So what do I eat? Well plaintains obviously, but traditional style cuban black beans and rice is my dish of choice.

Of course I’ve been giving it that Bay Area Flair with some avocados!

(Oh and as a side note best you be careful when pitting avocados!! Leave those babies on the counter while you remove the nut. Why? Oh because then you won’t end up like me! I learned this lesson the hard way on Sunday when I buried a good inch and a half of kitchen knife into my palm. It made for a less than amusing trip to the ER to get stitches, but at least now I know my health insurance works! Oh, and no I wasn’t making the garnish you see for the beans and rice when I had my exciting accident. I was preparing avocados for avocado, mango, and tomato salad.)

ANYWAY.  Here, have a recipe! (oh measurements. . . i should start being exact!)

Cuban Style Black Beans (this will make a good sized batch)

-2 cans of undrained blackbeans (Goya is my fav)

-1/2 cup water

-lots of garlic!! Seriously, lots. I think I did about 6-8 cloves.

-half to 3/4 of an onion chopped

-bell pepper (i like red). . . half to a whole depending on your preferences

-2 tbsp. EVO

-2 tbsp. cooking wine (if you have it)

-1 Bay Leaf

-2 pkts. Sazón GOYA without Annatto (I was SO EXCITED to find this locally-you can find it at any food store in South Florida but here? not so much. Check your local spanish grocers, that’s where I found mine!)

-1 tsp. brown sugar

-oregano to taste (1 tsp-ish)

-tsp vinegar

-cumin to taste

-salt & pepper to taste

Bring everything to a boil in 1 pot, turn down the heat to a slow simmer, and let it simmer uncovered for at least 10 minutes. Letting it go for a bit longer won’t hurt anything, but make sure to take it off the heat before half an hour or so goes by as it will begin to make your beans soggy (which is kinda yucky)

Serve over rice or as is!

As they look about half way done. They smell awesome!

<3!

My roomie had a birthday and we had a not-a-birthday-party. When I asked her what she wanted in a cake I was told “Chocolate!!” And so I obliged. And here I give you The Stats of This Cake:

-2 layers of Intensely chocolate cake! With Chocolate Chips!

-center filling of Belgian chocolate pudding!

-Completely iced/frosted with Nutella! And topped with sliced strawberries and Pansies ^___^

I’m pretty proud of this one, it came out almost exactly as I pictured it. And I got to use my new cake pans. Now I just need a cake carrier thingy. Though not for this cake. As it was all eaten with much gusto until it was all gone.

Mmmmm chocolate cake. Sadly there are not pictures of its innards as I was distracted by the delicious noms before I remembered that my camera existed. So distracted were we that even the ice cream was forgotten!

And now a recipe:

CHOCOLATE CAKE CHOCOLATE CAKE! (adapted from a recipe at allrecipes.com)

• 1  package devil’s food cake mix
• 1  package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

-grease 9 inch cake pans and preheat oven to 350

-mix together all ingredients until smooth, and pour evenly into the prepared pans.

-bake for around 25-30 minutes or until test stick (I use a piece of spaghetti) comes out clean.

***(I use boxed mix as a base because, quite frankly, I’ve made many chocolate cakes from scratch and none of them are any amount of better than the boxed mixes. They’re just a whooooole lot more effort. Also Alton Brown supports the use of boxed mixes so its totally legit.)***

On a side note, I’m excited to get back to blogging! My netbook had some really special keyboard failure (its hard to blog with nearly a dozen keys not working and the shift key stuck so I am always yelling) and I had to wait for a new power adapter for my laptop. But now I have returned! <3!

• # 1 I”m starving and tired and somewhat lazy when i get home from work. The food disappears into my mouth before I think to take a picture of it!
• #2 When I DO remember, I have discovered that my kitchen is absolute fail at after-dark pictures.  Seriously. All my lights are extremely extremely yellow and despite setting changes and experimentation, Nada.

