Baking with Bakerella

I love baking and instantly fell in love with Bakerella's blog.  She is absolutely amazing.  

This is her latest post:

The french fries are sugar cookies and the burgers are made from brownies and cupcakes.  

How cool is that?!

 I can't wait to try this out!

~b~

Jackfish Lake Monster

Jackfish Lake has a monster.

Its true.

It silently slipped past me as I was sitting on the beach.

Its about 5 feet in length and seems to have a green beak.

It quite possibly could be dangerous, for all I know.

Now wait a minute.

Hold on.  

It's only my son.

Have a great weekend!

Becky

Interlude

Today I enjoyed some music and dance at the Galleria Bowl.  

It was to celebrate National Aboriginal Day.  

The Bison Burgers lured me over there.  The music and dance made me stay.

Caution: Lots of Sharks

The last time I went to the dog park I got rained on.  And not just a little sprinkling, just to feel refreshed.  I mean drenched.  So drenched in fact that my clothes were plastered to my body weighing me down with every step I took.  The water poured into my eyes blinding me and the cold rain gave me a brain-freeze - from the OUTSIDE IN.  

That's just wrong.  

And that has nothing to do with this post.  I just thought I'd let you know the terrible weather I have to endure.  Its all part of being a responsible dog owner, you know.

What really happened the last time I went to the dog park is this: I leisurely strolled along the waters edge while Max bounded to and fro (where ever his little nose led him) and often ran up the paths into the forest.

Eventually he found one path that piqued his interest and he didn't seem to want to return to me.  I got curious, so I dove in after him and ended up on an abandoned path.  We were off, into the unknown.

I followed the old path for a bit, up the riverside and through the trees.  I was hoping to find a nice trail we could walk on.  But the beavers had beaten me to the unknown location.  There were fallen trees everywhere.  My sense of adventure quickly depleted as I surveyed the scene and determined that tree climbing was definitely NOT what I had signed up for.  

So I turned around to head back to the river where everything was wide open and as I was heading back I found this:

And then my crazy imagination abandoned all reason and the path and the forest looked like some drifters hangout and the fallen trees had been cut down not by beavers but by a nefarious individual to fuel his fire for meals - probably of cute dogs from the dog park, or gasp their responsible owners.  And then I thought:  he probably in the forest RIGHT NOW and he probably WATCHING ME THIS SECOND.  And I imagined him standing there just in the shadows of the trees watching me and my discoveries with eyes that ever so slightly bulged out.

So I decided that I was done with adventure and I wanted to go home.  I turned around to follow the nearest path I could find back to the water, and immediately found this:

And decided that what is worse than a nefarious drifter is a nefarious drifter who is also neurotic.  And I was outta there.

The End

Love, 

Becky

PS  I think I'm gonna call this guy an NND.  Can you guess what that stands for?

Sunset

This is my favorite time of day:

Every time I see this, I become captivated.  All of my jumbled, complicated thoughts seem to fall away as I become aware of the beauty in front of me.  It seems as if time slows down and a quietness envelops my soul and I cannot help but to stand in awe, regardless of how many times I have seen a sight like this.

And as I begin to feel the stillness in the air, it suddenly vanishes as the day quickly slips away and the night begins.

Weekend Plans

I don't know what I'm doing yet this weekend.  But the weather is looking nice and if it involves sitting on a deck drinking some of this:

And barbecuing this:

Along with a bit of this:

Then I will be one happy woman.

Sushi

My coworker often picks up sushi to eat at lunch time.   It always looks so good, so today we decided to drive over to Charlie's Seafood Market and pick some up. 

 I tried a Tempura Dynamite Roll, and a California Roll and decided to be adventurous and try some Eel Nigiri.  The Eel Nigiri basically looks like a ball of rice with a small slice of eel draped over top which is wrapped nicely with a small strip of seaweed called nori.

I found the sushi to be quite satisfying and filling, however, I found it to be lacking something.  Don't get me wrong-the sushi was great!  It just didn't have any flair in its presentation.  

You see, the last time my coworker ate sushi at work I was very impressed with its wonderful presentation:

I think the fake grass adds a certain je ne sai quoi, don't you?

I am also very impressed with the creative use of wasabi to seal the fake grass to the side of the container:

And if I were a judge for the Iron Chef I would declare this dish the winner, based solely on its plating: the use of red and black in the tray, the "greenery" to add interest to the plate, and especially the use of wasabi sauce which shows the chef is willing to be creative with the items at hand.

Bravo! Well done!! 

Truly deserving of an Iron Chef title, if you ask me.