Rolo Caramelitas

Rolo Caramelitas

Okay, so the last time I was here, I was counting down until my mini vacation at Disneyland where I got to stay at the fantabulous Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.It was so much fun that I have decided that this will become an annual event. It burned a MAJOR hole in my wallet but it was worth it. The hotel is super luxurious, the employees are really nice and provide excellent service, my room overlooked Downtown Disney, and I had a really nice view of the Sleeping Beauty fireworks show. 

As soon as my sister and I checked it, we immediately headed to their pools where we setup camp in the "Adult" pool area where you can order drinks from your lounge chair, Las Vegas style. They have 3 pools, 2 of which are more kid/family friendly. I know this is weird especially since I love Disneyland so much but I am not very fond of children. Perhaps that will change in the future but right now I am quite allergic to them. A lot of them run around like crazy zombie mutants, are really loud, and suffer from jam hands (meaning their hands are sticky from god knows what!) **Please note that I don't mean to offend anyone. This is just my feelings about children right now. I am still respectful towards children and those with children.**

Anyhoo, my sister and I lounged at the "Adult" pool for awhile. She was lame and did some stuff for work while I read a trashy celebrity gossip magazine. I was thinking about ordering an adult beverage but I knew we were going to hit up 3 bars at later that night at Downtown Disney so I decided against it. I'm pretty sure I was still drunk the next morning because the room was still spinning but guests who stay at the Disney hotels get to enter the park an hour early.There was no way I was going to miss out on an extra hour of being at Disney, so I was up at 5:30 am and in line to enter the park at 6:30 am. Surprisingly I wasn't hungover. Perhaps Disney is the magical medicine to preventing hangovers?

Our first pit stop was of course Cars Land. We were hoping to ride Radiator Springs Racers first but it was experiencing technical difficulties for at least an hour. Major bust! The rest of the day was really magical though. My sister and I went on a ton of rides, ate a lot of good food and drank a lot.  I also snapped up lots of pictures but haven't organized them yet. So, in the meantime, why don't I share what else I have been doing?

I introduce to you Rolo Caramelitas that was created by the genius behind Confessions of a Cookbook queen. Head on over to her blog to check out the recipe and make some right now because it is insanely delicious. You think it can't better but it does. Each  bite is more divine than the last. It's super fattening because it calls for a lot of butter, like Paula Dean status but I justify the deliciousness with the oatmeal that is used.

I made this for my sister's co-workers for shits and giggles but I couldn't resist a taste. This was my umm "quality control" sample just to make sure that it tasted good. And oh my it tasted sooo sooo good. After eating this, I packaged it and left for work right away because I knew that I was not safe around it. That if I didn't leave soon, there wouldn't be any left for them. Rolos + caramel sauce + butter = deeeeeeeeelicious!

Countdown!

Guess where I will be this weekend??

I'll give you a hint. It involves some of this.

Except this time I'll also be fulfillling one of my big Disney dreams, which is staying at the super luxurious Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

I will be spending a lot of time here when I'm not playing at the park. I've already studied the bar menu quite a bit. =)

I'll be heading over there as soon as I get off work. 3:30 pm can't come any quicker. Gosh, I love Disneyland.

Iced Coffee

I love coffee and need to drink it every morning. Without it, I basically look like this all day.

Not very pretty, am i right? (Btw, that's basically what my nose looked like all last week. Sexy, I know.)

The longest I've ever gone without it was all of last week when I was sick and discovered that caffeine is basically like kryptonite to a sore throat. Several websites suggested drinking decaf insead but what's the point in drinking coffee if it doesn't have caffeine. That's basically it's reason for existing, no?

Anyhooooo, usually breakfast routine during the week days works like this: fill up Mr. Coffee pot, make breakfast while Mr. Coffee pot is earning its keep on my kitchen counter, and happily fill up my big gulp sized Minnie Mouse mug when it's ready. But, I have been experiencing 2 problems with coffee for awhile now and I finally came up with a solution.

Problem 1: I like my coffee super strong, so I use a wasteful amount of ground coffee every morning. In order to make myself feel better about my gluttonness, I make another pot of coffee with the same grinds. The thing is that the coffee isn't as strong the second time around for obvious reasons, which means it doesn't taste as good. So, my taste buds and my very necessary caffeine intake level are both left unsatisfied.

