Cheesecake & Raspberry Jam Cookies

Hello Blogger World! I am back hopefully for a while. I got lucky today and my office closed at noon. So now I'm home relaxing and realizing that I haven't posted in so long. 

So I recently made these Cheesecake & Raspberry Jam Cookies

So I followed the recipe as best as I can. I had to modify a few things especially since it was getting late. 

Getting all my ingredients together.

Mixing it together. The dough forms pretty quickly.

I tried to roll out the dough and cut out circles but because I was working with a room temperature dough, they fell apart. Be sure to chill the dough before working with it. 

Try to cut circles. Need to cut them bigger.

I had to form dough balls and press them on top of the cupcake tin and form cookie shells.

Very golden brown!

They were delicious in my opinion. My friends don't really like the jam but my co-workers liked it. I'm going to make some without the jam and possibly give them out this holiday season.

Enjoy!

Original Recipe Source

Cheesecake Cookies (Modified by Me)

Yield: 24 mini cookies

Ingredients

Cookie dough:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 cup butter

1 egg

pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tbs lemon juice or half a lemon

1 tsp raspberry jam in each cup

Preparation:

1. To make the cookie dough, in a medium mixing-bowl, mix the butter and sugar till creamy. Add the egg and pinch of salt. Slowly add your flour in parts till all mixed together. Scrape the bowl every once in a while.

2. Put the dough into the fridge for 15 minutes to make it easier to work with. Divide the dough in two. 3. Put the half you aren't working back in the fridge.

4. Roll out the dough till it's about 1/2 inch thick.

5. Cut out about 2inch circles and drape each circle over the bottom side of a mini cupcake tin and smooth out. 

6. Chill whilst preheating oven to 350º F

7. Slip cookies into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let them cool on the pan for about 10 minutes

8. Remove them from the tin and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

9. You can prepare the cheesecake filling while baking. Mix sweetened condensed milk, sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl, until combined. Add lemon juice and mix well.

10. Place 1 tsp of raspberry jam in each cookie bowl. Fill with cheese cream filling. 

11. Keep in the fridge until set (about 4 hours). 

12. They are better the next day. Can be stored several days on the fridge.

For She's a Jolly Good Fellow, Which Nobody Can Deny!

I recently went to a retirement party for an amazing woman. She's worked for 37 years as a music teacher.  She has influenced so many people around her and inspired many to go for their dreams.  She's truly extraordinary!

As a present from her family and friends, I was asked to help create an amazing poster with different characters and objects to represent her 37 years.

My best friend Chris and I had about two and half days to complete this piece. It was short noticed because her daughter wanted these different images to be represented on a cake but it wasn't doable.

She suggested a hidden objects picture, like those found in the Highlights Magazine. 

Don't you miss these?

I tried to solve it. I don't know if I got all of them.

When I first heard this, I was freaking out in my head. I've been asked to do a hidden objects picture for a friend, but I learned that it is very complicated to come up with places to "hide" objects.  It would have taken at least a week or more to really figure out the whole picture and the placement of objects.

So they finally came up with the idea of a Character poster. The ones where the artist draws every single one of their characters into a poster.

After a lot of research, googling, re-tracing and drawing, we came up with this...

Disclaimer: All characters, logos and objects are owned, copyrighted,
trademarked and registered to their respective owners. 

Point is...
She loved it! And we were happy with the results, especially for such a short amount of time to pull something together. It was a great party with lots of laughter and smiles

Here's a picture of it at the retirement party. 

Also a picture of the cake that they got made with some objects with special meanings.

Monsoon - Asian Kitchen & Lounge

So I'm trying to catch up on posting. I have a lot that are just sitting in my drafts waiting to be typed and pictures to be edited. In between my blog and work, my boyfriend and I decided to go out for dinner. We went to Monsoon, Asian Kitchen & Lounge. 

We've been there twice now and we love the food and drinks. We just wanted to go out to dinner to relax and have a nice night together. Monsoon is actually built into an old bank building in the Village of Babylon.

The inside is very open with high ceilings and a lofted dinner area and bar/lounge downstairs. They also hang all these different light bulbs from the ceiling. It's very intimate when dining there.

Red and black is their main colors so they used it from the tablewares to the puzzle piece screens cover the large windows. Also they have a projector screen playing video from different Asian countries. 

Here are our drinks. I had a Cherry Blossom, which was a prosecco and cherry bitters. My boyfriend got a Mai Tai, which they made with Bacardi, Myers Orgeat syrup and Orange juice. Very delicious and strong. I have an average tolerance and these drinks usually get me super red. 

