Dessert Party

Today we helped Auntie Patsy celebrate her 60th Birthday with a dessert party. Our camera kinda lost power early on so I don't have many photos - and the ones I took near the end were too dark, but here are a few shots from our fun afternoon.

A few finger foods to go along with all the desserts

Desserts

More desserts

Homemade strawberry jam party favors!

Kellie MADE this cake, including homemade fondant!

Another Beautiful Day!

Hard to believe we are in the middle of winter as I'm sitting here in a short sleeved shirt thinking shorts would be nice. Today we decided to go out and get some fresh air. I wanted to take the kids to the zoo this weekend, but since none of us are feeling very well we scrapped that idea and decided to feed the ducks. We had a bunch of duck bread in the freezer so we took a trip to the mall down the street from us. They've been renovating for what seems like forever, but they are finally done and it sure looks nice! Now they just need to get some stores in there. They added a play structure and they still have the ducks to feed, so there are a lot of families there. They also added a pair of swans!

Teriyaki Chicken Buns

Today we were planning to go to the zoo, but when Daddy got home from grocery shopping he said it was still 32 degrees outside and freezing. We decided to wait a bit and got side tracked with other things so I decided to make Chicken Buns. First I made some Amish White Bread and while they were in the first rise I made some chicken teriyaki filling. They were a lot harder to make than I anticipated since the bread dough I made was quite sticky, but they were delicious! Definitely worth the trouble. The Amish White Bread also makes really tasty bread without the filling if you're ever looking for some easy bread/rolls to make.

Teriyaki Chicken Filling
4 boneless chicken thighs - finely chopped
1 rib celery - diced
1 carrot - diced
5 green onions - diced
4 cloves garlic
3 T sugar
1/4 c shoyu
splash of sake
1T cornstarch
3 T water

Cook chicken, drain fat. Add veggies and cook for a couple of minutes. Add sugar, shoyu, sake and cook a few more minutes. Mix cornstarch with water and add to chicken mixture to thicken. Cool before stuffing buns. OH! I also added a little sesame seed oil and sesame seeds.

Stuff buns, let rise about 30 minutes and bake 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. I baked on parchment paper. Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Wow, 2009...Can't believe it's already here. Year of the Ox. Sure hope it brings happiness to all!
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Yesterday we went to Stockton to help Grandma prepare for New Years. Bailey even pitched in a little and peeled daikon! I think we pretty much cooked from 11am - 8:30pm! Actually Mom and Uncle Frank started even earlier!! I like to cook for New Years and I think it's something important for the kids.

Bailey peeling daikon that Grandpa grew in his garden.

Today we went to celebrate in Stockton! We always have ozoni and brunch at Hibachan's house and go back next door to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. We have LOTS of yummy food to eat. Daddy said he gained 4 pounds today!!

Hibachan with her great grandchildren. (Camryn's in Irvine)

More pictures on photoshows...

Our Kabocha

Well, we picked our kabocha. Didn't look like it was going to get any larger and our plant was pretty much dead. The kids were still excited to pick their pumpkin though.

Hmmm, think this will make enough for our family?