Spring Break 2017–Time Lapse Video of 8 Hours Overnight in 49 Seconds!

This week, we’re on Spring Break!  The video above is a time lapse video that we took at the window of our hotel room to show you what happened for 8 hours overnight in just 49 seconds!  Make sure you watch it until the end as the clouds movements were so gorgeous and mesmerizing!  If you follow me on Instagram, you can see other videos and pictures of our Spring Break as well. 



We stayed in JW Marriott, Las Vegas this time and loved it so much!  When we visit Las Vegas, we usually stay in hotels on the L.V. Strip but it's nice to get off the beaten path for a change.  Our Family definitely enjoyed the nice and quiet + gorgeous view, and much less traffic in the area.



During the trip, we watched the “Michael Jackson One” show by Cirque de Soleil.  Although I’m not an Michael Jackson fan, I think the show was quite nice and enjoyed it a lot.  The picture above was taken before the show starts. 



On our way home from Las Vegas back to Los Angeles, we stopped by the Seven Magic Mountains for pictures.  It was so windy that we couldn’t stay long.  Maybe that was the reason why there were not that many people there when we took pictures!  The art work will be there until May 2018.  So if you’re planning to visit Las Vegas, you can stop by quickly for a few shots.



We also took the Kids to the “Happiest Place on Earth”, a.k.a. Disneyland!  After the parks, we went to Napa Rose for dinner.  You can check out my previous restaurant review by clicking here!  Apparently, they changed the menu, but the food was just as delicious!

 Smiling Tiger Salad - with Tempura-fried Lobster, Spicy Beef, Asian Greens, and Coconut-Lime Vinaigrette

Seared Duck Breast

Kids Dessert – Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream and caramel sauce.

Valrhona Chocolate Tart with Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

That concludes our Spring Break for now.  The regular recipe and video tutorial will resume next week!  Stay tuned for more yummy Spring time recipes!

Mixed Fruits Jelly Cake (櫻花雜果大菜糕):

Spring is finally here!  I hope you’re enjoying the warmer weather of the season like I do.  Today, I’ve a whimsical and super fun recipe prepared for you to welcome Spring!  Check out this Mixed Fruit Jelly Cake (櫻花雜果大菜糕) recipe.  It’s gorgeous, refreshing, and definitely a perfect treat for your tea party or any typical afternoon tea!  It’s gorgeous enough for gatherings and simple enough to prepare even on a weekday!



This is a 2-layers dessert, the bottom layer is a Sakura (Cherry Blossom) milk jelly layer.  I used Sakura paste to flavor this layer and enhanced the color with my homemade beet root natural food coloring.  I’ll list the ingredients and link to the beet root color recipe at the end of the post for your convenience.  In this recipe, I used some milk in the Sakura layer.  You can substitute with soy milk or almond milk for a vegan version.



The top layer of this dessert is a simple clear jelly.  But before I added the jelly, I arranged some mixed fruits in between the 2 layers.  I used strawberries, blueberries, green grapes and tangerines for a variety of colors and flavors.  You can simply choose any fresh fruit that you enjoy. 



If you’ve already watched my video tutorial, you’ll see the Jelly cake mold that I used for this recipe.  It’s originally made for creating “sushi cake”!  Of course I couldn’t help but used it to make a dessert dish with this mold first! However, I think a sushi in cake form would be something different and just as refreshing and delicious too!  What do you think?  Interested to see a tutorial on that?  Simply leave me a message on this post to let me know and you might get your wish granted! 



I hope you enjoy today’s recipe and tutorial.  Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more fun and easy recipe next week!




Ingredients and Tools Used:
Jelly Cake Mold (Click here for more information)
Sakura Cherry Blossom An Paste (Click here for more information)
Agar-Agar Powder (Click here for more information)
Edible Gold Leaves (Click here for more information)

Strawberry Milky Lollipop 士多啤梨牛奶棒棒糖

Have your kids started their Spring Break yet?  I know my kids couldn’t wait to have some time off from school.  They want to feel free and not have to worry about homework, exams, book reports, etc.  Today, I’ve a super fun and cute recipe for you to welcome Spring Break!  Check out these Strawberry Milky Lollipops!  Aren’t they the cutest things you’ve seen lately?  Best of all, they are really yummy as well.



I made these Strawberry Milky Lollipop over the weekend with my Baby Girl.  If you’re looking for some fun activities to do with your kids on their days off, this recipe would be a fun and delicious project.  These lollipops are also a perfect treat if you’re planning a kids party as well.



