Good Bye Vacation. You Were SO Good to Me.

Alas, my winter vacation is over. I enjoyed every little drop of it.
Some of my favorite moments:

Seeing my Grandma. She was very ill and came here from the Philippines for medical care. I'm so happy to report that she is strong and doing well. She was doing so well, she asked me A MILLION times if I'm pregnant and if not... why? Then she proceeded to COMMAND Hubby and I to start trying immediately. I love her.

Baby fever in full effect. For now, I will practice holding other people's cute babies.

Hiking with friends. I only went twice, but that is two times more than I have been in the past six months. Winning! I went to Claremont Wilderness Park with some of my yoga/teacher buddies and then I went for a REAL hike with Hubby and his co-workers. I say "REAL" because this one required climbing, getting duuurty, seeing a coyote, and almost dying of butt cramps. I believe that constitutes as a real hike, no? We also brought Sonic along and he actually made it out alive!

We quickly recovered from our long hike with a couple of good eats! Can't get any better than that!

And tired puppy Sonic recovered with a long nap on the car ride home...or was that me? I don't recall.

Experimenting with new recipes! I've been in the kitchen making my very own recipes. I feel like a mad scientist in my kitchen except I'm not mad, but extremely content. Isn't it weird how food can make you feel like that? I can't wait to share them with you. I have 2 that I will post asap! Get ready to cook some delicious meals!

Stay tuned, friends!

Weekend Recap: Meeting a Burger I Did Not Like

Well Happy Monday to ya! I think most everyone I know seems to be happy that this week is a short week. Thanksgiving HERE WE COME! But guys, I take that happy cake.... my fellow teachers and I are off for the whole week....I know I know, we are lucky sons of you know whats. I am loving every minute of it!

This weekend was full of new happenings. First up, I got a new do'. It was about time, too. I was starting to look a little crazy lady there. After I snapped this picture, I was so embarrassed with myself. Talk about letting myself go in the scalp! I haven't had a haircut in over a year!

Good job, Joanna for FINALLY getting a haircut...it's boring...but it'll do.

Moving on....

After playing with my hair for most of the day (so soft) hubs and I went on a double date with my Kuya and Katrina. We went to one of my favorite burger joints!

Their burgers are a step up from fast food burgers, but a step down from gourmet burgers. I love their meat and buns. Rawr!

I also appreciate their amazing condiment and produce station! Build it and they will come. 

Tell me that these stations aren't awesome opossum!

I opted for the Swiss and mushroom burger and it was nummy for my tummy.

Hubs went with a regular bacon cheeseburger and wanted to show off the salt and pepper shakers apparently. He's odd sometimes.

Kuya and Katrina were more daring and got different kinds of meats. I was surprised to see Katrina got an Elk Burger! That's surprising because 99.9% of her meals have only chicken. She's what we'd call a picky eater. But, luckily she's not those picky eaters that I hate...she actually tries things that we offer her no matter how weird they are. Kudos, Katrina! (My Kuya can be very odd. too. Him and Hubs get along just fine.)

I'm the type that would try everything once and I bravely tried the Elk Burger. I immediately spit it out. WHAT? I spit out a burger? I must be out of my mind!! But, I just couldn't stand the gamy taste. ::shivers:: This might go on my list... you know, my food foes list.

After our trip to burger town, we decided to go to what I like to call, Grown-up Chuck E. Cheese!

Dave and Busters is a place where adults can drink their fancy cocktails, eat their fancy chicken strips, and play their fancy race car games. It's a dream, really. 

We danced...like idiots.

We played trivia...like idiots. (Nothing makes your feel worse than not knowing trivial facts that everyone in the world seems to know.)

And then, I found my new favorite game!! FRUIT NINJA! HIYA!

I spent about $10 $20 playing this bad boy! It's super addicting. I mean....it has food AND I'm a ninja for the day! It's a filipino foodie's dream game!

And the best part about Dave and Busters is that you get TICKETS for real prizes! Hubs and I had enough for a blender...no lie.... but we decided to hold out for something better. I have my eye on one of those Chinese thumb trap thingys.

It was a fantabulous weekend! But the thing that made it better was knowing that I don't have work for a whole week! HIYA!!!



Pesto Puffs and Dashing Pups

I really can't speak enough about how much I love pastry puff. I dream of eating it fresh out of the oven with Nutella schmeared all over it, melting from the heat. Oooo baby, you know what I LIKE!

Here are two other recipes and blogposts where I talk about my obsession with this crispy creation.
Mini puffed apple pies
Sweet and Salty Puff Daddy Pastries

This weekend I went to a little Halloween party on Hubby's side of the family. It was so cute!! There were little cousins dressed as Hello Kitty, Joker, Teletubbie, and Raggedy Ann. Even grandma dressed like a vampire!! The food was simple but delicious and the decorations were in full effect. Oh, how I wish I didn't forget my camera!

Bloggers, you know the sad feeling in your heart when you dig through your purse to find that you didn't bring your camera?  Yeah... I had that.

I did manage to snap photos of the little appetizers that I made...well... I managed to snap the process.

