Spotlight on Hot Topic, Sugar Rush Accessories

Foodie fans and accessory goddesses, here are some fun things to check out. My favorite section on the Hot Topic site is the accessories section, Sugar Rush. They have the most adorable foodie-related items. I also found some of the featured items here in the T-shirts section. I hope they expand their selection but so far, I love what they are selling. Hot Topic has an adorable selection of foodie tees, buttons, scented nail polish, wallets, plush clips, necklaces, earrings, lip balms, hats, giant gummy bears, etc.

Here are some of my faves: 
 

Burger Fries Earrings

 

Bacon and Eggs Necklace




Eggs and Bacon Face T-Shirt

 


Loungefly Ice Cream Pop Wallet

   


Peanut Butter and Jelly Let's Smoosh T-Shirt

 


Pink Ice Cream Pop Necklace



I Pizza Food Tee



Pylones Strawberry Pouch Tote Bag

 



Sugar and Spice Cupcake Lip Gloss Coconut Dream

To order, visit Hot Topic
All Photos © Copyright Hot Topic.
 
-Sophia/Two Frys

Simply Done Well Done – Aaron McCargo, Jr.

Simply Done Well Done - Aaron McCargo Jr.

 I have been a huge fan of Aaron McCargo, Jr. since he won The Next Food Network Star, in 2008. Since then I have never missed an episode of Big Daddy’s House and was looking forward to his first cookbook. I am so proud of all Aaron has accomplished thus far. If you have never watched Aaron on the Food Network or tried making one of his recipes, one time is all it takes to be hooked on his cooking. Aaron is truly a culinary great in the kitchen. This cookbook will make all foodies happy and full (burp). Aaron McCargo, Jr. is all about featuring bold flavors in his food. He likes it spicy (whew!), so if you are a wimp like me you can tone it down a notch and adjust the spice level to your liking. The photos by Lucy Schaeffer bring to life his delicious food and you can almost taste it. I'm getting hungry for some... I love the way Aaron cooks and he beautifully pairs ingredients together. The recipes in the book are not intimidating at all and are fun to make with your significant other and/or children.

The cookbook opens with a brief introduction about Aaron and his recommendations for some kitchen gadgets and basic suggestions for the cook. I love the chapter Appetizers with Gusto and all the recipes too. They are not wimpy appetizers either in terms of portion size and as Aaron suggests, some can be served as a light meal. I would with a salad on the side. I plan to make the following recipes first:

-Spicy Beef Quesadillas
-Shredded Beef Short Ribs
-Mushroom-Chicken-Cheese Balls
-Pork Empanadas with Ranchero Sauce
-Coconut-Ginger Chicken Skewers with Sriracha-Honey Butter
-Savory Taco Chicken Pizza with Guacamole and Chipotle Salsa

Smooth & Hearty Soups feature yummy looking recipes. I need to make more soup recipes so I look forward to trying:

-Spicy Cheeseburger Soup
-Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with Rosemary
-Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Aaron dedicated Side Salads & Bigger Salads to his wife since she loves salads. They all look delicious. These three popped off the page:

-Bacon and Pesto Pasta Salad
-Family-Style Curry Chicken Salad Platter
-Spicy Beef Salad with Peppers, Onion, and Fresh Herbs

Who does not love a great sandwich? If you ever watched Big Daddy’s House, you know Aaron is the king of killer sandwiches. His brother Donavan can attest to this too since he often visits the set and gets to eat Aaron's creations. This chapter, Sandwiches That Burst with Flavor is all that and more. I cannot wait to make:

-Inside-Out Pulled Pork Panini with Arugula and Chipotle Mayonnaise
-Jerk Chicken Sandwiches with Smoked Gouda
-Catfish Nugget Sandwiches with Roasted Peppers and Jalapeño Relish
-Braised BBQ Pork Belly Sliders with Pesto Mayonnaise, Cheddar Cheese, and Caramelized Onions
-Grilled Marinated Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches

You can make some lovely dinners for your family following recipes from this chapter, My Main Courses. I especially love these recipes:

-Jerk Chicken Pasta with a Sweet Kick
-Black and Tan Tilapia with Anchovy-Lemon Butter
-Broccoli Rabe and Artichoke Pasta
-Jerk Me Sweet Pork Chops
-Herb-Yogurt Chicken

My Favorite Side Dishes offer some exciting alternatives to the usual sides we make all too often. How about trying:

