The Adventures of Hello Kitty: LIMA!

We made it to Lima! Mike has never been so happy seeing a plane land in the airport--

Today we took a quick city tour and got a brief lay of the land.  Lima is a world-away from what Cusco was like.  I think what we are seeing is a major shift in SES and the level of influence the Spaniards had on the people.  Lima is much more modern and city-like, while Cusco was poorer and more traditional.  I would compare Lima to an "older Waikiki".  Its on the coast and has a surfer feel to it.  

One of the couples on our GAP tour was from Australia and gave us a cute forget-me-not gift.  His name is Jack and will be our next traveling buddy after this trip--yay, Hello Kitty has a buddy!

Our hotel gives us an awesome view of the city and even has a little (snicker...) astro-turf garden outside our window.

The Adventures of Hello Kitty: Rained Out

So we were supposed to fly out today on a 925 am flight to Lima, but after checking the flight info last night we saw that the time was changed to 230 pm--sweet! we don't have to get up as early, nice.  We arrive at the airport at 1130 am to find out that our flight was changed yet again and we needed to board at 1230 pm--hmmm, okay, thank goodness we arrived early at the airport.  At the check in counter it turned out our flight and several others were grounded indefinitely due to the rain.  "Una hora y treinta minutos mas" the lady kept saying.  Turns our, our airline Star Peru does not have electronic equipment on it and fly VFR--which means if they can't see out the runway they don't fly--no magic GPS or other electronics to help fly.

SO, we waited in the airport for about 6 hours today to hear if our flight was going to be officially cancelled.  NO refunds either.  At 415 pm we are told its cancelled and we are going to be bumped to an am flight tomorrow.  Which means we need to head back into town and book another night in a hotel.  Thank goodness the hotel Mike and I stayed in is only 15 minutes away and uber-ish cheap ($50 USD).  So I'm writing to everyone from our same hotel just different room.  We were told that the only flight out tomorrow is at 1245 pm but there is a chance for an earlier flight--the catch is they couldn't tell us what time that would be but we needed to be onsite at the airport at 630 am. 

As Washingtonians, the rain doesn't seem THAT bad at all and we can't wrap our heads around why they can't fly out today--but oh well.  Makes for an interesting Christmas Day and story.  So we'll drag ourselves out of bed tomorrow early and hopefully will get a flight out in the morning so we can start our beach holiday in Lima. 

We'll keep everyone posted.

The Adventures of Hello Kitty: Wandering around downtown Cusco

So last night a was a rough night for Mike--altitude sickness finally hit him and he was up sick for a better majority of the evening.  Which means, since he is typically the one with the stronger stomach and immune system, I will be falling victim to the porcelain king in due time.  But after a light breakfast with some yummy bread at a Panaderia we found down the street we were off.

We walked around downtown a went into many many many shops.  We finally hit the crafting district where we ended up purchasing most of our gifts for people.  We also walked by some great mini-markets and got some shots of the produce and ick....chicken feet, that were being sold.  A family even let us take a picture of their cute pup wearing a rain jacket.   

Everything we purchased today

So the main craft of choice here in Cusco is weaving and knitting.  The items we picked up are made from Alpaca fiber.   I also tried my hand at bartering and either I'm really good at it or the vendors were taking pity on my boater Spanish--either way, we scored great deals!

Very important to grab snacks as we are walking-bottled sport drink, two bags of chips came out to less than $1.00 USD

The Adventures of Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty on the flight into Lima

So a super cool 4 year old gave me just about the coolest gift ever--a snowboarding Hello Kitty bobble head!  (Why? because he accurately notes that I snowboard and he skis, so she was better suited for me :) ).  I thought she was so cool that Mike and I decided to bring her along on our trip to Peru and New York.  She is going to be joining us on all our adventures and we'll keep everyone posted on how we are doing.

Today was our first full day in Peru.  We landed in Lima about 11:00 PM yesterday and slept in the airport until our flight to Cusco at 7:30 AM the next day.   After we got settled into our hotel, we booked a city tour that visited 4 major Inca sites.  We saw the Q'engo, Pupkapukara, Saqsayhuaman, and one of the oldest churches in Cusco.  Tomorrow is an open day where we are going to head to the main plaza and do some people watching and check out the crafting district.

Now we're off to find dinner and get a solid night's rest.

PS: We found out Hello Kitty likes Bloody Mary's

Peanut Butter Buttercream!

For a friend's birthday/congratulations on having a baby boy! gathering a work, I made chocolate cake cupcakes with peanut butter chips topped with a...wait for it...peanut butter buttercream frosting...mmmm!

What goes together better than peanut butter and chocolate? Not much. So I was happy to try out the combination. I made a standard chocolate cake batter with coco powder/flour/eggs/sugar etc. Then for the peanut butter frosting, I had thought about making it a chocolate peanut butter frosting--but the thought of trying to dye that blue kind of scared me. So I went for simple. Just your standard vanilla frosting, 2 tbs of peanut butter blended in and voila! The ymmiest frosting ever.

