Last Weekend

Last weekend, my sister got engaged!  

Her fiancé planned quite the production, an elaborate plan that about 40 people were in on, and managed to keep secret for a month, a feat in itself!  On Friday afternoon, he picked her up from work in a stretch limo, proposed with a gorgeous ring, and then drove to a rustic hotel to "celebrate with a drink."  Little did my sister know, that a surprise party of 40+ close family and friends were waiting in the wings to surprise her yet again.  My mom and I were a big part of the surprise, since all of the other guests live in LA (we had flown down early Friday morning, unbeknownst to her).  

The best part, my sister called me from the limo, squealing "Guess what? I'm engaged! AHH!!"  Of course, at this time, I was waiting in the dark, crowded amongst 30 of her closest friends and family.  After some "subtle" shushing, and maneuvering into a quieter room, I relayed my excitement and congratulations, without her getting suspicious.  Assuming I was still in Seattle, she sent me a picture and described how they were celebrating the rest of the evening, or so she thought... A few minutes later, the limo arrived, and he led her up the candlelit stairs.  When the lights were turned on, everyone shouted "SURPRISE!" and "CONGRATS!"  She was totally stunned (there might have even been a few mascara tears)... 

After the champagne celebrations at the hotel, we celebrated across the street at their apartment, where earlier in the day we had laid out a beautiful spread of appetizers, snacks, and beverages.  All in all, it was such a happy day, and my sister was beaming ear to ear throughout.  I'm so glad I was there to partake in their special day.  Can't wait for the wedding!

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Weeknight Baking: Strawberry Banana Bread

I was immediately charmed by this recipe the second it popped up on my pinterest screen, strawberry banana muffins, two of my favorite flavors together in one!  

I happened to be petsitting my parents dog, and knew my mom (who always keeps a stocked fridge) had fresh strawberries on hand.  Perfect!  I gathered together all the ingredients and started mixing.  However, my parents are in the process of moving, and I only realized after I had three bowls of mixed liquid and dry ingredients that the muffin tin had already been packed.  Whoops!  So much for planning ahead.  

No problem, I improvised.  I luckily found a 9 x 13 bread pan, alone and perhaps forgotten during the packing process in a dusty cupboard.  I did end up baking it significantly longer that the muffin recipe suggests.  Every few minutes I did a toothpick test, and when the top was golden brown, the toothpick emerged clean. I wasn't sure how this recipe would translate to a bread, but it was delicious, flavorful, and most importantly moist (there's nothing worse than an over dry bread!).

Definitely making this bad boy again!  Glad to find a banana bread recipe that includes strawberries for some seasonal baking delights.

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An Announcement

So guys, I have some news.  

Hopefully this will explain my recent lack of posting and why I've been M.I.A. from the blog world recently.  Can you guess? 

 I'm pregnant!

My husband and I are over the moon!  I'm currently a few weeks into the second trimester.  We're so excited to welcome a little one into our family in late August!  Thanks for sticking with me through my blogging silence, I'm hoping to pick up the posting now that my secret is out!  We don't know the sex yet, but are finding out in April. 

Stay tuned...

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These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Sorry I'm a week behind on my favorite things posts, my bad.  There's been a lot going on around here, stay tuned for a follow up post to explain...

In the mean time, here's another one of my favorite things, Origins Drink Up face mask.

I've tried many a mask in my hey-day, what girl hasn't?  Many slumber party memories include "beauty sessions" involving many a drug store face mask paired with cucumber eye patches.  I would consider my skin combination, oily at times, dry at times, but temperamental to unsuspecting breakouts as a result of trying out new products.  As a result, I'm a bit wary to try anything new on my face, especially a face mask, which has the potential of mobilizing into a break out machine.  

However reluctant I was, I inevitably tried this mask at the recommendation of the make-up artist who did my wedding make-up!  This 10-minute mask isn't aimed to deep clean or exfoliate, it's sole purpose is to rehydrate your skin.  And I can honestly say that after using it, my skin feels soft and supple, and very hydrated, believe it or not!

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Weeknight Baking: Grapefruit Olive Oil Poundcake

I'm a little behind on blogging this week, but I have a baking adventure to share.  Another Smitten Kitchen recipe complete.  With a few spare grapefruits on hand, it seemed the perfect time to try this recipe, Grapefruit Olive Oil Poundcake from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook.  Plus, I just purchased a new portrait lens for my camera this week, a 50mm 1:1.8 G, which turned out to be ideal for pound cake close ups.  :)

While I love grapefruit, I found this cake was almost too grapefruit-y, if that's even possible.  The syrup, glaze, and poundcake all are infused with grapefruit juice and/or zest.  However, having said that, the glaze really added an delicious oomph I appreciated.  I also used Trader Joe's gluten-free all purpose flour for the first time, which worked nicely.  While I probably won't be baking any grapefruit cakes again anytime soon, I may try using this recipe, but substituting in oranges or blood oranges for the citrus component.

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Adventures in Snowshoeing

One our second to last day in Big Sky, my family took a break from skiing to create some fresh tracks via snowshoeing.  Think snowshoeing sounds like an easy workout?  Think again!  We hiked several trails, including "Bullwinkle" and "Creekside," through a snow cloaked national park.  Sure enough, the sky was blue and big, very fitting for this cozy town of the same name.  While we layered our clothes to stay warm, the bright shining sun warmed us as we hiked, illuminating the fluffy white snow.  

The scenery was beautiful, quiet and pristine.  The green trees dappled with snow, branches boasting fingers of icicles, sometimes you just had to stop and look around to take it all in.  There's nothing quite like a winter wonderland.  Plus the fun of creating our own trail of fresh tracks as we cheerily joked, "Hi Ho, Hi Ho," along the trail, (seriously we did, my sister has an entertaining video to prove it).

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Weeknight Baking: Olive & Sea Salt Challah

Alright, one recipe down!  I was inspired by my friend Anna who recently blogged about the ease of baking bread.  When flipping through Smitten Kitchen, I spied this recipe, fig, olive oil, and sea salt challah.  I omitted the figs for lack of ingredients on hand, and used wheat flour instead of white.  The final product was successful, the challah was slightly denser than what I was hoping for, but the flavor was intact. Next time, I'll be sure to use white flour for the authentic challah texture.  Looking back, challah was probably not the easiest choice for a first time baker, but overall, I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at bread baking.

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