Banana and Strawberry Baked Oatmeal Casserole

If you haven't noticed on my Instagram or my Twitter account, I've been experimenting a lot lately with cooking and baking.  Not sure what it is but my inner Martha Stewart seems to have this desire to learn and try something new, even if I have this gut feeling, deep down inside telling me that whatever I am making won't be appetizing at all.  I think the sudden urge to throw and mix random fruits and seasonings in a bowl and hoping for the better is what excites me.  What's even better is knowing that what I've made actually is edible and worthy for anyone who dares to try it!

With that being said, I'm happy to say that the banana and strawberry baked oatmeal casserole that I made last night was actually satisfying.  So far I've gotten the approval from two very important people in my life.  The casserole might have turned out a bit dark and mushy-looking, but once you take a bite of it, it's actually not that bad.

Now that you've seen some of my photos, it's your turn to try this recipe out yourself!

What you will need:

• 1 Cup Walnuts
• 2 Cups Milk
• 2 Ripe Bananas
•  2 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1 Large Egg or 2 Small Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/3 (Brown) Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Cups of Chocolate Chips
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 Cups of Strawberries - Any berries can be used for this recipe!

First things first, go ahead and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.  Then spray the interior of a baking dish with a cooking spray.  This will help prevent your dish from sticking to the cooking dish itself.

Then mix the walnuts, rolled oats, chocolate chips, sugar, salt, strawberries, and the baking powder in a large mixing bowl and then place it in your baking dish.  With the thinly sliced banana pieces, place them on top of the mixture and evenly distribute them by leaving some space in between.

In a separate bowl whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla extract, and the melted butter until it becomes a unified yellowish color.  Then gently pour it in your baking dish and gently move the baking dish in a back and forth motion to evenly distribute the liquid.

Finally place it in the oven and wait for about 50 minutes or until the top looks golden brown.  If you want the dish a little bit sweeter, feel free to sprinkle on some brown sugar and serve!

Thanks you Inspired Taste for posting the recipe.

So I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!

Bon appetite!

<3 Lina Chen

Infamous Sprinkles Cupcakes!

 

For those of you who haven't heard of Sprinkles Cupcakes, the original gourmet cupcake bakery, you are missing out!  But don't worry, I actually didn't know anything about it until a few months ago after my lovely birthday lunch with Lisa at the Tea Rose Garden.  We were in the car driving around Pasadena when all of a sudden Lisa suggests going to Sprinkles Cupcakes.  She was surprised I've never heard of it and off we

 went to find a Sprinkles location!  Sadly, we couldn't find the it and decided we'll save our trip to there another day.

 

I'm actually glad we didn't go because the following week, Erica (best friend) surprised me with a gift certificate to Sprinkles as a birthday gift!  It's as if she read my mind!  Thanks Erica if you are reading this!  What's really freaky is that I have never once mentioned Sprinkles to her AND that was the second time I've ever heard anyone talk about this place in one week!  Talk about a coincidence, right?

For weeks on end I've been wanting to try Sprinkles and I was finally able to this past weekend by accident!  We were roaming around The Grove, which by the way is a great place to go to over on the weekends, and we came across the mini bakery that was hidden between a restaurant and a parking garage!

 

The cupcakes alone are $3.50 each so be prepared to break your piggy bank for a dozen of these babies!  Just kidding, but I have to admit, they're pretty expensive cupcakes!  I think it's worth it if you get the right flavors.  For example, we ended up getting the Banana, Strawberry, Coconut, and their Irish cupcake.  I liked all of them except for their seasonal Irish cupcake--the least moist cupcake and you can barely taste the Bailey's.  I think my absolute favorite would have to be the Banana because it was evenly balanced.  The strawberry was delicious except for the fact that the sweetness over-empowered after the third bite.  Coconut is great too but the Banana beat them all!

Can't wait to go back to Sprinkles again!

<3 Lina Chen

189 The Grove Dr.,  Los Angeles, CA 90036

323.931.4498.   http://www.sprinkles.com

Fluff Ice: It's so Fluffy!!!

