Hee. 1987!

What is better than a Saturday with pie?

It would be a Saturday with pie...and the pilot of 21 Jump Street!

Without a doubt, some of the best (meaning = yikes!) acting ever! That was some fine hair, Johnny.

I may have, you know, cracked this week. Just slightly. You should all be scared.

Well, it's 2008...

Yes. I fell off the face of the Earth.

Ok, actually, I got uber-sick after Chicago (lovely girly germs!) and spent most of Christmas and New Year's wheezing and sleeping.

I literally only started feeling better by the time I went to Walt Disney World, which was last week. I think my ear FINALLY cleared on the plane there. Ha!

So, to recap:
~Went to Chicago. It SNOWED. We went to tea. Ames got really sick and ate cookies.
~Baked cookies here. Jack and sugar don't mix.
~MaxJET...don't even ask, let's just say this trip to Italy will go on as scheduled and will be fun.
~Christmas. Mmm, Pie.
~New Year's.
~Walt Disney Word - it was cold, but soooo much fun. MICKEY WAFFLES!!!

In other news...Portland is in a few weeks! And Italy planning continues. :)

Ah, Gingerbread and Peanut Butter Kisses

Soon, soon the Christmas Baking will begin! Whee!!!

I survived Thanksgiving, only having one slight issue - pulled a muscle or tendon in my leg and spent the next six days limping and swearing. A lot. As the parents made cracks about me pulling up lame.

Ahem.

But I got to try Sweet Potato pie. And? I'm in LOVE. Yum-o.

It's Thursday, the new Friday. This weekend promises to be packed and fun: Christmas Lights, Disneyland, the whole bit.

The Mom's birthday is coming up and we're going out to dinner. Whee!

And two weeks until the Chicago Cookie Day 2007...the low on Monday is going to be 11. 11 DEGREES! Yikes. I need more layers!!!

T-Minus 0 Days until Turkey!

Almost finished? Are your pies in the oven? Is your turkey defrosting? Didja call Whole Foods for the back-up meal? Ha!

First we have the Turkey Trot (gobble!), then we're going to the Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner, which should be entertaining.

This weekend will be a whirlwind of...shopping and pampering. Pedicures, massages, South Coast, Thanksgiving Deux...

I'm happy to report that the slide show rocked. Check it out:
http://www.charlesphoenix.com
Ha!

Hugs to all!

Life Without Mochas

I'm on day 7 without my beloved mocha. Grr. If only the syrup didn't have HFCS in it! Wah.
But I'm mightily confusing all the baristas.

Snerk.

It's Friday. A busy weekend ahead...got to do a little super secret stuff, then the boring grocery shopping.

Sunday we're going to to a slide show! No, seriously. We're going to a slide show.

We're either really hip, really comfortable in our hobbies or really geeky. Let's go with a mix of all three, OK?

Inching closer to Turkey Day - do you have your turkey? Your sweet potatoes? Your PIE???

Brrr! Baby, it's COLD outside!

I am so in trouble...I'm already freezing and it's not even December. Or Winter. Ahem.

Almost two weeks from Turkey Day! Whee!

The Mom and I are doing the Turkey Trot in the morning. Yay! Dinner is still under negotiation. Stay tuned. And Friday (aka, Black Friday, which I don't do at all!), we're having Thanksgiving Deux, our version. Hee! There may be Christmas movies and pie involved, I'm just saying.

In other news, still reading the book. I got so upset (crying, everything), I had to stop on Sunday. I'll report back when I finish. But it's good - Publisher's Weekly named it one of the best of 2007.

On the horizon? Christmas Shopping...the Mom's birthday...Bauer Sale...Auntie Em's!
And? Cookie Day!!!

Fall Fun

I'm trying to be more bloggy and less...well, cranky.

The highlight of Thursday and Friday was eating my lunch backwards. Now get that image of me eating facing the wall...or something much worse...out of your head. I mean backwards - my cereal treat first, grapes second...the exact opposite of how I normally eat.

I am soooo bored. That was my HIGHLIGHT! Ahem. And it took me 21 minutes to eat exactly 3/4s-cup of Cinnamon Bunnies. Snerk.

It's Saturday, which is...wait for it...BOOK DAY! WHEE!!! I've been waiting years for this...since 1989, to be exact. I have the book. I have the makings of dinner (peanut butter, duh!) and I have pie. I'm all set.

Fall is also key for another reason - pumpkin treats return. Just had a pumpkin muffin top from Bristol Farms. Which was pumpkin-rocking good! Ha!

Hugs to all...will update later. :)

Gobble-Gobble!

So, it's November. Since October sucked beyond the telling of it, with the cold and the work crap, I'm kind of glad.

Ok, I'm really glad. I'm going to make an effort to be more positive and not let the soul-sucking...well, suck my soul. Snerk.

Anyway, onward to better things. Many exciting things are in the works around here - days off, Turkey, pie...
:)

Saturday is "Long May She Reign"-Day, which is kinda like the Harry Potter weekend - only much smaller, doesn't involve going away or getting the book at midnight. Because I got the book last week, a full four days before it was officially published. Ha!

Sunday? We're dragging Dad to Disneyland. Ahem. Oh, and that show (whee!) starts again.

Saturday, 11/3: Book Day! Starbucks, Pedicures, Shopping, Pie...and READING!!!
Sunday, 11/4: AR Day! Disneyland, Olives and Amazing Race!

