Mother's Day Brunch in 4 Photos

This year I made a gluten-free brunch for my parents for Mother's Day. It was a triumph and a success, if I may say so myself.

First up, bird's nest shells that have been 6-7 years in the making. (I've had the giant muffin tin with the intention of making this for that long...)

Filled with creamed eggs... Mmmmmmm!

Roasted vegetable "pizzas" with rice crusts. This is the best part, in my opinion. Fresh thyme, roasted tomatoes, chevre, leeks, what more could you ask for in one dish? And, it's pretty.

Finally, a beautiful fresh fruit salad. Big kudos to my dad for making the fruit salad. It was so yummy.

All in all, a mother's day brunch that I'm proud to have been a part of.

Monterey Highlights

So I went to Monterey... I took the train again (which you know I love!) so I'll spare you the pictures this time.

First day we spent doing the mountain bike thing. It was the Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca. It was a beautiful day, and I find bicycles pretty interesting, so not a bad way to spend a day. In the evening we went to the premiere of a mountain bike movie - lots of young men there. Not a bad thing.

Next day we went to San Francisco - Golden Gate, Sausalito, Ghirardhelli, Pier 39, you name it!


On the last day there, we hung out with some friends of el Bro. They're funny people! Then, I climbed back aboard and headed home. I met some great people on the train, and came home feeling quite relaxed.

Birthday Extravaganza!

For my cousin's 30th birthday, we made our way to Las Vegas for the party of a lifetime. But you'll never know what we did, because of course, what happens in Vegas...

Okay, I'll tell you a little bit. Mom & I got there before the rest of our party, so we had dinner at Margheritaville and let me tell you, the food was wonderful! I had chicken tortilla soup and salad and I loved it, which is surprising because I had a migraine and it was quite possibly the noisiest restaurant I've EVER been to.



We spent a lot of our down time by the pool (as it should be) but went out for a fancy dinner to celebrate the big 3-0. We had cute waiters, delicious food, and tasty desserts. It was wonderful!

We also saw several showings of the fountains at the Bellagio.





The other big event of the trip was seeing Cher in concert!!


It was amazing. She changed outfits for every single song and there were fun video clips and montages which made me want to check out the Sunny and Cher show. Looks like it's on amazon...

It's been a busy month or two...

I'm home!!! I have been lazing about the house all day today and will venture out tomorrow. I've sung at the top of my lungs, done dishes, made a dent on the laundry, slept... Good recovery!!! I will post about my travels, but first - a couple things I'd like to share.

Long before I went anywhere, I made fresh rolls and peanut sauce - here they are:

Also, we had a sunny day, which is news. Trust me.

I received my stamp!!!!! I can now stamp things! It says "Professional" and everything.

And, I got a certificate suitable for framing, so I had it framed. It now sits on my desk, which is quite messy.

One evening I was being economical and bought cheese in a big block and used Madeline to shred it. It came out in really pretty curly-ques, so I took a picture.

With help from my friend Firefly, I made the backyard bugs cakes - they're very cute. I forgot to take a picture once they'd been decorated, but it wasn't anything too special, so don't feel bad.

The best part of that baking frenzy (in my opinion) was the cookie cake! I made mousse that was, again in my opinion, heavenly. It was creamy and raspberry-y and mmmmmm....

Then we had another sunny day - again, this is news.

So, there you have it. Some stuff that happened to me. Soon I'll tell you about Vegas and Monterey - both repeat trips, but both FUN!

Granny Squares

Well, I haven't blogged in quite a while, and it looks like I'm going to be pretty busy for the next two weeks, so here are some pictures to hold you over. I can't take credit for any of these pictures (Google image search), but I have been wanting to make granny squares recently, and I'm not allowed to buy supplies for any new projects until I finish a substantial number of the projects I'm already equipped for.

But, on with the show.

First up? A granny square all by itself in shades of coral, with a flower-like color arrangement.

Next, my favorite color combination - a mish-mash with a background of white. Reminds me of 1930's quilts, which I love for the same reason.

Or here: Spring, in blankee form. It looks good enough to eat!

This is a pretty traditional granny square afghan (at least to my limited knowledge of granny squares).

Sometimes they're not so traditional. Case in point, here's a granny hexagon:

And finally, a gigantic granny square. Just ready for cozy-ing and reading a book.

Well, that helped - I can hold off on purchasing large amounts of yarn for a couple more weeks. Although, I'm going to be traveling and crochet could come along...

Fun to come!

I had a Macy's gift certificate AND a 20% off coupon, so I decided that a treat was in order. Look what I found!


It's called Backyard Bugs and I think the cutest part is that it's shaped like a leaf! (Didn't notice that 'til I got it home.) Can't wait to give it a test run! There are some fun pictures of finished cakes online - here's a good one - although it appears to be professional -so don't expect mine to look like this.

While I was wandering around the internet, I stumbled across my next conquest. I seriously want a cookie cake pan! How cute is that, I mean really?

It's from Williams-Sonoma, and I'm considering hopping in my car right now so I can be there when it opens tomorrow. But really, it's going to be a challenge getting to work on time anyway with the time change, so I guess I'll have to put it off until a weekend trip.

In a magical land of peanut butter and chocolate...

Walk with me through the chocolate cupcake mountain range, topped with peanut butter snow. It smells good and it's beautiful.

So, last night/this morning I had one of the more memorable migraines I've had in a while - which means I got a late start on my plans. I did manage to make my goal - and it was so much fun! After whipping up a batch of cupcakes from a box, I made my first ever batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. If you're curious, I used a recipe found here, with help from here on flavoring. Since I'm pretty careful about raw eggs (plus I hate throwing yolks away), I used meringue powder - which worked great. I mixed in creamy natural peanut butter for flavor and added a little bit of salt because all I had was unsalted butter and unsalted peanut butter.

The texture is wonderful to work with - it's smooth and it pipes really easily - WAY faster than spreading frosting on with a knife. It has a glossy finish - very pretty.

The only drawback for me is that I'm not sure if it's going to be my favorite kind of frosting. It seemed a little bit too much like flavored butter on top of my cupcake. I think I need to keep looking for a frosting recipe that is still easy to work with, but more sugar & other flavor rather than butter.