le cook book

 This year for my sister's birthday, I decided to make a cook book. Let me tell you... hard hard work. Typing up recipes and formatting everything up in InDesign. But after getting past all the fonts and finding all of the cute vintage images, it was well worth all of the hard work. Even Gus pitched in and helped with the wrapping.

our one year anniversary

 This past Saturday Matt and I celebrated our one year dating anniversary. Technically, we never dated one year, but we wanted to celebrate anyways. We had planned on maybe going to San Francisco for the day but decided to have a nice, quiet meal to ourselves instead. It was a great choice. Matt had dinner planned out and worked so hard the day before, prepping and working away in his office. We both wanted it to be a surprise so I made sure to steer clear of his way and kept from sneaking a single peek. So the day of, I got up early and did my end of the cooking and made some ciabatta bread for Matt's bruschetta and a banana cream pie for dessert.

 After I was done cooking, we stopped by at our neighbor's apartment to drop some coffee cake and bread off that I had made and chit chatted for an hour or two (what a sweetheart she is btw!). After, Matt gave me the boot, and sent me off to the library. I then went to Safeway (since the library closed at 5) and watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I was beginning to lose my patience though; a pregnant woman is a hungry woman. I needed food! Probably didn't help that I was in a grocery store... But an hour later, I finally got the call to come home so I could get ready before we ate. I grabbed a bottle apple cider and some dusty pink roses as a surprise (Matt had already gotten cider and roses though, but now we have extra). Around two hours later Matt was finally ready to go. We both had worn matching colors, which was unplanned, and made things even more special. I closed my eyes and he walked me into our kitchen where I found the most beautiful dinner setting awaiting me...

He even made menus for our dinner!

 Everything was delicious! We had a wonderful evening. I got teary eyed a couple of times because I felt so special and loved. If only the next day went as well... I had an accident at home and took a spill and dislocated my shoulder... AGAIN! Nothing like a trip to the hospital to bring you out of anniversary bliss.

 I'm just glad the baby was okay and didn't get injured in the fall. Plus the hospital staff was super sweet and loved my sense of humor. I told them I wanted a tour of the hospital that I would be delivering at, so I intentionally popped my shoulder out of place to do just that. (Below is a picture of me at the hospital last year in July. I had dislocated my shoulder for the first time on a trampoline)

 How was your weekend?

Blackberry turnovers

What you'll need:

• 1 box frozen puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farms)
• Blackberries or any other type of berry will do
• Flour
• 1 egg, scrambled
• Powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

1. Defrost the puff pastry overnight. Spread some flour on a cutting board or a marble slab and roll out the dough with a rolling pin till it reaches a rectangular shape. (Note: Puff pastry gets warm and sticky fast so work as quickly with the dough as possible).
2. Next, cut the sheet of puff pastry into four squares and then place berries in the center of each piece of pastry.
3. Now to seal the pastry closed, spread the egg all along the edges of each pastry and then fold the pastry over to form a triangular shape.
4. Bake turnovers for 20 minutes and in the meantime mix some powdered sugar with water to make the frosting and once turnovers are done, drizzle the frosting over the turnovers.

the blackest of berries & the sloppiest joes

 The other day Matt and I decided to go down by the river to pick some blackberries. Let me tell you one thing about my husband; he is a berry picking fool. This man would not leave until we had a full bucket of blackberries. The bad thing about blackberry bushes, is the amount of thorns on every vine. It's almost impossible to reach ripe berries without getting scraped or cut. So best wear some boots and jeans when venturing into these thorny bushes. Another thing to be aware of (especially in the nor cal area) are the snakes. Rattle snakes to be specific. I was about to venture into a bush, combat boots and all when my husband persisted on going in first. He took one big step in and scanned the ground and let out a gasp. "Snake!" We both hightailed out of there as if we had seen a boogie man. I had the hibbidy-jibbidies just thinking about getting struck by a snake. I no longer went off the path to get berries but stayed on the bike trail to remain out of harms way. But we didn't come back home empty handed after the whole snake fiasco. In fact, we came home with at least a little over a 3 pounds of berries. So we rode our bikes back home, victorious and hungry. That night, we were going to have sloppy joes. I was particularly excited to eat sloppy joes since I hadn't had them since I was a kid. Although sloppy joes are considered a poor man's meal, I found the ones my husband made to taste excellent! He had used his own spice mixture too.

I can't wait to cook with these little juicy morsels!

While Matt was cooking I found Gus digging through his laundry. It looked as if he was digging his head into Matt's underwear....

Caught you in the act didn't I?  You little stinker!

We enjoyed our meal out on our porch with a couple of blackberry freezes while we watched the sunset.

We went to the river again today to do some water coloring.

 I'm really enjoying the summer weather and the berries that come along with the season. I also just started and finished a book today called "Still Standing" by Carrie Prejean. A former Miss USA contestant, and also a former Miss California pageant winner in 2009. I loved her book. It only took me around 6 hours to read. I definitely recommend it, especially if you remember watching her in the Miss USA 2009 competition.

Katelyn's Pear Salad

Ingredients:

• romaine lettuce or spinach leafs 
• 1 pear sliced
• toasted walnuts, chopped
• crumbled blue cheese
• diced onion
• diced roma tomato
• 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt & pepper
• parsley

 Prepare lettuce and toppings. Then blend all of the wet ingredients along with the seasonings and viola! A very simple yet delicious summer salad. Be sure to add what you want! Make it your own.

Another interview

Flowers I picked today after getting some blackberries.

Ready to go to another interview.

Sweet & sour chicken with pineapple.

Super easy and cheap meal to make (especially with a rice cooker).

Matt came back with a smile and said the interview went great. How does this guy do it?

Mom's famous mole (mo-lay) sauce.

First, stretch and get ready for some serious cooking!

Get those chillies heated-up.

Grade some cheese.

Blend the chillies.

Combine with onion, garlic and tomato mixture.

Add some dark chocolate, peanut butter, and syrup.

Simmer and sit.

Then put everything together, cook...

and enjoy!

oishii desu ne

  Today, Matt and I shied away from all the bbq pits and grills to get some peace and quiet in the great indoors. We decided to have a sushi night. Let me tell you, I love being married to a man that's half Japanese. Not only does Matt love sushi, but he loves to help cook as well. What a guy! We spend a lot of time together in the kitchen. I find cooking a great way to bond and it has become one of my favorite things to do. Especially after a long day like today. We went on a bike ride to the beach in almost 100 degree weather. But it was nothing that a little dip in the freezing river water couldn't fix.

Presentation is key!

We tackled the dishes earlier on so we could enjoy our evening after our meal. I'm ready to relax and cool off after a long day.