Friday, January 28, 2011

Valentine’s Day Giveaway Winners

Thank you everyone for participating the vey first giveaway on my blog.  I truly appreciate your supports.  Are you ready to see if you’re one of the lucky winners?

Drum roll please……




The lucky winner to this heart shape crystal paper weight with “I Love You” imprinted is….

Christine from Christine’s Home and Travel Adventures who comment “Lovely give aways! Perfect for Valentine's Day. My favorite cake is Mocha chiffon cake. Happy birthday! I just became a follower. Thanks for letting me know about your giveaway...Christine

Heart shaped crystal

The lucky winner to this heart shape crystal paper weight with “Forget Me Not” imprinted is….

Dede from My Life is a Reality Show who comment “I "liked" uTry.it on Facebook :) Dede

Heart shaped crystal

Last but not least, the lucky winner to this set of heart shape crystal paper weight with the word “Love” and the other with the image of a cake imprinted is….

Tiffanee from One Crazy Cookie who comment “Happy birthday!! I follow and my fave is white with butter creme frosting. Yum. What a beautiful giveaway.”

Heart shaped Crystals

Congratulations to all lucky winners.  Please send an email to
amy [AT] utry [DOT] it     with your name and mailing address.  I’ll send out the giveaways promptly.  Thank you again for those who participated on the first giveaway.  I’ll have more giveaways to come in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

What are your new year resolutions for 2011?  Is getting on a diet one of them?  If it is, that’s really too bad because “diet” is not on my dictionary list.  I’m pretty sure visiting my blog and looking at all kinds of mouth-watering food won’t help either.  Honestly, I love food too much to ever get on a diet (and yes, I always eat for 2 even when I’m not pregnant, according to my husband).  Plus, dieting never works for me.  If I lose 2 pounds this month, I’ll surely gain back 4 pounds the following month.  So, what’s the point?     

Anyhow, eating more healthy is definitely one of my New Year Resolutions.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ready to give up my cheesecakes or dark chocolates just yet.   You’ll still see posts and recipes with cakes and desserts on this blog.  Of course, I do taste test on all my finished products (and sometimes, taste tests during the cooking process) before posting recipes here just to make sure the dishes taste excellent!  To me, moderation is the key to a healthy diet.  Eating 1 particular food group too much or cutting a particular category entirely from your diet never sounds right to me.  I always like to eat a well balanced diet and I DO count my calories intake (and to me, fluffy cakes contain ZERO calories).  Unfortunately, I usually lost count on my 5th visit to the cookie jar before mid-afternoon, so go figure.  Sometimes, I purposely eat a lighter brunch so I can have a bigger piece of cake for my afternoon tea.  (hm….somehow that doesn’t sound right at all!  LOL)   

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

This is one of my favorite light weekend brunch, Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Shaved Parmesan Cheese.  You can serve it with a piece of toast on the side for dipping if you like.  I love the runny yolk on my asparagus, it’s beautiful and delicious!  I made this dish with this Egg Poacher Set, which I received as a Christmas Gift this past year!  It’s now one of my favorite kitchen gadget.  It is so easy to use and produce perfect poached eggs every single time!  The non-stick coating does wonder and made clean-up a breeze.  If you don’t have an egg poacher, simply poach your eggs with a small non-stick saucepan with a few drops of vinegar added to the water.  They’ll come out perfect.  (Please see additional tips and recipe from this post below.)          

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Egg and Shaved Parmesan Cheese
                                                                     

                                    **GIVEAWAY**
The American Egg Board is giving a year’s worth of eggs (valued at around $100) to six lucky food bloggers. This is your opportunity to prove that food bloggers are the new media by helping to break this story! To qualify to win, you can do one of two things (or both, separately, if want to increase your chances of winning). You can:
  1. Write and publish an original post which provides a favorite breakfast recipe that uses eggs and includes mentions and links to Kitchen Play and the American Egg Board.
  2. Venture into the world of food journalism by writing and publishing an original post discussing the new study which shows that eggs are lower in cholesterol, and how this news affects the way you cook with eggs. Posts must include mentions and links to Kitchen Play and the American Egg Board. For more information about this study, click here. To speak with a representative of the AEB, send Kitchen Play an email via the Contact page and we will refer you to the appropriate person.
  3. This contest is open to US residents only.
Once your post (or posts) is published, leave a link to it in the comments section below. The contest is open until midnight, February 28, 2011. Winners will be chosen at random.
                                      



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

THE Birthday Cake—Orange Angel Food Cake

Orange Angel Food Cake

Some of you wonder what cake I made for my Birthday this year….wonder no more.  The winner was Orange Angel Food cake.  Although it’s not really MY favorite cake, it is one of my hubby and kids’ favorite.  Don’t you know it by now?  You don’t get to choose or make your favorite birthday cake anymore after earning titles such as “wife” or “mom” or “daughter-in-law” opps etc.  SIGH…… LOL  Just teasing, I love this cake as much as my family does.  It’s quick and easy, so I don’t have to stay in the kitchen all day on my birthday (although I don’t mind that at all)!   :P

Orange Angel Food Cake

This cake is light, fluffy and spongy.  So delicious I can get used to having a huge piece every day.  Good thing is that I don’t have to wait till birthday again to make another one!  With a little bit of melted chocolate drizzled on top, it’s perfect, almost perfect! 

