Monday, July 25, 2011

A Pre-Wedding Party


“It started with a kiss and it turned into this…
Two people are getting married!”

It seems like it is most definitely wedding season, if there ever was one.


The day is coming soon when we all will come together to celebrate the marriage of the groom and the bride wishing them a lifetime of happy years and memories, long on laughter, and short on tears, where love is enduring dreams and that the sweet dreams come true.

Awwww how exciting!


With that said, along with the wedding invitation I received the ever so essential bridal shower invitation from my friend who is hosting the shower with her daughter for her daughter-in-law to be, with love. And that kind of set the tone for me for the celebrations that would come ahead.

The invitation had all the important information you would need, the name of the bride (of course), the date, time, location, and the address. Location...I have to tell you friends, I am not a fan of directions, it often leads me array or is it astray? It really doesn’t matter which way you look at it I get lost easily!  So I sort of stress when it comes to direction.


So I was really excited for Saturday, after the shower I had plans to go to a baseball game that evening, so I wanted to make sure I was able to time everything just so. They had a registry which I love that whole idea and insist on it next to sending money or gift cards! The registry was at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. It took quite a bit of stress off me trying to find that right gift off of me, whew.
A party with a purpose.  The theme variation of the afternoon was “Kitchen Bath & Recipe Bridal Shower” in her honor of course. It seems like kitchen showers are amongst the most popular which makes perfect sense to me really, the kitchen is a focal part of the home for me, I spend endless moments in time there and so I can see where a first time newlywed couple would be in need of assistance in this department! There is definitely a need to set up housekeeping and prepare to embark on cooking adventures that will soon be ahead! They needed everything from silverware and plates to bathroom toiletries!I had chosen Bed Bath & Beyond as the store for the perfect gift, I logged into the registry site prior to going to the store to see what they had included on their list. Then I printed off some things I thought would be just right for them and off I went.

Bed Bath & Beyond was great, they helped me locate the items I was looking for and they even wrapped the gifts I picked for free, no extra charge! And to think here all this time I been spending countless painful minutes in time trying to perfectly wrap gifts and they have it covered, who knew.
I wanted to pick something not necessarily unique but something I could picture them really using. I went with this useful looking ceramic knife, thinking how neat that would be, if it could be neat at all! It was a “as seen on TV” Yoshiblade ceramic knife, I had never seen one of these handy looking utensils before but it had my attention (scroll down to take a look at it)!

It’s made from diamond hard zirconium oxide, and is said to be 40% sharper than that of the average knife. It says it will never rust or peel and they guaranteed it to stay sharp for life! Did I mention it also came with a bonus peeler? They will want a good peeler they are a necessity! I can see it now, all the cutting with precision and slicing ever so thin difficulties will now be a thing of the past as we know it right! Why don't I own one of these? 


The second item I got was The Round 12” Skillet. To me this looks like it would be something good to use when cooking vegetables or shrimp, a healthy addition to a kitchen. I think it will come in handy.

It was time for the shower, I made my way slowly with caution patiently driving while searching for the red balloon that would signal me to turn left, I was a little on edge as I often am when I am unsure of where I am going, I felt like I was going too far and that I had to have past it but I just kept telling myself to keep going. I started to think to myself, I know I past it already so I called my friend but just as she answered there was the red balloon! Talk about timing, I got their just in time.

She was an awesome hostess she did a good job of putting everything together. There were snacks and appetizer type goodies prepared. My friend had made this sweet poppy seed salad with bacon and romaine lettuce and red onion that was quite tasty. 7-layer beans dip, along with a spinach dip and veggies with dip. A tuna salad was put together with croissants to go with them, there was macaroni salad, chips and a few deserts, and one was a fruit salad with snickers and Twix in it! Good stuff!


