French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream 雲呢哪籽雪糕

There are a few items that we never run out of in our household: flour, chocolate and ice cream. I make bread at least once a week so I have to make sure that I have fresh flour. For chocolate...it has a lot of uses. It can be eaten plainly as candy or to be used in making cakes or other desserts. And for ice cream, my freezer always has at least a carton or two in stock. I had tried making ice cream without a machine but the result was not very satisfactory. It had a lot of ice crystals. My kids complained that the ice cream was crunchy.

Homemade X. O. Sauce 自家製 X. O. 醬

It has been very scary to read the newspaper lately, especially the Chinese newspapers. It is even more disturbing to go to the grocery store. Many Chinese, including myself, have been avoiding buying processed food which has the "made in China" label. One alternative is to search for the equivalent which is made in Taiwan. But it seems that we are almost run out of alternatives.

Strawberry Mousse Cake 士多啤梨慕絲蛋糕

You can always tell summer is here when you enter a grocery market and see all the fruits with beautiful colors. And the smell of fresh berries are so attractive. We had mango madness not too long ago. Now it is strawberry's turn !! I started out with strawberry soufflé . And I've tried mango mousse cake , how about a strawberry mousse cake !!

Focaccia with Cherry Tomatoes and Rosemary 意大利麵包

This Italian flatbread is similar to pizza, except it doesn't have any sauce on top. I've tried making it before a few times and it came out well. Recently Los Angeles Times published a recipe by Nancy Silverton, owner of La Brea Bakery. It calls for baking the bread in a cake pan instead of a baking sheet.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (close to DoubleTree Hotel Recipe) 朱古力曲奇

Nothing is more simple to enjoy and make as cookies. Mix together flour, eggs, sugar and butter and after a short time in the oven, you have homemade cookies. If you like add-ons such as raisins, chocolate and nuts, feel free to add them. For a more healthy touch, put oatmeals, flaxseed or even whole wheat flour. Bake for a short time for chewy ones and longer if you like crunchy cookies. It's as simple as that.

But there is some thing that makes the cookies from Doubletree Hotel special.