coast to coast

yesterday i arrived home from a 33 day trip across 15 different cities.  here are the places i visited:

1. New York City, NY
2. Secaucus, NJ
3. Mount Pleasant, DC
4. Arlington, VA
5. Baltimore, MD
6. Portland, OR
7. Vancouver, WA
8.  Tacoma, WA
9.  Seattle, WA
10. Ketchikan, AK
11. Juneau, AK
14. Skagway, AK
15. Victoria, Canada

what an amazing adventure!  with so many new things and places to see i took tons of pictures (over a thousand) but i decided to narrow it down to my top 10 to give you a glimpse of my trip...in a nutshell.

lady liberty standing tall

9/11 memorial...never forgotten

arlington national cemetery - though these veterans were all in wheelchairs, they were determined to stand to salute as the trumpet sounded to taps.

WWII memorial, DC

mount st. helens, wa

the cassler pup, wizard (this was pre-haircut)

ketchikan, alaska

my mom in skagway, alaska

juneau, alaska - dog sledding w/ alaskan huskies.  these dogs were so much fun!
some of them are even training for the iditarod!  it was interesting to learn that
most of them are not purebred huskies.  they are mixed with other breeds to increase
strength and speed.

just an appetizer of one of our decadent meals on board 

 the last week of my vacation was spend aboard the Princess Star cruise ship where we visited various ports in alaska as well as victoria, canada.  let me just say that if you've never gone on a cruise before, it's a must do!  the ship experience in itself was amazing.  i was afraid of getting seasick because i'm pretty sensitive when it comes to motion but with the help of seabands, i didn't feel a twinge of sickness (hooray!)  

everyone on board from the stewards, to the wait staff, to the entertainers were all so hospitable!  many were also international so i got to meet people from all over the world...Philippines, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, France, England, Poland, and the list goes on and on.  these workers worked so hard and always had a smile on their face.  in chatting with a few of them, we came to learn that many of them are on a 6-9 month contract and they work every single day...no days off.  they were amazing       


besides all of the friendly people. the boat itself was fabulous.  it's pretty much a floating city with an amazing view.  there was so much to do on board.  there was a fitness center, spa, theater, numerous restaurants, casino, and shops.  the crew staff also puts on different shows (comedy, talent, musical, etc.) and hosts trivia games.  each night we got a copy of "The Patter."  The Patter was basically a newsletter laying out the next day's events...it was exciting to read.  the food was also very memorable.  we ate at what would be the equality of 5 star restaurants for almost every meal and it was all inclusive in the cruise fare which made it even more amazing!


then, in addition to all of the wonderful-ness of the ship, there are all of the ports that we got to visit.  alaska's ports were cute little towns sprinkled with colorful wooden buildings and much history.  at each port we took an onshore excursion.  in ketchikan, we saw a lumberjack show and walked through a totem pole park.  in juneau we got to meet alaskan huskies and ride on a dog sled.  in skagway we took a train ride on the white pass railway.  finally, in victoria we visited butchart gardents (it was beautiful!)


if you've never done a cruise before, i highly recommend the alaskan cruise! :)

if you like my photos, please "like" my facebook page! :)

https://www.facebook.com/sachiphotography

for my fellow foodie bakers, i also got to try some amazing cupcakes :)  i'll blog about them soon! 

cookies 'n cream cookies

a couple of weekends ago, my friends and i had a pinterest party...it's a super fun thing and it forces you to try something that you've pinned...if you're like me, you go pin-crazy but don't really do all the cool stuff pinterest has to offer.  last time, i posted my contribution to the pinterest party which was a jello cake - see previous post.

another dessert at the pinterest party was this cookies 'n cream cookie. i actually only had one at the party and then secretly hoped i would have some in our left-over take-out box that we packed mixed-plate style.  i came home and was already ready for a snack so i opened up our box and sad news for me...no cookie.  needless to say, it was on my mind all week...i just needed to have more!  so i decided to give it a try.

here's the link to the recipe that i kind of followed [with some minor adjustments]
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/08/cookies-and-cream-cookies.html

i couldn't find the cookies 'n cream pudding so i substituted one box of chocolate pudding, one box of vanilla pudding, and 2 tbsp. of creamer (the powder kind that you put in coffee).  the taste of the cookie came out the same, it just looked a little darker.