During the shower we played games for a little fun and entertainment. To start she put a necklace around my neck and said I couldn’t say her son’s name if so the person that heard me say it would take my necklace, at the end of the party who ever had the most necklaces would be the winner. I didn't win that game. 
Here are a couple of bridal shower game we played. I don't think that there are specific names for the games we played so I will just describe them to you.
1. Place a necklace around the neck of each guest (bride included), the guests are told that from this moment on they are not allowed to say the groom’s name. Whenever a guest accidentally uses the grooms name the person that hears it first will get to take that guest’s necklace(s). At the end of the party whoever has the most necklaces will be the winner.
2. Create a 20-30 question questionnaire that is given to the groom prior to the party. Questions from where was the bride and grooms first kiss was, and what is his favorite sports team to how many children does he want and where his dream vacation would be are asked to the groom. His answers are recorded onto an answer sheet. A copy of that same questionnaire given to him is then handed out to everyone except the bride (who has no idea) at the party. The guests then guess how many questions they think the bride will answer right. The winner is that is closest to her total right answers wins.  By the way I won this game, that's right highest score 14 right!
HINT:Think of some questions she won’t be expecting such as an animal does the groom think the bride reminds him of and why? This will keep it exciting and funny! Remind her it is a game and not to take offense!

3. A type of “Papier Coture”. Break the group of guest up into evenly divided groups with a roll of toilet paper per each group. The goal is to design a wedding dress on one of the guests in each group with toilet paper with a limit of 5 minutes to complete the dress. Once the time is up the group shows and explains their dress and the magnificent idea behind it and it is up to the bride to decide which group is the winner.
4. Give each guest a sheet of lined paper and a pencil or a pen. Take the name of the bride and groom, example Jennifer and Jared Smith, and give everyone 1 minute to see how many words they can make out of the name. The winner with the most words will receive the prize. Guess what I won this one too! Score!
HINT: Have additional or extra gifts on hand in the event more than one of the guests is winners.
HAVE FUN!

At the end of the shower we all gathered around to see the bride open gifts from everyone and share them along with recipes that may have been attached. 
She opened up my gifts and she said her groom to be said that he had to have the Yoshiblade, which by the way if you notice is cheaper at Amazon.  She said that she had wanted the skillet because her coach swore by!  She said that it was recommended a Weight Watchers thing that works excellent!  That was good to know, I really had no idea, so I learned a little something to.
The shower was then over and it was time to get ready for a ball game!






Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Think Thai Food, and Then Eat It

OK, everyone put your best utensil forward I have something to say.  Yes that is right.  I have an opinion that I would like to share.  I love Thai food, I know I have said it before but I do, I really do LOVE Thai food. 
Now that I have got that out of the way, I really think everyone should try Thai food.  I know it seems as if I am isolating one type of cuisine, and that is probably because I am.  But you see I love it and I think you will love it to. 
So you may now find yourself wondering where am I supposed to find a Thai Restaurant.

Monday, May 30, 2011

New York Times Article, Food for the People, Whipped Up by the People

Food for the People, Whipped Up by the People

This is an interesting read I thought. It's an oldie back from 2006 but a good read in my humble personal opinion.  I feel like I relate to it and I have a good feeling I am not the only one up in here!
IF you wanted to appear in a food magazine or publish a cookbook in 2006, to star in a television cooking show or increase the traffic on your Web site, your best move was clear: don't be a chef.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Costa Vita

Costa Vida on Urbanspoon


Dinner time crept up on me quick yesterday and before I realized it was dinner time and I had yet to begin!  This isn't something that typically happens on a Tuesday night but what the heck, we got take out, now what to eat?  It took no time for the kids to decide just what they wanted.
Costa Vida! And so it would be.

If you are not familiar Costa Vida its specialty is Mexican food with a Baja-theme to it. They have everything from tacos, burritos, enchiladas and salads as well as menu for the kids.  My family really enjoys it.  If you ask me a secret they use to get that fresh taste is the way the keep their leafy greens fresh maintaining that crunch you want to taste with your meal.  It's a good thing! Oh and I read where they have for the most part gone gluten free!


Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A Chocolate Cupcake Birthday




Moist cake like cupcakes, very filling, and very chocolaty mmm perfect!
It was a Happy 10th Birthday and with each year brings a new adventure.





The big day had come, the birthday, the BIG 10!  My small fry has now been on this earth for his very first decade.


Wow!

I love these years, I think they are some of the most exciting and memorable years for kids.  It’s a precious window of time where your imagination, that inner ability you are given to remember, create, dream, and make all kinds of changes  and transformations at any given time is possible!  Where everything seems so much larger so much more exciting and real you can even possess magical powers!  All through the eyes of a child.

