Ingredients
1. 1/4 Cup Coco Powder
2. 1 Tablespoon Espresso Powder
3. 1 Stick Melted Butter

4. 2 Large Eggs
5. 1/2 Cups Sugar
6. 1/2 Cup Flower
7. 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
7. 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Direction
1. Preheat the oven to 375F
2. Add Coco Powder and Espresso Powder to the Melted Butter and mix well

3. Add Sugar to this mixture and mix well
4. Add Eggs to this mixture and mix well

5. Add Flour and Baking Powder to this mixture and mix well

6. Pour this mixture to the greased 8×6 baking pan and bake for 30 minutes

Seriously, this is it. As you can tell from the pictures, I just kept adding the ingredients to the one bowl and mixing it, and going to the oven. How easy it can be!!

Here is the final product.

I whipped some heavy cream and put on top of the slice of brownie. Yes!! This completed my day!

Happy Baking!
Mrs H

I have so much to tell you how awesome NYC was… Food wise, NYC MUST have high quality and inexpensive food because of the very serious food industry competition. I mean, you can go to the most expensive restaurant in the city and satisfy your taste buzz, but Zach and I like to go inexpensive and high quality food… So here we go, I’d like to introduce you the three exciting NYC eatery, first the magnificent cup cake!

Magnolia Bakery NYC


I was recommended this place by one of my best friends. The first night we were there in NYC, we were wondering around the times square and found this magnificent Cup Cake Bakery! I was planning to visit but it was destiny we just came across to this store. So we did not resist but went into the store immediately and purchased 4 delicious Cup cakes!

We got a Chocolate Cup Cake, Vanilla Cup Cake, Red Velvet Cup Cake, and Banana Caramel Cup Cake. I dived right into the Banana Caramel Cup Cake so I forgot to take picture of this Cup Cake as a whole… sorry… the Cake was so moist, the balance of Caramel frosting and the Banana Cake were just right. Not too sweet but definitely you can taste both main components of this Cup Cake.

A Chocolate and Vanilla Cup Cake were okay, not so exciting… but the Cream Cheese frosting was extraordinary. I noticed that their frosting was not so sweet but just right to compliment the actual Cake.

OMG, Red Velvet Cup Cake… super moist, looks super red devilish, but just right amount of Coco hitting with the creamy frosting… I don’t think I have ever had such moist Cup Cake ever in my life!!

The second amazing eatery in NYC is located at Little Italy… Da Gennaro Restaurant

One of our dearest friends took us there said “The best Gnocchi Ever!” I was really excited because literally I have never had good Gnocchi in my life. The Gnocchi that I had tasted before was always mushy or gummy and too starchy… I made it myself once and that experience was disappointed. Another fact that I was excited about this experience because we were going to eat an Italian food in Little Italy in NYC. I mean it may be the closest you can get to eat the real authentic Italian Food, don’t you think?? Well, with all these exciting facts, we arrived at Da Gennaro Restaurant in Little Italy NYC!

The Italian Feast!

This is something I ordered, which has Gnocchi with Pesto, Fetachini Alfredo, and Totellini Boroneze, just like Italian Flag the meal was nicely presented in the white plate. Guess what I ate first in this plate? Yes, you guessed it right, Gnocchi with Pesto, as our friend describes as the BEST Gnocchi. He was right, it was an amazing Gnocchi, it is soft, creamy, and melt in your mouth. The pest was just right with Basil, Garlic, and Olive Oil… I am sure there is some nuts and cheese in this sauce but it did not overcome the actual Gnocchi taste. It was divined!! Fetachini Alfredo was amazing as well, the cream sauce was soft and light, the pasta was cooked as al dente, and I think it was home made pasta at the restaurant. Tottelini Boroneze, the right amount of Tomato hits the meat sauce with the creamy Tottelini Pasta, it was awesome… Look at this amazing dish one more time. Please go visit Da Gennaro when you are in NYC, you won’t regret it.

Last and at least, I was recommended this Pizza place from two of our good friends. This New York Famous Pizza place is located under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Grimaldi’s Pizza
The fact was that Zach and I skipped Breakfast and Lunch on this day because we were so excited to go eat this famous New York Pizza in Brooklyn. After the long walk of the Brooklyn Bridge, we were so excited to find this Pizzeria with the ridiculously long line at 2pm.
Long line at 2pm

Long line behind us at 2;30pm

Well well well, by looking at this long line at 2pm on Sunday, we realized it was a confirmation of the Best Pizza in NYC. So we decided to stay in the line wait for our breakfast/lunch/early dinner patiently.
Hungry Couple

We waited for 1.5 hours and we arrived in front of the entrance. We felt that 1.5 hours past right by but the last 5 minutes right in front of the entrance felt another hour of waiting. We got seated and we ordered a large Margarita Pizza and the waiters recommendation of the Pepperoni Sausage and Mushroom Pizza. Also we ordered a Brooklyn Beer and Brooklyn Orange Soda.

