Belated Bday Update

*This post was supposed to auto-publish on May 8th (two months after my bday, but I guess I didn't do it right. So here it is a few days late.*

I turned 30 this year and if I had been on top of this blog, I would have posted something about it. Instead, two months late will have to do. Here are some of the fabulous celebrations of the big 3-0.

Rainbow cupcakes baked by Amanda.

Okay, this new way to edit posts is causing me some confusion. So I'll just explain the rest of the pictures from top/left to bottom/right. The next two pictures were taken by Amanda. We had our first ladies hangout (meaning no kiddos) as my special birthday treat. First we had a mini sundae at Cheesecake Factory and then red velvet cake at CA Pizza Kitchen. Next, is the photo of the flowers my parents sent to me. Aren't they pretty? I carried them around the apartment, from the living room to the bathroom to my bedroom. Next is the cake that Gina baked for me. Isn't it awesome?!!??! She baked each individual layer and then put it all together. Finally is the cake my dad baked for me, which was an orange cream cake. Yummy!

Other special celebrations included dinner with a few colleagues at the Wheel of Life, a thai vegetarian restaurant (it was delicious) and dinner + karaoke with some of my small group friends (total blast, maybe add video clips for this later).

I posted on Facebook that I was looking at birthdays from a different perspective this year. I am viewing them as inclusive. So not only am I now 30 years old, but I am still 18 years old, 6 years, 12, 16, 25, 9, and so on. Every birthday is a part of who I am.

Baking Continues

So I love to bake. Yum yum. And to eat. But mostly to give it away and enjoy other people eating it. I have baked about 5 banana cakes (dad's recipe with maple cream cheese frosting), 3 batches of brownies (my grandma's recipe), 2 carrot cakes (dad's recipe, simple but delicious), and some number of cookies to bring in to work at the Science Library. With the last batch of carrot cake I made, I had leftover pinapple, so I decided to experiment with a pineapple cherry coffee cake. It came out decently for a first time adapted recipe. The aftertaste is a little tart because there is one cup of non-fat plain yogurt. But the brown sugar topping adds sweetness.

Below is a picture of the brownies I made for Happy non-Valentine's Day (it was February 13th).

I wonder what I will be baking next...

Buying in Bulk

I'm addicted to it. Costco is my doom. So are large shopping carts. To prevent myself from getting to carried away, now when I grocery shop, I just use the hand held carrying basket. Whatever I carry in the store, I have to be able to carry it when I walk home. This has helped. However, recently, I went to Trader Joe's on my way to work to buy one banana to eat that day (since to buy a banana on campus would probably cost $1), and I ended up buying 6! I mean, I was already there and I knew I would eat them (or make banana cake out of them). The problem was carrying them to work and then back home, when I actually again pass TJ's on the walk home. I just love to stock up food and be prepared.

Last night I purchased two movie tickets: one for the Wolverine movie and one for Star Trek. I am going to see the Wolverine movie this afternoon at 4:30pm but it seemed like a good idea to have the ticket purchased in advance. An acquaintance of mine told me that he had already seen the "illegal" copy that has permeated the web and now does not plan to see it in the theaters. As I thought about this, I wondered how many people are not going to see the movie in the theaters because they watched the web version? This could definitely hurt their movie sales (however, this article indicates not so much). And the only reason that makes me feel a little sad is because Hugh Jackman seems like a truly nice guy. Every article I have read seems to confirm this (no, I haven't really read that many but still... ). And as for Star Trek, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! I had considered seeing it May 7 at 7pm (lots of theaters are showing it at this time) but it turns out I am doing some babysitting then. So instead I will be seeing it Saturday morning, 10:45am (bonus: only $6 at this time!!!). I think I will go personally offline May 7 until I see the movie. I don't want to accidently hear or see anything about it. This means no facebook or bloglines, only work related web usage. I look forward to seeing the movie a second time with my brother and parents when I am home in San Jose for my graduation (I'm officially going to graduate from SLIS!!!!!).

P.S. I decided no more apologies to slacking in the blogging. It's just what it is.

Ratatouille Attempt

I like to cook on Sundays. I can start at a reasonable time to make something a little more complicated than a frozen meal or a quickly thrown together salad. I made a quiche a couple of weeks ago, though I do admit to using a Trader Joes frozen pie crust (it was my first pie of any kind). It was fine for a first try. Hmmm, I cooked something else that lasted for a while. Oh yeah, I sauteed brussel sprouts, asian pear, and onion together. This was not bad either but lacked any strong flavor. Today I adventured into ratatouille. This choice was mostly because I wanted to cook tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and onion together. The recipe I found called for a few ingredients I discovered that I do not have (my spices are severely lacking); however, I did purchase an 21-spice thing from Costco, and I decided this would just have to do. Well, I also added some oregano in. All in all, it turned out fine, a little spicy for me (that 21-spice seems to be strong on the pepper-side). I had it sprinkled with shredded parmesan cheese. I've included a picture of it in the big pot I had to use to cook it. Oddly enough I have enough ingredients leftover to cook another batch and I might just do that. [Many thanks to Gina for the discussion on colanders and listening to my rattles as I cooked.]