Mochi Making

Raoul and I made a batch of daifuku mochi! It was very simple to make, and was really yummy to boot.


We used the recipe from my candy making book. We also read some recipes online before beginning.




We added some pink food coloring to our mochi dough. Here are the pictures of how it looked when we removed the dough from the microwave. It looked like Play-doh!




We rolled and kneaded the dough after it cooled off some. Careful when it comes out of the microwave, this dough is like lava!


We added some strawberry jam to the center of the mochi, not the usual red bean paste. I was trying hard not to over fill the mochi, or else the jam would ooze out of the ball when I rolled it.


Here is the rolled mochi!

Koala Ice Cream Treat

This time of year, when it is so cold and wintery, sometimes I crave a sweet, cold treat. I know it sounds crazy, but I remember going holiday shopping, or picking a Christmas tree, and just craving an ice cream sundae! So we would stop at Eat N Park on the ride home to have sundaes!


I made these koala ice creams for Raoul and I - don't they look so cute?


I used a chocolate covered almond for the koala's nose, currants for the eyes, and Madelines for the ears. Yummy!

Autumn Pie Making

We made this pie recipe last week for Thanksgiving. I really liked making this pie recipe, and it turned out really pretty, too. It is more like a cheesecake than a pumpkin pie.


I liked that it used pine nuts in a pretty pattern on top.






Overall, it was fairly simple to make, so it went fast, too. I never made a pumpkin pie before!




We enjoyed it so much we even had it for brekkie the next day!

Breakfast for Dinner

Do you ever like having breakfast for dinner? That's what we had. I love brekkie! I made some French toast with syrup. How yummy!


I made the French toast with sourdough bread from local Luna Bakery. This bread made a nice brekkie, and I have not made French toast in ages.

Take Me to Waffallonia

We got to visit Waffallonia, a great waffle shop in Pittsburgh. Who knew? Wafflonia serves yummy Liège waffles with all sorts of toppings, like whipped cream, fruit, and ice cream. I love waffles.




Nutella and speculoos spread are also waffle toppings at Waffallonia. They even have speculoos ice cream on the menu!




Liège style waffles are made from a dough that rises. It has special pearl sugar in the dough that caramelizes when the waffle is cooking in the waffle iron. This makes an especially delicious and yummy waffle.




Here are some of our waffles. We had whipped cream, blueberries, and lemon cream.


Wach waffle is named after different cities in Belgium. This one has strawberries, it is called Bruges. It was great.


Cristina and I are enjoying our waffles together!

Let's Go Sugar Café

During our visit to Pennsylvania, my brother Greg and his wife Cristina took us to a cute café that is just up the street from their house. It is called Sugar Café, and it is really sweet!






They had all flavors of cupcakes, including a s'mores cuppy! It really has a nice toasted marshmallow top, doesn't it?












Raoul and I tried this light lemon poundcake. It was especially yummy!


And I also had a cream puff. It was very good, too. I look forward to going back to Sugar! Do you have a favorite bakery in your neighborhood?

Lemonade Day

We love lemonade this time of year. It really is the taste of summer! We made vanilla lemonade from the recipe Emily used. This recipe is so yummy, we make a double batch and it goes so fast at our house.




I purchased a new citrus juicer this weekend, too. This one for sure makes the job so much easier than my old juicer, the kind you twist and twist. This one is easy cos you just squish the lemon in the juicer, and into the pitcher.


Check out this vintage ice cube tray that my mom gave to me! We had this since I was little. It was a little goofy at first, but then it worked like a charm. I think I will make lots of ice from now on!


The yummy part of this recipe is for sure the vanilla!


And voila! Vanilla lemonade!