One Day When I’m a Baller

I’m sure you are wondering about my title.  Let me explain, during college The Best friend (Girl) and myself used to say that when we wanted something or go somewhere that was out of our reach financially.  I’m not exactly a Baller but I get to pretend I am once in a while.  This past weekend it was one of my good friend Anna’s Birthday.  I decided to take her out to Graham Elliot here in Chicago.  If you do not know who Graham Elliot is, you might recognize him from television shows like MasterChef Season 1 and MasterChef Season 2.  He is the guy with glasses. 

Cuban in Orlando

Me and the Daughter..btw my hair used to be longer until I chopped it.  I donated it to Locks for Love.

I know I gripped alot about being in Orlando but I did have some good food.  My daughter was little too young to really enjoy the amusement park so we went to downtown Disney.  We walked around the whole area and decided to eat at the first place we saw.  It was a Cuban restaurant called Bongos Cuban Cafe.  The food was really good and it was enough to share with all of us.  We first had some Cuban bread topped with butter and garlic. 

Before I was able to get the camera out, both The Husband and Daughter grabbed the bread and ate them.

Than we ordered fried cassava.  For those that are not familiar with cassava it is like a potato.

 We had vinegar dipping sauce to go with it.  It was like thick fries.  Than we had a

Cuban steak with sweet plantains and rice.  By this time, The Daughter was craving rice.  She ate most of ours. 

For dessert we had a tres leche cake (three milk cake) and The Husband had some Cuban coffee.  He affectionately called it "Crack Coffee".  It was really strong. 

Looks good right? 

This is the crack coffee

Look how small the cup is to a glass of water and it was strong enough to kill a horse.

She was hungry

Happy Birthday To Me:D

This past Tuesday I turned the big 3-0 or as my little cousin would say, 3 decades old.   In my late teens, I though 30 was so far away.  Next thing you know, I'm 28.  I did have a slight breakdown.  More of a pity moment.  I was mainly missing The Family and The Husband had class the day of my birthday so I kinda felt alone.  Luckily my cousin and The Best Friend went out to dinner with me.  The Husband even did good and got me a edible arrangement.  I'm still eating but it was really good. 

We went to La Tasca Tapas Restaurant.  The food was great.  We loved the calamari and octapus.  Sorry there isn't any pictures.  We were a little hungry and focused on eating. 

The Girls was a bit antsy so we couldn't sit as long as normal. 

The Daughter decided to step on a box of goodies The Best Friend and Co got me.  But they are still edible :D

 The poor chocolate cake.  Don't worry I'll eat you soon :D

I don't 30 will be that bad.  It just another adventure or maybe a misadventure.

Girls Night out and My Ate's Birthday

It seems I'm always doing something.  I love being busy and feeling productive but sometimes I just need to get out.  With work, school, family, and of course baking I won't notice until weeks later I haven't seen anybody outside of my daily routine.  It is nice to go out and spend times with the Girls.  My cousins and myself decided to go out for my Ate's birthday (it was two weeks ago).  We watched Valentine's day.  It was really cute and for those who watched Love actually it is very similar but with American actors and actress instead of the British stars.  I recommend it for a girls night out.  Guy may not like it as much unless you get lucky with the sensitive ones.  After watching the movie, we decided to have dinner at Guava in Westmont.  The food was wonderful.  It was a tapas restaurant and you knew everything was homemade.  Appetizer consist of goat cheese in a tomato sauce and toasted bread.  It was so good, nice and warm and the tomato sauce was season perfectly.  I wish I was able to take a picture but we were hungry :D .  Each of us decided to go with entrees instead of the traditional tapas.  I went with a plantain crusted tilapia. 

It was delicious.  The rice and mango salsa complimented the fish very well.  The rice reminded me of a sticky rice and I swear I tasted coconut milk.  It was so good I saved half for The Husband so he could try some.  The dish had a great balance of sweet and savory, just the way I like it.  The rest of my cousins enjoyed the food so much, they were able to finish everything. 

I also saved half my meal for dessert.  How could I not?  We are at a Latin restaurant, I was sure there was something amazing on the menu.  I  went with a guava torte. The cake was so soft, it was a chiffon like cake.  The filling was made of a guava mousse.  guava could be quite sweet depending on how it was made but this wasn't too sweet.  It was served with a scoop of coconut ice cream (btw one of my favorite).  Since it was my cousin's birthday, we got a birthday cake.  It was a chocolate tres leche cake topped with a chocolate mousse.  Lets just say, both desserts was immediately gone.  It was really good. 

It was a great place and I'm hoping to visit again.  It was great to get out and sometimes you need it.  If you can, hang out with your friends or family.  It helps you relax and be yourself even for a night!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!!!

