Tasty Treats: Jack O' Lantern Rice Balls

I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Today I stayed in with my boyfriend and watched "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and gave out candy to trick or treaters. Before all this occurred, my neighbor was having a block Halloween party at their house. The party was a potluck and so each neighbor or guest brought in their own dish. It was really nice seeing all the different types of food and just bonding with my neighbors. I helped my mother make Jack O'Lantern Onigiri or in English a "rice ball". My mother dyed the rice orange and we bought meat at a local Japanese food market. She stir fried the meat and included it as a filling for the rice ball. 

If you want a step by step instructions, here it is in the simplest way:

1) Make rice 

2) Stir fry the beef

3) In a small bowl, put a tiny layer of rice and put a small portion of meat above it and then put the 2nd layer of rice

4) Pick the rice out of the bowl and pat it together and mold with your hand into a ball

5) Place seaweed in any decorative way on your rice ball or wrap it around the rice ball like this!

VOILA you have your own Onigiri or Rice Ball. 

Here is our Jack O'Lantern Onigiris!

Here are some cute designs of Onigiris!

Another Halloween obsession...my sweet dog dressed up as a Sundae!

Sincerely, Nikole

Charlie, You're My Great Pumpkin

Pumpkin carving is one of my most favorite activities during the month of October. I feel that each pumpkin reflects its pumpkin carver's personality. I choose a Snoopy and Charlie Brown pattern for my pumpkin this year. It took me (and my mother's help) 3 hours to complete with the cleaning, dotting, carving, scraping, and painting. I am very proud of my Snoopy and Charlie Brown creation. I surprised my boyfriend with a pumpkin of his own. He choose to do a Pokeball because he loves Pokemon. Boys...never grow up :). 

If you ever need a good excuse to get together with friends, family or even significant other, carve a pumpkin! Not only will you have fun and tune into your creative side, but you get to also bond with the people you love.

Happy Halloween!

Sincerely, Nikole 

Sweet Tooth: Snickerdoodles

Aside from having a weakness for unhealthy chips like Hot Cheetos with Limon (makes a huge difference) and Lay's Chile Lime, I also have a sweet tooth for cookies. 

I baked a batch of Snickerdoodles a while ago and wanted to show you the process.

It is really easy to make and great for beginning bakers like me! 

Emeril Lagasse Snickerdoodle

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of fine salt

1/2 cup of shortening

8 tablespoon of unsalted butter (makes sure you set it out at room temp for about an hour before you bake)

1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3 tablespoons

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter. Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the dough, by hand*, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar. Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick disks, spacing them evenly on unlined cookie sheets. Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Cool on a rack.

*I didn't use my hands, but I used a small ice cream scooper. Not only does it not make your hands greasy and a mess, but they also make the process faster! 

After I baked my first batch for my family, it was gone the next morning! I was so pleased that they enjoyed it. I also baked a separate batch for my boyfriend because I know it's his favorite type of cookie and he enjoyed it too.

Stay tuned for my Sweet Tooth posts!

Sincerely, Nikole

October Birchbox

Yesterday, my Birchbox finally came in!!! I was so excited to open it up and see what samples I got for this month.

For those who don't know what Birchbox is, it is a monthly subscription box of high-end beauty samples. Usually you can receive up to 4-5 samples that fit your beauty profile at which you took a quiz upon. Along with your Birchbox you will receive a card providing information of each product that is in your box and what to use it for. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves dipping their hands into beauty samples and loves to try new things!

 Here's my Birchbox and what I got for this month!

Here's the description I got from my Birchbox card for the products I received.

1) AHAVA "Rich Cleansing Cream": A gentle, non-lathering cleanser that whisks away dirt, oil, and makeup faster than you can say 'non-drying'

2) Laura Geller "Spackle Tinted Under Makeup Primer in Bronze": A hydrating primer that gives you a flawless foundation for makeup plus a subtle glow. Works with all skin tones.

3) Orofluido "Beauty Elixir": Hair treatment's trio of nourishing essential oils (argan, linseed, cyperus) with an amazing vanilla amber scent to add to the amazingness. 

