where all the magic happens

my kitchen is always the center of activity in the house.  all sorts of stuff comes out of there, like this delicious roast:

actually, i suppose it rather looks like canned dog food.  huh.  but i promise, it was really tasty.  and i even broke one of my own crock potting rules - i took the time to sear the outside of the meat before tossing it into the crock pot.  i always thought doing more than dumping ingredients in, turning it on and leaving it for hours was lame, but this roast was yummy and ended up being worth the five minutes' extra effort.  i've got another one in the freezer, so i'm imagining a repeat sometime soon.

the bean turns out some tasty treats in the kitchen too, with her trusty easy bake oven.  this time, it was mini (and i do mean mini!) red velvet cupcakes.

she's always so stinking proud of herself when it's done.  i totally remember puffing up with pride whenever i managed to turn out a decent batch of microwaved scrambled eggs when i was about 7.  heh.

speaking of the bean, i've got her hooked on spam and eggs.

turn up your nose at it if you will, but damn that shit is delicious. slice it thin, fry it till the outsides are a little crispy, eat with scrambled eggs and ketchup.  i will take that plate any day of the week, man.

and of course, there are cookies.  always cookies.  some of them will look familiar:

but there are always new designs too.

i actually have no cookie requests on the horizon until late december.  huh.  i kind of miss my bags of frosting already.

more kitchen cleaning-out

thanks to the magic of pinterest, i found yet another delicious way to get rid of stuff in the fridge that's taking up space.  this time:  sopapilla cheesecake!

i might have made this for breakfast.  well, correction:  the bean made this for breakfast.  if i blame a toddler, she won't get in trouble.  heh.  but i swear, she did - with a little help. 

first, mix cream cheese with some sugar and vanilla.

pop open a can of crescent roll dough, spread half of it out, and smear that glorious cream cheese mixture on top.

layer the other half of the dough on top of that and brush with softened butter.

turn around and give the camera a big, cheesy super duper fake grin.

sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of that.

get someone responsible (or, in this case, simply grown up) to put it in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes, and then ask said someone to slice it up and serve.  voila:

yes, the bean served us cheesecake for breakfast.  that's my girl.

wrapping up JLP year #1

with the ILs off on vacay, that means days off for me, too. yay! and day one began with the bean helping me to make her some scrambled eggs for breakfast.

the wrap-up party for my junior league provisional class was that evening. having been assigned to bring an appetizer (grub was divvied up by committee), i scrambled a little to figure out what to make. i begged amber for the recipe for her yummy bruschetta that she'd brought to book club, because i don't do a lot of apps, and she graciously sent me a link.

later, i realized that the iPad was going to be a fabulous kitchen tool. previously, i'd either printed out online recipes or scribbled down the ingredients and measurements on a piece of scratch paper. now, i don't have to do either one:

fantastic! i got started on my tomatoes, halving, seeding, and dicing.

it took me about an hour to get through all the chopping and mixing, but the kitchen smelled heavenly when i was done.

by then, i'd also thrown together dinner for my family and gotten ready to head out. i'd decided to bust out the new dress i made for myself last week, and although it's not perfect, it's pretty cute (or at least, i think so). i didn't have time to take a picture of myself, but you'll see it in the group pic later.

i'd run out of time to toast the bread, which was kind of a bummer, but whatever. i managed to make it out to pasadena in record time and found a parking space in the lot across the alley from where the party was to be. lucky for me, i ran into smiley, our current provisional chair, and chief, who'd headed our marketing committee for KITK, as i skipped down the stairs. after a quick greeting, they told me to head on over and look for the red balloons. we were meeting in someone's office above colorado boulevard, and it was good to have some kind of a landmark to look for.

i headed up the stairs and found myself on a nice, airy patio - perfect for a small gathering like ours.

inside was a nice, spacious office space.

as i greeted various JLP members, i realized that there might be a solution to my dilemma in that office, and sure enough:

after i was all done toasting my bread, i found a crowd gathering around the espresso martini bar:

and helped myself to one.

there was plenty o'grub, including a pretty fruit arrangement (which i, as usual, admired from afar).

today happens to be our dear smiley's birthday, and we all sang to her as she blushed in embarrassment. and then she was presented with a gift card to nearby gold class cinemas, which she seemed pretty stoked about.

later, as curly arrived with a nice birthday cake complete with candles, we embarrassed her again:

hoping for some feedback to use for next year's provisional committee, there were comment forms to complete. having had a blast and nothing but praise for my experience as a first-year JLP member, i happily completed one and dropped it in.

i managed to gather everyone 'round for a group pic, balanced my camera on top of that box, and set the self-timer.

yay for junior league! yay for a great year! and yay for the fun to come next year, as i serve on the fundraising committee. it's gonna be a blast!