California Take 2

Hello everyone I hope you are enjoying your last few weeks of summer! I just got back from a weekend trip to Southern California where we visited Huntington Beach, Disneyland, and finally LA where my younger sister had the opportunity to try out for the Voice.  Before every trip I do my research to discover some of the popular local restaurants so that we know exactly where we will be eating.  Another must was that all restaurants are dog friendly because Izzy came along with us.

As soon as we got to California we stopped at the Park Bench Café which I picked especially for Izzy.  They had a specific dog menu called the "canine cuisine".  The restaurant is located in the middle of a park and you eat at picnic tables.  The best part was that it was only about 6 minutes from the beach we were visiting. It was so delicious and there was something on the menu for everyone.
 

My dad ordered a breakfast burrito that had potatoes, cheese, egg, and much more.  He said it was delicious!

My sister was so excited to hear that they had sweet potato fries.  She loves Smash Burger's sweet potato fries and said that these were just as good if not better!

My mom ordered a veggie omelet with grilled tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers.  But the best part was the fresh avocado that topped it off.  Also, to go along with her omelet was delicious fresh melon. Once again she said it was very enjoyable!

And finally, I ordered Izzy a peanut butter covered bone from their canine cuisine menu.  She licked the bowl clean!

After the Park Bench Café we headed to the dog beach where they were preparing for the Vans US Open Surfing Competition. We stayed on the beach for about four hours and it was so much fun.  By the time we were done swimming we were ready for dinner.  We walked along the pier and along their shops.  We stopped at Bruxie: the gourmet waffle shop.  I have never tasted a waffle better than this! They were savory waffles so it wasn't sweetness overload.  The waffle I had was a Buffalo Blue Cheese Waffle sandwich.  It was GREAT!

 

 

My mom and my sister shared a Chicken Bacon Avocado waffle sandwich.  From what I heard they really enjoyed theirs too.

 

 

After the sun went down we headed towards our hotel in Anaheim making one more stop, Afters Icecream.  I was so excited to go.  I found this ice cream place on Instagram months before and as soon as I heard we were going to California I was working it into our schedule.  It is fabulous and once again there is a flavor for everyone.  I got their famous cookie monster, which is a milky bun with blue icecream and cookie crisp cereal.

 

 

My mom had cereal and milk icecream with cereal on top.  She also thought it was so good.  It is such a good place and I highly recommend going there if you are ever near their locations.

 

 

On day two we experienced Disneyland for the first time (although it was my older sister's second time).  We packed a lunch because there food can be very expensive and of course we wanted to save room for their famous snacks.  We even packed Izzy a special peanut butter sandwich because she had to stay at the Disneyland Dog Kennel.  But it was a wonderful experience for Izzy and I highly recommend their dog kennel.

 

 

Since my older sister had already been there she was very anxious to show us the Dole Whip.  She had tried it when she visited for her senior trip.  For those of you who are unaware of what Dole Whip is, it is a fruity, almost like sherbet, ice cream that has a pineapple taste.  It is sooo good.

 

 

Another must have treat from Disneyland was there macarons.  I just recently tried my first attempt at making macarons and it was very difficult, but very tasty and I wanted to taste a professional one.  I am so glad that I did.  Since my mom and I are not big roller coaster fans, while my dad and siblings were riding the Matterhorn bobsleds we snuck away to the Jolly Holiday Café where we got a Red Raspberry Rose macaron.  It was I-n-c-r-e-d-I-b-l-e and I HIGHLY recommend it.

 

 

The treat my younger sister had was a chocolate dipped marshmallow mickey mouse head.  She said it was very good.

 

 

 Before the parade and fireworks we stopped for dinner at the Hungry bear restaurant.  There prices were not too bad compared to the rest of the restaurants in the park.  They have filling meals that taste good too!

 On the last day my sister tried out for the Voice.  We were very proud of her because she made it to the second round.  Although she wasn't quite what they were looking for this season, they encouraged her to come back for the next season's auditions because she will just continue to grow and get better.  Overall the whole weekend was a success and it made for an enjoyable end of summer vacation!  I hope you all have a wonderful end of summer!  Feel free to comment and leave your feedback and don't forget to come back and check out next week's post! Happy Summer!

Fourth of July

We all know that when the fourth of July hits, summer is nearing its half way point. Big sigh... Oh well, we still had a good fourth of July and I hope you did too.  My favorite thing about holidays is that I have the opportunity to experiment with creativity and presentation.  I feel like that is key when you are the one preparing the meal.  I also like to get my siblings involved in the prep (and the clean up). I also like to use semi homemade when I can so that I can be a part of the holiday and not in the kitchen the whole time.  I will share with you some very easy techniques on doing just that.