Here are our appetizers. We ordered a Typhoon Roll, made of spicy tuna, scallions, spicy mayo, eel sauce and fried potato. It's crunchy with that kick of heat that tingles your tongue. We also ordered Pork Steamed Buns, made with pork belly, hoisin sauce, and cucumber. It's like having Peking Duck but with pork.  So delicious. The hoisin sauce is sweet, the cucumber is refreshing, and the pork is mouth watering.  

 

For dinner we ordered two dishes. They serve it family style and you can order a bowl of rice to share. We got Sweet & Sour Chicken with pineapple, sweet peppers, snow peas and the chicken was tempura. It taste like what it's named. The sweet pineapple and peppers with that sourness from the sauce.  The tempura chicken, though tossed in this sauce, was still crunchy in texture. Also the Caramel Pork with shallots, garlic, oyster sauce and morning glory. It's salty and very tasty. The pork just melts in your mouth. This is one of my boyfriends favorite dishes. 

Here is my boyfriend smiling after eating all the yummy food. We did take home some of the leftover Caramel Pork and our server was very kind to give us some extra rice. I packed this as lunch for my boyfriend for the next day. We were so full we didn't get a chance to have dessert but they do have some delicious ones.  

At the end, they gave us fortune cookies with some pretty interesting fortunes. They are kind of mocking the ones you get in fortune cookies.  I thought they were funny. 

Afterwards we headed back to my house and he stayed over. He was so full, he got food-itis and fell asleep. Isn't he adorable?

Point is...

If you are ever on Long Island or looking for an Asian fusion restaurant, I recommend Monsoon. 

Off to catalog my nail polish. Happy Blogging!

To Cosplay, Or Not To Cosplay, That Is The Question:

Hi everyone! Hope you all had lovely weekends. I've been quite lazy this past Fourth of July weekend. I mostly spent time at home, playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, BBQs, fireworks and being completely lazy. Oh and I finally cleaned out my closet and switch to my Summer clothes. Now I have a pile of Fall/Winter clothes to donate. So now it's back to the work grind and it's been super busy but I am trying to get some post out. I know some of you have been waiting to see my nail polish collections. I'm working hard on it! I want to take pictures and list every single one of them, so bear with me.

As I was lazily lounging at home, I came across a BuzzFeed article, DC Comics Superheroines Dressed as Modern Hipsters.  These character illustrations are by Elizabeth Beals. Her illustrations are a mix of modern and Art Nouveau, my favorite art style. She draws her own characters and does commissions, as well. Check out her website and tumblr. 

Anyway, she just released this illustration series, Hipster DC Girls, at HeroesCon 2013. They are currently available as prints. I think they are AMAZING!  I think these are seriously unique and totally capture the feeling/personality of each character.  Also, I'm super happy to see that the bodies on these girls are varied and much more realistic than their comic book counterparts.

Here are few from her Hipster DC Girls series.
From left top to bottom right: Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Batgirl, & Supergirl.

What really caught my interest was that these illustrations were also featured on Nylon Magazine's blog. They loved the rendition of Wonder Woman and her fashion style.

They even mentioned where you could find a pair of shorts just like the ones she is wearing. That got me thinking...

"Wouldn't it be awesome to cosplay as one of these hipster DC characters?"

So I picked my favorite out of the group: Harley Quinn.

If you don't know much about her, here is a short bio. Harley Quinn is a super villian in the Batman series. She is usually dressed as a harlequin jester in red, black and white. She actually started as Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist, where she meets The Joker and falls in love with him. She helps him escape but once the Joker is captured and placed back in Arkham, Harleen quits her job and becomes the Joker's right-hand woman/girlfriend. 

I'm not an expertise at sewing and I don't really have any pieces like her outfit. I decided to search on some clothing websites to see if they have anything similar to what she is wearing. Here is what I found.

Forever 21, Slanted Flap Pocket Blazer in Red - $34.80

Forever 21, Diamond Printed Sweater - Was $19.80 / On Sale for $15.64

American Eagle Outfitters, Skinny Jeans in Black - Was $49.95 / On Sale for $39.99

Zappos: Madden Girl Tremor in Cognac, $49.95

Payless Shoe Source: American Eagle Brady Convertible Crossbody and Backpack in Brown, $26.99

I wear black-rimmed glasses when I don't feel like wearing contacts and I would have to make the POW keychain. As far as wigs go, I'm not a huge fan of buying and wearing. I've worn wigs before for two costumes, but I hate getting all sweaty and feeling like it's moving around after wearing it for so long. I will have to debate about the wig.

