Mochi

It’s been AGESSS (once again) since we last updated, but that’s because this is the first time in months that we have made anything of note.

nomnom mixing in the green tea powder

chocolate ganache! These ended up being wayyy too big to fit in the mochi, so we ended up cutting them in halves, then quarters.

yeah, we cute ;]

finished product!

okay yeah they’re kinda ugly (since yessenia was the only one who was able to make them look pretty =d man, yessenia is magic.. EVERY cooking project she touches always turns out perfect ) but they were pretty nomlicious.

yayyyy! cooking with TJ!!!

Steak Night

Wow this is my first update in a LONGGG time! I’m kinda excited to finalllyyy be posting (: TJ and I had a steak night last week, because I’ve been CRAVING steak like no OTHER since two or three weeks ago. We wanted to be fancy schmancy, so we made pan seared rib eye steak with a side of baby spinach insalate topped with crushed pecans, dried cranberries, and feta cheese. This was the first time I’ve ever made steak, and I’m proud to say that it came out perfectly. Exactly medium rare, not too bloody and not too dry, with right amount of seasoning. I can’t wait to have another steak night, and hopefully we’ll be able to replicate this masterpiece XP

insalate

rib eye

Chicken Pesto!

I'm soooo glad that summer = more cooking with friends! Last night we made chicken pesto (with pesto from mix). I really wanted to try making pesto from scratch sometime in the future, but after seeing how to make pesto, I'm not quite so sure anymore..


also~ i just got my new 50mm prime lens! So these.. hopefully, are an upgrade in quality over my previous pictures :D

mmmm raw chicken

i wanted to try taking an action shot.. but i set the aperture too wide :[ oh well next time!

seasoned raw chicken omnomnom

presto! done chicken :]

mm 2 sticks of butter went into the pesto. The recipe actually called for four, but we subbed in a cup of water instead.

and the complete meal, with orange juice! yummm <3


I made baked salmon two days ago with S., the pictures will be coming soon, once i edit them all! yayy
I'm so glad that I'm using my camera more :D and learning how to edit properly too! I hope this trend continues :D

Spring and Summer

Summer is finally here, and we've been MIA since the last chilly days of Winter. True to form, the girls of 307 have been busy chopping, stir-frying, and baking up a storm! Since I've been away for the summer ( away, and kitchen-less in the dorms) I haven't been around for the action [ i hear there's been vegetarian pizza? =O ], but I do have some updates of my own to share!
Breakfast Bowl
a lovely concoction of spinach over cheese over egg fried rice, loaded with spicy goodness, as usual. My provolone fit perfectly into my bowl when molded over the rice, so microwaving was, luckily, a clean ordeal. yum!


mmmm stringy cheese... my favorite <3
Tapioca Milk Tea
Since it was the last few days before summer, we were out of our usually abundant stock of boba, so we resorted to regular tapioca instead. We've started making boba milk tea with anything we have on hand, from mango black tea bags to coconut milk. To say the least, we've had some interesting combinations of flavors...


Brunch for Four
I cooked for three of my friends after finals ended, to thank them for constantly swiping me into the dorms during the quarter. On the menu : Eggs rolled in Green Onion Pancakes, Pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup, and shrimp fried rice.




and the boys cleaning up after the meal:


Yay!
I also made cheesecake last week, and forgot to take pictures of it :[ Even though we forgot to add vanilla, the cheesecake came out AMAZINGLY. Topped with raspberry pie filling, they made an amazing end to the steak night we had Friday.
Then, last night, A., S., and I made crepes. As a meal they were wrapped around hash browns, ham, tomatoes, and a sprinkling of cheese. Then, for dessert, tucked around a generous slice of cheesecake. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of either meal, but I will resolve to take my SLR to A's place more often when we're cooking.

