Graduation Party

Incase you missed it, here's a little snap shot of my graduation party!

Cake, Cupcakes, and Flowers

Costco made the cake...

But I made the cupcakes

Walking across the stage

Hawaii--Day 8

Well, it was our last full day in Hawaii today.  Tomorrow we pack up and have to be to the airport by noon, not much of a day.  For our last day we started out by visiting Parker Ranch, one of the largest cattle ranches in the US that happens to be here on the Big Island.  We then had lunch at a neat spot on Kona we found the second day, Bongo Bens, then did a little shopping.  Later in the afternoon we went down to the beach close to our condo where tragedy struck! As Taylor, Mom, Sandra and I were wading in the ocean, Taylor let's out a calm ouch, I stepped on an urchin! Not expecting anything serious we all lovingly ignored her. She then asked, "Does anyone care? I have an urchin in my foot!!!" We continued to look at her, we're such a loving family.  Once we realized she was serious--Mom and I started booking it to the shore! Sandra thought about bailing for a second then decided to be a decent human being and help Taylor.  They got the urchin spikes out a Taylor's foot and we...well Sandra...got her back to shore-- Mom and I had been back on shore for a while....  Anyways, we're not very good family members and we're very sorry, Taylor.  Ooo and I found a coconut somewhere in there on the beach.  Gary went all Survivor on the coconut and busted in open with a very very bad kitchen knife. We also saw even more cats.  I'm seriously considering marketing a "cats of Hawaii" calendar.  I have enough pics for at least 3 years! Tomorrow we make the dreaded trip back home.  I can confidently say, none of us are ready to leave.  It's perfect weather and so beautiful here.  Thank you to all of you who followed along at home.  If something exciting happens on the way home tomorrow there may be one more blog, but in any case, our trip is coming to a close.  Pray for safe travels tomorrow! We'll be home late! Aloha!


Here's Day 8's exciting video!

Hawaii--Day 7

Today was a day of relaxation! No major activities, no place to be at any certain time. We did a little shopping, laid by the pool, and grilled some amazing ahi. After a few days of being on the move, it was wonderful to just slow down and just enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery.

Taylor getting some sun

Mom and Sandra enjoying the water

This little guy joined me on the lounge chair for a while

 
The delicious ahi searing 

 

The finished product

Just incase we had a slow day like this, I've been saving a special treat for the blog. A few days ago Sandra wrote a beautiful song about her fat feet that day. Here is the video...even though she treatened to hack into my blog and delete it! I'm willing to take that risk.

Hawaii--Day 6

Today Mom, Taylor and I went on a great adventure! Gary, Sandra and my Dad wanted to go golfing so we had them drop us off at the Kona dock and we went on a Dolphin and Snorkel Catamaran Tour. It was AWESOME!!! The boat and crew were so so so nice. It was clean and comfortable. They fed us breakfast and lunch. We saw beautiful fish and dolphins. What an experience! I would do that tour every single day if that was an option!Since I wasn't on the lame golf trip, I don't have any pictures of their adventure. Enjoy the pics of the cool group's day!

Alright... Dolphin Video should be good to go finally! Enjoy!!!

Video from Day 4

If you've been following along, day 4 I wasn't able to post my video because my computer freaked out and froze since I was doing too many things at once and not on the strongest internet connection. So... here is that video I told you about. It's been so windy here that all you could hear in the video was noisy wind gusts so I pulled all the audio out of the video. So don't adjust your speakers, there's nothing to hear!

Hawaii--Day5

Today we went on an adventure tour called "Flumin' da Ditch." I couldn't explain it in the elegant detail like the company's website so I'll just let you read what they say: "One of the Big Island of Hawaii's most popular tours is back after a 5 year haiatus! The Kohala Ditch has been repaired, and Kohala Ditch Adventures has begun operating the Flumin' Da Ditch tour once again! Guests float on inflatable kayaks for approximately 90 minutes as you cover a little less than three miles of this historic irrigation ditch. Your guides will share the history and folklore of the area, and lead you on this floating adventure through 10 tunnels, across a number of flume structures (bridges that carry the water over gulches), and past native flora and fauna. After a Pinzgauer ride high into the Kohala Mountains and a short nature walk, your floating adventure will begin. You will wear headlamps supplied for you so that you can see inside the many tunnels that you navigate. At the conclusion of the kayaking you are transported on 6 passenger guide-driven ATV's through a macademia nut orchard and back to the base area." -Kohala Ditch Adventures It was a very neat experience! Dad, Gary and Taylor had to work paddling, the rest of us got to enjoy! Here's today's pictures All of the caves were WAY too dark to film, so here's video of us floating through one of the flumes. Enjoy!

