For Valentine's Day (but actually earlier, because it was for the girls I visit teach), I made Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies.
These were not as delicious as I had hoped (they didn't taste genuinely strawberryish like I had hoped), but they weren't bad. Will I make them again? Probably, but I'd add salt.
Secondly, last night I made the most delicious banana cake of my entire life.
With cream cheese frosting (but not her recipe, I made up my own. On the spot. Because I'm awesome like that).
Also, I'm now creating my own cookbook for personal use, gathering recipes from many places. Banana cake? Definitely in that book.
I've decided that every 5 Pinterest tests, I'll do a short review of the outcome. You know, just to prove to myself that Pinterest isn't just a place where I can hoard things electronically, but also has real, valuable uses in my life.
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole: HUGE win. Omnomnom (granted, I omitted the garlic and onion). 30-minute rolls: Win. You may or may not remember that I made these for Thanksgiving Dinner while I was in Taiwan. And then at least 2 times after that. (The link to the actual website with the recipe was failing as I was adding links to this post, so it's a good thing I have the recipe saved to my computer!) Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies: Uhh... Not a win, exactly. See my previous post about that one. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies: Win. Sososososo good. Need to make again. Cheesy Chicken Roll-ups: Very similar to a meal that has been on the family dinner menu for basically my whole life, but with a little twist of cheddar cheese added to the mix. Yum. Yumyumyum.
Guys, my Pinterestings are so successful lately that I have no ill-feelings about being such a digital hoarder.
I have yet to name this appliance. I don't know if it will ever actually get a name as, so far, my oven is the only appliance in my house to have one ("Cookie," if you're wondering).
But.
I don't know how else to dub this, other than as a Christening. "Breaking in" sounds so... horrid and violent, you know?
Moral of the story, I need to use my Brand New Beautiful Blue Kitchenaid for the first time yet. So I'm trying to decide what to make. This is where you may (potentially) come in. Also, I will share the end product of whatever I make to whomever wants some, assuming they are A. not a stranger; and B. in the area. (If you do not meet those qualifications, I am sorry. I'll try to post a picture for you or something.)
Here are the options I am thinking of.
Cinnamon Rolls. Nothing super fancy, but still deliciously divine.
Chocolate Chip Cookies (the top secret recipe)
Cake/Cupcakes (of whatever variety I have in my cupboard)
OR:
Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies (I have never made this before, but tell me they don't look exquisite and I will call you a liar!)
Cast your votes! I'm leaving town on Wednesday, so it's either gotta happen this weekend or after I get back from my mini-adventure.
And, if no one chooses to care, well. Fine. More for me, and I'll make whatever sounds good in the moment.
Last night Heather and I went grocery shopping. We stopped at the bakery to buy some bread (there were only two loaves of wheat bread left, so we each bought one), and across the street from the bakery is the fruit stand, so Heather stopped there as well to get some apples. P.S. We were riding our bicycles. This is important.
After finishing up at the bakery, we rode our way over to the 24 hour store (a grocery store here in Taiwan). Heather made a comment that she didn't really want to carry her bread inside with her. "Just leave it in your basket," I said. "That's what I always do, and I've never had anything happen to it. Jenny is the one who taught me to do that." So, we both left our bread in our bike baskets and went inside. I think we were not in there for very long, maybe 20 minutes TOPS (but probably closer to 10 or 15). As we were approaching our bikes, Heather said something along the lines of "You have got to be kidding me!" ran over to her bike, and, yup. Her bread and her apples were gone. But, don't worry, even though my bike was right next to hers, my bread was still in the basket. Also, Heather still had her pineapple.
I'm voting it was some homeless person that was starving and saw her bread and apples. He didn't take the pineapple because he had no knife with which to slice it open, and he didn't steal my bread because, hey, one loaf is plenty for any person, and I didn't have any other food in my basket.
Moral of the story? It's fine to leave groceries in your bicycle baskets, but if you're going to do that, then you should probably park on the street side of the store instead of the alley way..
