Tag Archives: appetizer

White Peach Salsa!

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Since this year was a hot hot hot year, with little rain, and an early summer, the peaches on our tree ripened so quickly so early in the year. We used to wait until about mid-july or august for harvesting, but we ended up harvesting them in mid-june this year!! So I learned this year that fruit trees bear delicious, juicy, sweet fruit every other year consistently. So one year it will be large and sweet and delicious, and the next will be smaller and less sweet, maybe even sour. Also, after the peach flowers have bloomed and it starts to form the fruit, on the same branches, you have to pick off some of the fruit so the other fruits on the same branch will have enough nutrition to form these big and yummy peaches!!! Darwin’s rule!! Funny how nature works and I have definitely noticed that with our fruit trees. Anyway, we have a ton of peaches so we needed ways to use them up. We made jam and peach salsa. The jam can go on homemade bread and jam cookies during Christmas! I am so excited.

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Jalapeno, Cheddar, and Hot Dog Corn Bread!

Posted in Appetizer, Bread, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch by

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It’s the middle of May and SUMMERRRR is almost officially here!!!! You know I am most alive during the summer months when the days are longer and the sun is shining! Being that I live in SF though, I gotta get out of the city to get this sunshine, so I will take whatever chance to this summer! Since I basically had zero, nada, summer last summer, well except maybe the weekend of July 4th fun, I want to make this summer the best summer ever since 2013!!! My plans this summer are to go to vegas, go camping for the first time, go to another national park, hike more hiking trails, run more trails, eat at a Michelin star restaurant, and explore more of SF! I owe it to myself to be a worldly person and that begins today.

Check out this yummy, easy cornbread I made for the Fight of the Century!!! It’s perfect for summer BBQs or camping trips 😀

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Spicy Cheesy Corn Dip!

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Hope you all enjoyed the SuperBowl and got to eat lots of yummy appetizers and burgers! I am a new football fan – getting into it more and more, year after year!!! I had a lovely time laughing at how silly the Broncos were playing and was basically blown away by the Seahawks defense and skill. BOW. Also, surprisingly, I enjoyed the Bruno Mars and RHCP performance during halftime A LOT. I don’t even like Bruno, but I might have just been converted into a fan! Such a great and entertaining old school performer – classy! (Then I came home and re-watched Beyonce’s performance last year and basically she still did it best – BOW AGAIN). Anyway, I was feeling lazy, compared to Superbowl last year when I made pretzel wrapped hotdogs and kale/quinoa cakes:

Although lazy, I managed to whip up a quick batch of chocolate chip cookies, always a crowd pleaser, and an easy spicy cheesy corn dip to go with the endless amounts of tortilla chips. I have to say the dip was super delicious!!! Now that football is over, there’s still basketball so serve this dip up at the next bball party!

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Baba Ghanoush!

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After a long weekend in sin I needed a huge veggie detox to flush out my system – also I crave lettuce and crispness when I’m hungover. LOL I know it sounds really weird but I really like bland things the morning after. I even bought a few ready made salads from TJ and brought it. It was the perfect idea! I came back and of course SD is crazy hot and I ended up buying hella veggies to make gourmet salads. I think I spent like $75 on groceries. Sort of crazy. But then again I am a crazy veggie fanatic. Don’t judge. For those of you who don’t like veggies, there are ways to make veggies taste good! For example this eggplant dip – baba ghanoush. It is Lebanese and is usually served as a dip or it can be used to be added to other dishes. This is a great dish to serve at a bougie Superbowl party, late afternoon snack, or part of dinner. It even lasts about 5 days in the fridge. It’s so perfect!!!

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Soy Ginger Scallion Turkey Meatballs

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I’ve never really played with ground turkey because I prefer beef and pork. But I came across this recipe and couldn’t help but try it out! Ground turkey has much less fat than ground beef so a lot of people use it as an alternative to beef in things like bolognese and meatballs. I think this recipe is perfect for an appetizer or a quick snack or dinner. So tasty and addicting!

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Pork and Chive Dumplings!

