Through another's eyes

So its been quite a while since I last posted and I have some definite adventures to tell you about!
Last week was Spring Break and I took Chelsea to San Francisco, California to meet my extended family! I haven't been out for a couple years and it's been forever since  I've played tourist in a town that feels like a second home.

The first day we arrived in San Francisco.my grandmother, Nama, and Auntie Karen picked us up from the airport and surprised us with a trip down to Fisherman's Wharf! We went to Scoma's for their famous Crab Louie. The dungeness crab is so fresh that its even sweet! Needless to say we need a walk around Pier 39. It was sunny and gorgeous!!  We saw the fat sea lions and booked our tickets to Alcatraz, that was our Friday adventure. I had an Irish coffee in celebration of St. Patrick's day at Bubba Gumps since it was too far to make it to Buena Vista Cafe where it was invented.  Then we took Chels across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was  bright and beautiful with limited traffic and no fog! Unheard of for this time of year!

The second day we traveled to Fairfield, Califonia to tour the Jelly Belly Factory. I only eat Jelly Belly Jelly Beans and loved the factory when I was a kid! I used to sit on my grandfather's shoulders during the tour and haven't been back since he passed away. We meet up with my great aunt and had a great time! It takes about 4 days to make a batch of jelly beans. We even managed to try their newest flavor, champagne! As if Jelly Beans were not exciting enough we chilled out at a subsidiarity winery of Vezer called Blue Victorian, where my Aunt Sandra meet us for a lunch of wine tasting and in-n-out burgers. What can I say, my family likes to keep it classy! The wine was delicious and the burgers we just right. Chels and I shifted around the table to soak up all that wonderful sunshine!!It was a divine day with a delightful visit with my family.

The third day had a relaxing start of homework that was assigned because of the recent snow days. Then we headed to my other grandmother's house, Nammy,  to have dinner with her and Auntie Karen before watching the UK game. After the game we headed to the city with Auntie Karen to a dueling piano bar in the basement of Johnny Foley's. It was fantastic! The two pianists were funny and played exceptionally well! They found out we were from Kentucky and thought Chelsea said her name was Tootsie!! I will never let her live that one down!

The final day was an epic marathon. After the piano bar we left early the next morning via BART, the subway system back to Pier 39 for our Alcatraz visit! It was a brisk morning but almost completely clear! We got so lucky with the weather! We toured the island prison with the self guided tour and were able to go at our own pace. I even made Chels get in the solitary lock-up cell. She wasn't too happy. We had lunch at the Boudin Sourdough bakery. The food was exceptional! Chels tried the clam chowder and the chicken salad. Both were excellent but not as good as my pesto chicken sandwich! Then we wandered through Ghirardelli Square before hopping on the cable car to the closest BART station. We arrived home without a hitch. Our last meal was of the one and only Ricky's Chicken with my great Uncle Dave, who is also my godfather and his family.

I missed my family so much and it was fantastic for  me to introduce Chelsea to them. Family is important to me and one of my greatest joys. Welcome to the Family Chels!

Snowy Spare time

Thanks to snow storm Thor, I have had some extra time to spend on myself!

I started planning my trip with Chelsea to London and Edinburgh! We officially have a list of places to see and a general plan on what we will see in which order. Next step is to figure out Edinburgh and where we will stay.

We also started planning our trip to California to see my family! I'm so excited to bring her to my family. Its strange though, this will be the first time I've ever had anyone come with me to California. She's met my Crazy but that's it! I love my family and can't wait for her to meet every one else!

Being cooped up means I can only watch so much Netflix. So I tested my housewife skills! I managed to scrape together homemade pretzels nuggets and dumplings.

These little nuggets were easy enough to make with a recipe found on Pinterest. (I might be a bit of an addict when in comes to Pinterest.) "Sally's Baking Addiction" helped me whip up these nice little surprises to bring home to my Dad and sister. You can find it HERE.
I had just enough yeast but I didn't use an egg wash to get the golden brown color. Butter, actually. What can be bad topped with a little butter? I also used a little bit of olive oil for the ones in the white bowl. They didn't get quite as crunchy but they had great flavor! I also used some rock sea salt on half of them. I also tossed them in some sugar and cinnamon, which was an excellent Idea. I popped what was left in the freezer to make sure they stay fresh until I make it home. Fingers crossed they travel well!

My next adventure was inspired by my Mom! She doesn't fail a cooking endeavor but dumplings were one of those rare failures. Her last attempt left her with one giant dumpling than lots of little ones. Her latest attempt was loads more successful! Dad even said they were good! Yay for inspiration! I looked up the same recipe HERE, and tried my hand at it. I added my own spin on things. I didnt have any chicken stock so i used chicken gravy and I didn't have enough milk to make both the dumplings and the broth so I used pureed cauliflower. The puree gave it an interesting texture but it tasted good! It was creamy and had great flavor. Lets see how it reheats and how the extra dumplings last in the freezer.

So my snow day was nice and productive! Hopefully yours was too!

~A