-Chilled Taco Loco Rice
-Orzo, Winter Squash, and Applewood-Smoked Bacon
-Lemon-Pepper Orzo
-Toasted Jasmine Rice with Crunchy Bean Sprouts

I love making my own aioli and dressings, and Aaron’s Dressings, Mayonnaises, Spice Blends, Sauces and Condiments chapter has a vast selection. I only wish pictures accompanied the chapter. I am going to start with:

-Lemon Vinaigrette
-Warm Cider Vinegar, Dijon, and Bacon Dressing
-Cilantro Mayonnaise
-Chipotle Salsa

Of course, Aaron would not omit some sweet sumptuous delights. Indulgent Deserts and Sweet Treats offers a selection that can satisfy whatever sweet craving you may have. I have four I plan to bake first:

-Tiramisu Cupcakes
-Apple-Pear Cobbler
-Buttermilk Doughnuts with Blueberry Compote
-Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter-Mascarpone Frosting

I hope I have enticed you to purchase a copy of this cookbook. This review is just a sampling of the diversity each chapter has to offer. There are so many different kinds of recipes so you can change up your routine and bring some new exciting and enticing flavors to your kitchen courtesy of Aaron McCargo, Jr. I plan to make all the recipes in this book and have highlighted here the ones I will cook first. I think the recipes speak for themselves and my husband and I plan to use this cookbook a lot.

Aaron McCargo, Jr.
Aaron McCargo Jr. Blog
Food Network Aaron McCargo Jr. Recipes
McCargo's Flavor of Bold Signature Blends Spices
Aaron McCargo Jr. Facebook Page

-Sophia/Two Frys

Nifty Plates

I love the Pinup Girl Clothing site and yesterday I found the coolest plates. These are the three plate sets I adore pictured below. They are very retro, and each set features four different plate designs. You can view the other plate designs at their site. If you love diner decor, retro/vintage style, you will dig these plates.

Go to: Pinup Girl Clothing

All Photos © Copyright Pin Up Girl 2010.

-Sophia/Two Fry's

Scrabble Cooking Edition

The other day I was thinking about taking out my Scrabble game for hubby and me to play and of course I got preoccupied with something else. Well, that will change soon since today I received an email announcing Scrabble Cooking Edition. Foodie and Scrabble fans rejoice! This is going to be so much fun to play. The release date is set for May 12, 2011.

Product Information:
The Cooking Edition of Scrabble includes classic Scrabble fun with a cooking twist allowing players to earn bonus points for words related to everyone's favorite past time. Recipe cards are the perfect mix as players double and triple their scores with directives for all new custom game play. Become the master chef as you spell your way to victory with tasty abbreviations and names of your favorite celebrity chefs. Can you spell D-E-L-I-S-H?

Game Contents:
Game Board
25 Recipe Cards
100 Wooden Letter Tiles
4 Wooden Tile Racks
1 Mini Grocery Bag
4 Cooking Word Bonus Cards

Ages 8+
2-4 Players

You can preorder it for $29.95 here: Scrabble Cooking Edition Preorder

-Sophia/Two Frys

Dominican Cake

Dominican Cake

Growing up, Dominican cake was my favorite cake. My Mom is from the Dominican Republic and I remember she would bake Dominican cake for birthdays or special occasions. This cake brings me back to my childhood because I always loved watching Mom bake and the smell throughout our apartment was out of this world. There are different variations of Dominican cake but the outcome is to obtain a smooth and spongy cake. I followed ingredients from a cookbook my Mom loves, Mujer 2000 recetas de cocina by Silvia H. de Pou. Yesterday, we made this cake together and had a lot of fun.

Dominican Cookbook

Cake Ingredients:
2 sticks of Salted Butter - at room temperature
2 cups of Sugar
4 Eggs
1 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract
3 cups of All Purpose Flour
3 teaspoons of Baking Powder
1 cup of Whole Milk
1/8 teaspoon of Salt

Dominican Cake

Grease with butter 2 9" inch round baking pans and line with parchment paper. Sprinkle flour lightly over the greased parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix baking powder and flour, and sift together. Put aside for now.

I used a stand mixer but you can use a hand held mixer as well. Mix butter until it is creamy and then add sugar little by little and continue mixing until it is light and creamy.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.

Add in some of the flour, mix well and then add some of the milk. Do this a few times ending with flour. Scrape sides of bowl to make sure you have incorporated all the ingredients.

