A "Cake" Fit for 8 Taco

A "Cake" fit for 8 Taco

     Last week, the TND crew assembled once again to celebrate the greatness that is 8 Taco .  I may not know all of 8 Taco's inner-most desires, but I do know one thing.  The girl loves herself some CHEESE.  So, for her birthday meal, I made her some cheddar, goat cheese, mushroom mac and cheese and a pumpkin cheesecake (per her request) with a sour cream topping and a gingersnap (my personal change-up) for dessert. 

      My search continues for homemade macaroni and cheese perfection (already found restaurant mac and cheese Nirvana at Pete's Cafe and Bar in L.A.).  I liked the mushrooms in this recipe and the use of fresh herbs, but it needed more pizzazz and cheeeeesiness.  Hopefully, my friends will help me with additional testing in the future.

          After the drowning tres leches debacle in the Spring, I read the pumpkin cheesecake recipe's instructions ahead of time and plotted accordingly.  Besides  the gingersnap switch which added a little more spice and sass to the crust, I only amended the filling by adding a smidge of cloves which always seem neglected in pumpkin recipes.  Happily in the end, my first foray with real cheesecake (using a springform pan, cooling and all) was a rousing sucess.  It looked beautiful dolled up for 8 Taco's birthday and tasted even better.  Woohoo!! Even my non-foodie friend raved.  Soooo much food happiness.

            So, here's the sappy section.  The food all tasted great at this shindig, but I most enjoyed the time with my friends.  New people came out for this technically ThND which ROCKED, everyone laughed, and a couple close friends stayed behind to chat even after things wound down.  It truly turned out to be a celebration worthy of the wonderful 8 Taco.

Happy Halloween 2011!!!

Last night, Rhino attended the Second Annual Bad Scary Movie Party.  The first party was fun, but last night was even more enjoyable and bad scary.  Not wanting to arrive empty-handed, I came in a skunk costume and armed with pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and (gummy) body part toppers. So tasty and so aumsing.  I love me a good body part topper...especially around Halloween.

Beer Bread for Braai

The other weekend, friends KK and BK hosted an African braai (aka barbeque) at their pad.  I contributed cheddar thyme beer bread (and doubled the scant recipe).  Though I found it slightly salty, it jived well with the tasty sausage, rice, and monkey gland sauce (sans monkey).  Much like KK and BK's summer cook out, the braai turned out to be a giant success because of the food...but even more because of the people.

I Love Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars...My Co-Workers, Not So Much

At the beginning of the month, I used a co-worker's birthday as an excuse to bring some tasty food into work.  In the past, brownies, cookies, and such went like flat screen television in Best Buy on Black Friday.  Well,  on October 7th I brought in pumpkin cheesecake bars and learned that over half of my co-workers either do not like pumpkin or do not like cheesecake.  Huh?!  Thankfully, the birthdayee loved the bars and so did I.  I swear...Those pumpkin/cheesecake hunters do not know what they are missing.

Andrea's First Trifle

Earlier this summer, Rhino found out that her friend Andrea had never experienced trifle.  Obviously, I stepped in to rectify the situation with my much used (see previous entry) lemon berry trifle.  I will work better on the whipped cream allotment for her next experience, but all in all I think it came out all right ( :

Celebrating Amber's Awesomeness

What I like about Amber is that she puts it all out there without any qualms.  She knows what she wants, and she will not hesitate to tell you exactly what it is either.  Of course, it also does not hurt matters that she owns two handsome cats  as well.

In the past, Rhino was remiss in celebrating Miss Amber.  So, this year, she had to make up for lost time.  In that spirit and in line with Amber's week-long vegetarian stint and Sar Sar's long-term vegetarianism, I put together a butternut squash, spinach, ricotta pasta bake for the night's entree and a zucchini fudge cake for dessert.

Dealing with butternut squash's rough exterior and demanding roasting needs deter some people from using it.  However, I feared not since I knew a few tricks.  First of all, buy the squash pre-peeled and chunked.  It means more money at the g-store (Rhino street slang for grocery store), but less time gourd fighting and possibly bleeding in the kitchen.  Embarrassingly, I also lack a sharp enough knife to wrangle an intact butternut squash, but that's a whole other matter.

