strawberry & angel cake trifle

This is a dessert that I made on my own for the very first time for a friend’s bbq. My mom normally makes this every summer, so I never saw a reason to whip this dish up myself. I’m used to eating really heavy, sweet, and rich desserts, but this was a big change for me. This is a great way for me to get my serving of fresh fruits (cause I rarely eat them).

My mom doesn’t uses exact measurements while cooking, so bare with me…

• 2 packages of vanilla pudding (each package has 6 individual cups. not the powder pudding mix!)
• 1 13oz container of sour cream
• 1 large container of frozen whipped cream
• 2 pints (or packages) of fresh strawberries, stems cut and sliced
• 1 pint (or package) of fresh blueberries
• 1 box of angel food cake mix

Don’t forget to properly wash your fruits! Start off by preparing the angel food cake using the directions on the back of the box, or if you’d rather make it from scratch, but I can’t help you there. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the pudding and sour cream together. Once your cake is finished, dice it into small squares so that it can easily absorb the cream mixture.

1st layer — whip cream

2nd layer — evenly spread angel food cake squares

3rd layer — evenly spread sliced/diced strawberries and blueberries

4th layer – top with the pudding & sour cream mixture

…and repeat!

It shouldn’t be that hard, just eyeball everything as you go and make it work according to your needs and taste buds! It will look more uniform on the outside as you get higher.

thai tea

Nothing better on a hot day than ice cold….

….Thai ice tea to wash down all that….

…spicyness!

Btw, this was at Royal Thai Cuisine. I was actually looking for Bangkok, but I guess they no longer have their Chespeake location. Instead, we stumbled upon this. Hmm, Bangkok is so much better!

cutesy food!

I was working down in NC about two weeks ago, and I attended this catered event with lots and lots of  hors d’oeuvres. I love eating various little treats…I’ll never get sick of eating the same thing over and over. Except the shrimp cocktail… I ate that the entire night. I didn’t have my dSLR on me, so I had to take these on my Blackberry. Sorry about the poor quality!

My second favorite was definitely the watermelon & pistachio spoons! Yumm.

mini photo sesh, dockside, and mother’s day

Hello readers I apologize for not having any food-related posts lately. Not that I haven’t been eating well, I just haven’t been in the picture taking mood until this past weekend. I celebrated my friend’s birthday at Dockside Inn right by the water…twas beautiful! I had a mini photo session beforehand, and today I took my mom out for Sunday brunch at Baker’s Crust for Mother’s Day.

Fyi…this post is photo heavy..

We were seated right on the dock. It was quite windy and chilly, but the live music and atmosphere made up for it.

Sheryl ordered the N.Y. Steak & Stuffed Shrimp and I ordered the Dockside Scallops. I loved the cocktail sauce!

Mom’s Shanghai Chicken salad & sandwich

Belgian Waffle w/strawberries.

hyori lee x vogue korea

My favorite chick lookin cute like always… She’s wearing Adidas Originals by Originals Jeremy Scott, DVF, Missoni, Fendi, Amsale, and Bvlgari just to name a few.

(via Kokokoreano & Nitrolicious)

baja cantina

I caught up w/some old friends during dinner at Baja Cantina for shrimp/fish tacos. It was truly an occasion since we barely ever get a chance to all get together!

Here are some pictures to make you salivate..

For a more detailed post on our dinner, visit my dear friend & blogger, Ronalyn, at Bittensweet.

Ronalyn & our $2 margaritas

steak nachos

shrimp taco

I honestly think their wings are better than Wild Wing Cafe and  BWW…

shrimp & chorizo tapas

I made this dish a few days ago. Even though it’s meant to be served as tapas, I made enough to make it as a dinner entrée for myself. The recipe is from Emeril Lagasse, which of course will be fatty and spicy! I can’t resist…

Based on reviews and what I had in my pantry, I made some changes in parentheses. I would suggest using Spanish chorizo if you can find it. I had Mexican chorizo and it wasn’t as spicy as I would like, but it’s all about preference.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon, plus 1/4 cup Spanish olive oil (regular olive oil is fine. I also don’t think you need that much olive oil, kind of unnecessary.)
• 1 lb chorizo, sliced (preferably Spanish chorizo)
• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup dry (fino) sherry
• 1 tablespoon Spanish paprika (I used regular paprika)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined raw medium shrimp
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and sauté the sliced chorizo until it begins to brown around the edges, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelized around the edges and softened somewhat, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup of the sherry and cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp, paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sherry and 1/4 cup olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and remainder of the salt and pepper; stir to combine and remove from the heat. Serve immediately, on small plates with any accumulated cooking juices spooned over the top.