Add vanilla and salt, and mix well.

Spread cake batter evenly between the 2 pans using a spatula.

Bake for 45-55 minutes. Cake is ready when toothpick comes out clean. Oven temps vary so keep an eye on the cake so you don't over brown it.

While cake is baking make the frosting.

Merengue (Frosting) Ingredients:
3 Egg Whites
1 1/2 cup of Sugar
1/2 cup of Water
1 teaspoon of freshly squeezed Lemon juice

Using a hand held mixer, mix egg whites for several minutes until nice stiff peaks form. Put aside for now.

In a small pan, stir sugar, water, and lemon juice on low heat until sugar dissolves and caramel forms a syrup-like texture. Keep an eye on it so it does not burn. This step is a little tricky and easy to screw up.

Take hot caramel and mix in little by little to the egg white/whipping cream mixture and keep mixing until it reaches a thick but soft consistency like whipped cream cheese. If you wish, you may add food coloring at this time.

Put the frosting aside and let it cool completely before frosting the cake.


Dominican Cake

Place cakes on cooling racks for about 20-25 minutes and then remove from baking pans onto cooling racks so they completely cool for another 30-35 minutes. Cakes must cool completely before you frost them.

Cake Filling:
Pineapple Preserves

Decorate Cake:
Once cake and frosting have cooled completely, place bottom layer of cake on a flat serving plate, top side down and spread pineapple preserves generously. Place the second layer on top, top side up and decorate with frosting.

Let frosting set on cake for one hour at room temperature, and serve.

-Sophia/Two Frys

Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies

Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies

Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies

Yesterday morning, I unfortunately had to go out in the snow and ice instead of staying in my PJs to get a few things at my local grocery store. It was a slippery mess and good thing I was home in about 10 minutes and back in my PJs. I had a craving for chocolate but did not have all the ingredients I needed to make brownies or cookies from scratch. I am thankful hubby and I always have a few ready made mixes when we want to satisfy a specific craving real quick. It is so smart to think ahead for days like this. I was very happy to find Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix hubby bought around the Christmas holidays in the pantry.

The kitchen smells so good when there is baking or cooking going on and it makes me a happy girl. The directions are super easy to follow whether or not you are a baker. The mix calls for 1/4 cup of water, 2 eggs, and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil. I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla to bump up the flavor and folded in 1 cup of Mounds Coconut Sweetened Flakes just before transferring the mix into my glass 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish. Just follow oven heating directions according to the type of pan you use. Keep an eye on baking times as well according to the size baking dish you use. If it says bake for 35-38 minutes for example, I always check my brownies right at the 35 minute mark and insert a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the brownies are ready. Just keep an eye on them.
 
Serving brownies warm are the optimum way if you can, but let them cool down for at least 20 minutes before you serve them. I store the brownies in my fridge right in the baking dish and cover them with aluminum foil. The brownies stay fresh for about 4-5 days so enjoy them in moderation. You can freeze them in a tight container as well for when that chocolate craving kicks in. The ladies especially know what I am talking about. Works every time.

Enjoy!
 
Sophia/Two Frys

Funfetti Cookies

Funfetti Cookies

Funfetti Cookies

I bought Pillsbury Funfetti Sugar Cookie Mix with Candy Bits about a month ago but waited to make them at the right moment since I baked a ton of cookies for Christmas and was burnt out on cookies. Today, I was in the mood for something sweet but didn't feel like making the dough or frosting from scratch so was glad I had this in the pantry. It was barely any work for delicious results. I used Pillsbury Confetti Funfetti Frosting and the cookies are pretty and yummy.


Funfetti Cookies cooling

This is great project to make with kids if you have them. Hubby and me are big kids so it's just the same. All the work was pretty much done for me so the only thing I had to do was mix the ingredients as directed and I added 1 teaspoon of clear vanilla extract for extra flavor. One box is supposed to yield 3 dozen cookies but mine were uneven shapes and I got 21 cookies. I separated the frosting into three bowls and used yellow, red, and blue color dye. 


Frosting is setting on the Funfetti Cookies

The cookies baked at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes until the edges were golden brown. When the cookies come out the oven let them cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling sheet. Do not add the frosting and confetti until the cookies are completely cooled.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Shrimp Scampi & Jasmine Rice

Shrimp Scampi & Jasmine Rice

Last night Allen made his Mom's recipe Shrimp Scampi & Jasmine Rice. We first had this when visiting his parents in northern California when we were first married and had it again years later when they visited us in NY. This is a very simple, tasty, and quick recipe we like to make.

