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Last weekend I attended Foodista's International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC 2010). Amongst over 250 food bloggers, revered speakers sat amongst us and the conference host and organizers did not disappoint.
Okay, so I added the word “sophisticated” to the name of this cake. It is sophisticated. The sweetness comes from the dried figs that are generously sprinkled throughout the cake. The lemon zest is a subtle compliment with the fruitiness from both the olive oil and figs and buttery nuttiness from the pine nuts. I [...]
I’ve been bitten by the slider bug. Last weekend I had the most delectable sliders when I was in Seattle: Cod BLT’s by Chef Jason Wilson of Crush and Alaska Seafood. I don’t know what was in those sliders besides the obvious ingredients by the title, but those sliders were amazing. I shamelessly when back [...]
Heartfelt thanks, to each and every person who entered the drawing for the California Figs giveaway. If I could, I’d send the giveaway to each and everyone of you who participated and left comments. Drum roll please for the lucky comment number …. The winner of the TeenieCakes.com California Fig Giveaway: Monet of Anecdotes and [...]
There are hundreds of fig varieties, but only about six of those varieties are grown commercially in California. I'm having a virtual Fig-Fest party with all my Teenie Cakes' friends!
I’ve been anticipating good things from this recipe for Warm Cherry Upside-Down Cake since one of my swag bag goodies from Camp Blogaway included the Eating Local cookbook by Janet Fletcher & Sur la Table. While the recipes I post on Teenie Cakes are dishes or desserts that I enjoy and would feel proud to [...]
Fruits created to be eaten as they are. However, during the seasons when a fruit is at its abundance it is the opportune time to create beautiful dishes and desserts with nature’s colorful and fragrant gifts. One such stone fruit are the apricots. Truth be told, I have never included apricots in a baked dessert [...]
Favorite stores I frequent include the Williams-Sonoma located in San Diego’s beautiful outdoor Fashion Valley Mall. Since last fall, I’ve been enjoying their complimentary technique classes conducted by both Heidi and Deborah (see earlier posts Complimentary Technique Classes and Attempted Steaks au Poivre ) which has introduced and inspired some culinary adventures for me. Earli
Don't let the season escape you without enjoying homemade goodness, baking up traditional desserts like peach cobblers.
Popsicles made with fresh fruit, fruit juices and fillings with low to non-fat Greek yogurts. Things to consider before purchasing popsicle molds & benefits of Greek yogurt versus regular yogurts.
Blueberry and Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes Before you know it, all the fresh berries in abundance at your local farmer’s markets and grocery stores will be out of season. Shop for seasonal berries while they’re at their sweetest and juiciest. While the prices are reasonable, pick up an extra clam shell with the [...]
Strawberry Walnut Muffins There’s an abundance of luscious, bright red strawberries in the markets right now. Strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie and salads with strawberries flash through my mind of seasonal fruitful summer-time treats. I try to make muffins, scones, etc. at least once a week so that my true better-half has [...]
No butter in these scones so the texture is lighter. There's a crunchy brown sugar topping and flavors of ginger.
Banana Macarons with Coconut Cream This month on MacTweets we are creating macarons inspired by a wild animal or “Taking A Walk On The Wild Side“. My macarons weren’t inspired by a wild animal, but instead by adventures to a jungle…a regular Indiana Jones wild adventure! Through the jungle we [...]
Wild Alaskan Salmon with Spinach, Tomatoes & Feta This is a healthy, flavorful and light dish that leaves you feeling satisfied after the meal. It’s an elegant and quick to prepare dinner. We try to include salmon in our diet at least 1-2 times a week. This is just one of the ways [...]
Carrot-Zucchini Muffins with Candied Ginger When I saw this recipe entitled with carrots, zucchini and ginger I immediately thought…BINGO! I’ve been looking for a good zucchini bread recipe and I like some versions of carrot cake. These muffins have great flavor that just brim up to the delicately textured crowns. There’s a slight saltiness and the [...]
