Halloween Treats!

A lot of people know that Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I love everything about it from pumpkins to costumes to candy and more, this holiday is so much fun. I went to a few costume parties this weekend, but I'm planning on spending my Halloween watching scary movies and giving trick or treaters candy with some of my friends.

My unicorn pumpkin and my boyfriends driving skeleton pumpkin.

To spice the movie night up, I made a few really spooky treats, because what better way is there to celebrate Halloween than with Halloween themed snacks?

Starting out with these simple take on cheese and crackers with these string cheese witches broom sticks.

I simply took sticks of string cheese and cut each one into 3 equal pieces. Then I cut each piece vertically to look like strands on a broom. Lastly I cut into those pieces twice horizontally to make the piece of cheese look frayed and more like an actual broom. I added a pretzel stick on top for the handle and voila, a broomstick!


The next snack on my party list are these super cute jalapeño popper mummies!

Find this recipe at the bottom of this post.

They're made with roasted jalapeños, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and olives for the eyes.


Finally I made these adorable and extremely delicious spider cookies! They're basically snickerdoodle kiss cookies, but with a mini Reese's cup instead of a Hershey's kiss. 

Recipe at the bottom of this post.

However you are celebrating today and even if you're not, these snacks can be altered for any occasion. Cook away!





Mummy Jalapeño Poppers

Ingredients:

• Crescent rolls or puff pastry
• 10 jalapeño peppers halved lengthwise and seeded
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 8 ounces grated pepper jack cheese
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• Black olive slices for eyes

Directions:

1. Halve and seed the jalapeño peppers.
2. Combine the two cheeses and green onions and mix well.
3. Fill the mixture into the jalapeño pepper halves.
4. Use a pizza cutter to slice strands of the dough. Wrap the strands of dough around the jalapeños to resemble a mummy. Leave space for the olive eyes.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and immediately press olive slice eyes in the spaces for the eyes.

Spider Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar (for rolling)
• Mini Reese's cups, frozen
• Candy eyes
• Melting chocolate or frosting in a tube

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat together shortening, peanut butter, egg, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and milk.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture and beat until blended.
5. Form into 1 inch balls.
6. Roll in sugar and place a couple of inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden.
8. Immediately, gently press an upside frozen Reese's cup on top of each cookie and move to wire rack to cool.
9. After placing and moving all the cookies on the wire rack, put in place the candy eyes while chocolate is still slightly soft.
10. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow cookies to firm.
11. Melt chocolate in a bag and cut the corner to pipe the spider's legs on to the cookie. I used frosting in a tube.
12. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes to allow legs to set.

Howlin' Ray's.

Being a huge follower of the Food Network, recently I've been seeing a lot of craze over Nashville style hot chicken and I started to wonder what it was. Is it like chicken buffalo sauce? How spicy is it? What makes it special to Tennessee? Apparently, it's a type of chicken different than any type of chicken I've ever had. It's a type of fried chicken that is marinated in a water based blend of spicy seasoning, floured, and fried. It is finally sauced with a paste that is spiced with cayenne pepper. It is usually served on bread as a sandwich, but can also be eaten on its own. And pickles are the perfect thing to combine the flavor of the chicken with. It has been served in Nashville for generations since the 1930s and has recently been gaining more popularity.

A lot of the notoriety of hot chicken came from a restaurant in Nashville called Hattie B's Hot Chicken, and seeing as though I'm not going there any time soon, I made it my mission to find a hot chicken spot in LA. Even KFC has introduced a hot chicken special, but I knew I could get more authentic than that.

That's when I found Howlin' Ray's in LA's Chinatown. Howlin' Ray's is owned and operated by a husband and wife team, Johnny and Amanda, who are passionate about getting the best blend of spices to make top tier hot chicken. When I went to the restaurant, Amanda was there taking customer orders and Johnny was in the kitchen leading a team of chefs to make the chicken. I really enjoyed that they were a part of my experience, it made it seem more personal and authentic.

