Panda’s mom gave us this adorable tea set when we were visiting and I finally unpacked it today for us to use. After rinsing it all out, we got some of the loose leaf tea I’d bought from the Tea & Spice Exchange and brewed a pot. There’s something about brewing tea in a pot and then pouring it into tiny little cups that is such a fun experience for me. There’s a certain ceremony about it and it exudes gracefulness as you pour. The delicate little cups make me feel all fancy. I’ve been coveting those cast iron pots at Teavana for years and I’m still trying to justify the cost to myself. In the mean time, this set makes a perfect starter set for us to use at home. Paired with a slice of Chinese-style cake, this spread made the perfect way to wind down at night. I’ll be having mini tea parties nightly!
Posts Tagged ‘desserts’
Tea time
Free cone day
I’m getting a little antsy with no new box recently. I do have some on the way though! I ordered a Julep spring mystery box (I had skipped March, but it looks like I got sucked in to getting something anyway :-P) and I got a notification that my Beauty Box 5 is on its way. In the mean time…
Today was free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s locations across the nation! For lunch, a bunch of my coworkers and I went to claim a freebie and I donated $5 to the charity that was there – apparently each location has a local charity for the day. I got a scoop of Liz Lemon, which is a lemon frozen Greek yogurt with blueberry swirl. I think I’ve found a refreshing fav! I really enjoyed the slight tartness and lightness of this flavor.
“Hurry up with the picture, I want to eat my cone!!”
365great Day 345: green tea ice cream
It probably was in college that I first tried green tea ice cream. I grew up used to flavors like chocolate chip, rocky road, and strawberry, so this was completely different for me. The most unique flavor I had before that was black sesame, which is pretty popular in China. You’d think green tea would be common in China too, but I guess because it is made from matcha tea (which is more of a Japanese style tea), it wasn’t really offered. It’s strange thinking of tea mixing with a dessert, but since matcha already has a sort of creamy taste to it, it actually works quite well. I enjoy the taste a lot when I’m looking for an ice cream flavor that isn’t overloaded in sweetness. I like eating the ice cream straight or having ice cream mochi. Both ways make for a great eating experience!
365great Day 338: Coldstone Creamery
For Valentine’s Day yesterday, Panda and I stopped by Coldstone to get a half dozen ice cream cupcakes. We recently saw an ad they had for their fudge and red velvet ones, which looked fabulous and perfect for the holiday. I’ve often enjoyed ice cream from them, but I’d never tried an ice cream cake or cupcake from them before and I was so excited! I’m thrilled to report that these ice cream cupcakes are amazing and a wonderful way to spice up the way you consume ice cream. The chocolate crust perfectly houses the ice cream and cake pieces. You get a bit of crunchiness, a bit of softness, and a whole lot of sweetness. Ice cream is already a great dessert, but this cupcake form… oh my. Yum!
The holiday break
With just about a day left before Panda and I headed back to LAX to return to our life out east, I started to feel anxious. It had been a wonderful two weeks, exactly the sort of healing, growing, relaxing, and enjoying I needed. I was kind of worried about getting back into things at work and all the other obligations being back entails. Luckily, the transition hasn’t been that bad at all and I’m happy to be (what is now) home.
Here are some highlights from my time in balmy SoCal. Other moments included hanging out with my mom, chatting with my cousin (and helping her get a new laptop at Best Buy), enjoying quiet moments alone at the mall, meeting up with some AKPsi pledge bros, grabbing lunch with an old UCLA AFROTC friend, catching up over tea with a friend I met at a Gogobot event, a session with my microdermabrasion guy (it’s been over a year!), relaxing at my fab reflexology spot, and reminiscing over old pictures (many that will slowly make their way into blog posts).
And off we go on our winter vacation.
We got upgraded to first class on the way in! I smartly brought a blanket.
As we took off, I tried to spot our new condo with little luck.
The creepy gray clouds tried to climb over the fluffy white ones…
Breakfast is served! I enjoyed the potatoes au gratin best.
Gettin’ frosty up here but I’m toasty in my blankie. 🙂
What’s that brilliantly bright light in the distance? I think it was probably a large lake catching the sun.
First order of business at home is to hang out with Missy.
Umm, how does this even happen to an apple?!
I discover a new favorite snack at the mall: Tornado Fries! Take a whole potato, swirl cut it, spread out along large stick, fry, and sprinkle on various powders for flavor. Fun!
Had my ring cleaned at my jewelers for the first time since getting it and it was nice to catch up with the owner.
Hehe, Missy doesn’t mind that the pillow is crushing her. She loves snuggling with me anyway.
For my birthday, I basically hopped from restaurant to cafe to bakery to restaurant. Happy taste buds and belly!
Oops, we over-ordered for food. Two people got what five probably should have.
Missy walks all over me and I love it.
When she’s like this, how can I work? Too cute.
I had a quiet NYE just watching the show on TV.
Ringing in the new year with this guy jamming on his electric guitar! #culvercitycharacters
Lol, I never got to check out the Westwood Farmer’s Market once it was moved to Thursday, and now here I am.
My absolute fav to get at Gushi.
Little miss princess.
Trying out a new pizza joint in DTLA with my Gogobot buds.
(re)Met a Gogoboter and we do some selfies.
Got together with old friends who I met the year I met Panda! Yes, the picture is intentionally blurry.
I couldn’t leave LA without bringing some treats.
At the airport, I got dinner since I hadn’t eaten all day.
I thought we got a pepperoni and mushroom, but we accidentally left off the mushroom part of the order. Oh well!
