My son saw the picture and wanted Choco-ate cake....

I was surfing the net one Sunday morning a couple weeks ago when my son came into the office and immediately saw Jen Yu's (use real butter) picture of this recipe for Chocolate Stout cake. I believe she had gotten the recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Both of their blogs have beautiful pictures and very clear instructions as they put their cakes together. Please do jump to their sites for more Chocolate Stout cake inspiration, and of course, for the recipe.

"Momma! I want choco-ate cake pu-ease!"

And his little finger points at the beautiful picture that Jen Yu posted. I had seen her post days before and thought, in passing, that I might try the recipe one day but my son made the decision for me that I would be baking that cake that day. Luckily I had all the ingredients including a can of my husband's Guiness Stout that I used in my version.

This was what was left a short time later. So much for watching my kids' diet. They both loved the cake. Smitten Kitchen's recipe called for a ganache glaze and use real butter paired this chocolatey cake with some freshly whipped cream. To keep the kids' mess at a minimum I left both options off. The kids didn't miss anything.

The cake came out moist, not too sweet, and very, very tasty. It's now my Go-to chocolate cake recipe!

Belated Post from Mother's Day Baking Activities

On the morning of this recently past Mother's Day, it started better than expected. My husband brought me a cup of hot steaming Starbuck's coffee and the Sunday paper while I was still in bed and told me I'm appreciated.

After a few hours of false starts I decided to bake a batch of cookies. So Nick Malgieri's Peanut Chocolate Chip cookies from his Chocolate book was the first.

This was how they looked after each ball is flattened with the bottom of a glass.

The baking itch was still there so I thought, why not bake another batch. My husband could bring it to his friend's house later. So I started the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Quaker Oats... and then moved onto the Cinnamon and Sugar butter cookie recipe from the Mrs. Fields Cookies cookbook because I realized that my son didn't like either of the first two cookies.

Topping:
3 tablespoons Sugar

1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon

COOKIES

2 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Salted butter -- softened, room temperature

2 Large eggs

2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300~F.

In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon for topping. Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl blend sugars with an electric mixer set at medium speed. Add the butter and mix to form a grainy paste. Scrape sides of bowl, then add eggs and vanilla extract. Mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and blend at low speed just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in cinnamon-sugar topping. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 18-20minutes.

Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.

But there's one more! Why not round it out with a batch of brownies??? So I cheated and baked up a batch from one of those that come out of a box. It was still good since I kicked it up a notch with some coffee powder.

As it turned out, my coworkers enjoyed the fruits of my labor the next day. And my husband built his Great Wall in our backyard.

Our Family Trip to Oahu

I'm a little behind my self-inflicted schedule on my first blog here but I wanted to start with a short blurb about our family vacation. Just a few short weeks ago, we flew out from SFO to Oahu in mid/April for a few days of nothing but swimming (for the kids), eating (for the adults) and a whole-lot-of-hangin'-out. It was a good time and a good break from our everyday grind.

Our most memorable food moments on the island were simple. Zippy's was our daily go-to joint. Our group faves included their mac salad, a weekly special of Chicken Katsu Curry on Saimin noodle soup, and their Zip Pac. On our last day there, we ventured over to the North Shore and gave in to the touristy places. Our quick two-hour drive consisted of Matsumoto's Shave Ice and a short stop at Giovanni's Shrimp truck.

Giovanni's served up the best shrimp I've ever had in a long, long time! Their Shrimp Scampi consisted of white wine, garlic, butter, 12 large-sized shrimps laying in a bath of their sauce next to two large scoops of white rice. I think the picture says it all....

Lastly, a shout-out goes to Kin Chan Sushi Inc. This little sushi bar restaurant is located in Restaurant Row in Honolulu. Our friends recommended them and we enjoyed a very lively dinner there of extraordinary sushi. My 6 year old daughter inhaled two orders of Kin Chan's king salmon sashimi! This was one of those places that makes you stop and enjoy the fish as it melts in your mouth. We had everything from a pickled sardine to the best chu toro ever!

In short, it was a memorable vacation for all of us!