Problem 2: During the summer or basically whenever it feels like summer, I like to drink iced coffee to combat with the heat and humidity. I have always made iced coffee with plain old iced cubes, which unfortunately becomes coffee flavored water if I don't drink it quickly enough.

Solution:

During my week of withdrawls, I came up with a brilliant idea. Coffee cubes! Now, I know that realistically I am not the first person to have come up with idea but it made me feel pretty smart and awesome, so I'm just going to pretend that I am the mastermind behind this creation.
Now, at first I was planning on using my regular iced cube tray...until I remembered that a few months ago I bought this really cool Mickey Mouse silicone muffin pan.

Second pot of coffee gets reycled as iced cubes, which helps prevent my iced coffee from turning into coffee flavored water. 2 problems solved and the solution comes out pretty damn cute too. Oh, and the coffee that I'm drinking right now is Chocolate Hazelnut flavor, which is very delicious. Can't wait to try the Cookiedoodle flavor next! =)

Beer Bread

Sooo I first came across this recipe last December but never had the balls to make it because it seemed a bit out of my league. But, it's been several months and after making pizza dough from scratch I feel a little more confident of my cooking/baking skills. I'm not gonna lie though. I was still kind of scared about working with self-rising flour since I've never used it before. But I was bored and figured worst case scenario I would be stuck with something inedible. So, what is it that I made?

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Beer Bread

from Bake at 350

 

Bridget, the mad scientist behind this blog, developed 4 amazing beer bread recipes - cinnamon chocolate chip, orange nutmeg, gruyere and rosemary, and classic. Of course, I immediately found myself drawn to her and these recipes because (1) beer is awesome and any reason to include it in my diet is a win and (2) she came up with 4 different recipes for beer bread, which officially makes her my hero. Although all 4 types of beer bread appear to be mouth-watering, there was no way I couldn't make the cinnamon chocolate chip beer bread first. Chocolate + beer  = no brainer.

Headed for the oven

Fresh out of the oven slathered with some honey butter and cinnamon sugar

Now, head on over to her blog while I loosen the belt and get working on the other 3 beer breads. Mmmmmm

Avocado Celebration

In my previous post, I mentioned that this July 1 - July 7 is California Avocado week and in honor of that, I bought a bag of California grown avocados with the intention of making a dish focusing on it. Sadly, it seems I suck at picking avocados because they aren't ripe yet and won't be until after California Avocado week is over. Oops.

But, I will still be celebrating tonight at Downtown Disney. All week Disney has been celebrating all week by having several chefs do a cooking demonstration of dishes with avocado as the shining star. Each demonstration is held in front of a particular restaurant with its executive chef in charge of the demonstration and afterwards everyone gets a sample. So, tonight, I will be at Catal with the hopes of watching and maybe tasting tartare of Hamachi with Shisho, Micro Cilantro and California Avocado and Jalapeno Sorbet. Afterwards, I will be eating at Catal because the head chef has put together 2 special avocado dishes. Neither of these dishes are posted on Catal's website so it will be a surprise.
My love for avocado is kind of funny because I absolutely hated it up until last year. I hated it since the first time I tried it in kindergarten. Everything about it disgusted me - the mushy texture, the awful green color that reminds me of bird poo, and how it browns very quickly. People often could not fathom that I was grossed out by avocado and would always ask me if I ate guacamole. Um no because it's made out of avocado???!!! But then, I gave it another chance last year and fell in love.

Ugly but Delicious

My cold isn't getting better. If any better. If anything, I think it might be getting worse? I've had a fever for the past few hours, my throat is still sore and I've developed a smoker's cough. I popped a few Tylenol but it's not really working. I knew should have just drunk some alcohol. After all, that's what our ancestors used for medicine and it seemed to work out well for them right? But since you're not supposed to mix alcohol with pills, I decided to try one last kind of "medicine" that wouldn't be affected by the Tylenol. I baked a batch of the Peanut Butter Rocky Road Bars from Confessions of A Cookbook Queen. I'm definitely still making the other 2 recipes at some point though!

 

Naked Bar

Dressed with marshmallow creme

Uglified with delicious chocolate frosting

But was oh so delicious!