365great Day 298: brownies
To me, brownies are probably the most indulgent snack. They’re so rich and dense that sometimes just a bite or two will satisfy me. I also love how easy they are to make – I almost never mess them up (whereas cakes are another story and cupcakes are pretty much hopeless for this girl’s baking skills). I’ve been partial to the wonderful boxes of Ghirardelli brownie pouches that you can get at Costco – indulgence discounted! It’s so much fun to play around with the different ingredients you can mix in to make brownies more exciting too, like chocolate chips, caramel, marshmallow, walnuts… and I don’t know how they make that top glazed crusty layer appear, but it’s pretty fantastic. Pair it with some ice cream and you’ve got a great dessert too!
UK Vacation Day 7 Recap
On day 7 of our grand UK adventure, Panda and I explored the streets of Edinburgh and found a bunch of museums. The morning started off with a silly moment, when Panda got my ring stuck on his finger… and we thought he might have to wear it around all day for me. 😛 I got a delicious treat at a cute bakehouse, we swung by the cafe where Harry Potter was written, and of course went to check out the castle (getting a few items in the gift shop but not actually going in). Along the way, we came across two Chinese ladies asking for directions and I regretted not helping. We wanted to also check out this place called The Mound, but I think they were closed so we skipped it. For dinner, we got Pizza Express and I discovered my new favorite pizza. Later at night we got hungry again so we went out to a Chinese place where they were very interested in chatting us up. I guess Chinese-Americans don’t come around that often.
[Don’t forget about Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and Day 6 recaps.]
We started the day off right with a hearty breakfast British style.
I’ve never seen a salt and pepper shaker as one unit! I want.
Off to the bustling Princes Street. There’s just a bit of blue sky out there.
So bright and cheery against the other dull colors.
Classic building in these parts.
Caught me chillin’ on these cute roads.
We found the world’s end!
We arrive at the Museum of Edinburgh to find we were there on exactly the 500th anniversary of the Flodden Campaign.
What a cool staircase.
Hehe, I was amused by the midget next to the giant.
Those shoes do NOT look comfy.
Ambulances here use blue and neon yellow.
Stumbled upon Mimi’s Bakehouse, where I could hardly choose just one thing to try!
Such a fun light frame.
I decided to opt for the Malteser bar. Yummy yummy.
We made a quick stop at the Museum of Childhood. Strollers used to be so much simpler.
I’ve never heard to this shoot the moon game and I haven’t a clue how it works.
Next up was the grandest museum of all: the Museum of Scotland! Gorgeous room.
Weighing in against animals, I am right around the same as a giant anteater. Fun fact: Panda and I are almost exactly the same weight – sometimes 2 lbs off but often identical.
This is the only breed of cat in the world that can climb down trees, thanks to claws that go the other direction! If only household cats could get those claws…
I spent all this effort sending a Morse code message to Panda only to discover he wasn’t paying attention! Men.
So perfect for me! My feet and back get sore easily, so I happily grabbed a seat to rest on.
The fun little cafe with a view of Edinburgh Castle in the back, where JK Rowling did much of her earlier writing.
Apparently this place inspires plenty of writers!
We can just make out the ocean out there. So cool! I wish we could have gone to visit but it’s far.
Up, up, up to the Ednburgh Castle.
There was some sort of event there and they were taking down the bleachers they’d set up.
Spectacular place to live. We decided not to go into the castle but just enjoy the views and shop.
Such cute soaps! I recorded the brand so I can remember to get these one day…
Not quite what we imagined when we order dough balls, but they were good!
Panda go La Reine and I go the Pomodoro Pesto in the back – FAB. I love thin crust, fresh tomatoes, mushroom, and pesto.
What a beautiful place Edinburgh is. So much greenery!
Such a quaint path down into the Princes Street Gardens.
Such a beautiful burst of color against the drab.
Seeing this inspired me to get one back when I was stateside!
Time to consider changing your priorities along with it?
Panda always loves his Singapore noodles.
365great Day 223: desserts
I’m a sweets kind of person. That’s why my favorite course is dessert and I often don’t wait until the end of a meal to enjoy it. In fact, in high school my best friends and I would go out to restaurants and get our dessert brought out first. It confused many a waiter, though I’m not sure why they made it such a big deal. So what if we wanted to treat the dessert like an appetizer? I figured we may as well start with the best part and work our way from there. I also find desserts to be really fabulous breakfast items. My favorite is a giant cone of vanilla bean ice cream to kick off the day. I did that many a morning in middle and high school and I thought it was great!
365great Day 138: cake pops
Learn more about 365great here.
I’ve written about them before and they’re worth mentioning again as part of my 365great series – cake pops are an amazing little treat! For awhile I was super obsessed with them and bought them frequently. I’ve since calmed down but I still love them and much of the reason I haven’t had any lately is because I don’t know where they sell them out here! At some point I definitely want to try making my own since those little suckers are rather costly. I love how they don’t dry out the way cupcakes or cakes might and they include a nice chocolate layer instead of icing or frosting (which are a bit on the sweet side, don’t ya think?). They come in such lovely *almost* bite-size pieces yet are super filling so one or two is plenty to fill you up. A more convenient, easier-to-manage dessert item? That’s great!!
365great Day 132: ice cream
Learn more about 365great here.
Whoever invented ice cream should be immortalized. What a satisfying treat, whether in a cone, as a scoop, or made into other crazy shapes! You can get it soft serve or “normal” (is there a term for not soft serve?), in varying degrees of firmness, creaminess, and/or added-flavorness (yeah, yeah I’m making up words now). Sometimes there are delicious morsels mixed in for you to chew on and sometimes it’s just a smooth finish. It’s one of those sweet pleasures in life that just about everyone enjoys as long as you’re not lactose-intolerant. Even then, there are other options out there now, though I don’t know if any are quite as good as the original thing. What other desert makes you scream for it? 😛 As a kid, one of the coolest things was running up to an ice cream truck. Now that was great.
