Summer is here, and that means lots of grilling and lots of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables! I combined both of those awesome summertime things by making grilled peaches (although I used a George Foreman grill because we don’t have an outside grill. It works just the same).

I ran a knife around the outside of a peach and twisted the halves to get them apart, then removed the pit.

This is how I make peach slices too. I just cut them into wedges instead of leaving them in halves like they are now. It makes really nice neat slices, rather than the uneven kind of pieces you get when cutting around the pit.

Next, I used a fork to mix together some rum, lime juice, and powdered sugar.

Then I soaked each peach half in the marinade before I put it on the grill.

The peaches I used were very juicy, so some of the juice/marinade came out onto the grill (leaking juice isn’t a bad thing because it caramelized and added a great flavor to the peach halves I made!)

You can see that caramelized bottom part when you take them off the grill:

I served mine with yogurt and some fresh mint, but whipped cream or vanilla ice cream might be really tasty too!

Grilled Peaches

Ingredients:

2 ripe peaches

1 Tablespoon rum

1 teaspoon lime juice

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

yogurt and fresh mint to serve

Directions:

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit.

In a small bowl, whisk together the rum, lime juice, and sugar with a fork.

Heat the grill and soak each peach half cut-side down for about 15 seconds before grilling it (cut-side down).

Remove from the grill and serve warm with a dollop of yogurt and fresh mint.

Thai tea is a blend of tea leaves that is brewed to make a strong, dark orange-colored tea that is served with half-and-half or in a bubble tea drink (made with condensed milk and evaporated milk).

You can see my recipe for bubble tea here.

Thai tea is also very popular in boba (tapioca pearl) drinks, which I have a few recipes for here.

Since it’s hard to make authentic-tasting Thai tea from just the right blend of tea leaves, I like to use a mix. It comes in a little packet that already has the tea powder, sugar, and the powdered milk that gives Thai tea its signature creamy taste.

Today I decided to make Thai tea cupcakes! I’ve heard of baking with the tea leaves before (using them in cakes, fudge, shortbread, etc.) so I just sifted the tea powder mix into some flour and used it in a basic cake recipe.

First, I beat some butter and sugar together

Then beat in an egg and vanilla extract

In a different bowl, I whisked flour with salt, baking soda and baking powder, and the Thai tea powder.

It doesn’t look like much now, but you’ll see the orange color later ;D

I added some milk

And the flour mixture… now you can see that vibrant “Thai tea orange” color!

I added more milk to make the batter smooth, then I filled some cupcake tins with the batter.

Here they are right out of the oven!

I wanted a lighter kind of icing for these, so instead of a sugar icing, which can be heavy and may have overpowered the subtle Thai tea flavor, I decided to make a coconut whipped cream.

I beat heavy cream and added sugar and vanilla, then beat more until it made peaks when I lifted the beaters up.

Then I used a spatula to fold in sweetened flaked coconut.

I just put a big spoonful of the whipped cream on top of each cupcake.

I really liked the way these turned out. The Thai tea flavor was perfect with the coconut whipped cream, and the consistency of the cupcake was great too! They were light and delicate and made for a really unique, delicious treat :)

My recipe below makes about fifteen cupcakes.

Thai Tea Cupcakes with Coconut Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 cup flour

¼ t each baking powder and baking soda

a pinch of salt

3 T (one packet) Thai tea mix

½ cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until smooth.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and baking soda, and salt. Whisk in the Thai tea mix.

Add ¼ cup of the milk to the butter-sugar mixture. Then beat in the flour mixture. Then beat the other ¼ cup of milk.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way with batter and bake for about 22 minutes.

Use a hand mixer to beat the heavy cream until it starts to thicken, then add the vanilla and sugar and continue beating until it is very stiff and forms a peak when you lift up the beater.

Use a spatula to carefully stir in the coconut.

Once they are cooled, put a large spoonful of the coconut whipped cream on top of each cupcake.

Lately I’ve been trying to learn more about Korean cooking. It’s been pretty fun and very delicious so far :)

Today I decided to make some cold spicy noodles, “bibim naengmyeon,” which are traditionally made of buckwheat noodles (although another kind of noodle can be used instead) and a spicy cold sauce. The dish is sometimes even served with ice cubes in the bowl! I didn’t have any buckwheat noodles, and I prefer the texture of somen anyway, so I used those.

