adapted from Diana’s Desserts and Sprinkle Bakes

Ingredients
9 oz. cream cheese (one 8 oz. brick plus 1 oz. of another brick)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup fresh, whole milk
6 eggs, room temperature – whites and yolks separated
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup extra fine granulated sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. cake flour (i used regular flour even though it’s not really recommended)
3 tbsp. corn starch

Directions
1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over a double boiler.  Cool the mixture.
2. Fold in the flour, the cornflour, egg yolks, lemon juice and mix well.
3. Whisk egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy.  Add in the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.
4. Add the cheese mixture to the egg white mixture and mix well. Pour into a 8-inch round cake pan (Lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof baking paper or parchment paper).
5. Bake cheesecake in a water bath for 1 hours 10 minutes or until set and golden brown at 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).  When timer sounds, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes with the oven door cracked.
6. Cool on wire rack and serve on cold / room temperature.

I am a sucker for trying out new recipes or taking the average of two recipes and making it my own.  This was no different in this year’s Valentine’s Day dessert.  I’ve always had a liking towards a Japanese Cheesecake.  You might ask, how is that different than Cheesecake Factory cheesecake?  Well, it’s fluffier, softer, not as heavy cream cheese tasting and more cake-like, oh so heavenly really.  You probably already have all the ingredients in your kitchen (except I used regular flour instead of cake flour but I hear it will taste even better if you use cake flour) and the hardest part was waiting forever for it to bake.  I’m an impatient baker.    Once done, I used a cookie cutter to make little heart shaped cakelets and Valentine’s Day dessert is served in bite sized heart shaped pieces.  Hope these make your heart go pitter patter, enjoy!

You can never go wrong with bringing a basic chocolate chip cookie to party.  Everyone loves those babies and they get gobbled up in minutes.  But I’m always looking for new ways to spice up basic recipes and I may have met my match with these Toasted Coconut and Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies seen on Doughmesstic.  What takes these cookies to the next level are the:

1) browned butter (must must must brown the butter, don’t get lazy and think you don’t need to brown it)
2) coconut (takes me back to paradise)
3) sea salt (don’t think I can express enough in words how much I love a sweet and salty contrast)
4) chopped chocolate bars (I didn’t have Scharffen-Berger but wish I had. I’ve actually been on the Scharffen-Berger chocolate factory tour in San Francisco before, so fun and yummy!)

I made these over the holidays, hence I couldn’t bring them into work, sorry team, I’ll make another batch when I return at the end of March.    Me, Marvin and my parents finished these off in no time, they went with breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I promise you that these cookies (and you) will be the talk of any event if you make them, the more gourmet the chocolate, the more of a hit you’ll (err the cookies) will be.

So I have a confession to make.  Sometimes when I’m in a blog post preparing frenzy, baking lots of stuff, taking lots of outfit pictures, etc. I get so backed up in content that I don’t have enough time to post then.  Case in point, this post here.  It’s a “The Dish” one if you couldn’t tell from the title, but I actually made these ONE YEAR AGO.  But then somehow November and December got away from me and then I figured it was too late to post about a pumpkin recipe, although I do not have a problem with pumpkin desserts being made year round, mind you.  SO anyways, I figured it was about time I post this… since recipes never really go bad, thank goodness!

Chocolate Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

For the Cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Filling
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

3. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.
4. Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

5. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Place 5-6 chocolate chips on top of filling. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

And there you have it!  A little time consuming, but so worth it.  These little mini bites are perfect for a Fall Holiday party or potluck!  Don’t worry, all the whoopie pies you see in this post had already been consumed (last year), it was only a matter of minutes at the office. 

Well, I just wanted to say once again how THANKFUL I am of this blog, my readers (you), and my sponsors.  I am so happy to always share with you all the daily happenings in my life and honored that so many of you care enough to read and leave comments about it!  Hope you all have a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with a ton of good food!  Our menu will consist of a young chicken (it’s just the 2.5 of us so we didn’t want to go all out w/ a turkey), cranberry dressing, creamy corn casserole, green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, and mini pumpkin pies! 

P.S. If you have a little one in your life… a daughter, son, niece, nephew, or have friend’s with kids, then don’t forget to enter The Rice Babies $20 credit giveaway!

P.P.S. Have you voted for me in the Soon Maternity Blogger’s Style Challenge yet? 

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu?

Recently, in my hunt for the perfect ways to use up my pumpkin, I found this amazingly simple and delicious recipe on Pressed Down, Shaken Together that uses pumpkin and crescent rolls.  Now I have to say that it’s been awhile since I’ve bought said crescent rolls (don’t know why) and since I always love to mix up what I eat I decided to give it a shot.  Boy was this delicious, seriously y’all, you’ve got to try it.  It’s flaky, sweet, tasty, flavorful and mmmm, just feels right with a glass of milk or some hot tea.  So get your ingredients ready and LET’S BAKE!

