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Saturday, November 8, 2003
I'm back in Manila to take care of some things for the wedding like my dress and invitations. My barkada prepared a wedding shower for me last night. I saw some old high school friends that I haven't seen in ages. It was fun! Here is the night in pictures...
 |  | | HUGE is all I can say! | They asked me to guess the donor of each gift. I failed miserably. |  |  | | Everyone broke into groups to create the ideal specimen. | The Winner! |
Posted by Karen @ 02:53 AM PST [Link] [1 Comment]
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
It's quite hard to tell autumn from summer here in the Bay Area, especially this year. The past few days it was hovering over 90. Hot. Not a very good week to make chocolate, but that's exactly what I did. I attended a chocolate making class by Richard Donnelly last Monday, and I've been making chocolate everyday since. I'm determined to master tempering, but it's proven to be quite a challenge. I attempted to use my digital thermometer, but I don't think I can trust it -- Richard Donnelly swears by the 'upper lip' method; meaning, you smear some chocolate on your upper lip while tempering, and if you don't feel any change (it's supposed to be the same temperature as your upper lip), then you're on your way to perfectly tempered chocolate. It takes many many attempts to master this, and I clearly haven't. The result of 2 days of chocolate practice -- Lavender Infused Chocolate Madeleines, Chocolate Dipped Candied Grapefruit Peel, Chocolate Covered Apricots, and Chocolate Nut Bark.
Notice the badly tempered chocolate covering the apricots on the right.
The others are better. I'm improving, but I need more practice.
Posted by Karen @ 04:43 PM PST [Link] [No Comments]
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Things are finally moving along as far as the wedding is concerned. My mom and sis-in-law Cindy came over to help me out. I finally have a new reception venue and a florist. There are still many little details to take care of, but I think they're all pretty manageable.
I spent the afternoon at Ducky's Car Wash. My mom's been bugging me to get the car cleaned so I had some detailing done on the carpets and the seats. It took 2 hours! I was reading Under the Tuscan Sun while waiting, and I found myself with a sudden craving for spaghetti and meatballs. Since today's a lazy day and I didn't want to cook, I went to Draeger's and bought some spaghetti and meatballs and a slice of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Garry's in a 3 hour class tonight, so I'm enjoying my take home dinner alone. It was simple but very satisfying. Mmm.
I watched the first episode of Jamie Oliver's reality series Jamie's Kitchen -- I think I'm hooked! I have to watch it every night this whole week. (I programmed a Season Pass for it on Tivo. Yey!)
Posted by Karen @ 06:40 PM PST [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, October 2, 2003
Garry and I just got back from a week long vacation in Hawaii. We went with 5 friends (and a cute little baby) and stayed in an amazing house right by Kailua Bay in Oahu. We went kayaking, snorkeling, and boogie boarding (I didn't really do so well with that one). At night, we would cook up a storm, have a wonderful dinner, and end the night with a heated game of Bean or Scrabble.
 |  | | View of Kailua Bay from the house we stayed in | One handed photo in front of the beach |
We rented a Jeep Cherokee, the perfect vehicle for Hawaii -- coasted along the North Shore, Waikiki, Waimanalo, and Hanauma Bay. On the way to the North Shore we stopped by Giovanni's Shrimp Truck to get some garlic shrimp -- mmm, so juicy and fresh. (Warning: you will be burping out garlic for hours after) The weather was unbelievably hot that week, but we had the chance to go to Matsumoto's to get some shaved ice. Aah.
Posted by Karen @ 04:33 PM PST [Link] [No Comments]
Thursday, September 11, 2003
It's been a while since I posted pictures... Here're some cakes I made this summer.
 |  | | Melody Cake from Pierre Hermé Desserts Book - 20 hour apples, genoise, cinnamon shortbread, mousse | Philadelphia Almond Cheesecake from Pierre Hermé Desserts Book - almond cake, cream cheese mousse, streusel, raspberries |  |  | | Triple Chocolate Cake -- made this for my friend Alli's baby's Red Egg and Ginger Party. I know, I need more practice with chocolate. ;) | Tara and Me in front of my favorite breakfast place in SF -- Tartine |
Posted by Karen @ 04:37 PM PST [Link] [No Comments]
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