bouchon bistro & bakery

after reading and obsessing over the bouchon bakery book i really wanted to go and try the bouchon bistro. they have locations in yountville, las vegas, and beverly hills. the closest one to us is beverly hills and we made the longish drive to get there during the weekday (in hopes to avoid crowds). 

mom paying at the bakery

not cheap but delicious

the chocolate macaroons and chocolate almond croissants were my fave

really pretty dining interior 

mom & nico 

gold hardware! 

croque madame

soooo good 

great service and pretty ambiance 

it was a really fun experience but i was shocked that they charged $7.50 for water per bottle! 

welcome to beverly hills 

freezer meals

in preparation for baby girl's arrival i decided freezer meals would be a good start 

for 7ish meals it took me about 3.5 hours and a whole bunch of dishes

not too bad!

here are recipes i used:

via martha stewart

^ Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage- i substituted kale for the baby spinach and i accidentally left out the heavy cream and it still turned out super yum! had it for dinner tonight.

via martha stewart

^ Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes- tasted a little bit before wrapping up and stashing in the freezer and tastes really good. creamy happiness and sun-dried tomatoes always make creamy pastas better. 

via martha stewart 

^ pork egg rolls- typically i don't try out martha stewart "ethnic" recipes but the simplicity of this recipe intrigued me so i decided to give it a try. glad i did! not as yummy has my grandma's recipe but this one takes less time to make. a sweet and sour sauce is a must with these.

^ black bean enchiladas- when it comes to enchiladas i kind of make it up as i go! but the usual ingredients include: tortillas, cheese, green chilies, sour cream and chicken. maybe ill change up the cheese from colby jack to pepperjack but usually pepperjack tends to win. 

any freezer meals you love? id love to hear em!

25 days of Christmas

via

i know its already 2 weeks into the month but its never too late to find more ways to celebrate Christmas. maybe these will give you some ideas for the few days till Christmas!

01. play Christmas music as much as possible
02. tell the Christmas story from the scriptures
03. talk about family Christmas traditions
04. make gingerbread
05. make and send off Christmas greetings
06. make homemade chocolate fudge
07. Christmas tree picnic dinner
08. pick out Christmas gifts for each other
09. wrap the gifts
10. make a paper chain garland
11. make pumpkin puree
12. bake a pumpkin chocolate pie
13. learn about Hanukkah
14. prepare festive Christmas dinner
15. make tree skirt
16. hang up front door holiday wreath
17. celebrate Nochebuena with friends
18. go to the movies
19. hot chocolate and tim tam night
20. tour holiday lights
21. watch a Christmas movie
22. do acts of service
23. take photos of our first Christmas
24. decorate the house
25. make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning

happy thanksgiving

via martha stewart

today is thanksgiving for us which equals a busy day of cooking!

here is the menu:

brown sugar, mustard-glazed ham

green beans with hollandaise sauce

creamy garlic mashed potatoes with gravy 

stuffing with celery and onions

cranberry sauce (maybe if i have time...)

apple cider

no dessert this year! ill be whipping up pumpkin chocolate pie after our visit to ry's family for a non-traditional thanksgiving (indian food). im bummed that there will be no turkey to eat this year (turkeys are way to big for two people) so we decided to cook a ham instead with the traditional sides. ill be missing my mom's paella, turkey and cranberry salad. YUM. maybe she will freeze some leftovers for me :) a pregnant woman hopes. 

hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving weekend. enjoy your black friday too. will you be participating in some sales? i love cyber monday so much more than black friday- no crowds!

happy thanksgiving friends! hope you enjoy time with your loved ones. 

*and im sure most of you already know the gender of baby but im waiting to post pictures to "officially" reveal it here on ze blog ;) 

**check out martha stewart thanksgiving menus here (super helpful when planning!)

a simple gift to a friend (and leftovers for me)

glossy strawberries all lined up in a row

i used mainly dark chocolate but added some semi-sweet morsels to take the bitter edge off

and some butter to keep it shiny and smooth

im not very good at making the strawberries look "perfect"

but hey- its still yummy

tucked away neatly in a bakery box with some parchment paper

a gift tied up and ready for a friend

chocolate dipped strawberries are one of my most favorite gifts to receive and give

a craving for pumpkin

via a cozy kitchen

spotted these pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes on a cozy kitchen and now im really really hungry.

sunday ry made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and they were wonderful. im wondering if 

there is a pumpkin spice hot chocolate that could be made...ill google it!

tender mercies

via

sometimes you just can't cook

its funny coming from me who normally loves to cook!

but when you have a tough day- the last thing you want to see is your oven

thank goodness for caring and attentive visiting teachers

my visiting teacher S came by and delivered me dinner yesterday

yummy sloppy joes, rolls, smashed potatoes, lemon butter broccoli, fresh cherries and zucchini brownies

so delicious 

home-cooked meals are the best

 feeling so blessed

another day that i know that God is looking out for me

one of the best things about summer

see's candies brings back the root beer lollipop flavor!

i wish they kept the name sassafras

it sounds so much more fun

every summer i look forward to see's bringing it back

for Christmas they do cinnamon 

the cinnamon is good

but the sassafras is better in my opinion

my mom is addicted to the chocolate pops 

no surprise that she passed the addiction down to me

but i am partial to the sassafras flavor

go and try one

they are only 70 cents a pop

last time i visited the mall i bought a little bouquet of pops

to tempt my mom when she comes for a visit at the end of this month

unfortunately they are tempting me more right now

panna cotta with fresh blueberries

recipe here

this recipe is oh-so-easy

and delicious! 

creamy, milky with a hint of sweetness

and the blueberries just make the perfect desert circle complete

the recipe asks for whipping cream

i accidentally picked up heavy whipping cream

it was luscious

no regrets 

immaculate baking co. cinnamon chip scones

just tried this last week

scones from the immaculate baking co. 

it was between cinnamon chip or blueberry

cinnamon chip won as you can see below 

the pop always scares me

ry got startled too

made us laugh

put some turbinado sugar on top for some extra crunch

sugar in the raw is my favorite!

like sparkling crystals

browned up and done 

strawberry butter and strawberry slices

pretty pretty red berries

summer please come sooner!

strawberry butter via: 

mix 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter with 1/4 cup strawberries and 1/8 tsp. salt in a food processor.

process until well combined. 

so so good

almond chocolate milk

pure almond chocolate milk

my recent favorite

i suggest you go out and buy it for yourself or share it with someone you adore

its creamy, sweet but not too sweet, and inexpensive

all the good stuff about it

and the fancy stemware doesn't hurt either 

yum