mini vacay

I used to be a spontaneous person. But having a kid on the autism spectrum and getting older I've become a planner. But one Thursday afternoon, I started planning a mini vacay for my family. I asked my family if they were onboard without telling them much information. I quickly started planning while we were eating lunch and asked everyone to be ready and meet by 3. 

We decided to drive up the coast and stay in Pismo for one night then drive to Carmel for a day then off to SF.

On the way to Pismo Beach 

Carmel

The Ferry Building

view from our hotel room

the 2nd day was nice and clear

breakfast sandwich from Cowgirl Creamery

 

the holidays pt 2

Happy Monday!

My parents were here for the holidays. My mom's birthday is on Christmas Day so I made her cake. 

vanilla chiffon cake

We also went to the Griffith Observator. The day was so nice and clear.

 

Afterwards, we went to the Trails. They ran out of the their egg salad sandwich that day along with many other items :(

The Holidays part 1

The first part of the holidays were a bit of a blur since A was sick and didn't get better until the day after Christmas. She missed a week of school and since I didn't finish getting all the teacher aids & therapists their gifts, I went into a baking frenzy. I started baking when A fell asleep and finished in the we hours of the morning. Here's the proof.

sugar cookies

world peace cookies

linzer cookies

sour cream coffee cakes

all wrapped up and ready to be delivered

A is home sick with the stomach flu this week. Poor girl. I haven't gone out in 3 days (except to the doctor's office) . By the time E gets home I'm too tired to do anything.

My little sister turned 30 a couple of weeks. She was out of town on a business trip on her actual birthday so we had a late celebration.  I wanted to make this salted caramel ding dong cake ever since I saw it in Bon Appetit.

I only used the cake batter recipe from the magazine. (here is link to the whole recipe ).  I used a shortcut for the filling...marshmallow fluff in a  jar :) For the ganache, I used my own recipe.

The cake was really moist.

ready for the oven

lots of gooey filling

crumb coat

final coat

tada!

the inside

happy birthday seesta!

This week in our house

 Trips to the library with the girls.  I picked up these two books Kimchi Chronicles and As Always, Julia. 

Finally got my haircut, it's almost been a year since my last one.

 We made some stops on the way home.

Yum!

We had a birthday party for Purple (A's build a bear)

I made a Funfetti Cake. So so good!

We got our Christmas tree

Thanksgiving in pictures

breakfast

appetizers

rosemary crackers with goat cheese with homemade marmalade 
&
water crackers with boursin

pigs in a blanket & bacon wrapped dukk

crab rangoon

Then the madness began...

my little sister made the turkey this year and it was the best turkey ever!

dessert

gogoma (korean sweet potato pie) & i also made a pumpkin pie

Election Day!

It's Election Day. 

I went to vote smack in the middle of the day and lucky for me there was no wait at the voting polls.
 

I proudly wore my I Voted sticker all day

A and I love a good Castella Cake. I started looking for a recipe.  The recipe was pretty easy. The only problem is that the cake went a bit flat in the middle because I didn't have a Castella cake pan. The texture and flavor were great.

I got this recipe from this blog.

 

I followed the recipe (including wrapping it in plastic wrap overnight)