Saturday, October 30, 2010

Day 17 - An Art Piece

So, I'm really not into art so I'm going to share the closest thing I've done, which is cake decorating. My very first sheet cake was for my friend Janine's baby shower, she is having triplets.

I made everything you see on the cake besides the surf boards and umbrella. The palm trees are pretzels rods with fondant leaves. The babies and seashells are made from fondant. The turtles are white chocolate with green food coloring. The sand is graham crackers and sugar. The sea is cream cheese frosting with some green and blue food coloring. The cake itself is a vanilla with buttercream filling. Delicious!



Friday, October 29, 2010

Day 16- A Song That Makes You Cry



There's a story that my daddy tells religiously
Like clockwork every time he sees an opening
In a conversation about the way things used to be
Well I'd just roll my eyes and make a bee-line for the door
But I'd always wind up starry-eyed, cross-legged on the floor
Hanging on to every word
Man, the things I heard

It was harder times and longer days
Five miles to school, uphill both ways
We were cane switch raised, and dirt floor poor
'Course that was back before the war
Yeah, your uncle and I made quite a pair
Flying F-15's through hostile air
He went down but they missed me by a hair
He'd always stop right there and say...

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
That's a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin'
Or a newborn baby cryin'
In the arms of the woman that you love
That's something to be proud of

Son graduatin' college, that was mama's dream
But I was on my way to anywhere else when I turned 18
Cuz when you gotta fast car you think you've got everything
I learned quick those GTO's don't run on faith
I ended up broken down in some town north of L.A.
Working maximum hours for minimum wage
Well, I fell in love, next thing I know
The babies came, the car got sold
I sure do miss that old hot rod
But you sure save gas in them foreign jobs
Dad, I wonder if I ever let you down
If you're ashamed how I turned out
Well, he lowered his voice, then he raised his brow
Said, lemme tell ya right now

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
You don't need to make a million
Just be thankful to be workin'
If you're doing what you're able
And putting food there on the table
And providing for the family that you love
That's something to be proud of

And if all you ever really do is the best you can
Well, you did it man

That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
That's a chin held high as the tears fall down
A gut sucked in, a chest stuck out
Like a small town flag a-flyin'
Or a newborn baby cryin'
In the arms of the woman that you love
That's something to be proud of
That's something to be proud of
Yeah, that's something to be proud of
That's something to be proud of
Now that's something to be proud of

Day 15- Your Dream House

So my dream house actually isn't a house at all, its a boat. Both Jon and I dream all the time about buying a nice yacht and then just cruising around the world. Here's a pic of a sexy yacht...

If we can't live on a yacht, I'm good with anything with a decent sized kitchen. However, it says my DREAM house so I'm going to list some of the ridiculous things we want.


First and foremost, Jon wants me to mention we want a nice garage. The most important item in this garage would be a 1964 1/2 Mustang. Red with a white racing stripe and white leather seats. Here's a picture of a red mustang, no racing stripes and not the right color seats.




The second most important item would be Jon's dream car, 1967 Chevy Camaro. Not a Chevy fan, so I'm moving on.






Next most important part of the house would be the kitchen. In case you guys didn't know from my blog based on cooking, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I want it to have really high quality appliances but still have a warm, inviting feeling.




Attached to this beautiful kitchen would be my walk-in pantry. Awesome, I know.







While I'm making demands, I'll take a craft room for scrapbooking and gift basket construction.





And how about a in home movie theater?








I hope you guys enjoyed walking down Never Going To Happen Blvd with me. I truly just want a cozy little house for Jon, me, the dogs and our maybe future children to be happy and healthy in. All the rest of the stuff would just be a bonus. In case I do get rich and famous, the last picture I'll leave you with is what I want the outside to look like. Bye kids!

Day 14 - A Non-Fictional Book

So, I don't have a favorite non-fictional book I can think of so instead I'm going to share one I want to read. :)

I kind of want to see the movie first and then read the book. We'll see what happens. :)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Day 13- A Fictional Book

I seriously had to look up the difference between fiction and non-fiction because I can never remember which is which. So, hopefully google got it right.

