Wednesday, August 09, 2006


Fusion Panini using pita bread + cheese + grilled vegetables (zucchini,eggplant & portobello m.) Plus a green bean almondine salad.

Pecan Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies my mom made.

PRACTICUM @ Patty's Pantry


Here are some biscuits I made @ my practicum site some are plain some are lemon MMM

Here I made 2 different batches of biscuits to test a new recipe for my work site (practicum job) one recipe is from On Baking and the other from Professional Pastry...the later turned out to be the BEST!

banana muffins & apple cinnamon muffins I made at my practicum site "Patty's Pantry"

Tulips or 2 lips??? GET IT? this was a customers request to make a gigant chocolate chip cookie with 2 lips... then he was going to tell his wife he had requested for her not "2 lips" put "tulips" on the cookie and that this was what he got!!! Sort of a prank for his wife or who knows what LOL we get all kinds of unusual requests but never the less they are fun to make and decorate :)

I decorated this "Millionaire Cheescakes" at work. They are filled with caramel,chocolate chips and pecans!!!! MMM Kind of like a Nestles Turtles!

Tabuleh Salad with pita bread


Making a tabuleh with pita bread / Here I added a little yogurt with a little Zaatar mix (green specks) to give my tabuleh a nice flavorful base. Zaatar is a arab spice mixture consisting mainly of dry grown thyme hence the green color plus spices and toasted sesame seeds. It has many uses; the most popular is to add some oil and zaatar to your pita bread and toasting some call it the arab pizza :)


Then on top of the yougurt & zaatar goes the tabuleh


Finished pita & tabouleh salad

PERUVIAN FOOD & Sweets for a party


TAPAS, short bread before baking

tapas (short bread) meet caramel / it was so easy to just add the filling with the pastry bag!

sandwiched alfajores with caramel

ALFAJOR tower....I got this perfect cookie cutter @ Sur la Table from Ateco that cuts very clean and neat crinkle-edges perfect for alfajores and biscuits!!!

ALFAJORES topped with power sugar

E with piped caramel...LOL made a couple of this "E" alfajores just for fun...using my new "E" cookie cutter from Sur la Table


ALFAJOR on close up oozing caramel that sandwiches the 2 shortbread cookies with dripping chocolate top / DON'T BITE the screen!!!!


chocolate striped ALFAJORES


Before adding the piped meringue. I made the custard by reducing by half 2 cans of evaporated milk + 2 of condensed milk one the milk acquires the caramel color you turn it of cool it a bit and temper in 5 yolks. Set in the fridge overnight.

Suspiro Lime�o = Peruvian caramel custard with Italian Meringue (boiled icing) + cinnamon / MMM!!! very velvety sweet! This sweet is typical in the peruvian capital Lima,Peru.

Chicken + pickled onions with "aji" (peru's yellow chile) MMM!

Peruvian Empanadas!!!! MMM!!!!!!

The lunch table


Peruvian Lunch, I was told these was all very typical Peruvian food.

-Cilantro rice with chicken + pickled onions (mmm),
-Papas a la Huancaina (fried potatoes with Aji sauce),
-Causa (mashed potatoes with tuna),
-Black Beans
-And DELICIOUS empanadas, which where stuffed with so many things like meat, onion,raisins, potatoes,green olives... MMM
To drink we had "Inca Kola" which is Peru's alternative to Coke. It is very bubbly and mildly sweet.

THE END! Peruvian lunch dessert: Suspiro LimeƱo and Alfajor

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Jimmy's Food Store (Italian Market)


LOCATION: Jimmy's Food Store
Address: 4901 Bryan St, Dallas, TX 75206
Phone:(214) 823-6180

HEY!!!!!!!! Adriana!!!!! @ Jimmy's Food Store / the place was full of Italian import foods EXCELLENT source. In the deli area you can either buy cuts of meat, cheese, olives OR you can eat there since they have a small deli bar. The selection of groceries is huge and there is even a small produce section with great low prices! Well worth the visit.

I particularly recommend:
-Saeco brand teas specially the Peach and the Berries teas SUPER Good! Better than regular ice tea, much BETTER

-The COOKIES!!!! the cookie selection is HUGE! try the "Sfogliatine"

-PASTA!!!! all you pasta freaks will go crazy here
there is even hand made pasta sold in the Italian way wrapped in neat blue paper packages.

