Sheep Insanity

This is quite possibly the best video I've ever seen. At least in a very long time.

Most of you have probably already seen this, but I am kind of behind the times - I have yet to jump on the texting bandwagon, which puts me in the Level of Coolness Scale right up next to my dolie-crocheting grandma.

That said, it does not diminish the awesomeness of this video, put togeth by men who have way to much time on their hands, or ran out of beer.

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Let's be honest - you guys can really only read about beaches, hiking, and me somehow twisting my ankle so many times before complete boredom sets in. So, in an attempt to do something different and more entertaining, I've decided to have one food-related adventure week, and post about it. If you are like me, and apparently spend too many nights at home, I hope you try some of them!

I must admit, it will probably be mostly baking-centered, because that's just my thing. I'll try to branch out though. But no promises.

My first foray was into making these cute cake sandwiches - since I was making them for Vday, I originally was going to cut them into hearts...but an extremely messy, 30 minute search through my kitchen did not turn up the cutter, so - circles. Nice. Conviction is overrated.

What I love most about this idea is that it's so easy to do with so many different combos to try. Also, it's easy. Did I mention that? As a party bonus it uses a box mix, so I have a scapegoat in case it all goes south, and thus can keep my pride intact.

So. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl. And mix.

And Mix.

And go reread the directions, because it feels like your arm is about to fall off, and there is no way so little moisture could be used to incorporate all these dry ingredients. I was sure there had to be some kind of mistake. My arm muscles were threatening to cede the union. However, it eventually all does work out, so just hang in there.

look at those perfect little balls of cake. I feel like I should be wearing an apron or something.

I used an ice cream scoop to make sure that they were all uniform and would match up when done baking. That little gem came from an old roomate, Sarah Brundrett, who was Cookie Baker Extraordinaire. Se was always making these perfect chocolate chip cookies, which were just barely baked, and looked delish resting on the paper bags she cooled them on. Most people are surprised when I tell them I cannot bake a good cookie to save my life. I can never tell when that magic moment is when they are done enough to still be soft and not under baked, and so I always over bake a bit. I'm sure David wished that some of her cookie magic would rub off on me, but alas. Sorry dear.

Anyway, use a scoop.

After popping them out of the oven, I had a seriously difficult time not eating one. I may have succumbed to the temptation of their pillowy allure. Let's see you try to resist!

Super simple - after cooled, apply your filling of choice, and revel in your completed product, which is sure to draw admiration from friends and family. The possibilities are endless. German chocolate stuffed with carmel pecans and coconut, vanilla cake with strawberry mousse, Chocolate cake with Bailey's Cream filling. Dipped halfway in chocolate. MMM.

My brain is coming up with these things constantly. The Internet doesn't help either. And people wonder why I just can't stick to a diet. Fat tastes too good. I should just become a baker so I can be plump and it will be acceptable proof of the deliciousness of my goods.

I was feeling all proud of myself until I looked at these and thought, 'Son of a.... I think I just made Oreo Cakesters. Dammit.'

It kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Yet somehow, I still managed to worry them down.

Cake Sandwiches

• 1 Box cake mix
• 1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 Eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of cookie batter onto baking sheet about two inches apart. Use a 1/2 inch scoop to make the balls - finished cookies will be around 3" wide.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Fill when completely cooled.

Makes about 24 cookies or 12 cookie sandwiches

Cream Cheese Filling*

• 1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 8 oz. Package cream cheese, softened to room temperature1
• 1 lb. Box of confectioner's sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla

In a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla.
Gradually add sugar and mix until smooth.

*although you can use whatever you'd like instead.

Honolulu Culture - It Usually Involves Lots of Alochol

We keep doing random fun things in Honolulu, and since I never seem to take any decent pictures, I never get around to posting them. I have REALLY got to get over my embarrassment about being that dweeb with the camera. Anyway, here are some vignettes about our nights on the town; something is always happening. Hawaiians will use any excuse to shut down most of downtown and get wasted. It's kind of astounding. I have to call over to the mainland a lot because of my job, and they are always asking me odd things. Most recently, someone asked me if we celebrate St. Patrick's Day over here. In my head I was thinking, 'Sure, we bust out our best grass skirts and meet in the village square to dance under the moon' but my mouth said, "I'm sure they will close down part of the city for a block party.'' And I was right.

Anyway, here is a fun one - The Chinese New Year in Chinatown! David called and said some people from his office were going to go out, and I was floored. 'The accountants are going out!?' So we joined up with them for the New Year celebration. All the roads in Chinatown were closed, and the masses filled the streets. Lanterns and firecrackers were everywhere, along with the constant pounding of drums and seriously creepy dragons. There was a stage where kids and adults had mock fights with traditional weapons, and all kinds of crazy foods I was not brave enough to try. I kept trying to capture the atmosphere in pictures, but it proved impossible. The scale was just too large to fit in the frame.

Also, it was hella dark.

Here are the shots I did manage to get - I must say, in the sea of Asians, my height really did come in handy.




Here we all are at the restaurant, where other people did all the ordering, family-style, so I preceded to eat all kinds of weird things. Luckily, most of them were pretty good. I love eating out at ethnic places with people who know what to order. Although, what is up with this pic? It is highly possible that, since I see these people maybe twice a year, I was too shy and tried to sneak a picture in? More than likely I just bumped the camera and accidentally took a picture.

Look, a dragon! Yay!

