New Apartment, new adventures!

It's been way too long! Moved back to San Francisco, got my own apartment, got a new microwave oven, new adventures!

I've actually been cooking and baking less now that I'm working full-time. I never knew it would take so much time and energy out of me. And there so many good food in the city just a short bus ride or walk away....why do I even need to cook?? Just kidding....

My first baking project in my new apartment was baked macaroni and cheese. YUMMM!!!

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish.

In a large pot of salted water, lightly boil the macaroni for about 5 minutes until half-cooked.

Whisk the egg and milk together in a large cup. Add butter and cheese to the egg and milk. Stir well.

Place the lightly cooked macaroni in the prepared baking dish. Pour the egg and cheese liquid over the macaroni, sprinkle with tons of salt and pepper, and stir well. Press the mixture evenly around the baking dish.

Bake uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is brown.

Orange Cranberry Bread

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Orange-Bread-2/Detail.aspx

Turned out quite delicious. I used fresh squeezed orange juice too! Only change I would make is to use dried cranberries as well and only a little bit of actual cranberries because the fruit is very sour.

Pineapple Fried Rice

The hardest part was cutting the pineapple in half and scooping the fruit out so I can use the shell as a bowl.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

http://gastrophoria.blogspot.com/2011/01/red-velvet-cookies-happy-accident.html

I originally wanted to actually use the red velvet cake mix to make a cake but I didn't try something different thanks to my friend who gave me this recipe. My "lil sis" did all the work and made this lovely dessert in my apartment :] It looks extremely cute, it tastes extremely sweet, but very yummy! I think next time, I might try to make it smaller just because it is a tad bit sweet for my taste and I'd only eat a little bit. Cute party dessert though.

Jacks N Joe

After hearing all the rave about Jacks N Joe, I finally got a chance to go there one day with my friends. Breakfast for dinner? Definitely interesting, but very delicious. We shared a plate of omelette, their monthly special: biscuits in bacon gravy, and their weekly special: strawberry crepes with lemon custard.

Very delicious food. I'd go back again during actual breakfast or lunch time and try their combos and pancakes.

Strawberry & Nutella Crepes

Mmm I've been craving for crepes for so long! And nutella...Mmmmmm delicious on everything and anything.

My friend suggested to follow Alton Brown's crepe recipe and i did: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/crepes-recipe/index.html

Turned out very delicious with strawberries, nutella, and whip cream. But I'm not very good at making the crepes though...how do you make the crepe skin crispy??

Bread Pudding

MMMMYUMMMM! Just made it today, was afraid it wouldn't form but it turned out great! It's spongy, moist, and soft, tastes kinda like french toast! I think bread pudding is meant for dessert but I didn't put that much sugar in it so it's perfect for breakfast. Yay!

8 slices of bread

2 tbsp melted butter

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk (I used soymilk)

3/4 cup brown sugar (although I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Break the bread in small pieces, fill the baking pan. Then drizzle the melted butter all over the bread on top. In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract together. Then pour all over the bread. Use a spoon or fork to push the bread down so everything gets soaked in the mixture.

Then put it in the oven for 45 mins. That's it!! :] Next time I'll probably add some raisins or dried cranberries to add more to it!

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Thai Mango Sticky Sweet Rice

Love this dessert at Thai restaurants and it's been a while since I made it at home too.

1 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Cook 2 cups rice in rice cooker. While that is cooking, mix the above ingredients in a saucepan on medium-high heat until boiling. Then set aside. Once the rice is done, mix the rice into the coconut milk mixture and just mix til you like the consistency. Keep in mind that the rice does absorb the coconut milk after a while.

Then just add sliced mangos on to eat with it! :]

Pan Fried Basa Fish Fillet and Veggie Omelet

I've noticed that I haven't been eating much needed nutrients. So I defrosted the basa fish to get my proteins and decided to make omelette with my favorite veggies for fiber, calcium, and whatever vitamins it has!

Omelette with tomato, mushroom, spinach, cilantro, salt and pepper. Fish seasoned with salt and pepper, pan fried in olive oil. :] yummilicious.

About to finish my meal with soybean pudding :]

Tomato Basil Bruschetta, Sirloin Steak w/Mushrooms, Lime Cilantro Rice, Strawberry Tart

A full three course meal! :] My friends and I made dinner together tonight. Twas nice :]

Appetizer: Tomato Basil Bruschetta

I've been wanting to make tomato bruschetta for the longest time after my best girl friend made it for dinner one time. I finally bought tomato and french bread for it! I mixed chopped tomatoes, basil, black pepper, garlic salt, olive oil together in a bowl. Cut the french bread in 3/4 inch slices. Spread olive oil on one side of the bread, which will be faced down on the aluminum foil. Then put it in the oven at 450 degrees for 6 minutes! It was delicious!!

