Out of the Box: German Chocolate Cupcakes Topped with Cream Cheese Frosting and Toasted Coconuts

I don't know why, but for the past week or so, I've been having some strange cravings for sweet foods. Late night 7-11 run for donuts, baking brownies and cupcakes after dinner, going for deserts and ice cream, taking a break from work to go to Panera Bread for a pecan braid... I know, not good. Not good at all. Good thing I've cut the coffee intake(though I cheated yesterday).

Not too mention the influence of Dori's cupcake obsession lately. A few nights ago, I decided to bake. If you know me, Lele don't bake unless a savory dish requires it. So with the help of my friend, Betty Crocker, I created these decadents.


Cupcakes from Betty's Super Moist German Chocolate Cake Mix


Toasted coconut. Just line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, add a thin layer of sweet shredded coconut, and bake for a few minutes in the oven. Such a wonderful scent. The The house smelled so good. Coconut is one of my favorite flavors - heart Almond Joys and Samoa Girl Scout cookies! Too bad Starbucks discontinued the Coconut Frap =(


Topped the cupcakes with Betty's whipped cream cheese frosting and some of the toasted coconut. Enjoy!
Light fluffy cupcake, creamy-not-overly-sweet frosting, and crunchy coconuts...Yum!

Fried Fish & Tomato Sauce | Ca Chien Sot Ca

I'm back! A little earlier than expected...still behind at work though.

One of my new favorite dishes to make. Steeping fried fish right in a tomato sauce. Cook books and online recipes usually have the tomato sauce poured over the fried fish...but I like the flavor the fish picks up when it cooks in the sauce.


Prepare: chopped scallions, a few cloves of crushed garlic, and 2 finely diced tomatoes.


Your choice of a firm fish. Whole fish should be scaled and clean. Score the skin and season with salt on both sides. I like to deep fry a whole fish, but for the small sized fish I'm using, I decided to pan fry. If you choose to use fillets - pan fry those as well. You get the texture and flavor of a fried fish without the extra oil.


Add a few tablespoons of oil to a fry pan (enough to thinly coat the bottom surface of the pan).


On medium high heat, fry one side of the fish for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown.


Flip the fish and fry the other side until brown. Don't over cook because they will cook some more in the sauce.


Remove onto plate lined with paper towels.


Set a pan to medium heat and add a table spoon of oil. Infuse the scallion whites (use shallots if you can), then add crushed garlic, and then the pepper flakes. Add them in the order that needs the most time to cook, if you add them all at once, the pepper flakes will burn before the garlic and scallions cook.


Deglaze with the diced tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of water. Season with salt, more pepper flakes, fish sauce and soy sauce to taste. Give it a stir.


Add the pan-fried fish to the sauce. Cook for 3-5 minutes, scooping the sauce over the fish as it simmers.


Garnish with the scallion greens (cilantro also if you have). Serve with rice.

Taking an extended coffee break

Hi readers! So sorry for slacking in my posts. I know, you're probably thinking...more excuses. I'm extremely overwhelmed at work these days and until I can catch up - I probably will not be able to blog. Lets hope I get over this bump soon, because I do miss being able to share the dishes I've cooked. I've been having fun changing up the usual dishes too, but in such a rush, that I don't document them.

Even though work is hectic, I'm really enjoying life right now. Hanging out a lot with the family and friends, meeting and getting to know some pretty awesome People, listening to really good music, eating homemade food made by the niece and sister, taking the ups with the downs - life is good.

Really living up to "eat. sleep. work. play" right now, and I could definitely use more of the "sleep".

Thanks for visiting! Lele will be back soon (I hope) =)

PS. Please leave comments just to say hi, bye, or how ya doin'? hehe I plan on making changes to the blog when I come back, so if there's something you want to see differently - please let me know. Playlist update is a must!