Thankfully this won’t effect me as much now because of the time change, but when I do cook after dark expect more pictures like this:

I call it Onigiri at Dawn. Taken the morning after because there was actually enough light at 7am .

What is this strange triangular rice thing you ask?? Oh, well that’s an onigiri! They are Awesome! Basically it’s a rice ball, in a triangular shape (from a mold).  Easy access to things like onigiri molds and hi-chews are an upside to living over on this coast. They are quick to make, portable, tasty, and versatile.

The onigiri in the picture is stuffed with hard boiled egg. I also made some this week with tuna salad in the middle ^_^ The egg ones made for a quick breakfast I could eat one handed while I attempted to get out of the house on time. The tuna ones come to work with me to be nom-ed at lunch.

It’s also just a really fun word! Onigiri!

Really all you do to make onigiri is:

-cook up some sticky rice however you like it (this batch had a bit of lavender in it with the salt and pepper)

-while still hot put a layer of rice into the mold, followed by a layer of your filling, and then a layer of rice on top, and mold them.

-pop them out and individually wrap them in some plastic wrap. this will help them keep their shape as thy cool and also keep your rice from getting too hard in the fridge as it keeps in the moisture.

You can, of course also skip that whole wrapping nonsense and eat them all hot and delicious! They’re best that way. . . but then I would be sad at lunch (ok, well my wallet would be when i shelled out the cash for foods), or hungry at breakfast!

Thanks for reading guys!

<3!!!!

Beets, herb salad, goat cheese, cranberries, and some homemade honey-lemon balsamic vinaigrette.

What? This isn’t an avocado! Very good, keep reading ^_~

I am also spoiled for really amazing Mexican food. My Florida roots of course make this doubly true for epic Cuban food.

Rice. More of that, yes please. I’ve taken to putting a bit of lavender in it lately.

My love of beets is also well supported by living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kitchens here love them some beets! I am learning. In fact the other night beets were on the menu in my kitchen.  Kate (my roomie) taught me what to do with these strange root veggies of deliciousness.

They're so ugly they're cute!

No longer covered in dirt!

These beets are Gold beets, not the red or purple ones. Which means my hands didnt turn purple. This is always a plus.

Beet fundamentals!!

-They are done when they are fork-tender. This seemed to take forevers.  Next time we will cook them covered. Kind of forgot to this time around.  They have less moisture so they are a slower cook.

-WEAR GLOVES if they are not gold beets! Seriously. Everyone at work will think you’ve been doing inappropriate things in grape jello. . . or something like that.

-Similarly do not WEAR anything you particularly like while cooking beets. They splash when excited.

-Beets+ Goat Cheese = Bliss + Cranberries + Vinaigrette = NIRVANA

-You can also boil them. . . its kinda easier. . . and kinda less messy. But they’re not as fancy!

-The greens are edible. Make them like you would Kale ^_^

Uncooked but peeled and de-topped. Pretty!

What we did!!

-Washed, peeled (i also peeled my finger a bit. . . don’t do that part), cut in sixths or eighths, and put in a glass baking dish with broccoli and garlic. Tossed all of these things with olive oil, salt, and pepper 9and a smidgen of ginger).

-Cooked till it seemed like forever. . . probably about 40 minutes. We pulled them out and put them on top of herb salad and added goat cheese, cranberries, and a honey-lemon balsamic vinaigrette that I made.

Honey-Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette

**I dont measure much when I cook. . . this is true for this dressing**

-about 2-4 tsp of honey

-half a lemon’s juice

-about 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

-about a tsp of dijon mustard

-salt and pepper

-olive oil. . . maybe 3 tablespoons

whisk everything but the oil together first, add the oil slowly while whisking furiously! or you know, quickly.

Everything to taste, of course because I fail at measuring.

Enjoy!!

<3!

I used the same dough to make 3 different types of cookies.

These are basically the same, the difference being that one is rolled in powered sugar and the other in a cinnamon and sugar mix before baking ^_^

Now these. Oh these.  Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprints.  Yes Please!

