Search Results for: little oven

Little Oven – Stars and Stripes Edition

Jul21

The Little Oven opened up on the 4th of July weekend and has been pretty constant since! Get your butt out there to try some desserts before they close again – I warned ya! Anyhow, don’t let this post dissuade you. One bad experience out of many should not be grounds for not trying the place.

Also, my apologies for being lax on the posting. Last week was crazy but luckily I got through it. We had a training on Saturday so I basically worked 6 days…and it was exhausting. I old you know. Haha and yesterday was crazy weather! The high winds, I was scared our roof would be ripped off already! Then the humidity. My god, this weather is terrible. Every time I had to walk out of my office, I felt like the humidity just wrapped around me. I need the rain to come down and push it out! Hope you folks had a good weekend.

140717-01Coffee Cake – $4.00
It was my first time trying this and shucks…it was so disappointing. The cake was incredibly dry. The topping tasted fine yeah, the cake was disappointing. Was I expecting something different? Is it because I was supposed to be drinking coffee as I ate this so the cake would be moist? Ah, I don’t know. I wouldn’t get this again though.

140717-02Milk and Cookies – $5.00

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My friend gave me a bit of a ribbing for this one. Milk and cookies does sound a bit silly huh? I figured since it was homemade cookies made by them, it would be good! Well this was Kristian’s dessert, he didn’t seem pleased. He liked them but they definitely were just…milk and cookies, nothing special.

So many Little Oven posts: click here

The Little Oven – Part Deux

Oct31

Did I tell you folks?  The Little Oven is back in business!  Yay!  They recently opened up again and hold hours on Friday and Saturday nights.  I was so happy!   You know what’s even better?  They have been consistently open the entire time!  And I don’t mean that as a cutting remark, really I don’t.  I am one of their biggest fans so I am genuinely happy they are open!  The waiter knows us already – not by name yet.  I think I should learn to introduce myself more to people.  So they’re back to making some great desserts!  About two weeks ago, they served a special called the Autumn Trio.  I am SO happy I decided to try it!  Please join me as we enter dessert heaven.

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A feast for your eyes and your mouth!

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The Little Oven

Jun15

Can I start this post off with a “lol”?  It sounds terrible but The Little Oven remains ever as mysterious as ever.  For those who don’t know of The Little Oven, they were a small little bakery/dessert place.  When they had first opened a few years ago, they received nothing but acclaim.  Why?  Because they make amazing desserts!  I was a frequent customer and then the shop suddenly disappeared.  Well, their storefront always remained but they never opened their doors again.  While I understand circumstances change, what bothered me most was the lack of communication.  They have a webpage, twitter, instagram and a facebook!   They could have even gone old school and posted a sign on their door!  So the fans soon became angry and start posted one star reviews on Yelp – it really made me sad to see.  Their food deserves five stars for sure.

Well about 6 months ago, a miracle happened!  The Little Oven posted a new update and opened their doors for service once again.  I was ecstatic!  My friend and I headed over and got a seat at the counter and anxiously waited for our desserts.  The staff was exactly the same, even the waiter!  In fact, I couldn’t believe he recognized us!  Let me share some pictures from that night…

Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake

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Happy Halloween!

Nov14

I know I know, two weeks too late. I stayed at work until about 6 pm on Halloween to finish up some things and boy was that a mistake. I sat in traffic for almost an hour. It doesn’t sound that bad, but the drive to my place is about 7-10 minutes so it was ridiculous. Every road I turned to was backed up, I should have just taken the freeway. Then I get home and it’s late, I’m cranky from traffic and it’s raining. I promised my brothers I would take them trick or treating but as we walked out – it started to pour. I let out an exasperated sigh and asked if I could just buy them candy and make it a day. They agreed. (THANK YOU LORD). So Longs got a hold of my wallet that night but it was so worth it. Anyway, just wanted to share some Halloween themed items I took part in that weekend!

141114-01Centerpiece for a Halloween Party – I thought it was very cute! Creative and cute, I loved it.

141114-02Dessert from Little Oven. Here is the graveyard ice cream sandwiches. Cute huh?

141114-03Franken Fluff – a chocolate brownie topped with homemade marshmallow fluff. Yum!

141114-04Bloody Lemonade

This was a special for the Halloween weekend. I figured it would be strawberry lemonade but it was actually lemonade with grenadine. Pretty right? How was it? Um…SWEET. Like SUPER SWEET. Like I kept adding water upon water to the drink to make it bearable. I think I must have added at least half a cup of water to make it normal.

Via Gelato – Waialae, HI

May18

Via Gelato has been around for a few while. I think they used to serve their gelato out of a truck and one night after dinner, my friend and I went on a sort of food truck chase. Okay, not so much a chase as we checked our phones and saw that they were not out that night and got disappointed. You know what we don’t have enough of in Hawaii? Dedicated dessert shops that stay open later at night. The Little Oven is awesome but they aren’t exactly consistent with their store hours. So after our very delicious dinner at Dagon, we took a short drive over to Via Gelato. This shop is SO cute and the gelato is amazing. You folks gotta give it a try! 140518-01

140518-02Their display case of gelato. Delicious! I tried a sample of the black sesame, tasted great! I had to try two other flavors though!

