Food at One of UCLA's Dining Commons

This is not a dining hall. It's just a pretty building.

I visited my cousin, Kristy, at UCLA last weekend. I had been there before, but this was my first time eating their campus food. I've blogged about UC Berkeley's food a few times (see this and this).

 
Now... On to the food. We each had salads and dessert, so I didn't take pictures of the other food options, which included pizza, meat, and other things. It reminded me of Crossroads because you swipe your ID to use your meal points, there are several food stations with different types of food, and there are many options for salad ingredients, desserts, drinks, etc....and everyone grabs whatever and then puts their trays on a rotating tray collecting thing. :P I should have taken more pictures. My bad.

They had a nice salad bar that reminded me of UC Berkeley's.

We split a s'mores pizza. Yeah! It was pretty good. Not overly sweet.

Other dessert options (I enjoyed this very creamy pumpkin mousse, although it was quite spiced up):

Corrie Food in a Cookbook!

It's here! It's actually been here, but I've had some issues with blogging and being in the same city as this cookbook long enough to take pictures. So...I apologize. Take a look! Please note that the wording was changed a little and that the recipes were inspired by Fresno, California (not really Berkeley, although they do have great fresh produce and farmers' markets there too).

If you don't know what I'm talking about, Mary Elizabeth Roarke contacted me one day and asked if I'd submit recipes for their latest book (Cooking Across America) in their Country Comfort Cookbook series. How on earth could I say "No" to that? What an awesome opportunity! So I played around in the kitchen and came up with some recipes (with the help of my taste-testing parents and brother) for things I had already made many times before either alone or with my family. I make that corn & bean salad every summer. My parents actually inspired the mushroom and the pear-tini recipes. I wish I could send you all samples through the internet. What might surprise you most is how delicious those panko-battered hon shimeji mushrooms are. Oh...my...gosh. So buttery and tasty. If you like panko-battered chicken or pork, you have to try these mushrooms.

Purchase here or on Amazon.

My Corrie Food Facebook group here.
Cooking Across America Facebook group here.

Yummm

Making Mochi 2012

Happy 2013! Christmas and New Year's are big holidays for a lot of Japanese Americans. I used to make mochi every Christmas, but lately it's been less often. I was able to make some with Blake's (my fiance) family the other day. Before that, the last time I had helped make mochi was back in 2008 at my relatives' place!

I still haven't mastered how to make perfectly smooth, flawless balls, but they are so delicious when they're fresh and soffffft. I'm not a huge fan of the an (red bean paste) ones, but they are good when they're steamy hot and freshly made or when someone like my cousin, Ashley, heats them in a pan. Hm...It's also good with ice cream in the middle or even if you bake the chewiness into a bread.

They made white, green, and red mochi (See the rice soaking below):

Here's one way to do it (others pound it, which I think takes too long):

Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Blue Cheese

No...my blog is not dead!

Mrs. V made these at our program holiday party, so I made some for Christmas. Soo yummy. Here is the recipe I followed, although I ended up only using 1/4 to 1/3 slice of bacon for each date half.