The Donut Man {Glendora, CA}

The Donut Man is one of those places that you hear of, either through word of mouth or through the portals of television or the world wide web. It's viral, spreads immediately and quickly, because well, it's that good.

The moment you step up to the window, your heart flutters as you see the rows upon rows of strawberry stuffed donuts. These donuts are the kind of creations that people travel far and wide for. They are seasonally available, and they also offer peach donuts when the season arrives.

Basically, these strawberry donuts are as close to perfection as it comes. The light yeasted donuts are stuffed to the brim with glazed, whole strawberries. You'd think that you'd die from overkill but they really took the time to figure out how many strawberries, how much sugar, and how much glaze to use so that it doesn't overwhelm you and isn't too overly sweet.
My second favorite though, has to be the Bavarian cream. I love, love, love, die for custard. If it's on the menu, I have to get it. This donut was literally stuffed with smooth Bavarian cream and then topped with some chocolate glaze... oh my goodness.

Other options, just as cute:

We also tried the apple fritter, which was ginormous! It was also super hearty, filled with large chunks of apple and raisins. Although this was good, I don't think anything can quite compare to Bob's apple fritters.

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Europane {Pasadena, CA}

Ah! The Best Thing I Ever Ate is like my foodie guide to good eats. Whenever they mention a place that I can actually go to, I set my sites and try to accomplish them as soon as possible!

The show featured the egg salad sandwich, shown above. It's special because it's made of soft boiled eggs rather than hard boiled eggs making it incredibly creamy and lush. It's served open-faced with mixed greens and a sun-dried tomato spread. Topped with some Tapatio or Tabasco and you've got the best egg salad sandwich ever.

The meatloaf sandwich though, was also really spectacular. Lots of flavor, meaty, and filling!

We decided to finish our meal with some French macarons, which if ever I see available, I have to immediately get. These were nice and large and were good, especially the sea salt caramel, my favorite of the varieties. But sadly, nothing quite compares to Paulette's macarons.

Yelp

Lola Gaspar {Santa Ana, CA}

Lola was a pure Yelp find. It was raved about numerous times so eventually I knew I'd have to try it. My friends and I headed here for happy hour to order some drinks and snacks. The food, overall was nothing spectacular except for the delicious niblets below. The drinks, also were average. I actually thought the margarita was disgusting though.

For their happy hour, I opted for the sangria. Though my friend didn't really like their version, I enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't too sweet and was refreshing on a summer day.
My ultimate favorite was the bacon wrapped, blue cheese stuffed, dates! I'd never had dates before, especially like this. These were tangy from the blue cheese, sweet and chewy from the dates and crispy and salty from the bacon. I wish there were like 20 on the plate instead of the measly 5!

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Summer in a Cup (Blueberry Green Tea)

Tea is quite possibly one of my favorite things on this earth. I love it hot or cold, but in the summer when the sun is beating on your back and glaring in your eyes, iced tea can be the most perfect thing you ever asked for. Especially the one I have down below!

Usually, I prefer my tea unsweetened but there's a certain kind of 'Asian style' tea that I just obsess over. It's super popular here in the southern parts of California and is filled with all kinds of treats such as chopped fruit and chewy tapioca balls (aka boba). I LOVE boba; it's chewy and like candy in your drink! Some people, I know, find the texture quite odd but if you haven't tried it before, give it a chance and you might find a new obsession.

This tea is perfection. It's like the tea I can find at my local Asian milk tea shops but now I can have it anytime I want it. The recipe is simple enough and it's really just a matter of assembling everything together. And if you don't like boba, or can't find the ingredients, the blueberry iced tea without the optional add ins are more than enough to keep your thirst quenched! Mmmmm summer and a glass of ice cold tea; it really doesn't get better than this.

Blueberry Green Tea with Add Ins (Asian style or not)

Yields: 6 - 8 servings

Syrup recipe from here.

