April Fool’s Day foods
April Fool’s Day! I’m not a fan of this day, mostly because I am stupid enough to fall for a lot of pranks. But I don’t mind falling for sweet pranks. Here are some of my favorite foods that aren’t exactly what you think…
Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe (recipe, here)
BOMBE! My most requested party dessert, it takes time to layer it, but so worth the work. A lime sherbet ‘shell’, encasing a thin layer of vanilla for the ‘rind’ and filled with refreshing raspberry sorbet. The ‘seeds?’ Mini chocolate chips of course.
Burger Bite cookies (recipe, here)
My FAVE cookie of all time, the Burger. But it’s not a burger, it’s a peppermint patty sandwiched between two nilla wafers with some dyed coconut for ‘lettuce’. The combination is surprisingly refreshing and it’s the perfect sized’burger’ for your sweet tooth.
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes (recipe, here)
Mmm. A cupcake. No. Wait. It’s a brownie. Hang on – there’s a peanut butter cup inside! Sugar overload. One of these will get you through the day but I bet you’ll eat more than that…
Garden Bug cupcakes (recipe, here)
Ugh! There’s bugs in my food! Well, sort of. But they’re the harmless sugary kind. This is one project the kids will be more than happy to help you with – edible dirt and bugs? You bet!
Corn on the Cob cupcakes (recipe,here)
I have to admit, these look a little too real to me when I made them. I think it’s the ‘butter’.
Radish + Avocado Toast
Spring is here! That means my weekly (sometimes twice) Farmer’s Market trips are back! While our markets in L.A. are year round, no one likes slogging through the rain with the kids to get produce.
When we go we talk about what’s in season, what we think things taste like, just a whole lot of meal planning for that week. While the kids picked out their choices I went about my biz trying to figure out my lunch for the week.
The idea of an avocado toast is always a winner because it’s quick and simple. Luckily there were some lovely Bacon Avocados at the market. Sadly, they don’t taste like bacon – they are named after a man named Bacon. BOO. But I like Bacon avocados because they are little creamier than Hass, which are the ones I use for guacamole.
I picked up some fresh radishes too. I chose veggies by color this week – pink and green, almost too pretty to eat.
ingredients:
1 medium radish
1/2 Bacon avocado
1 slice sourdough bread, toasted
butter
green tea sea salt
Slice the radish into thin – almost see through – pieces. Place them on top of the buttered sourdough toast.
Scoop out the avocado and spread on top of the radish.
I happened to find some very cool Green Tea Sea Salt when I went to the Spice Station, and it was the perfect compliment sprinkled on top of the avocado. Kosher salt works just as well too.
This is a nice, crisp, pretty lunch. Bring it on Spring!
Star Wars kids party
I love boy birthday parties. Princess parties are everywhere and I’m down with pink, but lightsabers are where it’s at.
This weekend I made cupcakes for my friend’s awesome outdoor Star Wars party for her 7-year old! My kids have winter birthdays so we’re often stuck inside, it’s the Spring birthdays that get all the park-fun!
Pool noodles wrapped in electrical tape – a homemade ‘lightsaber!’ Genius for outdoor play. Using those ‘lightsabers’ (and the force of course) the kids had to keep a balloon afloat as long as they could. Not easy when pokey grass is working against you. Grass and nature is truly the work of the Empire. Grr.
She also got a very cool near indestructible R2-D2 pinata from my FAVORITE pinata store. Help me Obi-Wan…no one can break this thing. Poor Artoo. He didn’t stand a chance against these young padawan thirsty for blood, I mean, candy.
For the party I made Vanilla Yoda and Darth Vader cupcakes (recipe, here). For some reason whenever I make these for parties – Darth Vader is always the first to go, I’m sure it’s because he’s chocolate not because the kids are turning to the Dark Side…um. Right.
I also made the birthday boy some Stormtrooper cupcakes to surround and protect his one special birthday cupcake.
Swinging with your friends and swinging lightsabers, not a bad day for 7-year old Jedi.
Yoda + Vader cupcakes
A lot of the kids parties we’ve gone to lately have been Star Wars themed. It must be making a comeback with the youngling set and I am the go-to for birthday cupcakes. I wonder why that is…oh yeah, the Ultimate Star Wars Party!