I already did My Favorite Book, so I'll give my second favorite book for this one. Here's the website for the book. This book is a great read, you can't put it down once you start it. I may even re-read it now just thinking about it, haha.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Day 12- Something You Are OCD About

Hmph. This is a tough one. I'm really not too much OCD about anything. I had to ask Jon for what he would say I'm OCD about and he immediately said "your hands!".

I chuckled inside because I don't realize how I am sometimes about them. I wash my hands like 8,000 times a day. When I'm at work where we don't have a bathroom, I am constantly using the hand sanitizer. My hands are so dry because of this.

I also am super OCD about my nails. I am a nail biter. I've learned that if my nails are perfectly painted with no bubbles or imperfections, I don't bite them. So, I literally paint my nails like every other day.

Here's a picture when I painted them leopard... :)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Apple Crumbler

Hey Everyone!

I am SO excited about this post. Last night, I was craving something sweet. I was going to attempt to make an apple pie and then realized I didn't have a pie dish. So, I moved onto the next best thing, Apple Crisp. I looked up recipes online and nothing was jumping out at me. So, I moved onto Apple Cobbler, nothing jumped out again. The same happened with Apple Crumble recipes. So, I decided I would just throw elements from each together and make what I'm calling an Apple Crumbler. It was amazing.

I was born in October in New England which is Apple pickin' season, so I am programmed to love anything apple. Especially around this time of year, even living in Hawaii, I get crazy cravings for apple dishes. I've never attempted an apple dish at home before, I wish I had tried sooner! To make mine a little different, I added some maple syrup to the filling and made a glaze for the top. The glaze isn't too sweet because its balanced out with some lemon juice.

If you guys have been reading this blog but don't know which recipe to try, start with this one. It was easy to throw together and so tasty. Send me your feedback: cookingwithcait@gmail.com.

Apple Crumbler

Filling:
3-3 1/2 cups apples peeled, cored and diced into small chunks
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Crumbler:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 stick butter, room temperature
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for filling. Spread into 8x8 baking dish. Set aside.







In same mixing bowl as filling (you will pick up some of the yummy spices and juices) combine all ingredients besides butter until incorporated. Using an electric mixer, beat in butter until dry ingredients have stuck to it and made a crumbly texture topping. Spread this topping over apple filling until fully covered.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes. While it is baking, prepare glaze.

Combine all ingredients for glaze in small mixing bowl and whisk together until smooth.

Pour glaze over top of crumbler as soon as it gets out of the oven. Serve with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Day 11 - A Photo of You Recently

We took this picture on Wednesday night when we went to the Haunted Lagoon. This is one of the more recent pictures I've taken. :)

Simple Red and White Strombolis

Hey Kids!

So today, I decided to get off my staycation butt and put together one of Jon and I's favorites, a stromboli. Jon and I first fell in love with the stromboli at this place in Attleboro, MA, La Strada. Friends that I worked with at the Emerald Square mall introduced me. It was love at first bite. (insert cheesy chuckle)

I always ordered the buffalo chicken stromboli, which is just to die for. Jon does not like buffalo anything so he usually got something like chicken parm or meat lovers.

This stromboli is made up of both whole wheat and all purpose flour to try to save on some calories. I also used my Marinara Sauce which is filled with veggies and not too much sugar.

The wheat dough recipe makes 2 strombolis, 1 thick crust pizza or 2 thin crust pizzas. So, you could just take the dough recipe and make a pizza or continue on to the stromboli construction.

The beauty of a stromboli, just like a pizza, is you can get really creative with your ingredients. You could make a Chicken Caesar, Buffalo Chicken, Italian BMT, Ham & Bacon, possibilities are limitless. I bet it would be so much fun to get the kids in the kitchen to help add the toppings or fillings also. I made two strombolis today, one red, one white. Very simple with the sauce, chicken, and lots of cheese.