The flavors of these homemade Strawberry Milky Lollipops remind me of these Strawberry and Cream lollipops that I loved when I was young.  Better yet, my homemade version is made with real strawberries and no artificial flavors or coloring.  Since there are only a few ingredients in these lollipop candies, the strawberry flavor truly comes through. 



If you haven’t done so, be sure to check out my video tutorial at the top of this post on how to make these cuties!  I’ll show you step by step on how to make the traditional lollipop shapes and the strawberry shaped ones as well.



An alternate to shaping the lollipop is to cut the rolled candy into tiny dots (as shown in the picture above.)  I personally prefer these smaller ones as they are perfect for 'portion control!'  I’ll list all the ingredients and tools used in this recipe at the end of the post for your reference.



If you haven’t done so, please subscribe to my Youtube channel here.  That way, you won’t miss out on any future videos and you’ll be the first to know when I have a new tutorial published.  Thank you for stopping by and I wish you all a fun and sweet Spring Break!


Ingredients and Tools Used:
All Natural Beet Rool Coloring Tutorial: https://goo.gl/uWBS7D
Sweet Rice Flour (Click here for more information)
Organic Honey (Click here for more information)
Baking Sheets (Click here for more information)
Silpat (Click here for more information)
Unsalted Butter (Click here for more information)
Organic Sweetened Condensed Milk (Click here for more information)
Organic Vanilla Extract (Click here for more information)
Freeze Dried Strawberry (Click here for more information)
Lollipop Sticks (Click here for more information)
Infrared Thermometer (Click here for more information)
 

Strawberry Cupcakes–From Scratch 草莓杯子蛋糕

What is your favorite ingredient to enjoy in Spring?  Is it corn, asparagus, peas, mangoes, berries, or all of the above?   I think my family’s favorite has to be strawberries!  During spring break, I took the kids to a nearby farm to pick their own strawberries.  It was a fun and yummy afternoon!





We’ve picked 4 big baskets full of strawberries and really enjoyed them.  Besides eating them as is, I also made these delicious strawberry cupcakes, from scratch!




I added fresh strawberries into the cake batter so that they are nice and moist.  Meanwhile, I mixed some fresh strawberry puree into the frosting so that they are slightly sweet and tart.  I also filled these cupcakes with some strawberry preserves in the center.  Be sure to check out the video tutorial on how to do that without any special equipment.  And of course, a slice of fresh strawberry on top as garnish to make it more festive.  These cupcakes are not too sweet but packed with wonderful strawberry flavors.  This frosting is probably one of the easiest one to prepare as well.




These cutie cupcakes were baked in these individual cupcake liners (see link below on where to purchase).  But you can use regular cupcake pan and liners as well.  I’m sure they'll turn out just as delicious!  These strawberry cupcakes will be perfect for your Spring tea party, or just any afternoon tea time since they are so easy to prepare!



What are your Spring favorite food or ingredients to enjoy?  Be sure to let me know in the comment below.  I can’t wait to hear from you!  Thank you for stopping by today.  Until next time, please take care.

Tools used:

Owl Pink Paper Baking Cups (Click here for more information)
Organic Vanilla Extract (Click here for more information)
Kerrygold Butter (Click here for more information)
Baking Sheets (Click here for more information)

Stand Mixer (Click here for more information)

Cooling Racks (Click here for more information)

April’s Fool Recipe – Apple Juice Jello in Disguise as A Glass of Beer

Do you know someone who loves Happy Hours or into a nice tall glass of icy beer?  Who doesn’t, right?  I guess most guys prefer a glass of beer over cocktails or red wine.  Here’s a good prank you can play this April’s Fool: Apple Juice Jello in disguise as a glass of beer!  If you haven’t done so, check out the video tutorial above.  It’s super easy to prepare.
 


My Little Boy loves to play pranks!  Mostly, they are pretty much harmless and give us some good laughs.  On the other hand,  I prefer jokes and other funny stuffs, but not quite into pranks.  Guess my boy influenced me somehow with his little pranks!   



I have to say, these little Apple Jello glasses look quite realistic as beer!  Since there are only 2 ingredients in this recipe, please make sure to use good quality apple juice that you would also enjoy drinking.  That will ensure these little treats taste delicious.  I definitely love these refreshing apple juice jello a lot, especially when my kids can enjoy them too.  Wish you all a fun and memorable April’s Fool Day!  Stay cool…even though if someone plays a prank on you! 
 