140518-05I love the look of this shop! How would you describe this type of decor?

140518-04My friend’s keiki size gelato, Fierce Chocolate and Coffee. The coffee tastes great! Not too strong and goes great with the chocolate!

140518-03My keiki sized gelato. Fierce Chocolate and Cookies in Cream. Both were good! I definitely like the chocolate more so than the cookies in cream. Everything tastes so fresh here. I can’t wait to return and try new flavors! And for those who are fans of waffle cones, they make those fresh daily! 🙂

140518-06Until next time Via Gelato!

MW Restaurant – Honolulu, HI

Dec23

MW Restaurant is one of the newest shiniest restaurants in the Honolulu scene.  I was able to make a reservation here for my friend Kristian’s birthday and it was a pretty good experience.  Highlights include service and entrees.  Lowlights include service at the end and the dessert.  All in all, I’m glad I was able to try it but it’s not a restaurant I am dying to return to.  Let’s go through the pictures!

131222-01Grilled Salmon – $28

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Recipe: School Kine Pizza

Feb10

Do you folks remember the school kine lunch pizza? I sure did. The rectangular slices of pizza that had a super soft and bready crust with the pizza sauce, cubed pepperoni and cheese on top? Simplicity at its best! Well I am WELL out of school age but still think about this from time to time. Apparentely I am not the only one since there are many recipes out there. I went crazy and bought all the ingredients to try to make this at home. The recipe calls for a “pourable” crust, I’m intrigued. So how did it go?

Dry Ingredients! It didn’t call for sifting but I did it anyway.

Grease your pan and add a thin layer of cornmeal.

Yup, it’s a pourable crust. Here it is! Let it rest in the pan for 20 minutes before baking.

I made this recipe twice, the first time – the crust was not enough so for the second time, I made 1.5 of the crust recipe and I think that did the trick in terms of thickness of the crust. The first time it was much too thin and burned at the edges.

Spices for your homemade pizza sauce!

Oh my gosh, this pizza sauce recipe was so easy to make. Who knew?? It was mainly a can of tomato paste but you have to buy a bunch of seasonings including marjoram which I never used before. But boy was it easy to make…

I went a little hog wild with the toppings, I wanted pepperoni and italian sausage for the second round but they don’t sell the italian sauage little balls in stores! You know? Like the ones you get when you order pizza?? So I had to buy a tray of the italian sausage myself and then ball them and fry them up before using them. Ugh. But here is the meats and sauce on top of the pre-baked crust…

So. Much. Cheese. You use a lot of cheese for this recipe. You actually add a bit of cheese to the pizza sauce too and then the rest goes on top. How much did I use? Well the big two pack shredded mozzarella cheese from Sam’s, I used a full bag.

Voila! All baked and ready to eat. What was the verdict? Mixed. I didn’t care for it myself because the crust isn’t what I liked or remembered, wasn’t soft. This crust is kind of hard and super bready/doughy. The brothers, devoured it. My coworker, she liked it! Chan? I think he just thought it was just ok. So yeah, not much of a winner. Perhaps I could just buy the Pilsbury pizza crust in the can and just make the pizza sauce myself next time. I’m glad I tried it to finally simmer down my interest but I don’t think this recipe matches what I had in school.

School Lunch Pizza

Pourable Pizza Crust
Ingredients

  • ½ teaspoon (7 g) Active Dry Yeast
  • 1 ⅔ C (375 ml) Warm Water (110 °F)
  • 2 ½ C (320 g) All-purpose flour
  • ¾ C (55 g) Instant, non-fat dry milk
  • 2 T (25 g) Sugar
  • ¼ t Salt
  • 1 ½ t Vegetable Oil (or more, enough to grease pan)
  • 1 ½ T (15 g) Cornmeal

Revised Crust Recipe (1.5 size measurements)

  • 10.5 g Active Dry Yeast
  • 2.4 C (562.5 ml) Warm Water (110 °F)
  • 480 g All-purpose flour
  • 82.5 g Instant, non-fat dry milk
  • 35 g Sugar
  • ½ t Salt
  • 2 ¼ t Vegetable Oil (or more, enough to grease pan)
  • 22.5 g Cornmeal

Directions

For best results, have all ingredients and utensils at room temperature.

  1. Dissolve dry yeast in warm water. Let stand 4-5 minutes.
  2. Place flour, milk, sugar, and salt in mixer bowl. Using a whip, blend on low speed for 4 minutes.
  3. Add dissolved yeast and oil. Blend on medium speed for 10 minutes. Batter will be lumpy.
  4. Coat sheet pan with oil and sprinkle cornmeal on pan evenly.
  5. Pour batter into pan. Let stand for 20 minutes.
  6. Prebake until crust is set: Conventional oven: 475 °F for 10 minutes. Convection oven: 425 °F for 7 minutes.
  7. Top each prebaked crust with desired topping or use Pizza With Ground Beef Topping recipe (see D-31), or Pizza With Cheese Topping recipe (see D-30).
  8. Bake until heated through and cheese is melted: Conventional oven: 475 °F for 10-15 minutes. Convection oven: 425 °F for 5 minutes.
  9. Portion by cutting each sheet pan 4×5 (20 pieces per pan).

