Category Archives: Desserts

Christmas ornament cupcakes

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DSC01540Now that it’s the 28th, I have finally decorated our Christmas cookies that I made on the 23rd. Let’s just say this year things were a little different due to an ill family member, but regardless, we still had our usual Blankenship Christmas (with an added family member! my fiancé)

Before I left for Austin, I went to the BuzzShift Christmas party. Perhaps I haven’t quite kept my readers informed, but I have been growing my social media marketing business New while officing out of Buzzshift and occasionally working on projects for my friends at BuzzShift. For the Christmas party, I wanted to bring a fun & festive treat. I found this idea on Brit+Co.

The key ingredient to make this as cute as it looks on her blog is this:

DSC01531I found this bottle at Michael’s craft store. It transformed a baking project into a DIY craft project. Which was a fun thing for me.

DSC01533I sprayed about 3 coats of gold spray onto fun sized Reese’s cups.

DSC01535I had a fun time decorating with the glitter gel frosting. All sorts of fun Christmas designs.

DSC01537Add the gold Reese’s and you’ve got yourself an ornament!

I will say next time I will make the cupcakes from scratch. This time it was from a box, which is definitely not my style, but I was in a pinch. Also, I’d add homemade frosting and do the designs on top. These were really cute but not exactly drool worthy.

Did you make anything special for a Christmas party?

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Visiting home

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Hi everyone! I’m still here. I can’t believe I’ve gone a whole week without blogging. Let me tell you, I miss you all! This past week has been filled with work, being sick and a trip home to Austin.

Let’s begin with the journey to Austin. It was an ominous drive…lots of clouds and few rain showers.Once I got there, the weekend was so beautiful.

I’m a little spoiled to be able to call this my backyard. Coming home is like going on vacation. And this time my whole family was home for ACL! The lake was calm, weather was perfectly warm and a nice cool breeze too. But you came here to see some food, right?

My first night home we decided to cook. My twin brother and I made the side dish: broccoli quinoa “bake”. Not to be confused with casserole. Because Travis hates that word. So we went with “bake”. This was so easy to make and even more delicious. I will post the recipe soon!

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread with a cinnamon glaze. Sooooo tasty.

And finally, one of the highlights of my weekend was getting to see one of my very best friends, Stephanie. We brought our pups along for a walk and a smoothie at Whole Foods.

Adorable.

And back to the being sick thing..if you recall in my last post I had a cold. That turned into actual sickness that required antibiotics, so I’m just trying my hardest to get back to feeling 100%. I’m so behind on my training and this Saturday is my 9 miler! Hoping I’ll be able to do that!

Bon appétit,

That Foodie Girl

The Front Room Dallas

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One of the best moments of this past weekend had to be my dinner date with Ryan at The Front Room. I couldn’t wait to try Hotel Lumen’s newest addition.

What: upscale diner

Where: Park Cities

Please excuse the horrible iPhone photos. I started off with the Mai Tai. It was refreshing and delicious. Ryan had the Jalapeño Caipirinha.

For my entree, I had the Chicken Paillard. I was very satisfied with the flavor. The arugula was dressed with a light lemony vinaigrette and the chicken was perfectly cooked. It was the perfect light dish to eat out on the patio.

Ryan had the steak and fries (wasn’t cooked the way he ordered it, but fries were good). On the side we shared their mac n cheese and green bean casserole. I got so excited green bean casserole was on the menu. It was a bit too creamy for my liking, but tasty nonetheless. The mac n cheese was very rich and creamy–with shell pasta. I tended to gravitate towards the fries.

Dessert was a hard choice because their menu was so jam packed with drool-worthy options. We went with the coconut cream pie–more of a cheesecake texture, but perfect amount of crust to sweet filling. Wish I had a better photo to represent it, but this will have to do!

The prices were right and so were portions. Even though they’re brand new, we had a great server. He was attentive and quick. I can’t wait to go back for a glass of wine and their “deviled tomatoes”! See ya soon, Front Room!

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Laduree, Sarabeths, Le Bain and more

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Good evening everyone! I’m back with another recap of my amazing NYC trip last weekend. I literally ate my way through the city and I have some iPhone photos to prove it.

My Saturday morning began at Sarabeth’s with my freshman roomie, Cameron! It was such a cute little brunch spot–we brunched at their South Central Park location. It was busy but it didn’t take too long to get seated. I had their veggie frittata with a pumpkin muffin and coffee. Filling and tasty.

I loved how we sat next to this little garden area. It really brightened up the damp and humid morning.

Next up was Laduree. Of course!

The store front was enough to melt my heart.