For the syrup:

1 cup blueberries

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

6 cups water

3 - 4 tbsn. or 3 - 4 tea bags of green tea (I used peach green tea!)

1 package of large tapioca pearls/ boba (optional)

1/2 can of canned lychees, chopped (optional)

1/2 jar of coconut jelly or nata de coco, chopped (optional)

To make the syrup, add the blueberries, water and sugar into a large saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Boil until the blueberries burst and release their juices. Remove from heat. Use a spatula to slightly crush the berries against the sides of the pan. Strain the berries from the syrup with a colander.

You can brew the tea in two ways: hot or cold. To brew it hot, bring the water to just under a boil. Add the tea/ tea bags and let steep for 3 - 5 minutes, then cool in refrigerator until completely cooled. To brew cold, combine the water and the tea/ tea bags and let steep in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours (you don't have to worry about over steeping with cold brewing).

Prepare the tapioca pearls/ boba according to the package, then drain and set aside. To assemble, add enough of the blueberry simple syrup to the green tea until it is is just sweet enough and has enough berry flavor to your taste. If you want it 'Asian style', to assemble the individual drinks, add 2 tbsn. of boba, 2 tbsn. of chopped lychee, and 2 tbsn. of chopped coconut jelly into each serving glass. Add some ice, then top with the blueberry green tea. Drink with a large 'boba' straw!

Tailored Tuedays

Wonderfully classy.

1. Oscar de la Renta "Cashmere crochet cardigan"

2. Oscar de la Renta "Cotton strapless dress"

3. Christian Louboutin "Spartenvol strass 100 sandals"

4. Oscar de la Renta "Double buckle belt"

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

I think peaches have to be the ultimate summer fruit. Every time I think of a sweet, juicy, fuzzy peach it makes me think of sunshine, rainbows and happy, carefree days. These cupcakes live up to the same standards as the peaches they were made from, and are jam-packed with all kinds of tastiness.

Once I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, I bookmarked it immediately. First of all, peach cupcakes? Sold. It had me at hello. Plus, cream cheese frosting with brown sugar in it?! I had never heard of such a thing, but since brown sugar is one of my first loves, I knew it had to be one of the best things on the planet, and guess what? It was.

These cupcakes are beyond amazing. The cake is nice and moist and has great flavor while the frosting is seriously out of this world, especially if you have a hankering for brown sugar. The only strife I have is probably that the peach flavor isn't prominent enough. Actually, my friends said if they didn't already know it was peach they wouldn't have guessed it but that they were so delicious anyway, they could care less. I think that's a win if I ever did see one.

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

Yields: 12 - 14 cupcakes

Original recipe here.

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

pinch of nutmeg

6 tbsn. unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 + 1/8 cup sugar

1/4 + 1/8 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cups buttermilk, sour cream or full-fat yogurt

2 medium peaches, peeled, cored, and chopped small-sh

For the frosting:

3/4 cups light brown sugar

1/8 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, scraping down the sides and bottom after added. Then add the vanilla, and gently mix in the buttermilk/ sour cream/ yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the peach chunks. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tin, about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the tin then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

To make the frosting, in a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and powdered sugar. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add the sugar-cornstarch mixture and vanilla, beat until frosting is smooth and light. Chill the bowl in the refrigerator until it thickens up a bit, about 30 minutes, then spread or dollop onto the cooled cupcakes.

Tailored Tuesdays

Oh, how I heart red lipstick and J brands!

1. Linda Farrow Luxe 'Cat-eye frame snakeskin sunglasses'

2. Moschino Cheap & Chic 'Bow embellished wool sweater'

3. J Brand 'Mid rise cigarette leg jeans'

4. MAC lipstick in 'Red Russian'

My absolute favorite red lipstick!!

5. Lee Angel 'Desiree crystal and glass pearl cluster ring'

6. Christian Louboutin 'Big lips 120 calf hair pumps'

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Dudeeeeeeeeeee...