Pumpkin Pie Croissants (recipe from here)

Ingredients:

- 2 tubes of refrigerated crescent rolls
- 1/2 block of cream cheese
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice + 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 3 tbsp. sugar + 4 tbsp. sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Roll each crescent roll out and cut each lengthwise by 2.

3. Mix together the cream cheese, canned pumpkin, 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, and 3 tbsp sugar.  Generously spread each crescent roll with a tablespoon of the mixture.  (Sorry if this picture isn’t too appetizing, I didn’t do such a good job of mixing up the cream cheese haha.)

4. Starting at the wider end, roll the crescent roll so the smaller end is on top.

5. Now mix together 1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice and 4 tbsp. sugar.  Roll each of the crescent rolls into the mixture so that it is evenly coated with the sweet goodness.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

And now you can finally enjoy your creation!  We ended up giving some of these to our neighbor across the street as a thank you for giving us a bunch of free baby hangers!  But of course we kept some to ourselves too, duh.    I’d eat these as a dessert OR breakfast and are best eaten fresh out of the oven.  Cool thing about this is that next time you can make your own crescent roll filling, oh think of the possibilities… peanut butter, nutella, marshmallow fluff, jam… mmm yes.

While blog reading, I recently just found my new favorite fall cookie recipe!  In the past few things, I’ve been craving all things caramel… caramel macchiato, caramel apple pops, apples dipped in caramel, and of course any dessert with caramels would have been perfect!  So when I stumbled upon these Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, I told myself it was a must for making.  I mean, the main flavors and ingredients, caramel and apple cider packets, are like the epitome of fall, don’t you think?  I sure do!  And let me tell you, when I brought these babies into work, people were taking seconds and thirds and fourths, no joke!  They were gone in no time, all 2 dozen that I brought in (I may have eaten the other 2 dozen, OK, maybe I gave some of those away as well).

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies (by The Cooking Photographer)

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 ounce) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not sugar free*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line rimless cookie sheets with parchment paper. It has to be parchment this time.

2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

3. With a standard (size 50) cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.

4. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooling rack.

Makes 51 cookies (it may sound like a lot, but just make them all, they are THAT good).

*These cookies are best served over a warm cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or any warm drink to soften up the caramel insides.  Or I suggest nuking them in the microwave for about 15 seconds for a similar effect.*

My goal these days as I’m on travel restriction from work because of baby is to bring in a dessert every (or every other) Friday for my coworkers.  It totally makes for a homely, aromatic smelling kitchen every Thursday night at least, oh and wider hips too but that’s in preparation for baby. 

And oh yes, I do have a GIVEAWAY WINNER to announce today!  The winner of the $25 credit to Maple Boutique is Melissa from Simply, Melissa Ashley!  CONGRATS!  Please send me an email to claim your prize and I’ll get you in touch with Maple Boutique!!

What are some of your favorite fall desserts?

On our way back from California a few weeks ago, we came home with a full box of bread from the famous and most delicious 85C Bakery Cafe.  And since we finished that box, all I could think about is wanting more and more bread.  Unfortunately, where I live, we don’t have ANY Asian bakeries… or at least not any fresh one (I think any store that sells Asian breads has them shipped in).  I had this idea for a few days that I would open up an Asian bakery of my own.  For those of you who don’t know the difference between regular and Asian breads, I guess my best explanation for Asian breads would be that they are SUPER soft and fluffy, like melt in your mouth fluffy.  And they come in a variety of flavors and toppings, my faves being blueberry cream cheese, onion, cheese, taro, and really just any cream filled ones, mmmm!  So obviously to start on my bakery, I realized I had to try making some of these breads myself.  I researched all over the web and landed on Christine’s Recipes, namely her Japanese Style Bacon and Cheese bread which uses the Tangzhong Method of baking.  I’m going to spare you from all the recipe ingredients and directions since they are pretty long so please visit her blog post for it!  So here goes my first attempt at it…!

Made the Tangzhong dough the night before.

Combine all the bread ingredients together (used my KitchenAid stand mixer with bread hook on low for 20 minutes).  At this point the dough was still VERY sticky so I did add more flour to be able to form it into a ball.  Once ball is formed, put it in a greased bowl and let it sit for 40 minutes.

Separate the dough into 4 balls, cover and let sit another 15 minutes.

Roll out dough and fill with whatever you like (I used turkey bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions).

Roll it up… mine needs work, you’ll see why later.

