Baby it's Cold Outside!

This may be a first. It is a Saturday, and there isn't Idaho football on TV, and somehow I am not skiing with my Dad!! It is so cold here that on the mountain it is six degrees!!! BRRRRR! A little too cold to make skiing fun! I am spending the day waiting for a package to arrive, shopping and maybe if I can squeeze it in...a little baking!

My Mom treated me to a manicure this morning which was such a treat. Granted I don't have nails still...**note to self: stop stressing out and taking it out on my nails! But my hands are super soft and groomed quite nicely!

A favorite pastime has been torturing the poodle by putting Christmas decorations on him. This morning he sported a giant red bow off of a package of cookies. He puts up with it, but always looks at me like "what did I do to deserve this!"

I have a large amount of shopping to knock out in the next few days. I am dreading the crowds, I can feel a headache creeping up on me already!! Wish my luck to find the perfect gifts for my family!!!

Three Clicks of My Heels

So it wasn't as easy as clicking my heels like Dorothy, but I am finally in Boise for Christmas. My planned trip was a flight from Dulles, D.C., to Las Vegas and then into Boise in time to have dinner with my family and enjoy the evening. Instead due to a technical problem in Dulles and a snow storm in Las Vegas (??!!??!?!) I ended up being routed from Las Vegas into Salt Lake City and then finally into Boise. I still had dinner with the parents but crashed shortly after for the night. My bags are still missing. I have managed to put together some outfits from my mom's closet...tomorrow I think I will be relying on high school t-shirts and mini skirts....or not.

It is wonderfully cold here and the snow has been falling on and off since I got here. Bogus opened yesterday so I am sure I will be hitting up the slops over the weekend. For now I am enjoying my wonderful bed, the poodle (who we all know I can't get enough of) and tomorrow I am battling the mall to do ALL of my Christmas shopping. I really should have been more on top of things in D.C.. Tomorrow night my parents are doing a business dinner, and I will be heading to my favorite pizza joint to enjoy my all time favorite "white" pizza from Guido's. yum!

We decorated the tree tonight (and tortured the dog as usual by making him wear Christmas decorations for photo opts). The tree is decently simple this year compared to years past since we will be having another tree when we get to Sun Valley. Red and gold was the color scheme this year and it looks wonderful! My dad did a great job with the lights out front as usual and my mom is working to put the usual festivity in the house.

The poodle has been a snuggle buddy. He sticks to me like Velcro!! I've missed him a lot! Hope everyone else is having safe travels home! Miss you all! Pictures to follow when I can manage to get them uploaded to my camera. (Ps photos of the Holiday party will also be up once I can find the connector cord for my camera)

B&D Holiday Extravaganza

Tonight is my office's Holiday Party at a hotel in DC. From what I have heard it is a pretty crazy night. I am thoroughly excited.

The run down of the outfit:

Yellow BCBG Dress that I wore for the last Black Diamond Event
Side curly bun hair
Black and Gold Eyes
Black Satin Shows

I will post pictures and the details tomorrow!

Bedrock Billiards Trivia Night

Alex arranged for us to meet up with two of his co-workers to play trivia at Bedrock Billiards in Adams Morgan. The trivia night was voted one of the best bests so I was excited to try it out. The bar was pretty neat, a large open floor plan with pool tables, TV and a large bar counter where trivia took place. There were lots of rules for the trivia (I am sure it varies every Sunday for whoever is hosting it). There were definitely the "regulars", who knew we were first timers, but the bar tender was still attentive and helpful. No food available at the bar, but you are allowed to order in which made for a cool ambiance to see people using the bar phone to order various orders of food. Beer was typical. We lost, were humbled and are now assembling our dream team to play trivia! My favorite question of the night: What is the title of Britney Spear's new CD?. Somethings I learned: According to Urban Dictionary a prolonged interaction between two people where nothing but atrraction takes place is called a flirtationship. And a mythical creature that is charming, good looking, funny, charismatic, smart, chivalrious, etc. is called a manicorn. And surprisingly NSync did not produce one of the top 5 christmas albums since 1991 or something like that: M. Carey (which i got), and Celine Dion. Well off to work for the day!