Pesto Cream Cheese Puffs
(Pampered Chef Recipe)

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese
Ham
Pesto a la Jar
Puff Pastry
Will power so you don't eat them all

Here are the magic verbs....

(For 20 minutes at 350F)

Again, I didn't remember to take a picture of the finished product. I figured your imaginations are so amazing and vivid, that you could just make up the ending on your own. But, for those of you whose imaginations suck, here is a pretty accurate picture of what it looked like.



Source

HEY! It's all I could find...deal with it. Jokes. That isn't even puff pastry. I would know... I'm a connoisseur of puff.

Moving on....

Yesterday, hubby and I beat some kind of world record for the lamest Halloween turn out. We had a whopping TWO trick or treaters! And to make it worse... I didn't even know what the hell they were dressed as! (But they weren't dressed as skanks so extra candy for them!)

To make the most of the night, Hubby and I set up camp outside and ate our yummy dinner.

Pesto Pasta and Porkchops

As you can see, Hubby was in the spirit of Halloween and dressed up as a man who just got off of work....pretty spot on if you ask me. And lil ol' me? I dressed up as a girl that didn't die from her afternoon run... I jazzed it up with the boob flattening sports bra and beads of sweat. I went ALL out!

And Sonic took home the bacon (he wishes so desperately for that to be true).



He dressed up like Bond...James Bond. So freggin' adorable. I could just eat him....but I wont because that would feed into the stereotype of Asians eating dogs.

Our 1 Year Anniversary

This weekend, Hubby and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. I know this is cliche, but this year was full of ups and downs. Marriage is WORK! Why didn't anyone tell me in their wedding card to us? I thought marriage was all sexy time, laughing, farting, and happiness. I kid. It isn't just ALL those fun things, but there is that too... am I getting too personal? Really, marriage is a lot of work but well worth it. The amount of work you put into a marriage comes back to you ten-fold when pay day comes.... and when taxes come...oh boy.... break out the good sheets.... ok ok, too personal.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, Hubby and I went to San Diego. This is where we celebrated our One Year Anniversary of being boyfriend and girlfriend and where we have decided to take our one year old baby (when he or she comes). Look at us trying to make our own traditions...awww.. aren't we cute?

In good food blogger fashion, I will tell the story of our weekend through the eyes of my stomach. We ate magnificent food that I couldn't wait to show you guys! Watch, watch!

We chose this place because it was where we ate dinner the first time we came to celebrate.

Fresh tortillas made in the entrance to entice you.... smart move. I just wish she handed out samples. How do you say samples in Espanol? I thought the drool on my chin would give her a clue but she was too busy "working."

 

Carne Asada Fries.... Oh Dios Mio!

Carnitas and Chili Verde.

Bunelos to top it all off. Hubby and I thought my Bunelos were better.

The next morning, I took the Facebook advice from my friend Theresa to visit this place.

Theresa recently graduated from Le Cordon Bleu, so I knew she meant business when recommending this. Also, the fact that there was a TWO HOUR WAIT made it clear to us that we, one, were in for a treat, and two, are insane for spending our day waiting that long for breakfast.

We were also insane for walking a block down the street to get a snack while we waited. Ok FINE, I was  am insane. I couldn't take it, so I bought a croissant...filled with warm Nutella...as a breakfast appetizer. Damn, that sounds even worse when you say it out loud.

Of course, the second I finish licking the last shmear of Nutella off of my fingers, we were called to our table. I ordered a Hash....with veggies to balance the Nutella I had earlier that hour and Hubby went with the chicken and waffles.

We were very full after this, almost to the point of taking a needle and popping our own stomachs to relieve the pressure on our more important organs... like our hearts.

Yet, we marched on and for dinner we went fancy time to Morton's Steak House. This place is legit. Hubby had the Ribeye Steak, while I went for the "smaller portion" Ribeye Steak. We shared potatoes and grilled asparagus.

We also shared a chocolate lava cake, because meat is just not enough to keep a girl satisfied.

We made the mistake of eating rather late and let me tell you, going to bed with a tummy full of steak makes you feel like a bear going to its Winter nap..... except add a whole mess of crazy ass dreams.

On our actual anniversary, we celebrated at the restaurant that catered our wedding. Nostalgic.

The food was great. I ordered a Bacon Spinach Salad (because nothing says salad like bacon) and Penne a la Vodka, while Hubs had the lasagna and half of the bread basket.

 

And lastly, to end our journey through these mountains of ridiculously portioned meals, we ended our trip reminiscing about our Honeymoon in Maui. We Yelped the best Hawaiian place around.

This hole in the wall eatery was SO good that I forgot to take pictures of the amazing chicken teriyaki that I had.

Or the amazing chicken katsu that hubby inhaled.

You'll just have to trust me on this one.

This trip was much needed for our hearts and our tummies. We had an amazing time remembering the past six years and the last six meals. We had a chance to think about what we can do to improve our marriage and what we can do to make life happier for each other. We spent the weekend laughing, eating, and enjoying each other's company. It was perfect.