Magic Bullets

The first time TJ told me that she had gotten a Magic Bullet for Christmas, and that she brought it for the entire apartment to enjoy, the first thing that came to mind definitely was NOT a blender. I was immediately like, “wait, why would we want to share THAT?” Of course, not everyone understands my sense of comprehension… or humor, for that matter, so TJ didn’t immediately catch on.

Ten embarrassing minutes later, I finally realized that TJ was referring to a blender, and we’ve been happily experimenting with it since.

Banana Blackberry smoothie

6 cubes ice

handful blackberries

half a banana

cup of orange juice

 

 

Strawberry Banana Soy Smoothie

I’m not quite sure what went into this one, but it was pretty darn delicious!

 

 

It makes omelets too! I think next time, I’ll blend the ingredients separately from the eggs, because I had to pulse the blender for a while to get all the egg mixed in- which means the filling ended up being a great deal more mushy than I would have liked. It was still delicious though (especially because we topped it with Goat cheese ;) ).

Then, because I remembered that I still had a couple avocadoes left in the fridge, we decided to test the Magic Bullet’s guacamole making capabilities. Unfortunately I forgot to take –end- pictures, but let’s just say that TJ and I were VERY satisfied. and just because I think this is interesting, I tried dragon fruit a few weeks ago!

Oh Sin City

My adventures to Vegas! Hurray!

the leopard I won at Circus Circus!

I like the color of this picture because it's one of those nostalgic-ish semi-desaturated hues

a grinch on the sidewalk of Las Vegas Boulevard! There was also a manwhore, but I'll spare you the eyesore :]

My aunt and my cousin are my two favorite people when I go on vacation. arent they cute? ^__^

a fountain at the newly built citycenter, next to bellagio. The sculpture looked like giant phallic symbols, were carved out of ice, and had hordes of small children queuing for a feel.

oh.

dear.

god.

 amazing fountain behind aria... the colors and the sprays look magical! I love the creativity of Vegas architecture... I really do.

Before there were Mushrooms

As the sugar crazy girls you have probably realized we are, it is obvious that one of the tenets of our day-to-day life is "Dessert First." And why not? We've been cooking up such magnificent cakes and snacks and other various nomnoms (and by 'we' in this case I mean Yessenia and Ana) that it'd almost be a shame not to have dessert first.

Delicious looking? I think so :]

Flan and chocolate cake isn't something you would normally associate with each other, particularly in a bundt pan. At least, before this cake appeared in the fridge, I had never heard of such a thing. But my, it was so scrumptious that I wonder how I ever lived without choco-flan cake.

Time to tuck in!

When you're a busy college student, typical morning fare consists mostly of cereal, a granola bar, or oatmeal (which is the fanciest it ever gets... at least, for me). But these staples get a bit boring when sometimes, cereal has to make do for lunch or dinner too. Imagine my surprise, then, when I wake up one morning to the smell of actual food! Of course it was TJ, the experimental one, whipping up some egg and cheese filled tomatoes. Though she ended up taking the eggs out of the tomato and scrambling them before putting them back in the tomato, these still ended up looking pretty legit. Props, TJ!

mmm yummies.

Usually I love english muffins with peanut butter and jelly, but one morning I found an egg in the fridge. An egg that belongs to me is a rather find because, though we usually have four cartons of eggs in the fridge, none of them ever belong to me. Thus, I thought I should celebrate this discovery by making something special with one of my favorite ingredients: cheese! This variation of the popular breakfast sandwich is vegetarian friendly, and healthy too, because it uses a whole wheat english muffin with low fat pepper jack cheese!

Even though I turned vegetarian a few weeks ago, I broke it for winter break. I'd like to use the excuse that my parents do not approve of me being vegetarian (which is true, by the way- they threw a fit when I went vegan two years ago), but in a way I missed eating meat. I think I am thoroughly sick of meat now though, and am eagerly anticipating returning to vegetarianism. TJ and I have lots of fun recipes that we are planning to try. We will be documenting our adventures here, so stay tuned! ;)