Chile Relleno Casserole Making true, authentic chile rellenos involves frying. It’s a labor of love and quite a process making them…roasting chiles and preparing them, stuffing the chiles with cheese, flour them and dip in egg mixture, deep fry them and then add to a big pot of sauce. Sometimes we’d be [...]
Spanish Rice My favorite rice is Spanish rice. Not any and all Spanish rice sides, but my Mom’s rice. Most Mexican restaurants’ rice don’t come close to the texture, flavors and fresh vegetables that make up the rice I now serve at home too. My Mom even makes it with brown rice [...]
Besos (Kisses) – A Mexican Sweet Bread I’ve borrowed the recipe to these little Mexican breads, called Besos, from Joseluis Flores’ new cookbook “Dulce: Desserts in the Latin-American Tradition“. There were some slight adjustments. Rather than Besos (which means “kisses”), I’m calling my batch Besitos (“little kisses”) because I mad
The UPS truck pulled up my driveway rather abruptly last week. That’s not so unusual, except I wasn’t expecting any deliveries. He left me not one, but two mystery packages. I enjoy nice surprises! I’ll share one of the package’s contents in the next post, but in one particularly larger box I received three varieties [...]
Vanilla and Dulce de Leche (Cajeta) Macarons For the Mac-April (Mac Attack 6) challenge, our macarons were to be influenced by an April holiday. This month many schools observed Spring break. During my childhood it was called Easter break. Even...
Salsa! No canned or jar salsa here! Once you've made fresh salsa, you'll wonder why you ever store-bought this easy condiment. Salsa can be very versatile and ingredients like cilantro (also known as coriander leaves and Chinese parsley) should not...
Left to Right: Scott & Jaden Hair (SteamyKitchen.com), Matt Armendariz & Adam Pearson (mattbites.com), Gary Nicholson (Relevant Trafik), Diane Cu & Todd Porter (WhiteOnRiceCouple.com) I took a little road-trip to Los Angeles this last weekend to attend the "Build Your...
Do you recall the German Chocolate frosting by Betty Crocker that came in a box? All you had to do was add milk and butter to the powdery boxed mixture and voila! Delicious German Chocolate frosting. Really, it was good....
Do you remember the German Chocolate frosting by Betty Crocker that came in a box? All you had to do was add milk and butter to the powdery boxed mixture and voila! Delicious German Chocolate frosting. Really, it was good....
Do you remember the pink box with white twine wrapped around it of Twin Dragon Almond Cookies (Chinese Style)? When I was a kid, my Mom would sometimes treat us to a box of these delicious cookies (my parents didn't...
This is a versatile muffin - have it for breakfast, serve it with dinner or drizzle some honey on it and have it for dessert with some coffee or tea. As Carole Walter describes them, "velvety crumb" is accurate. These...
My late father-n-law loved to make chili...and he was good at it! It was a cooking project that pretty much lasted the weekend because he boiled his own beans and took a lot of tender, lovin' care in the assembly...
Earlier this month I finally opened the December 2009 issue of Food & Wine Magazine. The issue included an article entitled "Lesson in French Cookies: Baking Macarons" by Emily Kaiser. The write-up featured French pastry chef François Payard demonstrating to...
The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and...
The sauce drizzled over the brown rice is the revelation that it's the pan sauce that's the icing on the cake and you'll want even more of it to accompany the rice or salad bed you have cradling the chicken.
Giveaway! This couldn’t have timed up better. Really! I’m usually very private about these things, but…today’s my birthday. Yup. Another candle on the birthday cake! Although the Teenie Cakes site has been up for several years, I really only consider that I started the site in November 2009, as that is when I breathed new [...]
I’m discovering that there are many delicious ingredients that pair well with figs. A previous post mentioned a delivery from the California Fig Advisory Board sharing with me and TeenieCakes.com a sampling of both fresh and dried California figs. What better way to start off a meal and series than with some tasty small-bites or [...]
It’s been toasty warm here in Southern California and the forecast doesn’t sound like any relief is in sight for the rest of this new week. The weekend welcomed a perfect reason to try a new cocktail at home with some good tequila and healthy juice. POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice sent me and the TeenieCakes.com [...]
