We hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. It went as great as I had hoped. The food was delicious (my In laws took care of the turkey,and other side dishes) ,we prepared appetizers, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and Hub’s aunt took care of dessert. It was a team effort! We had too much food as usual and everybody took home left overs after. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, spending time with family and friends while enjoying yummy food. I cannot believe that Christmas is almost here (4 weeks!) I plan to put up our Christmas tree tomorrow and decorate our house. It really is my favorite time of the year, celebrating Jesus birth!
Thanksgiving table 2013Appetizer/cheese platterside dishesfood and familydessert“people of walmart” convohappy thanksgiving
My husband turned 34 years old yesterday! With all the holiday dinners this last week, we decided to have a late celebration with his family next week. He wanted to have sushi for his actual bday meal and we have a new sushi place in our neighborhood that we wanted to try, so off we went! The place was great and the sushi too. We love that the owner stopped at our table and really tried to explain to us where they get their fish and how he runs his place. We will be back for sure (it’s only 3 minutes drive from our house!). Anyways, Happiest birthday to my hubs, the most loving and patient person I know. I love You Ga! You’re my fave:)
The Birthday Boy!🙂saba (makeral), hamachi (yellowtail), hamachi belly, sake (king salmon), blue fin tunatoro, uni, ikurasweet shrimp!
We had our friends over for dinner last night. It was just nice to have them over and have fellowship before the busy Thanksgiving week (we are hosting btw,and it’s a little busy in our house already!). We prepared steaks and have the usual steak side dishes like mashed potato (we made our favorite smoked gouda mashed potatoes), mushrooms, salads,caramelized onions. I wasn’t able to take pics because I got busy and forgot! It was all delicious, especially the steaks! You can never go wrong with filet mignon. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week with family and people you care about. I wish I had all my family with me this time of year (my mom and siblings, nephews). Even if I’m not going to share a Thanksgiving meal with them, I’m so grateful for them. Happy Thanksgiving week. Bring on the holiday cooking!:)
my simple table setting!🙂thankful for Godly friends!🙂preparing desserts!filet mignon!YUM!Vanilla cream brûlée!
Saturday was my birthday and hubby wanted to know what I wanted to do. A weekend getaway with him would be nice especially with the holidays ahead of us (we are hosting Thanksgiving this year,so it will be a little chaotic around here). I wanted to visit the Oregon coast but with the weather we have here in the Pacific NW, I don’t think we’ll like it this time of year. So we decided on San Diego because of the nice sunny fall they have there. We loved it there, I can’t believe the weather we had last weekend close to 80’s. So opposite from Seattle. Anyways, we did the tourist things like Seaworld, SD zoo, SD safari, Coronado Island, Mission Beach, Old Town. It was a great 4 days with my Hubs, exploring a new city and enjoying the warm weather and eating yummy food. My kind of Birthday Celebration. Thank you Lord for another year you gave me.
Christmas at Seaworldshamu (killer whales)Mission Beach!Mission Beach with my Hubs!Coronado IslandBirthday Dinner at Fleming’sFilet mignon,lobster mac and cheese, Rib eye!San Diego Safari ParkMama Panda!Old Town, SDafternoon latte in Little Italy!Bday gifts!so spoiled:)🙂
It’s been a busy day of shopping for me today because most of the stores are having sales this week especially in the baking sections. So I’m stockpiling the basics like sugar, flour and butter. My favorite store this week was Fred Meyer (Kroger affiliate) because of their cheese and butter sale. I also stopped at target to check their clearance for their halloween candies. They normally will have 70% off after halloween, I did score a lot of candies and I will send them to my family and friends back home in the Philippines. I don’t buy “junk food” unless they’re on sale. I believe it’s fine to have these treats in moderation. I’m not a big fan of chocolates/candies unless it’s Kit-kat (they’re my guilty pleasure). I used coupons on my Fred Meyer trip (mostly store coupons) ,didn’t use any on my Target trip.
Retail Price:$140, I paid $30 (target)Fred Meyer: Retail Price:$40, I paid:$20! I’ve been wanting to try this new starbucks coffee but I find it too pricey and I know that they will go on sale so I waited (for 3 weeks) and today was the day to get them(i had a good coupon). I also wanted to try the organic mascara.(i also had a coupon for this.)Fred Meyer – Retail price:$60, paid $26
On a more serious note: I would like to ask for prayers for my home country, the Philippines. They just experienced Super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) . It’s so heartbreaking with what happened in the last 2 days; hundreds died, lots of missing people, millions of homes damaged. We Filipinos are resilient and we’ll get back up again. Prayers for healing and God’s protection for the country. Deuteronomy 31:8.
