Mango cheese cake 芒果起司蛋糕

Since mango is in season, and I have some leftover materials from the Father's Day mango mousse cake, I decided to make a mango cheese cake. I used to add lemon or orange scent into cheese cake for variety, but this time I wanted to try mango. I found this recipe online, which is really easy. I still had one mango left from last time, and I'd better use it before it got rottened. I waited until everybody's at sleep to make it. To my surprise, it was really easy, only took me 30 minutes, and I was in bed at 10:30 pm.

Looking at their little faces, holding their little hands, they are almost too perfect. I know it's hard to bake or make some snacks because of the babies, but I think making some snacks or treats for my dear husband in a nice thing. Me?! I am on a diet!! Need to lose the pregnancy weight ASAP!!

Mango Mousse Cake 芒果慕斯蛋糕

I decided to make a mango mousse cake for Father's Day this year. Mango is the fruit in season, and the weather is warm enough to have something cool. This is my husband's first Father's Day. I wanted to make something special to honor him. For this reason, I didn't want him to watch the twins while I was making the cake, so I got up at 3 am in the morning making the cake. I slept on the couch purposely, so that I wouldn't get too comfortable and hard to get up. I had a lot of fun, and it's all worth it. My husband is such a good father. He is great with the babies, does the night feeds and washes the bottles. I am so glad that I picked the right one. I knew from the beginning that he would be a GREAT father! Happy Father's Day, my dear!

Banana walnut muffins 香蕉核桃馬芬

We love bananas. It is a very versatile food; it can be breakfast, snack or dessert. Plus, it is so cheap! (However, it is high in potassium, so don't eat it with an empty stomach, especially people with kidney disease.) Banana goes well with walnuts or other nuts, like pecan. I was in the mood of something sweet, but it has to be quick and easy. This is the best recipe to fit my mood. It came from a recipe I bought at Barnes and Nobles when it's on sale. I loved it because it has a lot of pretty pictures and the instructions sound reasonable. However, this recipe is somehow the ONLY thing I've used from the book! I baked the muffins according to the original recipe, but I didn't quite like it. I modified the recipe a little and came up with the second batch. Hope you will like it too!

Creamy Strawberry Cake 草莓鮮奶油蛋糕

My husband is such a sweet heart. He barely did any house work before we got married. However, he has learned so much since we got married and is always helping around the house. He is also very patient, a virtue I never have. More importantly, he is always very pleasant. He laughs all the time! I guess that's what I like about him the most. Today is his birthday. He likes desserts with fruits, such as vanilla, strawberry, so I am going to make a cake with fruit in it. Hope he will like it.

Happy Birthday, my dear!!

Apple streusel cake 蘋果堅果蛋糕

The weather is getting cold. The air is crisp, and the saffire blue sky reflects the colorful fall foliage. It's a beautiful fall morning. I want to make something belongs to the season of fall. Apple! This is a great choice!

Cherry tomatoes with rasin 蜜餞櫻桃蕃茄

 Tomatoes can be vegetables and fruits. When I was little, there were no cherry tomatoes, only the big ones. We would cut it in chucks, sprinkle sugar on top and eat it as "desserts". However, it gets messy sometimes this way. Then cherry tomatoes were introduced, no cutting, no mess, no seeds to spit out, even better than cherries! My in-laws know I love them so much, they planted a few cherry tomato trees in their garden, and it is in season now.They have to be picked before it rains, otherwise they will swell and burst. They can also be picked while still green, and they will turn red when stored in a paper bag at room temperature.

Peach pie 水蜜桃派

There is a farm about 30 minutes away from us, and we go there for peach picking every year when it's in season. It's always a hot sunny day with burning temperatures, our whole family go there for peach picking, because we love peach so much. Yellow peaches, white peaches, umm... When ripe, they are so juicy, making your hands sticky. My father-in-law loves donut peaches the most. They are flat, white-fleshed and low in acid. They are very sweet yet very easy to bruise, because the skin is so thin. That's why they are expensive at the markets, because the transportation is not easy. So when we are at the farm, we pack our bags with donut peaches.

Homemade berry gelato 莓果義大利冰淇淋

It's getting hard to watch the news now. There are flood, fire, tornado, earthquakes, lethal bacteria infection and wars going on around the world. I should be thankful that I can sit home and enjoy my ice cream. This is to continue and use up the egg whites from yesterday's vanilla ice cream. I pureed some berries but added some chopped fruits so that there would be fruit chunks. The natural smell from the fresh berries makes this ice cream smell good and look good. That's the charm of homemade ice cream. It's always exciting at ice cream time.

Blueberry scones 藍莓司康

So I was thinking how to use my blueberry jam, I thought about scones. Eating the jam alone would be too sweet, but it goes perfectly with warm scones. Again, I took some blueberries out the the refrigerator and made some blueberry scones. Do you know the cooking show: America's Test Kitchen? I feel like I have my own test kitchen, especially for baking. Baking is like doing experiments in the lab, mixing a tea spoon of this and that together. Although it could be exhausting sometimes, it's all worth it when the final products come out exactly the way you want it.

Homemade blueberry jam 自製藍莓果醬

More blueberries! I just can't stop thinking and cooking about blueberries. I made some jam out of fresh blueberries, and it tastes great! This is my first time making jam at home, and I am very satisfied with the result. A big advantage to make your own jam is that you can control the amount of sugar, and you know what is in it. My husband thinks I still live in the 18th century, but it's OK. I am happy this way.

Since this is the first time making jam at home, so I did a trial version.

Homemade granola and parfait 自製甜麥片, 優格甜點

It's berry season, one of the best things in summer. My husband loves strawberries the most, but I love the blueberries the most. Strawberries are so easy to go bad, they are best consumed on the same day or in a day or two within the purchasing day. Seymour, our cat, also like blueberries. He used to like all kinds of fruits, i.e., apples, strawberries, orange, but now only reacts to blueberries. He would literally stick his nose into your face and ask for it. He's not shy at all when it comes to food!

Strawberry jello cheese cake 草莓果凍乳酪蛋糕

Holidays are a great time for friends and families to get together. My sister-in-law and her family are moving away soon, so we try to spend as much time together as possible. However, we missed my brother-in-law. He is on the road of "pursuing happiness" -- the love of his life. As I was preparing this cake, I thought about him. Love doesn't come easy, especially true love. Once you've found it (or it's found you), don't ever let it go. Love needs to be cherished and nurtured so that it will grow and be fruitful. We all wish that he will find "the love of his life" soon as we were enjoying this great summer treat. It doesn't just look good, it tastes even better!

Blueberry bread pudding 藍莓麵包布丁

I never liked "bread pudding". Mainly because my first memory related to "bread pudding" was not good. It was from my landlord when I was in graduate school. She baked a bread pudding and, I'm sorry to say, it didn't look good nor did it taste good. Even since then, I stayed far away from it UNTIL yesterday. Boy! Who knows that first memory can ruin my chance with bread pudding for such a long time! 

I watched the Katie Brown show on TV yesterday, and they were baking this bread pudding. It caught my eyes right away, because it looks gorgeous and incredibly easy. This has totally change my impression to bread pudding. It smells great already when it's still in the oven. The best part: it is crunchy on top yet so soft and smooth (just like pudding) inside. Two different textures in one bite! Serve when it's warm with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream -- also two different experiences in one bite! Enjoy!

Energy soup 精力湯

The Whole Food Diet is all about natural. It also encourages people to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables everyday. Most importantly, keep the seeds, skins or pulps that we usually throw away, because they are more nutritious. The best way to achieve that goal is to make "Energy Soup".