For the shrimp we used frozen, fully cooked, peeled/deveined with tail on. First step is to defrost shrimp in colander or huge bowl with cold water until thawed. Use a 9x13 size oven safe pan. I used my Pyrex 9x13 glass pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 1 stick of butter in pan in the oven for a few minutes until it melts. I was Allen's Sous Chef tonight and chopped 1 large onion and 4 cloves of garlic. Add onions and garlic in pan with melted butter until onions become translucent. This should take about 7-10 minutes so keep an eye on them.


Shrimp Scampi, Jasmine Rice, Buttered Baguette

Pat shrimp dry with a paper towel and season generously with coarse salt and cracked black pepper. Once the onions are translucent add seasoned shrimp over the onions, garlic and melted butter. Shrimp are already cooked so just leave in oven for about 5 minutes tops. If you overcook the shrimp they will taste rubbery and you don't want that.

You can make this dish with pasta such a thin spaghetti or linguine but we made jasmine rice using our rice cooker. You can serve with salad or veggies but we opted for a french baguette made fresh from our local supermarket. This dish is delicious and very quick to make. You should try it. Thanks Mom!

-Allen and Sophia/Two Frys

M&M's Cookies

M&M's Cookies

I have never baked M&M's Cookies before but always wanted to. I have seen the ones with the M&M's buried inside the dough but I like this recipe better because the cookies have a gorgeous presentation. Since they are on top of the cookie dough you can use multiple colors and get as creative as you would like. One thing I recommend you always do before you bake is get all the ingredients ready ahead of time. Eggs and unsalted butter need to come to room temperature so do this a few hours before baking. Have measuring cups/spoons, bowls, baking sheets and cooling racks ready to go. Put on an apron to protect your clothes and I suggest you listen to music-always heightens the baking mood for me. I preheat the oven when I am about to place the M&M's on top of each ball of dough.

M&M's Cookies ready to go in the oven!

I used the recipe from Joy of Baking and followed directions as listed. It was so easy and fun. One thing the recipe does not suggest but I do is to chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes or you will have a mess on your hands. Doing this will make forming the dough into balls a snap. Place the cookies far enough apart or they will stick to each other when they bake. You need to gently press the M&M's into each dough ball leaving enough room between each. I used about 7-8 M&M's per cookie and had fun with this part. This recipe makes 12 large cookies and you can make them smaller to yield 2 dozen.
 

M&M's Cookies on the cooling rack. Smelling yummy :)

Watch the cookies while they are baking. They should have a light golden brown color when they are ready. The recipe called for 15-17 minutes oven time and mine were ready at 15. I started checking them at the 13 minute mark since all oven temperatures vary. Leave them in the cookie sheets for a few minutes and then transfer them to wire racks to cool for about an hour before serving. They are delicious, centers are chewy and edges have a light crunch.

M&M's is a registered trademark of Mars. Incorporated.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Rice Cooker

Rice Cooker

For Christmas, one of the gifts my hubby bought me was a rice cooker in red to go with my "red themed" color kitchen appliances. The model he bought me Aroma 6-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer is pictured below. I love it for the mere fact it is a one touch operation and best of all has a steamer so you can steam vegetables, fish or meat while the rice is cooking. I never had a rice cooker before but always wanted one. The model I have is a more traditional cooker based on the original Japanese design. The Aroma site claims they are "...easy to operate and yield great results." I can vouch for that since I made rice and the texture was perfect. It took about twenty minutes to cook and clean up was quick.


Aroma 6-Cup Rice Cooker & Food Steamer

I think I am a pretty good cook but when it comes to making rice my results aren't always top notch. Actually, my hubby makes better rice than me. Sometimes my rice would come out too mushy or crunchy and other times just right. Using the rice cooker, I have flawless results every time and will use it from now on. I was reading Chef Ming Tsai's new cookbook Simply Ming One-Pot Meals and he suggests to use a rice cooker to get perfect rice as millions of Asians do. Ming also notes rice can be left in the rice cooker for up to 8 hours. My rice cooker switches to warm once the rice is cooked. I like this since I can make rice ahead of time and cook the rest of my meal without worrying it will get cold. I would not leave rice in there for too long and it needs to be unplugged to turn off.

-Sophia/Two Frys