project: brittle.

This week I've been working on a little Christmas project and that's making brittle. It's a bit time consuming but it's also pretty relaxing. One batch makes roughly 2lbs. And I've made about six different batches. To me, this is definitely a labor of love. I really like baking but for some reason this is my favorite. 

I started off making just the plain peanut brittle then figured I could add some different flavors and it kind of took off. Several different flavors, a few different nuts but for the most part one awesome outcome: everyone that's tried it loves it. 

This year, I had been searching all year ( on and off) on how to make a bacon brittle. I couldn't find anything but just candied bacon. So I took matters into my own hands and decided to make a bacon peanut brittle. It came out pretty decent. Not a complete wow like the spicy nor the cinnamon brittles I make but it wasn't disgusting so that's technically a win in itself. 

Pictured is the different steps to the bacon peanut brittle. 

vegas: eats.

This past weekend was spent down in Las Vegas. There was shopping, a bit of drinking and some eating. I'll be breaking up the Vegas trip because this food post is going to be long as it is.

While none of the places we went to were new to us, a few of the entrees were. Before we head down there we pretty much have a game plan of places to eat. Vegas is known for it's food and for awhile, we just stuck to the local, off the strip eats. That changed not too long ago. We started going to the strip more, a place we used to avoid like crazy and soon we were eating at the restaurants. 

The first eating stop was the Meatball Spot on Friday for happy hour. I've fallen in love with this place, it's good, consistent and the price is pretty awesome. I had heard about it on twitter from TJ Lavin, he had been going on and on about how awesome this place is and knew we had to try it. I'm still trying to work my way through the menu but everything I've had so far has been delicious. This time I had the garlic parmesan fries, a slice of pizza topped with spinach and a few glasses of their white grape sangria. 

Later Friday night, we ate at Serendipity 3 on the strip at Ceasar's Palace. This was the second time there. Delicious, as always. I just had an appetizer (chicken satay lettuce wraps) with the warm Vegas weather I didn't want anything too heavy. We had a bit of crazy weather but that's a story for another post.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and headed down to the Sugar Factory at Paris for some breakfast. What I really wanted they didn't have on their shortened menu so I got myself a Belgian Waffle with a side of bacon and some coffee. Everything I've had there has been phenomenal, it can feel a little crowded but it's well worth it.

Lunch, Saturday, was an all you can eat KBBQ buffet. We don't normally do buffets but, of course, there's always that one exception. It's a bit pricey but if you have an appetite you'll definitely get your money's worth. Also you leave smelling like food for a bit. Had a plate of salad, a bowl of rice and about 5 plates of brisket (the 5 was split between two people). 

Onto dinner, that was at Macayo's. A place we've been going to for years. It's a TexMex food place that's really good and really nicely priced. I had my usual salad with ranch and beef taquitos.


Sunday was the last few hours in Vegas and kept it simple, went to Teriyaki Madness. Had my usual chicken katsu, this time with noodles.


The last food stop was in St. George, UT. And that was at In-n-Out, a number 2 with spread and pickles with some animal style fries, no onions. To me, it isn't as good as one in Southern California but it's close enough. 

kitchen misadventures: root beer cupcakes

This week was a bit of a downer. Had found a recipe on another blog that looked so good, I had to try it. Needless to say, they didn't turn out the way they should have, at all. They taste the way they should, they just aren't the picture perfect that I'd like them to be. Oh well, when I get around to it, I know the tweaks that I'll be making.

Also, high altitude baking... I need to remember that.

kitchen adventures: creamsicle(ish) cupcakes.

This week's was a tiny bit of a misadventure. I was trying to make a cream soda frosting but it came out more like a glaze. Hopefully, I know where that step was wrong and soon I'll work on fixing it. These are kinda my take on a creamsicle.

Cupcakes hanging out on the cooling rack

The cupcake front and center is one of the six that I tried with the glaze mishap. Still good and it did taste like cream soda but it didn't come out like it should have. Oh well, can't always come out perfect. 

One of the next cupcakes on my list of ideas to try is a root beer or one with Blue Moon beer. Of course, I'll be posting it so cross your fingers. 

kitchen adventures: cherry lime cupcakes.

I didn't exactly have a recipe for these, just an idea.  They're a lime cupcake with cherry frosting. Not much to change on them, maybe flip the flavors or add some garnish.  Pretty satisfied with the way they came out and that's saying something. 

Here they are close to getting out of the oven. One of these days I'll remember to take pics from start to finish. They even smelled delicious.

Taken right before frosting on the cooling rack. 

Here they are all frosted with some garnished with lime zest. 

kitchen adventures: mountain dew cupcakes.

I've always been a fan of taking a recipe and making it my own. Strawberry peanut butter cookies, spicy peanut brittle... you name it. This time I went looking for this recipe for mountain dew cupcakes, I've tasted them before and they were delicious so I had to see if I could make them for myself. It was fairly easy just a bit messy to make. I'm definitely going to work on perfecting these.

kitchen adventures: apple turon

During the week I found this awesome recipe courtesy of CASA Veneracion. It's an apple turon (think sweet dessert eggroll). I'm pretty sure it's a keeper.

This is the not yet baked but rolled up drizzled in butter. 

And this is the end product. It didn't need the powdered sugar but it sure does look nice. 

what a trip down to vegas.

So went down to Vegas yesterday which is usually easy driving, a slow car here and there. Whole different story... we were stuck in traffic for about an hour, in the middle of the desert, with basically a magnifying lens on my legs. Thank goodness for AC. It was easily over 100º. It ended up being a truck on fire, completely torched, who knows how long it was there but it was out when we passed it. This is what happens when I so happen to be awake and we run into deadstop traffic... Yeah, I look around for pictures I can take from the car window. 

But we got down to Vegas, ran into another jam. That one wasn't so bad as the first, just your typical go home traffic.Was rewarded with Meatball Spot's delicious pizzas. So it ended up being a pretty decent  afternoon/ evening. If you've never been, please go. Amazing food, cool atmosphere. Town Square in Vegas, NV.

this morning's quick little adventure