Drama!

Yeah, I don't know how much more I can take. That's all I'm saying about that.
*ahem*

It's Thursday, which means one thing - weekend plans! This weekend is all about the clean-up for G-ma's visit. Which means I have to dust.

Dusting sucks. Hee.

In other news:
We're getting our hair cut. We're going to Bristol Farms. We're going to Starbucks. We're watching Feasting Asphalt 2. We're replanting the backyard.
A fun weekend.

And next week, I get off early Monday AND I have Friday off. Whee!!!

Comfort Weekend

Sometimes you just need to curl up and not think too much.

It's been a hard week. I was going to be unemployed, I was all excited about a new chance to try out some other department or company and next week is Harry Potter week.

Then my replacement left and I was forced to deal with the aftermath, which included extending my assignment. I'm not dumb, I knew it was practical to do so - so I told them I had the following days off planned and to deal with it.

But it's all still kind of depressing, in a "I thought it was over"-way.

So I'm going to not think this weekend.

Saturday, 7/14: Coffee, Pedicure/Eyes, Target, Bristol Farms, Hof's Hut, Market, Walk, Watch Newsies, Have a PB Sammie and Pie

Sunday, 7/15: Harry Potter and the OotP at Downtown Disney, Re-wire my TV, watch the Next Food Network Star, Pack

Mmm, pie! Hof's Hut Restaurant and Bakery

You know, I think I'm becoming swayed by the pie. Ahem. :)

This is a mini 5-inch Peanut Butter Cup pie. Dude! Ha!

It's got a butter crust, with cookies mixed in. I'm assuming, from the taste and texture, that they are peanut butter cookies. Then there is a base layer of chocolate cream, followed by a nice layer of peanut butter cream. The pie is decorated with rosettes of whipping cream, peanut butter chips and an artful drizzle of chocolate.

Is it like a peanut butter cup? No. But that doesn't really matter, it's chocolate and peanut buttery and yummy. That's what matters.

Again, it's real custards and whipping cream. This is a nice pie. It's not some crappy icky pie.

Mmm, pie. *thud*

Hof's Hut Peanut Butter Cup Pie - A+!

Hof's Hut - Long Beach Marina
6257 East 2nd Street
Long Beach, CA 90803
562) 598-4070
http://www.hofshut.com

Thursday...what?

My eyes hurt. My whole body hurts. *yawn*

Sleep would be good. ZzzzzZzzZZZzzzz....zzzzZzzz

What?

It's Thursday, yay! We head off to New York in like 7 days, so this weekend is all about getting ready.
And apparently that means pedicures and going to Barnes and Noble. Ha!

Saturday: Starbucks, Pedicures, Barnes and Noble, Pie, Hair Cut, Olives, Movie (????).

Sunday: Starbucks, Sweet Jill's, Laundry.

A whirl-wind of fun, I tell you. Oh, and? I saw Erg-boy at Bristol Farms last week.
AHHHHH!

Birthday Weekend, Version 1.0

Yes, I'm a princess - my birthday is more like two weeks of planned fun. Woo!

*Ahem*

Now if I could just shake this cold/sinus thing, life would be perfection...*snerk* Sunday is the family celebration, which means they will all be here...cleaning is required!

Saturday: Dust, Bristol Farms, Market, Starbucks, Vacuum, Finish Favors, Hof's Hut
(I'll need pie after the dusting and favors, trust me.)

Sunday: Doughboys (first thing, ahhh!), Deliver cake to Auntie J1, Starbucks, PARTY!!! Oh, and red velvet, yum-o!

Monday: Crash, big time. Hang with the parents and just crash. We're going to enjoy the new backyard and BBQ. Sounds so nice right now.

Hugs to all!

Mmm, pie! Hof's Hut Restaurant and Bakery

Another local entry. I always imagine I like pie. I like the concept - something in a crust. I imagine that I love the filling, the buttery texture of the crust.

Then I have it and I get cranky - the crust makes me annoyed because it lacks flavor and the filling? Ehhh. Thanksgiving is always a battle for me. I mean, pumpkin pie and I should be thisclose, you know?

But I liked this pie, from Hof's Hut. Hof's is a local Long Beach institution that spread through Southern California, but it started here in Belmont Shore. That one has been replaced, but it's still a local hang-out. It's almost a "chain" (ack!), but not quite, from my perspective. Honestly, we haven't eaten there in years...I think I was in high school. I was always terrified of the place as a child, they had a magician. I hid from him and what could possibly be more fun that having dinner while keeping your eyes dead center on your tablecloth to avoid the wandering annoyance?

The individual size pie is 5-inches round by 3-inches high. It's chocolate cream, the filling in a buttery crust and topped with a round swirl of whipping cream and chocolate jimmies.

First impression - this isn't a canned version of whipping cream, this is the real stuff. Light and airy. Very nice.

The chocolate cream filling is delicate and light, not over-whelming. It's a real custard, as opposed to chocolate pudding. It's yum-o!

The crust is buttery and flaky, freshly baked. It has the perfect amount of crust-to-filling for the small pie, not too much for the little dessert.

Hof's Hut Chocolate Cream Pie - A+!

Hof's Hut - Long Beach Marina
6257 East 2nd Street
Long Beach, CA 90803
562) 598-4070
http://www.hofshut.com