Happy 4th of July! Every year we enjoy a potluck dinner, swimming, and fireworks with family. A few days ago I saw a cute red, white and blue dessert on Pinterest with strawberries, blueberries and a white gelatin. As soon as I saw the picture, I thought I could easily make a similar dessert, but using a family almond jello recipe (available here). The strawberries and blueberries are slightly tossed with sugar and then served with little...

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I’m not sure what it is about chocolate cookies and vanilla cream, but my obsession with these cookies haven’t waned since I was at least six years old. There’s just something so divine about the crunchiness of the chocolate cookie and the dreamy, sugary-sweetness of the thin layer of cream sandwiched between those two chocolate cookies. What is it about these packaged and processed cookies that I love so much? I truly have NO...

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When we were kids, my parents used to freeze fruit for us as treats. During the summer time, one of my favorites was frozen cherries and my other favorite was frozen bananas. I especially loved the frozen bananas dipped in chocolate that we occasionally got to enjoy down by the Santa Monica or Redondo Beach piers. At home, however, I don’t recall ever being lucky enough to cover our frozen bananas with chocolate (I’m sure my parents...

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  Last month I had the privilege of hosting a wedding shower for a dear family member who is tying the knot in holy matrimony in just a few short weeks. The shower was a simple affair held on the bluffs overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Ocean and entailed a down-to-earth picnic of chicken, pasta salad, spinach salad, potato salad, watermelon and ice tea. Oh, and of course the onigiri (rice balls) that my Mom insisted we absolutely needed if...

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Not sure about everyone else, but I like to keep snacks handy: in my purse, in the car, and of course in my office (when I worked that is). The easiest and best snacks for me were always store-bought granola bars, protein or energy bars, or my own concoction of trail mix. My obsession for carrying snacks around only became more intensified once I had Bebe. She’s always been a pretty good eater, but now that she’s a preschooler and...

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Sometimes, I try something that is not original, yet somewhat new to my breakfast repertoire, and all of a sudden I'm obsessed with it. This tends to happen often, case in point my green smoothie obsession which has lately subsided, but I still get cravings for, if I go longer than four days without one. A few weeks ago I decided to buy plain Greek yogurt, which is different than the nonfat vanilla yogurt or fruity greek yogurt which...

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Every once in a while, a decadent, rich, chocolaty treat is perfect for celebrating a birthday or a special occasion such as Valentine’s Day. Fortunately for our family, every year we celebrate two such special occasions during the week of Valentine’s Day. I had almost forgotten about this simple chocolaty cake that my friend’s mom taught me back in high school or college. It’s simple because it uses cake mix out of the...

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Today’s indulgent Japanese afternoon snack was ohagi. Over the weekend, we spent some time at my parents home and my beautiful Mom made ohagi. If you’re not familiar with ohagi, it is glutinous sweet rice that is steamed in a rice cooker and then slightly pounded, or in this case it was gently mixed and mashed with a wooden spoon until it resembled a sticky mass. If this glutinous rice is pounded until it is smooth, it is then...

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