Enjoy Your Weekend

Coeur de La

a latte for the road from Bellano

an afternoon glass of wine

The Golden Bear a must STOP

delicious Tacos

fire roasted pizza

Gibraltars at Temple Coffee

Cheers!

How to Enjoy your Weekend:

Take a Road Trip

Grab a Latte for the Road

Try a New Restaurant

Order a Glass of Wine

Indulge in several Appetizers

Instead of ordering a Latte order a Gibraltar

Cheers to a good weekend!!

Bisous.

dabbling

capturing my sister

a good friend

a new friend

a sweet soul

Hello Kitty and a Bear

Phew, this week has been a doozy.

My last quarter is panning out to be quite stressful

but

there is one thing that is keeping me grounded and happy

...

my camera.

As some of you might know,

I will be shooting my first wedding in June

and

I am completely thrilled about it.

But,

it just so happens one of my close friends will be getting married in August

and guess who will be taking the photos

...

yours truly.

With graduation approaching I find myself reflecting,

feeling a bit anxious,

and wondering what is next for me?

I must be honest,

I am seriously considering going full throttle with photography

...

until I decide,

I am happy to be shooting friend's graduation shots,

capturing latte after latte,

and

building up my portfolio.

Have you ever embraced a dream of yours?

And,

if so, are you happy?

One highlight of the week was going to coffee with my sister

and finding more than just designs in our lattes

...

we had full fledged art

...

Hello Kitty and a Bear to be exact.

Wishing you a lovely rest of the week.

Bisous.

All photos are © Coeur de La 2009-present

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Over the weekend,

I made two dozen cupcakes for my cousin's thirtieth birthday.

I love celebrating birthdays as it is a reason for me to bake for friends and family.

My cousin loves Guinness

(it must run in the family)

so,

I decided on making

Guinness Chocolate Stout cupcakes with a Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese Frosting.

For the cupcakes I used this recipe

...

but when it came to the frosting I improvised.

Cream Cheese frostings are by far one of the easiest frostings to make

and

I prefer them to most others.

The cupcakes were a hit!!

And,

I must say my heart skipped a beat when I saw only one cupcake left

...

one of the pleasures I get from baking

is watching people eat and enjoy my creations.

Happy Monday!!

Bisous.

Bailey's Irish Cream Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons of Bailey's Irish Cream (for a less expensive version I used Carolans from Trader Joe's)

1 8oz package of cream cheese (make sure it is soft)

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract ... next, with an electric hand mixer ... mix till smooth

2. Add your heavy cream and Baileys and mix again

3. Make sure to taste and add more of whatever ingredient you would like until you are happy with the taste ... I say this as you really can't go wrong with these ingredients. Taste as you go.

4. Enjoy!

day trips

breakfast at Rick and Ann's

celebrating his birthday

Local 123

taking a latte break

mmm

drink of choice for the men

a chicken sandwich at Bakesale Betty

strawberry shortcake

dress comfortably

dessert at Summer Kitchen

cupcake fun

mango lime and horchata

a great way to end a day trip to Berkeley

How to have a day trip

1. go with friends you love

2. EAT BREAKFAST

3.. be willing to eat ... a lot ... however, always share meals

4. grab coffee and relax

5. try somewhere new

6. Bring your camera

7. Peruse the neighborhoods

8. Grab lunch and dessert

9. Top the day off with ice cream

10. Start planning your next day trip

...

Last weekend,

the foodie crew took a day trip to Berkeley to celebrate Daniel's birthday.

We spent the day having breakfast at Rick and Ann's,

grabbing coffees at Local 123,

popping into Bakesale Betty for lemonade, their chicken sandwich and strawberry shortcake.

(all the talk is correct Bakesale Betty is a slice of heaven)

After,

we headed up to College Avenue

and grabbed lunch and dessert at Summer Kitchen,

took a stroll on College to work up an appetite for ice cream,

and then ended our outing

at

ICI.