Soba, or buckwheat noodles, are a little chewier than noodles made with wheat, like somen and other kinds of pasta. Because buckwheat is actually not technically wheat (it’s more closely related to plants like rubharb, actually!), it’s actually gluten-free, too.

To make my version of this dish, I cooked some noodles (I used a handful of them) in boiling water

These don’t take very long at all to cook. I only cooked these for about a minute, stirring them around while the water boiled.

When they were done, I rinsed them in a strainer under cold water, and then mixed in some ice cubes, coming back to give it a quick stir with my hand every couple of minutes while I was making the other parts of the recipe.

Most all of the ice will probably melt because it’s cooling down the hot noodles, but if there are little pieces you can leave them in if you want.

For the sauce, I cooked garlic and fresh grated ginger in some sesame oil. When it started to sizzle, I added chili powder and some sesame seeds.

Then I whisked in sriracha sauce (rooster sauce), honey, and soy sauce.

I let the mixture cool, and then added the cold noodles.

I mixed it together and served it into two bowls.

Then I made a little well in each mound of noodles so that I could add half a boiled egg and some other vegetables on top.

I hard-boil eggs by covering them with water in a saucepan, bringing it to a boil, and then covering and simmering them for seven minutes. After that, I cool them in an ice bath (just ice cubes and some cold water in a bowl), and peel them and slice them in half lengthwise.

I also sliced cucumbers into thin strips. For each bowl of noodles, I used a 2-inch-long piece of cucumber

Which I cut into flat pieces

Then laid each of those down and cut it into strips

I also shredded some carrots using a cool little julienne tool that I have ^_^

Then I put the vegetables with the egg on the noodles and sprinkled sesame seeds on top. YUMMY!!

Bibim Naengmeyon (Korean Cold Spicy Noodles)

Ingredients:

1 egg

somen (or soba) noodles

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon sesame seeds

3 Tablespoons sriracha sauce

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon honey

½ cucumber

1 carrot

Directions:

Place the egg in a small saucepan and cover with water. Add a little vinegar if you want, to prevent the egg spilling out if it cracks while cooking.

Heat over high heat until the water boils, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for seven minutes. Take the egg out of the water and place it in an ice bath until you are ready to use it.

Fill a pot with water and boil it. Then add the noodles and cook for about a minute (until they aren’t hard in the middle) stirring frequently. Drain them and rinse with cold water. Let them sit in the strainer with ice cubes until you are ready to use them.

Heat the sesame oil and sauté the garlic and ginger. When they start to sizzle, add the chili powder sesame seeds and cook for a few more seconds.

Whisk in the sriracha, soy sauce, and honey. Let the sauce cool for a few minutes and then stir in the chilled noodles.

Peel the egg and slice it in half. Cut the cucumber and carrot into matchsticks. Serve the noodles into two bowls and garnish each with an egg half, the sliced vegetables, and a sprinkle of extra sesame seeds if you want.

I love tiny food. Something about a baby-sized cupcake or a little mini hamburger is just adorable and fun!

Plus, I often have a craving for a taste of something sweet or indulgent, but I don’t want to eat an entire cinnamon bun, for example. I created this recipe just for a situation like that! Except this is not a cinnamon bun, it’s my twist on a cinnamon bun.

I use cocoa powder instead of cinnamon!

So it’s like a cocoa bun maybe.

I made four tiny chocolate buns out of one “junior size” Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuit dough piece. One (uncooked) roll was about the size of a quarter:

These are really quick to make, and, if you can eat them despite how adorable they are, very yummy :P

I just rolled out a piece of biscuit dough, and covered it with a mixture of cocoa powder and sugar.

Then I rolled it up

And sliced it into pieces, which I put on a baking sheet and into the oven.

And then, just six minutes later..

Ta-da!

I made a really simple icing from a Tablespoon of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of milk.

If I still had tea parties with little stuffed animals and dolls, I would totally serve these. The recipe below only makes four little buns, but you can easily double or triple or quadruple it to make a bunch.

Itty-Bitty Cocoa Rolls

Ingredients:

1 piece of Pillsbury “Junior Size” Grands refrigerated biscuit dough

¼ teaspoon cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the piece of biscuit dough into a rectangle.

Stir the cocoa powder and sugar together in a small bowl. Use a spoon to spread it over the rolled-out dough.

Roll the dough up tightly and slice into four miniature buns. Place them on a parchment paper-lined (or greased) baking sheet and bake for six minutes or until cooked through.

