The Sunday Dish

Greetings everyone!  I hope you are enjoying this fine post-Valentine’s Day Sunday.  Summer has officially arrived here in San Diego.  All week long, we’ve been enjoying 80 – 90° weather, full sunshine, and warm, steady winds.  I would be at the beach right now; however my full time job has me working this weekend.  I do have tomorrow and Tuesday off, so I might still be able to get a beach day in soon.

If you’re wondering what “The Sunday Dish” is, please check out this article here.  So much happened this week that needs to be shared!  Let’s get to it.

• Aida put together the ultimate breakfast in bed roundup themed for Valentine’s Day.  I know V-Day is over, but you should still check out the recipes.  Romance shouldn’t just be saved for special occasions.  Instead, spread the love out throughout the year.  Breakfast in bed on a lazy Sunday is simple yet significant romantic gesture.  Oh, and if you’re single, make some of these recipes, and Treat. Yo. Self.
• Jon made these Chocolate Strawberry Filled Cupcakes, and I need one in my face as soon as possible.  Hostess Cupcakes were my favorite store-bought dessert growing  up.  I used to eat the cake part around the filling first, leaving all the cream for one last glorious bite.  These cupcakes remind me of that, but I’m sure they taste muuuuuch better.
• Two words: Bacon Cracklin’.
• Melissa Clark recently shared this recipe for Chocolate-Butterscotch Icebox Cake that looks SO good.  It made me realize that I’ve never actually made an icebox cake.  Seems like something I should do.  Have you ever made an icebox cake?  If so, favorite recipe?  Please share below!
• I found this article on Epicurious called The New Pantry Math, and I’m kindof obsessed.  I want to try all of them.  For Valentine’s Day breakfast, I made some yeasted waffles, and drizzled them with maple syrup + vanilla paste (1/2 cup + 1/2 teaspoon).  The flavor was incredible!!!  I just love the simplicity of the combinations.  Easy ways to amp up flavor.

• For Valentine’s Day, Jorge and I cooked 3 recipes from the Pok Pok Cookbook.  We went to Portland 2 years ago, and had such an amazing meal at Pok Pok (2 meals actually) that we love to recreate the dishes at home whenever we can.  The recipes are quite involved, so we each had a number of tasks to do throughout the day yesterday.  This was the a perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, because we had such a fun time cooking together, and we were rewarded in the end with an amazingly delicious dinner.  A real shared labor of love.  The mango sticky rice pictured above was our dessert for the evening.  Check out more highlights on Instagram!
• Are carbs really so bad?
• I released a new recipe this week, Porchetta Pork Tenderloin.  Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine, this recipe is awesome!!  I’ve seriously made this 5 times already.  It’s easy to make, and has some big, bold flavors.  A perfect weeknight meal!
• The Spilled Milk Podcast is a favorite of mine.  You should definitely check it out if you enjoy listening to foodie podcasts.  They recently did an episode on fennel where they featured this Braised Fennel with Meyer Lemon and Parmesan.  Sounds SO delicious.  I can’t wait to make it!
• Pitch Perfect 2 is coming out May 2015, and they just released this new trailer.  “Your team is like a… how do you say that?  A heated mess?”

Image credit: Epicurious