A Thousand Little Boxes...ok More like 21.

For work I helped out arranging the Secret Elf gift exchange for this upcoming week. Jessica and I wanted to do something cute for people to draw names. I (with lack of judgement) offered my crafting skills and said I would make little paper boxes filled with Hershey's Kisses. Total Project Time: 5 hours. Worth the efforts: Most definitely. Here was my finished product!

American History Museum- At Last!

The American History Museum has finally reopened after doing some renovations and re-doing the star spangled banner exhibit. Out of all the Smithsonians I thought this one was going to be the best and one of my favorites. While it did have some really neat parts to it, Alex and I agreed that it lacked "direction" and "cohesion". The new Star Spangled Banner exhibit is amazing. The flag is gorgeous (in a sense that it is amazing that it has been preserved!) The flag used to be hanging on a wall, but it apparently was rapidly deteriorating so a new exhibit was created to make sure it was preserved correctly.

Another thing I found about the museum, is that it was very wordy. There seemed to be more to read than things to see. I was incredibly moved by the president exhibit. They just made an update to the presidential timeline that gave me chills to see.

In this exhibit they had Lincoln's top hat and a very moving exhibit on the presidents who have been assassinated.

Some other highlights were: Dumbo the elephant from Disneyland, Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch, Dorthy's Ruby slippers (size 5!), and some neat Idaho references.

One of my favorite things was the transportation exhibit. There were train, cars, buses, etc. all inside this awesome display area. But my absolute favorite was a display with a car and a guy who tried to drive across the US. When he was in Idaho he picked up a dog, and the dog wore....GOGGLES!

A Little Bit of Dedication

So for the few of you who follow along, I realized I need to be better about posting. I think at first I had blog bliss, where I loved my new blog. The sensation wore away, and now I just need to be more diligent in posting about my adventures. I have done a lot since my last post so it is going to take me a bit to get caught up I am sure. On a personal note:

Work is still going very well. I am getting to know some more coworkers and that is making me enjoy my job even more. I think I am finally making some decently valuable contributions which I have been told people are recognizing! So yay!

I have been trying to get on a regular work out schedule without being too stringent. I am really hoping to start dancing again when I come back from Christmas in Idaho. But thanks to the senior 30 (i avoided the freshman 15, only to have revenge take hold my senior year) I am needing to loose some weight and strengthen (since I don't want to re injure my hip, which is prone to pain and what not). So I have been utilizing the apartment gym and am starting to get into a habit of working out every day for an hour which is challenging on the days that I work but I have also noticed the benefits of better sleep, less junk food eating, and a better mood.

I will be getting to go home for a very extended Christmas break! (HuRAH!) My work is awesome like that. I will be doing some work from home, which is fine and I will welcome a little but of money inflow to help pay for rent in January.

It snowed a bit here, a very light dusting this evening, but it was beautiful and put me in a great Christmas mood. I am very excited to get home and get into holiday season full swing!

Well hopefully I will get caught up on my postings soon!

Time warp to my childhood

I was at the store yesterday for some groceries, also shopping on an empty stomach (always a bad idea!) but had decided to splurge and indulge on some of my new favorite sorbet that is called cabernet blackberry...it really is to die for! After picking up the sorbet I was headed for the checkout when I saw in random frozen display case...VIENETTA. I thought Vienetta had long been pulled from the shelves and was no longer sold!

As a child I would visit my grandparents with my mom for weeks at a time in Coeur D' Alene and I would also look forward to finding a package of vienetta in their freezer. It would be my evening snack as I would sit in the dining room in their big house and watch late night TV. I would usually sneak a second slice of it when my mom would be in the living room reading with my grandparents.

For you who have not been so lucky as to taste this delectable desert it is ice cream with flaky layers of chocolate in it. It is delicious! However I was disappointed to find that the ice cream the use now is not nearly as good, but it still is a great treat!