These guys were made by making an indent in the ball of dough (after rolling it in the cinnamon sugar of course ^_~) and filling that indent with some very delicious tart raspberry preserves that I was given upon moving into my new apartment before baking.

Have a recipe! It’s adapted from allrecipes.

**Please note the dough has to sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours before being rolled and baked! I didnt realize and had to put off the baking until the next day. . .don’t be fail-tacular like me!***

Chocolate Dough!

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Give cookie sheet a verrrry minute greasing. I like to lay down some tin foil and give it a spritz with some Pam.

Roll dough into one inch balls with lightly oiled palms. OILED PALMS ARE A MUST! Very sticky!

Coat each ball in confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar mix before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

Make indents and add in preserves for thumbprint cookies ^_^

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Viola! Most Deliciousness!

Lemony, moist, and so so so good.

I actually surprised myself on this one. Its one of the best lemon cakes I’ve eaten and totally the best one I ever made myself. Because this was really just a “ok I have x, y, and z in the house already” sort of cake. Last moment, thrown together, and awesome! Next time I want to put poppy seeds in it.

Have a slice with greek yogurt for breakfast. I know I did! ^___^

Lemon Cake!
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
zest of 2 lemons

Glaze
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup white sugar

Cake!
~Preheat oven to 350 and grease your pan, I used a loaf pan and the timing reflect this. For shallower pans decrease time in oven.

~Beat butter, sugar, lemon juice, milk, and eggs together in a bowl.

~In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into egg mixture slowly and alternating with the milk. Fold in lemon zest and pour into pan.

~Bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted cones out clean (I always use a piece of spaghetti ^^). Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes as you make the glaze.

Glaze!
~Mix lemon juice with sugar and stir well, until sugar is mostly dissolved. Should be fairly thick.

~ Pour or spoon glaze onto top of cake and let set. It becomes this amazing crunchy shell. Its awesome.

<3!

I do blame Japantown actually. A few years ago while staying in the most insanely awesome hotel room in Japantown I frequented a little breakfast stand. Which served eggs over rice. Sticky rice. Noms. And ever since then its been a craving of mine. There’s just something about the texture and the way the yolk melds with the rice. . . seriously people. Its amazing.

Even prettier when you add avocado! Mmmmm. You can’t see it but there’s a melted half-slice of pepper jack between the egg and rice. Breakfast Heaven. In a pretty ikea bowl ^_^

Having a rice cooker helps make this easier of course. I’ve always hated cooking rice on the stove. I’m entirely too impatient for it taking forevers. For the rice cooker it’s:
-1 cup rice
-1 1/2 cups water
-any seasonings you want in there (salt & pepper is my usual MO)

And you put it in, push a button, and it toes all the work for you. Even shuts off on its own when its done (about 20 minutes)! Oh technology so much love.

Earlier tonight I got bored and was craving lemon deliciousness. I’d teased myself earlier by preparing the beginnings of tomorrow’s shaker lemon pie (paper thin sliced meyer lemons left to macerate in sugar and a pinch of salt overnight. Yes Please.) My whole kitchen smells of lemons! Its amazing and delicious and a total and utter tease! So I baked a lemon cake!

Recipe and pictures tomorrow when there can be pictures in natural light. For all that my kitchen is awesome its after-dark lighting combines with the beige tile to completely kill food photography. Utterly.

And perhaps I shall chronicle a bit of my local farmer market ^_^

Oh Bay Area, I <3s you so much.

Why hello there meyer lemons. . . I have plans for you tomorrow!!

This batch came out beautifully! Do you want me to dip them in chocolate and send them to you? You know you do! I’ve got some Sees milk chocolate hanging around at the moment!

Brownies Customized for Maximum Deliciousness!! ($18 for the whole batch!)

Made these for the guys downstairs as a present for moving our new sofa and tables into our new apartment. Gotta replace those calories!!

I also brought up a couple of the marshmallows and received complete bafflement. "Wait. What? You can make marshmallows?!?" Consensus was that they were fascinatingly squishy, unexpected, and awesome. Success!