out some feast! I shopped for the food on the day of Thanksgiving and started cooking 1 hour before dinner. The usual routine for the past 4 years or so was none stop food network watching for about 2 weeks, then comes the menu planning, shopping list making, trying to empty the fridge to fit a ton of food, grocery shopping, prep for all the food that could be pre-cooked the day before thanksgiving for about 2-3 hours, then cooking the whole day on thanksgiving day!

My sister and I had a nice intimate dinner of filet mignon, lobster and sides of roasted fingerling potatoes and brussels sprouts with a ton of bacon and garlic. Not to forget the yummy pumpkin pie that my sister bought from Balduccis. We went from an almost full bottle of Riesling to some pinto noir then some prosecco. It was nice and relaxing without feeling stuffed from every other thanksgiving!

The left over lobster heads are currently boiling away that's going to be used for some lobster congee.

These $18 steaks were worth every single penny! It was extremely tender and just awesome!

Random pictures from the past few months that I was too lazy to blog about!

Birthday Cake made for D&D.

Texas Brisket Chili

Labor Day Dobos Torte Challenge

This whole week has been pretty hectic, and the funny thing is it's only Wednesday. I cannot wait till the arrival of Labor Day, even though I'm considering going to work. Meeting up with some girl friends on Friday for a shopping session after work, and hopefully I will be able to get out in time. The boss wants his reports to accompany him to his labor day weekend barbecue.

Dobos Torte will be a fun challenge! Hopefully it won't be taken by events. I've never done anything like this before... so if you don't see a follow on post, that means the mission has failed. This was also this month's Daring Baker Challenge, even though I'm totally late! I was glad to see Daring Kitchen made it on Washington Post's food column today. I've been totally obsessed with these challengers and just reading the blogs from these people. The bakers/cooks takes on a challenge each month from a host which posts a recipe. Some advanced bakers/cooks would take the recipe and develop their own flavors.

Wine and Cheese

I hosted a Wine and Cheese party on Saturday! But of course, the star was not the wine and the cheese, it was more of the things that I wanted to make for a long time. I love hosting parties even though I go through tremendous stress before the party. I'll be looking forward for the next party... but usually I need around 2 months to recoup before the next party... perfect time for Thanksgiving!

Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschetta topped w/ Caramelized Onions

Banana Spring Roll w/ Chocolate Caramel Dipping Sauce

Tuna Tartare w/ Crispy Sesame Wonton Chips

Berry Coconut Frangipane Tart

Some of the things that are not pictured due to poor picture quality: Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed Manchego, Mini Pulled Pork Sandwiches. I had Smoked Gouda, Habanero Jack, Creamy Brie, and a piece of left over aged Manchego from the dates in the cheese platter. Very Asian friendly I must say... as most of my friends do not enjoy the stinky goodness of cheese. Although I must say... I'm not too big of a fan on the blue cheese category, unless it's the blue cheese fries from Morton's power hour! Piping hot fries topped with some gooey yumminess. We need to hit that joint up soon! ::Drool::

Speaking of blue cheese...a random thought, I was watching Bobby Flay's Throw Down on Food Network the other day... Bobby had a throw down with Teddy Folkman. Teddy was from The Next Food Network Star! He beat Bobby Flay with his moules fromage bleu, which is mussels cooked in bacon and white wine sauce topped with some blue cheese. I must visit his place in DC which serves killer Belgium Moules and Frites. Granville Moore, Teddy's restaurant reside in Northeast DC. Monday nights are Moules-Frits night!

Finally, I would like to give a shout out to B! I was thinking about you when I was pulling that pork shoulder! Next time!

Good luck to 台灣 on their LLWS Championship game!

What A Weekend!

Eat, bake, drink... That's all I did this weekend! Makoto was amazing! And, amazingly affordable. I had a whole charcoal grilled croaker for about $15 which came with some charcoal grilled mussel soup, sashimi, miso soup, and some cranberry grand marnier sorbet (it was more like a granita). G had their lunch box for $18 which was a steal if you're looking for an array of delicate Japanese bites. After the wonderful lunch with some friends I spent the whole afternoon baking in preparation for Amy's Sushi Party! It was definitely an awesome idea!! Everyone got their hands dirty and made a roll or two. Too bad I don't have the pictures from the party! I brought some Gougeres, Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes, and Orange Macarons with White Chocolate Campari Ganache. Campari was definitely new to me. It almost tasted like orange rinds. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of it... maybe I should have gone with some grand marnier. But, the sweetness of the white chocolate compensated for the bitterness of the Campari which made it less noticeable.

Today is the day to recuperate from last night. Top Chef + Top Chef Master!

Test Drive

After the long anticipation of the camera... the deal was settled last night. I'm still a bit rusty on the handling, but hopefully I can pick it up quick and take beautiful pictures. The pictures already look different from what the point and shoot camera produces.

During all the waiting around for J to come over, which I later found out he had past out at his place after eating dinner... I made some Japanese Purin なつかしプリン. It wasn't the most beautiful presentation because everything was unplanned for, and I over cooked it a bit... but here goes~

Princess Momo

Getting Ready to Start...

I'm not a writer, not quite a blogger, but definitely fascinated by all the blogs that I came across everyday after cranking reports and trying to surf the stingy amounts of internet sites that my company allows us to go on to.

My SLR camera deal will be settled this weekend so I can post, hopefully beautiful pictures of the macarons and all the other things I love to eat and make!

Until then... atleast I thought of a name for my blog, L!