4) Befine "Lip Serum": A lip-healing wonder: Benefine's vitamin-rich Lip Serum heals and smoothes cracked or dry lips

5) The Laundress "Delicate Wash": Laundry just got a little more civilized. Use this elegant wash on all your special items.

I am so excited to try out all the new products! 

Are you going to subscribe to Birchbox?

Disclaimer: The description is not from my words, but from Birchbox.  

Sincerely, Nikole

Being an Extra for Pan Am

just kidding...

A couple days ago my friend asked me if I could come in and be a hair model for her salon. I was really excited to go because 

A) the class was about updos

B) I was going to get my hair done.

The instructor who worked on my hair is a hair stylist at the Cristophe Salon at Fashion Island as well as a L'Oreal hair stylist.

The instructor did a couple of hairstyles and this was the last look for me. 

The look she said she was going for was Eva Mendez updo.

It reminded me of Pan Am/ Stepford Wives. I guess you can throw in Amy Winehouse and Snooki in there too because of their poof or beehive. 

If you ever have a chance to be a hair model, DO IT! 

It's a lot of fun. 

Why not get your hair styled for free?

Sincerely, Nikole

Mickey's Halloween Party

Last night I went to Disneyland's "Mickey's Halloween Party". I had such a great time there! Spending $44 was worth every penny. I felt like I was in Halloweentown the entire night, and to be honest I felt under dressed with my Minnie ears. I saw Jedis, Princesses, Cowboys and Cowgirls, Clone Troopers, Pumpkins and so much more. The cutest costume I saw was a daughter and father's, the father was dressed in a "Prince Charming" costume while his toddler daughter was Snow White. 

Aside from the amazing atmosphere at Disney, Steven (my boyfriend) and I got to go on a tons of rides! We are annual passholders and I can safely say, I went on more rides within the 5 hours I was there than I ever have if I were to spend an entire day at Disneyland.

We went on:

Star Tours 

Space Mountain

Astro Blasters

Matterhorn Bobsleds

Dumbo (3x)

Indiana Jones

Haunted Mansion

Thunder Mountain

Mr. Toad's Wild Adventures

The waits were at most 20 minutes! I was in heaven. Not only were the lines short, but they were also giving out candy. There are 7 stations around Disney where you can line up and receive candy. Steven and I didn't really go through the candy lines that much because we wanted to go on rides! They had a Halloween fireworks special, which I really enjoyed. They also had areas where you can dance with your favorite Disney characters as well as take pictures.

I am so happy I went this year and I'm excited to go back next year!

 Here are more pictures from last night.

Sincerely, Nikole

Missoni by Target

I am so delighted that I actually got my hands on these rain boots. If you have been out of the Missoni by Target loop, here is a crash course on the situation: a ton of ads, a huge line outside Target the morning of the release, worse than Black Friday, Target.com crashed, by 11:00 a.m. no Missoni merchandise left in the store. I was sad because I did not realize how much of a craze Missoni would be! I did not even get to see the products in person. 

Today my mother and I went on a Target run because I needed to get red lipstick (which I got in the end and some fun halloween socks), but as we passed the shoe area I saw a pair of Missoni patterned rain boots. I lost my cool. I ran to that spot and was disappointed at first because I only saw a child's size 13 and 12. Luckily, they had a size 7 pair and I grabbed it immediately. For $35 it was a good deal just for the fact that they were rain boots and Missoni. I normally love the California sunshine, but at this moment all I want is rain so that I can wear my cute boots.

Sincerely,Nikole 

For those who were intrigued by my Halloween socks, here they are!

New Beginnings

Welcome to my new home readers!

As much as I loved City of Chic, I began to think that it was becoming to much like Tumblr.

For example: look at this awesome picture (blog). I initially started City of Chic to show readers what's happening in my life and sadly I was drifted back into my Tumblr phase. I promise that this blog is going to be all about me! ME.ME.ME. 

Stay posted!

Sincerely, Nikole