Secondly, plan ahead.  I always try to prep ahead for my dinners and given that roasting only requires a little olive oil toss, some salt and pepper, and a hot oven, I figure I might as well roast and cool some squash while I pay some bills or stress over some grad school homework.  I also cooled the butternut chunks and combined them with all the ricotta ingredients a day or two before the dinner, but I hedge on the pro-active side of recipes and school assignments by nature.

Anyway, back to the celebration, on Thursday night I nestled some no-boil lasagna noodles into my baking mixture, topped it with an excess amount of mozzarella cheese, vegetable stock, and cream, kicked it into a 350 degree oven (the British Celsius degrees equal to about 320 to 380 Fahrenheit), and let it bake as I imbibed in wine with the Amber celebrants.  With a little fresh sage and some salt and pepper accentuating the recipe's flavors, Amber deemed it delicious.  Success!!

spinach, butternut squash bake

I cannot say that I felt the same way about the zucchini fudge cake.  It looked pretty and everything with chocolate frosting, funfetti sprinkles, and frosting images of Amber's kitty loves, but the zucchini overtook the cocoa's sweetness in the recipe.  The recipe's creator correctly stated that the zucchini produced an extremely moist cake.  Unfortunately, it is not a recipe that I plan on making again.  Oh well, I'm sure that there will be other birthday cakes to make in my future.  In the meantime, at least I know my way around a butternut squash and how to please the great Amber.

Hanging with JaJa in Chicago!!

Cinnamon buns at Ann Sather's...*Drool*

Leftover mixed meat kebabs from Cafe Orchid (DELICIOUS TURKISH FOOD)

                                                   Last week/weekend, I went to Chicago for a mini-vacation to see my best friend, JaJa.  We explored, we laughed, we played, and we also ate all sorts of food all over the city.  Here's the rundown...

"The Classic" sausage pizza at Lou Malnati's (loved the cheese layer and the sauasge stratosphere but I'll stick with NY style nect time.

Fruit salad at Ann Sather's..pretty but not overly tasty

Chicken potstickers on top of the John Hancock Building (solid but over-priced)

Tijuana Omelet with avocado added at Toast Two (solid)

butter at Blackbird even looked beautiful

Sepia aka cuttlefish appetizer at Blackbird. Prettiest appetizer EVER and delicious.

Sturgeon entree at Blackbird (small but wonderfully executed)

Vanilla parfait dessert at Blackbird (good presentation, okay dessert)

Mix of things from Big Star

Superdawg at Superdawg...So satisfying

Last Class Cookie Bars

Apologies for my long absence, between work, a six-week "accelerated" grad class, and life, cooking unfortunately fell by the wayside.  Still, in spite of  a looming paper and an edict to empty my kitchen cabinets, I baked up triple chocolate chip cookie bars for my class' last meeting with semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate chips, and...wait for it...dark chocolate m&ms. 

The next day, I brought the cookie bars to class and prompted a professor-issued cookie break an hour in.  I cannot say that my sweet skills helped enhance my grade in the class.  But she did take one home to eat while grading, and I ended up doing pretty well ( :

Two Rhinos Take Southern California





Salmon Cobb salad with the freshest avocado and lots of bacon at Nickel Diner in downtown L.A...So good a neighboring table asked for the same custom-made thing



Fruit salad from Cafe 222...I had to put a little healthy into the vacation

Peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast at Cafe 222 in San Diego aka Bobby Flay's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" breakfast...The guy has good taste

My sister's Mexican Scramble at Cafe 222...Pretty but my french toast wins


 Last weekend, I spent a wonderful weekend with my one, only, and favorite sister Rhino in her CA stomping grounds and San Diego.  We caught a Dodgers game, beached and tanned, and of course wined and dined.  Unfortunately, I did not snap a picture of my multiple watermelon mojitos at a

Fish tacos from Coyote Grill in Laguna

The view from Coyote Grill...AWESOME!!

delightful birthday cook out.  Maybe, I'll just have to make them sometime instead.....