Also if you are looking for affordable fresh whole basil they sell Italian basil by the POT!!! yes the actual plant fresh and they are very healthy nice looking plants for about $4-5!!!! that's cheap considering you pay about the same for a bunch in the grocery store and here you get the whole plant you can keep growing.

(THANK YOU ADRI!!!!)

Jimmy's Food Store --> HUGE HUGE Selection of deli goods specially here they had like 20 types/flavors of olives as you see in the picture. They also had lots of italian cheeses and meat cuts.

Cookies @ Jimmy's Food Store MMM Delicious Italian Cookies!!! Don't forget to try the "Sfogliatine" cookies!!!! They are EXCELLENT!!!!

La Madelaine


Tiramisu @ La Madelaine

TACO DINER

http://www.mcrowd.com/tacodiner.shtm



Enchilada Plate & Spinach Quesadillas @ TACO DINER

TEA ZONE



LOCATION: Tea Zone in Mansfield / www.teazonecafe.com

BUBBLE TEA anyone? Forget Starbucks !
Bubble tea started as a fad several years ago in Taiwan, the young Taiwanese crowd reinvented the ancient tea of Asia with the creation of "Bubble Tea". Basically flavored tea plus to make life just a little bit more interesting the tea is accompanied by "tapioca pearls" (see picture above, black pearls in drink). Tapioca pearls are like gummy bears in your drink MMM but better. The drink comes with a oversized straw to be able to suck the pearls with the tea,quite an experience!!! For those new to Bubble Tea sip slowly! LOL LOL LOL

It is quite an experience so don't miss out and take a visit to Tea Zone to find there is more to a coffee house than Starbucks. Tea Zone also provides free WiFi to all customers plus, a comfortable seating area. Along with fresh imported loose tea leaves, foreign candies, blue bell ice cream, snacks, specialty coffees, deli sandwiches, desserts, bakery goods and SO MUCH MORE!!!!

*** For a very god article and more info on BUBBLE TEA visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea

Blue Mesa


LOCATION: Blue Mesa in Dallas / www.bluemesagrill.com

Brunch is EXCELLENT @ Blue Mesa though plan on a little wait time. Southwestern style brunch with SO MANY choices it is advisable to come in on a very empty stomach. Full buffet line offers ALL you can imagine from:

Fresh fruit beverages in watermelon, cantaloupe and strawberry flavors.
Egg choices are huge served in various styles from huevos rancheros to omelets made to order.
Made to order waffles.
Hand made on the spot tortillas and tacos!!!
Plus a huge array of dishes like adobe pies (tamales like), vegetable based dishes and salads (chicken, green salads and fruit).
THEN comes dessert! so many choices decadent chocolate cakes, ice cream, cookie platters, pudding, flan and so much more!!!

(THANK YOU Adriana & Jesus!!!!)

DESSERT @ Blue Mesa! (front) raspberry pudding, brownie, flan and chocolate cake. (back) Flan with raspberry sauce

Last weeks @ El Centro College


Side entrance @ El Centro College in Dallas, Texas / This entrance take you directly to the KITCHEN! :) / It was the place I spend my EARLY 6:50 AM!!!! morning summers LOL it was MUCH FUN and I learned A LOT!!!!!! VERY SPECIAL thanks to Alison and Bill Hodges for their support, knowledge and encouragement through out it all!!!!

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- > The working medium! CHOCOLATE! Super delicious CALLEBAUT chocolate! / Here chopping it for tempering.

Casted choc. pieces and white chocolate castings with food coloring.... Notice the shine on the back pieces???? WOW sadly it didn't last long since the kitchen was pretty warm.

making the chocolate flower petals! much FUN!!!!!

side view

side view

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- >
my final project for the class made of 100% Chocolate! Tthe much dreaded medium of ALL!!!! I was the only one in the whole class that choose to work with it for the final LOL HEY I AM LOYAL to Chocolate a girls BEST friend!

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- >
Blown, cast and rock sugar

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- >
The best one for me! it looks like a porcelain figurine but it is all 100% edible SUGAR!!!!

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- >
Fred's pastillage lil'chef TRES CUTE!

ADV. PASTRY COMPETITION / FINAL -- >
Eiffel Tower BEAUTIFUL!!!! very detailed she used pastillage and a little cast sugar for details