tomato jewels

we had joint community groups today.

theme for dinner was italian.

rather than making the main dish or dessert, i thought i'd try something a little different.

these tomato jewels was perfect.

with the idea from puffpastry.com, i thought i'd change it up with the ingredients i liked.

ingredients: 8oz cream cheese, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, puff pastry dough found in freezer section, cherry (or grape) tomatoes. 

preheat oven 400 degrees F.

cut triangles and place each in mini cupcake tray.

bake for 7 mins.

take out the seeds of tomato and fill with cream cheese mixture.

place tomato into the center of the puff pastry.

bake for 5 more mins.

i topped each off with some more fresh parsley.

thought it gave it a more fresh look.

a very festive and simple appetizer. 

clean. creamy. crunchy.

leftover = pumpkin cheesecake

i baked mini pumpkin pies last week.

after making a handful, i decided to add some cream cheese and turn the filling into cheesecake.

i then started making mini pumpkin cheesecake pies.

[heres a picture of the pumpkin and the pumpkin cheesecake pies together]

after baking like over 200 mini pies.....i decided that i would stop.

i wrapped up the remaining filling and left it in the fridge.

something i realized: i tend to do this a lot....i make the batter and only use like half....

i package the remainder and leave it in the fridge...(then i forget about it... -___-)

so when i end up remembering, i just assume that it probably went bad and it ends up in the trash. :(

so this time, i decided that i wouldnt throw waste.!! (yay!!)

luckily, i had a lot of oreos left over from a couple weeks ago.

i used that for the crust (put way too much butter in the mixture )

it looked super pretty and i decided that i'd let it rest and cool down inside the oven.....

when i opened the oven after it was fully cooked...i my cheesecake cracked :(

that kinda sucked...oh well i guess its still a learning process.

last picture...not the best one but i wanted to show you my crust to cheesecake ratio.

i love crust so much more than the filling....but thats just me.

i've always been like that.

tomorrow i'm baking an appetizer for a gathering.

i'll share and show you how i made it.

moo cards!!

look what came in the mail!!

thanks to foodbuzz, i've received my very first set of moo cards.

a little about the mini cards: they're printed and hand packed in london, england. 

"the paper used for these cards is sustainably sourced.  the box is 100% recyclable, and the structure is made from recycled pulp

the box is seriously super cute.

it even comes with 3 tabs: mine, theirs, favourites

each card comes with a different picture.

you're able to customize your cards if you wish

(i wasnt able to...but the next time i order i definitely will)

thought i'd play around with my camera.

they're a little on the small side...but i guess it comes with the name "minicards"

last picture for you.

thank you to foodbuzz once again for my wonderful moo cards!!

happy december!!

can you believe its already december??
we're almost done with the year 2010.

goal for the month: write a new entry every day.

(this entry doesnt count)

stay tuned!!

thanksgiving round 4

thanksgiving is the one day we tend to go all out with the food.

thought we'd do something a little differently this year:

-no turkey...instead a chicken pot pie

-prime rib (never had this at home ever)

on the menu:

-bread sticks

-stuffed mushrooms

-mac and cheese

-ham, prime rib

-chicken pot pie

-corn, salad

-mashed potato, green bean casserole

-stuffing

-dessert: caramel apple 

bread sticks: used puff pastry dough, cut in half, brushed with egg wash, added cheese herbs, put other half on top, cut twist bake.

stuffed mushrooms: stuffed with cheese, shallots, garlic, bread crumbs

single serving chicken pot pie.

bacon mac and cheese

dessert:

-tastes like a personal apple pie. with caramel sauce.

hope everyone had  a wonderful thanksgiving week!!

thanksgiving round 2,3,5

 i thought i'd share what my plates looked like last week.

round 2: thanksgiving lunch at church. plate was towered with delicious food.

round 3: thanksgiving dinner at p.steves house. totally not your normal turkey and ham thanksgiving dinner. loved it though. thanks for the invite!!

round 5: too much want friends dinner. good food and good company is always nice.

round 4: family thanksgiving will come super soon!!

thanksgiving round 1

if you havent heard yet, thanksgiving is my favorite time of year.

its the one and only time when my family (of 5) eat american food (no kimchi, no rice).

its the one time we buy a full turkey, spiral sliced honey glazed ham, couple sides, and of course dessert.

(mouth is watering as i think about it).

this year, i think we're going to change it up.

i'm thinking of not having the actual whole turkey, but instead maybe a pot pie.

i think it might be a nice change....we are going to be having prime rib and ham so why not...

but i must get the approval from everyone in the family first.

my thanksgiving dinner feasts started last friday.

2 community groups from church gathered for a thanksgiving feast.

 i'm not entirely sure why, but i love this picture.

i normally dont add people onto my entries, but i think i'm going to start trying....

majority of the people that night.

thank you sarah for opening your house, and everyone for coming (with amazing entrées)!!

all time favorite picture hahaa.

cant wait to take another picture with the entire community group.

stay tuned for my rounds 2-5 throughout this entire week!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK EVERYONE!!

*pictures by hudson lim*