Howlin' Ray's has 6 different types of sauces for the chicken, each at a different level of spiciness. I'm usually a person who can handle her spicy foods, but when I asked Amanda which sauce she would recommend to me, she said to go with the Medium sauce. I was worried it wouldn't be that spicy, but let me tell you guys, my mouth was on fire eating it! In a totally good way. I ordered the sandwich, which had the chicken, slaw, comeback sauce, and pickles. The comeback sauce was another great accompaniment to the chicken and I used it to dip my crinkle cut fries in too. It didn't hurt also that they kept giving me as many pickle chips as I wanted.

It was to die for! The chicken was perfectly crispy, the slaw gave it the perfect element of crunch, and the sauce and pickles just brought it all home. The portions are also really large. I feel really bad about this, but I couldn't finish my sandwich. Sometimes I sit and think about the parts I left and hate myself for not finishing it haha.

The line can get pretty long at Howlin' Ray's, even on a weekday, which is when I went. I waited in line for about 30 minutes, but I've heard this is actually a short time. So if you're going to give it a try, try to go before or after the lunch rush. It's totally worth any wait you have though!

Odys + Penelope.

 I try to have a girls' night with my best friend, Natalie, every month or so, and she's the perfect date, because she always wants to try out new places and sample and share a few things off the menu, which is exactly what I like to do! Last week, she and I ventured to the restaurant Odys + Penelope on La Brea for a night out.

Odys + Penelope is a churrasco (grilled meat) style restaurant, known for their wood fired smoker and open grill in the heart of the restaurant. Most of their menu items are focused around smoked ingredients and are fired in the wood oven. The restaurant is run by Quinn and Karen Hatfield, who are also behind The Sycamore Kitchen. The design inside is very minimal, but it somehow gives it a certain charm. I especially liked that they had a long wall shelf of firewood, ready to be put into the wood fire oven.

We got to the restaurant a little earlier than our reservation, so we started out by having a couple of drinks by the bar. I'm really into mixed whiskey or bourbon drinks, so I ordered this drink that was comprised of bourbon, blackberries, bitters, and amaro. I think the drinks are seasonal so my drink may not always be on the menu, but judging by the taste I had of my friend's drink, you won't go wrong ordering any of them.

So we began ordering a few starters. First, was the fried wild mushrooms with Persian garlic sauce. To be honest, I anticipated these being more crispy than they were. They were still really tasty, but a bit soggy. I absolutely could not get enough of the Persian garlic sauce. Coming from a Persian-Armenian background and knowing a lot about Persian food, I have no idea what makes this sauce Persian, but who cares? It was delicious! The dried, candied lemon garnishes were also actually really tasty.

My girl and I can never say no to fries, so we ordered some of those too. They were seasoned with za'atar, a Mediterranean spice that's really tangy and lemony. We both like dipping our fries in ranch, but the yogurt aioli that was paired with the fries was a really great compliment to them.

I think my favorite appetizer we had was the warm cheese puffs served with a smoked tomato romesco sauce. Oh my God! They were a fluffy, cheesy pastry that was made even better by dipping it into the sauce. I strongly recommend these as a starter. We actually considered ordering another serving of them :X

For our main dish, we shared the slow grilled tri-tip with charred broccoli and O+P béarnaise sauce. The meat was so tender and the béarnaise was the perfect add on to it. I also could not stop eating the broccoli. Natalie had to stop me, because little did I know, the best part of the meal was coming up.

What can I say about this chocolate rye pie? I'll start by saying Karen Hatfield, who is a renowned pastry chef, is behind it so you know it's going to be good. Second, this dessert was named on the list of top 10 desserts in LA by EaterLA. Finally, my honest opinion...it was definitely one of the best desserts I've had! It was super chocolatey and warm, so it was a great contrast to the cold malted ice cream on its side. The peanut crumble on top was also like icing on the cake of this amazing dessert.

The Attic.