In other news! I had a conversation with my boss on Friday and am going to be able to work a few extra hours each week. They are really impressed with my work and like how I fit into the company and don't want to loose me to another job. So it isn't full time quite yet, but making steps in that direction! Every hour helps!

Thaiphoon & Afterwords Cafe

I met up with Miss. Erin and her plus one, Paul, for dinner and drinks last night. I took the recommendation of my boss and we went to Thaiphoon in Dupont Circle. The location was ideal, the restaurant was trendy looking, however I ordered a Mango Daiquiri and almost spit up my first sip of it. I tasted like really cheap vodka without any flavoring! After getting support from Erin I traded in my mango disaster for a mojito...which had the same cheap alcohol taste. I ordered a chicken green curry, which came with too little rice and was generally a disappointing dish. Overall impression...I won't be making the effort to go to Thaiphoon anytime in the future.

Afterwards we went to Afterwords Cafe. We strolled down Connecticut Ave and found a bookstore that Erin had heard had a cafe and bar in the back. We had gotten there around 9pm and were lucky enough to get three seats right at the bar. The whitty, well thought out menu is enough for you to fall in love with the place from the start. I decided to switch to a beer since the lingering taste from my bad drinks at dinner was still in my mouth. I took Carly's advice and tried the Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which was described as "Hearty, Rich, Balanced" and held true to its excellent recommendation. The beer list was organized from light to dark, which was a really nice feature when picking a beverage. I finished with an Original Sin Cider from NY which I think is a local cider favorite. Described as "Light, Dry, Fruity", it was a delicious finish to the evening. Some other noteworthy drinks on the menu:

Top Shelf Long Beach Iced Tea
Absolut,Bombay,Cuervo,Bacardi, Cointreau,Cranberry Juice, Sour Mix
Limit-2 Per Customer

Electile Dysfunctional Cocktails

BarakStar Martini
Van Gogh Dutch Chocolate Vodka, Godiva Chocolate & White Chocolate Liqueurs
"The One" drink that's been soaring on promises '...yes you should' try it

Biden Bluster
Mango Puree, Strawberry & Lemonade Blended w/Ice
Sip slow on a fast train

The McCain Maverick
Bacardi Peach Rum, Mango Puree, Lemon Fizz & Soda
It's not what everyone else is having

Palin Long View
Rogue Dark Rum, Triple Sec, Fresh Lime Juice, Orange Juice and Sour
Enough of these & you'll swear you can see Russia from here

You can see more of the menu on their website

Now I was already sold on the place before I discovered the Desserts. I was attracted to the listing for Pumpkin Pie with Cinnamon Ice Cream. Cinnamon ice cream is one of my favorites so I couldn't resist. Well while the ice cream was excellent the pumpkin pie was by far the best slice of pumpkin pie I have ever had. It was unbelievable smooth and rich and the ice cream with a little whipped cream was a great combination.

On the way out I got distracted by the actual book store. The children's book selection is wonderful (ps if you have never looked at a "Lion in the Library" and you are an ADPi, you really should go check it out, you will love it). But there is an awesome book selection as well and I will have to go back just to check out the books and maybe grab a cup of coffee!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

This past weekend I needed to go to papersource in old town (ps they have the most adorable polar bear wrapping paper and gift bags I have ever seen!) to pick up some paper for the crafts I am working on as Christmas gifts for some of my friends. I decided to go to Starbucks on my way home to pick up Alex and I a little cup of goodness. I turned down a street and saw the most vibrant rainbow! It was absolutely stunning. Naturally the car behind me started honking so I failed to get the picture that had the row of townhouses and perfect fall looking trees. But I did manage to capture a few shots of it. It also was a double rainbow ooooooaaaaahhhh!!