Recipe Credit: Tasting History with Max Miller

Recipe: Easy Beef Bulgogi Meatballs

Mar29

Super short post – another TikTok recipe! Super easy and I used Halm’s Hawaiian BBQ Bar-B-Que for the seasoning which made it even easier!!! The meatballs are good, a little sweet for my taste but that’s what happens when I use the pre-made sauce but well, that’s what makes this easy right?

Easy Beef Bulgogi Meatballs (adapted from Two Plaid Aprons)

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1.5 cups Halm’s Hawaiian BBQ Bar-B-Que sauce
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
2-3 stalks green onion thinly sliced (plus more for garnish)
1/2 teaspooon cracked black pepper
Toasted sesame seed optional for garnish


Instructions
Make and assemble the meatballs:
In a mixing bowl, add the ground beef, 1 cup of the Hawaiian BBQ Bar-B-Que sauce, finely chopped onion, breadcrumbs, green onion, and black pepper. Mix until well combined.

Using a 1 inch cookie scoop or a tablespoon (I used a heaping T), portion mixture into 1 inch meatballs. You should get about 40 meatballs. Then, round out the meatballs by rolling each between your palms.

Preheat the oven to 425°F and prepare a sheet pan lined with foil.
Arrange the meatballs on the prepared sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, generously brush each meatball with the remaining 1/2 cup of Hawaiian BBQ Bar-B-Que sauce. Return the meatballs into the oven and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the meatball is cooked through with the internal temperature registering 160°F and the the sauce on the outside is sticky.

Recipe: Spinach Artichoke Christmas Tree

Jan30

How’s this recipe for timeliness? Happy New Year everyone! Super late greeting, I apologize. I really was meaning to post about Japan right after my trip but life just caught up with me. The holidays hit like a ton of bricks and then I had a whole bunch of annual doctor visits earlier this month so I’ve been pre-occupied. I hope you folks have been doing well! I’ll try to get back to a regular posting schedule again. Hopefully you folks are still interested in Japan content, I mean the visit was only last month but feels like eons ago.

So the recipe! Yeah, I got it off Tiktok. Hahaha who would’ve thunk. But isn’t it so cute! Our division had a little holiday tea so I made it to share. It’s cute and it’s one of those “tear and share” dishes. It’s also super easy to make…I just buy the ready made pizza crust and spinach artichoke dip from Sam’s Club. You can do it!

Like my perfectly shaped triangle? This recipe only requires one pizza crust. You cut the first triangle out of the rectangular dough and place it on the side to become the top layer of this dish. Then the remaining two triangles are used to form a big triangle to be the bottom of the tree.

Spread that artichoke dip on the bottom layer. I think the urge is to put plenty (I know I wanted to) but realize you will have to be able to twist the “branches” so too much filling won’t do. Just do a nice sized thin layer.

You always hear that shredding your own cheese is better. Tastes better, blah blah blah. Yeah, I did that this time. I was kind of mad because I don’t have a good tool to do it. It was also like 4 in the morning. Anyway, place a layer of cheese on top! I won’t judge if you buy pre-shredded.

Top layer of the dough on top! You can see why this one is the top layer right? First it’s a nicer shape and second, this isn’t the one I had to merge together so there’s no seam.

This is where a pizza cutter would come in super handy. I don’t have one. So I used a small knife, just make cuts like I did here!

Then you twist! I did two twists for each branch. I do wonder if I made it again would I add maybe diced sun dried tomatoes? Top the tree off with a yellow star (yellow bell pepper)? It’s up to you!

Christmas Tree Appetizer

Ingredients
Pillsbury Classic Pizza Crust (13.8 oz tube)
1.5 to 2 C of Spinach Artichoke Dip (I used Member’s Mark brand)
3/4 C Shredded Cheese (I used Colby Jack, use as much cheese as you want)
2 T Butter, melted

Baking Sheet, lined

Instructions

  1. Lay out pizza dough (it will be a rectangular shape). Cut a triangle out of the rectangular dough and place it on the side to become the top layer of this dish. Then the remaining two triangles are used to form a big triangle to be the bottom of the tree, make it a similar size to the top layer triangle.
  2. Spread artichoke dip on the bottom layer. I think the urge is to put plenty (I know I wanted to) but realize you will have to be able to twist the “branches” so too much filling won’t do. Just do a nice sized thin layer.
  3. Spread shredded cheese on artichoke dip layer.
  4. Place the top triangle layer on top. Use a pizza cutter or small knife and cut one inch slats, don’t cut all the way through. Please refer to pictures above for visual.
  5. Then you twist! I did two twists for each branch. I do wonder if I made it again would I add maybe diced sun dried tomatoes? Top the tree off with a yellow star (yellow bell pepper)? It’s up to you!
  6. Brush melted butter on top and place in pre-heated 400°F oven and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Note: I would do all of this directly on the baking sheet. This tree is huge and would be hard to transfer from place to place pre-baking.

A present for staying to the end. I made two that morning and here is the koge one. Hahaha