Last weekend, I ventured out to Long Beach for an event, and had heard great things about this cute place to eat called The Attic. It's nestled in a nice little area near downtown and has such a homey feel so I decided to try it out.

Walking in was like walking into a backyard barbecue at a friends house. It's really welcoming and cozy. I sat in the patio outside, which had comfy couches and multi patterned tables. It overlooked the street and the weather that day made it a perfect vibe. 

As a lover of Bloody Mary's, I was so excited to see a page full of different types of Bloody Mary's they served. Each one had a different type of garnish on top of it. My boyfriend got the Meaty Man Bloody Mary, which used bacon infused vodka and was garnished with a slider and Slim Jim stuffed olive. I loved mine...the Caprese Bloody Mary with basil infused vodka and a tomato, basil, and mozzarella garnish. They were both to die for. 

The star of the show, though, was what this place is known for...Mac and Cheetos! It doesn't get more decadent than this, people! A glorious cheddar and mozzarella macaroni and cheese topped with hot Cheetos! There are so many add ons you can get to it too. I added some bacon, but kind of regret not getting avocados too. If you're looking for even more decadence, you can even add a fried egg on top of it! 

If you're looking for other comfort food dishes, I also recommend the chicken pot pie. The flaky crust on top of a hearty pot pie is just a feel good meal. 

Honorable mention to the bison burger, which my boyfriend said tasted really good, but I'm just not a huge fan of bison. 

Next time you're out in Long Beach and looking for a great place to comfort your foodie soul, try out The Attic, you won't be sorry! Happy eating! 

Zinque.

A few weeks ago, I hustled down to Melrose to check out a really cool Seinfeld pop up exhibit, so since I was already there, I decided to eat dinner at one of the trendy spots around the area. I came across this really cute French bistro type place called Zinque and fell in love with it.

I'm a huge fan of French food. What's not to like? Cheese, wine, fresh baguettes, crepes, wine, cheese, wine, cheese, tartes, and did I say wine and cheese? I love French wine and cheese, especially with good bread so I went a little crazy on ordering it here.

I started off with a Rose from Provence. I tend to like my wines on the dry side, but this wine was actually very delicious and paired well with everything else I ordered. My boyfriend, the beer lover, was pleasantly shocked to see his favorite beer, Delirium, on tap!

We started with the Ahi Tuna Tartare with Pesto as an appetizer. The fish was really fresh and it tasted really good with the pesto and fresh parmesan shavings on top. But the best part of this dish was the bread all the tartare was placed on. If you've been to Paris or know anything about French pastries, you know Polaine and Polaine is the best of the best when it comes to bread. Zinque ships out Polaine bread from Paris and it really brings the whole dish together. I honestly don't know how I will go back to eating bread from the grocery store after I had the bread here.

Next was a Quiche Lorraine. This quiche is named after a region in France and had pancetta and Gruyere cheese. It was absolutely divine. It came with scalloped potatoes with more cheese on them...I mean, can you get more French than that?

Because I clearly did not have enough cheese in this meal, I also ordered Baked Camembert Cheese. Baking a soft cheese and getting it all warm and gooey takes a cheese to a whole other level, let me tell you. It's really a must have. It was served with a drizzle of honey on top of the cheese, Marcona almonds, grapes, and wheat bread.

What's a French meal without dessert? I was so full, but I knew I couldn't pass up dessert. Hence this glorious Banana Bread with French Vanilla ice cream. The banana bread was warm and soft and the ice cream on top was just the perfect addition to it. I just love when ice cream slowly melts on top of a warm dessert. Don't make the mistake of not ordering this.

I love checking out new restaurants and bars wherever I go, but I think I will definitely be back here in the future! If only for that Polaine bread :) 

Red Velvet Hot Chocolate.

With winter here, the cold weather, and the holidays in the air, hot chocolate is the perfect comfort drink for the season. I was craving a rich cup of hot chocolate last night so I decided to make one and add a little fun spin to it...by making it a red velvet hot chocolate!

