Malibu Weekend

I don't think I've introduced Amado's mom's new/old dog. I'm still a bit lost on what his real name is (loooooong story) but we'll call him Boom-boom. He's really affectionate and Kami gets really jealous of him. Then again I mess with Kami on purpose to get her jealous.

Here's the pack after we got them groomed over the weekend. They all look kinda sad because of the scarves. Our girls normally freezes on the spot when we make them wear anything. 

We celebrated Amado's cousin's birthday in Malibu over the weekend. After a huge brunch at Duke's (Thanks Charmaine!!!), we made our way to the beach. The weather was better than I expected instead of the cloudy and chilly day that Siri gave me when I was packing our clothes for the weekend.

It was the first time I've gone to Malibu pier and I definitely want to come back to try out the cafe they have on the pier. Amado... hint hint...

Of course... Amado.

Happy Birthday Charmaine!

My Faves

Something I religiously post on Instagram titled "Things that makes me happy #832752891" are flowers that we get every other week when we go to the market for our groceries. People shouldn't ignore the sale buckets of flowers at Trader Joes. I've found some really gorgeous bunches from those buckets. This time around, we picked up some Tulips and Daffodils. The Calla Lily is from our backyard.

Another thing I'm really excited about is the Foodie Dice. Flipboard, an iOS app is really dangerous especially if you subscribe to some gadget magazines. I showed Amado the Kickstarter video they had for Foodie Dice and he was completely sold within the first couple of seconds. Hoping to put it to use next week. 

New ideas and fresh conversations are always fun to have so I proposed to Amado that we cook dinner for friend atleast once a month. But the catch is we can only invite two friends of ours who's never met each other before. Oh and another requirement would be to wear something comfortable for that night, pajamas would be ideal. This gadget should help with setting a menu for those evenings. 

The set includes 4 seasonal veggies dice and 5 primary dice. One each of cooking method, meats, grains/carb, herbs and bonus ingredients. I will always cross my fingers that the bonus ingredients die lands on bacon.

Just select the current season veggie die, toss that in the jar with the 5 primary dice and let 'em roll. This should eliminate our never-ending back and forth "Whatever you want!" answer when trying to determine what to cook for dinner.

Maneki-Neko Mug

"No! you are not getting that." That was the first thing I said to Amado when he picked up this coffee mug while we were at the grocery store. It's so cheesy and didn't match anything that I use daily. It simply wasn't me. But after a few cups of coffee, I'm really hesitating to admit this, the maneki-neko (lucky cat) mug is starting to grow on me.

I would love to learn how to make baumkuchen (the pastry above) but it looks like I need this contraption that they use in all the how-to videos I've watched online. There has to be an easier way to make one!

Fruit Tart

I've been on a pie baking craze lately because of the new pastry mat and pastry blender that I bought a few weeks ago. Anything that calls for a dough usually means I'd have to sanitize our entire dining table as my working station. I still do it even if it's really annoying but not without grunting and muttering unpleasant stuff. Yes, you will catch me talking to myself when I'm working on almost anything. So far I've made mini apple pies and chocolate pecan pie (Instagram 1 & 2) which Amado both requested.

For no reason at all, not that I need any, I decided to try making a fruit tart. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. 

Pie Crust (Makes 2 sheets)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water 2 tablespoon granulated sugar

Instructions
1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt then mix well.
2. Add the butter in the middle and mix using a pastry mixer.
3. Gradually pour the cold water while mixing the ingredients. Continue mixing until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Gather the dough and mold it into a ball-shaped figure.
5. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes to harden the butter.
6. Sprinkle flour on a clean flat surface and flatten the refrigerated dough using a rolling pin. The flattened dough should be wide enough to cover a 9 inch circular baking pan.
7. Arrange the flattened dough on top of the baking pan and cut the extra edge using a pair of scissors. 8. Refrigerate while doing the filling.

For the pastry creme, I used the same recipe I use for when I make the filling for Mille Crepe (minus the whipped cream). The recipe needs tweaking since it's a bit runny. Maybe use flour instead of corn starch. Fruit tarts need filling that holds its shape and stays in place but Amado swears he likes it the way it was.

Maricel - Portraits

Often we only see one aspect of someone's personality and we forget theres more to them than what we are used to seeing. I've known Maricel to be the extremely outgoing, no holds barred, always laughing and easy going kinda girl. For her birthday, she decided to celebrate it by spoiling herself and getting some portraits done. She wanted to celebrate herself in a different light which I hope I captured.  Here are a couple of photos from her set.

I wanted to break the ice and have her be more comfortable during the session. She invited a close friend of ours to help me with the shoot and I used him as a distraction to get this candid shot.

Paquette Family

Sheila has always appreciated the photos I've taken of Holly, Ryan and their kids. It's safe to say that she's one of the biggest cheerleaders I have on Facebook whenever I post photos that I've taken. It's great that I finally got to photograph her and her family who's always been very warm and welcoming towards me and Amado.

The Paquettes - Evan, Sheila, Charlie and Holly

Mars and Sul with their Gigi and Daddio.

See, it's always the girls that's good at being silly and having fun!

Love this one of the Zivalics.

Sully warming up after splashing around with her dad. Yes, Southern California residents were still going to the beach in January.

Coffee

I enjoy and appreciate things more knowing that I put in hard work with anything that I do, like photography and editing. I now apply the same appreciation when making coffee. It started with the coffee mill we got a few months back which turned into countless hours on YouTube watching videos of "how to brew the perfect cup of coffee" followed by adding stuff to my Amazon.com wishlist. Every morning you'll find me in the kitchen grinding coffee with our hand-cranked mill. It's therapeutic and I don't mind it at all.

For one of the Secret Santas I joined this past Christmas, my cousin Tayler heard my not-so-subtle hints about getting a Chemex coffee brewer. I'm talking about the exact dollar amount and a list of stores where it can be purchased from. Let's just say I am in love with it.

But it didn't stop there. The more I learned about the proper way of making coffee, the more I obsessed about getting a gooseneck kettle. Each tutorial was like an informercial and I'm a sucker for infomercials! It really does work though. I had more control pouring the water over the fresh ground coffee through the elongated spout compared to the wide-open kettle we got from Ikea. 

I also picked up a Hario V60 for when I only want to make a cup of coffee. I've had the red plastic pour-over one for years but complained about the plastic taste it add to the coffee. 

Oh, and I also found some reusable filters on Etsy by CoffeeSock Co. For now I'm just tossing my used grounds in a can and might start composting. Emphasize on "might" since I still have to read up on how to actually execute that task. But for now I think I have everything I need. Maybe a scale to weigh the beans and for an even, more precise brewing. If that still doesn't satisfy me then the Bodum Santos Siphon might do the trick.