Place the 4 rolled up sections of dough in pan and let sit for another round of 40 minute proofing and then brush the top with egg wash.

Fresh out of the oven, SMELLS SO GOOD!!!

3 hours later… and there you have it!!  See the holes in the second piece of bread, I think that’s due to my poor rolling skills, but now I know what I need to work on for next time!

Can’t wait to make this again and fill it with something different next time.  The 3 hour wait is seriously worth the FLUFFY SOFT texture that melts in your mouth and tastes SO MILKY AND GOOD~!  Or you could just come buy it from my bakery once it’s open… yea…

Have you made bread before?  Does anyone have recommendations on bread makers?

What I love about this recipe is that it is simple.  Are you seeing a theme here on my blog?  The simpler and less time it takes to make food, the better.  Without sacrificing taste, of course!  This cucumber salad is just PERFECT for summertime.  It’s light, sweet, tangy, oh and duh… HEALTHY!    Can it get any better than that?  I could seriously never get sick of it.  It’s just the perfect side dish to go with any hearty meal.  Here’s a rough outline of the ingredients and amounts I use (adapted from Allrecipes), hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white vinegar / rice vinegar (i actually like to do half white and half rice vinegar)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes / korean pepper powder(more if you like it spicy)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used toasted sesame seeds)
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green onion, sliced
• 1/2 carrot, julienned

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together vinegar / rice vinegar, black pepper, red pepper flakes and sugar.
2. Heat sesame oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in sesame seeds, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until seeds are brown, about 5 minutes. (If using toasted sesame seeds like me, there is no need to heat it up, just add sesame oil to it.) Stir seeds into vinegar mixture. Mix in cucumber, green onions, and carrot. Cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. I think it tastes even better after 24 hours of marinating together!

What are some of your favorite summer side dishes?

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Here we go with a somewhat random post again today.  I just wanted to ask for forgiveness for being MIA this past week.  As you know last weekend I had an awesome time celebrating my friends wedding in Vegas, this week I had a client in town so was extremely busy with work, I haven’t kept up my shop at all since my last craft fair, I’ve had to turn down some guests posts and giveaways (really flattered that friends have asked though) and I haven’t kept up with commenting on your blogs as much as I’d love to.  I have to say, it’s pretty hard coming back from a weekend vacation… pretty much a vacation from my vacation has been needed and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing (well after a full day of work which is prime blogging time).  Anyhow here goes with my cinco items of randomness, hope you’re still with me! 

1) I made this amazing Mango, Tomato and Avocado Salsa (from Allrecipes) the other day.  I used Tortilla Scoops to dip them out and they were perfecto.  Such a perfect Spring time potluck type snack.  I hope these pictures make you hungry, because that was my goal.    Maybe you can use this recipe for your Cinco de Mayo party, eh?  What do ya say?

Ingredients

3) One of the things I look forward to at the beginning of each month, is an Oh, Hello Friend desktop calendar!  I especially love this months because of the adorable bunny (it happens to be the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Zodiac too)!

4) My sweet 2 year old nephew left me a voicemail last night.  I think I’ve listened to it about 100 times, no joke.

It was in half English and half Chinese.  Here’s some Chinese translations haha.  (Goo goo = Auntie) (Lai =  Come Here)  Click PLAY below to listen!! 

VoiceMessage-Evan to Sandy by sandyalamode

5) Don’t forget to visit my previous post for details on how to download a free THANK YOU card designed by Daily Suze, inspired by my blog!

What are your plans for Cinco de Mayo?

Fried rice. You all know what it is.  It’s a staple dish at every Chinese restaurant.  It’s so simple to make, it’s one of those throw everything in a wok type of dishes, those are the best.  Even better, there’s no “set” ingredients you really need, well except maybe rice, duh!  Here’s one variation that I came up with on a whim the other day!  It has one of my favorite ingredients that always reminds me of my childhood, chinese sausage, nom nom.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup canola oil, divided
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup frozen peas and carrot mix
• 3 links Chinese sausage, sliced
• 6 shitake mushrooms, diced
• 1 small bunch scallions, sliced, divided
• 4 cups cooked white rice (best if day old)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Directions

1. Add 2 tablespoons canola to a wok over high heat and pour in scrambled eggs.
2. When egg is cooked, remove from pan and cut into chunks/strips. Transfer to plate.
3. Add the remaining oil, ginger, garlic, peas and carrots to wok and stir fry.
4. Add the sausage and half of the scallions and cook for another minute.
5. Add the cooked rice, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and stir fry.
6. Add in reserved egg and rest of scallions for garnish.