So red velvet cake is basically a cake flavored with cocoa powder for a chocolate-y taste and vinegar to make the cake rich and fluffy. Red food coloring started being added to this cake batter years after its creation to enhance the red color. I basically added these same concepts (minus the vinegar) to typical hot chocolate ingredients. It turns out so rich and, well...velvety! You'll definitely want to share these with friends and family. 

These are the ingredients I used...

I started by simmering skim 1% milk in a pot. Most people use whole milk, which makes the drink creamier, but I personally can't take the taste of all the fat in whole milk. 

After simmering the milk, I added cocoa powder and semisweet chocolate until the chocolate melted and the cocoa was incorporated. To the mixture, I added vanilla and some red food coloring to enhance the chocolate flavors and intensify the red color. And voila! 

I topped it all off with mini marshmallows which nicely melt into the hot chocolate. I'm dreaming of this hot chocolate as I type this, it was that good! (Recipe at end of post) 

I enjoyed my yummy red velvet hot chocolate by the fireplace surrounded by Christmas decor. 

Ingredients: 

2 cups milk of your choice 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate (chopped or chocolate chips) 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 teaspoon red food coloring 

Directions: 

1. Put the milk into a pot and heat on medium until it simmers. 

2. Once the milk has simmered, add the cocoa powder and semi sweet chocolate and whisk until melted and incorporated into the milk. 

3. Add the vanilla and food coloring. Whisk until incorporated. 

4. Ladle the hot chocolate into a mug and too with marshmallows. 

Thanksgiving Leftover Monster Sandwich.

I'm hoping all my followers had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed the leftovers as much as I did! This year I poked up all my leftovers and made a colossal turkey day sandwich that makes you wish Thanksgiving was every day. 

When I say this sandwich is a colossal monster, I'm not kidding. I made this a triple decker sandwich so I could fit all my favorite side dishes into it. 

I used oat nut bread and toasted it a bit. You can use your favorite kind of bread, but I find grainy breads like wheat bread go better with the flavors in the rest of the sandwich. 

I like warm sandwiches so I heated everything up, including the turkey. To the sandwich, I added stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry mayo, which I made by mixing leftover cranberry sauce with some mayonnaise. All the recipes for these sides can be found on my post on last year's Thanksgiving: http://www.taltalsays.com/2014/11/thanksgiving.html?m=1. 

Here's how I assembled my sandwich...

1. Mix 1/4 cup of mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce. 

2. Toast 3 pieces of desired bread. Spread the cranberry mayonnaise on each slice. 

3. Warm the turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. 

4. Start assembling! To the first slice of bread, spread first the stuffing, then the mashed potatoes, and then some turkey. 

5. Top this with the second slice of bread and repeat step 4. Top that with the last slice of bread. 

Voila! 

Vinoteque on Melrose.

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I were looking for a cute little place to have dinner and we stumbled across this place, Vinoteque on Melrose Ave, which I remembered my cousin, Mimi, suggesting to me. It's known for it's amazing wine selection and tapas style meals. For those that don't know, tapas are small plates which are shared among the table. Vinoteque was a good fusion of French and Spanish style tapas.

What I loved the most about this place was the ambience in the outdoor patio where we sat. It was a courtyard area with vines growing all over the walls, a calming fountain in the center, and a projection of a film noir silent movie playing in the background. It was a really nice date spot, but I would also totally come here with a girlfriend and I saw a group of people celebrating a birthday in a secluded cabana.

Make sure to ask about the wines! Most of the wines are French and I had a hard time deciphering what was what so I just ordered one that wasn't so great. Luckily, they allowed me to taste it and order another one since I didn't like it.

We started our meal with truffle fries (of course, my favorite) and the dipping sauce was a type of salsa, which really complemented the fries.

Then we had some fried artichoke hearts and let me tell you...I dreamt about these after eating them, because of how good they were. I have a mind to recreate these babies on my own at home.