And since it's a holiday and I'm sick, I figured that I'm entitled to eating a giant block of this Rocky Road Bar. And btw, it's delicious both fresh out of the oven and frozen  =)

Thoughts

I am currently experiencing weekend blues for 2 reasons. It's the last weekend of celebrations for my birthday, I have been struck with a sore throat and fever, my Internet is not cooperating which is making it very difficult to upload Disney pictures to a certain blogger friend whom I desperately want to share these pictures with, and I also have to prepare for a week of work. Luckily, it's going to be a short one because I get Tuesday and Wednesday off in honor of Independence Day. Hip hip hooray!!! I plan on taking full advantage of these 2 precious days off by relaxing and getting myself reacquainted with my kitchen. I am having trouble deciding among 3 recipes though so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Option 1: Peanut Butter Rocky Road Bars

http://www.confessionsofacookbookqueen.com/2012/05/peanut-butter-rocky-road-bars/

Option 2: Peanut Butter Drizzled Chewy Milk Chocolate Chunk Cookies

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/06/peanut-butter-drizzled-chewy-milk-chocolate-chunk-cookies/

Option 3: Cookie Dough Filled Cookie Cups

http://cookiesandcups.com/cookie-dough-filled-cookie-cups-2/

Also, I think I'm going to make a few adjustments to this blog. Here is my tentative weekly plans to make my blog a wee bit more exciting and save it from its boring old self:

(1) Pick a recipe from a fellow blogger and attempt to recreate their magicalness
(2) Come up with a recipe of my own - chocolate and non-chocolate related
(3) Make a dish based on a food that is being honored nationally and/or locally (e.g. July 1 - 7 is California Avocado week)
(4) Post a random Disney fact or pictures from my regular Disney outings.

Thoughts?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAYYYYY

Ok so maybe it's been more like a birthday month considering I've been celebating with different groups of friends and family since the first week of month. But here is a recap of some birthday desserts I've had so far with of course more to follow this weekend when I celebrate 3 more times. Yeah, this particular birthday has been pretty awesome.

S'mores Sundae from the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop at the Grand California

Fried Banana Split Monte Cristo Sundae from the Carthay Circle Restaurant at CA Adventure

"Birthday Cake" at Seasons 52

I opted for the Chocolate Peanut Butter cake

And I leave you with a short birthday song, "This is your birthday song, it isn't very long..."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEE!!

Birthday Celebration #3

I'm off to Disneyland again but this time with my sister. I LOVE going with her because she basically let's me have my way for the whole day. Here is a breakdown of our usual schedule:

5:30 am - I wake up SUPER BEYOND excited
6:00 am - I give my sister her first wake up call
6:30 am - Last wake up call or no time for coffee until we get to the park
7:00 am - We leave for the park
7:30 am - Waiting in front of the gates for the park to open
8:00 am - 12 am  - RIDESSSSSSSSS
12 am - 1 am - perusing the shops on Main Street


Today's agenda: Must Check out the new candy store

And persuade my sister into buying this awesome tire hat for me. That's right. A TIRE HAT!

I'm Back!

It's been soooo long since my last post that I feel like I'm doing my very first post all over again. I still don't know the direction of this blog. My new job and schedule is much different now so I won't be able to cook as much but I will still very much focus on my love for chocolate, sweets, food, and Disneyland. So, if I still have any readers (I would like to give a special shoutout to The Management especially) please bear with me.

In the meantime, let's recap on my latest activities. Last Saturday, Cars Land at California Adventure had its grand opening and everyone was super excited considering it was 5 years in the making. I made sure to arrive at the park an hour early because I knew it was going to be packed. The vibe was pretty awesome because I was surrounded by hardcore Disney fans. 45 minutes before the park opened, people were chanting "Cars Land! Cars Land!"  and were doing the wave. And 10 seconds before the gates opened, people were counting down New Year's Eve style.

Despite getting to the park early, the major ride at Cars Land, Radiator Springs, already had a pretty long line. I think I waited for a total of 2 hours (40 min were due to technical difficulties). I heard that later in the day, the wait time increased to 5 hours! The rides awesome but not 5 hours awesome.

I also had to visit the Ghirardelli Chocolate and Soda Shop. LOVE LOVE LOVE this place! As soon as you enter the soda shop, you are greeted by a Disney employee who has a basket full of Ghirardelli chocolate samples. Not only do they give you samples, but the package is opened for you and pushed out about 1cm so all you have to do is eat. Now that is service!