Ingredients and Tools used:

Mini 5 oz Mugs with Handles (Click here for more informatiion)
Unflavored Gelatin Powder (Click here for more informatiion)
Martinelli Apple Juice (Click here for more informatiion)
4 Cups Measuring Cup (Click here for more informatiion)
Egg Beater (Click here for more informatiion)




April’s Fool Recipe – Apple Juice Jello in Disguise as A Glass of Beer:

4 cups apple juice
4 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin

In a microwave safe bowl, place 1/2 cup apple juice and sprinkle gelatin powder on top. Give it a quick stir and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Then, heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir well. Return to the microwave and heat for another 30 seconds or until the gelatin powder is completely melted.

Place the remaining 3 ½ cups of apple juice in a large measuring cup with a beaker. Pour in the gelatin mixture and continue to whisk until foamy.

Then, evenly divided into small beer mugs or serving glasses. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or until set. Enjoy!
 
 
 

20 Easy and Refreshing Spring Time Recipes

March 20th marks the first day of Spring this year.  With Soutern California’s temperature, it feels like we’re skipping Spring (once again) and entered Summer without a warning!  Whether you’re enjoying the Spring breeze or bearing the Summer heat, I wanted to share with you 20 easy and refershing Spring time recipes.  They are all my favorites and use the produces that are in season for Spring.  Simply click on the recipe name and it will take you to the full recipe.  Enjoy!


1) Mango Panna Cotta 





2) Chinese Tea Eggs (糖心茶葉蛋)





3) Mixed Fruit Iced Tea (冰鎮水果茶)
 





4) Fresh Orange Jello Slices
 




5) Mascarpone Asparagus Tarts






6) Meyer Lemon Tart with Almond Crust
 




7) Green Gazpacho





8) Flower Garden Cookies





9) Homemade Strawberry Jelly (新鮮草莓果凍)





10) Blackberry Lime Mimosa





11) Mango Pudding (芒果布丁)





12) Zucchini “Pasta”






13) Strawberry Meyer Lemonade Spritzer—Kids Friendly





14) Strawberry and Cream Swiss Roll (草莓奶油瑞士卷)
 




15) Chinese Chicken Salad with Creamy Sesame Dressing
 



16) Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets





17) Coconut Tapioca Pearl Dessert 椰汁蜜瓜西米露





18) Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Swiss Roll 櫻花瑞士卷蛋糕









19) Coconut Mango Mochi Roll (椰汁香芒糯米卷)





20) Kiwi-Strawberry Bellini

Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Swiss Roll 櫻花瑞士卷蛋糕

I adore Sakura (Cherry Blossom)!  One of my dreams is to visit Japan in Spring to enjoy the scenery when the Sakura blooms!  Since I don’t think that is going to happen any time soon, enjoying a slice of this Sakura Swiss Roll Cake 櫻花瑞士卷蛋糕 is as close as I can get my hands (or taste buds) on them!  



If you’ve tried my other Swiss Roll recipes, such as this Decorated Coffee Swiss Roll, Strawberry and Cream Swiss Roll, or Chocolate Yule Log, you probably know that my roll cake recipes are pretty much fool proof.  What is the biggest nightmare when making a roll cake?  I’m sure any baker would tell you that having a cracked up cake when you try to roll it up is the baker's biggest fear!  So, give my recipes a try and you’ll be amazed by how soft and spongy the cake is, which makes it super easy to roll up!  Watch the YouTube video tutorial at the top of this post and you’ll see what I meant.  



I used some pickled sakura to decorate this cake.  Beside adding a little pattern and decorations on the cake, the pickled sakura also adding a hints of tartness and unique flavors to this cake (the flavor is similar to the Chinese sweet and sour plums).  I also added some sakura paste into the cake batter and fillings.  It’s tart and sweet at the same time, and packed with wonderful sakura flavor which I adore.  The subtle floral aroma is beautiful in this gorgeous cake.  Check out the list of tools and ingredients at the end of this post to find out where to get them.  I hope you’ll give this cake a try soon.  It sure feels like Spring time arrived early in my kitchen!




Pickled Sakora Cherry Blossoms (Click here for more information)
Sakura Paste (Click here for more information)
10 by 15-inch Baking Pan (Click here for more information)
Heavy Cream (Click here for more information)
Stand Mixer (Click here for more information)
Cooling Rack (Click here for more information)
Vanilla Extract (Click here for more information)