 

 

No holiday is complete without a cupcake or two.  One of my favorite shows on the food network is Rachael Ray, not just because she has a cool name but she also has a lot of easy ways to enhance simple recipes.  One of my semi homemade recipes was my cupcakes.  Rachael Ray takes a simple box cupcake mix and substitutes a few ingredients.  This makes the cupcakes fluffier and tastier. I also decided to add a little color to my white cupcakes.  I reserved some of the cupcake mix and dropped a few drops of red or blue food coloring into it and swirled it with some of the white mix using a toothpick (I did this one at a time after they were already in the pan.)  I also scooped a hole out of the center after baking and while still warm, and placed a Lindt white chocolate truffle inside.  This really took them over the top! They were delicious.  Here is the recipe for the cupcakes: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/18513_cake_over_how_to_make_boxed_cake_mix_better/.

 

 

For the frosting I used a white chocolate buttercream recipe that I found on Pinterest.  Then I topped them with white chocolate designs. I simply melted red and blue melting chocolates and piped them into the designs that I wanted and let them harden in the freezer.  The recipe I used for the frosting is from Sally's Baking Addiction.  Here is the recipe for the frosting: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/08/08/chocolate-white-chocolate-cupcakes/.

I also think it is very important to support the local vendors... I hope to be one someday.  So we went to the farmers market in the morning for a few snacks.  They included fresh salsa, a jalapeno and artichoke dip, and pita chips.  Yummy!

One of the simple things we did for our meal was fruit kabobs.  My sister offered to help and I couldn't pass up because it is nice to have an extra pair of hands.  You may recognize these from Pinterest.  There are multiple ways to do them and of course my sister thought it would be a good idea to use marshmallows for the white.  I also like bananas for the white color.  Either way they were very good!

The other sweet recipe we had was ice cream sundae cookie cups.  Another Pinterest recipe, these ice cream sundaes were the perfect recipe for a hot summer day.  I added cookie dough ice cream and magic shell chocolate for a perfect treat.  It was a huge success. Here is the recipe for the cookie cups: http://lovelylittlekitchen.com/ice-cream-sundae-cookie-cups/.

The last thing we did before fireworks was visit a unique soda shop in Phoenix called MacAlpines Soda Fountain.  My dad and my sister and I had a chocolate egg cream soda, which were delicious.  My brothers tasted the best in my opinion and was a cherry and peach Italian soda.  It was soooo good. Katy had a cotton candy ice cream soda.   I love to explore new restaurants because they inspire me to continue towards my dream.

Last but not least is a little drink recipe in honor of Shark Week which was last week on the Discovery Channel.  This recipe was also found on Pinterest however we decided not to use their recipe and just bought blue Jones Soda and clear Jones Soda that we dyed blue.  They were very tasty and the Swedish fish tasted really good after they soaked up the fizz of the soda.  Here is the recipe for the soda: http://fakeginger.com/2013/08/08/ocean-water/.

 

That is it for this week.  I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend and my blog post.  Feel free to comment because I love the feedback!  Have a good week and don't forget to check out my next blog post. :)

Summer Fun and Easy Recipes for Kids

Happy July! I can't believe I am already a whole month into summer.  I've been doing a little bit of experimenting with quick and easy recipes that are also simple for kids as well so this week is all about snack recipes.  Keep in mind that these recipes were made over the course of the last month not all in one day :) One of the first recipes I made was a recipe that my friend Jack shared.  Jack also has dreams of being a chef one day and although he is a young 10 years old he has a lot of talent. The recipe is for jello fruit roll ups.  The best part is you can choose any flavor you want from blue raspberry to cherry.  Another great thing about this recipe is that is only takes a few ingredients and there done super quick.  Here is the recipe for the fruit roll ups: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/05/jello-fruity-roll-ups-recipe.html.

 

 

Another cool recipe found on Pinterest by my sister Katy is a recipe for gummy bear and sprite popsicles.  It is a perfectly cool recipe for summer, especially in Arizona!  Again, this recipe only takes a few ingredients and is very easy to make with kids.  However the only down side to this recipe is being patient until they are frozen but it is well worth the wait!  Here is the recipe for the popsicles: http://www.diy-queen.com/2013/02/gummy-bear-popsicles.

 

Oh and it is nice to have cute models, too...

 

My last snack recipe is a ice cream sandwich recipe.  The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any chocolate chip cookie recipe and any ice cream combo.  One of my favorite custards to use is Culvers vanilla custard.  However, any ice cream would do and another favorite is the new Dreyers Custard available in stores now.  Here is one of my favorite cookie recipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/.

 

 

My next recipe is a lunch recipe relating to pizza but much quicker by using crescent rolls.  My mom actually saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it would be fun and tasty to try out.  They were actually very good.  However I would suggest doubling the recipe depending on how many people you have.  For my hungry family doubling the recipe would have been the perfect amount.  Here is the recipe for the pizza rolls: http://thebestblogrecipes.com/2014/10/stuffed-pepperoni-pizza-crescent-rolls.html.

 

 

 

My last recipe is a quick and easy drink. Strawberry lemonade! It is so simple and so delicious  It too is also perfect for hot summer days out by the pool.  Here is the recipe for the strawberry lemonade.  Here is the recipe for strawberry lemonade: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/All-Natural-Strawberry-Lemonade/.

 

 

That is it for this week! I want to say thanks again to Jack and my sister Katy for sharing their recipes with me.  I always look forward to trying out new recipes! Don't forget to check out my next blog post!