For the icing, use a fork to mix the powdered sugar together with the milk in a small bowl. Pour over the buns and serve warm.

This is probably one of the easiest recipes I have ever made in my life. It’s so simple, and it tastes pretty close to the way a fried doughnut tastes even though it’s baked and made from refrigerated biscuit dough out of a tube!! (shhh..)

Because the actual doughnut part only takes a couple of minutes, you can spend more time icing, sprinkling, and just having fun making these look pretty :)

I used Pillsbury “Junior Size” Grands biscuits. I separated them into their individual dough pieces, and then used my thumb to poke a hole in each one and sort of mold it into a circle shape with my hands.

Then I put them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (to prevent them from sticking) and brushed them with A LOT of butter.

They only took about ten minutes to start getting golden brown.

To make a glaze, I melted butter and chocolate in a saucepan.

Then I added powdered sugar.

I poured it over the doughnuts (while they were still on the parchment paper, to avoid messiness and extra dishes)

And then poured on some pretty sprinkles!

MMMmmmmm… :)

Super-Easy Doughnuts

Ingredients:

1 tube Pillsbury Junior Size Grands Biscuit Dough

melted butter (about 4 Tablespoons)

2 Tablespoons butter

2 ounces chocolate

6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Poke a hole in the middle of each biscuit and use your fingers to shape it into a ring. Place the dough rings on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until they begin to turn golden brown.

For the glaze, melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan, then whisk in powdered sugar. Pour over doughnuts, add sprinkles, and allow them to cool.

The flavors of coconut and lychee go very well together, and they’re perfect in this refreshing, summery kind of pudding that I made!

I found a can of lychees at my local Asian grocery market (I actually bought so I could use the juice in some Boba Tea).

I took a few of the whole lychees and put them in a blender.

Then I blended them with coconut milk

And poured the mixture into a saucepan.

I added sugar, some juice from the can of lychees, a little lime juice, and a little rosewater, and cooked it over medium heat for about five minutes.

Then I sprinkled gelatin powder over it and whisked it very well so that all of the powder was dissolved.

After it cooled down, I poured it into a container to refrigerate it in overnight. Although I used gelatin in it, this is more of a pudding than a set gelatin dessert. It’s soft and creamy and very delicious on a hot day served cold with fresh fruit on top!

Here’s my recipe:

Coconut Lychee Pudding

Ingredients:

8 whole lychees

2/3 cup coconut milk

¼ cup sugar

½ cup reserved lychee juice

1 teaspoon lime juice

¼ teaspoon rosewater

1 Tablespoon (or one packet) gelatin powder

Directions:

In a blender, combine the lychees and coconut milk and blend until smooth.

Pour the coconut-lychee mixture into a saucepan and stir in the sugar, reserved lychee juice, lime, and rose. Continue to cook while stirring for about five minutes.

Sprinkle in the gelatin powder and whisk well to combine. Pour into a large container and refrigerate until set (it won’t set completely like a molded gelatin dessert, but it will be a soft pudding). You can serve it with fresh sliced fruit.

I made these breadsticks with refrigerated biscuit dough (I used the “junior size” Pillsbury Grands biscuits). They were REALLY easy and super-delicious too!

First, I rolled each dough piece into a rectangle shape and put some grated pecorino Romano cheese on top.

Then, I sprinkled a little pepper and garlic salt.

I rolled each one up (long ways) and bushed it with butter, then drizzled a little olive oil on top.

I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper because it seems to help whatever I’m baking not to stick even better than cooking spray does. And it doesn’t get the baking sheet dirty! You just take it off and throw it away when you’re done.

When they started to turn golden brown, I took the breadsticks out of the oven and served them warm with homemade marinara sauce.

Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

Ingredients:

1 can of Pillsbury Grands (Jr. Size) refrigerated biscuits

10 Tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese

pepper

garlic salt

melted butter and olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll each biscuit dough piece into a rectangle and sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of cheese, a little garlic salt, and some pepper on each one.

Starting from the long end, roll tightly and place seam-side down on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. Brush with melted butter and olive oil.

Repeat with all of the biscuit dough pieces.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the breadsticks start to turn golden brown.

