Well my friends, yumlove has found a new home, Hey, Love. The new blog will be the same as my cooking blog, but it will have a lot more personal ramblings and musings mixed in and a lot more photography now that I have my new digital SLR.

I hope you'll come with me to the new location. Please update your links to http://heylovedc.tumblr.com.

Slightly burnt homemade pita chips.



My new love for avocado. I've become obsessed!



My first time making guacamole. YUM!



My attempt at making my own latte. FAIL!



European breakfast at The Franklin in NYC.



The long search of Pinkberry was so worth the wait.



Delicious calamari from HK Hell's Kitchen in NYC.



Drool.



Even droolier.



Heaven is a place on earth. Crumbs Bakery.

It all started with having J come over for dinner. So of course I want to make something different than all the grilled cheese sandwiches I've been eating all weekend or something plain and boring.

Fish tacos came to mind.

I've always been intrigued by the meal - I've had them before but never made them. I guess I was so used to the ol' chicken and beef taco, I wasn't familiar with any other kind. I recalled an episode of Guy's Big Bite where he made Koi Fish Tacos, so I started there for the inspiration.

As I was writing up my grocery list, another thought occurred to me - Cinco de Mayo is only a few days away! Why not make an occasion of it. I'm already having fun just planning the meal. So then margarita mix was added to the list. I'm already getting use out of the bottle of Jose Cuervo in the freezer later on, might as well finish it off with something fun!

The entree could have easily changed from fish tacos to shrimp tacos, depending on what was on sale at the grocery store. I even had that bag of frozen raw shrimp in my hands until I decided to talk to the store's fish monger (are they called fish mongers at Giant?). I told him I'm looking for an inexpensive fish to make tacos. He offered tuna (not a fan), salmon (not sure I like the idea of salmon in tacos), and catfish (ding!). The catfish also happened to be sale so we had a winner. Frozen shrimp bag went back into the freezer and I have fresh seafood for dinner.

Once I got home, I just winged it for the fish. I made the aioli from Guy's Koi Fish Tacos recipe and used his marinade to start off the fish. I kept with a light flouring since I'm scared to deep fry anything in my little condo and wanted to avoid making too much of a mess.

In the end, the fish turned out awesome, but I think I may have gotten a bit drunk because I could definitely taste the tequila (or maybe it was 3 margaritas). I was expecting the aioli to taste a little sweeter, so I squeezed in about a tablespoon of honey although it didn't make much of a difference. We topped each taco with chopped tomatoes and avocado, making it a very fresh tasting meal. I'd definitely make this again with a few adjustments to the aioli.

It was also fun cooking with a guy. I like to cook and I like when a guy cooks for me, but cooking together has always been a desire of mine. I also told him about my food blog and my love of taking pictures of food. He didn't run out the door, so he definitely gets brownie points for sticking around, helping me fry the fish, and even styling his plate so he could make a presence on the blog (scroll down for a pic).

And the mango margaritas on the rocks just topped off our pre-Cinco de Mayo fiesta. Needless to say, we finished that bottle of Jose Cuervo.

Tequila and Lime Fish Tacos and Aioli
Inspired by Guy Fieri's Tex Wasabi's Koi Fish Tacos and Tequila Lime Aioli

Prepare the aioli by mixing all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, cut the fish into smaller pieces. I cut mine to be about the size of fish sticks. Place them in a bath of the tequila, lime and cumin for at 10 minutes (I believe mine tasted too much like tequila because I let it sit too long). While the fish is marinading, chop up the tomatoes and avocado and whatever other toppings you would like for your tacos.

When the fish is done marinading, place flour in a deep plate and mix with your choice of seasonings. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Take each piece of fish and lightly cover it in flour - just enough for it to fry a little - and shake off the excess. Place the fish in the skillet once the oil has heated up. Cook the fish for about 3 minutes on each side. When they are done, place it in a plate covered in foil to stay warm.

When the fish is done, place some shredded lettuce in the middle of a warm corn tortilla, top with 2-3 pieces of fish, depending on the size, top with tomatoes and avocados, then drizzle the aioli over the top. Fold up the fish and enjoy!

Those of you who know me well know I'm not a big sandwich person. I don't know what it is that I don't like - maybe they're boring, or I don't like eating so much bread (it's not like a burger where I can strip away one of the slices and it's still held together). So you can imagine I don't frequent places like Subway or any local deli. Panera is good, but since giving up meat, I'm not left with many tasty options.

Well when a new deli opened up around the corner from work I was intrigued but not interested enough to go. I mean it's just another sandwich shop, right? Wrong.

My coworker convinced me to go with him to Jason's Deli one day and oh boy did they have a lot to offer. They have more than just plain ol' sandwiches. They have soups, salads, A SALAD BAR (love these things), baked potatoes (love!), pasta, mufalettas, and more. There are so many selections on their menu that it might take you some time to figure out what you want because they all look good.

The first time I ate there I ordered the Nutty Mixed Up Salad but without the chicken. The only gripe I had with that is that the guy charged me for a normal salad and nixed the chicken, even though they had a chicken-less option for less money. I wasn't going to complain. It was lunch hour, the place was hoppin', and it was only a dollar or so difference. This salad is unbelievable - what's not to like? Fruit, nuts, and a light balsamic dressing. I like my salads with a mix of crunch and a hint of sweetness and this definitely hit the spot. Most of their ingredients are also organic and they have been rated #2 in Health Magazine's America's Healthiest Fast Food Restaurants so you know you're doing good. in The best part? Everyone gets free ice cream! Put it in a mini bowl or put it in a cone - ice cream is on the house!

