Making Cinnamon Rolls with Dre

One of the many things that I rave about my sister, Andrea, is that the girl can cook. As in, "Hot damn! Are these the Nobu seared scallops with jalapeno sauce?! You made these?!" She has mastered how to make the perfect steak and potatoes, replicate many of her favorite high end restaurant dishes, and lucky for us, takes requests from our family. Most impressively, Dre, as I call her, makes most of her magic happen in what she describes as the 'busted kitchen' - old, ugly, and falling apart - that came as is when she bought her fixer upper home.

With this unprecedented 'Covid Season,' where as a family who is quarantining together has adopted the 'let's bake A LOT' attitude, I love that after who knows how many pleas, Dre let me document the making of one of her masterpieces. Like the times we are in, it's about using our resources, as little or as much as they may be, to get by: thank you busted kitchen for giving Andrea the space to get creative to share her love for us through food! Thank you baking for giving us an activity we do collectively (I mixed the frosting, thanks!) and thank you Andrea for taking my request for these Cinnabon copycat cinnamon rolls and for letting me post these photos when we never had any intention in sharing them ha!

Stay home, be kind, and don’t worry about that summer body cause cinnamon rolls trump everything! - Evelyn

There is not one cinnamon roll recipe that calls for throwing the dough in the air, however I asked Dre to do so for dramatic effect. Give it some oomph into the air, girl!

While she let the dough rise, she made the cream cheese frosting that I eventually mixed: my contribution to this project! Ha!

Dre always reminds me that baking is a science: everything really should be exact, even the length of the rolled dough hence the measuring tape!

Ladies and gentlemen, the before, above. Below, THE AFTER. Perfectly crisp, smelling like heaven aka cinnamon sugar.

Viola, homies! Look at those gooey, swirly, crisp on the outside, doughy but not undercooked middle, cinnamon rolls, MADE WITH LOVE.

San Diego Sriracha Festival

Having launched the first annual Sriracha Festival in Los Angeles in 2013, The Sriracha Cookbook and FOOD GPS brought the Sriracha love to San Diego, and lucky me, I was brought in to photograph the variety of Sriracha themed dishes and drinks with Liberty Station as my backdrop! A sampling of the photos I took are below.

[Above] The Bellows' team preparing their Sriracha-cured grilled cobia with sambal-spice couscous, labne cream, and herbs, and [below] the final product.

See those burgers being cooked below? Those are Slater 50/50's signature 50% ground bacon, 50% ground beef patties! For the festival, the created the Sriracha Burger: Sriracha spiced patty topped with pepper jack cheese, chargrilled yellow onion, Sriracha sauteed Mushrooms, Sriracha glazed bacon, Sriracha garlic cole slaw, Sriracha mayo and (more!) Sriracha on Brioche Bun.

[Below] The Tractor Room showcased braised wild boar sliders with goat cheese sour cream, caramelized onions and Sriracha BBQ Sauce.

[Below] WOW WOW Waffle wowed us (no pun intended!) with liège waffle bites topped with avocado, roasted chicken and Sriracha.

[Above] Because you can never have too much Sriracha on your waffle!

[Below] Burbank's own Quenelle served Kecap Manis ice cream bar with slack sesame streusel, brown butter emulsion and Sriracha gastrique.

[Below] The Patio's powdered Sriracha-crusted seared ono with sea bean slaw and plum chutney.

[Below] The gentleman behind Los Angeles Ale Works serving craft soda, including a sparkling Thai iced tea [bottom right].

[Below] Portola Coffee Lab served up some of their traditional iced coffees and lattes, a great way to quench my thirst after tons of Sriracha! 

[Below] Thank you Brothers Provisions for combing three amazing items - Sriracha, beer, and cheese - into one, and then making a slider with it!

[Below] SuperNatural Sandwiches was frying shrimp behind their tent to ensure their crispy Sriracha shrimp sliders with Sriracha chive aioli, with house made green Sriracha and Sriracha salt were super fresh!

[Below] Bartender Jason Bran was on site mixing 'Some Like it Hot' a combination  of Olmeca Altos Plata Tequila, pineapple, mango, lime, and Sriracha.

[Below] Churros el Tigre fried their delicious churros on location and accompanied them with chocolate sauce and dulce de leche with a hint of Sriracha.

Taste at the Cove - Part 1 of 2

I love you Puesto tacos!

Did you that Suja juices and teas are made in San Diego?  Hello, local! :)

The 13th annual Taste at the Cove is the San Diego Sports Medicine Foundation's five star, premiere fundraising event that showcases food from some of San Diego's top restaurants. You can imagine my excitement when I saw two of my favorite San Diego spots - Puesto and Bird Rock Coffee Roasters - at the event! See Taste at the Cove - Part 2 of 2 for highlights of the event's fashion show, live auction, and local honorees.

Photographed for Jaime Murray Photography at La Jolla Cove.