You can brush more melted butter and oil over the tops before serving if you want. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Yesterday I made mini blueberry pies in muffin tins. They turned out really cute and they’re really easy too! The crusts are made from just some frozen pie crust dough. And the filling is homemade but very quick to make. I used frozen blueberries. And if you want a SUPER easy two-ingredient recipe, you can use canned blueberry pie filling and they still look fancy and adorable.

To make the crusts, I rolled out the pie crust and used a glass cup to cut out circle shapes.

Then I pressed them into a greased cupcake tin.

While they were baking, I made the filling by whisking together water and sugar in a saucepan

Then I whisked in some cornstarch

And heated it until it was all dissolved

I added the blueberries

and cooked them until the mixture boiled and the berries started to burst

And kept cooking until the mixture was thickened

The cornstarch should make the filling thick enough to coat the spoon like this:

I stirred in more blueberries

And stored the mixture in the refrigerator until it was completely cool.

I took the pie shells out of the oven and cooled them on a cooling rack

And then filled each with a little pie filling

I topped mine with some whipped cream :)

Mini Blueberry Pies

Ingredients:

1 box of pie crust dough (2 round pieces)

1 cup cold water

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

5 cups frozen blueberries (thawed) or fresh blueberries

whipped cream for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a cupcake tin with cooking spray.

Roll out the pie crust dough and use a cup or round cookie cutter to cut out circle pieces of crust. Press them into the cupcake tins and bake for about 7 minutes until golden brown.

In a saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat and add one cup of the blueberries. Continue cooking until the blueberries burst and the mixture becomes thick.

Turn off the heat and add 3-4 more cups of blueberries. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Fill each mini pie cup with a large spoonful of the pie filling and then top with whipped cream.

I made a lot of different drinks using boba pearls (tapioca pearls), because it’s really fun to come up with different combinations of tea, fruit juice, etc. I even made some slushy type drinks, too! This post is a bit long, but it includes five different drink recipes: Iced Red Boba Tea, Thai Tea Boba Drink, Lychee Boba Green Tea, Banana Boba Slushy, and Coffee Jelly Milk Tea.

1. ICED RED BOBA TEA

To make the tapioca bubbles, I measured out a cup of them and boiled a large pot of water.

I added the pearls to the boiling water and stirred them. Soon, they started to float to the top.

When they were all floating, I covered the pot and cooked them some more, and then took them out with a slotted spoon.

I stored them in a sugar syrup until I was ready to use them.

For the tea, I boiled water and brewed it with red zinger tea.

I poured the tea over the bubbles and added a few spoonfuls of the sugar syrup to sweeten it.

Iced Red Tea with Boba Pearls

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of sugar

1 cup tapioca pearls, cooked and cooled

8 bags of red zinger tea

Directions:

Cook the sugar in one cup of water until dissolved and clear.

Cook the tapioca pearls by boiling ten cups of water in a large pot, then adding one cup of uncooked tapioca pearls and stirring gently. When the boba pearls float to the surface, reduce the heat to medium, place the lid on the pot, and cook for five minutes.

Strain the boba out of the water with a slotted spoon and store in the sugar syrup until ready to use.

Brew the teabags with four cups of boiling water, then cool.

Divide the boba pearls into three tall cups or glasses, and pour the tea over them. Add a few spoonfuls of the sugar syrup to each glass, depending on how sweet you prefer the tea.

2. THAI TEA BOBA DRINK

This one was pretty easy. I used a powdered Thai Tea mix, because it’s really hard to get that exact “Thai Tea” flavor you find at bubble tea shops unless you have precisely the right combination of teas. The mix I used came in individual packets which included the cream and sugar, so you just mix it with water and add ice or boba pearls and serve.

You can find this powder at an Asian grocery market. The brand I bought required 200 mL of water for one package of powder (200 mL is between 3/4 cup and 1 cup).

I put the powder into a cup and poured hot water over it

The color is really intense orange!

After it cooled, I poured it over some boba pearls.

The recipe will differ depending on what brand of mix you buy, but you will pretty much only need water, the packet of powder, and some cooked tapioca pearls, which you can read about how to prepare right at the top of this post :)

3. LYCHEE BOBA GREEN TEA

For this recipe, I brewed some green tea in hot water (not boiling water, because the green tea leaf is more delicate than black tea, so the water needs to be less harsh as to not destroy the flavor).

Next, I opened a can of lychees. I saved the actual lychee fruits for another use, and I reserved the syrup. I bought this at an Asian food market, because you probably won’t be able to find a can of lychees in a regular grocery store.