Matchbox

Saturday night Alex and I met up with Miss. Erin to catch a showing of "Role Models", which was hilarious, and a good way to wind down the week. At Gallery Place/Chinatown there was an ACDC concert going on, as well as the opening night of the new James Bond Movie so things were pretty crazy on the street. We decided to find some place to have drinks and some late night snack food. We ended up having a hard time finding a bar that wasn't packed to the brim! We decided to try a side street and we found a townhouse restaurant called Matchbox. It ended up being a pizza restaurant that Alex had heard about so it was a good find. The drinks were fabulous and I loved that the menu was divided into girly and manly. The pizza lived up to its reviews and I would definitely go back, which is a rare thing for me to say about a DC restaurant. Another unique thing about Matchbox was that in the tables, set in a varnish was matchboxes that the owners had collected. Since they are also known for their mini burgers I know I will be back at some point to try those!

Old Post Office Tower

Alex had veterans day off from work so we decided to get out of the apartment and check out the Old Post Office Pavilion. The tower of the Old Post Office has a great view of the Mall and the rest of the district. It is free and from what I have heard there is rarely a line! It is a beautiful old building and houses a set of bells that are replicas of the ones at Westminster. After our excursion up the tower we headed to the newly constructed Navy memorial which is beautifully done and then enjoyed eggnog lattes at Starbucks.

Alli Caught Harry Winston

So I am reading the new book by Lauren Weisberger, "Chasing Harry Winston" (Author of the Devil wears Prada), which I had to wait for over three months on a waiting list from the public library. But finally I have it! It is a quick read, and if you want something fun and entertaining, this is the book. Well anyways, on to the the more exciting new that I got last weekend when I was taking Kendal to the airport are to meet with her Uncle and Cousin for dinner. (You can read Alli's story on her blog)

Well we are driving and my phone rings. And I see a strange number so I don't answer since I want to enjoy my last few minutes with Kendal. Well it rings again. So I google the area code...and it tells me that it is a phone number from Springfield Missouri. So i get a little nervous because Alex has family in that area and I was jumpy about a small disaster or something have occurred.

A few moments later, Kendal's phone rings, and she answers. I hear her say "It's Alli!", which I casually think "oh fun!", but don't really register what I big deal this is since Alli is studying abroad in Geneva. Then Kendal says " Oh my gosh, hold on let me put you on speaker phone and say it again!" and all I had to hear was "Sean prop..." and I started screaming. Alli's boyfriend pulled off one of the most romantic and amazing proposals! Eiffel tower, Jules Verne Restaurant, a confused Alli and a beautiful (well we are guessing :) ) ring. Well I almost killed us in the car. Screeched into a parking spot at Ruby Tuesday's and continued to scream. Kendal and I said our goodbyes and then I was left alone for my 45 minute drive back to hyperventilate and cry out of happiness for her.

So Congratulations Alli and Sean!!!!

Kendal's Visit

Yes I am still behind on my postings! So my goal tonight it to get completely caught up and make my blog current.

Last weekend Kendal came to visit me for the weekend. On Saturday I picked her up very early from the airport (after having to drive to Maryland due to a car accident) and we came home and "napped", ate a pancake brunch and then headed into DC to do a speed tour. We tried to take a tour of the capital, but our late start to the day made it a little difficult to get tickets so we just ended up walking around. The weather was perfect, fall leaves and beautiful lighting made for some wonderful photographs!

We were given the tip to check out the Library of congress. I was a sceptic and thought it would just be a building filled with books. Au Contrare! It was a spectacular building that took my breath away.

After the library we did a speed tour of 4 Smithsonians and then walked to the White House, which was very pretty at night. We finished the night with dinner at Mai Thai in Old Town, good food, bad service and then topped it off with desserts and coffee from La Madeline.

The Hope DiamondThere is a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum, and this whale hangs from the ceiling. There is also a nasty giant preserved squid....it made me squirm.

In the morning Kendal and I headed for the zoo. After my misguiding directions and a 3.5 mile walk we finally arrived and were lucky enough to see some very active animals. The pandas were a favorite, as were the Asian small clawed otters. We also had the change to see elephant training which was absolutely amazing!!

