Raspberry and Chocolate Lamingtons

A lamington is an Australian sponge cake, shaped like cubes, sometimes filled with cream or fruit, dipped in chocolate and coated in coconut.  My version is a store bought, Sara Lee pound cake made with raspberry preserves and dipped in chocolate. No coconut this time.

Ingredients

• Frozen Sara Lee pound cake. Buy whichever size you'd like. I used the family size.
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 cup chocolate chips, dark or milk, doesn't matter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions

• Line a baking sheet with a Silpat liner or parchment paper.
• Cut pound cake into bite size cubes.
• Cut each cube in half.
• Fill each cube with a half teaspoon of preserves.
• Freeze for an hour.
• Heat the cream to a boil.
• Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and stir until smooth. 
• Dip and coat the frozen filled cake cubes in the chocolate. 
• Freeze for another 2 hours at least and then serve or store in an air tight freezer safe container.

You can see that this recipe is pretty easy and requires little skill. The freezing really makes it easy to work with the cake. Don't skip that step. 

Enjoy!

Breakfast at The Cottage La Jolla

I met up with my very good friend Saturday for breakfast. We decided upon The Cottage located at 7702 Fay Avenue. We got there at 8:30 am which was nice because there was tons of parking and no wait for patio seating.

Everything was great and I would recommend this place to anyone looking for delicious food, friendly service, and cute place to eat. I swear, you're gonna love it. After I uploaded a picture of my son eating his bacon and eggs to Facebook, several friends commented on how much they loved The Cottage.

Oatmeal Pancakes with Blueberries. Amazing.

Sweet Baby had eggs and bacon and that lovely scone. He ate it all.

My breakfast date ordered the crab benedict. A delicious choice.

Searsucker

We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary last night at Searsucker, a downtown San Diego restaurant owned by Top Chef contestant Brian Malarkey and James Brennan, owner of Stingaree. Searsucker is located on the corner of 5th and Market and has been open since Summer 2010. I'm just a tad late trying this place.

We had a wonderful time. Our food was fantastic, the service was friendly, and the atmosphere was right on. The lighting was dim which is good but I didn't want to use the flash on my camera and draw attention to myself. What a spectacle that would be. So, my pictures are a little bit dark.

We started with duck fat fries and a Latin Cinema. The fries were crunchy and salty and smoky and one of the stars of the evening. I will be ordering those again.
The Latin Cinema is a margarita made with buttered popcorn infused tequila. It was very very subtle. If you like margaritas, order it.









The main event, Chicken comes first and Butt with bacon emulsion and warm apple salad, both from the farm section of the menu. I had to ask our lovely server what and how the two dishes would come prepared. The butt is pork that's been marinading and has become very tender. The chicken was as perfectly cooked as chicken can get, very flavorful and accompanied with potatoes and stuffing. We enjoyed both of course.

Our server recommended the fried brussels with walnuts and the sunchokes for sides. Smart woman. The brussels were citrusy and rather delectable. The sunchokes were cheesy and tender. I'm so looking forward to my leftovers for lunch as I type this.

And dessert... everything looked delicious so we took the advice of our server and ordered the strawberry tart. The tart was accented with basil and balsamic vinegar and it was divine. I know that the menu changes but I'm hoping that it's available for our next visit. It was that good, the perfect way to end such a fantastic meal.

I want to thank my dear sweet husband for a wonderful anniversary marking our 9 years of marriage. He seriously is the greatest.









Read here for the history of Searsucker, much thought went into the name.


Want to see what the inside of the place looks like? Check out this article.

Chocolate Cake Popcorn

It's Valentine's Day Eve. We don't even really celebrate the holiday because our wedding anniversary is the 15th. However, I do like to make Valentine treats for my hubby's office and one day I'll be making them for my son's class. Next year.

Tonight I was inspired by Cookies and Cups' recipe for red velvet popcorn. Love that blog. If you haven't perused it before, please do yourself a favor and take a look.  I made chocolate cake popcorn. It's real simple and especially useful if you have leftover cake.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup popcorn kernels
• 3 unfrosted chocolate cupcakes 
• 1/2 cup melted chocolate chips
• dash of salt

Directions

• Use your handy dandy popcorn setting on your microwave to pop your popcorn in 1/3 cup batches.
• Crumble up the cake.
• Spread out your popped popcorn on parchment paper or I like to use silpat liners.
• Drizzle your melted chocolate all over the popcorn.
• Salt according to your taste. You might think you don't need any but believe me. It won't have enough flavor if you don't add it but suit yourself.
• Sprinkle the cake crumbles and toss together. 
• After the chocolate has dried, store in an air tight container.

Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

Prep Kitchen Little Italy

Mmm mmm good is what I have to say about my visit to Prep Kitchen. This location just opened on February 1, 2012 and is located at 1660 India Street in the heart of Little Italy.

Cucumber Honey Mimosa and Pink Lady cocktails

Our starters ... so good. The mussels were tender and perfectly cooked in butter and white wine. Yum. The large cutting board was also a wise choice. I'm going to order it everytime I go back, it was that good. Of course the cheeses, meats, and breads were tasty but the exceptional bites came from the house made pickles and raisins. Best pickles and raisins I've ever had.

Local Mussels and Frites

Large Cutting Board

Roasted Squash Salad

WNL Burger

Pictured above were our entrees. My salad was quite delicious. The squash was sweet and smoked ham, pecans, and balsamic vinaigrette were perfect. My sister had the WNL (Whisknladle) Burger. Thankfully she shared with me. It's difficult for me to pass on a burger that's topped with bacon and an egg. If you love hamburgers, order this one. You won't be disappointed.


Since our starters and entrees were near perfection, we knew we NEEDED dessert.  From left to right, banana dulce de leche bread pudding, salted caramel fudge and pecan brownie a la mode, and Jo Jo's cookie plate. The cookie plate consisted of peanut butter sandwich cookies, butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookies.

This was my favorite of all the desserts, this peanut butter sandwich cookie. I took a picture of the second one because I was so sad that after I ate it, it would be gone. I guess I'm just going to have to go back. But don't go rushing off. Take a few minutes to wander around the restaurant, the bar, and ... yes, the bathroom. Check out this great article from the San Diego Reader about what you'll find unique about the decor.

And I will go back. I want to check out their happy hour.  Enjoy!!!

Padres FanFest

 Hi guys, I was tipped off to a FREE Padres event for this Saturday February 11, 2012. It's called Padres FanFest and takes place from 10am-5pm. There will be autograph sessions with players and coaches and tours of Petco Park and Padres clubhouse. Pretty cool, huh? And it's FREE. You don't have to register online but if you do, there are chances of winning some cool stuff, like autographs and pitching and hitting clinics for the little ones.
Ok, check it out.   http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/fan_forum/fanfest.jsp

I bet this fan wants to go.