Practice Ice Cream Cake

A few days ago, I told my little brother that I would make his birthday cake this year. For the last four years, I'd been getting him cakes for his birthday, but this year, I'd decide to make one. My brother loves ice cream cake, and so, I decided to make him one with his favorite ice cream flavor--vanilla.

I decided to test one out after spotting ice cream at Target. I looked around and picked out a box of mint chocolate ice cream since my test subject for the night is my boyfriend. Mint chocolate is his favorite. He's picky about his mint chocolate ice cream though, he dislikes the chunky chocolate ones or the chocolate chip ones. He only likes the chocolate shaving ones like the Rite Aid brand. Luckily, Target sells a similar kind.

Anyhow, I made the cake with  white cake mix, since it's easy; and hey, all the ice cream shops use them anyways! The ice cream cake was super easy to make. All I had to do is bake a thin layer of cake and then cool it. After that, I placed saran wrap in a cake pan, and placed the cooled cake ont. I then scooped some ice cream in a bowl and melted it a bit with a spoon. Then I poured it into the cake pan onto the cake, and place the whole pan into the freezer for 2 hours. The saran wrap made it easy for lifting the ice cream cake up as well as easy cleaning later.

Lastly, it is optional to frost the cake with whip cream or cool whip. I didn't do it tonight because I just wanted to test out the method. I would also smooth the side out with a knife if I want a better presentation, but I didn't do that either since it's all going to go down into two people's stomachs in less than a day. Haha.

Yummy in my tummy! Hopefully my brother's cake will turn out nice. We'll see how that goes later!

The Joy of Pickling

Another one of the memorable things that I did at the beginning of my lazy non-blogging break was pickling! I never really pickle anything before. I have made cucumber sonomo, a Japanese salad which involves vinegar, but other than that, no experience in pickling what-so-ever.

The first thing I want to pickle was red onion! Why? Not long ago, I had a delicious salad from Ad Hoc, which contains pickled red onions. I was craving for more after that. By the way, Ad Hoc's food never fails me! I looked at my Ad Hoc Cookbook for reference since afterall, I want it to taste just like it.

Ingredients:
2 large red onions (about 1 1/4 pounds each)
1 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Instruction:  (make about 4 cups)
1. Cut off the top and bottom of each onion and cut lengthwise in half. Remove and discard the outer layer. 2. Slice each onions to 1/8 inch thick slices, following the natural lines on the outside of the onion.
3. Pack the onion slices in a 1 quart canning jar, reserve any slices that don't fit.
4. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
5. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the onions. Once the onions begin to wilt, you can add any remaining onion slices to the jar, gently pushing them down into the liquid to submerge them.
6. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refridgerate for at least 24 hours for up to 1 month.

Try them on a bed of salad, they add a little crunch and sweetness to it. Very delicious!

They also taste great with salmon as I was mixing some onto the salmon also! Happy pickling!

Blue Velvet

I'm back! I haven't been blogging for awhile, but I have been eating and dinning as always. I need to catch up on my posts. Starting from this one...this was awhile ago, around September I believe, but hope it's still good and entertaining!

I was inspired by the Blue Velvet cake I had from Milk Cafe & Ice Creamery the last time I was in LA. With blueberries in seasons, I whipped up a batch of cupcakes almost like it.

Cupcake batter can be like a work of art, especially when food coloring is involved! I tried to use as minimal amount as possible because what goes in must come out, and it won't be as pretty as before.

I love blueberries. They are great snacks filled with anti-oxidants and vitamin C. I kind of over added blueberries in the cupcakes though. The texture of the cupcakes differ depends on how much you add. If you want mushy blueberries in every bite, then add more! If you want more cake, then add less.

Whipped up enough for my relatives who came over to visit.

Bluish green inside since I didn't add too much food coloring. It is still a blue velvet though!

Moist and sweet, but not overly sweet.

Plant Cafe Organic

Pier 3 at The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94111
(415)984-1973

OR

3352 Steiner St, San Francisco, CA 94123
(415)931-2777
http://www.theplantcafe.com/

I don't have anything against inorganic food, but organic food always strike me as fresh and healthy! So after a morning at the farmer's market at the Embarcadero, I stopped by The Plant Cafe for a quick brunch.

The cafe offers outdoor seating with great view of the bay. It also offers heating lamp to make sure the customers are warm on cooler days.

The lunch menu offers food like salad, burgers, pizza, pasta, oysters and a delightful wine list. Everything seems ordinary but is organic. At the Marina and Downtown location, they also offer "create yourself salad" and fresh squeeze juices and smoothies. The cafe's signature Plant burger strikes me...it's housemade with lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews and bulgur wheat. Yummy! You can choose your breads from regular burger bun, wheat bun, and variety of sliced bread. You can also choose what to go in it.

The Swiss and Mushroom Plant Burger

The burger patty is very soft and flavorful, but I cannot taste specific ingredients that was in it. The bread was toasted perfectly. The mushroom and melted Swiss cheese added some softer texture to the burger. I LOVE this! It was so good, I ordered it again when I went again.

I also tried one of the pizzas on the menu. It was my favorite pizza, Margherita, but it comes with corn also! The pizza consists a thin layer of cheese, lots of heirloom tomatoes, basil and corn. The crust is thin and soft toward the center but crunchy at the edge.

 

Margherita Pizza with Corn

Mimosa with Fresh Orange Juice

And...wash down the meal with a glass of mimosa made with fresh orange juice!

Ti Couz

3108 16th St

San Francisco, CA94103

(415) 252-7373

Like pho, crepe is another one of my comfort food. I think it's because it usually contains cheese or sauce. It's warm, gooey, soft, hearty and delicious! I am used to going to places like Squat and Gobble, Crepevine, Crepeville, etc, but it was nothing like Ti Couz.

Ti Couz is a French crepery located in the Mission District. The door front was hard to spot because I swear, I'd passed by it so many times but never noticed it until I decided to look up where it is and go. The service there was awesome. The waiter is pretty helpful and attentative. I'd been to Ti Couz two times, and both times, they left a big jar of water in case I wanted more.

Buckwheat Crepe with Mushrooms and Mushroom Sauce

I first heard of this from my coworker Kathy. She highly recommended it, especially the mushroom sauce. Then after checking out Yelp, many Yelpers said the same great things about the mushroom sauce being a must try. I personally love mushroom, so there was no doubt that this was my very first Ti Couz order. The crepe was folded in square-form with a thin later of mushroom stuffing inside and warm creamy mushroom sauce on the outside. The crepe itself was made with buckwheat and is crunchy around the edge and soft around the center. The buckwheat crepe itself already possess tons of flavor! I can eat it like bread or crackers! The mushroom sauce was very rich in mushroom flavor but was a bit too salty for my taste. So, the second time, I order a crepe with a side of mushroom sauce.

The crepe itself looks flat, but it was stuffed with mushroom.

Buckwheat Crepe with Egg, Ham and Cheese

This is another one of my favorite. It tasted great without any sauce whatsoever. It was simple and very hearty. The crepe was extra crunchy on this one since the stuffing was much dryer. The egg was made sunnyside up with a perfectly bright and runny yolk, which acted like a sauce itself.

I think I will come back here indefinitely! There are many varieties and combinations on the menu that you can create yourself. Ti Couz also serves fresh juices, Italian soda as well as beer and wine...so it's perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner!