Homemade Creations En Octubre

1) For the first time I made my first set of sushi rolls!  I didn't have fish so I used the next best foods - meatless hot dogs and eggs.  Instead of dipping a piece of sushi into just soy sauce, ketchup also gave it a nice finishing touch:

My "Breakfast" Sushi Roll

2) I looovvve the cupcakes my younger cousin/goddaughter makes.  She's so great and creative at making desserts... I hope she sticks with this hobby!:

Strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

3) Lastly here's the Haunted Chocolate Cake my friend made for our class.  This chocolate cake is haunted with a lot of chocolate bars!  As much as a chocolate lover I am, I had to control the amount of chocolate cake I was eating because I don't want any more cavities (darn!):

Haunted Chocolate Cake

Bread & Butter

My friends had invited my fiancé and I to try a new restaurant, Bread & Butter for breakfast.  I wanted to go, but I declined because I had to finish up on some studying.  Later on in the day, my fiancé asked if I wanted to go to Bread & Butter for dinner because our friends were going back there to eat!  Well I was convinced to go during my 'study break' since my friends were hardcore enough to go to Bread & Butter twice in one day.

We were all greeted by the owner Chris who told us to make ourselves at home.  He also told us that the foods here are made from scratch and the restaurant menu is not the same every day, so he likes to get feedback from his customers on the Bread & Butter's Facebook fan page to get ideas on what to make for future days/weeks... What a great concept!

We came on a 'customize your own grilled cheese sandwich' night.  The small menu had a variety of breads, cheeses, vegetables, and some meats to choose from.  I chose all the items I never had and haven't in awhile for my customized sandwich.  One of the vegetables I chose was alfalfa sprouts.  I was a bit afraid that it wouldn't pair well with my bread, sourdough waffles.  Surprisingly, the sprouts and sourdough waffles tasted way better together (with the help of cheese and other veggies) than I expected :]

Another interesting thing about this place is that they sell a variety of root beers.  There were brands I saw that I never heard of before.  My friends and I chose different brands (I got the Waialua Root Beer, it was subtle, yet sweeter than the others) and I could definitely taste the difference among the brands.

If I lived closer to Bread & Butter, I'd definitely come to this place more often!  I just need to make an excuse to go to Henderson/Anthem area sometime soon.

Located in Henderson

My customized grilled cheese sandwich: sourdough waffles, cheese ( I wish I remember which one I had!), and plenty of vegetables. 

An acorn squash soup - It was quite creamy!

Fresh desserts -  I didn't want to overindulge myself with these treats, they were awesome!

Vegan Catered Wedding Reception

For my lovely friends' wedding reception, the bride ordered all vegan catered food from Pura Vida Bakery & Bystro by Chef Mayra and had customized drinks from their reception venue, Artiface Urban Lounge.

Artiface

Getting ready

Customized cocktail #1 for the reception- This drink goes out to the gin lovers.

Customized cocktail #2 for the reception- An awesome "girly" drink, quite refreshing!

Other choices of drinks to choose from

The newlyweds :)

Can you tell that these pastries are vegan?

Chef Mayra preparing the cupcakes

Kudos to the chef!

Spreading the word

Yellow everywhere!

Vegan empanandas- Tasted exactly like a real empananda (I've had many in my lifetime)... I was addicted!  Inside the pastries were fake meats, potatoes, and of course other vegetables.

If I heard correctly (hope I did), a lady who worked for Chef Mayra told me that these were Aruban style pastries with cranberry chutney (both were also addictive!).

Vegan bean dip and organic chips

Vegan lemon and chocolate cupcakes

Overall all the vegan foods were outstanding and delicious!  I'd love to stop by Pura Vida soon because this truly was one of my most unforgettable food experience I've had.

Happy Hour @ Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana

After an intense week of schooling, I've been going to Settebello for Happy Hour.  I feel like I deserve to eat a delizioso pizza, appetizer, and dessert for all the studying I've been doing!

For now, this will be the closest for me to eating an Italian pizza - A Margherita Pizza with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, parmigiano reggiano, extra virgin olive oil, and mushroom (our choice of topping).  Eating this pizza cannot be compared to a chain pizza place, never!

Appetizers off the happy hour menu are currently $5.  I don't remember what this dish was but I know it mainly was prosciutto drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.  I rarely eat this kind of meat so I was excited to see this on the menu!

Birra Castello

This is their housemade vanilla bean sweet cream, Panna Cotta, topped with a strawberry and a drizzle of balsamic.  I was curious of how the balsamic would blend with this dessert.  It went really well, the balsamic gave a slight kick to my mouth and dumbed down a little of the cream's sweetness.

Regular menu

Dessert menu