Hawaii--Day 4

Well Day 4 has come and gone! We drove around the entire island today! We saw the southernmost bakery in the US, black sand beach, sea turtles, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, walked through a tube made of dried lava, saw waterfalls, the works!! Enjoy today's pics. I put a video together but my computer got angry and I'll have to start over, so stay tuned!

Hawaii--Day 3

Day 3 is no where close to being over but we had some down time so I'm taking the opportunity to update from our eventful morning.  Today's agenda as you may recall: teach Shaylan to snorkel. Well we achieved our goal! We went over to the Hilton Waikaloa nearby and used their lagoon.  We rented our equipment and jumped in.  At first I was really intimidated, mostly because a sea turtle swam right at me! After a few minutes I settled in and really enjoyed it! I brought along a waterproof camera/video camera and the pics/video turned out much better than I thought they would.  Oh...and please don't listen to my nasaly voice in the video it's worse than normal from the mask. Not sure what the plan is for the rest of the day- we're all sleepy and salty from the water and sun! Aloha!

Hawaii-- Day 2

Aloha! Welcome to day 2 of Hawaii! We had a very eventful day for having no real major activity planned! Since we're still adjusting to the time difference we were all up by 4am.  After 3 pots of coffee (it's a very small pot) we were up with nothing to do. Mom, Taylor and I walked over to the nearby Kings Shops and looked around for a bit. They're really nice shops- still haven't had a chance to go through all of them.  We found some adorable wild cats that someone must take care of because they look very well fed.  Once the rest of the crew was ready to go for the day we headed into the main part of Kona.  We're technically in Waikaloa Village (all the names of towns sound the same around here!) We had lunch at a neat little touristy place, I had great coconut shrimp.  After that we went exploring and found a few neat bays, a coffee plantation and a Costco! Once it was all said and done we headed back to the condo and made a nice little dinner then hit the spa. The plan for tomorrow: teach Shaylan how to snorkel! There's talk of going to one of the bigger hotels and getting a day pass to their pool and lagoon. Wish me luck!!! Enjoy the slideshow of today's pictures!

Hawaii--Day1

Well, we made it to Hawaii! Quite an easy travel day really. We left LA at 9am and arrived in Kona just before 1pm. The plane had tons of empty seats so they let us spread out! We were able to each have a seat between us so we could spread out, so wonderful!

After spending ages waiting to get our rental car we finally headed out to eat--we were starving with the time change! After checking in to our condo we went and got a few groceries, had a light snack (and maybe a Mai Tai) and got settled into our home for the next 7 nights. We then headed off to dinner at this beautiful resort. We were a little early so we maybe had another Mai Tai on the beach.

Dinner was this BEAUTIFUL buffet with traditional Thanksgiving foods and traditional Hawaiian foods. Everything was so pretty!

It wouldn't be my blog if I didn't show you pictures of what I ate so here you go!!! This one below is my first round to the buffet- Smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers, bay shrimp salad, crab claws, shrimp, and ahi with wasabi.

Second trip-- Prime Rib with horseradish, Turkey with gravy, Lamb (which was really gamey, ick), Andouille Stuffing, Carbonara Shells, Bread with pretty flower shaped butter, mashed potatoes, Kahlua Pork and Hawaiian Fried Rice

Third trip- Macadamia nut cookie, chocolate espresso cake, lemon meringue tart, citrus bar, vanilla ice cream with hot fudge, macadamia nuts, and chocolate chips

I put way more on my plate that I could ever eat in a million years, or at least a few hours, but hey it's a buffet and we paid plenty for the food I wasted!

Tomorrow's plan: Costco!!! First thing! We have to get our black Friday cook books. We have an addiction problem and we know it. It's who we are! Then there's talk of going on a tour of the Thunder Mountain Coffee Plantation.

Hopefully I'll stick with my plan and blog every day!

Happy 30th Birthday, Dereem!