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From time to time I like to go back to my household roots and make things my mom or dad makes. I have been heckling my dad to create a Chinese recipe book so I can use it in the future in my own household. If you don’t know, my dad is a great cook. He can seriously make anything. Right now he is working on perfecting Chinese rice noodles, ya know the ones you get a dim sum. I wish I can be at home all the time to document his successes (i.e. macarons, Japanese cheesecakes) but being that I am in SD, I will have to do my best to find it in my memory to create the things I love eating at home. Here are some delicious pork and chive dumplings. Its a tsk tsk thing though, I did buy the potsticker wrappers this time, but in the future I will try my hand in making the wrappers.

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Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

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This is seriously one of the best fancy side dishes ever. It can probably get you to eat your veggies! (Although it might be a tad bit expensive to eat this gourmet dish all the time!) Anyway, totally worth it if you want to snack by yourself, or prepare it for a hot date. I prefer to not share, so I will just eat it all alone. haha.

A few fun facts:

1. It’s native to most of Europe
2. A recipe for asparagus is found in the oldest known book of recipes from third century AD
3. US got this beautiful veggie in 1850
4. There are albino asparagus!!! WHITE ones!!! Very popular in countries such as Netherlands, Span, France and Switzerland
5. Low calorie source of potassium and folate, with tons of antioxidants
6. South Koreans have studied that asparagus helps with hangovers
7. There is an annual asparagus festival in Stockton, CA (Central Valley) where the main source of asparagus for the US

I hope you get addicted to this dish too! 🙂

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Acai Bowl with Bee Pollen!

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Hot Day? No Problem! Enjoy a vitamin, nutrition, flavor packed ACAI BOWL!!! If you live in SoCal, you totally should get acquainted with this delicious thing because its such a southern cali thing and they have it at a cafe in every beach area. NorCal people, get acquainted too because these are BOMB. My first ever acai bowl was at Swami’s Cafe, in between Del Mar and Solana Beach! I used to go all the time and after a gigantic meal of eggs and potatoes, I always ended with an acai bowl to share. It was also the first time I had BEE POLLEN. Swami’s puts it in the bowls, smoothies, or juices. It is such a dainty little thing and when I looked up where I can buy bee pollen in SD, my search came up with all these nutritional benefits of bee pollen.

What are the nutritional benefits of it? Bee pollen is considered a ‘super-food’ by nutritionalists because it is packed with proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, and antioxidants that can increase energy, sharpen memory, and has been said to be a natural remedy for things such as acne, allergies, and high cholesterol.

Where does it come from? When bees fly from each flower to another, the tiny dust particles of the male seed of the blossom sticks onto a bee’s legs, and the bee produces a number of enzymes into the collected pollen as well as saliva among other things. When bees come back to the hive, they pass through this grate the beekeepers built and subsequently the bee pollen falls into a container that collects it! Sounds awfully gross right? hahah well we eat honey!!!

What does it taste like? Tastes a little bit bitter and nutty.

Where can I get it? I got a bottle of it at Sprouts! It was $10.99 for a bottle. Its not cheap-that’s why restaurants and cafes put only a teaspoon on your order every time. But judging from my bottle, it could last me awhile. I plan to throw it into my protein shakes along with my chia seeds. You can also get it at farmers markets from people who sell honey. You have to ask for it.

But BEWARE: Some people may be allergic to bee pollen because they are allergic to airborne pollen or allergic to bee stings. Before you eat this thing, make sure you aren’t allergic or have specific allergies that might make you have a reaction. See a doctor if you aren’t sure!!! You could do a tolerance test, meaning take a kernal a day and increase it everyday until you reach a teaspoon. Read more on the link I provided below.

More about bee pollen here: Bee Pollen; Risks of Bee Pollen

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My Take on Spring Rolls!

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Fresh Spring Rolls! For those who know me, know that Vietnamese food is my least fav asian food. Nothing against it, but it always meshes interestingly in my taste buds- sometimes good, sometimes bad. I think its all the different fresh herbs and flavors and when I am not in the mood for it, I just dont want it. BUT lately I’ve had a craving for spring rolls! I think I’ve been craving simple tastes with strong dipping sauces. Actually, I don’t really know. My cravings are super random….Anyway, I bought all the ingredients and rolled them up, but BOY were they difficult to roll up!!! Vietnamese people make it look so effortless; I was totally struggling, and had to throw away a few rice wrappers. Sigh… practice makes perfect? I also bought the wrong vermicelli- theres like 5 different kinds at the store -_-. But thank god I had some left from my Thai food making obsession. [more on that some other day]

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