With all of the apples we got from our Apple Picking adventure, we had to do something with them (aside from apple juice, apple sauce) we decided to look for a recipe thats easy and quick. This recipe was from marthastewart.com, and I’m gonna save this recipe because it was really good (according to my husband and In-laws) and will probably make this again in the future. I’m not really into baking but Zach’s been encouraging me to try it and expand my cooking skill. I really don’t like measuring things. If you have extra apples, I would recommend that you try this recipe. Happy Baking!
I used mixed Apples(recipe called for Granny smith)cinnamon🙂calamariqueendone!🙂perfect with ice cream
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Using an electric mixer or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture forms pea-size pieces. Press 2/3 of the mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up the side of a 9-inch springform pan.
STEP 2
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel apples, cut into thin slices, and place in a bowl. Pour off any accumulated liquid. Toss apple slices with remaining teaspoon cinnamon and lemon juice, and put them in the prepared pan, pressing down gently as you pack them in (they will mound above the edge of the pan). Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top.
STEP 3
Put the pan on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and let the cake cool in the pan to set. Serve at room temperature.
I’ve always wanted to experience Apple Picking for the last couple of years since I’ve been here in WA, but for whatever reason Zach and I didn’t do it. This year I was determined to do it as part of our “fall bucketlist” and we are so glad we did, because it was so much fun. It’s safe to say it’s going to be a fall tradition for us. Zach found a family owned farm in Sedro-Wooley WA (Jones Creek Farm) and their apples are organic too. We had to travel for almost 2 hours just to get there, but it was worth it. It wasn’t that bad and Riley was so good the whole time. We are so proud of him! He loves it whenever we bring him with us. He had so much fun at the farm, sniffing everything, running around and helping us pick our apples. We picked 20 pounds of Apples, and we already baked some (we just made Apple Pie Cake last night) and we are thinking of making apple sauce also, and will probably juice the rest of our harvest.
🙂loving this experiencesuch a waste of organic apples!YUM!Green apples!Riley what are you doing?Riley wants this pumpkin!My Loves!
It’s officially fall here in the Pacific North West, with the rain and the wind out there, summer is gone. With the weather like this, I for sure will make a lot of stew and soup dishes in the coming weeks. I subscribe to Rachael Ray’s magazine, ‘Everyday with Racheal Ray’ and this recipe looks so easy and has basic pantry ingredients. The Hubs thinks the dish was okay and didn’t care for the stew so much (he likes thicker stew) but I liked it and will most definitely make this again. I used my Le Creuset instead of my crockpot. I had a busy day yesterday and it was just too late to use the crockpot.
Recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray (october 2013)Beef and PotatoDinner’s ready!YUM!
A couple of weeks ago the Hubs and I watched The Sounders vs Chivas USA soccer game in Seattle. Zach used to play soccer but not anymore. Before the game, we had dinner with Zach’s co-workers at this yummy beer and sandwich joint ( I can’t remember the name now, but it was a really tasty place). It was our first time to watch a Sounders game and it was so much fun. We totally had a great time and we decided to watch another game next month. I wish we still had the NBA/ Sonics playing here. I would be watching their games for sure! Basketball is my favorite sport to watch. BTW, Sounders won!
Typical Grey Afternoon in SeattleMy HubsUSA flag🙂Thank You to Zach’s co-worker that gave us this sounders scarf!:)we have the craziest fans here!celebration after the game
Washington State Fair (formerly known as The Puyallup Fair) is the biggest fair and the busiest fair in the state. We always try to visit every year, and it’s always so much fun every time. We made it a family affair with my In-Laws. It’s always nice to do that kind of thing with them because they enjoy walking around the exhibits too. As usual, we ate too much fair food for the day! We watched some dog and horse shows (dogs were too cute, too bad Riley couldn’t join us). Until next year WSF!
WSF 2013Horse showBBQ Chicken and RibsPulled Pork sandwich😉Giant Pumpkinswith my In Laws