 

Every year there seems to some sort a fight about Valentines day so it was decided, we were just not going to celebrate the holiday this year.  As a family, we went to Chinatown for Chinese New Year.  We met up with my friend Anna from Blondie Cakes.  The morning was filled with eating, shopping, and more eating.  We got there extra early and we still was not able to find parking.  The parade was set to start at 1 pm and we got there around 10 for some food and shopping.  We walked around a little bit before it got really crowded.  The little one was bundled up so much, she could barely walk but she had a ball looking at everything.  We settled to eat at Triple Crown for some Dim Sum.  I love the stuff but again The Baby's allergies came into factor and we were only able to get a few things.  I hope one day she will be able to enjoy food like I do.  As soon as we sat down, The Husband got some chicken feet as soon as someone walked passed.  I'm not a big fan of the stuff but The Baby LOVED it.  She was screaming for more. 

 

  

I think she was more excited about eating from a chop stick

 

* BTW they were used as weapons against us. 

 

We got multiple dumplings and beef short ribs.  They didn't stay on our table long enough to take a picture.  OK we really hungry and the food was really GOOD!  I made sure we got some dessert.  I went with my favorite one: sesame balls filled with red bean paste and I picked bread filled with a sweet custard.  The Baby went for the sesame balls but we had to take it away which she was not happy with but the bread was good enough for her.  It was soft and fluffy.  The filling had the right amount of sweetness.  The consistency was similar to mashed mung beans softer.  We took one home so I could examine the specimen. 

 

`` 

Sesame Ball                               Sweet Bread with Custard

 

The Bread was her favorite.  She wouldn't let go of it to put on her coat when we were ready to leave.  She preceded to eat the pastry the whole time during the parade and she would not share.  That is my daughter.  Since I live so far away now, I had to go shopping in the restaurant supply store in search of a moon pie mold.  Much to my disappointment, I only found the larger size.  Maybe next time.  What is a trip to Chinatown without some goodies from the bakery.  The line was out the door and almost everything was gone.  I was really excited when a mochi type dessert was available.  It is filled with peanuts, sugar, and coconut.  I love the stuff and I always have to get some when I'm in Chinatown.  The parade started and The Baby was in awe of all the colors and music. 

 

 

We went to my favorite place to get Taho.  For those that don't know this, it is bean curd or tofu topped with a simple syrup.  It is great for breakfast and I normally stock my fridge up with it.  I have been going Gourmet on 23rd since I was a little kid and it has the best sesame balls in the area.  They only take cash, so come prepared.  After a whole morning of walking around, The Baby was exhausted so we decided to go home.  I bid farewell to my friend in hopes we get to hang out again and headed home.  Promptly as arriving home, we all took a nap.  I than took inventory of my loot from Chinatown.

 * I know there is a lot but I never get to go there.

 

 

 

Taho - Silky with a sweet simple syrup.  It is great for breakfast.  I'm slightly weird and eat it with Bananas. 

 

 

 

 

 

Coconut Balls filled with peanuts - Similar to a mochi ball filled with a peanut mixture of peanuts, coconuts, and sugar.  This is one of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sesame balls filled with Red Bean - Deep fried goodness made of glutenous rice flour and covered in sesame seeds.  I am going to attempt to make this one hopefully soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fried Taro - The Baby was the only person that liked this.  We didn't like it really.  It wasn't sweet and just kinda tasted fried.

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Cookie - A standard in all Chinese restaurants.  It is sweet but to sweet.  It is a crispy cookie. 

 

 

 

These I haven't tried yet.  As soon as I get home, I'm digging in

 

 Coconut Tart  Egg Tart   Bread filled with custard and topped with Coconut

 

A weekend of Nutella

A weekend of Nutella

I don't know about you but I grew up on Nutella.  It was the favorite topping when The Father would make crepes.  It was great when I would watch TV.  I would just sit on the couch with a bunch of bananas and a jar of nutella.  The combination was genius (yes, I know I'm not the first person that though of this).  I would convince myself that I was eating healthy (you know the banana and hazelnuts :D).  In honour of Nutella day (it was last Friday) I decided to eat nutella the whole weekend.  On Friday night, I made Mexican mole made with nutella and filled wontons filled with nutella and bananas/strawberries.  Lets just say, the wontons didn't last long enough for me to plate it nicely. 

