Brownie Pops!

Hey y'all!

This past weekend, I did some sisterly bonding with my sister at Michaels. She needed to pick something up and I never refuse a trip to the craft store. I was browsing the baking aisle and I found a silicone brownie pan. The idea of making a brownie pop just popped into my head. I've made cupcake pops before and even though it was super cute it was pretty disgusting to eat (check it out at www.bakerella.com). To make a cupcake pop you just bake box cake mix, break it up into little pieces after its out of the oven, and add a can of cake frosting to the cake. After the can of frosting is mixed in, you mold the sticky cake into what looks like a little cupcake. It was really sweet and just hard to swallow. Today, I made my brownies from scratch and its so easy to make I don't know why people buy brownie mix. I got the recipe from the Hershey's Kitchen Recipes (http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=5008).


Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 16 brownies.

I mixed all the ingredients (I halved the recipe).

I poured the batter into my new silicone brownie pan. :)

After 12 minutes in the oven...

Instead of making frosting for the brownies, I opted to dip the little brownie squares in melted chocolate. After I dipped a brownie square in the melted chocolate, I dipped the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate and carefully inserted it into the brownie square.

I sprinkled each brownie with milk chocolate toffee bits.

Finally, I wrapped each brownie lollipop in cellophane (check out my twisty ties).

The brownies came out awesome! They weren't overly sweet and the bits of toffee added some nice texture. Well that's all folks! Until next time, happy eats!

Zankou Chicken

Happy Belated Father's Day y'all!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a most wonderful father's day! I spent my father's day in L.A. visiting my dad and my boyfriend's dad. Since, it was such a crazy weekend we decided to do takeout. On Saturday, we picked up some already marinated Korean BBQ and grilled it up in our backyard to celebrate my awesome dad. The meat was yummy but I forgot to take pictures of it (I'm still new to this food blog business). For the boyfriend's dad, we picked up some Zankou Chicken, which is some of the most affordable and yummy Mediterranean food around. We ended up ordering a whole roasted chicken (which comes with a bag of pita bread), tri-tip shawerma plate, mutabbal and tabbouleh salad.


Here's the menu. Mmm.


The whole roasted chicken is quite yummy.


The tri-tip shawerma plate comes with pickled turnips, hummus and a garlic sauce. I've also had the tri-tip kabobs before, but I found it to be overcooked so the shawerma is your best bet.


Pita bread makes me happy.


The tabbouleh salad was very flavorful. You can really taste the freshness of the minced parsley with lemon and oil. Yum!


If you have never had mutabbal you have got to try it! Its grilled eggplants, fresh garlic and tahini blended together and topped with olive oil and paprika. I am in love with eggplant, so I guess I'm a bit biased.

Zankou Chicken is one of my favorite places to hit when I'm in L.A. The food is fresh and its packs a punch on your taste buds so make sure you try it next time you're in the area. That's all I have for today, so happy eats everyone!

Zankou Chicken
1296 E. Colorado Blvd.,
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626) 405.1502

Denny's

It won't take you guys long, but you'll find out that I have a terrible sweet tooth. When I eat clean I don't usually indulge in my sweet cravings, but about two nights ago I NEEDED something SWEET. I was hoping to swing by the San Diego County Fair since its in town but it was getting pretty late (and I also found out they close at 10 on weeknights). I was looking for something cheap that would satisfy my sweet tooth. We ended up going to Denny's for their Pancake Puppy Sundae. Mmm. It comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and three fried pancake balls drizzled with fudge. All for the small price of $2! You can't really beat the price, so if you have a late night sweet tooth craving like me just swing by the closest Denny's.

Denny's
6908 Miramar Rd (at Carroll Rd)
San Diego, CA 92121
(858) 578-6987

Punjabi Tandoor

Hello all!
Last night, I was asked to get get some Indian grub with a friend so we stopped at Punjabi Tandoor. We got there around 6:30 and the place was packed so we decided to do take out. I LOVE Indian food, especially, Tikka Masala. I ordered my food and it was a bit of a wait since there were so many people there. They cook your food to order so its nice and hot when it comes out so I don't mind the 15 minute wait.


Here's the menu and you can also get combo specials for about $8.99 (this includes two entrees, basmati rice, naan and little cup of dessert).


Tikka Chicken Masala and smushed spicy lentils with basmati rice. This was gooooooooooooooood. (If you only order the Tikka Masala its $5.49 or you can opt out for the combo with rice and naan for $7.99)


Freshly grilled naan.


This was some sort of rice pudding made with basmati rice. I thought it was pretty good because it sort of reminded me of ras malai.

All in all, this is a mom and pop shop that serves up some good grub. The food isn't too expensive, so stop by and taste a bit of India. Happy eats everyone!

Punjabi Tandoor
9235 Activity Rd Suite 111
(between Clayton Dr & Padgett St)
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 695-0956

La Jolla Strip Club

Today was another beautiful day in sunny San Diego, and it was especially nice because it was another "date day" for me and the boyfriend. We decided to have dinner at the La Jolla Strip Club steakhouse. We arrived around 6 and it seemed as if we were the only ones there (aside from those few people sitting around the bar). Unlike the other ritzy steakhouses, the La Jolla Strip Club is a bit more affordal because you're expected to cook up your own steak. They provide a communal grill where you cook up your own steak, and if you're not much of a "grill master" they have guidelines posted up to help you along the way. Every steak comes with a house salad and a serving of garlic bread. Forgive the quality of the pictures but I keep forgetting to take my camera so I had to use the boyfriend's iphone.


Here's the house salad. I thought it was okay.


The boyfriend's 14oz ribeye and my 10oz top sirloin.


You get to grill the garlic bread too.


Mmm. Look at those grill marks.


My chunk of meat.


Cheddar Cheese Fries with Bacon


Garlic Mashed Potatoes


They do have nightly specials if you're on a budget (around $10-$15), and at 6 o'clock every night they have 25 cent shots. They also have happy hour from 5-7 every night with martini specials and 7 appetizers for 7 bucks (but make sure you sit in the bar area because apparently you can't enjoy the happy hour specials unless you're in the bar). Happy eats everyone!

La Jolla Strip Club
4282 Esplanade Ct
(between Genesee Ave & Bus Access Rd)
San Diego, CA 92122
(858) 450-1400

Mmm. Food is good.

Hi y'all! Welcome to my very first blog! I'm excited to share my adventures of cooking, baking and eating with you. Stay tuned and I promise you won't be disappointed.