 

The amazing Dereem McKinney just turned 30 and to celebrate she took a group of girls on a limo ride to Paso Robles to go wine tasting.  I had the privileged of being invited. These are the cupcakes I made for her. They were a hit! I found them on this blog- here's the recipe for you to make too!

Ryan Bakes: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Abby and Jake's Wedding Cake

A friend of mine from the church is getting married and asked me to make her cake. Here it is! I really need to invest in some colored backdrops because this all white thing isn't really working. But it's the best I can do. I'm a baker, not a photographer! The white frosting is just my standard butter cream with clear vanilla extract and this fancy white food coloring. The bow and dots are all fondant (pre-colored because trying to dye white fondant that color would have been a slimy disaster) with some sparkly edible glitter.

Cookies I want to make

I read a ton of baking blogs, look at foodgawker daily, and am turning into a pinterest-aholic. Because of this I find so many recipes I'd like to try and never seem to find time to actually try them.  Here's some links to what's on my cookie radar right now.  Maybe you'll get to try them before me and can report back.

• The Girl Who Ate Everything's Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies.
• Tender Crumb's Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie. Which is allegedly the New York Time's Best Cookie Recipe 
• Divide Baking's Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies.
• Collecting the Moments' Oreo Cheesecake Cookies.
• Picky Pallet's Pumpkin Spice Blossoms.
• Two Tiny Kitchen's Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites.

 

Pretty frosting technique

In attempt to bring you more interesting posts here's another idea I came across today.  (Still need to test that garlic peeling theory.)  The website where I found this frosting technique isn't in English, so I honestly have no idea what it says.  What is beneficial is the step by step photos that show you a simple way to make a very pretty cake.  Take a look for yourself HERE! Hopefully I'll have a chance to try it soon and report back.

Peeling Garlic

I've decided that I need to blog more often.  Who knows if I'll actually follow through with it, but I've at least admitted that it needs to happen. Since I don't have enough opportunities to bake and post photos for you to enjoy I have to seek out other interesting stuff to tell you about.  So... here is a cool video I came across today.  How to peel garlic in under 10 seconds. Who knows if it works but it's worth a shot!


How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Paige!

My friend Paige's birthday is just 6 days before mine.  We decided that instead of doing two birthday parties with our girlfriends from the church we should combine and share our birthday celebration.  What a great idea! We had our guests bring wine or cheese instead of gifts and we had since a sophisticated grown up birthday...oh except we wore silly party hats. Here's a look at our cake I made which was one of the more frustrating cakes I've made to date!!! The frosting was too hot, I ran out of frosting on top so I had to make fondant flowers (which I'd never done before) to cover the gap, and then to top it all off once it was finished and I was taking photos I hit the cake with the poster board and had to re-do the ruffles. I'm so amazed it actually turned out.  It was moments away from meeting the trash can several times.

Oh and remember those party hats I mentioned? Here's Paige and I with her chihuahua, Pepe, all wearing our party hats!

I can't wait for next year's party!

Hi there blog followers!
I recently  had someone ask me if there is a way to subscribe my email to my blog.  Well there wasn't, but now there is! Down towards the bottom on the left hand side of my page there is an email subscription box.  Just type your email address in there and it will send you a confirmation email with a link you have to click on to subscribe to my blog.  After that you'll get an email every time I make a new post so you don't miss out on anything exciting.  Good luck! ...Hopefully it works!

Disneyland Vacation

Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chris sends me recipes he finds online pretty often.  We mention that they look delicious and normally they just get filed into my brain for a rainy day.  When he sent me these Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes I agreed that they sounded delicious.  But then... he started dropping hints about them every chance he could get! When I asked him yesterday what dessert I should make to take over to our friends house tonight he quickly responded "Peanut butter filled hot fudge cupcakes? I don't know..." Was the "I don't know" part really necessary?! There was not even an ounce of "I don't know" in how quickly and precisely he responded. I was committed: Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes it is.  Until I pulled up the recipe and did more that just gawk over the amazing photos.  Check it out here. Or from another website that seems to be the exact same recipe here. I'm not sure which came first.  A case of the chicken or the egg is what we have.  Regardless... did you see that ingredient list?! 25 Ingredients?! I love to bake, don't get me wrong.  But 25 ingredients?! When I told Chris I didn't want to do that he understood but sounded pretty heart broken.  When I got to the baking section of the store it hit me: make it simple, cheat, and end up with nearly the same product.  So here's the solution: a fancy boxed mix and pre-made hot fudge-keeping the frosting the exact same as the recipe.  That's the part that really counts anyways right? I found a fancy box mix that included a separate mix for a fudge chocolatey filling- bingo! Don't be a cake mix snob- there are some amazing box mixes out there that I honestly some times prefer over the dry dense nasty stuff you can get at some fancy bakeries.  Any who... I made up the main mix and put into my  cupcake tins then you put a spoon full of the fudge mix on top and it sinks in while it bakes.  The frosting I made according to the recipe and it was oh so delicious.  Mine was not pipe-able like the ones in the photo though! It was pretty thick so I just did my best to spread it around with a knife. I liked the texture though; it wasn't all whippy like a lot of buttercreams can be.  All was going well until I was moving the cupcakes into the fridge for the night and BAM!