Then, I combined cooked boba pearls with the cooled green tea, the lychee juice, and a few spoonfuls of the sugar syrup that I had been storing the tapioca pearls in.

Lychee Boba Green Tea

Ingredients:

6 bags of green tea

1/2 cup juice reserved from a can of lychees

1 cup cooked boba pearls stored in sugar syrup

Directions:

Cook the boba pearls according to the directions in the recipe for Iced Red Boba Tea above.

Brew the tea with 3 cups of hot water. Cool it and add the lychee juice.

Divide the tapioca pearls between three cups, and pour the tea mixture over the boba. Add a few spoonfuls of the sugar syrup from the pearls, depending on how sweet you want the tea.

4. BANANA BOBA SLUSHY

I love the frosty boba drinks that you can get at some bubble tea shops, so I decided to make an icey banana drink (a flavor that I have never had with boba before).

I combined ice and banana in a blender

Then added some milk

It was sort of like a smoothie the first time I made it, and so later when I made my sister one, I did the same thing but stopped the blender every once in a while to add more ice cubes. This made the drink have a slushier-like consistency, which I like more. Reducing the amount of ice in my recipe below will give you a smoother drink, though.

I poured the mixture over tapioca pearls in a glass, and served it.

Delicious!

Banana Boba Slushy

Ingredients:

1 cup tapioca pearls, cooked and cooled

12 ice cubes

1 banana

2/3 cup milk

Directions:

See the Iced Red Boba Tea recipe at the beginning of this post for instructions on how to prepare the tapioca pearls.

Place half of the ice cubes and the banana in a blender; pour the milk over it, put the top on, and blend until smooth.

Gradually add more ice cubes until the slushy has reached the consistency you like. You may have to use the ice crush setting on the blender, if you have one.

Place a few large spoonfuls of boba pearls in a glass, and pour the slushy over. Enjoy!

5. COFFEE JELLY MILK TEA

To make this drink, I made Hong Kong-style milk tea with this same recipe, but instead of heating it, I chilled it in the refrigerator. Then I placed cubes of coffee jelly in the bottom of a cup

You can find my recipe for coffee jelly here :)

I poured the cold milk tea over the jelly cubes…

Ta-da!

You can cut the jelly a little bit smaller for this recipe, and you can also add crushed ice to the drink if you like. Here’s the recipe:

Coffee Jelly Milk Tea

Ingredients:

One recipe of coffee jelly (about 1 ½ cups jelly cubes)

One recipe of Hong Kong-Style Milk Tea

Directions:

Make the milk tea as for the recipe above, but chill it in the refrigerator instead of heating it.

Divide the coffee jelly between three tall glasses.

Fill each glass with milk tea and serve.

Yesterday, I bought some tapioca pearls, because I wanted to try to make boba milk tea at home, like the kind you get at bubble tea shops. I thought it would be fun to experiment with some different flavors, so I’ve made a few different kinds and I will be sharing them on here over the next couple of days.

First, I wanted to try to make Hong Kong-style milk tea (the hot kind without the boba pearls). I did a lot of research on the internet to figure out how to make this, and I learned that bubble tea was originally called bubble tea not because of the tapioca pearls but because of the foam bubbles on top of the hot milk tea. The person who made it would pour it back and forth between two containers until it frothed and then would serve it.

To make my milk tea, I used orange pekoe tea.

I brewed it with some boiling water in a teapot and put the lid on.

The key is to make a very strong concentration of tea, because the milk part dilutes it, so the flavor should be very intense (I used about four or five teabags worth for one and a half cups of water).

I stirred in condensed milk and evaporated milk.

Then I heated it on the stove

And used two large containers to pour it back and forth so I could be authentic :)

It made quite a bit of bubble froth stuff, but I also used a little electric foamer spinning stirrer thing to make a few more bubbles.

Here’s the recipe, which will make two coffee cups worth of tea.

Hong Kong-Style Hot Milk Tea

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons of Orange Pekoe loose-leaf tea (about 8-10 bags of tea worth)

3 cups of boiling water

6 Tablespoons of condensed milk

8 Tablespoons of evaporated milk

Directions:

Brew the tea with the boiling water for about eight minutes.

Stir in the milks and heat in a saucepan until it is very warm.

Pour back and forth between two containers, or use a frothing tool to create bubbles before serving.