Texas Roadhouse, part duex

Upon returning for our last semester of law school, the girls and I decided to have a celebratory dinner at Texas Roadhouse (first post here). Remember, it's the place where we can eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor.

We were also throwing a surprise party for our friend, K. She was blindfolded, and probably humiliated during the blindfolded state. And, to suffer even more public humiliation, she was forced to sit on the birthday saddle.
House salad
Steak with a side of baked sweet potato loaded with caramel and marshmallows (I never heard of this before!).
Country fried chicken with side of mashed potato loaded with cheese and bacon.
Chicken critters with side of mashed potato loaded with cheese and bacon.
BBQ ribs with wedge fries loaded with cheese and bacon.
BBQ pulled pork sandwich, with onion rings on the side (C pulled out the onion rings).
Steak with side of baked potato loaded with sour cream, cheese and bacon.

The Mixx

Upon my return to the freezing cold weather of Kansas City, J picked me up from the airport and we decided to stop for lunch before heading back to my apartment. Lunch was at The Mixx, a sort of high-end salad/sandwich place (high-end because it's on the pricier side but the portions are large). There is a large selection of really tasty salads, and they'll even toss a salad of whatever you want in your salad.
We were lazy, so we just ordered from pre-designed salad menu. J had the "Hail Caesar" chicken salad, which consisted of romaine lettuce, crunchy croutons and parmesan cheese tossed with Caesar dressing. Oh yeah, and chicken.
I had the Thai Salmon Salad, with grilled salmon, wild field greens, carrots, cucumbers, edamame and sesame seeds tossed with Asian sesame vinaigrette and topped with Thai chili sauce.

See how big the portions are? And even though all I had was a muffin before getting on the plane in Oakland, I was hungry enough to eat a horse but still couldn't finish the bowl of salad. I think we both only ate a little over 2/3 of our salads.

The club sandwich is really good too, especially with their crunchy french fries.

momma's lasagna

No, this isn't my mother's lasagna. My mother probably doesn't even know what lasagna is.

Anyway, this is The Boy's favorite dish, his mother's lasagna, which she wouldn't share the recipe with me, but I know that there's ground beef, cottage cheese and spinach in it. I'm pretty sure I saw bags of mozzerella cheese too, so it probably is mozzerella on top.

The entire time I was helping The Boy's mother prepare the lasagna, The Boy himself kept yelling "I smell garlic! No garlic! I hate garlic!" Both his mother and I wanted to smack him to shut up, because how can he say he hates garlic and also demand garlic bread at dinner? He then specified that he doesn't like CHUNKS of garlic, so we managed to really mince up the garlic and put some into the lasagna, and of course the garlic bread.

Note to self - finely mince garlic before adding to any food that The Boy eats.
I had a heaping portion of the lasagna, accompanied with salad and garlic bread. This was the last home cooked meal I had before leaving SF to return to KC. How I wish I was back in Cali, but hey, only four more months and then I will be DONE!

pumpkin cheesecake

Recipe makes 2 cheesecakes

* 1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs

* 3 Tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar

* 1 teasppon ground ginger

* 6 Tablespoons unsalted melted butter

* 1 1/2 pound room temperature cream cheese

* 1 3/4 cup of Pumpkin

* 1 teaspoon orange zest

* 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 6 lightly beaten eggs

Half of the ingredients listed are for the pie crusts. I cheated and bought pre-made ones, but am including the directions for the crust below.

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Butter inside of pan and set aside.

3. For the pie crust: in a bowl, stir together cracker crumbs, 3 Tablespoon sugar and ginger. Stir while gradually adding butter. Press the crumb mixture evenly over the inside of pan and up the sides. Chill for 30 minutes.

4a. Cream cheese filling: place cream cheese in bowl. Beat until light and fluffy on medium speed with mixer. Slowly add 1 cup of sugar.

4b. Add pumpkin, orange zest,cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Beat until smoothe.

4c. Add eggs a little at a time and beat well.

5. Pour batter into pans.
6. Bake until top is lightly puffed, between 60-70 minutes. Center may be slightly underset. Cool and then refrigerate overnight.
NOTES:
*covering the outside of pie pans with aluminum foil helps for cake to cook evenly and slowly.
** use confectioners sugar to stencil design on top



Recipe courtesy of my good friend, AM.

still stuck in 2008

I am done sharing Disney tales and am now beginning to update about food again. So I'm backing up into 2008 and sharing pics of Christmas and NYE dinner.
I took these two pictures because I was bored at dinner and it was the centerpiece. Why was bored? Prime rib was the main course and being that I don't eat bleeding meat, I quickly finished my double helping of salad and thus sat waiting for everyone to finish before I could start on dessert. Anyway, back to the picture, I was messing around with the macro feature on my camera, and then playing with the light of the candle. Pretty good photo art, if I do say so myself.