There are certain things in life that may be very well inescapable. Some of those things are medical conditions that run in the family. You know, the same questions and quizzical survey your doctors routinely ask every time you pay them a visit. They want to know your family medical history and assess your possible [...]
I mentioned in an earlier post that my kitchen was “inaccessible” for a couple of very long weeks. I had already purchased some prized produce like blackberries, apricots, nectarines and figs in anticipation of seasonal, delicious culinary creations to come. Blackberries do not keep well for very long. They get mushy and kind of disgustingly [...]
The flavors are subtle but blend deliciously well and packs unusual flavors that I'm not accustomed to using together. The brown butter, figs, hazelnuts & basil are perfect unions of unlikely ingredient combinations.
A couple of summers ago, Hubby and I were in Santa Barbara enjoying a wine tasting get-away. We didn’t plan ahead and pack a lunch for the day. About mid-afternoon we were in Santa Maria, famished and in need of lunch or serious nibbles in order to continue enjoying the beautiful countryside and tastings. We [...]
A couple of weeks ago I was ready to go and had a line-up of things planned I wanted to try in the kitchen. Ingredients stocked and fresh produce abound I was not prepared to have my kitchen inaccessible for what feels like months. I’ve had a clamshell of beautiful, bright and firm summer cherries [...]
Summer dinners call for quick and flavorful, using fresh seasonal produce. This pasta meal incorporates crisp, vibrant tomatoes and basil with a kick of pepper flakes.
During warm seasonal weather, want to assemble something fresh and sweet without a lot of fuss, frying, cooking or baking? This beautiful seasonal display of melons is not only eye candy it’s nature’s candy as well. Cantaloupes, Honeydew and Watermelons can provide: Source of Vitamin C (cantaloupe) Source of Vitamin A (cantaloupe) Source of potassium [...]
Banana Strawberry Muffins with Oat Streusel This is another spin on Banana muffins, using seasonal, fresh strawberries. If you’ve been visiting TeenieCakes.com, you may have already caught my fondness for: Baking Muffins Fruit and vegetable based muffins Breakfast type food It’s not to imply that I don’t enjoy cooking or other types of baked goods. That [...]
Dinner doesn't need to be complicated. Adding a side salad with fresh greens, vegetables, nuts and cheeses is not only a healthier choice, it's quickly do-able even after a long day. Summer welcomes lighter fare and the opportunity to enjoy seasonal produce to create a myriad of different salads as either a meal or an accompaniment to larger meals.
Fingerling Potatoes Local markets have made room for sections of colorful fingerling potatoes. More than once, I’ve made a detour with my shopping cart to investigate their interesting shapes and jewel-like colors. Fingerling potatoes are not to be confused with red potatoes or new potatoes. They are smaller, stubby finger-shaped tubers that are described to have a slightly creamy a
This week we welcomed the summer season. With the warmer weather, some herbs that were flourishing may start to show signs of stress. The last time I wrote about our fruit and infant herb garden I was excited to share the myriad of herbs we had just added. Everything was growing very well and I [...]
A simple and quick idea for grilling peaches and serving it with a sweet cream on the side.
Winding down from the day and taking a moment or two to sit back and relax with a glass of red wine before dinner is something I look forward to sharing every evening with my true better-half. White wine is considered an apértif in place of a cocktail and enjoyed before the evening meal, but my usual preference is [...]
Rum-Glazed Shrimp and Spinach This last holiday weekend was much cause to close old chapters and welcome new ones. It’s also, most importantly, a day that we should consider it a type of Thanksgiving, if you will. Thankful to the men, women and families that have served and are serving our country so [...]
Pâte à Choux Puffs Serving some of the most elegant of desserts, like éclairs, cream puffs, profiteroles and croquembouches requires mastering the Pâte à choux pastry dough. Other baked uses include crullers, gougères and St. Honoré cake. The same dough can be fried to make beignets and churros. I wrote an earlier post on Chocolate Eclairs and [...]