Lime Cilantro Rice

I love cilantro! I bought it yesterday so I wanted to make anything and maybe even everything I can with cilantro while it's still fresh. (I found a way to keep it fresh for two weeks btw!) So I decided to make lime cilantro rice! First of all, the kind of rice you buy makes a huge difference. I used to buy long grain rice to save money but it's never as good as the Asian rice which costs a little more. Always buy Asian rice, it maybe costs a few bucks more but it's worth it. This pictured right here is jasmine rice. I cooked it in a rice cooker. After it's done, I mixed lime juice and cilantro into the rice. There ya go! It's yummilicious! If you like Chipotle rice, you'll like mine ;]

Entree: Sirloin Steak with Mushrooms and Onions

Feeling for steak and absolutely love mushrooms! Just season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Then throw some onions onto the pan and pan-fry the steak with olive oil! Delicious!

Dessert: Strawberry Tart

Delicious strawberry sweetness! :]

Homestyle Japanese food @ Kitchen Kura in SF

I love restaurants run by couples! It gives a really adorable vibe :].

Kitchen Kura is a small place serving authentic Japanese food. Their prices are pretty good for their portion. The sukiyaki is the best! People on Yelp raved about their nanban chicken...but it was too heavy for me. It was basically deep fried chicken. The chicken was juicy but kind of bland making you have to dip it in their sauce especially for the nanban chicken. Next time, I would like to try the ginger pork which is another item that people on Yelp liked.

Baan Thai in SF

Wide and interesting selection of thai curry. Have you heard of pineapple, apple, or mango curry?? I haven't til I came here with my best girl friend. The appetizer was my favorite: tango taro & pumpkin which is a fried dish with yummy sauce. Mmmm every bite...so goood. Even though it's fried, it feels so light and healthy at the same time! I'm usually not a big fan of pumpkin unless it came in the form of bread or pie, but this is yummilious!!

I love mangos so I decided to give the mango curry a try. It was really spicy for my taste but it was a yummy curry. I felt like I was eating an entree and having dessert at the same time! Portion was smaller than I would like (their cup of soup was served in the same size bowl!) but if you come during the lunch time, prices aren't as bad.

Tom Kha (a spicy coconut soup) was too salty for me. I have a blander taste in soup.

Sisig @ House of Sisig

I haven't had a lot of Filipino cuisine, but if you're hesitant to try, you can't go wrong with sisig. It's marinated pork belly in chopped in cubes that can either be grilled or fried. We went for the grilled, it's delicious! Came with onions and hot peppers on top with some kind of yummy sauce.

Italian sweets @ Steps of Rome Caffe

These both are coffee desserts...which my boyfriend and I happen to be coffee drinkers :]. The was our first stop in our tiramisu journey in North Beach (Italian neighborhood) in SF. He knows exactly how to cheer me up whenever I'm feeling down ;]. His dessert is the Coppa Cafe which has cappuccino gelato along with other good stuff. His was sweeter than my tiramisu, which is also quite good. Although I hate to say...I'm picky about tiramisu too...Cafe Maria is still the best so far.

We came here in the afternoon but from what I know, this place gives a hip feel with the loud Italian music, colorful ambiance, and late hours.

Cavalli Cafe in SF

A truly hidden gem. Homemade desserts and imported coffee from Rome.

Thorough Bread and Pastry in SF

This is truly the best and most delicious pastry cafe ever. Every pastry I eat elsewhere after coming to this cafe is nothing compared to it. I don't even know if that's a good or bad thing, I feel a lot pickier in pastries! First of all, the pastry cafe is affiliated with the SF Baking Institute which is pretty legit already. But the ambiance, service, and the fooood (my gosh the fooooood!!) makes it even more amazing. Big huge thanks to by boyfriend for introducing me to this place.

There's indoor seating and an outdoor patio in the back which is pretty cute. It's like a secluded backyard except with tables and chairs. I recommend going earlier in the day when they have everything out. My boyfriend and I went for a second time to get their Vol au Vent, which is this orgasmic amazing savory flaky pastry with mushrooms and béchamel (you should look that up). But anyway, we went in the late afternoon...maybe 3-4ish and they already ran out!! UGHHH we were sooo looking forward to it, went all the way there just for that. But that's ok, I tried their savory bread pudding instead which is amazing also. The first time I went, I got the rustic tart along with the mushroom pastry. My boyfriend got the almond croissant which is so good! I've tried almond croissants from 3 different places, Thorough's is by far the best!

Baked Basa Fillet

After 5 days of fast food, ramen, and ketchup over rice, I finally had the time to make myself a decent meal for dinner.

Got the basa fillet fish from Superiors across the street and searched for recipes to try. I've cooked basa fillet fish before- the easy way. Just spread salt and pepper on both sides and pan fried it with olive oil. I never baked a fish before so I decided to give it a try.

I chopped parsley (which I ended up putting too much that it was so strong), mixed it in a bowl with bread crumbs, flour, garlic salt, and pepper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. After dipping the fish in lemon juice, I dipped it into the mixed bowl to cover the fish. Spread olive oil on the foil then I wrapped it in aluminum foil, placed on a baking pan and let it bake for 20 mins. (This recipe is meant to include parmesan cheese in the mix too which I'm sure would have made it 10 times better...but I'm still lactose intolerant.)