I didn't pile on the frosting on this one becuase it was RICH! plus with the chocolate cake, I didn't want people going into sugar comas at work--not so good.  So I just added enough frosting so you'd get some in every bite.

I was glad the birthday girl and mommy to be enjoyed them (she had two--one for her and one for baby :) ).

I still have to try out the cherry coke cupcakes once cherries come into season here. Wondering how that one will turn out, I also have a snickerdoodle cupcake on the request list as well.

So many flavors, so little time.

Dog Mountain

 




This weekend we went for a 3-day camping trip...just me, mike, and gracie. We started off at Battleground State Park. We got camp set up on Thursday and went for a hike on Friday. The destination? Dog Mountain. The draw? Great views of the Columbia River. It was only 3.8 miles round trip. No problem, we're seasoned hikers. Uh uh...humungo problem for me.

Yikes, it was like I hadn't been hiking in years! The elevation gain was way too much for me, Mike plugged along and of course Gracie trotted along no problem :) . Less than half way up the mountain and I was huffing and puffing like I smoked a pack a day plus a handful of cigars. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Apparently my weekly lifting class and frequent running was not preparation enough for the opening day of my hiking season. I was more than disappointed in myself.

I've frequently said that being skinny does not equal being in shape and this hike definetly reminded me of why I say that phrase at all. To add insult to injury, as we get deeper into the woods a group of hikers are coming down. A silver-haired old man with his walking stick says to me, "it's an ass kicker". Awesome, so he has noticed how hard I'm struggling and felt the need to uh...validate my experience? (Sigh). That was it. That sealed the deal, this was by far the most dismal perfomance I've had hiking in a long long long long time.

Then I saw some hope. We broke the tree line! yay! I had actually made it to the top. As we headed down, I realized a super steep incline meant a really steep decline--with the loose dirt and rock scrambles, that means you can't just plow down the mountain. Otherwise, you'll find yourself on your bum most of time. But nonetheless, I had survived and was definetly going to be feeling it in the morning. Thank goodness we were camping and there was no comfy bed to help me recover (Sigh, again).

This gave me new motivation. I am not going to be this outta shape. Who cares how much I one can lift if they get winded going up a flight of stairs. Dog Mountain made me realize that I was this person. Not okay. So, the first step? Dump my old workout gear. Can't get an efficient workout if I am schluping around the gym in what are essentially pajamas. If I am going to take my workouts more seriously, I have to dress the part. So I ventured out to Target and picked up some new gear. Check.

Second step. Add stairs to my cardio routine. Running is not an issue, but the steps...ah the steps...that's what got me on the hike. So the plan is to add running in the am and steps in the pm. Plus keeping my lifting class on Thursdays.

Added step. Include a quickie excercise in the am and pm: push ups and pull ups.

I have to admit, after looking at my modified plan...my workout routine has definetly gotten lazy. I make it out to my lifting class and throw in a 5k here and there. I think this is the end of my hibernation period and its time to get my butt moving again.

Found Another Keeper

Marshmallow cupcakes were a success! Thank you cupcake corer :)

I brought in my latest batch of cupcakes, chocolate with a homemade marshmallow filling and basic chocolate frosting. Looks like I will be adding this flavor to my basic 10, yay, that means I've 2 outta 10 down. 8 more to figure out.

I was glad I got good reviews on the marshmallow filling, it was rather tricky. Making your own marshmallows isn't too difficult (start off making meringue then add more sugar) but the first batch I made was too runny and kept getting soaked up in the cupcake, no bueno. I had to thicken up the filling so I'd actually have an ooey-gooey center. Figured out that more egg whites would be needed to accomplish such a task.

Next up, per Kim's request is gonna be a banana cupcake with a cream cheese frosting. I've got to limit myself to trying *maybe* 2 new flavors a month. Otherwise, that's a whole lotta baking and a whole lotta cupcakes for the people around me to suffer through. After the banana, it will depend on what I can find in season in the grocery store.

Here we go!

 

The best frivolous cooking tools ever!

 So I was browsing online the other day and saw at Williams-Sonoma (my favorite cooking store, if only I could afford it!) had some fun new gadgets that I was super excited to try out. Now, keep in mind the title of today's blog: The best most frivolous cooking tools ever. The two items I picked up today are absolutely not necessities, but they sure do make baking more fun. And although you often make do without certain tools, why restrict yourself when a tool is created that makes an easy task a complete breeze?

                  First up, what every cupcake baker needs--a cupcake corer! yay! When I have made filled cupcakes in the past, I just insert my frosting tip into the cupcake and watched for the cupcake to swell, yes, you can actually see the cupcake bloat when its got enough filling in it. The annoyance here is that not each cupcake gets the same amount of filling, and I need consistency. Also, the filling often then overflows up out of the cake if the cake swells too much. Unsightly. So, enter the cupcake corer. It basically punches out a dime-sized hole and voila, no more overflow from over bloated cakes, awesome! Right now I am in the midst of making my chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow filling, so I am excited to put this bad boy to work.

