Sweet (Chocolate) Blessings!

I’ve been so blessed with chocolate (and sweet & thoughtful friends) this week! Earlier in the week, my sis-in-law gave me a big box of See’s (and I promptly fished out and ate the sole Rum Nougat candy). Then, another friend sent me some decadent chocolate (plus some workout apparel…all about balance!). And K brought [...]

Guest Book and Toffee Favors

We recently hosted a small lunch at a local steakhouse for some of our friends and colleagues. We wanted a hassle free get-together with our adult friends before the baby arrives. I’m sure we’ll be able to still have adult get togethers, but after the baby, we’ll have to deal with finding a sitter and [...]

Purple Dessert Table

I put together this dessert table for my mother’s birthday. I didn’t bake anything myself, but I still take full credit for putting it all together =) Early on in the planning process, I had no idea if everything was going to fit on the table, or even how many jars/plates I needed to buy. [...]

SLS Hotel High Tea

The Patisserie at the SLS Hotel puts on a High Tea service that is very a fun way to spend an afternoon hanging out with some girl friends.  This is definitely not a traditional High Tea (menu), but afternoon tea in LA has become much more innovative and interesting.  Our reservations were for 3:30pm on [...]

Greek Yogurt Cheesecake & Mother’s Day

I love Fage Greek Yogurt. I used to buy the 0% tubs at Trader Joe’s religiously and never thought my loyalty to the thick, creamy, fat-free, and tangy yogurt would fade. But then, I tried the 2% Fage Greek Yogurt. Life. Changing. Stuff. I switched to 2% a few months ago and can never go [...]

Big Island Candies

One of my favorite treats comes from Big Island Candies. I remember when these were only available when family friends would be kind enough to gift us with these tasty shortbread cookies on their return trip from Hawaii. Now, the internet makes almost everything available at the click of a button. I ordered about a [...]

Asha Frozen Delights

Who hasn’t heard of Pinkberry? This sour frozen yogurt dessert seems to have taken over Los Angeles. There are competitors everywhere. Just in Pasadena, frozen dairy treats are easily found. A partial list includes ColdStone, Gelato Di Roma, Bulgarini, Tutti Gelati, Piccomolo, 21 Choices, and of course, Pinkberry. As of January 1, there is another [...]

Green Tea Cookies

These are the easiest cookies in the world. This recipe uses boxed cake mix (minus the water) and voila…you get cookies. I originally saw this recipe (using lemon cake mix) on allrecipes.com. You can use any box cake mix..the lemon cake mix kinda tasted like fruit loops….not sure if that is good or bad. I [...]

Blueberry Slushy

One of the easiest and good-for-you desserts is a very simple mix of frozen blueberries and fat-free almond milk. I discovered this accidentally one morning while I was eating cereal. I added some blueberries that weren’t sufficiently thawed out, and my almond milk turned deliciously slushy. To make this quick dessert, fill a bowl with [...]

Fiore

c.bear here – c.yummy and I went to Fiore while visiting the Nisei week festival. When we went, the store was staffed by two Asian women. They left the door open, so that invited some pesky flies. That aside, the rest of the store was clean. There were four wooden Ikea tables with plastic chairs, [...]