7 Cupcakes hit the ground. I was so upset!!! Chris was on his way over and so I left them until he got here and made him throw them away.  I couldn't handle putting something I worked so hard on in the trashcan.  Ugh!  On the bright side, 12 survived.  I didn't snap the bottom tier of the cupcake carrier to the top.  Disaster.

Well I let the survivors sit in the fridge over night then this morning and I topped them with the gooey hot fudge.  They turned out great! Make sure you have milk on hand though, these things are rich!

Hurricane Harbor

Chris and I were invited to chaperone the St. John's Jr. High Youth Group to Hurricane Harbor.  We had so much fun! Here's the crazy group of kids we joined.

Universal and Blue Palms

 Chris and I headed down to Universal Studios again last week to catch a few of the rides and attractions we missed when we went with the Palla family earlier this summer.  Apparently they had the water features dialed up to 11 because we didn't get nearly as drenched the first trip! 

Later in the afternoon we headed to one of Chris' greatest finds: Blue Palms Brewhouse

We've been there once before and couldn't wait to go back! It's located on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and they have some really unique craft beer and food...yum! One of the greatest perks- they always have a specialty cheese menu.

 

We ended up choosing  the Sottocenere, Manchego, and Pittig Gouda.  Each of which were fantastic, pictures further down in this post.

I started out with the Avery White Rascal.

 And Chris had the Surf Brewing Black IPA

 

All the beer at Blue Palms is projected up on giant screens and as the night goes by and they run out of a beer they instantly take it off the menu.  The menu was pretty wimpy when we were there because the very next day was National? International? IPA Day.  Chris was so sad.  If you know Chris you know IPA is his very very very favorite.  So the fact that they were saving all the tap space for fancy IPA's that he couldn't partake in was a bummer.

 Here is the beautiful CHEESE PLATE! The top left corner is the gouda, bottom right is the manchego- which was pretty soft and flavor packed for that style, and the bottom left is the sottocenere.  It's also served with candied nuts, apples, thin crispy crackers, and a honey balsamic sauce.  I'm not quite sure if I like the honey balsamic sauce, it's a very interesting and complex flavor.  I want to like it, it's just a bit overwhelming for me.

 Blue Palms has a beautiful sausage menu as well- we chose the Pheasant Sausage with cognac, port wine spices, and juniper berries  and the Duck with Foie Gras and Wine Sausage with a hint of butterscotch.  Holy Cow they were good! They're all served with a spicy sauerkraut, caramelized onions, serrano peppers, chipotle aioli and a wasabi spiced mustard.  Mmmm....

The final portion of our meal was their Lobster Mac & Cheese- Lobster tail, cheddar, parmesan, and crimini mushrooms.  Pictured here the mushrooms are on the side because Chris likes to ruin things for me!  Kidding....mostly... I'm determined to convince him that mushrooms are one of the most delicious things on earth, he continues to disagree.

So, if you find yourself anywhere near Hollywood, head down to Blue Palms, you won't be sorry.  The beer alone is worth the trip; the food is just a bonus.

Brown Butter Cookies

Have you been to the Brown Butter Cookies Co. in Cayucos? If not, run don't walk.  They're the tastiest cookies ever. Check them out here. Well I've tried two recipes to try and recreate these cookies and I haven't been happy with either of them.  Once I figure it out I'll post some links to the proper recipe.  Until then, enjoy the photos--those turned out great!

