Thursday, September 29, 2011

Chocolate Walnut Bread Pudding + Irish Creme Whipped Cream Cheese

Prep time: 20 min Bake time: 25 min Serving size: 1 Equipment: Mini Bundt pan, toaster oven

·         1 cake donut, torn into pieces
·         ½ egg, beaten
·         1 tbsp cocoa powder
·         ½ tbsp brown sugar
·         1/3 cup milk, can be any type you wish
·         1 tbsp Irish Crème coffee creamer
·         1 tsp instant coffee granules
·         8 walnuts, chopped
·         1 pat of butter
Irish Crème Whipped Cream Cheese
·         2 tbsp cream cheese, softened
·         ½ tbsp Irish Crème coffee creamer


1.  In a small pot, heat the milk, coffee, creamer, cocoa, and sugar until the sugar dissolves. In the mean time, beat 1 egg and measure out half. 
 2. Once sugar dissolves, remove pot from heat and let cool.  While cooling, butter Bundt Pan.
3.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts in Bundt pan.  Layer donut pieces on top.  Alternate layers of walnuts and the donut until the pan is full.
4. Whisk egg into milk mixture.  Pour into Bundt pan, slowly so that there isn’t any overflow.
5.  Place pan into toaster oven.  Set the temperature to 350° and the timer to 25 minutes. 
6.  While the bread pudding is baking, whip together the cream cheese and the creamer.  Place in refrigerator to set up.
7. After the bread pudding cools, flip onto a saucer.  Dollop the cream cheese mixture into the center.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011


What is this?
This is a space for me to share my passion for food and photography with others.  There will be recipes, restaurant reviews, my take on events, and chronicles of my attempts at photography.

Why Lina’s Loves?
Honestly, I couldn’t think of a creative name that adequately described what I want to accomplish here and although a little too cutesy for my tastes, it’s fitting. Besides, alliteration is always a good thing.

 Lina Well, it’s my nickname. I must stress that only family and family friends call me this.  I remember when a girl who knew me through my grandparents called me Lina at the playground, and my elementary school friends told her that that wasn’t my name. Friends, gotta love them.  

Loves Have you ever taken a bite of something and your mouth came alive in the best of ways?  Has your body broken out into an involuntary dance because some morsel made your soul happy?  Yes, I have a food dance and yes, I trend toward the melodramatic.  However dramatic, those who know me know this to be true.  Does everything I eat evoke such emotion? Of course not, but when they do, I savor the moment.  In my opinion, meals should be more than just staving off hunger.  

Art class was always a painful experience for me.  I think I even dreaded it more than I did PE, especially the art show where your work was put up for the entire school and parents to see.  The work I produced never looked the way I wanted, and in my eyes always came up painfully short.  I decided that I hated art and nothing could convince me otherwise. Until… (ha-ha, it seems like stories such as this always include a change of heart). ..Photography with Ms. Webster! I immediately fell in love with taking pictures and the darkroom, where all the magic happened.  Ms. Webster is the reason why my love of all things B&W photography is 11 years strong.  I will always thank her for this.