very berry new york cheesecake

Ahhh Costco, the place where more is more and samples be served. Hot dog in hand, we'd run past aisles searching for rectangular carts stacked with free food and scan aisles for highlighter-marked labels, sneak-peaks at what we could find in our lunch pails the following week. While I can proudly say that I pack my own lunches now, the excitement still wells within me. Perhaps Costco has some sinister motive to this all. Even till this day, I can't have berry compote for breakfast without thinking about those halcyon days emerging from successful trips at Costco with frozen-yogurt in hand. 

And that's where this post begins. "Very Berry" is not only an homage to the Very Berry Sundaes my mom bought me after our triumphant Costco runs, it's a word that carries all the memories and nostalgia I've built throughout my youth. Luckily for those of you still reading, if you know the slightest of what I'm trying to articulate, I can guarantee you'll like this cheesecake. Regardless, you're not human if you can resist thick, dense New York Cheesecake packed into a crunchy Oreo crust and slathered with Very Berry topping. I mean, this cheesecake is so good my family doesn't even know I made two of them (one of them I scarfed down so quickly an asteroid could have hit and I wouldn't have reacted). More the reason to buy in bulk. (ugh...I'm on fire today!)

the BEST strawberry streusel coffee cake

I'm not sure whether its because spring break is almost over (at least for me) or if its because I've been listening to "A Little Fall of Rain" by Les Miserables for the past six hours on repeat, but I'm in a somber mood. Granted I've also spent the past week enduring rejection letter after rejection letter from companies for summer internships, so I guess its one of those "confluence of issues" situations. Nevertheless, one bright spot of my week was nestling in the corner of my kitchen like an antisocial vampire cat fisting handfuls of warm coffee cake into my face. In true honesty, I may not be giving this week's recipe the credit it deserves. This Strawberry Streusel Coffee Cake is perhaps one of the BEST desserts/breakfast hybrids I've ever had in my life. I mean Bon Apetit agrees with me (depending on who you believe said it first). A moist and strawberry-packed cake with a delectably-thick layer of crunchy streusel leaves little to desire except for a looser jaw (I'll point to YouTube for that tutorial). As for this blog, I try to stick to the food and not the potential dangerous and psychotic, although my prose often resembles psychopathy. Anyways, Strawberry Streusel Coffee Cake. Keep reading for the recipe and how to prepare it!

mango blueberry sherbert

People all over the world - except Australians and their backwards idiosyncrasies - are on the brink of summer; however they're ill prepared and I'm here to help. My suggestion? Go to Costco, buy a 24 family pack of sunblock, grab 6 industrial sized towels, and some summer fruits - provided that you left Costco otherwise you're gonna have to buy a lot of fruits (which is probably a problem only particular to the first world). After you finally leave Sampleworld with all of your beach day things run home and make this sherbert! It's so good, and surprisingly easy. 

When I was making this recipe I overestimated the capacity of my ice cream maker and when I measured the first batch I realized only an eighth of the mixture could fit in at one time. I practically have a toy ice cream maker. I concluded that the only sane thing to do was to make the sherbert by hand. So, every 30 minutes I took the sherberts out of the freezer and stirred them. That's probably why the blueberry one turned out kind of icy. Nevertheless I loved it even more because I literally made it myself. So the moral of the story is don't get your cooking equipment from Dave & Busters. 

virgin mango bellinis + basil

For the entire week I have procrastinated writing this post because I wondered whether it was really necessary to write down a recipe that has only 3 ingredients, and even less steps (and I was being lazy). Making these bellinis was so easy that I'm pondering whether I should change this blog to an only bellinis blog. I mean, the alliteration is right there. 

Truthfully, if there weren't any laws mandating that children under 21 can't drink, these bellinis would be totally non-virgin. But, laws and regulations and stuff. What can you do.

maple-roasted nectarine pancakes

The photography in this post is going to be a bit erratic because 1) I shot it at different times of the day, 2) I'm not very good at photography, and 3) I'm kind of an idiot. As the days pass I'm slowly but surely degrading into a mushy pile of peanut butter and pancakes. 

But enough about me, let's turn our focus to the important matter, the thing which is captured within the execrable photography - the humble pancake stack. It all started with a question. A question of whether it was possible to incorporate maple syrup, a topping that dowses and sogs pancake stacks all across America, within the batter itself. Finally the answer would come to me a whole 2 hours later - simply substitute sugar with maple syrup. Any simpleton could have come up with that. That's why I had to push the envelope; cue the maple-roasted nectarines.

mini pear 'n banana breads // for ALOHA

I was inspired by ALOHA to write a post about staying healthy throughout the colder months, but I have to be honest I was genuinely stumped. One has to realize that the healthiest post I've ever written is probably the time when I made that chocolate chip cookie cake. Nonetheless, it posed a serious culinary question to me. Can something be easy and healthy, and taste good at the same time? The surprising answer is...yes! I know, I was skeptical at first too. 

In this week's post, Chow Creations is teaming up with ALOHA to spread the happiness of healthy eating via banana bread. Not only do these mini pear 'n banana breads taste and look amazing, but they have no butter in them, 50% less sugar, and are laced with flavor packing nutrition bombs such as ginger and cinnamon. Benefits of which I'll go more into detail down below. 

pistachio cherry crumble - let's get crackin'

I'm not sponsored by Wonderful Pistachios nor do I even think they know this blog exists (actually I'm positive they don't), nevertheless this post is going to be me trying my best to get their attention. So let's get crackin' (ohhh...I see what you did there).

If there was an award for biggest pistachio fan, my grandma would win it twice over blindfolded with her hands tied to her back. She is a pistachio fanatic, the quickest pistachio huller I've ever seen. Recently, and by recently I mean a couple hours ago, we bought a 3 pound bag of pistachios and within that time from the car to the house half the bag was gone. Keep in mind that this feat would be impressive for anybody, let alone a small, 80-something year old chinese lady. She pops those quicker than tic-tacs. Sometimes, even two at a time. But in all seriousness my grandma is wonderful...pistachios. Okay even I thought that one was lame, I'm gonna move on to the cooking.