Honey Lemon Cupcakes

I was inspired to make this cupcake when I saw a photo of cupcakes with some candy bees in Women's Day magazines. I was really excited to make the bees more than the cupcakes actually, haha.

I used yellow peanut M&M's for the bees. In the magazines, they use toosie roll for the stripes, but I am not a big toosie rolls fan, so I used chocolate.  I melted some chocolate and with a fork, I put eyes and stripes on the bees. For the wings, the magazine used clear spice drop candy, which I had no idea what it is, so I used sliced almond instead.

The frosting for my first batch was  super duper sour. So I tasted the frosting as I mix the second one. Working with lemon is tricky since they are so sour.

Buzzzzzz....

Tomato & Mozzarella

One of my favorite thing about Italian food...or maybe two...are tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese! They are a match made in heaven! Put them in anything and viola--deliciousness! So not long ago, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella was on sale in the supermarket, and I just could not turn out such an opportunity to fulfill my taste bud in a money saving way.

So with the two ingredients I made a pasta dish and a salad dish. Both recipes are very simple and easy.

Tomato and Mozzarella Penne:

serving size: 2

Ingredients:

4 oz of Penne Pasta

6 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Zuchinni
1 Cup Broccoli, chopped

1.5 oz Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
3 Leaves of Fresh Basil, shredded

1 Clove of Garlic
Chili Flakes

1/2 tsp Olive Oil

Instruction:

1. In a pot of boiling water, boil the broccoli and zuchinni briefly until soft. Drain.

2. In the same pot, cook the pasta until aldene. Drain.

2. In a frying pan, add in olive oil and garlic. Cook until brown.

3. Stir in the pre-cooked zuchinni and broccoli.

4. Add in the pasta and stir. After combined everything, add in tomato and stir.

5. Lastly, add about 3 tablespoon of pasta water into the frying pan.

6. Place everything on a plate, add mozzarella, basil and chilli flake, and serve when hot.

Tomato & Mozzarella Salad

Serving Size: 1
Ingredients:

1/2 Big Tomato, sliced
1 1/2 oz of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
1 Cups of Baby Spinach
1 Slices of Bread (optional)
2 Leaves of Basil, shredded,
2 Tsp of Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar

Instruction:

1. Toast a piece of bread and place onto a plate. Spread Dijon mustard on top of it.

2. Place spinach on top of toast.

3. Assemble tomatoes and mozzarella in alternate fashion. Slice by slice.

4. Top of shredded basil.

5. Drizzle balsamic vinegar on top before serving.

Roadside BBQ

3751 Geary Blvd., San Francisco, CA
(415)221-7421
http://www.roadside-bbq.com/

Going down the 7x7.com 2010 SF Big Eat List, Roadside BBQ was probably the only non-Mexican and non-fancy grilled place. I was a little eager to try it since I pass by it all the time and it's easy on my wallet.

Memphis Pulled Pork Sandwich--Slow-cooked and served lean and tender. Served “Memphis Style” —topped w/ homemade cole slaw

The Memphis Pull Pork Sandwich was the item to try on the list. The bread is very soft, and the pulled pork was tender but not too flavorful. I had to add some BBQ sauce to enhanced the flavor. There is a bit of cole slaw in the sandwich but I felt like it would taste better if there are more. If only they add more cole slaw for the extra crunch, because otherwise, I felt like I am eating a sloppy joe but of course, with better meat.

Smoked BBQ Chicken--Marinated, seasoned and slowly cooked for 4 hours until tender and juicy

The chicken was just okay...it was a bit dry. Other than the skin, the meat was not very flavorful. The vegetables on the other hand was very moist with grilled flavor. The corn bread broke apart very easily and was too soft to my likely.

I was a little disappointed with the BBQ meat there, but at least they have a couple of BBQ sauces to choose from--spicy one, honey mustard, etc.

I think I would only go back convienent-wise, otherwise I'll go elsewhere.

Turtle Tower

5716 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA
(415) 221-9890
http://www.turtletowersf.com/

I hate how it's so sunny where I work and so cloudy once I get back home into the city. Every gloomy, cloudy or even hangover days (don't really experience much of those anymore)...I crave for a hot bowl of noodle soup, specifically a bowl of pho.

I know pho is rice noodle in Vietnamese but in my head, pho is the kind of rice noodle that is thin, but not as thin as vermicelli, and chewy but not as chewy as ramen. Pho reminds me of noodle you will find in a plate of Pad Thai. Little did I know, different pho restaurant uses different type and shape of rice noodle.

Turtle Tower's Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) was on the 7x7.com 2010 SF Big Eat List, so I knew I had to go try it. So on a windy cold San Francisco night, I went to Turtle Tower on Geary. They have another location in the Tenderloin if you are around there. I got to the restaurant around 8pm. Once I sat down at the restaurant, I ordered a Pho Ga right away. The place closes at 8:30pm, so be sure to order before then.

Pho Ga

Simple enough, it looks the type of chicken noodle from another restaurant near my house, which later I found out is also a Vietnamese noodle restaurant. The Pho Ga soup from Turtle Tower was very rich in chicken flavor. It tasted like it was made from a whole chicken, but with more salt or MSG because I left quite thirsty. The noodle was very smooth and chewy, definitely better than the other place I'd tried. They gave you a decent amount of chicken. The chicken was just like typical shredded chicken.

The restaurant is pretty clean, and the service was okay. The pho ga was pretty cheap, about $6 for a small and $7 for a large. The Pho Ga was good but I don't think I will specifically go back just for it when there is one near my house. If I am in the area though, I'll definitely stop by.

Fran's Chocolate

1325 1st Ave., Seattle, WA--(206) 682-0168,
2626 NE University Village St, Seattle, WA -- (206) 528-9969,
10036 Main St, Bellevue, WA --(425) 453-1698
http://www.franschocolates.com/home.php

They are gooey, sweet...stick to your teeth and has a tint of saltiness--I'm talking about salted caramel. Okay, when it comes to salted caramel, I heard some about Fran's Chocolate. Ever since my friend Ei-lun tweeted about it and my friend Mei posted a picture on her tweetpic. I knew I had to try some...like just one (because I am not really a caramel fan...besides Twix). Then I found out Fran's Chocolate offers a milk chocolate caramel with smoked salt and a dark chocolate with grey salt...then I knew I had to try two!

When Mei's birthday and my coworker Dezirae's birthday came around, I knew I had an excuse to actually order them. I made it sounds dreadful orderng them just for myself because Fran's Chocolate is located in Washington. So the only way for me to get them is to order them online with a shipping fee, since it has to be 2 days or overnight shipping to ensure freshness! But yup, I am willing to do that if it's for someone else. Yay!

The packaging is amazing--very fancy and green. The salted caramel? Delicious! The chocolate coating was thin and light, and I love how the chocolate wasn't too sweet since the caramel center is already sweet enough to compensate. The salt was not overly salty either--so it was well balanced with the chocolate and caramel. By popping the whole piece into my mouth, or eating it bite by bite, I can still taste the chocolate, the caramel and the salt distinctively.

Maybe if I'm ever in Washington, I will try their other chocolate product as well. For now, the salted caramel is enough to keep my sweet tooth happy!