If you read this blog at all regularly, you know by now that I love pancakes. I usually whip them up a couple times a week, but once in awhile, I'm more in the mood for waffles than pancakes. This was the case a couple of weekends back, and so I broke out my waffle maker. But I wanted to make not just any waffles -- I wanted to make decadent-weekend-treat-for-breakfast waffles. In staring at my fruit basket, the idea of bananas foster came to my head. I haven't had the scrumptious dessert of vanilla ice cream topped with bananas cooked in rum, banana liqueur, sugar, cinnamon, and butter in quite a long time -- too long I would argue! -- and so I decided to recreate the dessert with waffles as a most definitely delicious, kinda sorta acceptable breakfast (we can pretend ... [Read More]
Archives for May 2014
A Tribute to My Grandma
Happy Mothers Day! I think it's fitting to share a post about my grandma with you all on the day of the year dedicated to celebrating the wonderful mothers and grandmothers in our lives. I've been blessed with such an awesome mom, and am also lucky to have grown up with an amazing grandma, who passed away a little over a week ago. I think that for a lot of people, a grandma is someone they see a few times a year at holidays, get weird gifts from that they'll never use, and never have real conversations about life with. For me, when my grandma passed away, I lost one of the closest people in the world to me. My grandma was such a selfless person. She worried about us before she worried about herself. She'd do anything for the people she loved, almost to a fault. If you ... [Read More]
Matcha Love: Morning Fruity Matcha Shot + Vanilla Yogurt Matcha Pancakes
There are millions of devoted coffee drinkers in the world....but I, my friends, am not one of them. Instead of the caffeine from coffee giving me energy, it gives me headaches. It actually has a bit of an opposite effect on me. Case in point: Last week I had my first (iced) coffee in quite awhile because I was near a Dunkin Donuts in New Jersey, which are a rarity here in California, and I felt so tired an hour later that I took a nap. And I'm not a big nap taker. Tea on the other hand, is my coffee shop/hot bev/lazy weekend morning drink of choice. Green tea is my favorite. It doesn't make me feel zingy, and it also doesn't make me sleepy or headachy. It's just nice and soothing. So when Kiss Me Organics recently contacted me asking if I'd like to try their matcha green tea powder, I ... [Read More]
Kale Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese & Almonds
"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life." The 10 days that I've spent in Jersey have been extremely tough for my family and me. My grandma passed away last Friday. To be honest, at the moment I don't feel like writing about my heart aching. I'd rather talk about cute babies, my wonderful family, and a yummy kale salad, so that is what I'm sharing with you today. On a positive note, going through this has reminded me what an amazing family I have. I am so grateful and lucky to have my wonderful family and to be close with them. Given the reason I flew to the east coast, I spent a lot of time at the hospital and hanging out with family members, and the quality time I got to spend with them was ... [Read More]
Hiking at Pinnacles National Park // Paicines, CA
A couple of weekends ago, my hubby and I wanted to go hiking at a new spot. At first we were looking to head towards San Fran, but once we saw what the traffic was looking like that morning, we decided against it. Instead, we went the opposite direction and journeyed south to Pinnacles National Park. The park is named after the sky-pointed spires you can find all over that are the eroded leftovers of an extinct volcano. After driving through windy countryside roads for about an hour and arriving at the park, we paid the entrance fee at the visitor center and planned out our route. We decided to hike the Condor Gulch Trail, about a 5 1/2 mile loop with 1,300+ feet in elevation change. The weather was pretty mild at home, and was definitely warmer in Paicines where the park is ... [Read More]