To Manassas and Back for Obama

On Monday before the election I was at work with little to do and Alex text me that Obama was going to be in Manassas for his final rally. Knowing that he had a chance to be elected, I knew it was an opportunity not to be missed. The traffic was horrendous. We had to park in a random neighborhood and walk about a mile and a half to the rustic fairgrounds, where a crowd of 75,000+ cheered and chanted. I couldn't really see anything due to my height, but the feeling of being there was amazing. A huge Vote for Change sign hung behind the massive crowd that seemed dazzled with energy and enthusiasm.

Obama's speech was nothing short of amazing. While he pretty much talked about what he has previously and used past stories, you could hear the excitment in his voice. While we did have to treck quite a ways and we lacked sleep the next day after pouring ourselves into bed around 3am, it was something I will never forget and something I look forward to telling my children about.

My First Office Party

Halloween called for an office happy hour/potluck. With my boss in Las Vegas I was in charge of the event. Some elaborate crate paper was referred to as "the best decorating yet". (I felt good about that!)

For my costume, I saved some money and used some items of clothing I already owned to be a "Seattleite". I wore my rain boots, with a Dawgs shirt, rain coat, ipod, LL bean catalogue, and carried around Starbucks cup. No one got what I was. But it was fun!

Even Obama and Biden showed up to have a drink!!

Birthday Banner

Well I have some catching up to do with my postings! A lot has been going on and at the end of the day I always end up too tired to post about it, and naturally now I have a back log of experiences to share!

A quick happening was Miss. Erin's 23rd birthday! With little means to decorate, I decided a birthday banner would be manageable. With some card stock, stencils, exacto knife, and a few hours of time I made a happy birthday banner to welcome her home from a day at work!

Alex got a little confused and thought it was for him...

But he finally figured it out, and let Erin take her photo with the banner

Indian Ocean

On Saturday Miss. Erin departed from my humble abode and took residence in her new house. As a celebration/thank you from her to us, she treated Alex and I to a wonderful dinner at Indian Ocean, right near the Van Ness metro stop. On yelp.com, it has received great reviews, and it did not disappoint. Between the three of us we had a salmon dish, butter chicken, and a lamb dish. We started with a veggie appetizer that was blissful and concluded with a interesting cheese/cream dessert that freshened the palate and was strangely tasty. The service was friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was a little cliche, but I did enjoy the sturdy water goblets. We also indulged on a bottle of viogner wine from California's Jewel. It was a great evening and I plan to return again to the ocean.

For more information about their menu and location....http://www.indianoceandc.com/

A Spooky Halloween

Deciding that we were really in to the costume/bar scene, Alex had heard about an Alexandria ghost tour on Halloween night. Our house guest Miss. Erin joined us a for a walking ghost tour that was delightfully spooky and fun! We wove through the streets of Alexandria hearing some of the fabled legends of ghosts that hang around the area. Being in such an old, historic town it was neat to hear the stories and use your imagination to think of days gone by. The special Halloween tour concludes in the bedroom of "The Burning Bride", or otherwise known as Laura Schaffer. Her extravagantly large wedding dress caught on fire, and naturally when she tried to flee her room the door was stuck. Eventually she managed to open the door, only to tumble down the stairs and suffer massive burns causing her to pass away a few days later.

While the stories were embellished and the fright of Halloween added to the spookiness, but the tour was undoubtedly a good time and worth the money.

HAY! Adams!

I have been searching for a venue for my office for an upcoming meeting, and well I lucked out and scheduled an appointment to see the beautiful meeting spaces in the Hay Adams Hotel. Right across from LaFayette square, it is historic, had a spectacular view of the White House and The Mall, and not to mention, takes-your-breath-away decor and architecture. I have definitely placed this hotel as one of the places to stay in my lifetime.










On my brief tour, I was allowed to see the roof top terrace which is where much of the press coverage will be taking place on the night of the elections.

This was the view from the rooftop:

The entrance and foyer is breathtaking:

For more stunning photos and some history about the hotel you can check out their website.

Everyone is Excited for the Election

9 days until the election!! Alex and I are still deciding on what we are going to do that night (aka where we are going to find a tv to watch all the happenings). But even our stuffed otter,Squeakers, is getting ready for Nov. 4th.