Next, we had little mini Croque Monsieurs, which are French ham and cheese sandwiches. They were topped with balsamic vinegar, which really completed the dish. We also had these amazing sliders, which I really enjoyed. It had a tasty combination of sun dried tomatoes, onion jam, and harissa mayo...this was to die for.

Lastly, we ended our meal with the usual tapas dessert...churros! They were mini bite sized churros and were paired with a caramel sauce and boysenberry jam to dip the churros in.

If you're looking for a place to catch up with a friend or to impress your date, Vinoteque is definitely the place! 

Sweet Cherry Pie.

This past weekend, I was invited to one of my girlfriend's homes for afternoon coffee. I was super excited about getting together with my friends and I wanted to bring some homemade treats with me for us to share, but I was really in a time crunch and didn't have time to make a dessert from scratch.

Thank goodness I had some pie dough I made a few weeks ago stored away in my freezer and ready to go! I cut one corner and bought a canned cherry pie filling to go into my dough for the sake of time, but despite it not being homemade, it was still delicious.

I still wanted to put my own spin on the pie so instead of making one giant pie, I made mini individual sized pies! They were so cute and easy to distribute to whoever wants them without cutting into a whole pie and making a mess. I also made a lattice crust to give it that extra aesthetic to make it look like a miniature pie. It's super easy!...

After making the pie crust (recipe at end of post), use a cookie cutter or a cup to cut circles from the dough that are 4 inches circles. Place the circles into buttered muffin/cupcake tins and fill them with the cherry filling, 1/4 of a cup.

Photo courtesy of tablespoon.com. 

Then get to work on the lattice crust! Use a pizza cutter to cut small even strips of dough and use basic weaving over and under techniques to create a rustic look with the lattice. With this size of a pie, I used 6 dough strips in total: 3 horizontally and 3 vertically. Brush the top of the pie with an egg wash (a beaten egg) to give it that golden finish in the oven.

I baked these babies at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cherry filling is oozing and voila!

These could have come out a little prettier, as my lattice crust needs a little work, but these pies tasted like perfection. Little personal cherry pies with sweet, juicy cherries wrapped in a soft, buttery crust. These are sure to appeal to your guests tastebuds as well as their eyes!




Pie Crust Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup butter (cold)
• 5-7 tablespoons cold water 

Directions:

1. Put flour into a mixing bowl with the butter.
2. Using a pastry cutter or dough hook, cut the butter into the flour.
3. Add the salt and water. 
4. Mix until dough is formed.
5. Cut the dough in half and wrap both separately in saran wrap.
6. One can be used for freezing. The other should be put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to cool before rolling it out to use. 

Miniature Cherry Pies

Ingredients:

• Pie crust (recipe above)
• 4 cups of pie filling (the filling can be altered at your choice i.e. apple, blueberry, peach, etc.)
• 1 egg, whisked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.
2. Roll out a single pie crust on a flat surface. Use a large cookie cutter or a cup to cut out circles that are 4 inches. Press each circle into the bottom of the muffin tin so that a tiny rim of dough sticks out at the top. Repeat with the other 12 tins.
3. Fill each cup with 1/4 cup pie filling, or until the filling nearly fills the cups. 
4. Use the remaining dough to cover the tops of the pies. To make a lattice crust, use a pizza cutter to cut out thin strips of dough, then lace together to form a lattice. To make a standard crust, cut out a circle of dough large enough to cover the top of the crust. Use your fingers to gently press the top crust to the bottom crust until they stick together and no gaps remain. 
5. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of each pie with the whisked egg.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling begins to bubble.
7. Remove and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Then carefully use a knife to loosen the edges of each pie and gently lift each pie out. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. 

Republique.

I love everything about France, especially the cuisine. So when I heard about Republique and its French inspired bakery and architecture I knew I had to see it for myself. I came here for lunch with my brother and was immediately mesmerized by the rows and rows of pastries next to the cashier.