I hope all of you have an adventurous weekend.

And,

if you have a favorite day trip outing I would love to hear about it!

Bisous.

strawberry preserves

Strawberry Preserves:

best served in greek yogurt with wild flower honey,

over vanilla ice cream,

on toast,

or on their own

...

straight from the jar.

Question:

how do I stock my pantry when making tantalizingly tasty recipes?

...

Jars of preserves, jams, and pickles do not last around here.

The recipe I used was from the book Canning for a New Generation.

I loved that the recipe for strawberry preserves

called for less sugar than recipes I have used before.

The recipe was easy,

straightforward,

and the preserves pretty much speak for themselves.

Honestly,

there is nothing quite like sweet strawberry preserves.

If you have any jamming, pickling and preserving questions

feel free to email as I am happy to help.

Bisous.

Check out the author's sweet blog here

Amuse Bouche

An Amuse Bouche

a second Amuse Bouche

and the final Amuse Bouche

delicious and buttery

Marc's choice

the plating

a plate of whimsy

cheese before dessert

dessert

the final course

one of the chefs

This weekend involved eating.

Taking a day trip to celebrate a friend's thirtieth birthday,

a dinner celebration for my uncle,

and a five hour dinner

at quite possibly one the most extraordinary restaurants I have ever been to

...

Manresa.

I honestly had no idea what to expect

but I knew eating at Manresa was going to be a complete treat.

One of my favorite things to do over dinner is toast numerous times

...

to good health,

to family,

to graduating,

to whatever comes to mind,

and

that is exactly what we did.

I must say that my personal favorite was the cheese course

that we decided to have.

Right before dessert,

a beautiful case of cheeses were wheeled over to our table

and as soon as the case opened

...

the aroma of glorious stinky cheeses filled the air.

We had 9 different cheeses to choose from

and

at one point,

a description of a cheese from Portugal was given

that almost left me in tears ... happy tears

...

our family takes cheese very seriously.

I loved that every little detail was given to each course.

The tastes that came from each bite were well rounded,

pulled together,

and,

whimsical.

At one point,

there was complete silence

while we all closed our eyes,

and enjoyed each and every bite.

After our five hour meal,

we were allowed to go back into the kitchen and meet one of the chefs

something that really made the evening special.

As we were leaving,

homemade caramels were handed to us

and

the evening could not have ended any better.

On the way home,

we thanked Marc's dad and his family for the great company,

the conversations,

and giddily chatted about the meal we had just had.

Happy Monday!

Bisous.

Flash was not allowed,

so using the light from a small candle I was able to get some photos

...

enjoy.

A Five Course Food Cart Adventure

Food Carts in Portland

Monica is excited

one of the best thai iced teas

mmm mmm

beignets

so tasty

beignet thievery ... Monica tried taking mine

stopping at Tabor

the schnitzelwich

dumplings

mini donuts

perfectly made

taking a coffee break

one of my favorites ... Lucy's Original

a juicy lucy burger

the cake

One of my good friends is headed to Portland this weekend

and asked me to give her a list of places to eat.

So,

with utter excitement I put together a quick list of some of my favorite places.

What I reiterated to her over and over was

...

YOU MUST GO TO THE FOOD CARTS ... TRY ALL OF THEM.

One of my favorite things about Portland is all of the food carts.

And,

when my Gourmands and I visited Portland a month ago

...

we had a five course food cart lunch that was incredible.

When doing a five course food cart lunch or dinner

...

DO SHARE MEALS ... DON'T COUNT CALORIES.

I love each and every food cart but if I had to recommend one

...

LUCY'S ORIGINAL.

...

A must order ... the Juicy Lucy Burger and a piece of their famous cake.

MMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Even if you do not live in the Portland area I am sure there are food carts in your city so,

...

go out this weekend and have a meal at a food cart.

Happy Weekend.

Bisous!