Avocado Pasta Sauce

I had some ripe avocados and I just couldn't bring myself to make guacamole again. I found this recipe on the California Avocado Commission's website, it was very intriguing and so I decided to give it a try. It was really interesting and quite delicious, the avocados work as a creamy alternative to milk products. I don't think it would be as good without the Parmesan or the shrimp, so I highly recommend you include both when you decide to give this recipe a try. 

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Based Scones

  

I used to love getting chocolate chip scones from Starbucks when I was in high school, but for some reason I haven't been able to find a chocolate chip scone there for years, it's like as soon as I graduated high school they were gone. This made me very sad and although I have missed them for years, I just now got to making some for myself rather than purchasing them from other local pastry shops.  My friend Megan is like a professional scone maker, so she helped me with these since it was my first time making scones. These turned out delicious, although they aren't quite what I remember from Starbucks, I must try again until I get that Starbucks quality, my guess is they used a cream base rather than yogurt.

Parmesan Crusted Mahi Mahi

I had some leftover ingredients that I needed to use and so I came up with this recipe. This turned out really good. The Parmesan and Panko worked excellent together and made a delicious coating on the fish. I will most definitely do this one again. 

Whiskey Infused Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Burgers

I think burgers have become one of my top most favorite foods. There are so many different things you can do with burgers, prom plain to super creative like my Spanakopita Burgers, they are always fun to create and delicious to eat. The day I made these I was craving a huge burger at work, my co-worker mentioned to me how her old neighbors used to caramelize onions and mushrooms in whiskey as a burger topping. I knew when I heard her say whiskey infused onions and mushrooms that I would have to give them a try that very night. I did and it was absolutely delicious, it gave grilled onions and mushrooms a whole new tang. So good. 

Seafood Paella

Pa' ella, Pa' ti, Pa' mi (for her, for you, for me)... That was an old saying my Señora would say when she served us Paella for dinner. Paella is a traditional Spanish dish and although my Señora only made it a few times, it was always a treat. So I gave this a try with the seafood ingredients I prefer and I even used some legit saffron that I bought in Spain 5 years ago.

Portland

Over Labor Day weekend, I took a trip to Portland, Oregon to visit with two of my greatest friends, Danna and Cindy. Cindy currently lives in Portland while Danna flew in from Phoenix, Arizona. We all met in Portland and stayed with Cindy in her pleasant suburban home. We had a great weekend of eating, catching up, eating, touring, eating, and hanging out. It was so nice to have a ladies weekend filled with three of my favorite things: food, friends, and lots of laughter. Below are a few pictures to represent my three day trip. I hope you enjoy looking over them and see how gorgeous Portland is. 

In front of Cindy's home with myself, Danna, and Cindy

Nick's Belated Birthday Dinner

Sorry for posting about Nick's birthday so late, but time passed and I just couldn't let this one go. I had to share with you all our amazing dinner we had that night. We got to go to dinner at this amazing restaurant: The Winery Restaurant & Bar, which won last year's title as"OC Restaurant of the Year." We had purchased a travelzoo voucher to get a 5-course dinner for two for the price of one. I didn't manage to take pictures of our food, but just know that every single course was amazing. 

Below is our menu for the night:

Blackened Mahi Mahi

On a recent trip to Costco, I decided to buy some Mahi Mahi fillets instead of our usual Salmon purchase. I decided I wanted to make some fish tacos but instead of doing a Mexican spiced Mahi Mahi, I decided to use blackened Mahi Mahi. This turned out wonderful, next time I may rub a little more seasoning on the fish because there was plenty of room for adding more flavor. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

 It was my co-worker Christina's birthday the other day and she is obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate desserts. So I decided to make these. They turned out delicious, like a perfectly homemade Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Soooooo good. 

Peanut Butter Brownie Banana Pizza

I went to Portland for a girls trip over Labor Day weekend, this was a great chance for me to make a wonderful dessert that I can't make for just nick and I. I stumbled upon this recipe on allrecipes.com and it turned out really delicious. It easy to make and sure does impress the taste buds. I say, give it a try. Yummers. 