Came out delicious! Added some parsley for decoration. Cooked spinach and mushroom as sides then WAH-LAH!

29 Cafe by USC

The Grilled Chicken Club w/Fries

Who knew that there's such a decent lunch spot right by campus? I'm surprised I never came in here to try, I used to live right by this place! Came here with my friends for her birthday lunch. Birthday girl got a Tuna Melt w/sweet potato fries. My other friend got a Santa Fe Melt w/sweet potato fries. We all loved our sandwiches and fries! The fries!! Oh my, I love fries and these are soo good! And great service too :]

Baked Apple Stacks

http://beingsuzyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/01/crunchy-baked-apple-stacks.html

My friend got the recipe from there, made it, and it looked so good that I wanted to try it too. Easy to make and a yummy healthy dessert too!

Tani's Kitchen in Daly City

Japanese hamburger steak and curry.

For Valentine's Day, we went to Tani's Kitchen for dinner. My boyfriend had been raving about this place since his friends brought him here. Tani's Kitchen is this cute little place tucked at the side of Westlake Mall. It has only three tables and about 5 counter seats, pretty small place. A family-owned place, with the father as chef and mother and daughter taking orders. The chef sings in Japanese while he cooks! I yelped the place before coming, apparently, everyone loves their hamburger steak and curry so that's what I got. The hamburger steak was really good. The curry is a bit too salty for my taste but otherwise very filling!

Maggiano's at the Grove

This is my lobster, clams, shrimp, mussels with pasta over tomato lobster sauce. Quite delicious!
This is my favorite appetizer dish: mussels. I don't know how they make it, but it is absolutely yummilicious. I ended up eating most of this (plust you can drink the sauce as soup)...so my boyfriend got another appetizer: fried calamari. Honestly, out of all the fried calamari's I've had, Buca Di Beppo has the best.

Anyway, I've been looking forward to Maggiano's for a year, reserving it for my birthday dinner restaurant. When we came last year, there was the All you can eat option for a pretty good value. Plus you can bring leftovers home! But apparently, they changed the policy...only valid for 4 people or more... ]: Sigh. Overall, pretty good food and huge portions.

Katsuya @ LA Live

I came here with my girls for my early birthday dinner. The restaurant definitely looks pretty fancy but the food was also pretty pricey. First of all, I came there thinking that it's another version of Geisha House. The music at Katsuya was not as loud, which is good. I am able to have a conversation with my friends across the table :]. And the waiters/waitresses aren't wearing skimpy Hooters-like outfits or geisha dresses. Whew! This place is actually decent for a nice dinner. I got the salmon dish while most of my friends got sushi dishes. Personally, I don't think the sushi is worth it considering the small portions and the price. This salmon ($15) at least got me full and quite delicious too.

Guppy's Tea House

Picture shown: dark chocolate homemade brick toast
My favorite Taiwanese place to eat! Too bad they only have it in Southern California :[ But who knows? Maybe someone will franchise it in SF! :] Anyway, I tried a couple of their dishes, they're all yummilicious. Their shaved ice and brick toasts are definitely dessert favorites. What I want to try next is their pineapple fried rice. The fried rice is served in half a pineapple!

HAPPY HOUR @ Benihana! Must go there more often!

Half off sushi and drinks?!!! So worth it!! Mondays-Thursdays from 5-7 pm. Instead of paying $8-10 for a roll of sushi (about 8 pieces), you pay $4-5 for a whole roll! Why didn't we know about this earlier?? So I came here for my super early birthday dinner with the $30 bday certificate that Benihana sent me :) thank you! I used it all on sushi! hehehehe! My friends all got the Happy Hour prices! About $10 for two full rolls of sushi and you're good for dinner!

Here's my worth of $30 sushi (the certificate can't be used for happy hour prices but that's ok). Also there's another plate of Las Vegas rolls that is not shown in the picture :]

Hand-pulled fresh noodles @ King of Noodle

King of Noodle on Irving and 18th Ave. This place is sooo good. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's Beijing style? They are famous for their delicious dumplings and noodles! Their noodle soup...ohmygosh...this place may even be better than pho! The prices are a lot cheaper for their huge portions! My boyfriend and I shared a plate of beef and carrot dumplings and a bowl of spicy beef noodle soup (hand-pulled fresh noodles, of course). They make it fresh once the order is received! As you can see from the picture, the soup is extremely spicy! Yummm!

My craving for juicy burgers!

Where's a juicy burger joint in SF? Check out Roam Artisan Burgers on Union St. I got the classic burger (hamburger) and it was sooo juicy. Patty cooked medium rare with a crunchy bun. YUMMILICIOUS!

What's the best food in cold weather?? PHO!

Seriously. Best food in cold weather AND the cure for your hangover. Definitely want to do the pho challenge sometime --> 2 lbs of meat, 2 lbs of pho noodles, and a huge bowl of broth. Finish in one hour. If you finish everything, you get your picture taken, free tshirt, and a free meal. If not, you're paying for the meal. Any takers?