San Diego, Truffle Honey and Kevin George Peacock
Bachelorette Party Number Three Is Over.
There. I’ve said it! Yes, the bachelorettes are all behind me until July of next year. This trip was a nice change of pace from Vegas. At 8:30 AM, I jumped on the train to be greeted by eight girls screaming and handing me a glass of champagne and covering me in hot pink beads. Five hours and six bottles of champagne later, we arrived in San Diego. We stayed at the Andaz Hotel in the Gaslamp district which was perfectly situated in close proximity to a host of amazing restaurants and great bars. And of course, the hotel itself wasn’t too shabby. I dare you too Google the Star Suite at the Andaz Hotel. (Why yes, that is a stripper pole in the middle of the room. What’s it to you?)
Raspberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Cilantro Vinaigrette
My hubby is awesome. Sometimes, he really plans out thoughtful and fun presents for me. My absolute favorite musical instrument is the cello. I love the deep, passionate, resonating sound it makes. When we got married, I walked down the aisle to Jeux D’eau which is a song from the Cirque de Soleil show, “O.” About thirty seconds in, a cello starts and it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
Back when we still lived in Sherman Oaks, he rented a cello for me and got me private cello lessons. I LOVED IT! It was so much fun to learn – it was a LOT of work. I never realized how difficult it was. The funny part is, I guessed what he had planned for me. I wrote it down, brought it with us and showed it to him when we pulled up at my first cello lesson. He was gobbsmacked. Totally speechless. Honestly could not believe that I had guessed it.
Mommy Bistro Kids: Baked “Fried” Lemon Chicken with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
I had a horribly epiphany over the weekend. I realized that in about three years time, my girls will be off to school all day long. Which means they are growing up tooooooo fast for me. I want them to stay little and cuddle with me and still need their mommy. I know it sounds crazy, right? Three years is a long time away! But then I think about Pixie turning FIVE this year and it makes me realize that time is literally moving in fast forward for me. And school is really long. They will be in school for the next 18 years of their lives! I know we all did it but I’m just having a hard time letting my girls get so big. I’m sure our parents felt this way too. But they’re my BABIES!!
Sigh…
Pumpkin Spice Cake
I love this cake. It’s the same pumpkin bread recipe that you can find in my Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe. I love the cozy autumn feeling this cake gives me. Especially when you add in the honey frosting on top. Actually, now that I’m sitting here writing about this, and it’s such a gloomy yucky rainy day, I think I’ll whip this up. I’m having some friends over for a Stella & Dot jewelry party this afternoon and I only have a few days left before I have to put the pumpkin away and break out the peppermint and Christmas music. Have I mentioned how crazy obsessed my hubby is with Christmas music? He has 198 Christmas songs in our itunes library. That 8.2 hours of Christmas music. God help me for the next month.
Grilled Nectarines with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Grilled fruit is such a light and delicious dessert. It gives you that satisfying sweetness you need at the end of a meal (or at least us girls need it) without going crazy on calories or heaviness. And here’s the bonus! You can give this to kids and they don’t realize they are actually eating something healthy. Shhh…..don’t tell them! It’s our secret. When I made this last, our good friends and my parents were over for Cuban Garlic Chicken. My dad’s nectarine turned out the prettiest for a picture so the poor guy had to wait, staring at it longingly, while I paparazzied his poor dessert.
PS…Serve this with Tobin James Charisma.
PSS….Love ya!
Hubby’s Note: Tobin James is our favorite winery. The Charisma my wife is referring to is a sweet dessert wine they offer. It works really well with the dish. But a nice port or late harvest Zinfandel would go really well too. As for the Grilled Nectarines…mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Is there anything better than something hot and succulent served with cold vanilla ice cream? Actually, yes, there is. There’s a lot that’s better. But it’s still REALLY good. BTW honey, PSS? Post Super Script? Post Spaghetti Script? And I hope it was directed at me.