One of my favorite things I’ve had during my recent trip to Japan this summer was definitely ujikintoki. It was so refreshing in the scorching heat. Now that I’m back in Los Angeles, I crave this matcha shaved ice more and more each day. So I decided to make it myself! Here’s my attempt. :)

As a kid, one of my most favorite dishes to eat during the summer was (and still is!) hiyashi chuka. This is a Japanese cold ramen dish with Chinese influence; it also directly translates as “chilled Chinese!” It features cold ramen noodles covered with an array of different toppings such as cucumber, egg, ham, and tomato. It’s then drizzled with either a soy sauce-based dressing or a sesame dressing, which I prefer more. This dish is so refreshing and I would definitely recommend you to try it!

My friend came back from a trip to Portland and told me that the best thing she ate on the trip was a baked chocolate earl grey donut. She described the flavor profile and asked if I could recreate it for her. Since it will be her birthday soon, I happily obliged! So, here’s my attempt at making some chocolate earl grey donuts. She wanted them less chocolate with more of an earl grey taste profile so hopefully I pulled it off!

I’m in a book club with some friends and we recently read the book, “Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come.” We decided to have a potluck and so I decided to make the cake on the cover of the book! I love RecipeTinEats vanilla cake recipe and so I used it. However, I also used the regular vanilla buttercream recipe. I don’t really like American buttercream and so next time I make this cake, I’d rather replace it with a different kind.