1.  crush 15 cookies into chunks

2.  cream butter and sugar.  then mix in eggs and vanilla.

3/4/&5.  mix flour & baking soda in a separate bowl, then add to butter mixture.  mix in cookies.

6.  mix in white chocolate chips

7.  scoop on a cookie sheet (i used a melon baller)

8.  bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

9.  eat / share them :)

a first birthday and a pinterest party

why hello there...it's been a while! life has been busy trying to manage school, the beginning of my photography career, (please check out my photography page and like us on facebook :)  www.facebook.com/sachiphotography ), and baking

now, that i've given my photography shout out, on to the baking world!  this weekend i was asked to bake for one of my coworker's baby's first birthday.  it was pretty neat because it was a joint first birthday for cousins and the theme was elephants...they were oh too cute!  the elephants were cartoon-ish yet modern and sophisticated...if you don't understand what i'm talking about, see cupcake toppers below! :)  i baked my favorite, butterscotch w/ vanilla buttercream and a sprinkle of sea salt.  i needed to bake 150 cupcakes and i had never baked this many cupcakes by myself before so i was nervous but, everything turned out well and i even finished in less time than i had expected.  i couldn't have done it without help from my husband joe and friend sara.

here are the pics from the event.

this weekend we also had a pinterest party with our college friends.  i decided to go with simple since i knew i would have to bake 150 cupcakes!  so i found a recipe for a jello cake.  it definitely turned out simple, sweet, and strawberry!

here are the steps.
1. bake cake as directed on box

2.  poke with a fork

3. prepare jello w/ 1 cup hot water and 1 cup cold water

4.  pour over cake

5. refrigerate overnight

6. top w/ whipped cream and fresh fruit!

so if you're ever in need for a quick dessert, this one's highly recommended! 

i heart pinterest!

japanese cheesecake

japanese cheesecake

this past weekend we had a pinterest party with some of our friends.  definition of a pinterest party:  make something from pinterest.  we did a pinterest food party so we all made food.  i've also heard of a pinterest craft party, which sounds quite fun (everyone plans a pinterest craft and brings supplies for everyone to make that craft.)

so, for the pinterest food party i decided to try making japanese cheesecake.  i was hoping it would be like the panya bakery version...not quite there but maybe if i keep at it :)

here's the recipe i followed:
http://www.joepastry.com/2011/japanese-cheesecake-recipe/

melt butter, cream cheese, and milk in the microwave in 10 second intervals

keep melting and stirring until mixture has a smooth consistency 

sift dry ingredients (except the sugar and cream of tartar)

separate eggs

mix wet ingredients, dry ingredients, and egg yolks together

beat egg yolks and add cream of tartar and sugar...fold into wet mixture

line a spring form pan and cover outside w/ foil so that water won't leak in
as the cake will bake in a water bath

top with cream topping (i used a condensed milk, heaving whipping cream, and brown sugar mixture)

upon reflecting on the cheesecake, it was a lot denser than i had hoped it would be.  i think part of it had to do with the egg whites. you're supposed to beat until foamy and then add in cream of tartar and sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.  i dumped the cream of tartar and sugar in all at once...it kind of made the egg whites heavy and not so airy.  next time, i think i'll add the sugar in gradually.  hopefully this helps make the final cake more fluffy :) 

my husband made meat pies for his dish and had extra dough so i decided to make pear pies with it.  we rolled the dough, and created a pear + butter + brown sugar mixture.  then we stuffed the pies with the pear mixture plus some delicious goodness of brie cheese :)  next we folded the pies closed, topped with an egg wash and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and baked....yum yum! :)

pinterest

this month i needed to share a "nice & new" at our leadership meeting at school.  basically every month someone on the board takes a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to share something nice and new that they've discovered.  usually when it's my turn i try to incorporate food because who doesn't love food at a meeting?! i also wanted to share my addiction to pinterest (because i use it to find a lot of school resources) so i decided to choose a simple recipe from pinterest and get the best of both worlds!

here's my try at a sweet and salty treat.

ingredients:
- pretzel twists
- chocolate kisses
- m&ms

1.  lay out pretzel twists and top with a kiss.

2.  bake at 275 degrees F for 3 mins.

3.  squish an m&m on each treat

4.  refrigerate

5 enjoy!

this was a super easy recipe and super tasty...the hardest part was opening all of the kisses!