I haven't posted music in SO long!

I've been meaning to, I even have an old draft with old music I wanted to post years ago (that's me being sarcastic)... I am such a lagger it is insane though. So to make up, here is a long compilation of both old & new music I've loved, love, and will love forever (I think).

Unfortunately, I can't post mp3s anymore because I got a warning the last time I did it. But I hope you do take the time to look some of these up through youtube or the hype machine, because I'm pretty much obsessed with these songs!

Monsieur Gainsbourg with Gonzales, Feist & Dani . Boomerang

The National . About Today

Regina Spektor . No Surprises (Radiohead Cover)

The Arcade Fire . Suburbs

The Helio Sequence . Lately

Copperpot . Art of Rap

BoB . I'll Be in the Sky

The Bird & The Bee . I Can't Go for That

Born Ruffians . Sole Brother

Deadmau5 . Not Exactly / Strobe (Club Mix)

Florence + The Machine . Swimming

Jonsi . Boy Lilikoi

Joy Orbison . BSRkRO1

Kardinal Offishall . Body Bounce ft. Akon

Keane . My Shadow

Lissie . Everywhere I Go

Mayer Hawthorne . Make Her Mine/ Maybe So, Maybe No

The Strokes . I'll Try Anything Once

Two Door Cinema Club . Something Good Can Work

NOTE: these are not my images, all images were found through google images.

Banana Whoopie Pies with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Whoopie pies have become the latest trend. Actually, they were the latest trend half a year ago, so maybe not so trendy anymore but perhaps a staple? I really have no idea but I make things that appeal to me, no matter the trend. When I saw these little babies, I knew I had to make them. Bananas and Nutella have to be about the most classic combination ever and one of my absolute favorites.

These babies weren't hard to whip up at all, just a quick not-much-of-a-fuss batter and a simple cream cheese and Nutella filling. The cake tops were moist and full of banana flavor while the filling was creamy and oh-so-Nutella-y! Though these were delicious, the filling was a bit too sweet for my taste (although my friends loved them). I think next time I will try it with less powdered sugar but I added the full amount for fear of the filling being too runny. Also, the cake tops are quite moist so you pretty much should eat these right away as they attach to any surface you put them on. I recommend separating each with some tissue paper or parchment paper.

Banana Whoopie Pies with Nutella Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields: about 20 mini whoopie pies

Original recipe here.

For the banana cakes:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup mashed banans (1 large extra-ripe banana)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed lightly

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

For the nutella cream cheese frosting:

1/2 stick butter, room temperature, cut into cubes

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, cut into cubes

1/2 cup nutella

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat, set aside. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt, set aside. In another small bowl, stir to combine the mashed bananas and sour cream, set aside. Beat the butter and sugars on medium high for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the banana mixture and flour to the butter mixture in two separate additions, alternating between wet and dry. Using a scoop or a piping bag fitted with a large tip, form small mounds on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 - 1 1/2 inches between each. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes and let cool before filling.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium high for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the nutella and vanilla until completely incorporated. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until desired consistency, until stiff peaks are reached. Using a piping bag or spoon, spread a small amount of frosting onto the bottom half of the cakes, and top with another cookie. Roll in sprinkles, if desired. Keep refrigerated until serving.

Ready to bite into this thing!

Pretty little things:

Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada {Los Angeles, CA}

Ahh don't you love it when a restaurant is straight up, up front with you? You say "the best fish tacos," I believe you. I give you a try and you prove me wrong? Shame on you. I give you a try and you prove me right, well, that's an A+ in my book.
What I love about this place is how simple it is. A small hole-in-the-wall with two options: fish or shrimp. Toppings, you choose and you put on yourself at the salsa bar, which, mind you, has some great salsas (spicy pineapple, mango, etc.).

Enjoy with a nice cold bottle of Reed's ginger beer and that's a lunch folks.

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