Creamy Tomato Soup

Well Hello there… This is embarassing.  It appears that I have neglected to update this blog in, awhile… Oops.  I promise it’s not because I was lazy!  (Well, maybe a little.)  (Maybe a lot.)  My apologies.

But enough about that…on to the food!  One of the best parts of moving up to Chicago is now I actually get to attend all the weddings I get invited to over the summer.  One particularly special one a few weeks ago, featured the most amazing creamy cheesy tomato soup so good I may have…umm…kinda…maybe…licked the bowl when no one was looking…?? 

I absolutely had to have more because, well, clearly that little bowl was not enough for me.  And so began my first cooking project in the new apartment.  Now, I know that it’s summer and insanely hot/humid outside.  But if you can’t sweat a little for good food…well buddy, I’m afraid we can’t be friends anymore.  Sorry.

Blackberry Sorbet

As if that Strawberry Frozen Yogurt wasn’t enough to convince you to join me in my newfound love for making homemade frozen treats, here’s a Blackberry Sorbet to tempt you with.

Note about Blackberries:  They have huge seeds.  You’re not gonna want that in your sorbet.  So whip out your strainer and get to work.  It’s really quite amazing how good the finished product tastes.  Really.

P.S.  All my bags are packed and ready to go.  The next post on this blog will be made from my new home in Chicago.  See you there!

p.p.s Every single time I typed the word Blackberry in this post, my mind did a double take and I thought I was talking about my Blackberry phone.  Crackberry indeed… One day I will get an iPhone and Blackberries can return again to being just a fruit.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

I have always always wanted to try making homemade ice cream.  Often I catch myself fawning over the latest newfangled ice cream machines but can never justify the hefty price tag.  Two hundred dollars for a machine? No thanks, I think I’ll just go to Jarlings instead…50 times.

But then one day, it just occurred to me…people have been eating ice cream…forever.  Like, before machines were invented.  So I’ll just make it without a machine.  Why why did I not think of this earlier.  So much time and so many opportunities have slipped through the cracks when I could have been enjoying my own homemade frozen treats.  Jean…get your act together.  wha wha…

p.s. Remember when I made Pink Lady Cupcakes and gushed over how the cake batter tasted exactly like strawberry ice cream and I couldn’t stop myself from eating it all?  Well people, this is the real deal…(and minus the looming threat of salmonella so really, double win.)

Watermelon Lemonade

Darn you Katy Perry and your infectious songs that play and replay uncontrollably in my head.  It’s like a virus that has slowly crept into every facet of my life.  At night when all is quiet and I begin to drift away, all of a sudden, in my head I hear, “nothing comes close to the golden coast”. This morning in the middle of my CPA exam, a mash-up of KP’s greatest hits played in the background of my mind, swirling in amongst all the accounting jargon.   Every time I hear someone coming in from outside comment on how it’s so hot, I feel the urge to finish their sentence with “we’ll melt your popsicles, oh oohooh oh.”

Oh KP, I hate that I can’t get your summer anthem out of my head, but I love it at the same time.  I don’t live in California, but if the official State uniform for Summer is Daisy Dukes with Bikinis on top, I might want to move there.  For if I tried to pull off such daily attire in the Midwest, the old ladies at Wal-Mart would certainly glare at me in their Old Navy American Flag tees.  Perhaps when I’m in California, KP would also allow me to borrow her cupcake bikini and purple hair wig.  I was just saying the other day how I needed more edible heat-wave appropriate clothes.  Oh man…all this excitement has gotten me worked up.  How about you?  Let’s all cool down with a nice summer drink so our throats will be prepared for another loud chorus of California Gurls.  I mean…we have to be prepared; it only plays like, 50,000x a day on the radio:

Dear America

Happy Birthday.  Here’s a cake.

Sincerely,

Denim.

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

I don’t know where you are, but it is sickeningly hot in St. Louis right now. Hot and sticky, disgusting.  So disgusting that both my Mom and I have given up on cooking.  It’s simply too hot to crank up the stove.  It turns out my dog, Cami, is the smartest of us all.  She’s taken to sleeping on top of the A/C vent all day, hogging all the cool air.  She’s even started eating Watermelon, cold juicy watermelon.  What a smart little dog.

So it goes without saying that if the stove’s not getting cranked up, the oven certainly is not going to be used…or is it?  If I’m gonna turn on that oven, ruining the delicate temperature balance of cool air in the house, it better be for something good.  And folks, this muffin is good, nay, great and completely worth the sacrifice.

Sugar and lemon zest are muddled together and sprinkled on top of the muffin.  When it comes out of the oven, it seriously tastes like lemon candy.

People, it’s delicious. Go make it. The end.

Banana Pudding

I just realized how often I eat bananas; just alone on this blog, this is probably the 4th, maybe 5th banana recipe post..??  I would have never pegged it as my favorite fruit but apparently it is!  Hmm…well, anyways…Banana Pudding  yumm…Just look at it.

Blueberry Muffins, take II

Ok, so I know I’ve already done a Blueberry Muffin post.  And I’ve been making my muffins the same way for years.  But this just goes to show you that  sometimes the old way is not the best way.

I recently tried a slight variation of that old muffin recipe and, man, these are good.  The old ones are delicious, but they get a tinsy bit greasy when cooled from the vegetable oil.  These muffins are a slightly ‘dryer’ (for lack of a better word) and more muffin-y (if that makes any sense at all).  I thinking this may be my new go-to blueberry muffin recipe.  Change is good my friends.

(And this time, I made my muffins with fresh berries so the pictures turned out much better!)

Paella

I’m not the biggest fan of seafood, but my family loves it.  And since cooking with saffron has always been on my list of things to do, a Paella dish was born.

Ok, I know this is not the most authentic bowl of Paella (so I used Chinese rice instead of fancy Spanish rice. I’m Asian, it’s what I had on hand. What do you want from me??)  But it was tasty and that’s all that matters.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, I’m just going to say it.  My summer guilty pleasure is Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City.  I know that its just a bunch of crude housewives bickering back and forth, pointless entertainment.  But it’s so entertaining!  I gotta say, I’m totally Team Bethenny.  Not that I think she’s the nicest character of the series or anything, but because I love her one liners and just find her quick wit entertaining.

On the show this season, there was a special emphasis on Bethenny’s status as a “chef”.  So naturally, I had to do some investigating.  Turns out, she’s a natural foods, self proclaimed “Skinny Chef”, and has several books out teaching women how to be naturally thin (whatever that means…)  I did some more digging and found some of her health food recipes.  Me, being me, of course I need to try one of these recipes!  So off I went.

I’ve always been wary of health foods – especially health desserts.  But, these cookies are good! I wouldn’t be posting them otherwise.  Although, I’m a little iffy about calling them cookies.  They’re shaped like cookies, but the texture is almost a little bread like…but delicious without all the butter and extra calories.  Win-win.