This place definitely got a big fat A+ from me.

Not too long later I ordered a tuna melt from their online website and it was ready in a jiffy. I loved that I could order a half sandwich (remember my note about too much bread? This was perfect) but I didn't particularly care for the potato salad I bought on the side (but still ate it all so it couldn't have been that bad). I also loved that when you do the online order you can opt to not get silverware and napkins in order to conserve resources. Although somehow I must have accidentally selected the option to receive them, oops! (No worries, they did not go to waste!).

I think the major sign that I'm in love obsessed with this place is that last Friday I ate there TWICE. Yes, you heard me right - lunch and dinner. A friend and I decided to eat somewhere cheap that could accommodate my non-carnivorous needs so we decided Jason's Deli would be perfect since we talked about this place so much. I decided to try their potatoes since apparently they are a big deal. Thanks to some advice from the friendly (ahem, HOT) cashier, I got the half-sized Plain Jane potato and a side Caesar Salad.

I should have nixed the salad. The potato was HUGE! I didn't even touch the salad. The potato overall was good, but nothing to write home about. I think the more interesting potatoes like the Spud Au Broc or the Texas Style Spud would have tasted much better.

Then again for dinner - my friend and I made plans a few days before to meet up for dinner to celebrate her landing a new job but celebrating in affordable fashion since we were both low on cash. I decided to finally get the salad bar (I was waiting for a special occasion an opportunity where I could take the time to gorge on salad) and boy was that baby good. It allowed me to indulge in the things I like best in a salad without feeling unhealthy (unlike Ruby Tuesday's salad bar). Probably the unhealthiest salad bar selection was bleu cheese dressing, so you know Jason's did a good job of providing you with smart choices. They also offer hummus, muffins, fruit, and some delicious crackers!

In case you didn't already get the message: I love this place. And I guarantee you will too.

Note: Sorry for the lack of pictures. I decided after eating there several times I wanted to write about how great this place was. Guess you'll just have to check it out for yourself ;)

I don't know what it is about cupcakes that I love so much. I don't have a sweet tooth. Or maybe it's because it's the perfect portioned cake for me. Just a few bites is all I need. Or they're just so darn cute!!

Whatever it is, I'm obsessed. When I found out that a cupcake shop opened up near me. I bought not just one or two cupcakes for my friend's birthday. I bought four. And 4 gourmet cupcakes are not cheap!


When Easter rolled around I found the perfect excuse to make these cute rainbow cupcakes thanks to Hostess With the Mostess blog. It's not everyday you can make cupcakes unless I want to continually feed my coworkers or friends (and have them yell at me for making them fat). So Easter was the perfect occasion. Mine turned out a bit different as I used different colors and mistakenly thought the batch was for 24 instead of 12, so I ended up whipping up another half batch and added an extra layer of color. (actually looking back it does say 24 so maybe I measured wrong?)

They turned out less like layers and more like psychedelic swirls - groovy, man!

So pretty and colorful.

The inside.

Finished product.

I'm officially a cupcake dork. I bought a carrier for cupcakes on the go!

My family doesn't really celebrate Easter. We just use it as an excuse to get together and eat, laugh, and be loud. It's really what we do best. We used to hunt for eggs just for fun but now that we're grown, it's all about eating.

Until this year.

My cousin Dani brought a plethora of Peeps but the problem was that there were no kids around to eat it. And you know us adults are worried about our figures!! So as we're all sitting around the dining room table just chit chatting and the next thing you know I'm topping the rest of my rainbow cupcakes (future post) with Peeps. And then putting them on top of pink rice krispie treats. And so an idea was inspired.

I forget who decided to come up with the idea but we decided to have a competition to turn the Peeps into art. Either make a scene from a movie, or just channel your inner Picasso. I decided to give those who wanted to play 7 minutes to construct a masterpiece. And so the First Annual Family Easter Peep Show tradition was born.

I've never seen anyone have so much fun with Peeps. I know The Washington Post has an annual Peep Show that people really get into, but my family made it our own.

Andrew's "The 300 Peeps."



Suzanne's "Praising the Komen Gods"
(breast cancer related thanks to use of my pink ribbon sprinkles)



Christina's abstract art



Daniel's Transformers Peep, which tied for first.



The 5 contenders.



Tallying up the scores, with dad's notes on the left. FYI - "nacho" means "natural." Silly dad.

Okay so it's not that I haven't ever had tofu before, but I have always been scared to prepare it myself. Usually when I have it, it's mixed in something and I'm too lazy to pick it out or I just eat around it. Once in awhile I'll actually eat it. But in an effort to be slightly more vegetarian and because I was getting bored of eating just veggies, I decided to take a stab at this jiggly block of jigglyness.

Since I bought it on a whim, I didn't really know what to do with it. I ended up making a little stir fry sauce and cutting the tofu into itty bitty cubes.

Delish! I think I'll be able to get over the consitency, but my experiment ended up being pretty tasty.

Have you cooked tofu before? How do you prepare it?

To make a simple stir fry sauce, combine equal parts low-sodium soy sauce and honey, garlic, splash of sesame oil and sesame seeds. Add your favorite veggies and toss them around in a skillet. Easy!