These two pictures are of the appetizers. Above is a combo platter of roast beef w/ tomato on baguette, and the center dish is a shrimp based spread that goes on the plain baguette. Bottom is a platter of walnut spinach artichoke dip served with slices of baguette bread. My favorite was the artichoke dip, but it probably would have tasted even better if served with chips instead of bread.

Now for dinner...above is the salad that I had double portions of. Below is just a snapshot of baked potatoes in foil, dinner rolls, and a fruit salad. I had the fruit salad for breakfast the morning after Christmas. I shared a baked potato with The Boy. We both had two dinner rolls each (well, I didn't get any protein!).
And below is a picture of the protein - prime rib cooked medium well. Some of you may be thinking that the meat doesn't look rare at all, but if you know me, I will not - repeat WILL NOT - eat anything red meat that is still bleeding when I cut into it. Initially, I was served a slice that was "really really cooked." However, upon cutting into it, it started bleeding so I gave my slice to The Boy. Ditto for when I made a second attempt at a piece of rib that looked burnt on the outside (but still bleeding on the inside!).
And then came dessert - yummmmmmmy. The Boy's sister made - from scratch - pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Ohmygosh, the cake was so moist and pineapple added a nice tartness to it. I contributed a couple of pumpkin cheesecake with whip cream (cheesecake also made from scratch - recipe to follow). The cheesecake recipe I got called for orange zest, so there was a slight taste of citrus to the pumpkin cheesecake. Everyone raved about the desserts. No one would pick a favorite.
Onto New Year's Eve dinner, hosted and prepared by one of The Boy's best friends.
For an appetizer, another friend in the group arranged some goat cheese slathered with fig preserves and surrounded by slices of proscuitto. This concoction was served with wheat thins. I don't like goat cheese, but if covered enough with the fig preserves, I can barely taste it!
The Boy's friend initially told us that he was preparing roast beef for dinner. Upon taking the beef out of the oven, however, he discovered that the butcher actually gave him pork instead, so we ended up with roasted pork tenderloins served with lobster ravioli with a cream sauce. Pork is not my favorite, but it was good nonetheless. I am still remember the succulent taste of the lobster ravioli, and want to know where he got them so I can get some for myself. There was actually a taste of lobster in every bite.

Home cooked meals are always tastier because they're prepared with TLC. =)

Disney Tales #17 - Illuminations Fireworks Show

One last set of videos - This was taken at Epcot and it was the fireworks show entitled "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth". There was this cool globe of the Earth that showed videos of all the different people (Africans, Asians, Americans, etc). Then the globe opened up into a lotus (not sure if I caught that on video). Fireworks were awesome, and the fire explosions added much needed heat because we were freezing that night.

Illuminations Part 1:


Illuminations Part 2:


Illuminations Part 3:


Illuminations Finale:


Now I'm done with the Disney Tales, for real this time. Well, unless I get another Disney trip (Paris maybe?).

Disney Tales #16 - Fantasmic from Disney World

I found some more videos!! Just a few more to share the joy.

Do you recall my video from Fantasmic at Disneyland? Well, at Disney World, the show has its own stadium seating. The only difference between the Land location and the World location was that the World location was a bit smaller and they didn't have as many boats going around the moat. Additionally, I think the story was a little different because there was no Peter Pan fight with Captain Hook on his ship (the place was too small for a ship to come around).

Anyway, we had to arrive at least half an hour early to ensure some good seats down in front (and even then it was already packed!). While we were waiting for the actual show to start, the audience started doing the wave. It took a few tries, but this video captures a complete wave from end to end (we were sitting in the middle):


Here's the introduction sequence to Fantasmic - the theme is of course, Dreams come true:


And here's the nightmare sequence, where the evil doers of Disney tales are trying to scare Mickey in his dreams.

Disney Tales #15 - Lights Motors Action!

This was one of The Boy's favorite shows we saw from Disney World, particularly because it was specifically about car and motorcycle stunts. He was a bit disappointed after learning about the "movie magic" that happens to a movie, but he was still very entertained by watching cars speeding around and trying not to hit one another at 100 mph.

Intro sequence where the red car is the Hero, and the black cars are chasing him down:


The Hero's reverse car jump:


Hero's jump from one truck to another:


Motorcycle chase, part 1:


Motorcycle chase, part 2:


Lights Motor Action! Finale:


And that, my fellow readers, is the end of my videos from Disney World. Memories, all I have now are memories. Wonderful memories of Disney World, the happiest place on Earth.

