Lego Time

On a lazy holiday weekend, Jacob and Michael decided to make a video of playing Lego.  Enjoy.

Night Out on the Town

Michael and I went to see Iris on Saturday night and had a really good time.  It was a great show.

We went out for dinner first at Rolling Stone, yes the famed magazine runs a restaurant.  I don't normally take pictures of my food at restaurants but I thought it was such a pretty dish.  I had acorn squash tortellini with balsamic brown butter and pumpkin seeds which was fabulous.

We shared some onion rings.  Michael had a turkey sandwich with melted brie and fig marmalade on walnut bread.  It was also delicious.

Since this was a night out on the town we saved room for dessert.  I picked the funnel cake with ice cream and melted Nutella.  Who doesn't love Nutella?

After the show we became tourists and strolled the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater.  I figured Michael Jackson's star and Julie Andrews hand prints were good photo -op mementos.

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving on Tuesday with Howard who was in town for the holiday. We went out for non-turkey fixings at Lucille's.  Thank goodness for iPhones when you forget a camera.  A nice picture of 3 generations of Zwangs.  

Happy Halloween

Jacob decided this year he wanted to be R2D2.  This costume turned into quite the month long project for Michael.

It turned out great given that most of it was made of paper.  Steps and visibility were a bit of an issue but not enough to stop trick-or-treating.

We went to our neighborhood Halloween party and luckily Princess Leia and Darth Vader showed up.  

Hank and Berta came to the party and trick-or-treating too.

Happy Halloween!

October Baking Adventures

New season, new foods.  

S'more cupcakes.  I can't believe it has been a year since I made these last.  I blogged about these last October.  Just as good as ever.  Also made them for some friends that came into town.  A crowd pleasing dessert.

Chocolate for breakfast?  Chocolate chip scones.  Jacob discovered chocolate chip scones while we were on vacation.  Micheal doesn't like chocolate for breakfast, so I made these for Jacob and I when he was out of town.

I wanted to make these owl cookies last year but I didn't get around to it so I was determined to make them this year.  Cut out cookies are a messy job especially when you have junior help.  Jacob did do a great job decorating them.  http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/owl-cookies-10000001110264/

Cranberry orange cornmeal cake has become a new favorite in our house.  I have had this recipe for 4 years and I can't believe I waited this long to try it!  It reminds me of Thanksgiving and I can't wait to make it again.  http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-sos29-2008oct29,0,2405072.story

Tadpole Memories

The Hoff family was down visiting from Washington and we were lucky enough to all get together.  A big thank you to JT for organizing us all.   For those of you that were not here can you recognize all these kids?  My how they have grown.  

We still look the same, right?

A trip down memory lane.  This one is from Zoe's visit in 2008. 

But we still look the same, right?  Near or far we fondly remember our Tadpole days.

Battle of the Vegetable Tarts

I discovered that you can get your kid to eat anything if you promise an ice cream sundae for dessert.  Excellent parenting, right?  I managed to make two different vegetable tarts this past month.  I have kind of  been on a new food kick lately.

Tart #1 from Bon Appetit, a Roasted Vegetable Tart.  http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/01/roasted-vegetable-tart  It included yummy vegetables of peppers, tomatoes, sweet potato, eggplant and fennel.  Also included decedent items like goat cheese, eggs and heavy cream.  We liked this one very much.

Tart #2 from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger, Cornmeal-Crusted Roasted Ratatouille Tart.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/cornmeal-crusted-roasted-ratatouille-tart-recipe/index.html.  This one was layered with eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes.  It had mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.  I enjoyed it even though it was way healthier.  Michael thought it tasted like pizza.  Stayed tuned for more food adventures.