Fish tostada from Coyote Grill in Laguna



Polenta antipasti at some Italian restaurant in San Diego...better than the entree



Spaghetti bolognese at same Italian restaurant= only okay




Enjoying a Mary Todd and a Lincoln Mule at the Lincoln Room...Represent yo!



We finished the night with a hot fudge sundae at Ghiradelli's in San Diego...*Drool*

Eggs funghi at Little Dom's in L.A.....roasted mushrooms, eggs with hollandaise sauce, all over grilled bread...What's better? Homemade blueberry jam!!




Fried potatoes at Little Dom's...Brilliant use of garlic



When Life Gives the Rhino Lemons, She Makes Lemon-Herb Quinoa

As my friends know, I am a summer lover who somehow got birthed in the rotten month of February.  I savor  a good ninety degree day and any excuse to eat outside while it's nice and hot out.  So, when I got invited to a BK/Double K cook out over the Fourth of July weekend, I just had to go.

Since I knew the cook out hosts favored healthier fare, I pulled some quinoa out of my cabinet, juiced some leftover lemons from the past week's TND, and made food.com's (the reincarnated recipezaar's) lemon-herb quinoa.  However, by its lonesome, the lemon-herb quinoa seemed a bit bland for the Rhino's taste, so I also added sauteed onions and squash, chickpeas, and a very goodly amount of feta.  I'd say it was a good call on my part.  Guests praised the salad's fresh and healthy taste, the hosts kept some of the super grain for later munching, and I took home just enough for a Wednesday at work dinner.  I'd say that's some well-squeezed lemon....and a pretty awesome way to spend one's Sunday. 

Thanks for hosting BK and KK.  The grilled food tasted great, but the company and canine entertainment was even better ( :

When Rhino Gets Mad, She Makes Oreo Pie!!!



layer #1

Without running as an emotional release,

the Rhino must work out her frustations in the kitchen.  Last week, Rhino felt some MAJOR frustration and decided to not only make truffled deviled eggs for a friend's Saturday cookout but to also make FROZEN OREO PIE.  What not to love about this pie?  It's got an oreo crust, a coat of hot fudge painting over that, an oreo pudding and cool whip center, and lots of crumbled oreo mixed throughout just for good measure.  Plus, it allowed me to not only pat the top of the hot fudge to open it up, but I also got to smash package after package of oreos.  Sweet all-around.






Finished truffled deviled eggs

Those at the cookout agreed. While I played cornhole and mosquitoes feasted on the backs of my legs, they demolished the pie and the truffled deviled eggs in record time leaving only cookie crumbs and scattered chives behind.  I'd say that's a great use of excess anger and a pretty fun Saturday night (mosquitoes aside).

PS- It's gotta be kismet that the frozen oreo pie came from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. 

The Cake Curse is Broken: Celebrating Andrea with Salads and a Strawberry Dream Cake

Why does Andrea equal AWESOME?  She's sweet, patient enough to deal with slews of tots on a daily basis, and she makes some KILLER drinks.  So, for her birthday, Rhino decided to salute her sangria making skills and superb character with a TND.  Andrea wanted entrees with lots of veggies with a little meat in the mix, so Rhino made the Bidens' (yes, those Bidens) caprese salad and a crab and avocado salad also from Food Network Magazine.   Sorry, Biden family, though your recipe yielded lots of food, it lacked a certain amount of flavor.  Luckily, the crab and avocado salad made up for the pasta salad's deficit.  The astute Andrea quickly assimilated the salads for ultimate texture and flavor.  Yes, she's a smart cookie too.  

Of course, a birthday dinner isn't a birthday dinner without a cake, so I made a fancy schancy strawberry dream cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting for dessert.  Given my flooded tres leches cake catastrophe and the brown velvet oopsie, the strawberry dream seemed rather nebulous.  However, I nailed the strawberry syrup step, aced the baking and, most importantly, read the directions in advance.  My friends and I all agreed that I broke the cake curse at last.  Hurrah!! And an even bigger hurrah to Andrea for being her kick ass self ( :