The inside was so cute. At $2.75 per macaron, I decided to get 4 to make the trip up there worth it, right? I got pistachio, salted caramel, coconut and chocolate. Mmmm…

For dinner we headed to the Meatpacking District with a few goals in mind: Biergarten at the Standard and a rooftop bar. We started out at Sea Thai–my prosecco, his Stella. I had pad thai and he had a green curry noodle dish. My pad Thai was too rich and left me feeling a little unsettled.

After dinner, I was dying to walk the high line. I practically stared at it all through dinner. We walked up and down the high line and were happy to see greenery and the Jersey shoreline. We also ran into a few food trucks up there…but I was too full to even think about food (not until 2am did I get my gelato). It was a romantic spot to walk around sunset time.After our walk, we had pint sized beers at the Biergarten at the Standard Hotel and enjoyed the people watching and the overall atmosphere. It was a fun place, but we were ready for a rooftop. We gulped those things down and headed up the elevator to Le Bain.

That would be a hot tub in the club. We were expecting a bar not a club, much less a club with a hot tub! We were shocked, but mostly in awe of the view.

After staring out the windows, we got drinks, sat down on a couch near the hot tub and enjoyed pure people watching entertainment on that Sunday night. Sorry for missing half your face in this photo, Ryan.

Things got wild and we got to be spectators. A hot tub in a club!? Still shocked.

Have you ever been to a club like that? Ever been to Sarabeths?

Bon Appetit,

That Foodie Girl

A new summer favorite: grilled peaches

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Good evening, foodie people!

I have been thinking about this dish ever since my friend and I made it a few nights ago. Meet grilled peaches.

We didn’t exactly get those pretty grill lines, but it tasted just like peach cobbler. Minus the unnecessary sugar and calories. Grilled peaches + plain Voskos Greek yogurt + oats + drizzle of honey. So. Good.

Besides new dessert creations, I have been eating everything in sight. This lunch plate proves I couldn’t make up my mind.

Allow me to take you on a tour.

This is a veggie masala pattie (bought it in the frozen section of WF) and my favorite summer veggies– sautéed zucchini and bell pepper.

On the other side of my plate are baby carrots, lentil crackers and a gouda Baby Bell cheese. The cheese is so good. And you know I try to avoid cheese….until I met these little guys.

On another note, this is how my mornings begin. The joys of working from home.

Let’s zoom in.

Thanks to my recent trip to WF, I got to jam pack my morning with fresh produce. The best way to start the day. Under that pile of berries is plain Greek yogurt. On the right is a slice of Seeduction bread toasted with Justin’s PB and bananas.

What do you like to eat for breakfast? Have you ever tried grilling peaches?

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Gluten Free Strawberry Cupcakes

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These little babies were quite a hit at our 4th of July get-together if I do say so myself.

Meet the gluten free strawberry cupcakes, made from scratch. No gelatin, no box cake mix. Just pure goodness. Recipe came from A Dash of Sass. I added a pinch of baking soda, substituted rice flour for self-rising flour and nixed the red food coloring.

It was a great way to use the giant bin of fresh strawberries I bought on sale at Whole Foods!

For the 4th of July, we headed to the Belmont Hotel to hang out with friends. This was our view:

Great view, great weather, great company.

I even got to celebrate with Ryan despite his exhaustion due to being overworked as an investment banker.

So he took a nap and represented his patriotism while doing so. (and wearing 2 pairs of Ray Bans). haha.

What did you do to celebrate?

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck, aka the restaurant in the ball

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Hi I’m so sorry I’ve been neglecting poor TFG, but I’ll be back in the swing of things SOON I hope. I hate not posting regularly on here, but such is life, right? Wedding planning is just baaarely beginning and so are many other things, but that’s for another day. Right now I’m focusing on squeezing in a blog post before I meet a friend for a margarita!

Last week my Dad came into town and took us to two nice restaurants. The first one I will tell you about is Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck.

Five Sixty

What: upscale Asian

Where: downtown Dallas

It’s been on my bucket list for years, so it was such a treat to get to take the elevator all the way up to this scenic spot in Dallas.

For those of you who don’t live in Dallas, you take an elevator all the way up what is called Reunion Tower (a.k.a. the ball) and once inside, the restaurant actually revolves a full 360 degrees every 54 minutes or so. It. was. trippy. But awesome.

We started with martinis.

They took about 45 mins to get them to us. But we weren’t too phased because of the awesome view that was constantly changing every minute.

Ryan and I both started with their white tuna roll. It was a little bit spicy, the fish was high quality, but the flavor and texture was a bit odd. The raw crunch of the asparagus almost catches you off guard–it’s nice to have a little crunch, but this is a huge contrast to the rest of the roll.