Kaylee, Christina, and I went to see James last night after I was done teaching. Kaylee had brought pictures of her family to show him, and James started commenting about her hair. Then he turned to me and said, "Your hair is dark, like Asians." "Umm... I dye my hair. It's not really this dark," I told him. And he looked absolutely horrified and shocked that I would want to have dark hair! I told him I will bring him pictures to show him what my hair really looks like, because he couldn't picture my natural color. I am not sure I can even picture/explain my natural color any more because it's been almost 2 years since my hair was its natural color. This means I need to figure out how to print pictures here, because I didn't actually bring any hard copies with me (of course not, I was trying to pack super light).
While we were waiting for the other girls to meet up with us for Jessica's birthday dinner, Christina and I decided to go check out the inside of McDonalds (because it is 3 stories, and what McDonalds needs to be 3 stories? Only in Taiwan). Kaylee said she would watch out for our bikes while we were inside. As Christina and I were coming back down the stairs to leave, I totally caught a guy trying to sneak a picture of us. We're starting to wonder just how many "covert operation" pictures people have captured of us.
Finally, we had dinner at a place called Style that seems to be open 24 hours. Jenny called it the Denny's of Fengyuan, but the food was about a million times better than anything I've ever had/smelled at Denny's. Also, there were English menus, which is always a plus because then you don't have to guess about what you're getting.
Don't worry, Dr. Harris. Even though they did have 1000 yr old eggs, I didn't get any.
Heather, the Birthday Girl (Jessica), and Kaylee (who was trying not to be in the picture, but my camera was acting up so I couldn't actually tell what was in the frame and what wasn't)
Kendra
The fruit waffle I ate. SO GOOD!
Christina got some sort of duck dish because she wanted to be daring. She did not love it, but the flame was cool!
Kendra taking pictures of her fruit honey toast
Inside of it was stuffed with delicious bread
The first bite
And what we fondly began to refer to as "The Beak" oranges.
Kylie with Jessica's surprise birthday cake (sorry it's blurry. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY CAMERA! IT'S NOT LIKE I DROPPED IT OFF A MOUNTAIN ONCE OR ANYTHING!)
So I go to the store to get a few items today, and I saw that they had Giant Cheetos in the chips isle. I've been known to like myself a good Cheeto or two (puffs or crunchy- mostly just depends on my mood), so I grabbed a bag. "It's the big cheese taste you've waited for your whole life in a big cheese flavored ball," the bag says. "In fact, it's so big, we bet you won't be able to fit it all in your mouth at one time!" Ok. What are you betting? I'll take you up on that offer and raise you $10. And I'm not even a betting girl! Yes, these Cheetos are huge. But I tell you what, for a person who used to make a hobby out of stuffing 100+ grapes in her mouth (whole, unchewed), one Giant Cheeto is nothing.
So, back when I was a student bunny at the Y, I never really liked to shop at Macy's. Give me a Harmon's or an Albertson's any day, but Macy's really wasn't my cup of cocoa. (I know, I know. Great deals and all that, but it feels like a warehouse, and I'm not really into that kind of thing.)
But then I moved to California, where Harmon's doesn't exist and Albertson's is smaller, and no one sells Rhodes Rolls! You can't even begin to imagine the heartache I've been feeling about this. Also the stomach pangs. Pangs of sadness and loss. I was starting to think that I've been doomed to live out the rest of my days without ever again eating another Chilly roll (I plan to make them like you do).
And then I had the bright idea to go to Rhodes' website and click on their product locator. That's when I discovered that Food 4 Less sells them! There was driving and maybe the attacking of the freezer door when I saw them, and then there was rejoicing. I could almost ignore the fact that Food 4 Less is practically the same thing as Macy's. I may not shop there on a regular basis, but I can guarantee that this will be the first place I look when I need more rolls in my life.
Yesterday the Trifecta got together for our weekly meeting at Tiffy's. It's this cute little restaurant/ice cream parlor on Katella and Disneyland Drive. The food isn't, like, the best food ever, but the service is good (our waitress was adorable), and best of all, THEY HAVE PLAYER PAINOS!!!