* I still have my point and shoot..hopefully I'll get a new camera

The mole recipe was quite easy (I was totally surprised)

Ingredients

2 Teaspoons of Vegetable Oil

1/4 Cup of finely chopped onion (I slightly suck and chopping so there were big chunks)

1 Teaspoon of Ground Cumin (After much debate with The Husband, we bought some).

1 Teaspoon of Dried Cilantro (I totally read the recipe wrong and got fresh)

1/8 Tablespoon dried minced Garlic (Again I used fresh and I added more since I love garlic)

1 (10.75 ounce) Can of Condensed Tomato Soup

1 (4 ounces) Can Diced Green Chili Peppers (I used a medium size jalapeno pepper)

1 Tablespoon of Nutella (of course for National Nutella day but it is really unsweetened coco)

Direction

In a Saucepan, saute the onion.  Once the onions become tender, add the nutella, cumin, cilantro, and garlic.  Saute for a couple of minutes than add the tomato soup and chili.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a low heat.  Let it simmer for 10 minutes and serve. 

I made mine more chunky and I actually like it this way :D  I also made some pork chops, heated up corn tortilla, and homemade guacamole.  I also made Spanish rice.  The rice was good but I would have reduce the amount of water. 

For the wontons, I adapted the procedure from Giada on food network.

For breakfast I enjoyed some eggs over left over Spanish rice with tortilla, left over mole and guacamole.

 * I suck at making eggs, I never get it to the write consistency :(

Finally on Sunday, I decided to make some mamon.  Instead I substitute the coffee for a large amount of nutella.  It came out well but I wish I had more batter.  I made a small batch and it wasn't enough to fill the cupcake tins :(

 

--
Joy Alegria-Vizcarra
joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com
jsparaisofood.blogspot.com

A Day of Gluttony

 A Day of Gluttony

 

Unfortunately I don't get out much with a one year old, work, grad school, husband in school, and the beginning stages of a catering company.  My life gets a bit hectic.  So when one of the best friends decide lets to go the city and hang out, I'm all for it.  I got to be childless that day so it was a nice change.  We were suppose to attend a fashion but knowing us, we needed to eat so our day in the city turned into a food tour.  Our love of food is on the sick side but I guess that explains my blog. 

We didn't know where to go so we were driving in Chicago looking for food.  Chicago is the BEST place to find food.  Living here is probably why I love food so much.  There is so many different cultures and nationalities that contribute to the great food collection of Chicago.  We generally start on the north side and make our way south.  This time we started on the Northside and stayed north.  Our first stop was on Division and Halsted at Goose Island.  Most people may not know this spot because it is right across the street from Cabrini Green(Section 8 housing).  The neighborhood is improving but it wasn't the greatest place to be in.  When you see two little Asian girls walk in an establishment that patron a certain nationality, people will stare.  That generally happens to us when we go there but the food is worth it.  They specialize in Deep Fried Seafood.  It is the best place to get deep fried scallops and they are not stringy on the size, these are large pieces at a great price.  A bag of 1lb scallops would run you 9 dollars.  That also included hot sauce.  Sorry I don't have a picture because my phone got the blue screen of death.  Technology and myself are not friends.  Lets just say we finish off the bag within 10 minutes.  It was just that good. 

The next place is a choice The Father would approve of.  Pequod Pizza on the Northside.  It is right by the Webster Movie theater.  Every time The Father is in town, he has to get this pizza.  They only have two or three locations now but it is worth the distance (I unfortunately live 40 miles away).  We got a pan pizza with mushrooms, fresh basil, pineapple, onions, and extra cheese.  They are quite generous on the toppings.  The pineapples was actual slices and not chunks and we had cheese overload.  The crust nice and crunchy with a hint of butter but not to thick as a standard pan pizza.  We ordered a small and we were only able to eat 1 piece each.  We wanted more but we also wanted dessert. 

Next we went a couple doors down to Vanille Patisserie.  Their desserts was beautiful and very good.  We stood there staring for a good 10 minutes trying to decide what we wanted.  We ended up wtih three different desserts so we could try them.  One was a Mango mousse, Pistachio mousse, and a Coconut Mousse with pineapples.  The Best Friends favorite was the mango mousse while mine was more the coconut mousse.  As you could see, we finished it off. 

  

We also brought home a associated pack of french macaroons.  The coffee ones were my favorite. 

We had our appetizer, entree, and dessert, you would think we were done for the night.  I wish I could say that but nope.  We went to whole food just to "look" around and came out with a much of food.  I finally found Gluten :D .  Than we found ourselves hungry yet again.  So we went our old hangout during college.  Dappers in Addison, IL.  It is a great family restaurants with large portions.  By this time, we were way too tired.  So I forgot to take pictures.  I settled for breakfast crepe with strawberries and The Best Friend had a Russian Ruben with homemade thousand island sauce.  We will always love going to these places for the homemade food.  By this time, it is about 10 pm and we don't believe how much eating we did that day.  It was worth it.

Joy-Joy