Pizza Dough

1 1/4 cups warm water
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 packet active dry yeast
3/4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour

In Kitchen Aid mixing bowl, mix warm water with sugar until dissolved. Top water mixture with yeast packet and set aside until yeast is foamy, 8-10 minutes. Add olive oil and salt. Using dough hook on mixer, add in flour in 1/2 cup increments until both wheat and all purpose flours are fully incorporated.

Knead dough for about 3-5 minutes, until smooth. Cover with more olive oil and set in mixing bowl on side. Cover with towel and allow to rise for about an hour. Once dough is about double in size, separate into two pieces. Knead each ball again until smooth and set aside to rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Once both pieces have risen, flour work surface. Using a rolling pin, stretch dough into rectangular shape about the length of the rolling pin. Repeat with second piece of dough. Add desired toppings or fillings and bake for 20 minutes.

Red Stromboli
6 servings- 176 calories each

1/2 cup Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded chicken

White Stromboli
6 servings- 276 calories each

1/2 cup Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup Ravioli filling
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 cup shredded chicken

Layer ingredients on top of pizza dough. Here are some pictures on how to form the stromboli. First tuck in the sides. Next, pull dough from top over and pinch sides to create pocket. Then, pull dough from bottom over and pinch sides and top to seal. Make 4-5 slits in stromboli. Sprinkle top of dough with house seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes, until outside is crispy.

 

 

Homemade Raviolis

Hey Kids!

I can't even begin to express my love for raviolis. They are so amazing. I used to just buy the frozen stuff you buy in the grocery store. Now, my Kitchen Aid mixer has made these so easy to make from scratch. If you don't have a mixer, you can just cut the raviolis with a pizza cutter and shape the edges with a fork. This ravioli filling ends up making extra, which I'm going to use in my next recipe for stromboli.

6 Sheets of Homemade Pasta

Ravioli Filling:
1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
3/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, grated or finely minced
1 tbsp parsely, chopped
1 egg

Start boiling water on stovetop for ravioli using large pasta pot. Combine together all ravioli filling ingredients in large mixing bowl. Use Kitchen Aid mixer to form raviolis. Season water and drop in raviolis. Allow to cook for about 4-5 minutes, until raviolis are floating at top. Serve with marinara or alfredo sauce and Buon Appetito!

Day 10- A Photo Taken Over 10 Years Ago Of You

Wow, Long title! Anyways, we just recently started scanning in some old pictures within the past few months so this is perfect to post now.

I chose this picture because it has my Grandpa Littlejohn in it. He passed away right before my 5th birthday so I think this is probably one of the last pictures I took with him because I look about 4 years old here.

I also love this picture because it was at the house I grew up at in Freetown, MA. I loved the swingset my dad had built and my little sis is in it so it's cute.

RIP Grandpa Littlejohn <3

Friday, October 22, 2010

Day 9 - A Photo You Took

I take sooo many pictures so this one was just a matter of picking one. I wanted to put a picture up of my dogs. They never stay near each other long enough to get a decent picture together. They both know what the camera is. So, they'll make a cute face or give each other a kiss and I'll go to snap a picture... They turn away or stop what they're doing. Brats! Haha.

So moral of the story, you got a two-for on your hands, readers. Here's a cute picture of each Lei Lei and Savannah. :D They're both so cute, they're worth their own picture anyways. I included a picture of one of their favorite spots to walk to. It also happens to be the place where Jonny proposed. Awwww :)





Thursday, October 21, 2010

Cait vs. Cake

Hey Guys!

Today was my good friend Janine's baby shower. Janine is about to be blessed with triplets, ALL BOYS! OMG! So, my mom put me in charge of the cake! Awesomeness. This was my first time ever decorating a sheet cake. I was incredibly excited for the challenge.

I picked up a plain vanilla with buttercream cake at Costco. I asked for it with no borders, no decoration of any kind. I figured since it was my first time attempting the decorations, I better not try to be a hero and do the sheet cake itself too.