Always I hear these things playing when we go eat at Tiffy's as a family, but for the first time ever, it was me playing them (well, my quarter, anyway. Mushu put the quarters into the piano).
You're going to have to forgive the sound quality (or lack thereof) as I took this video on my phone. Actually, maybe just mute it as you watch.
Clearly my mother never taught me not to play with my food. We went to Applebees for dinner Thursday night and I got a steak. It comes with potatoes in some form, you know? Only I don't eat those, so I ordered a baked one for Mom and Sister to split, but then they brought me mashed instead. And poisoned my steak in the process because they were touching, but I lived through that. Anyway, since no one wanted to eat the nasty soggy vegetables that also came with my meal or the mashed tateys, I made myself a new friend! Literally. And then the stupid waitress killed her and I was sad. But I got pictures, first! (On my phone, so, not high quality.)
This first picture I was not yet done with my masterpiece. But I didn't know that yet. Our actual waiter came by to ask us how our food was or something and saw my plate and had to try really hard not to laugh and it was so funny! The next time he came by he very carefully averted his gaze from going any lower than my face until he had turned away from the table completely. It's like he was embarassed by my new friend or something. I don't even know why.
And here is the completed version! If you look close enough, you can even see a little piece of tomato in her mouth that I used for the tongue. Broccoli for hair (very short hair, though, because I ran out of broccoli), zuccini for eyes and ears (I think that is what it is?), a carrot for her nose, and squash for the lips. The little round "flower" behind her ear is a marachino cherry that Sister had on top of her Cherry Limeade slush or whatever it was. So, be forwarned that if you ever take me to Applebees and I order a steak and no one wants to eat my tateys, I may just end up making myself a new friend. I think next time I'll ask to take it home.
Once upon a time I made a peach pie and it was heavenly. Then my roommates ate it all (actually, I did, but I'm blaming them). So the next day I made another peach pie. It was just as heavenly as the first and this time my roommates really did eat it all (OK, so we had a few guests over). Once upon a time, again, I made an apple pie. I decided that I like my peach pies better, but this one was still pretty good. It didn't even last 12 hours.
Roast Beast Carrots Potatoes Green Beans Rolls My Favorite Roommate and... A really hot date (shh... Don't tell. It's a secret.)
I am so excited. I can't even tell you how excited I am. I am more excited about slaving away in the kitchen all day tomorrow and having to do dishes just so I can clean up after myself than I was excited about Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's today. And that must be saying something because I've been talking about the latter for MONTHS.
P.S. If you have any ideas for desserts, speak now. I've got about... 15 hours to plan. But no brownies, please. We've had enough of those around here for a while.
I love this commercial. Thank you, My K, for showing it to me. Now I want the rest of the world to know of its existence, and that is why I share it now.
My sister met... who is it... Obert Skye? She's so excited about it but upset that I didn't want him to sign one of the books to me. Sorry, sister. I prefer the plot in my books to not be quite so... convenient. And, hey, more for you, right?
On another note, I've been snarfing down salt water taffy's all day today.
And on yet another note, sometimes (and no offense meant by this) I wish my blog were still unknown to real-life people. It's weird how there are some things that you are totally OK with total strangers reading but as soon as someone you know finds out about It, you wish you'd never mentioned it to anyone.
So I go to the store to get a few items today, and I saw that they had Giant Cheetos in the chips isle. I've been known to like myself a good Cheeto or two (puffs or crunchy- mostly just depends on my mood), so I grabbed a bag. "It's the big cheese taste you've waited for your whole life in a big cheese flavored ball," the bag says. "In fact, it's so big, we bet you won't be able to fit it all in your mouth at one time!" Ok. What are you betting? I'll take you up on that offer and raise you $10. And I'm not even a betting girl! Yes, these Cheetos are huge. But I tell you what, for a person who used to make a hobby out of stuffing 100+ grapes in her mouth (whole, unchewed), one Giant Cheeto is nothing.