I made some very cool cupcakes for a fun Star Wars birthday using Williams Sonoma cookie cutters. Vanilla Yoda cupcakes for the Rebels and Chocolate Vader cupcakes for those who belong on the dark side. I think you know which ones my kids chose.
ingredients:
Vanilla cupcakes
Vanilla buttercream
Green Tea cookies
Chocolate cupcakes
Chocolate buttercream
Chocolate cookies
I made Vanilla cupcakes and frosted them with a vanilla buttercream and chocolate cupcakes frosted with chocolate frosting.
For the cookies I made green tea cookies and using my handy dandy Yoda cutter, cut out lots of the little green jedi master.
Then I made a chocolate roll out dough and cut out tons of Vader heads. Scaaary.
Once the cookies were cooled and crisp, I pressed them onto the top of the frosted cupcakes.
I love cookies as toppers for cupcakes…it’s two desserts in one!
Baked Mini Ravioli
By the end of the day I’m tired. Too tired to boil pasta?? YES. Hey, I’m a woman on the go – I AM THAT TIRED. So I decided to experiment with making baked dish where I didn’t even have to boil the pasta. If you get your kids to assemble it – even better – less work for you!!
My kids loved it and it gave me a little extra nap time. Zzz…
ingredients:
4 cups Mini Ravioli, frozen
4 cups marinara sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Salt
Pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Butter 6 mini ramekins (so the pasta won’t stick when you bake it.)
Spoon a Tablespoon of marinara into each prepped ramekin. Here’s the kicker, add the FROZEN pasta – distribute evenly into the 6 ramekins.
Top with the rest of the sauce, then the mozzarella cheese. Season with a little salt and pepper.
Place the ramekins on a baking sheet (in case of spill over) and bake for 35 mins.
The ramekins will be hot, so be careful when serving.
O.G. + Royal/T !
This is huge!! Royal/T – my favorite maid cafe/art gallery/pop culture shop in Culver City has been so kind as to offer to throw a big book signing party for the new O.G. comic/cookbook!
They really went all out with the planning! It will be on Mother’s Day, and I will be there WITH O.G. (!!) signing the new book from noon to 3. They are also taking reservations for a special Mother’s Day tea that features my Royal/T Milk Tea cupcakes! One of my most popular recipes! It’s their tea, I tell ya.
Not only that, there will be a special justJENN section in the shop with lots of new stationery items AND a stART event craft table where you can make justJENN Mother’s Day cards!
Spend Mother’s Day with the mother of all mothers – O.G.! For more info check out the facebook event page and call for tea reservations because they sell out quick!
Thanks and love to Royal/T!
Royal/T cafe / shop / events / art space
8910 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232-2326
(310) 559-6300 ex.3
www.royal-t.org
King’s Hawaiian – Root Beer Pulled Pork Sliders
My proposal was selected as a winner in the King’s Hawaiian Tastemaker Program put on by Foodbuzzz! Incorporating King’s Hawaiian bread into a Spring Brunch would be easy, because as you can tell from so many past recipes, I love cooking with King’s Hawaiian bread. The soft, tasty Portuguese style sweet bread reminds me of visiting family in Hawaii and completes every meal from breakfast to dinner.
As that well known Disney cartoon set in Hawaii
Root beer is the drink of choice in our family, so much so that I often use it in my recipes. The sweetness brings a lot out of savory dishes. I decided to make Root Beer Pulled Pork sliders: warm, succulent pulled pork – flavored with spices and root beer a perfect compliment to King’s Hawaiian sweet bread.
I am lucky that the King’s Hawaiian Bread factory is located right here in Los Angeles, with a bakery and restaurant not far away. This means I get the FRESHEST melt in your mouth sweet bread. Sure the supermarket bread is good too, but nothing beats sweet bread made fresh that day.
A quick run to the bakery and I got my rolls for my meal as well as King’s famous Paradise Cake for dessert!
To me this is the perfect way to welcome spring, good food and family. An Ohana lunch is the best way to celebrate the season!
ingredients:
1 boneless pork shoulder (or pork butt) 4lbs
1 sweet Maui onion
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Hawaiian salt
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
12 oz root beer (I prefer A & W for cooking)
King’s Hawaiian sweet bread dinner rolls
Slice the onion thin and layer it on the bottom of the crock pot. I like Maui onions best because they are nice and sweet and don’t overpower the meat.