Orange Angel Food Cake

Here we go!  Got to have some fresh whipped cream and shaved chocolate on top to make it perfect!  I just can’t imagine having no whipped cream on my birthday cake!  I hope you like the recipe and Angel Food Cake.  Maybe I’ll make one with Lemon flavor next time.  Oh, chocolate sounds just as wonderful.  What is your favorite flavor in Angel Food Cake?  I’m dare to try some unique flavors!

Orange Angel Food Cake


***Friendly reminder: If you haven’t submit your entries for the Valentine’s Day giveaway, please click here.  The deadline to enter the giveaway is Jan 27th, 2011.  Best of luck to you all.*** 



Thursday, January 13, 2011

Happy Birthday to me…and the very first GiveawayS!

It’s my 18th birthday today and I just want take this opportunity to thank everyone of you who’s been sweet and supportive with my blog.  Nothing says thank you better than giving you back something lovely.  Also, Valentine’s Day is just a month away from now.  These would be beautiful gifts for your loved ones. 

The very first giveaway is a heart shape crystal paper weight with “I Love You” imprinted.  (approx. 2-inches wide)

I Love You Crystal

The second giveaway is a heart shape crystal paper weight with “Forget Me Not” imprinted.  (approx. 1-inch wide)     

 Forget Me Not Crystal

Last but not least, a set of heart shape crystal paper weight with the word “Love” and the other with the image of a cake imprinted. (approx. 1-inch wide each)

 Love Cake Crystals

Here’s how to enter.  1)  You must have a valid U.S. mailing address.  2)  Be a follower of my blog and leave a comment by January 27th Mid-night (Pacific Standard Time).  If you’re already a follower, simply leave a comment and let me know what is your favorite birthday cake.  It could be a particular flavor, or from a particular store or person.

For extra entries: Leave a comment to tell that you have either...

--“Like” uTry.it on Facebook.
--Follow uTry.it on Twitter.
--Subscribe to uTry.it via email.
--Share this giveaway on Twitter or Facebook. (sample tweet: Valentine's Day crystal giveaway http://bit.ly/ie02ug from uTry.it)


Good luck everyone!

By the way, someone asked if I’m baking my own birthday cake this year and the answer is YES!  :)

****The Giveaway is now CLOSED.  Thank you everyone for your participations.  The winners will be announced shortly.****

Friday, January 7, 2011

Bittersweet Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti

Bittersweet Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti

For those who knows me well would probably remember which “meal” is a must have at our house.  Yes, that’s right, the afternoon tea!  Most of the time, we preferred something light, yet satisfying.  It’s just a little pick-me-up in the afternoon, rather than something too heavy that may ruin the appetite for dinner.  That’s why we love these chocolate biscotti.  They are the perfect size for afternoon snacks, or mid-morning snacks.  Along with a cup of tea, mocha, or milk for dipping, you’re all set.  Before I started to make my own biscotti, I used to buy these Nonni’s Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti from Costco.  Somehow, they vanished from all Costco stores!  After cruising up and down all the food isles twice, I panic for a while and didn’t know what to do! 

    

I even checked out another Costco location!  Unfortunately, they didn’t have them either.  Now they only carry the regular ones with a tiny little bit of chocolate drizzled on top.  NO, NO, NO!  I need my chocolate fix!  So, I went to some other stores to see if I have any luck!  But again, I was disappointed.  Before I turn to the internet as the last resort, I came across this recipe from the December issue of Food and Wine Magazine….the Chocolate-and-Pistachio Biscotti!  They look just like the Nonni’s ones I love, except the recipe calls for a different type of nuts.  So, I went into the kitchen right the way, gathered and measured all my ingredients, made some adjustments on the recipe and started making these delicious treats.


Bittersweet Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti


After all the measuring, beating, shaping, baking, cutting, dipping, cooling, waiting, and finally, tasting…I’m a happy girl again!  Didn’t people say chocolate, especially dark chocolate, helps improve ones mood?  Don’t just listen to me, here’s what the experts have to say.  Whether you need to de-stress, satisfy your sweet tooth, fight off the mid-morning hunger, or simply want to try something chocolaty and delicious, this is the perfect treat for you.  After you give these biscotti a try, I’m sure you’ll like this recipe as much as I do!


Bittersweet Chocolate Dipped Almond Biscotti