Next up, who doesn't like poptarts? nobody that's who. So why not make your own at home? You can make them with any kind of filling you want, sweet or savory (think breakfast poptart, mmmm), and then top it off with what ever frosting you like. Perfect. So I picked up a toaster pastry press at Williams-Sonoma which basically is a sandwich press setup and you make some pastry dough, use the press to cut out the top and bottom pieces, fill as you would a pie, press together with tool and tada! Baked in your very own oven is a yummy pastry. I am thinking about using some of the homemade blueberry compote I made in my first batch. Just another fun thing for me to try out in my kitchen.

Nothing like a little competition...

....to get you motivated!

I couldn't believe that a cupcake shop was opening up at the Alderwood Mall.  What?! Really?! That's what I wanted to do, granted I am not in a place where I can drop a couple grand on a store front, but it was like a slap in my face-throwing my dream job right back at me! Boo.  I couldn't stand for this atrocity. 


SO, my strategy is to check out Pinkabella's this weekend when it opens up and scope the place out.  Keep you enemies close right?

Actually, I've been to Pinkabella's at the Redmond Town Center, and I distinctly remember not liking her cupcakes, yes the store is super adorable with pink ballerina decor all over the place, but I felt the cupcakes themselves were lacking.  The cake was dry and the frosting grainy.  Bias toward my own product, not at all.  I'll shout it from the roof tops that I really like Cupcake Royale--I believe they have some good stuff down there.  Trophy? ehh.  Good cake, frosting not so much.  I can't compete with Cupcake Royale, but I can surely stand my own against Pinkabella. 

Store front at Alderwood mall in the outdoor shoping area

What throws me more for a loop is that this is Margo's (owner) 3rd store and she has only been in business for 17 months, bananas!  I guess that means she must be doing something right...

Part 2 of my master plan, get my signature flavors down.  I can't do a store front, but that's what the world wide web is for.  I'm gonna go online.  I figure I need at least 10 solid flavors before moving any further.  A for sure flavor is gonna be the one I just made this past week, pound cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting.  My poor co-workers are gonna be cupcaked out since I am using them as my taste-kitchen.  I've already got a request for a banana cupcake with cream cheese frosting, another friend added I should include real banana pieces and walnuts.  Next on my list is to make a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow filling and maybe a butter cream meringue frosting (less sweet than traditional butter cream). 

We'll see which ones make the cut and which get tossed.  This is gonna be fun!

Spring Snow



My view from the lift



Pictures of my recent trip to Stevens Pass.  Mike and I went up last Friday and then I went back up this past Sunday solo. 

What I love about spring boarding is that you're boarding in toasty 45-50 degree weather.  Its nice taking off your gloves and not having to get them back on as fast as possible because you can feel frostbite setting in!

Another perk is there are significantly less people on the slopes.  Oddly enough, there were more people out and about on Sunday than on Friday.  A nice surprise was that the backside of Stevens was finally open, yay!



Yay, both backside runs were open, nice!



I am motivated to get up to the slopes as much as possible from here on out since my seasons pass is collecting some dust on it, I've been up 4 times thus far, almost makes up the cost of my pass.  I think 2 or 3 times should help me break even.  Of course I will aim to go above and beyond that magic number, so anyone looking to get some spring boarding/skiing in, shoot Mike and I email or call us up!

Hopefully the season will be extended, both days I was up there it started to snow lightly...so here's hoping.



The view from the top of Hogsback



Love that almost no one else was up there, wide open spaces!







Looking over Skyline

Going up Hogsback



Bottom of Gemini on the backside, love the blue sky



From the base

(almost) Red Velvet Cake

Anyone who knows me knows I love desserts. Anyone who really knows me knows I adore red velvet cake...

So I tried my hand at making some red velvet cake. But it didn't quite come out the way I wanted it to, first I ran out of red food coloring so the red is not the correct depth of red that I would have liked to see. Second, my baking powder is a tiny bit flat so the density of the cake was a little off. However, aesthetics aside, the flavor was there. I did like the cream cheese frosting with white chocolate curls and the marshmallow frosting filling, it added some sweetness that balanced the tartness of the cream cheese. I even blended some of the marshmallow frosting into the cream cheese which made it silky smooth without altering the flavor significantly.

  Mike took it to work for a good-bye party for one of his co-workers, how convenient that I was baking the night before his departure! Now Mike got to score extra points in the office, he owes me since my friends at work didn't get to have the red velvet that I promised them~instead, they got the pound cake cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting (which I actually preferred!). 

 

So I'll have to make it up to my friends at work another day...I am itching to try this recipe again
and getting the end product just perfect.

Creating Princess Leia

So Mr. Jonas is having his 4th birthday this weekend and I am helping make his cupcakes.  He is having a Star Wars themed party so my friend decided to go with Princess Leia cupcakes.  She found a picture from another blog and I tried to follow it as best I could.  Here are the steps I took to re-create them:

                                                  Started with plain white cream cheese frosting

                                     Added some chocolate hair with the right frosting tip

Then some chocolate dots for eyes

Then I used some heart sprinkles for her mouth

And the finishing touch, some chocolate filled oreo cookies for her trademark buns