Point is...

I like seeing modern takes on characters from movies, stories, tv, games and comics. It's another way to show off your inner geek without wearing a cape or cat suit. Plus, most of these pieces I would totally wear on a daily basis. We'll see if I do cosplay this for NYCC or Halloween. It would be awesome to get a group of ladies to dress as these characters.

What do you think of my selections? Would you cosplay as a modern-day character? If you did, who would you choose? (TV, movie, video games, books, etc.)

Liked these illustrations? check out these other modern-day characters -

• 14 Disney Characters As Modern-Day College Students
• Hipster Disney Princesses
• 39 Stylish People Who Are Secretly Disney Characters

Target Beauty Box

I'm sure many of you have already read reviews and have seen what comes in the Target Beauty Box, but I wanted to post about it anyway. 

The Beauty Box was released back in May. I jumped at the chance to get one. As you all know by now, I love Target and I was excited that they decided to put together this box full of health and beauty products. And for only $5, I had to get one. 

This box was just a test for the company. They had no idea that so many people would order this box. They sold out very quickly and many people are hoping that this will turn into a monthly subscription box. 

Here is how the box looks like. It's a paper cover with a white box inside.

They wrapped the items with red tissue paper.

Here is what I got in my box.

List of products:

• La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo.  This is a small sample of their duo acne treatment. It was in Allure magazine in 2012 and is now available at Target. I'll probably put this to good use. I'm still prone to breakouts here and there. And I do try to change up my acne treatments/cleansers so my skin doesn't get too use to one. Currently, Target sells their 1.35oz tube for $36.99. The sample is .17oz.
• Fekkai Glossing Cream. It is to add shine to your hair and keep the frizz away. I don't usually have frizzy hair and my hair tends to become greasy, especially my bangs, so I might not use this at all. I'm afraid it will weigh down my hair and make it even more greasy. If anyone would like to try it, let me know. I'd be willing it to give it to someone who would put it to good use. They currently sell the shampoo and conditioner at Target. The 2 oz. glossing cream sells for about $10 at other stores and online.
• Gillette Venus and Olay Razor Pack. It has one blade, the handle, and a holder. I actually use Venus and I've been wanting to try the ones with Olay in it so I was pretty excited to see this in the box.  This one also has 5 blades and is a new scent, Sugarberry. These packs are currently valued at $8.99.
• L'Oreal Magic Skin Beautifier BB Cream is a sample size, .025oz., in Light. I'm not sure how this will look on my skin since I'm a medium. I did get tan this weekend too so it might be too light for my skin. I'll have to try this and post an update about it. BB cream is just so easy to put on and saves me a lot of time when I put on makeup. A 1oz. tube is $7.99 at Target.
• Last but not least, Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips. I got Lust-rous, which is a black gloss with flecks of gold and silver in medium hexagons and fine glitter. It's definitely my style of nail polish. I've used these strips before. I think they are a little thick, but maybe they improved them (We shall see). Also, I have very tiny nails and I have to cut these strips down a lot to use. But the benefit is it can be time consuming to make some of the designs these strips come in, by hand. I tend to have left overs so I can usually cover a nail or two again as an accent nail. These sell between $7.59 - $11.99 depending on the style.

This box also came with a $3 off a $15 purchase, online or in-store. Also I heard from some other bloggers that Target extended the coupon because it should have expired the 22nd of June but many people received the box late. I hope they go forward with these boxes and hopefully expand on the products or maybe different category boxes.

Subscription boxes/bags have become a big hit. There are a lot of different types with all kinds of products at varying price points. I just recently signed up to become a Maven on Julep. Julep is a beauty company that mostly sells nail polish. They do have other products, such as for hair and skin. With this subscription box, you can get beauty products or nail polish in different colors. They also have a survey to place you in one of their style categories but you can choose one as well. I like that with Julep, I can skip a month or so if I don't like that month's products or just have to conserve my finances. Also being a Maven, you can purchase their products at a discounted price.  If you are interested in becoming a Maven, I'd appreciate it if you'd go through my refer-a-friend link - click here.

Also I just signed up for My Cotton Bunny, a subscription box for when you are "waving the Japanese flag" (I just like that saying. Tee hee) I think it's such a cute idea. I know as a woman, you just need to treat yourself around that time. I'm going to give it a try and see how I like it. 

Point is...

It's a growing trend. There are so many choices, it's hard to decide which ones are the best. There are plenty of blogs that review all kinds of subscription boxes so you have a chance to see what it's like before you commit.  I think it's a great idea and really helps you try different products without spending a lot of money on them first. 