This is their calamari. Ryan didn’t have the best review on it, noting the calamari was extremely bland and had to ask for a side sauce to spice things up.

I had the chicken dumplings with a peanut sauce. This was a TINY dish as it was on their sushi menu, but I was expecting a little more for the $16 or $18 that it cost.

My Dad had their Wild King Salmon “Hong Kong Style”. It was a nice flavorful dish.

For dessert we had the Baked Alaska, and sadly, it did not come out on fire. But that’s ok. The merengue on the outside was great, as was the strawberry sauce. I was less than impressed with the dessert as a whole–the ice cream had that icy texture that reminded me of freezer burn. Time for some fresh ice cream in that freezer!

Overall, it’s a great experience up there in “the ball”. We left happy, but when reflecting back on the meal, it was so overpriced for not even great food. The service was just ok, but the view was spectacular.

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

lemon chicken, grilled zuchinni, gfree brownies

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My life lately. Busy as usual. Last night Ryan and I got a chance to have a meal at home (first one as an engaged couple!) I think I might be saying that about everything…

Anyway, I cooked a lemon chicken that ended up being way too sweet, but tasted good with a little sea salt sprinkled on top. Underneath is brown rice and wild rice.

On the side is the simplest part of the meal, but the tastiest in my opinion. Zucchini grilled with EVOO and sea salt. Just cut in half, grill & enjoy. So good.

And finally, I’ve fit in a little baking too.

I used the Pamela’s gluten free brownie mix, added Ghiradelli chocolate chips and used virgin coconut oil. These are the best brownies I’ve ever made. SO. DELICIOUS.

Just add mix, 1 egg, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil of choice. Add to pan, bake at 350 for 16 mins.

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Del Frisco’s Grille brunch

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Let’s rewind back to last Saturday. I got the pleasure of attending a Dallas Blogger Brunch at Del Frisco’s Grille. Everything was paid for, just to preface this blog post.

I had been to DFG for brunch before and loved it. This time was no different. When we first arrived we were greeted with jugs of mimosas, two types of sangria and bloody mary’s with all the toppings. To start munching right away, we started with their breakfast pizza.

I’m a huge fan of eggs and pizza, and the combo with added bites of prosciuttos was like heaven after a Friday night. I actually loved this “starter” so much, I know I’ll be back to order just that.

Along with the pizza we enjoyed their red velvet waffles and grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Drinks were refilled after every sip, and “Brunch Punch” was served as well. This little guy was packed with all sorts of tropical flavors, it was like sipping on a vacation. Dangerous but delicious.

As if we were still hungry, we dug into the desserts. Our favorite was the coconut cream pie. The creamy filling was just the right amount of sweet and the crust just crumbles and melts in your mouth. It was the best I had ever tasted and the presentation was right on. Feast your eyes:

If you haven’t tried Del Frisco’s Grille for brunch, do so. Just come really hungry.

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Tis the season: homemade peppermint bark

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Homemade Peppermint Bark

(recipe adapted from Peanut Butter Fingers blog)

Ok, I’m a peppermint freak. There, I said it. It’s pumpkin season as soon as it turns fall til Thanksgiving Day. The day after Thanksgiving is all about the peppermint. There’s something about seasonal flavors that just make me a sucker. Marketing works on me.

As if the peppermint Clif bar and peppermint brownies weren’t enough (product review coming soon), I decided it was time to make my own peppermint bark instead of buying the $30 canister of Williams-Sonoma. And it turned out great.

The recipe is super easy to follow. The key is to buy your favorite baking chocolate, and DO NOT try to melt chocolate chips. It won’t come out the way you want it to.

RECIPE:
1 lb. dark baking chocolate
1 lb. white baking chocolate
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon canola oil
Candy canes (crushed)

Line a cookie sheet with foil (turn up the edges). Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval (This is to avoid burning the chocolate). Add 1/2 teaspoon canola oil to the melted chocolate and stir. Then, ladle all the chocolate onto the foil and spread into an even layer. Place in the refrigerator until it’s nice and firm. Next, melt the white chocolate using the same method. This time, add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract and 1/2 teaspoon canola oil. **Be sure to wait for the white chocolate mixture to cool before spreading on top of the dark chocolate. While you’re waiting, take 5-6 candy canes, place them in a bag and crush them into tiny pieces. Once the white chocolate has cooled, you can spread it on top of the dark chocolate. If you don’t wait for it to cool, the white chocolate will melt the dark chocolate and it won’t come out as pretty! Then add your crushed candy canes on top. Place in the fridge until it has hardened, then break into little pieces. Voila!