The inside of shop is extremely detailed, beautiful, and breathtaking.

They also give you the option of buying 80 count bags of chocolate squares. YUM!

The menu was pretty extensive and I spent a lot of time deciding on what my first Ghirardelli treat would be. In the end, I found myself drawn to the Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Sundae.

I was only able to eat half because it was so sweet and rich but it was heavenly. It definitely surpassed my expectations.

I can't wait to go back to Cars Land and the Ghirardelli Chocolate and Soda Shop to go on more rides and eat more goodies. Luckily, I don't have to wait too long because I'm going again this Saturday for my birthday. =)

Ojai Trip Recap

My Ojai trip was pretty fun and adventurous. The hotel was kind of weird. It had a hostel meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre feeling to it. The overall vibe was kind of scary at first but it got better later on.



My first time eating chicken mole or any savory dish with chocolate. It was good!

One of four wine flights

The aftermath of 4 wine tastings: 9 new bottles at home.

My new Michael Kors babies purchased at Camarillo Outlet on the way home.

Aloha

So, today is my last day at work. I got a new job and I start on Monday. The problem is that my work hours will change and I'll be starting a lot earlier. This is a good and bad thing. It's a good thing because I'd rather start earlier and get off earlier. But it's a bad thing because I'll no longer have time to bake in the morning. Up until now, I have gotten up at 5 am to bake cookies, cupcakes, and brownies. But now, I'm not sure what my plans will be in terms of baking. I for sure won't be able to bake cupcakes anymore, which is a major bummer. This leads me to my second predicament. Since I won't be able to bake as much, I'm not sure how this will affect my blog since this is mainly a food blog. I'm either going to have to make adjustments to this blog or create a new one that incorporates other aspects of my like rather than primarily chocolate and sweets. I don't know. We'll see.
Moving on, this weekend will hopefully be a fun one. After work (crossing my fingers that my boss will let me out early), I'm meeting my sister in LA for dinner and then we're heading up to Ojai for some wine tasting and olive oil tasting. So, Aloha for now! =)

Cozy Cone Motel

June 15th is a big day for Disneyland and California Adventure because Matterhorn will FINALLY re-open after undergoing major rehab and Cars Land as well as the Carthay Circle Restaurant will both be making its official debut. I've already made two reservations for the Carthay Circle Restaurant so I can try both of their lunch and dinner menus. Countdown till June 16 and 23rd!! Another restaurant that I cannot wait to try is the Cozy Cone Motel, which is located in Cars Land.
According to the Disney blog, here are some of the dishes that will be featured on the menu:

Cone #1: Churro bites with cinnamon-chocolate sauce, regular or cinnamon-spiced hot cocoa, and Ramone’s Pear of Dice Soda (desert pear and mojito flavorings topped with Sprite).
Cone #2: Soft-serve ice cream and “route” beer floats.
Cone #3: Breakfast features the bacon scrambled egg cone and scrambled egg verde cone. Lunch and dinner is chili “cone” queso and a chicken verde cone. Sip one of Fillmore’s Fuelin’ Groovy Ades (all-natural lemonade with wild berry foam, or pomegranate limeade with lemon-lime foam).
Cone #4: Pretzel bites with cheesy sauce. To drink, Red’s Apple Freeze (100% frozen apple juice with Red’s special flavoring topped with a hint of toasted marshmallow flavor, and passion fruit-mango foam)
Cone #5: With two flavored popcorns daily, you might find salt and vinegar, pickle, bacon and cheddar, sweet and spicy or nacho cheese. Also serving Doc’s Wild Grape Tonic (Sprite with wild grape syrup and wild berry foam).


I think this one is cone # 1? Either way, it looks mighty tasty and I can't try all of the cone selections. 

Disneylandia

Random Disney Fun Fact for the Day

Despite the security systems installed in all Disneyland's attractions (and the monitors being watched by park employees hidden from view) couples will still try to have sex while on the "dark" rides (such as Pirates of the Caribbean or It's a Small World), apparently not realizing that the cameras are infrared and can pick up their every move. On occasion they are stopped with a warning over the speaker; other times, as they exit, they are met with applause from knowing cast members.