What do you think?

What subscription boxes do you currently subscribe too? What are some you have subscribed to and cancelled? What do you like/don't like about them.

Weekend Fun: Irving Plaza

So this past weekend was super busy but so much fun! 

My weekend started on Friday. I got to take the day off from work because my boyfriend and I had tickets to see Say Anything at Irving Plaza. We slept in and enjoyed the day. We had a light lunch at The Argyle Grill & Tavern in Babylon Village. I got the Sesame Seared Tuna and my boyfriend got the Rustic Marinated Grilled Chicken Sandwich. Both were very delicious, so if you are ever in the area, I recommend going to The Argyle. Sorry I don't have a picture of our food. We were on a tight schedule to get to the train. After our meal, we headed for the train.

My boyfriend makes silly faces all the time. :3

We got to the city around 5 PM. We decided to eat again so we aren't hungry during the concert. We headed into K-town to our favorite restaurant, The Mandoo Bar. This would be our third time going to this restaurant. They have the most adorable and juicy dumplings. We usually get the Baby Mandoo, 16 tiny steamed pork dumplings.  

Look how little they are!

Also we ordered the Combo Mandoo, which was 4 of each type of dumpling they have; Pork, vegetarian, & seafood. I like the pork ones better.  Also they serve kimchi as an appetizer. I love going to Korean restaurants and using metal chopsticks. 

We were super hungry!

After we ate, we took the Subway to Irving Plaza. There were so many people waiting on line already. It wrapped around the block twice. We were so excited! We haven't seen Say Anything since The Paramount last year. Best part was one of my new favorite bands opened for them, Eisley! Anyway, there were four opening bands that night. I the Mighty, Northern Faces, HRVRD, and Eisley. 

I didn't really get into I the Mighty. They didn't exactly announce who they were or talk to the crowd as much. They also played their music while a video of clips and kaleidoscope effects played in front of them on a see-through sheet. The music was pretty good but I thought the video was distracting from the music and it was kind of funny when their Time Machine wanted to back-up during their performance so they had to fix that.  I listened to their songs online and I'm starting to get into them more.  They are more explosive rock with really amazing guitar riffs and powerful drums.

I The Mighty

Here is their Official Music Video for "Failures"

Also another great song, "These Streets Are Alive"

Northern Faces was second to play and I'm in loved with their music. Their music is a mix of blues and rock with deep bass rhythm and amazing vocals. Most of it was mellow and I really enjoyed it. I bought their EP too. 

Northern Faces

Here is their Official Music Video for "Under My Skin"

Check out their Facebook for more music.

Next HRVRD played, which is basically Harvard without the A's, as the lead singer explained. They were different. I'm not sure how to explain their music. It's very rhythmic, mellow and out there. The lead singer had this tiny keyboard synthesizer that sounded like recorder and a kazoo. You can hear it in the song below. His voice reminds me of the lead singer from Coheed & Cambria. It's definitely music I could see people listening too while they are "high". He ended up climbing up to the balcony in a weird mask. I do enjoy listening to their songs online but live was just a little too strange for me.

HRVRD

Here is their song, "Flaming Creatures"

Then Eisley went on. I love them! They are amazing. The band is made up of 4 siblings and 1 cousin or family friend. Their vocals and piano are amazing and I just love all the songs.  They just released their new album, Currents.  I love the art on the cover too. I'm debating on getting the fish as a tattoo. 

Eisley

Just take a listen to them:

Here is their song "Ambulance" from their last album.

Here is one of their new songs, "Blue Fish".

Say Anything came on after them. They were amazing. They are a mix of punk rock with fun, lyrical songs and memorable melodies. They've been playing since 2000. You just have to listen to them to understand.

Here is the Official Music Video of "Say Anything"

And here are my two instagram videos from the concert. Sorry for the poor quality.

Part of "Do Better" & Part of "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too"

Side note: Sherri from Eisley and Max from Say Anything are married and they recently had a baby named Lucy. Here's a blurry picture of them all together on stage as a family. Lucy was wearing these gigantic noise-resistant headgear that matched her pink outfit. She was adorable! Also a picture of the cute couple singing together on stage.

Point is...

I had a blast and so did my boyfriend. We didn't get home till 1:30AM. And as we laid in bed, we dreaded the next morning when we had to be up at 6 AM. But I'll have to tell you all about that in another post. 

Let me know who is your favorite band and a favorite song of theirs. Also, have you heard of or listen to any of the bands mentioned above? What do you think of them all?