First, I had to make the fondant. I made this using 16 oz of marshmallows, melted with 2 tbsp of water and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Once that was melted, I used my kitchenaid mixer to beat in 2 lbs of sifted powdered sugar.Then, I kneaded that until it was a firm ball, covered it with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge overnight.

Next, I made some white chocolate turtles that I had dyed green using food coloring. I used a mold I got at my favorite store Executive Chef. Then, I made all the fondant pieces for the cake. I made palm tree leaves and using a toothpick attached them to pretzel rods. I made shells for the beach. I made a green blanket for the babies to lay on on the beach with white chocolate polka dots. Then I made the babies! Three cute little boys. Check out some of the pictures of their evolution: (sorry the pictures are a little blurry, my camera hates me!)



 


Then, the best part, I got to put it all together! I used graham cracker crumbs mixed with some granulated sugar to make the sand. I used some frosting with blue and green food dye to make a turquoise colored sea. I added all my elements and wrote Congrats Janine & Kyle! I'm so happy with the way it turned out and the cake itself was delicious. Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures!



 




Today

Ok so I don't usually just give a random update on my day but today I just had to.

First thing, I woke up at 4am and was completely unable to go back to sleep. I tried for like an hour with no luck so then I took the opportunity to watch CSI. Obviously you're not gonna get much sleep after you watch a murder investigation.

Next I went to 24 hour fitness in Mililani with Jon. I was supposed to leave the house at 730, we didn't leave till 750 and still got there on time for my 830 class. Success.

Wednesdays at 830am is Camp24 with Tina. Tina is this body builder who does a mix of 1987 aerobics, p90x, insanity, military scare tactics and pure torture. All with a great sense of humor. Sounds awesome right? It kinda is! You want to die during but afterwards you feel like you accomplished something. So that lasted an hour. By this time, my bodybugg (calorie counter) already read 1000 calories burned for the day!


KTom, Me & Nalani
I usually take the class with Nalani or KTom but today was the first day we were all together taking the class. After the class, we were those people we hated and stood on the gym floor socializing. Also, Jon was there and then randomly Kerry was there even though he should've already been on his way to school.
 
"Mooooviessss?"



Tonight we're going to Haunted Lagoon, so we were asking Nalani for advise on how early to get there. Also, KTom mentioned she was going to the movies. She decided instead of spending $156 dollars on a hot dog and a soda at the movies she'd stop at Costco for their $1.50 hot dog deal. I know you guys don't care about that, but it was funny at the time. She also discussed bringing her Costco soda cup in and being all nonchalant and refilling the cup at the movies. She then made a gesture with her hands when talking about the movies. See picture on right. Amazing. We said goodbye and Jon and I trotted off to our next adventure. Yes, we trotted.. We do that.

Next stop was Pearlridge Shopping Center. Let me just explain this mall to you guys that aren't in Hawaii to experience it. It is ridiculous. It has two sides, uptown and downtown. I never remember which is which so I just ask people "is that on the macys or sears side?". Uptown and downtown are completely separate parking structures and you can't walk from uptown to downtown indoors. You either walk outside, get your car and attempt to find more parking on the other side or you take a monorail. That's right, a monorail. Its 50 cents for "skycab" one way to the other side. I'm sorry, did I end up in Disney World on accident trying to get to Forever 21? No, okay then.

So we get to Pearlridge and park near the Borders on the upper level. Why are we at Pearlridge with its crazy ways you ask? We need to get Hawaii licenses. Well, we don't need to. Its just when you have a Hawaii license people don't look at you like unwanted freaks and you get discounts where all the cool kids go. So we head to city hall. Yes, city hall is inside the mall. You can also purchase a $5 copy of the driver's manual to crash study for the written test at Borders. Jon and I park our asses on a bench with our manual and quiz each other. Awesome.

We head in and are sooo psyched there isn't a line. Our happiness immediately turns to sadness when we see all the signs saying "NO out of state transfers". Again with the unwanted freak complex. It instructs us to head to Wahiawa. Ok, so we head to Wahiawa.

