Another bust!

Homemade bread was always one of life's mysteries to me. Growing up, the closest encounter I had to fresh baked bread was driving past The Rainbow Bread factory off the 980. Somewhat pathetic, but it would always smell so wonderful, especially in the early evening hours. On Thanksgiving, my mom would go all out and buy the ready to bake rolls, which were always a treat for us. The point is, we were not really a bread making family.

For our first Thanksgiving, Andrew and I were on our own and decided it would be fun if we did the whole Thanksgiving spread. We each had requests of what we wanted to have for dinner and one of Andrew's was homemade rolls. Since I was tackling my first turkey (stuffing and all), Andrew was in charge of the home made rolls. His rolls turned out beautifully. So light and fluffy.

It seemed easy enough, so a little while later, I started a series of sad attempts at making homemade rolls. I have tried four times and each time time was a slight variation on disaster. Now, four times may not sound like I've given it much effort, but I can assure you that each attempt has been given calculated concentration and the old college try on my part. At first, I thought maybe it was our apartment that was the problem, (our first apartment was quite cold and damp and I came to the conclusion this is why my rolls would not rise). After all, I followed the recipe to a T. Considering that our new apartment is not cold or damp, I was excited that somewhere down the line I could finally make rolls that would rise. However, this past weekend I attempted making rolls again with the same unfruitful result, flat as pancakes. Quite the opposite of light and fluffy. Here are some pics to prove it. Unless anyone has some tips that will solve all my bread making problems , I think I'm about to throw in the kitchen towel. I'll just have to make sure I drive my kids by a bread factory so they know how wonderful the smell of freshly made bread is.

Cal Shakes

While commuting to school, along the freeway I always pass this sign that says, 'California Shakespeare Festival.' I have been curious about it for years. Mostly thinking as I quickly pass by, 'that'd be fun to go to sometime.' All I really knew about it was that it is an open air theater and you can bring a picnic to eat before hand. Well, Andrew and I are still on our old single ward's emailing list and about a week ago we got an email stating they would be playing An Ideal Husband that week. I love that play! I should make the disclaimer that I have never actually read the play, but I've seen the movie and it is hilarious! I mentioned the idea of going to Andrew and he quickly made the disclaimer he has been wanting to go for a while now. Allegedly, he has even mentioned it several times to me. I can't believe I missed the opportunity to go earlier! I swear I'm a good listener; isn't that suppose to be the number one trait of a therapist?! Anyways, we ended up getting tickets, packing a tasty picnic, and heading off to the play with my parents.

If you're gonna eat some calories, I suggest this treat!

Years ago, my sister Melanie came up with this REALLY great tart recipe. Besides being with family, we all loved it when we got together because she would usually make some tarts. It was kind of this big mystery how she did it. One day, while I was having a pregnancy induced craving, I needed some tart! So, I called her up and got the recipe and she was very glad to pass it on. And truthfully it is not that hard! It is just a two step process. As a warning, it does call for a lot of egg!

CRUST (this makes two 9 inch crusts)
-1 cup butter room temperature
-1 cup sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-4 egg yolks
-2 3/4 cup floor
-1/8 teaspoon salt

*you mix the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes. add vanilla and one egg yolk at a time, mixing together in-between. add salt and floor all at once and mix together (it will be crumbly). divide the dough into two and you can immediately roll it out to make two crusts or you can freeze one portion of the dough or both and save till later. I find it easiest to roll out the dough on some wax paper. It makes it easier when flipping the dough into the pan.

FILLING (this only makes filling for ONE tart. What you can do, since the dough recipe makes two crusts is, freeze one portion of crust dough and save it for later or just double the filling recipe if you want two tarts)
-1 cup milk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 cup sugar
-3 egg yolks
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1 tablespoon floor
-1 teaspoon butter
-1/2 cup un-whipped heavy whipping cream

*Take dry ingredients and mix. add milk and cook over stove top until boiling. take part of boiling mixture and put into a separate bowl and add egg yolks. mix egg mixture with a fork quickly. then add egg mixture back to stove top mixture and boil. take off heat and add vanilla and butter. place in fridge until cooled completely. then whip 1/2 cup whipping cream and add to filling mixture when it is completely cooled (if not you're whipping cream will melt and the filling will be runny).

*Then of course you put the filling into the crust and decorate with whatever fruits you love! It works best if you have a tart pan, but you can do it with a pie pan. If you use a pie pan, the crust won't go all the way up the pie pan edges. It will probably only go up about halfway, which is fine because there isn't enough filling to fill a whole pie pan. Tart pans are much shorter. ENJOY (and if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them)!

We're not getting bigger, the room is getting smaller!

Here's a conversation Andrew and I had today. I was talking about this pregnancy book I've been reading and how they described an expectant mother's weight gain. For 2nd trimester it is described as, "gains weight easily" and for 3rd trimester it is, "starts to pack on the pounds." Not too encouraging word choice for someone who is about to launch into their 3rd trimester.

Then I said, "You know, my shirts are getting smaller."

Andrew replied, "I . . . uh . . . don't think that's the case. There is another explanation."

It was actually quite funny. Of course my shirts are not getting smaller...I'm just getting bigger. Only when I'm pregnant is Andrew allowed to say such things!