Remember that cute little girl from Despicable Me and her reaction when she got the stuffed unicorn at the carnival?  Well basically that's how I felt when I first took a bite of the shaved snow at Fluff Ice!  Except it was only in my mouth!    Okay, okay not quite fluffy as in holding and squeezing a teddy bear per se but more along the lines of feeling cotton candy for the first time.  So light and airy!  It's the same concept, but instead of sugar, it is made from cinder blocks of ice.  Think of it as a frozen cotton candy dessert.

Now don't get this confused with shaved ice, which is completely different as far as texture.  Taste is difficult to actually measure because certain places may only use a cinderblock of ice without any flavor added to it; but the texture of snow versus ice is apparent.  At first you may not realize it, but once it enters the mouth, the sudden melting sensation just tingles every nerve of the tongue.  It's quite different from that of shaved ice.  It melts and it's cold too, but I feel that it really doesn't melt as smoothly as shaved ice does.  It's my first time Fluff Ice, but what I loved the most about this place is that they have flavored snow like froyo. I've also been to well-known shaved snow place called Class 302 near the Hacienda Heights/Diamond Bar area but it only has one option to choose from which means that the flavor comes from the toppings alone.

My friend Kean and I ended up sharing a medium, green-tea flavored shaved snow with bits and pieces of mangos and strawberries (the toppings that I wanted); red bean and mochi (Kean's choice for toppings) with a light drizzle of condensed milk added on top.  I tend to get fresh fruits with my froyos because it balances out the sugary goodness that you are taking in from the shaved ice.  It's like psychologically tricking myself that this dessert is still healthy if there's something that has a nutritional value to it.  The mochi and the red bean tasted phenomenal with the green tea shaved ice.  Those who aren't into the super Asian flavors, they also had these cool fruit poppers that resemble salmon roe that burst in your mouth, cheesecake bites, blue honey boba, taro pudding, coffee jelly, egg pudding, slivered almonds, and much more. 

This is the place to go for dessert if you are around Monterey Park off of Atlantic Boulevard.

<3 Lina Chen

500 North Atlantic Boulevard #153, Monterey Park, CA 91754

626.872.2123.  www.fluffice.com

The Waterbar

Located behind Googles' backyard in San Francisco lies a small restaurant with an ocean front view called the Waterbar. 

Right:  Waterbar's Bay Chips.  The potatoes were cut into thin slices and fried to perfection.  

A hint of a sea salt to add a little bit of flavor from the sea.

The bay chips is large enough to share between 2-3 people.

Left:  Strawberry Pop Tart.  The name says it all.  It's a strawberry pop tart.  It's moist inside from the strawberry jelly; the exterior, flaky.  The pop tart breaks down as you bite into it.  A delightful brunch pastry/appetizer Waterbar has to offer.  

Right:  Hama Oysters from Seattle.  Before I NEVER liked oysters.  The smell of it; repulsive.  The texture, too raw.  The taste, too fishy.  But Waterbar has completely changed my perspective on these seafood delights.  Perhaps it's because they were fresh and small, but they were delicious, unlike the various times I've had them before.  Waterbar's $1 per oyster deal is too good to pass.  So if you ever get the chance, get some.  Especially the Hama Oysters.

Left:  Grilled Calamari Fried Rice.  Not my cup of tea, but thankfully I didn't order this for myself.  It's basically an American-style fried rice with a char-grilled squid on top.  I have nothing against squid.  It's not exotic to me since Korean's eat it all the time, but it was just too smoky and the fried rice seemed a bit too bland for my taste.  It just didn't work very well in my opinion.

Right:  Salmon Tartare.  My culinary vocabulary is not up to date.  The rookie mistake I made was not knowing what the word "tartare" meant.  I ordered this dish thinking that the salmon would be cooked, but it was a surprise when it wasn't.  Oh, Lina.  Good thing I like raw fish, especially salmon.  It wasn't necessarily like eating sushi though; more like ceviche.  The lime "cooks" the raw salmon and brings out a new taste on raw salmon.  I liked it.

Out on the patio of the Waterbar.  Such a magnificent view.

<3 Lina Chen

399 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105
415.284.9922.   www.waterbarsf.com