On the way to Wahiawa, we stop at Waikele to grab my Halloween costume, Snow White. While waiting in line there was this cute little girl asking her mom if she could buy a certain costume. Her mom's answer was "no, you're too &%$&ing fat! I'll get it for your little sister because she isn't fat like you!" Oh my GOSH! Lady are you serious?!! And this was not a skinny woman by any means. She was a good size. Don't take your insecurities out on your innocent little girl. I could go on for hours about how disgusted I was but I'll just move on with my day.. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

We get to Wahiawa and there's only a small line of about 10 people. I take the time to send my friend Casey a "I'm so happy for you" message on FB while I make Jon wait in line. We get to the head of the line and this guys comes up to me and goes "are you here for the written test??" I say "yes" and he goes "oh ok well I just have a question" and runs up to the lady at the counter. The next woman calls me over then Jon gets called next. The lady helping me asks the guy basically where the eff did you come from? And he says he was behind me. She's like "that doesn't make any sense, you came to the counter before her". He gets all red and she tells him to get back in line. He proceeds to argue with her and she continues to cuss him out. Took care of any nerves I had about the test because I was laughing out loud.

Mostly everyone I know from out of state has failed this written test at least once. Jon and I were super nervous because we just wanted to get it over with and not have to go through this again. Its about 30 multiple choice questions, and you can only get 6 wrong. Not too bad.

Jon finishes first, he only gets 3 wrong. I second guess myself on two of my answers so I switch them before turning in the test. I get 5 wrong, 2 of which are the ones I just switched. Jon proceeds to rub it in my face that he did better than me. Thanks for that Jon. :)

Then, they call us up to take our picture and verify our info. Jon takes his picture and bada bing bada boom, he's all set. Official kama'aina! They call me up and I'm all fixing my hair, practicing my smile.. The computer makes a sound. Like a "no way, we're not allowing her to drive here". Turns out because the lady was so distracted by the fancy man who cut in line that she entered my birthday as the expiration date. Awesome.


So I wait a little longer, then she calls me up for reals. I'd just like to mention that I was rockin purple for my license picture since today was Spirit Day and all. I take the picture, it comes out decent. K shoots see ya later.

Bye Bye Boston!



Aloha Hawaii!










We get outside and I notice mine expires in 2015, which is 5 years away, not the 4 years its supposed to be. So haha DMV, I got an extra year out of you! Jon was pissed that his was right, it expires 2014. I'd say that was karma for rubbing his score in my face.

Next I get in the car and my current song obsession
Far East Movement- Like A G6 is playing. Success.

Then we realize we forgot to pick up the cake from Costco. (This cake will be explained in tomorrow's blog) So, we had to drive up to Waipio before heading home. Fail.


Here's a map of Oahu so you can see my driving around from today. :)

During our drive home Jon asked me if I was going to look up how to create my own stuff for the cake tomorrow and I answered with "Of course I am! I'm a googleaphobic!!" Then, I realized as soon as I said it that it wasn't what I wanted to say. Then I yelled out "googleaddicted". Nah, still not what I was looking for. "GOOGLEAHOLIC!" Success.




The last and most exciting part of our day was waiting for Kerry and KTom to head down to our condo at Turtle Bay. We were all going to ride together to The Haunted Lagoon at Polynesian Cultural Center. They got here, we talked story and then headed down the street to Laie. The parking was $5, tickets were $15 and snacks in line were only $1 a piece. Incredibly reasonable. There was a huge line because Halloween is so close by. The wait was about an hour and a half. It was so worth it. It was the perfect combination of scary and funny. The creepiest part was there were little kids sitting behind me that kept grabbing onto my back and I kept thinking they were part of the ride, haha.

Well, kids, that was my day! If you survived reading that, you deserve a gold star. Now I'm going to head to bed and watch some DVR. Enjoy the pictures!










Why Can't I See You?

I Can See You!

 





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