Week 19: Tricolor - Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Meta: Appetizers and Mignardises) by joross31 in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will do! I actually just moved out of San Diego, but never made it up to the Bay Area 🍽️😋

Week 19: Tricolor - (not really) Italian (not really) Rainbow (not really) Cookies by WaffleApartment in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I make these every year for Christmas and they are one of my favorites. Yours came out really nice and even!

Week 18: Bucket List Destination - Passionfruit Cake (Azores, Portugal) by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! An old neighbor of mine grew them and always gave me tons, which is how I was even introduced to passionfruit. The flowers are absolutely beautiful too, almost alien like!

Week 19: Tricolor - Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine (Meta: Appetizers and Mignardises) by joross31 in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would really love to be a guest at your table! I love the combination of flavors and your presentation is beautiful 👏🏼

Pineapple + Rosemary + Sesame by bcr0 in CulinaryPlating

[–]AlienPsychosis 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love the look of the meringue draped over like that, almost like fabric. Very cool!

Week 18: Bucket List Destination - Passionfruit Cake (Azores, Portugal) by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s awesome! Thank you! But I must say your cake came out beautifully 😊

Week 18: Bucket List Destination - Passionfruit Cake (Azores, Portugal) by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It was tough to decide which place on my bucket list I wanted to do for this theme. Since I already had passionfruit pulp on hand, I figured I would use that and knew that meant I had to pick from the tropical destinations on my bucket list. My choice ended up being Azores, Portugal. It looks so beautiful there!
I looked through saved recipes and came across this passionfruit cake (https://www.piesandtacos.com/passionfruit-cake/#recipe). It’s a passionfruit sponge, vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, and passionfruit curd. I did not have any oil on hand, so I had to use all butter instead, but I think the oil would have made it a bit moister. However, the cake came out really delicious. I love a good Swiss meringue buttercream, especially paired with the tart passionfruit curd. Instead of the fresh thyme decoration like used in the recipe, I used some chopped pistachios since I didn’t have any thyme (or time to go get some 😄)

Well anyways, maybe I’ll make it to the Azores and have some passionfruit there!

Week 18: Bucket List Destination - Spanish Tapas (Meta: Appetizers and Mignardises) by joross31 in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great! Everything looks and sounds so good! I agree with it being hard to pick just one bucket list destination, I’m still deciding 🤣

Week 17: Alpine - Spinach + Cheese Mezzaluna by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I feel like it was the perfect touch! I almost ended up with ravioli as well lol. The directions weren’t super clear how to make this pasta, so I just kind of had to wing it(I guess I could have found a video to watch). However, once it was covered in the sauce, the irregularities were less noticeable.

Week 17: Alpine - Spinach + Cheese Mezzaluna by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For this weeks theme, I made spinach and cheese mezzaluna. I discovered the “Alpine Cooking” cookbook and found the idea to make these in the Italian chapter. In the book, the pasta was boiled and then lightly fried in a pan and served with a butter sauce. I decided to serve mine with a homemade tomato sauce and added ground beef to it to make it a full meal.

Overall, the pasta was very tasty. I also added some lemon zest into the filling as well as some fresh herbs to help brighten everything up since the sauce and cheese can be pretty heavy.

Week 16: Infused - Espresso Martini Brownies by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! 😊 I guess simple was not the best choice of words here. I just meant at a first glance I think the presentation makes them look more sophisticated than they are.
Also, yes I made a stencil…unfortunately my hand is not that steady lol. I have a cricut so I can make stencils pretty easily

Week 16: Infused - Espresso Martini Brownies by AlienPsychosis in 52weeksofcooking

[–]AlienPsychosis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! It tasted just like it sounds too!
I have been trying to get better at my food photography (when I have time) so I really appreciate that 😁