Sugar Top Blueberry Muffins – Making my sun rise from the highest heights.

Since the pandemic, I started hiking a few times a week in a place where I virtually see hardly anyone else. It’s a great way to unload some anxiety and replace it with endorphins. It elevates my mood, allows a little bit of adventure to my life which was once upon a time jam packed with experience, AND it gets my heart racing. <3

Pan Dulce French Toast: I’m officially that gal that uses every little scrap of food in the house. I’ve learned a few tricks during this pandemic of how to preserve and make things stretch for longer than usual. My grandfather was raised during the depression and was seriously the master of conserving food. Thankfully I remembered a few of the things he taught me that I used to take for granted, and didn’t pay much mind to. He would freeze bread or tortillas if we had too much in the house. Or toast bread that was a few days old and then dunk it in his coffee. He was so crafty that way.

Are you the type that makes a list of the food you need for the week with a set schedule of planned meals or do you just grab basics and then get imaginative with what you have on hand? I used to be the type that stuck to a planned list and scheduled meals. These days I feel like I am thinking outside the box and falling more into the latter. I was excited to learn that Northgate Market now offers ‘Pronto Curbside’ in both Norwalk and La Habra locations which makes life so much more convenient.  The way I see it, I’m one less person in the market making it safer for the working associates, and customers, and I’m still able to stock up on all my favorite items.

I’m pulling out my Loaded Los Angeles Nachos for the return of Dodger baseball . Gotta admit that the arrival of my favorite sport is well timed and will bring us some sense of normality. I don’t mind that the stadium will be empty of an audience. In fact I’m happy about it and love the cardboard cutout people they have in attendance instead. Baseball will give us something to look forward to each night and have an overall excitement surrounding it. America’s favorite past time will help us pass the time to the other side of the Coronavirus-era.

Cauliflower Mojo De Ajo is the vegetarian version to the legendary Puerto Nuevo dishes many of us Latinx grew up on. When I was a kid/teen my family would take road trips down to Rosarito for the weekend on many occasions. We would all pack into my uncle’s van and head south of the border for a little taste of Mexico on the beach. I have so many fond memories of that time spent with my family and the meals we shared.

I’m talking Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies today. Since I have been home bound due to Covid-19 I have fallen into complete comfort food zone. I need something to cradle me through this tough time, and these cookies definitely are doing the trick. I like using salted peanuts and both milk and semisweet chocolate chips. They crisp up nicely on the outside and keep moist on the inside. The classic combo of peanut butter and chocolate take their love affair to new heights in cookie form and makes staying home a lot easier.

Bright yellow custard… Sweet tangy lemon…. Meaty coconut… Wrapped in English short bread cookie crust. Chewy and magnetically addictive. Then imagine a toasty cloud of swiss meringue up top. I just described my Lemon Coconut Meringue Bars!! If they only existed on another planet, I’d have to book my flight.  They could transport me to a coffee shop across the Atlantic with brick stone roads and cold air.  Or I could easily be in outer space floating on air… that’s how these bars make me feel.  Close my eyes and entwined in their delicious magic I feel comforted at home and ready for aa another bite.