Bake Cheese Tart

My brother brought me some cheese tarts from Bake Cheese Tart located at the Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles. He was introduced to these wonderful ballerina cheese tarts by our friend Milena, aka Ms. Gourmet. She knows all the latest and good stuff from all over the world. She had them when she was in Japan. The tarts were born in Hokkaido. There are only 2 locations where you can get these in the United States; at the Century City Mall and in Westfield San Francisco Centre. 

Gary suggested heating them at 350 degrees in the oven to experience its freshness. I wanted to eat it cold since I rarely enjoy warm desserts. After about 6 minutes, the tarts got a bit fluffy, reminiscent of a souffle. The crust was crispy, which apparently are baked twice. They were light, not sweet, and just perfect. They were not even close to the Japanese cheesecake you buy at the mall, which is also expensive but, in my opinion, lacks flavor. They have the original flavor, matcha, and chocolate. I would like to try chocolate next time. I also tried the apple, which I loved. 

If and when you are in the area in Century City, do yourself a favor and buy a few of these. It can be frozen, and according to the website, you can eat it cold or even frozen. It's just plain delicious!

Dinner at Gary's

Dinner at Gary's was really dinner from Charcoal Venice Restaurant. It was a fabulous dinner. He did serve some appetizers, which were delicious courtesy of Trader Joe's. 

                                                  

The dinner included a salad, prime ribeye cooked to perfection, charred chicken wings, and a side of cabbage. Everything was delicious. This was real fine dining without the white tablecloth or servers. The best part was we didn't have to leave a tip!

                                            

                                        

                                            

                                          

Dessert was also store-bought from Vienna Pastry in Santa Monica. It was a beautiful Berry Chocolate Mousse Cake. Fresh raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries with a very light cake and mousse combination. I couldn't get over how very moist it was and not at all sweet. If I didn't eat a lot of the hors d' oeuvres and at least two servings of the steak, I could have eaten half the cake!

Rice Krispies Treat With Brown Butter & Bourbon

My niece gave me this recipe, which got me all excited because it sounded good, especially with the bourbon. I experimented and used Light Rum only because I had some. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of it, but I used 1/3 cup. It was not enough, so next time I will increase it to 1/2 cup and maybe use Dark Rum.

It turned out to be extra chewy and interesting with the salt on top. My son didn't like the salt. I loved it because it gave it an extra flavor; just as your taste buds were enjoying the buttery sweetness of the Krispies, the salt woke up another part of your taste buds. You may want to add salt on just half of it if you have people whose taste buds aren't quite as sophisticated.

I attached the recipe for your convenience. Enjoy!

Gusto Bread

This bakery is worth the drive to Long Beach. Their California Bread is a wheat bread that is also a sour bread that is very crusty outside with a slightly burned taste, which I love and chewy inside. The thick slice with an equally thick slice of Irish, French, or Europen butter will make you a bread addict in no time.

The second time I went, I was sure to get a few of the Nixtamal Queen, which is reminiscent of the Kouign- Amann. It is made with leavened dough caramelized with super crispy, buttery layers. It is perfect with a cup of coffee. I wouldn't mind eating one every day along with my vitamins. 

Before you get excited and decide to buy a dozen or so, make sure you have your credit card, or you might not have enough cash on hand. These little Queens come with a royal price of $7.00 each, which I did not realize. The loaf of bread was $9.00, but that was a big loaf!

Gusto Bread is located at 2710 E. 4th St. in Long Beach, California.

MoDo Donuts

These donuts from Honolulu is still one of my favorite donuts. They are MOCHI donuts, chewy like mochi but very light. I used to fall in line to get some when they were new and located inside the old Mitsuwa Market on Western Ave. They moved to a permanent stall inside Mitsuwa in the new location in Torrance by the Del Amo Mall. You can access the store from Carson street (no need to enter the mall).

On their website, you will find the 3 flavors each day they make for the week. I waited till they had my favorite, Lilikoi, which is like passion fruit, only slightly more tart. They open at 10 a.m. every day. For some reason, I thought they opened at 11, so I was there at 11 a.m. this morning. There was no line! I ordered a dozen of the Lilikoi, then later decided to order another 6 because Amy and Sandi wanted a few. 

They make the donuts fresh, so you always have to wait unless you pre-order them. The box was hot when I got them, and I couldn't wait to have one. As soon as I got in my car, I opened the trunk, got a piece of paper towel, and took one out of the box, and proceeded on having a bite. The only thing wrong was I still had my face shield on, so the yellow lilikoi glaze got all over my face shield. If that was not stupid enough, I tried to lick the glaze I got all over my finger, still wearing the face shield! I just couldn't contain my excitement.

When I finally had a bite, I was immediately transported to heaven. Unbelievably delicious. It was still hot, and it tasted like no other donut. I bought a few hoping to get sick of it, so maybe I won't run over to get some more because they are not cheap. A dozen cost $23.00 plus tax. If you get half a dozen, it's $12.00 plus tax.

It's worth exploring the different flavors. I probably have tried most of them and my favorite Lilikoi and anything citrusy since it cuts the donut's sweetness. 

Salted Double Caramel Crunch Doughnut

Krispy Kreme has introduced 2 new doughnuts for a limited time; November 19 until the 22nd of 2020. 

They had a special that if you buy a dozen, you can get another dozen for $8.00, so I naturally took advantage of this special. I ordered half of the Caramel Glazed and half of the Salted Double Caramel Crunch. 

Both were good, but the Salted Double Caramel was outstanding. You have to keep in mind that these glazed doughnuts are only good when consumed hot/warm. I have perfected the time you microwave them to resemble the"just out of the oven" experience. You must experiment with your microwave at home. In mine, I put it in for 15 seconds on the first day and maybe 20 seconds the 2nd day. There is no 3rd day! I also include a cup of water inside the oven, so the doughnut does not get dry. 

I sure hope they have this flavor available more often as it is pure yumminess!

Spanish Rice

 A friend of mine told me she had cooked the Knorr Spanish Rice many times and loves it. We recently had some Paella from a Spanish store, and she swore the Knorr was just as good if not better. I was skeptical, but I try anything, so I experimented. I bought 3 envelopes of rice. I cooked them according to the package, which involved adding some oil and water.

I resurrected some Kielbasa sausages from the freezer, which Lisa had given me some time ago. They looked good, so I sliced them up. I sautéed some onions, cooked the sausage, and added some olives and baby corn. When everything was cooked, I added the rice.

It was unbelievably delicious. My friend was right. It tasted better than the Paella we bought, which was more expensive. 

There will definitely be a "repeat performance" on this one.