Rilakkuma Omurice

I enjoyed editing this picture far too much.

Hello everyone!

The word "cute" was never in my dictionary of descriptive words for foods. Desserts were the only exception... until I discovered the Japanese world of bentos. Bentos are basically meals packed in boxes. Usually, if the bentos are made for kids (or 16 year old sisters), they're all vamped up with "kawaii" (cute) things like animal shapes and hearts. Now, this specific dish isn't in a bento because I don't particularly have any bento boxes at home, but it still looked adorable.

Ever since I started school, from kindergarten all the way to university, I have been surrounded by Asians. So, it's no surprise that I'm quite familiar with and very appreciative of all sorts of Asian cultures from Chinese to Japanese to Korean. The kawaii culture of the Japanese has always been at the top of that list. I mean come on, who doesn't love Hello Kitty and all the other Sanrio characters?!

And the Rilakkuma or Relaxing (sleeping) bear character is no different. His adorableness is to an extreme. When I saw this tutorial for how to make Rilakkuma omurice, I knew I had to make it. And who better to make it for than my omurice-loving sister. Omurice is a Japanese rice dish made of rice cooked in ketchup and wrapped in an omelet.Yumm. Even my brother was fawning over Rilakkuma and his little friend.

1 Wedding, 200 Cupcakes, and Thousands of Memories

Hello everyone!

Today's post is rather special. I'm not going to be sharing a recipe or a painting that I've done. Instead, I'm going to share with you one of the most precious memories of my lifetime - my sister's wedding.

Rosemary Shrimp Scampi with Fettuccine Pasta

Hello everyone,

If there's one thing you should all know about me, it's that I can't stand seafood. I don't know if it's the fishy smell, or the... okay, I know it is the fishy smell. You know, they do say that smell makes up half of your taste perception so there's not much I can do about it.

All of my childhood though, my mom made sure to give me an extra large helping of fish. She would watch me eat it until I finished every last bit. The only part I could ever manage to sneak to my cats was the skin, and I'm sure that too was only because she allowed it. The only seafood my mom couldn't make me eat was shrimp. I think I was ten when my mom brought home a bag of fresh shrimp from the grocery store. She was going to make shrimp chow mein or something equally amazing I'm sure. She asked me to shell it and clean it. I remember asking her what the weird smelling black string that I pulled out of the shrimp was. Lemme just say that I didn't eat the shrimp
chow mein that night and I haven't touched shrimp since then.

Summer Avocado and Grilled Corn Salad

There are only a couple more weeks of summer left and I still have more summer recipes to share with you all! One of the recipes I've been really excited to share is a summer salad. Salad recipes are always fun to know because you can adjust any of the ingredients to your liking. This recipe is not only very healthy, but also very bright, colorful, and summery. My favorite ingredients in this salad are the avocado and grilled corn. The soft, rich avocado and aromatic corn just enhance the entire flavor of the salad.

The recipe is quite simple. Plus, you can play with the vegetables and vegetables until you reach your preference. Eat the end result with tortilla chips or even with a fork. It'll be delicious any way.

Brunch for le Mommies

 
My friend, K, called me up yesterday night and said, "Hey, our moms are hanging out tomorrow. Why don't we get together and make them a surprise brunch?" My response was obviously a "Yes!" I immediately loved the idea. We spent the next thirty minutes coming up with the perfect menu. And then, I spent the next three hours lying in bed planning how the event would go, and praying that I would fall asleep soon. Let me just say that I was still sleeping when K came over and had to pull me out of bed.