See how easy that was?  It’s basically add this in, add this in, now add that in and you’re done!    And like I said, you can totally vary the ingredients, swap out sausage for chicken or shrimp, add more veggies, the sky is the limit on this one, foreals.  But honestly, the best fried rice I’ve ever had was at this local Japanese restaurant where they served Ginger Fried Rice…. oh boy.  They made this FABULOUS ginger sauce that they poured over the fried rice, I have a serious weakness for sauces and this one hits the spot every time.  I’m still in the works of trying to figure out how to mimic it, I’ll let you know once I do!!

What’s your favorite kind of fried rice?

First of all, I miss this little booger, I call him that because he’s been sick lately and has a lot of boogers and snot.    The cutest thing ever is that he’ll blow his nose so all this snot is hanging out and he’ll say “Blow, blow” so that you’ll bring him a tissue to blow out all his boogies.  A little TMI, but super cute.    After having spending 4 days with my nephew, I kind of miss him, a lot.  We just always have so much fun together, can’t you tell?

Oh yea, here’s a peek at my new bangs and specs that I purchased at a swap meet for $4.  They kind of look cuter on Evan than me though, but I’m OK with that!    These photos were taken with my sister-in-law‘s iPhone, I kind of want one just for cool photo apps.  I mean who uses a phone for talking anyways, am I right?

Anywho, speaking of things that I love (i.e. my nephew), today I just wanted to share a Mac N Cheese recipe I made for my husband the other day!  It’s not just any old Mac N Cheese folks, it’s got bacon, mushrooms, chicken, tons of cheeses and a super special and kind of expensive ingredient, truffle oil!    Here’s another similar one that’s not sold out already.  I had never used truffle oil or cooked with it before but I know how heavenly it tastes I figured there was a first time for everything!  This recipe was pretty much modeled after Yard House‘s amazing Mac N Cheese with a few tweaks!

Fancy Mac N Cheese

(adapted from food blahg)

Linking this photo up to:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb elbow macaroni, cavatappi, cellantani, or other tubular pasta
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups milk, heated
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 4-6 ounces Gorgonzola cheese (or other blue variety), crumbled
• 1 can chicken breast, or roasted (real) chicken breast, sliced
• Salt, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1 cup fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
• 10 slices bacon
• Cremini mushrooms, as much or as little as you like, quartered
• truffle oil for drizzling

Directions:

1. Fill a large pot with water and set it over high heat. Boil the pasta to slightly underdone (it will cook more in the oven); drain. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. As you’re waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, be productive! Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until barely simmering; remove from heat and set aside.
3. Process cubes of crusty sourdough bread (if it’s a day old, it’ll make it easier on you) — go ahead and process the crusts, too — until you have a cup of breadcrumbs. Set aside.

4. Start your roux: Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour; whisk to incorporate into the butter. Cook 1-2 minutes without over-browning. Add the milk and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil; remove from heat.
5. Add the cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses a large handful at a time; mix well.
6. Toss the pasta with the cheese mixture in a large bowl. Add the chicken now, if you got it from a can. Add it later if you’re using roasted chicken breast. Or you can add it now, whatever.
7. Fold in the Gorgonzola — 4 ounces if you like it mild, and up to 6 ounces if you prefer the potency. Add salt (keep in mind that you will be adding bacon later), freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.Spray a large casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, or grease with butter. Spread pasta mixture into dish; sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over pasta. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and pour over breadcrumbs.

8. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes, or until top has browned.
9. While macaroni is baking, cook the bacon; drain on a paper towel. (Adding the bacon to the dish later will maintain its delightful crispiness.) Discard most, but not all, of the bacon drippings.
10. Brown the mushrooms in the remaining bacon drippings over medium-low heat. Add a pinch of salt to bring out a little of the moisture, but be wary not to make them soggy. They should be browned and fragrant, but still firm. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
11. When the macaroni is ready, serve some up in a bowl, and top with sliced roasted chicken breast, mushrooms, crumbled bacon and drizzle with truffle oil.

Are you hungry yet?  Because I am.  I think it’s about time I bake up another batch of these.  Marvin describes this dish as “decadent, scrumptious and indulgent”.  Are you going to make this already?

P.S. Are you ready for St. Patty’s Day yet?  Well if you’re not or you just love the color GREEN, I’m giving away a headband and a hairpin set over on Oh, Sweet Joy!  And btw, if you need a new crafty and inspirational blog to follow, you should definitely follow Oh, Sweet Joy! It’s a daily read of  mine!!

P.P.S. You still have 2 more days to enter a giveaway for this adorable Spring hairpin set over on Be merry, Kate!  And she definitely has an inspirational and happy blog as well that you should follow, kids.  Do it!