After ordering our lunch (and a bunch of pastries), we sat at our table, which was lit by the sun beams coming in from the skylight windows from above. It was a bit of a cold day, but the natural lighting made it feel like we were sitting outside.

The design and decor of the restaurant also was reminiscent of Paris and some of its Gothic architecture.

I'm a sucker for glass door refrigerators. I love seeing the products available at restaurants!

When our food was brought to us, I couldn't wait to start eating. I know it was lunch time, but Croque Madame's are one of my favorite French treats and I couldn't resist. Meanwhile, my brother ordered a burger that had dry aged beef. The drinks vary each day based on seasonal items available. We ordered a delicious grapefruit lemonade. The Croque Madame, by the way, was spot on!!

I was loving this wine tower where the bottles were used serve us water.

I have this thing with floors and their beauty. I was loving this green, white, and black tile!

We took our yummy pastries home to enjoy. My favorites were the glazed and chocolate donut like bombolinis. Pictured are also a chocolate bundt cake, banana Nutella croissant, and a coffee cake.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.

Last year, I ate at a cute little bunch spot in Santa Barbara called Scarlett Begonia and had the best lemon ricotta pancakes. Since then, I've been trying these pancakes from other brunch spots and I have yet to find one that was as good. Obviously, I can't be going to Santa Barbara every weekend for brunch so I decided to try to make these pancakes on my own. My lemon ricotta pancake recipe was so delicious and I'm very excited to share it with you all!

These are the ingredients I used. I like using Kodiak Cakes pancake mix because it has a hint of honey in it, which just adds a little extra flavor to pancakes. I also like using fresh blueberries rather than frozen, I think it makes the pancakes taste fresher. Most recipes suggest using whole milk ricotta cheese, but let's face it...summer is coming and even though I'm eating pancakes, a girl's gotta cut calories somewhere, so I used low fat ricotta cheese.

When adding the ricotta cheese, the batter will look a little curdled. Do not panic, this is normal! The cheese makes it a little lumpy. It's important to not mix the batter too much to make it smoother.

A griddle is the best way to get the perfect pancake.

Short stack of delicious lemon ricotta pancakes!

Ingredients:

Makes 6 pancakes

• 1 cup of Kodiak Cakes pancake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest 
• 2/3 cup of blueberries

Directions:

1. Mix 1 cup of pancake mix with 1 cup of water.
2. Then, mix in 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese. Do not over mix it. The consistency should be a little lumpy.
3. Wash and fold in the blueberries.
4. Heat a griddle to 325 degrees and butter the griddle. I like using cooking spray instead, but either one works. 
5. Ladle a spoon of the batter onto the griddle. Let it cook until bubbles start forming at the top (about 1 minute).
6. Flip the pancake and let the other side cook for about another 30 seconds. 

Voila!!

Poke N Roll.

I love sushi and when the poke craze started happening all over LA, I had to ask...what is poke? Pronounced "po-kay", it is a Hawaiian raw seafood salad served as an appetizer. Poke N Roll took poke to a whole new level by fusing it with Japanese sushi to create...sushi bowls! I had to try this so I paid a visit to Poke N Roll this week, and let me just say, it's a delicious gem and since it's located in Glendale, I think I'll be a frequent patron.

The menu offers sushi bowls, which includes white or brown rice with your choice of 2 fish, crab, 1 choice of sauce like ponzu, spicy mayo, and eel sauce, and 3 toppings like tempura flakes, avocado, cucumbers, and smelt eggs. Extras can always be added for an additional cost, but the amount of food that comes in the bowl is a lot and enough to keep you full. They also offer sushi salads where you can replace the rice with lettuce and they can always make your selections into a roll if you like tradition.

I watched the chef cut up a giant tuna and place it in my bowl...it doesn't get fresher than that!

All the different ingredients you can choose from. 

Our yummy bowls. Like I said, it's a lot of food.

Cute little Pop figurines all over the place and Polaroid photos of happy customers.