sakurambo kitchen

4.25.2010

Strawberry Swirl Brownie Cheesecake

An easy brownie cheesecake that I've made a few times. To make it healthier, substitue applesauce for oil!! I use strawberries because this is the strawberry season. Any type of berries can be used.

Brownie Crust:
1, 20 oz package or 1 pouch Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla Essence

Cheesecake:
1 cup (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, mashed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°F. For Brownie Crust: In medium bowl, stir together brownie mix, water, oil and egg until moistened (about 40 strokes). Spoon batter into lightly greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10-12 minutes.
For Cheesecake: Place cream cheese and sour cream in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Add egg and mix until blended. Add sugar and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture randomly over brownie crust. Drop spoonfuls of strawberries randomly over cream cheese mixture. Swirl with tip of knife for marbled effect. Bake 55-60 minutes or until filling is set. Cool thoroughly. Store in the refrigerator.
Makes 12 servings

Sysco Food Show - Spring 2010

Some pictures..

4.24.2010

Healthy People 2010 & Pictures

Catering for Employee forum at BMC...
Some pictures...

To make, purchase a cone-shaped foam and use toothpicks to stick the cut fruits into the foam.
The "palm tree" effect with the leaves on the top came from a "fake" plant that we took apart...

Healthy People 2010 was awesome!!! :)

For all the videos and lecture outlines, check out : http://www.healthypeopleconference.org/.

I really enjoyed Dr. DEAN ORNISH's presentation!

One pointer he shared was:

"I" = "I"LLNESS

"WE" = "WE"LLNESS

To have optimal health and wellness, WE need to be in a community where we can be connected with others. We are created to be loved -and love.

Illness results when "I" comes into place, and neglect the importance of others.

Here is one of my favorite pictures over the Lunar new year...

God bless!

Update on the Walk-in Fridge Construction Project

The hospital where I work at...Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center. :) Took a picture since the trees were blossoming with flowers.

The Walk-In refrigerator and freezer extension outside the building

The refrigerated truck to accomodate all our food supplies...

Inside the new walk-in freezer-March 2010

April 2010

Inside the old walk-in freezer and refrigerator....now the whole space is a walk-in refrigerator! Expected Completion is in May 2010...can't wait! :)

What we made for a catering request yesterday...Decorated cookies flower pot...

12.24.2009

Gifts

It's the time of the year again to make truffles! Here's the recipe ....

A variation from the previous recipe is - coat it with coconut flakes or bits of crushed pepper mint candies. (Pipe the chocolate mixture from piping bag and place them in the freezer. OR, leave the mix in the refrigerator for about an hour, then use icecream scoops to scoop out balls of it, roll it with hands.)

Wrap them in different pretty boxes, place them in nice glass bottles and give them as gifts! :)

12.20.2009

Christmas breakfast for nurse managers

Some pictures of the set-up...

Every person had a card with 4, one-word phrases that describes them...

Topping for the freshly-made Waffles

Waffles and Turkey Sausage

Happy Holidays!

12.12.2009

Cooking Demonstration for the CHIP Program

The cooks and I did a cooking demonstration for the CHIP ( Coronary Health Improvement Program ) few weeks ago. It focuses on vegan, low sodium, heart healthy foods.
The menu includes roasted garlic herbed potatoes, baked broccoli, scalloped potatoes ( vegan) and roasted acorn squash soup.

Here's the recipe for one of the demos:

Roasted Acorn Soup
Yields 20-30 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups vegetable stock
3 medium sized acorn squash
2 cups carrots
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 T ginger
5 cloves garlic
2 cups chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chopped thyme
1 cup cashew nuts
1 cup heavy cream ( OPT)
1 cup low-fat milk ( OPT)
fresh parsley- topping

Directions:
Roast Vegetables in the oven
Puree the soup in small batches ( 1 cup at a time) using a food processor blender. Add in cashews into the blender.
Add to the stock. Slowly incorporate milk into the puree and stock ( opt)
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low; and simmer.
Garnish with fresh parsley.

Not bragging but the soup was really good! :) You got to try making it! :)

We wanted to show them simple ways to cook healthly at home. Adding garlic and herbs flavors foods tremedously. Eating well is a choice that you have to make. God bless! :)

BMC Christmas Breakfast 2009

It's my favorite season of the year again! :) I have not been updating my blog for the last several months but will be posting more about what had been happening in the next few posts.
This post is about CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST. Basically, it is the time of the year where Adminsitration serves food to employees...here are some pictures of what our kitchen did- despite having limitation of only having a refrigerated truck on our dock. Phase 2 of the construction ( where we will get out bigger walk-in refrigerators and freezer back) will be completed most likely at the end of the year of early next year. It's been raining a lot and hence, delaying the project...