Is it over already?!

Today is the last day of spring break. I'm thankful that A and I recovered from the flu before then. Our friends were here from DC (visiting their family) for their spring break the week before ours. We were able to squeeze in some time together. Miss them already!

For our spring break we headed up to SF to visit my sister.

we went for a little hike

waffles at blue bottle.

their wings were so good!

Checked out some bakeries Craftsman & Wolves and B Patisserie

white chocolate sesame coffee cake

B Patisserieis was a little pricey, but good. If you go try the kouign amann. Great with a cup of coffee.

almond biscotti

It's been one of those tough weeks.  A is sick with a stomach bug again and she's been out of school for almost a week. 

Red and orange beets fresh from the backyard...thinking about making a nice beet salad. The first beet salad I had was at The Campanile many moons ago when my sister took me there for my graduation dinner. So sad that it's closed now.

almond biscotti

ready for their second bake

I lost my appetite since I've been cleaning up after A. I made these and have been eating them for lunch and dinner with a cup of coffee or tea.

spring

Something I regret...not planting more daffodil bulbs last season. I only planted 10 bulbs I should have planted 30 more.

lettuce anyone?

I made orange chocolate biscotti late last night which made the house smell delicious!

breakfast

gardening and baking

My younger sister is also an avid gardener and before she moved up to sf I promised to check up on her raised box plus I had to check up on my parent's lawn.  I think my parents are one of the few people in their neighborhood who are without a garderner. They had my sister who mowed the lawn, trimmed the bushes and the trees. The lawn mower broke right before she left so the other day I had to mow the lawn with clippers...it was quite a sight.

veggies growing out of control!

please excuse my old phone....the spinach and the chard were almost the same size!

I had some frozen cranberries leftovers from the holidays that I used up for this loaf.

sprinkling a little raw sugar on top before baking it gave it a nice crunch

Have you heard of PappaRich otherwise known as PappaRoti in Asia? There is one shop in Pasadena which is a little too far to swing by. I searched the internet and found a recipe. They were pretty good, but not as light as the real stuff. 

what would I do without my kitchen aid.

on the dinner table

I've been getting tired of my own cooking! These days my dinner menu has been blah. The same ole things showing up on my table.
I began looking through new cookbooks, blogs, and this month's food magazines.

 David Chang's scallion & ginger soba with grilled trumpet mushrooms & tofu.

love this new book by Jenny Rosenstrach

I made this salmon salad from Dinner a Love Story

I didn't have any green beans so I threw in some broccoli

My Martha Stewart magazine came with a little Everday Foods insert

so I made this healthy version of mac and cheese with broccoli except I used all 

full fat dairy product...I didn't have any lowfat milk or cheese on hand.

I tried Lemon Poppyseed muffin's from Dorie Greenspan...sad to report they weren't that good.

I wanted to make cream cheese brownies, but changed my mind and made these.

They were a hit with my daughter and my nieces!

On Saturday some friends came over so my sister and I baked

this lemon cake from the most recent Bon Appetit magazine.

It had a great crust and was very moist. Warning...it has a lot of butter,

sugar, and eggs!

weekend fun

Then early the next day my sisters and I left for SF to help her move. I don't recommend this at all...spending all day at Disneyland and then driving for 7 hours early the next morning.

almost there!

Then we spend the next 24 hours helping her get settled in, shopping and EATING!

Have you ever been to Ike's? You need to go NOW!

Paul Reubens

Nacho Boy

We ordered both sandwiches on dutch crunch bread

lobster roll

fresh mochi

I won't even try to count all the calories I consumed within 24 hours or how many cups of coffee I drank. It made me really miss SF. I'm already planning my next trip up there!

For Valentine's Day A and I made heart sugar cookies.

getaway

E had a week business trip to Vegas so I decided to go for a couple of days sans child. This was the first time in a long time where we didn't take A with us. We've taken some mini trips when she was a toddler, but E and I usually take separate trips where one of us stays behind with her. I was nervous, but when I talked with her on the phone she said that she didn't miss me and told me that she liked "hanging out" at my sister's place. I guess she is growing up.

We tried the new buffet at Caesars...I won't tell you that we stayed there for 2 hours.

The lobby at the Wynn, we stayed next door at the Encore. 

I won't tell  you how many croissants I had while I was there...you might not believe me.

These were hands down the BEST pretzel bread I've ever eaten and I've had my share.  I am on the hunt for the recipe.

Society Cafe at the Encore