You need to ask Zach for the Brooklyn Beer cuz I did not drink it. The Brooklyn Orange Soda was very refreshing not like Fanta Orange… yuck. But you know after skipping breakfast, lunch and walking cross the Brooklyn Bridge, at that point, a glass of Fanta Orange could taste pretty good…

Here are the Pizza Margarita & Pepperoni Sausage Mushroom Pizza.

No wonder why people want their pizza. The Pizza Margarita was amazing with the intense Tomato Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, and Basil. The Tomato Sauce tested like fresh Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese was creamy and slightly tangy, and Basil was very aromatic. The crust was very thin that crunchy, it was an amazing pizza I have ever had.
Can you tell by this pic how thin the crust is?
The Pepperoni Sausage Mushroom Pizza recommended by the waiter was amazing as well. The Pepperoni tasted amazing itself. The Pepperoni and Sausage were not greasy like you imagine. It seems that the oil from the meats incorporated with the mushroom and the thin crust, which balanced really nicely. I usually do not like two meats on one pizza but this was an exceptionally tasty meat Pizza!

Oh I miss you NYC. Zach and I are actually thinking about moving to NYC. This city has such a wonderful history and great food! People are actually pretty nice. Right after we got back to Denver, I stared looking for an apartment in NYC and jobs.

Well, we hope to go visit NYC soon again or move to NYC soon… until then, we’ll keep dreaming about the NYC life.

Happy Eating!!
Mrs H

Japanese Potato Croquettes are not difficult to make but definitely tedious process. So I remember when my mother made ones for dinner, it was special to me. And usually she made comments like “I hate making Potato Croquettes, the frying oil makes me sick…” and so on… ahahahahahaha…..

Well, it is worth making one, the home made Potato Croquettes are juicy, soft, and creamy. I bet every family has a different recipe, but I am making one that I remember from my childhood.

Ingredients
1. 10 Small Yellow Potatos
2. 1/2 lb Ground Pork
3. 1 Medium Yellow Onion Diced

4. 1 Cup Frozen Green Peas

5. 2 Tablespoon Salt (I use Sea Salt)
6. 1 Tablespoon White Pepper
7. 1 Egg beaten

8. 1 Cup Flour

9. 2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs

10. Canola Oil, enough to fill pan 1/2-inch and plus 1 Tablespoon

Directions
1. Peel the Potato and boil it till it becomes tender, and mash.

2. In the medium size skillet, add 1 Tablespoon of canola oil and saute e Ground Pork and Onion. This is a side note but I just wanna say I love my Global Knife. Check out the Global Website for the product line.

3. Add Salt and Pepper for the taste.
4. Add Frozen Green Peas to the Pork Mixture and mix well. (Careful not mash the Green Peas)

5. Add the Pork Mixture to the Mashed Potato and mix well.

6. Using an ice cream scoop to shape the Potato Mixture.
7. Roll through flour, dip in the beaten egg, and roll through Panko Bread Crumbs.

8. Fry each Croquette in Shallow Canola Oil until brown on all sides.

The Potato Croquettes, this is what I remember from my childhood.

My mother served the Potato Croquettes with Worcester sauce and small side salad. Next day, you can make the Potato Croquettes Sandwich… Yummy…

It takes less than one hour to make this my childhood memory Potato Croquettes but the process was definitely tedious. Though when you bite into the just fried Potato Croquettes, you’ll be glad that you made it and you’ll forget about all the process you went through!

Happy Cooking!!
Mrs. H

Anyways, as I stated above, I was craving for a Coconut Cupcake. Convenience enough, I usually have majority of the ingredients in my pantry, I found the sweetened shredded coconut so I decided to make one myself.

The recipes that I found online produces 12 to 18 cupcakes, which I did not want to bake that much. So as usual, I tweeted one of the recipes that I found online with addition of a Tablespoon of oil. The oil will help the cupcake to be moist. Also, I usually use Salted Butter instead of Unsalted Butter but do not add any salt that instructed on the recipes online. This is the lazy way of baking but the final products usually come out fabulous so why not right?

The following recipe produces 6 fabulous Coconut Cupcakes!