Cut the pork shoulder into smaller pieces and arrange it on top of the sliced onion.
In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, Hawaiian salt, cumin, paprika, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano. Mix well and pour and rub into the pork.
Pour the root beer on top of the seasoned meat. Cook on low for 8 hours.
When the 8 hours is up, take two forks and ‘pull’ the pork. It will be nice and tender and should shred easily. Make sure you mix up the onions on the bottom of the pot.
Cut the King’s Hawaiian rolls in half and place a nice helping of pork on top to serve!
I paired it with another family favorite, Potato Salad – the recipe that is in the new O.G. Favorite Recipes cookbook!
The family LOVED the Root Beer pulled pork. They raved about the tasty pork and the soft sweet bread! Both O.G. AND the Baby had several helpings each!
Having a gorgeous slice of King’s Hawaiian paradise cake for dessert was definitely the way to top off the meal!
Winner!
This difficult week was made so much better by the kind words of friends and strangers. It helped turn my ‘worst’ week into one of my best – so thanks for the week off!
One of my Grandpa’s favorite things was ice cream. I could always count on the freezer being full of it. Now that he is gone, I think of him whenever I have ice cream for dessert. So this profiterole recipe is sort of homage to him – an updated version of his beloved frozen treats.
Thanks for the support and whether you’ve been reading for years or weeks – I appreciate it!
And now the winner of the HUGE prize pack by random integer: Mac Nut kisses, Star Wars baking set, Lego chocolate mold and the Hello Kitty pasta is…
#167 Amanda A
Congrats! Email me with your address and I’ll get it out straight away!
Profiteroles
Don’t be afraid of the choux. That should be your mantra. Because making pastry choux for cream puffs is the easiest, honest! And there’s nothing more fun than making little puffs and then filling them with cold, delicious homemade ice cream.
Making them mini and topping them with velvety ganache — they become the perfect little dessert.
ingredients:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
pinch of salt
1 cup flour
4 eggs
vanilla ice cream (recipe, here)
ganache ingredients:
6 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a pot over high heat, bring the water, milk, butter and salt to a boil.
Carefully add the flour and stir until the mixture pulls away from the sides. Cook for another minute or so to cook the flour out a bit. Let cool for a minute, then pour into the bowl of an electric mixer.
On low speed beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Using a mini ice cream scoop place about a Tablespoon of the dough onto a silpat lined baking sheet. Approx 12 per sheet.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, lower the oven temp to 350 bake for another 10 mins. Turn off the oven and let the puffs dry in the warm oven for yet another ten minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
While those are cooling, start the ganache. In a saucepan melt the chocolate, heavy cream and vanilla. Keep and eye on it, and as it starts to melt, stir and stir some more. Keep stirring until you get a nice glossy ganache. Set aside to cool off just for a few minutes.
Slice the puffs in half and fill with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can keep these as is in the freezer, then top them off with a spoonful of ganache right before serving.
GIVEAWAY – last day!
March is a notoriously hard month for me. If you read O.G. Road Trippin, you’ll remember this is the week that my Grandpa died and I lost my job. I never look forward to this week, ever. To get through it, I’m taking a break – but that only means good things for you, because this week I’ll be having the biggest giveaway ever – in fact it will be my only giveaway on this blog this year.
If you’ve followed this blog, you know there are certain things that I love. (Lego, Star Wars, Hello Kitty) Watch carefully, everyday I will put up a new item and at the end of the week – ONE person will get it ALL! Come back everyday to see what’s new.
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DAY FOUR: We made it through this horrible week! The rest of the year will be unicorns and rainbows right? Eh.
This is the last day and now you know the prize pack consists of Mac Nut Hershey’s kisses, a Star Wars cupcake baking set, a chocolate Lego mold but…how can I do a giveaway and NOT include something Hello Kitty? Right? RIGHT??
I love all things Hello Kitty especially so when it comes to food. From cupcakes to cookies to moffles (mochi waffles) – she is my muse.
These adorable little pastas are perfect for making Hello Kitty baked pasta (recipe, here). (all these prizes I bought with my OWN money, none of this was given to me)
Thanks so much for following along on my week off and for being such loyal readers, I really appreciate it!
To enter simply leave a comment on this post. You have until March 20th. Thanks for reading and good luck!
