birthday cupcakes

for my birthday, i really wanted to try this new cupcake bakery. so i waited patiently and finally went on the day before the big day. i was so excited to try them...

all the cupcakes were so beautiful. i choose one called birthday cake (the sales girl said they were very popular and quite good) and of course jeff got the red velvet. i was sort of wondering if all of this could go wrong, terribly wrong. the first sign was that one cupcake was almost twice as big as the other one... but the little box and bag were so cute. couldn't wait to get home and try them!!!






OMG!!! one bite and this was the worst cupcake i have ever had. seriously it seemed like it was made days ago. the flavor was pretty good but it was not fresh. freshness is the key to a good cupcake. i was so sad and disappointed. i really love cupcakes and know a good one when i take my first bite. this one was bad, very bad...





didn't even finish it but someday i will go back and try it one more time...





so on the weekend, i made my own homemade cupcakes. i really wanted my favorite ones from sprinkles but it was not in the cards for this weekend. i would have to wait again... i made these simple ones for ingredients i had on hand...




i was hoping they would be good but trying a recipe for the first time, you never know.




pretty good so far




yum, kelly brought the cupcake candles. the perfect touch

kai, was ready to blow out the candles. he learned how from watching tv. he's ready for his birthday in october....

kelly brought these from a cupcake bakery. they look wonderful and tasted great too...

thanks kelly!!!

a week later for jeff's birthday i made him red velvet cupcakes.

the batter didn't seem very red but went by the recipe, next

time i will add a little more.

they were brownish red. very good, will make them again soon...
another year older and another year to eat more cupcakes!!!

today is kai's first birthday

it's so hard to believe that kai is one year old today. just seems like yesterday when we first heard that he was born in japan. then a few weeks later we got to see him for the first time. he was so little...

kai is a big boy now, loves to eat cheerio's at uncle yoshi's house

he is so cute and always on the go


happy birthday kai!!!
hope your mom & dad got you lots of toys...

sugar cakes

Today is Jeff's Birthday!!! Last year I made him cupcakes so this year I wanted to make him another one of his favorites. Sugar cakes. They are sort of like a big cake like sugar cookie. He always buys them when he goes home to York, PA but the last trip we ran out of time and he didn't get any. Aw, so sad. He was surprised to get these to take to work for his birthday!!!


Used an ice cream scooper so that they would be the same size and shape but of course they all turned out different!!!

So nice to have my kitchen back. I really missed baking stuff even though it is very hot here.

Yum... They turned out pretty good considering I couldn't find the recipe that Jeff's Grandma gave me. In fact I can't find any of my recipes. I guess there are still boxes that are not unpacked from the renovation. I found this one on the Internet for Amish Sugar Cakes and it is pretty good.

Happy Birthday Jeff...

happy birthday dad

After a long redeye flight from LAX to Dulles airport in Virgina we drove over 2 hours to St. Michaels, MD. Jeff's family got together for the weekend to celebrate his Dad's 70th birthday.
Some flower fields that we saw along the way. Also saw many stands selling pumpkins and fall flowers.

Saw these pumpkins for sale in downtown St. Michaels.

St. Michaels is a very cute town on the Chesapeake bay. Lots of small shops and Bed and Breakfasts.

The guys played golf at Harbourtowne Golf Resort while the girls went shopping and walked around town. It was a beautiful day.

Our room.
It was great that the cable TV in the hotel room had Food Network and HGTV. Only other time we had those channels was in Hawaii hotels.

Before dinner we went wine tasting at St Michaels winery. The wines were a little different than we are used to but still very good for only being in business for 2 years. They even gave us a free tour of the winery. Never saw so many fruit flies in one place! Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the hotel with the kids.

Dad's Birthday Dinner

Happy 70th Birthday!!!

(Note: you can shelve that blanket for next year!!)

Jeff got the broiled seafood platter. Flounder, crab cake, shrimp and scallops. Is it possible to order any other dish with higher cholesterol?

Sunrise from our room. Very beautiful.

The family

Shops

More shops (lots of antiques)

The post office

Us, next to our favorite street. Mulberry Street had a lot of cute houses that we wish we could buy.

Jody and Mother

Jeff and Dad

Driving back to Pennsylvania. It was a great weekend. Hope we can visit St Michaels again some day soon.

This is my 50th post. Can you believe it!!!

mom's birthday

Mom likes riding in our convertible!!!

The line at our usual lunch spot was very long so we decided to try Sage.We had dinner here once before and lunch was just as good. Can't wait to come back again. Everything we ate was very good. Mom and Jeff especially liked watching Tiger Woods play golf on TV.

Basket full of goodies

BBQ pulled pork & corn crepes.

Cobb salad

Spicy Ahi tuna burger and sweet potato fries

Driving by the beach. It's another beautiful day.

I made chop chae (Korean noodle dish) for dinner. We also had steak, salmon and salad (Kelly made). We forgot to take pictures of the other stuff.

New toy for Mom

Beard Papa's cream puff's (Mom's birthday cake)

yum

Mom eating Beard Papa's

Mom with the scratcher's Clyde and Kelly gave her . Happy Birthday Mom.