Fig Almond Tart for Father's Day

Hello everyone.
Happy Father's Day!

I hope you are having a great Sunday.

I received an order for a father's day gift, and the request was a whole fig tart.

I used the fresh fig compote prepared beforehand, and baked with almond cream with rum.

The tart shell used for this one is part brisee, made a less sweet so it balances well with the sweet cream and the fig toppings.

Baked it until it reaches golden color, and the kitchen was filled with tasty flavor coming out from the oven :D

Wrapped it as a gift, and the family who ordered this tart said they enjoyed the tart and its flavor a lot. Yey!

Please enjoy the rest of the Sunday everyone.
Till the next time, take care :D

Anniversary Dinner 2014 @ n/naka

Hello everyone :D

It's a memorial weekend in the US, and we are invited to a BBQ on the Memorial Day, so looking forward to the event. Nice relaxing weekend!

On our wedding anniversary last week, my husband and I went to our favorite Modern Japanese restaurant in LA called n/naka. This is our third year celebrating our anniversary at this restaurant.

They have two courses to choose from ; a modern kaiseki, or vegetarian. We chose the regular modern kaiseki course which comes with thirteen great dishes.

The service was great, they remembered what we had for drink last year, and told me to take many photos, so I quickly took pictures of each course. Enjoy some of the photos!

 

 

Many seafood ingredients were from Japan, and the veggies from the chef's garden. Everything was fresh with great flavor, and each course was served in perfect timing. At the end, we both were pleasantly full, and having our mini photo taken as a gift was a great service.

We really had a great time, and are hoping to celebrate our next anniversary here, too.

Thank you for visiting, and pleae enjoy your weekend :D

Anniversary, Flowers, and Ice Cream

Good morning everyone :D

Last week, my husband and I celebrated our 11th year wedding anniversary.

We simply exchanged flowers and cards, then went to have a very nice dinner at our favorite restaurant.

Then got some flowers at a garden center so we can replace the flower pot at the entrance of our house.

I think we made a pretty good choice.  The old flowers in the pot is now replaced in a different one and set at the backyard, so we can continue enjoying them : )

For our anniversary, we also got this new ice cream maker!

The usual icecream maker for home uses have to have the inner container freezed overnight before using, but this one comes with a motor in the machine, so no need for it.

On the anniversary day, I made my first batch of strawberry vanilla icecream. All the ingredients I used are organic, and had turned out pretty well.

When I used to work at a restaurant, we made all ice cream in the house, so can't wait to try out my next one soon.

It went up over 100F last week, so Ice cream will be a good choice as a dessert!

Okay, time to go. Let's have a happy starting of a new week, and I will write about our anniversary dinner maybe tomorrow. Thanks for visiting :D

Organic orange mini muffins

Hello everyone :D

It's over 90 degrees here in California. So hot and guess we are having an early summer this year.

Little while ago, I baked apple mini muffins with organic oranges.

The bitter sweet muffins are my favorite, and great to give as gifts as well.

Okay, please enjoy your weekend! My husband and I just got a new ice cream maker as our anniversary memory, and it's churning right now for the first time. Can't wait to taste it!!

Blue sky over the beach

Hello everyone!

It's become pretty warm here in Southern California. The sky is so blue and matches the view of the beach very well.

Taking a walk, enjoying a cup of coffee at a cafe is a great way to spend the day off :D

The forecast says that the temprature is going to go up to the 90s this week, so planning to make some ice cream when I get the time.

Hope I can share about the ice cream I make in a few days.

Thank you again for visiting, and see you soon :D

Orange Scone

Hello everyone:D

A while ago, I made some orange compote using organic oranges bought from a local farmer's market, and wanted to bake something with it.

Since I received a request to make some orange scone, did so, and it turned out pretty well.

 After they cooled down, wrapped them as gifts.  Slipped in a small portion of English tea I ordered from the UK a little while ago, so the recepient will be able to enjoy her tea time.

Also, a few of them were wrapped in smaller packages.

The person who tasted them seemed to really enjoyed them, and that made my day!

Okay, it's time to go. Thank you for visiting, and see you tomorrow :D

Japanese Houji Tea Tart

Hello everyone!
It's been so long, but I've decided to start updating this blog again.
I would like to post the sweets and savory dishese I've been creating in my daily life:D

 This one is a Japanese Houji Tea tart I made as a dessert for a farewell dinner.

 The combination of the tart shell, mousse, and the crystals turned out pretty well, and was glad to see my friend and her family enjoying it.

Wishing my friend a good luck in her new life back in Japan. Farewell!!! We will miss you...