Ingredients
1. 1.5 sticks salted Butter, room temperature
2. 3/4 cups sugar
3. 3 Large Eggs at room temperature
4. 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

5. 1 Tablesppn Oil (I used Olive Oil just because it was on the Kichen Counter)
6. 1.5 cups flour
7. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
9. 1/2 cup milk
10. 5 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the Butter and Sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
2. About after 5 to 7 minutes with the mixer on low speed, add the Eggs, 1 at a time.
3. Scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the Vanilla and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda.
5. In 4 parts, add the dry ingredients and the Milk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.
6. Fold in 5 ounces of coconut.
7. Spray Pam to a muffin pan. Fill each cup to the top with batter.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

The online recipes recommended to have Cream Cheese Frosting. This is just my opinion but the great moist Coconut Cupcakes do not require frosting. It is just good as is. Well, if you still think that the frosting is necessary, uuuuuum, I guess you can make one with mixing butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar together… Sorry I don’t have a recipe for it. I actually whipped some heavy cream with some sugar and mixed with about 1 tablespoon of sour cream, added on the side of the cupcake.

This Coconut Cupcake is super moist. Really 1 Tablespoon of oil makes a BIG difference. Just with butter is not enough to produce this moistness. I could cut the sugar by 1/4 more… 1/2 sugar may be enough for this recipe. I’ll try that next time!

Overall, this is a success recipe and hope you can enjoy the 6 Fabulous Coconut Cupcakes!

Happy Baking!!
Mrs. H

Then, I had this vision of “Moules et Frites”…. Ahhhhh “Le Central” Zach agreed immediately, which we started driving that direction.

When we get there around 5:30pm, the restaurant was nearly empty (Lucky~!) So we were seated right away and our fabulous weekend has begun.

We ordered L’ Ail, Le Brie, et Les Croutons as an appetizer, which is a baked whole garlic head, Brie cheese, and small toasts.

The baked garlic was like butter, spread the garlic and brie cheese onto the toast, sprinkle with diced Tomato and basil… Yummy~!!! It is so simple but yet the flavor of the roasted garlic, brie, tomato and basil was bold. What a great starter! Zach had some red wine, which was sweet for me but enough dryness with it for Zach

I ordered Moules Portuguaise, the steamed Mussels in this fantastic broth with Portuguaise Sausage, diced tomato and bottomless potato fries!
Sorry, these pictures suck because the lighting of the restaurant…

This is addictive. Even though I was quite full from the appetizer but I could not stop eating… As you can see how much mussels they serve, I have to say this is a one of the lightest dishes.

Zach ordered Cassoulet du Central, which was lamb, onions, and duck confit simmered with Provence herbs and white beans, topped with grilled pork sausage and gratineed with bread crumbs, like casserole.

All the meats looked so tender and perfect for the cold fall night. I’ll ask Zach to write about this dish later on!

After the meal, we thought about stopping the dinner right there but the waiter asked us “Would you like to look at the dessert menu?” and I said “I’ll just wanna look at the menu…” Well, you all know there is no “Just look at the menu”… we ended up ordering La Creme Brulee.

The custard was creamy and had a good taste of vanilla. The surface of the custard was very crispy caramelized sugar crust. This sounds very sweet but it’s not… just right amount of sugar in this dessert. I could eat the bucket of this…

All these dishes and 3 glasses of wine, it was less than $60.00. I have to say “What a deal!!”

The atmosphere of this restaurant is cozy but yet romantic For the special occasion or just for fun, try Le Central for the Best French Food in Denver~!

Happy Eating!
Mrs. H

Ingredients
1. 8 Small Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and cored
2. 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3. 1/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top
4. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5. 1 TSP ground cinnamon
6. 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Pie Crust (MAKES: two about 10-inch crusts)

1. 1 1/2 sticks very cold salted butter
2. 3 cups all-purpose flour
3. 1 tablespoon sugar
4. 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening
5. 6 to 8 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) ice water

Directions
1. Dice ice cold butter.
2. Place the flour, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix.
3. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse until the butter is the size of outs.
4. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and run the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball.
5. Cut the dough in half.
6. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge. Roll out half the pie dough and drape it over the pie pan to extend about 1/2 inch over the rim.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Peel and slice the apple.

2. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.
3. Fill the pie with the apple mixture.

4. Top with the second crust and trim the edges to about 1 inch over the rim. Tuck the edge of the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the two together with your fingers.
5. Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar and cut 8 slits.

6. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the crust is browned and the juices begin to bubble out. Serve warm.

Here we go, H’s Deep Dish Apple Pie! I’ll post a slice of pie picture later~!!

Happy Baking!
Mrs. H

Almond Paste Pear Tart

Spagetti Bolonez

Home made dinner. Spaghetti Bolonez & Almond Paste Pear Tart.

Spaghetti Bolonez is my recipe. I add a 1/4 cup of port wine to the source to maximize the flavor.  Fresh chopped parsley & ground Parmigiano-Reggiano make this dish extraordinary.

Almond Paste Pear Tart by Brian Boitano was easy and delicious! This can be served with hot or warm with Vanilla Ice Cream.