All thanks to The Boy, who outdid himself on my xmas gift this year. I wonder how he'll top that next year. ;)

Disney Tales #14 - Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was Spectacular! What else did you think I was going to say? =)

Introduction Sequence:


Village Sequence:


Helicopter Sequence:


Before the show started, the host selected "extras" from the audience. Don't read further if you don't want to know the spoiler - some of the "extras" the host selected were not actually real audience members but part of the cast. You couldn't figure it out until the end of the show though.

Disney Tales #13 - Beauty and The Beast

This is the Boy's favorite Disney cartoon, so I had to make sure we were able to catch the live show of Beauty and the Beast (you know, since he paid for the trip and all, it's the least I could do was to ensure he got to watch his favorite Disney story).
As soon as we were through the gates of Hollywood Studios, we raced for the theater location to get in line for the show. We caught the first show and The Boy LOVED it, and of course I did too.
I just wonder how these people can put on five shows a day. Perhaps they have different people for each show, or maybe one group does two shows. It's just a lot of singing and dancing in one day.

Be Our Guest:


Beauty and the Beast (who has now turned back into a prince):

Disney Tales #12 -- Ariel's Voyage

Our third (and final) 15 hour day was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios). This is The Little Mermaid in a combo of live actors, puppets and big screen animation. It was very dark in the room, so the videos may not be as clear, but you can still enjoy the music.

Ariel's Part of This World:


Ursula's Poor Unfortunate Soul (and where she takes Ariel's voice):


Ariel gets her legs and her prince:

Disney Tales #11 - Mickey's Dreams Come True and Fireworks

Mickey's Dreams Come True - Someday My Prince Will Come:


Mickey's Dreams Come True:


Magic Kingdom Fireworks:

Let me just say that the fireworks at DisneyLAND were much better than the fireworks here at World Disney. It was still a spectacular sight, but the show was shorter and there was no laser show.

Disney Tales #10 - Festival of the Lion King

This is a second favorite of mine - the Lion King's festival at Animal Kingdom. All the characters from the Lion King came out to rock and dance while they sang all the songs from the Lion King. Did I already mentioned that I loved Disney? Well I do! Shows are awesome!

Introduction:


Monkeys doing acrobats to tune of Hakuna Matada:


Fire stunts to tune of Be Prepared:

I still wonder how he can do that without burning himself. He must have put some kind of fire retardant spray or something.

Can You Feel the Love Tonight:


Circle of Life:


Finale - Medley of songs:

Disney Tales #9 - Finding Nemo The Musical

Our second 15 hour day started off at Animal Kingdom. Why "started off" you ask? Because our goal was to make it to Magic Kingdom later in the afternoon. I really really REALLY wanted to see Finding Nemo The Musical, and it was at Animal Kingdom, so we decided to take half a day to make it to the shows at Animal Kingdom.

I need not fully describe this musical, but it was AWESOME DUDE! (imitating Crash the Turtle here) The costumes were amazing, and we were able to get seats right next to the stage. I love Disney!

Fish are Friends not Food:



The aquarium scene where the fish are working together:



Crash the Sea Turtle:



Finale - Big Blue World:

Disney Tales #8 -- Velcro Babies

We spent our first 15 hour day at Epcott, and somehow got ourselves on stage in front of an audience. And let me just say that we didn't volunteer. The host of the gameshow just randomly picked us out (and let me say that we were both avoiding eye contact with her to purposely not get picked).

Anyway, let me back up. We were at a show called "What's Your Problem?" The show involved the history of velcro, and how it fixes almost anything. Because the show requires audience interaction, they set it up to be a game and each game was to show how velcro can help make our lives easier.

When we got randomly selected for the "couples game," The Boy and I had to work together to beat the other team. The object of the game was for me to velcro on as many carry-on bags onto The Boy as possible. It was a pretty funny sight.

If this wasn't an anonymous blog (supposedly), I'd post the pictures of me and The Boy competing in the game, which we won. However, I can't, but I don't know these people in this video, so I can post this video about two fathers competing to velcro diapers some cabbage patch babies. Very entertaining!



This is an additional video from Epcott - The Jamminators (janitors who jam on their trashcans during break):

Disney Tales #7 - Mickey's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Alright, I'm starting with a Christmas video, because obviously, Christmas is over.

This show is Mickey's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. If you haven't guessed, it's Mickey's version of the famous Christmas bedtime story.

This is a picture of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Nutcracker, and Chip & Dale singing and dancing to "Toyland".

Santa is coming to town in the picture above. And here's a video of Minnie Mouse singing "Santa Baby" to Goofy the Santa:



This next video is the whole gang singing "Merry Little Christmas:"




And that's it for this show. On to the next!

Disney Tales #6 -- Shows shows galore!

Okay, now that I have four hours to myself before anyone comes back and disturbs my peace, I finally have time to post about my Disney World trip.

