Friends, Love, Food, Travel.

I recently, actually not so recently anymore, went to see my friend Amy in San Francisco. It was a fun day to leave because I subbed a minimum day schedule, got to leave early, come home and eat lunch, finish packing, and hit the road with all of my listening entertainment!

I made Radio Lab cds and sermons from my pastors, and brand new music. I was ready.

It turned out to be rainy on the roads, but I was okay and had my mind off of it!

When I got close to where Amy lives, I needed gas badly, so I pulled over, and when I asked directions to getting back onto the freeway, a very nice man took his time to look it up on his gps and map on his phone for me. He made sure I knew where I was going. I found this patient and generous. When I pulled into a turning lane to make a U turn, he even pulled up next to me and honked to tell me I was going the wrong way, and then asked me to let him in so he could get on the freeway. I found a little unity in a big city. What a blessing in such a silly, kind thing. But attitude and friendliness sure can change the tone and atmosphere one experiences in a city. What power we have to make things different. I know we are all different, and many people might not want to be friendly...

Anyway, Amy and I enjoyed our time very much. We ate delicious food, saw movies we had been wanting to see in boutique theatres, walked a lot and braved some rain and parrellel parking in small spaces, got to know Walt Disney and his family from the roots of his creativity to the dawning of his last dream, Walk Disney World, by visiting his family museum. In one of the areas, there this wall of windows with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I made us take photos.

We ate the most creative doughnuts ever with some good coffee, and caught up on life.

We both often say that it's such a huge relief to hang out with a sister who knows you, really gets up, because you hang out on a deeper level where comfort and a lot of understanding has already been developed. :)

We laughed a lot, too.

We caught up with Amanda, our wonderful friend and sister from Fresno, and went to church in the old Swedish building, which was one of the most unique places I think I've worshiped in. It's not about the building, I know, but I liked it. :) And I loved the spirit during worship. The church was so beautifully loving, respectful, and full of adoration for our God. So wonderful! Afterwards, we drove to where this amazing Mexican restaurant is, and ate lunch, then walked to ice cream. I ate brown butter ice cream and was not disappointed. They had stout flavored ice creams, too, and some famous flavors they're known for.

Then we walked around a huge park where there happened to be an art show happening, and saw some awesome 90's styled roller skaters. Took me back, man! :D So funny.

Amy showed me some goodness of san fran, and not only that, but I mean, Tartine with a huge line worth waiting in for a croissant and coffee to eat, muchly uphill, on our way to church was so fun. Thank you, friend. haha

Beakfast

Over the years, I have slowly grown more in love with breakfast. Growing up, breakfast wasn't a priority for me, and I never ate it, actually. Then, as I learned about health in college, I learned how good it is to eat throughout the day, how it keeps your metabolism stable, and even still, I have continued to learn how important it is to my energy level and brain function! I want my body to have energy to use. Ok, so not only are the health issues of breakfast important for our bodies, but we can love it. :) And have fun with it. I can make breakfast with a feeling or mood in mind, with a culture in mind, with a craving in mind, with a love and appreciation for being in my home in mind, with a visual beauty in mind. I can be creative to use what I have in my kitchen. And this particular morning, I liked what I saw on my plate in the end. :) So simple. I'm not a chef. I just get proud of simple moments of achievement in the kitchen, like making a poached egg. haha Some things bring me joy and satisfaction, and personal satisfaction from the kitchen in one. I'm not fancy or skilled, just joyful and thankful. Crepes, omelets, french toast, and pancakes are a few of my favorite special breakfasts. But on a regular basis, it's usually toast with peanut butter on top as I run out the door in the morning! :) Or toast with peanut butter and bananas topped with a little honey, or a bown of fiber ceral with bananas or some fruit inside, or just a little cinnimon sprinkled. Here's to breakfast: you fill my body, make me happy, satisfy my mind, and help me start the day with energy! hehe...

Baking Lately

Recently I have been craving cinnamon rolls! I never crave cinnimon things, but I had a really gooey, lovely, soft caramelly brown sugary one recently from my friend, Brandy, and it was deligthful! I have been imaging bakeries early in the morning with a comforting warm cinnimon roll through a glass window for about a week now. Finally I thought it would be cozy to make some. So this morning I woke up, and it was like the first thing I thought about besides what time is it? I slept in...

All things yum include a yummy sleep in every now and then. Anywho... I looked up a simple, no yeast recipe since I have no yeast. It was fun.

I had a dream a few minutes ago, during a lazy afternoon nap, that I was making cherry cream ice cream. And it tasted delightful, but it wasn't the consistancy i wanted. I tried to fake like it was better than it was... oh dear! It was a bit icey. I haven't the remotest idea how to make ice cream. Weird!I have been proud of my concoctions lately.

I made these cherry almond cookies half-dipped in ganache. I neglected to take a photo. They were a unique concept, but I think there must be a way to get the cherry flavor to come out more distinctly. They had an overall mild flavor with dark, dark chocolate to cover. I would have liked them less fluffy and crumbly with more density and chewyness.

One afternoon I went to do laundry at my parents, and I said I would bake something when I do that. So I found an eggless muffin recipe, which was great!! I made some eggless banana muffins baked with chocolate chips and brown sugar on top. My parents happened to have caramel, so I filled a few with that before baking, then topped them with a little drizzle after baking. That was fun.

So the next morning I decided to bake the remainder of the dough, but I didn't have caramel at my house. Oh well! They were moist, which was important to me.

My roommate and I enjoyed! :)

On the topic of muffins, I recently tried another eggless muffin recipe. I looked in my baking book, and found a recipe that inspired me with what we had: blue berries, carrots, and almonds. Turned out great! :)

There's this bakery I like to to go to nearby, and it has blueberry chocolate cookies. I have been interested in trying, so I bought some organic blueberries and grabbed my favorite chocolate chip recipe.

I used a technique I read about in my baking book, and after rinsing the blueberries, I rolled them in flour, then added to my chocolate chip dough. In addition, I remembered chocolate and spiceyness go well together. So grabbed some cayanne, and put a good few pinches inside.

Once the cookies were baked, they were big, chewy, blue spotted, and had a nice little kick after swallowing.

One night, Bekah taught me how to make a simple baked brie. She had some extra pastry dough frozen, and simply rolled it out on a floured countertop, placed the entire brie whole inside, covered it with boysenberry jam (fruit filling changeable, be creative), wrapped it up,

and put an egg wash on top. I think we baked it for somewhere around 10 to 15 min.

It was so so delicious, warm, and melty! :)