David lost me quite a few times, as I would randomly stop and try to get a picture of one of these. They are always spinning and dancing around so fast, when combined with the massive crowds surrounding them, it is really hard to get a decent shot. It was fun though - each set of dragons (they are always in twos?) had their own ceremonial drummers.

adolescents. I watched them switch out with some other kids, and they looked HOT. It's probably pretty stuffy in one of those things.

I had to stop for quite some time and watch this little guy. He was less like a dragon, and more like….a worm. A really, really cute worm. The little kid in there couldn't have been older than 4. There was less dancing and more aimless wandering, but still….super cute. You can see the lady is feeding him an envelope - inside is some money, and wishes for a good year. It is basically an offering for good luck.

We were walking by a restaurant, and I saw this guy pushing his way through the tables. He looks like he's about to devour that old lady. Crazy!

I stopped and watched the ritual that basically every business was undergoing at some point during the night. The dragons would do some special dance facing the doors, and they would set off huge strings of fireworks that were hung from the sides of the roof and stretched all the way to the ground. Whenever they set them off, it sounded like a gang war was going on, and I would promptly go deaf for a few minutes. Considering this was happening at every store for like 10 blocks around us, it was a constant cacophony.


As it got darker, I started noticing that the dragon's eyes all lit up. They freaked me out.

After this, we did some bar hopping, of which I took NO pictures, because I am only a partial dork, which was evidenced by the fact I was wearing jeans instead of the hootchie wear the rest of the world was sporting. I constantly feel like a prude over here, because girls wear tight, short things with heels on everywhere. The Japanese girls even wear their heels on the BEACH. They are crazy about fashion, but that could be a whole different post.

We started at the Dragon Room, which was a cute, tiny over the street hole in the wall that was decorated appropriately for the occasion. Due to claustrophobia, we ended up at the neat bar that had a hidden outside room/bar area that was basically an open square with tons of bamboo to hide the concrete, and lots of comfy seating to hang out. Inside there was the requisite pounding bass music, but they had this huge wall that they were projecting National Geographic shows on? It was random. Maybe it's cool to watch polar bears and cheetahs while getting smashed. I have no idea. Probably because I'm too cheap to actually order enough drinks to ever get toasted. Ha. It was good to see the EY people, though.

This is Mardi Gras. Holy crap.

David and I decided to wander over after work, and see what was going on. Basically, it was people in crazy clothes, lots of bands, and tons of food stalls, which was my favorite part. I love eating from food stalls. I'm not sure why this is. We had some amazing tamales, and sausage and rice, which probably has a specific name, but I'm too lazy to look up. We wandered around, people watching and listening to the different bands, and then headed across the street to grab even more food at our fav spot on Aloha Tower, Gordon Biersch. They had a band, and somehow we managed to eat some more. There is no food challenge we will not rise to.


After that, we headed home. This particular night it was freaking cold, and so I was wearing my only sweater. I think there is some rule that you can't be out past a certain point at Mardi Gras if you're wearing a freaking sweater.

Lily Montage

It's been awhile since I have annyoingly procliamed my dog's Cutest Ever status, so here we go. Lily, in all her glory.

Queen of the Backseat

Hiding after she has been Very Bad.

This half of the couch belongs to her, and any toys she chooses to share it with.

The chair also falls under her domain

'You want to sit here? I don't know...'


'Wait, I'm too cute to evict.'

Sometimes she will share the couch with David. They will actually nap like this for hours.

At least until I wake them up taking pictures.

Vday

For posterity's sake, - Valentine's Day. Even though we don't go crazy on this holiday, I still feel the need to document it.

This year, David made me breakfast in bed, which is awesome, and means I'm going to get that egg in toast thing I love so much, but cannot seem to make for the life of me. I think that must have been the highlight, because I don't remember what else we did. David had planned a lovely picnic at the Fosters Botanical Garden, but the weather turned against us, so we couldn't make it. I was especially sad, because it turned out that he had gotten Brie, and I LOVE BRIE. I will do anything for it. I'm kind of sad that way.

He also got some bread, salami, strawberries and stuff, but... BRIE.

I also made something for the picnic, which I will show you later. Super fun.

The next day we went to this great restaurant that is in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the city. It is a hard feat to have mastered, but they did it. Inside was delightful - in addition to ridiculous amounts of food, there were rivers with saltwater fish and bridges, real vines hanging from the ceiling, and an amazing view of the ocean. It was a buffet, so we proceeded to eat as much as humanly possible. There was everything from eggs Benedict to sushi, crab legs, and chicken katsu, which you just cannot escape over here. I just don’t get it.

Also, it was run by some nice Japanese folks, so of course there was an ice cream machine - right next to the sushi chef. Awesome.

In conclusion - we ate until could no longer walk. The end.

Crazy Commercial

Do you remember in that one Top Chef blog (I'll be amazed if you do) I was like, what they heck is up with that commercial!? It still keeps me awake a night sometimes.

Well, I found it on the Internet! (of course) So now you can share in my perplexedness.

If that's a word.

It is now.

In Which I Have Way Too Much Fun Obamiconizing Things

I was having a slow day, and kind of went overboard with the Obamaize app. You can have your own fun here: http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com/

This is what cupcakes are to me.




David, in all his manly glory


This is for my friend Josh - I couldn't fit 'By the power of Grayskull!" in the caption area.

Courtney and Paul with their now-useless snorkeling gear. How's the water in AR!?

Ok, this next one is totally not mine, but if you watch House, it's hilarious:

Love it.