But this precious window of time is limited, so I made a wish for my son to enjoy it while it lasts, because as time goes on all of life and the responsibilities with the day to day tasks and deadlines and run around will surround you before you know it!
Right now my son and his friend have decided to go down to the park near a creek that runs along it and build a fort.  They have moved out all sorts of branches and twigs and made what they call the secret fort, and only the 2 of them know where it is at. Well that is except for a third friend they just decided they would allow to know the secret coordinates of the secret fort he is stronger and can move branches that they can not even move if you can imagine that!
They noticed footprints they were not sure what animal it could possibly but they have narrowed it down to a raccoon.  So now they are on a mission to catch the animal they think may be a raccoon, yes they will dig a hole and put branches over it and trick the animal behind the footstep. (now don't worry we watch over them the whole time they are not going to encounter a raccoon!)
They check every chance they get hoping to come across something but still, nothing.  So the devise other angels and put together other ideas.  As a matter of a fact they have decided it would be a perfect idea to spend the night in their fort this summer.  We had to put a stop to that, this is life behind the eyes of a child and his imagination and endless possibilities!
Now about the birthday, the idea… celebrate. With 25 kids invited to a gym filled with tramps and foam pits with monkey bars and the whole nine yards I had to figure out how to make this party all work and bring it all together. The important thing to focus on here for me was simplicity. This was very necessary and I am so glad it turned out excellent and more important for the most part effortlessly.  Everyone had a blast and it was non-stop until the end.  The cupcakes looked time consuming but they were actually pretty quick to design I was pleasantly surprised.  I buy the cake mix in bulk, because I also like to use them to make cookies, it to is a simple way to make something great from me for my family with that little bit of somethin-somethin!


I miss those years, to me they are some of the most exciting and memorable years looking back.  It’s a precious window of time where your imagination that inner ability you are given to remember, create, dream, and make all kinds of changes and transformations at any given time is possible! Where everything seems so much larger so much more exciting and real you can even possess magical powers!

But these powers seem to have a limit, they seem to only last for a limited period of time. So I hope all my kids are and have been able to have them for as long as they can and have some of the best times!
Right now my son and his friends have decided to go down to the park near a creek and build a fort.  They noticed footprints they were not sure what animal it could possibly but they have narrowed it down to a raccoon. So now they are on a mission to catch the animal behind the footstep.


Now really quick like with my intertwining stories without further a dew (not that there is anything over the top or difficult about these at all trust me)!


I give you "The Chocolate Cupcake with Swirls"




Yum-yum
1.  What you will need is 1 package cake mix I use Betty Crocker I always have thought they have a pretty good thing going!  And for the most part you need only follow the directions on the box. 

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Secret to Thai Beef Salad Also Known as Thai Beef Salad

The Secret to Thai Beef Salad Also Known as 'Yum Nuah'


Is there anything more refreshing than Thai beef salad that is excellent in every way!  Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nuah) is perfect for spring time or those hot summer days.  It gives a feast of flavors and textures one bite at a time!  The boys especially love this dish, with the thinly sliced and lightly grilled (or you can also oven broil) beef tossed with a cool crisp mix of Romaine lettuce, red onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and cilantro tossed  together with a special Thai lime dressing with crushed red peppers served perfectly over fresh jasmine rice really hits that spot!
There secrets to this Thai salad is in the special Thai lime dressing (of course) and the the crisp fresh textures from the vegetables.  The secret is to have that fresh crunch from the romaine lettuce, red onions and cucumber.  And you can do this by chilling a dish in the freezer for about 30 minutes, remove from freezer add fresh vegetable ingredients mixed with special Thai lime dressing and allow sit in refrigerator for 15 minutes or so prior to adding the beef.  This will give you that fresh crunch with everybite mixed with the beef.


Serve over jasimine rice.

Jasmine rice


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dirt Bike Cake Recipe

I have to tell you that when I was making this cake it was a challenge for me, a never tried before baking event, so the stress level was on!  For some reason I felt like I was at the race on the line on a dirt bike waiting for the gate to drop and see if I could make whole shot!  Wow what a rush!

 
Our boys like to ride dirt bikes if you dont know very much about it take a look at a little peak into the motocross race.  It was my son's birthday and he wanted to have a dirt bike cake.  First time for me of course, and for me this cake turned out to be a bit of a challenge make sure to give your self time. It was a tall cake when I was finished much taller than I had expected for sure. 
Nothing like testing out a cake idea on your child's birthday!
It turned out awesome and delicious, here is how I did it, I took a recipe from online and built on it from there.  See the directions to make it yourself!