Okra Rice

I have been wanting to make something with Okra ever since I saw it being used on Mastechef last summer and since I tasted it at a local Indian restaurant. So when I spotted a bag of Okra at my local Asian Market, Ranch 99, I knew it was about time. I searched through allrecipes.com to find this interesting looking recipe. It turned out pretty good and the Okra was tasty. It was fun to make something new with an incredibly new ingredient. 

Mocha Chocolate Cookie Crunch Ice Cream

 

I had some heavy cream leftover from my vodka sauce so I decided it was time to make some ice cream. I once had this amazing ice cream in Dana Point that was coffee flavored with chunks of cookies and chocolate, it was absolutely delicious. I have never been able to find that flavor in the store and so I thought I would make my own version. It turned out wonderful, a perfect summer treat. 

Chicken Fajitas

A lot of times I decide what to make for dinner based on what I have in my fridge. Tonight I had two kinds of bell peppers and a very ripe avocado. I knew what I had to do, make fajitas. This recipe is based off of how my brother makes fajitas, his secret ingredient is soy sauce... it helps the veggies to bring out their natural savory juicy flavors.

Quick and Easy Garlic "Hot Dog Bun" Bread

A common problem in the summer is that after a BBQ, you may have lots of random leftover food that doesn't really go along with other things, like you may have leftover hot dogs buns but no hot dogs (since the hot dog count never matches the bun count.) I have found that instead of trying to freeze the hot dog buns for the next time you have hot dogs, just reuse the buns for a whole other type of meal. Hot dog buns are basically rolls cut in half, which happen to make a great canvas to create some garlic bread. I made these to accompany a pasta dish I made the other night and I can't tell you how great of an idea it was, not only was it quicker and less messy since there was no slicing involved, but they turned out super tasty.

Giada's Penne With Vodka Sauce

 I have had vodka sauces before, jarred or from restaurants, but I have never attempted it at home. Although this Giada (TV Network: Everyday Italian) sauce I made wasn't completely homemade, it tasted great and with all the fresh added ingredients, it sure tasted homemade. I really enjoyed it and I will definitely make it again.

My Orange County Fair Experience...2011

So I entered one of my food blog posts to the Orange County Fair and guess what...I got third place! So cool. So it all started in May when I was looking through the OC Fair Competitions page because I wanted to enter a photograph of mine, I decided to look through all the culinary competitions when I found the perfect competition for me, Food Blog Posts. I entered in the Directional Blog Post division with my post, Babbi's Sauerkraut Pierogies. As part of entering the contest, you are given a free ticket to the Fair. Since I had yet to hear if I won or even placed in the competition, Nick and I had a date night to the OC Fair, where we surprisingly got to see my blog post posted in the food exhibit center. I got to see my Babbi's recipe posted on the wall with a third place marker, it was pretty cool to see that and I feel so proud and accomplished having placed at all. 

Fried Green Tomatoes

My friend gave me some nice plump green tomatoes from her garden and so I decided I just had to make some fried green tomatoes. It was the first time I had ever had any homemade fried green tomatoes and only my second time ever eating green tomatoes at all. They were pretty yummy and they worked well as a kind of side dish and/or sandwich topper. 

SausageFest 2011

SausageFest 2011- It has been a tradition that we have Nick's Ultimate Frisbee pals over every year for a feast of sausages. This one was our third annual sausagefest party and we celebrated summer and our friend Iain who was in town from Scotland. Sausagefest was a little more extraordinary this year because I included an array of toppings, we had grilled peppers, sauteed sauerkraut, potato chips, chopped red onions, jalapenos, and every condiment you can think of. SausageFest has been a great tradition and it has been a lot of fun, I can't wait to do this again next year.

Pesto & Bruschetta Mac'N'Cheese

I had a craving for mac'n'cheese and for some reason I wanted to switch it up, try something different than my usual delicious mac'n'cheese. I still had some pesto sauce leftover from last week and so I knew I had to incorporate that basil theme into my mac'n'cheese. Plus, my friend recently gave me tons of fresh tomatoes from her garden and so I had to make myself some Bruschetta, which got me to thinking how great of an idea it would be to make a mac'n'cheese topped with fresh Bruschetta, yummm!!!! And so here is my creation. It was absolutely delicious. I highly recommend it.

Bruschetta

 This is a family favorite recipe that my mother used to make all the time when I was growing up. It is so simple and so delicious. It makes for a great appetizer or even as a topper for Italian pasta dishes.