From DC to Oakland

So my sister and her family came to visit this past week. We had loads of fun and ended up going all over the bay area. We hiked in the red woods, well took a stroll, after all the kidlets aren't that old, went to San Fran, had some tasty pizza, visited the trolley museum, shopped in China Town, went to Marine World Six Flags, and had plenty of family dinners and game nights. Here are some pics, mostly of Marine World. That was the only day I remembered my camera. I also find it interesting we've gone to three amusement parks since I've been pregnant. What's the deal with that?! Not that I don't love dolphin and whale shows, but I find it somewhat ironic that as soon as I can't go on any rides we go to all the parks.


This is Andrew and my nephew David. It was his first roller coaster and he barely made the height requirement (David that is)...we think he liked it.


This is my Dad and David on another child appropriate ride. David said he couldn't look up at the camera because he was too busy driving the car. He was pretty excited about this one.


My Mom and I relaxing while we wait for others to go on a ride.

Andrew and I with George in the background.


And finally this is my niece, Abigail and I at our slumber party! After her pedicure, we stayed up late watching a movie and eating way too much ice cream. We're going for favorite Aunt and Uncle!

Andrew was right!

So let me explain this picture. About a month ago, Andrew saw me sitting on top of our pedestal sink. Your first question may be, 'why were you even sitting on a pedestal sink?' Well, it just so happens there are lots of reasons to do so. You can clean the mirror better, putting on make-up is easier, and plucking is a hundred times more effective. However, Andrew immediately started freaking out, which he never does, so this was quite the phenomenon for me. He explained that it wasn't safe for me to be doing such a thing because the sink was actually not very stable on the pedestal (it is a very big sink for such a small pedestal). Unfortunately, about a week later, he again caught me doing the same thing. That didn't go over to well either. So we came to an agreement; I would never sit on the sink again and he would never be allowed to stand underneath waterfalls (I'm afraid a rock is going to come loose and land on his head or maybe even a big fish...strange thought, but there you go.) However, a couple weeks later I found myself climbing onto the pedestal sink again. As I was sitting there, I suddenly remembered that I had promised never to sit on it again (bad habits are hard to break). Just as I was about to get off, I suddenly felt myself falling down! And the next thing ya know I'm on the floor with the pedestal sink collapsed next to me. It turns out the sink was never actually bolted to the wall, but instead only glued to the layers and layers of paint. I had to call Andrew and sheepishly confess. I felt like a five year old telling their mom that they snuck some candy. With four trips to Home Depot it is finally fixed. Now, it is not only glued to the wall, but also safely bolted into some nice solid wood. It's just too bad that Andrew has a free pass to stand underneath waterfalls, I hope he doesn't get conked on the head. Although, then he'd have to tell me I was right!

Whacha got in there?

IT'S A GIRL!

Take me out to the ball game!

Well, we finally got a picture of us at a baseball game. Andrew and I have been going to games for a couple of years now and I can remember going to baseball games since I was in the second grade. The best was when my mom dropped me off at school and asked, "Hey you want to go to a baseball game this afternoon?" Of course my response was "Yes." With a convincing note about how I had to go to the doctor that afternoon, we were off to the game! At the ballpark, I always got to choose one special treat. I always went for the red ropes because they were the biggest of all ballpark treats. What kid wouldn't use that rational when buying candy? So, the point of all this rambling? I have many fond memories of baseball games on both fine afternoons and cold nights alike, with no pictures to show for it. This marks the first picture I've taken at an A's game and I have the blog to thank for it (what's a post without a picture?!). I'll have to make sure we don't wait so long to take a pic of our little one at an A's game.

We went with my family to last night's fireworks game and had quite a nice time. Good company and a great game. We won 9-2 with a very exciting 3rd inning filled with home runs, triples, and fun errors made by the other team! To top it off, there were some great fireworks to celebrate. Go A's!

Food, fireworks, fog and the plumber's apprentice

Happy 4th of July! Although, it's a little late to say it, it is not too late to tell you about how we celebrated. We had a nice relaxing day that ended with us heading out to San Fransisco. We took a nice long walk from the Bart to the farthest pier and had a picnic before watching the fireworks. We arrived about an hour before dark and found a nice spot with a view of Alcatraz and the bay. We were all set to watch the show when this showed up and the fog rolled in to obstruct our view. Instead of seeing bright fireworks we just saw colored fog. Not to complain, because on our way back home, a firetruck parted the crowd with siren blaring and stopped right in front of us. The firemen then casually put out a dumpster fire. The crowd cheered louder for the extinguished dumpster than for the fireworks. In fact, I do think it might have been the most entertaining part of the evening. Here we are right before we staked our claim for the evening.

Giant Stinky Flower

So Melissa read in the paper that the UC Berkeley botanical gardens had a giant corpse lily in bloom. Well, we went up there to check in out, but we missed the rotten smell by a few days. Evidently, these flowers only bloom (and stink) for about 10 hours every 13 years or so. Melissa was able to get close enough to smell remnant odor and concluded that the botanists were right about the rotten smell. After the flower blooms, it starts to close back up and this is the stage that we saw. Even folded up, it was still pretty impressive.


Moreover, I got a real kick out of the head botanist who was talking about the flower. Excluding the evil villain part, he was just like Stefano played by Count Olaf played by Jim Carey in Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events. I just couldn't get over the similarities.