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happy birthday dad!

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Happy Birthday to my dad!!

We celebrated my dad’s birthday this past weekend with a surprise party.  We had it at a local indian restaurant and, although they forgot about our party, we managed to get sorted and seated before my dad showed up.  Knowing that my dad hates surprises or any sort of attention, he didn’t expect us to celebrate the big 4-9 (wink wink).  He had absolutely no clue but was happy to celebrate with his family.

The coconut cake with nutella was such a hit a few days back, I had to make the same for my dad.  Two layers of coconut cake with a generous layer of nutella holding the layers together.  This was topped with a cream cheese frosting and chocolate.  I got the idea of the maltesers from Alison who had made cupcakes topped with maltesers for the Food Blogger Bake Sale.  The idea of the chocolate fingers came from Pinterest.  It was a fun and easy cake to decorate and everyone enjoyed it.

an appetizer party – take two

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As much as getting older is not fun, I am one of those people that celebrate their birthdays for days.  Celebrations started early with an appetizer party with a few of my favourite people.

Dessert first!  Any good party has to have cake!  I made my favourite coconut cupcakes.  Each cupcake was filled with nutella and topped with buttercream.  It was really fun making the swirl with two colors – easy by placing a purple icing bag and a white icing bag into another icing bag.

The addictive chocolate chip cookies were made on request and were a huge hit.

Appetizers were a joint effort with each couple bringing a couple dishes.  I made kale chips and tested a new recipe, hot spinach and artichoke dip (recipe to come).

Hubby made delicious ribs, lots to keep everyone satisfied.

The L’s made delicious stuffed mushrooms which were cheesy with a hint of spice.

They also brought over some chicken and chicken wings which were tossed on the bbq.

The T’s made some juicy beef kabobs which were tasty and spicy!  They also brought some sweet corn on the cob, which once bbq’d were smothered in butter and spice.

It was a wonderful evening with great friends.  What else could a girl ask for.

homemade ferrero chocolates

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Happy Valentine’s Day! To celebrate the day of love, I made hubby one of his favorite chocolates – Ferrero Rocher. 

It was ridiculously easy to make and so good! The recipe for this is all over the web.  You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make the chocolates.  Just hazelnut wafers, crushed hazelnuts, nutella and chocolate.

Hubby loved these and thought they tasted even better than the real thing!  A little dangerous to be able to make these so easily at home.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d share a line from one of my favourite poems, Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way.

Homemade Ferrero Chocolates
10 hazelnut wafer sticks
1 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped
2/3 cup Nutella
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tb whipping cream

Crush the wafers and mix it together with the hazelnuts.  Once combined, fold in the Nutella.  Chill the mixture until firm, about 1 hour.  Form small balls and chill again for another hour.

Melt the chocolate and whipping cream in a double boiler.  Dip the hazelnut balls into the chocolate until covered.  Garnish with more hazelnuts if you wish.  Enjoy!

coconut cake

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We celebrated another anniversary this month – my in-laws.   We had a Mexican feast to celebrate their 36 years of marriage.

I had a cake in mind that I wanted to try and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it.  I had seen Ina’s famous coconut cake many times on her show Barefoot Contessa.  It was also recently showcased on Next Food Network Star so I knew I just had to try it out.

 I gathered the ingredients together and when I went to preheat the oven, I found that my oven had completely stopped working!  I was not going to let that stop me from making this cake, so I loaded up my car and finished the cake off at my parents.

I made a few changes to up the coconut factor and of course I had to add some chocolate.  I made one layer rather than two and found that it was the perfect amount.  This cake was a hit!  I even saw my father-in-law have seconds – unusual for someone who doesn’t eat sugar.  I will definitely be making this cake again and again (once I get my oven fixed).

Coconut Cake

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp coconut extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

nutella
cream cheese frosting (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9-inch round cake pan.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time.  Add the extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined and then fold in the coconut. 

Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Cover the top of the cake with nutella.  Wait 5 minutes before icing the entire cake with the cream cheese frosting and covering it with coconut.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/2 pound icing sugar
3 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Combine the cream cheese, butter, and extracts on low speed. Add the icing sugar and mix. 

mother’s day and grilled veggie lasagna

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We had our mammas over for Mother’s Day dinner this year.  We went totally simple this year with bbq’d burgers and fries.  With a wedding coming up in the family in just under 3 months, we grilled up some veggies for those family members who felt like being healthy.  Most went with the beef though so we had loads of roasted eggplant, zucchini, onions and red peppers left over. 

What better way to use up those extra veggies than make veggie lasagna.  I added the red peppers and onions to the sauce which was layered between the eggplant and zucchini and loads of cheese.  It was filling and a great way to get in our day full of veggies.  Q even finished off his plate which is always a good sign.

Mother’s Day dinner ended with nutella ice cream and sticky toffee pudding.  My sticky toffee pudding is a recipe of my friends, who makes the best I’ve ever tasted.  I promised I wouldn’t share the recipe though, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

Hope all the mothers were spoiled!

an appetizer party for easter

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Our friends and I had such a great time with our Progressive Dinner a couple months ago, we were looking forward to our next dinner party.  The theme for the party was appetizers.  A whole meal of just appetizers!  I could not wait.  We took advantage of the long weekend and made a lunch of appetizers to celebrate Easter.  Each couple were responsible for two appetizers, none of which were coordinated.

Salted steamed edamame as well as cocoa spiced pecans were placed on the table for munching.

Q helped me make these shrimp gyoza.  These were stuffed with shrimp and loads of ginger, pan-fried and then steamed.  This was served with my new favorite sauce – ponzu!  How did I not know about this sauce earlier?  Ponzu is a citrus-based soy sauce and is delicious!  In the past week, I’ve had it with every possible food item, the bottle is almost done.

The boursin stuffed prawns wrapped in beef bacon were something I definitely wanted to share with our friends.  Even those who weren’t really seafood fans enjoyed these.

Hubby made up some beef shortribs in three varieties – East African hot, Korean bbq and a fusion of the two.  These are usually served up at any gathering we have and they were delicious!  The fusion ones were my fave.

Our friends brought over two different kinds of flatbread – cheese and herb.  These were served with bruschetta and a spicy hummus.

One of my favorite appetizers to order at a restaurant is the chili chicken.  Our friends made this without the crispy coating and it was delicious.

Chicken kabob skewers with veggies were grilled up and they were oh so tasty.

Our friends also brought over Aloo Tikki.  These are basically Indian patties made with mashed potatoes and herbs and spices. Served with various chutneys, it was a great addition to our meal.

We rounded out the meal with a bowl full of nutella almond ice cream.  It really was the perfect meal – little bites with amazing friends.  A meal of appetizers is something we’ll definitely be doing again.

grilled pineapple salsa

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Has it already been 2 weeks since my last post?  The days just seem to be flying by and we are already in July!  We are finally enjoying some wonderful summer weather and there’s no better time to do some grilling.  Grilling at my house is a year round affair but nothing beats grilling fruit in the summer.  My favorite is grilled pineapple, the bbq bringing out even more sweetness.  While preparing Mahi Mahi burgers for dinner, I figured the best topping would be a grilled pineapple salsa.  The combination of sweet pineapple, smoky roasted red peppers with a spicy kick was fresh and delicious. 

And hey, if you have some extra grilled pineapple, spread some Nutella and sprinkle some nuts and you have yourself dessert!

Grilled Pineapple Salsa

Grilled pineapple, cubed
Roasted red peppers, chopped finely
Green onions
Red onions
Mint
Lime juice
Hot sauce

Toss and serve!