The main goal, okay - MY main goal for Disney World was to go see every single show there was. And folks, we did it. 15 hour days and four parks later, I have a ton of videos from Finding Nemo to Little Mermaid to car stunts. And now I'll start posting the videos, from start to finish. So for all of your who haven't yet had the opportunity to go to the happiest place on Earth, here's a preview of what you can expect from Disney World.

Merry Christmas!!

Disney World Eats

We spent our first night in Orlando at Downtown Disney. After finding one another at the airport, getting our luggage, getting to the Disney Resort, checking in, and then taking a ferry boat ride to Downtown Disney, it was about 8pm and we were starving because neither of us had eaten anything since breakfast.

After quickly scanning the dining options, we decided to have dinner at the new T-Rex Cafe (so new it doesn't have it's own website yet!), where we had a "prehistoric" dining experience. ha ha.
See here, we had dinner with a family of triceratops. I had a Brontosaurus Burger (minus the cheese). The waffle fries were sooooo good. I should have ordered another side dish of it.

The Boy ordered a half slab of T-Rex Ribs, which were so tender and juicy, and the meat literally just fell off the bones. I also tried to feed some mashed potatoes to the momma triceratops.

We spent our second day at Disney's Epcott Center (more to follow), had breakfast early in the morning, and then didn't have lunch until 4pm. Boy, it's hard work trying to fit everything into one day, but we did it! Below is what we had for our linner - Mexican cuisine of soft tacos, burritos, and a ton of chips and salsa/guacamole.
On Day 3, we spent the morning at the Animal Kingdom. After seeing all the musicals and attractions we wanted to see, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, where they had these funny looking bar stools. What a genius idea, eh?
We had a selection of appetizers at the Rainforest Cafe - quesadilla, chicken tenders, calamari, chicken rolls, and spinach dip. Guess what? We finished it all. Yep, we did. I was hungry.
We spent the second half of Day 3 at the Magic Kingdom. My main goal for the evening was to get my hands on one of those giant turkey legs. We didn't have dinner until about 8pm, but we each got ourselves a turkey leg, and it was GOOOOOD.
Our last day in Orlando was spent at Hollywood Studios. By this time, The Boy was getting the early signs of a cold and we were both getting a bit tired from doing 15-hour days marathon of the parks.
We had a lunch break at Mama Melrose's Risorante. We started off with an appetizer of calamari, which was really good, not fishy and very tender. The marinara sauce was especially tasty because it had a bite of spice to it, but the spice wasn't overwhelming.
The Boy ordered the bruchetta, which had a really nice balsamic vinergrette on it. The combination of tomatoes had a nice taste to it too.
I had the spaghetti with clams and mussels. It had the same marinara sauce as the calamari so I was happy.
We later went back to Downtown Disney for some souvineer shopping and dinner, which was at Planet Hollywood: buffalo chicken sticks, crispy chicken tenders and sliders. We ordered a bit too much and ended up taking home the leftovers.
And as I sit here updating my blog, both The Boy and I have a cold - he's slowly getting over his and mine is just starting. Hopefully, we can both be better in time for Christmas dinner, because let me tell you this - food just doesn't taste good when your nose is running like a faucet and you're sneezing up a storm.

first snow

From my bedroom window:

From my camera phone - outside my apartment complex


I like fresh snow. I've seen it and taken a picture of it. I'm satisfied. Therefore, the snow can now go away.



Two more days until sunny Florida and Disney World!! Oh, and I'm excited to see The Boy too. =)

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Now I can add website designer to my list of "Alternate Jobs"* in case I won't ever get employed as an attorney after graduating from law school.

*Alternate Jobs List
-Flower arrangement
-Cake Decorator
-Cookie Maker

baking the day away

Being done with finals, I have nothing productive to do. I feel a little at a loss because I should be reading for class or checking things off my to-do list for school.

Oh well, I'm not complaining. I kept myself busy today with baking. The original goal was to make Ginger Pumpkin Bread for girls night tonight, and then I was craving chocolate chip cookies so I made that too. For some odd reason, the pumpkin bread turned out too dry and didn't even taste like pumpkin. I probably shouldn't have used a can of pumpkin puree that was a year old (the expiration date on the can said April 2009!). Oh well, the cookies turned out well. Hope the girls like them.

In between batches of cookies, I was also researching the Disney World website. "Why?" you ask? Courtesy of The Boy--he's giving me a long weekend in Orlando, Florida, for Christmas. And I just realized this is our first vacation where we actually go outside the state of California. I'm counting the days until I get to see Mickey and Minnie again (6 to go!)

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe -- Click HERE. I just didn't add any nuts to the batch I baked today.

DONE!!

Whoo hoo! Just finished my one and only final exam, and now I am DONE with papers and all!

Five semesters down, one more to go!

WHEEE!!!!