Happy Belated Birthday Jill

Chris' mom, Jill, had a birthday a few weeks ago and requested my white cake with lemon curd filling and white chocolate, cream cheese, lemon frosting.  One of my favorites too! Things were a little hectic that week after making Morgan's first birthday cake that we decided to wait until Chris' sister and brother-in-law and their three kids were in town this past weekend.  Chris' brother-in-law, Don, was just ordained as a Pastor yesterday at St. John's.  It was AWESOME!
In regards to the cake---I've learned in the past few weeks that frosting HATES 100+ degree weather.  This frosting just wanted to puddle down at the base of the cake.  Refrigerating didn't help.  It was determined to give me trouble.  So the frosting at the top layer of the cake it a bit ugly.  I added some white chocolate shavings with a bit of yellow coloring to try and distract from the lack of pretty frosting. While it may have been visually appealing-- blowing out the candles over itty bitty pieces of shaved chocolate makes a really really big mess.  Ooops!!! Didn't think about that. These pics also feature my new lovely cake plate that my Aunt Deba got me!
So... Happy Birthday, Jill! Congrats, Pastor Don! Thanks, Deba!  Did I get everyone?

San Jose Adventure

This past Wednesday-Friday my mom, grandma and I went on a trip to visit one of my grandma's long time friends, Doug, who lives in San Jose and see him in a production of the musical Hairspray. You will be able to tell from the pictures that we spent all of our time eating! What a surprise right?!

Our first night we went to an outdoor mall called Santana Row, which is a beautiful beautiful beautiful area with amazing shops and fantastic looking restaurants. We had a few drinks before settling on a place for dinner. I stuck with wine, mom with beer, and Mimi and Doug went for the harder stuff. We decided that our drinks directly reflected our personalities very accurately!

We ended up eating dinner at Left Bank Brasserie- the steak house we really wanted to go to had a 2 hour wait. There were so many restaurants to chose from I assume they must all be pretty great to be in this shopping area. I decided that instead of ordering a meal I would just steal bits and pieces of every one's plates. That was the best choice I ever made because that meant I got to fill up on FONDUE!! The more I eat fondue the more I appreciate what a brilliant creation it is. Dipping stuff in melty cheese...where has this been my entire life?! How did I only have fondue for the first time about one year ago. Pitty.

For dessert at Left Bank we decided on some fancy french name that we really didn't know what it meant. Okay, in all honesty- the table next to us ordered it and it looked really good and we we're not being good decision makers so we just copy cated their order. Well I'm very glad we did. It was two very light and delicate almond cookies with a creme filling served with tart fresh berries. Amazing!

The second day of our trip Doug took us to Los Gatos to their local brewing company. My mom and I had spent the night before talking about beer a lot so he clearly took note :) For those of you who know me, you know I am working really really hard at acquiring a taste for beer. About a year ago I made the decision that I was going to learn to like beer. What I quickly learned was that I don't hate beer- I hate Chris' beer. Chris and my mom both really love hoppy beers- I, however, think they taste like nail polish remover!! I really enjoy stouts, wheat beers, porters, and I find others I like all the time. Just not IPA's! Those things are nasty!!! Anyways, when I have the opportunity to get a beer sampler I take it. I liked several of these!

Once again we all decided to share our food so we could try the most amount of things on the menu. This sandwich below came highly recommended by our server. I honestly don't remember the name of the sandwich on the menu but it was basically thin sliced tri tip, onion straws, chipotle mayo on a fluffy roll and fries. It wasn't all I was hoping for. Kind of bland honestly.

We also ordered the pesto pizza, which was very very good. It had a simple pesto sauce, tomatoes, roasted garlic, pine nuts, mozzarella, and prosciutto. Tasty!

We skipped dinner after that meal and decided to just have snacks. My mom and I went to Luigis in Bakersfield and bought some treats to share with the group. We found a great salami that was infused with Zinfandel wine, a Gouda that had caramely crystals, a soft cheese with truffles, garlic olives, and garlic crackers. Mmmmmmm

The trip was amazing! Doug's show was fantastic-such a talented group of people. The food was great! I even tried garlic ice cream on the trip home. My mom and Mimi thought it was disgusting; I thought it just tasted like vanilla. What a trip!

Thank you, Doug for allowing us to invade your home and showing us to a great time. Can't wait to come back!