Top Chef: Quick Fire Challenge

Alex and I are hosting our first apartment guest! Miss. Erin is staying with us while she is searching for a place of her own to live in the thriving metropolis of Washington D.C.. I personally have greatly enjoyed 1) having another female around 2) having someone else to talk to 3) having someone from home and 4) her willingness to play along with Alex and I's add hoc living/meal situations. Armed with some ground beef, worchester sauce, garlic,onion, tomato, lettuce, ketchup and mustard, we managed to create an elegantly "plated" meal worthy of being present on a top chef quick fire challenge event!

Hello Cupcake...Hello Yummy

Well I might be in trouble. Hello Cupcake has been introduced to me. A few girls from work took a "cupcake break" a few days ago and invited me along. So looking to make friends, I tagged along for the social interaction. What I got was the most delicious and tasty cupcake! The shop makes you feel like you have ented into a hello kitty land, or land of the sweets from the Nutcracker. Complete with a pink chandelire the shop is girly, cute, and filled with the aroma of yummy baked treats. The menu changes throughout the week. But I decided on a 24 Karrot,and the HC Original. My only gripe would be that I had to carry my cupcakes in a bag, (which is recycled!!), but the frosting smeared in the bag and wasn't nearly as cute as carrying a little cupcake box! But despite the smeared frosting. The cupcakes were amazing! The 24Karrot had a fluffy and delicious cream cheese frosting that made me wishing I had ordered two! I saved the original for later and split it with Alex (because I am that nice!) and it was the tastiest regular cupcake I have ever had! I am deffinetly hooked on the cupcake craze now!

1401 Pennsylvania Ave

I had to run a little errand for work today to check out the AIA meeting rooms for an upcoming event. However on the way, I took a small detour back and wandered by the White House. I have only seen a glimpse of it when I was in D.C. on CloseUp and hardly remember seeing it. It is a beautiful building and I am excited to eventually arrange to take a tour...once the resident of the house has changed!

Anyone else thinking about one of my favorite movies?...The American President

Perhaps my new calling

Due to my incredible lack of money (yay for life after college and an apartment that is ridiculously expensive) I decided to make my sister a handmade birthday card to show that despite my lack of monetary resources to buy her a gift, I still do love her very much! What seemed like a simple idea spanned two days and some blistered fingers, but it was well worth the work, and I can't wait to make my next birthday card for my dad's birthday this upcoming week!

At target I found these stunning swirly black stickers that I knew my sister had to have in some way or another. Which was the springboard for the rest of the card. Here is my birthday creation!

Slacking on the Postings: Culinary Delight Update

So I have really been slacking on posting. I can't seem to find the cable for my camera so I have to elaborately connect my camera to my printer and it ends up being this whole ordeal! So I'll do a series of posts to paraphrase some going-ons. I'll start with my culinary adventures!

Tonight: Chicken Yummyness (some recipe off of Allrecipes.com that Alex's aunt made for us when we went over one night, but we substituted chicken for pork) and it was amazing! Simple recipe: 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 soy sauce, 1 bunch green onions and some minced garlic, serve with rice and viola!

For the last presidential debate: I know you have all been holding your breath about what I dreamed up to serve at the last presidential debate. I had run out of patriotic/themed ideas so the closest I got was... New York Cheesecake (for the location) and on top........the Obama logo in a sour cream frosting. Here is the results of my labor:



And a few weeks ago: I made one of my dad's specialties (however not his recipe) Swiss Steak. It was pretty decent, for not being my dad's. I could have definitely used some more seasoning in addition to what Better Homes and Gardens listed.



And a disappointment: Or rather a big pile of icky icky ikcyness. The quick meal version of beef stroganoff from better homes and gardens. This was by far my biggest culinary disaster so far. Alex's quote was "Notice how I ate it so fast" ( aka...I didn't want to taste anything) it was so bad I had to refrain from throwing it up! Anyways due to its incredible grossness, there will be no photo.

Stars and Stripes

For the debate on Tuesday I whipped up a long time family favorite tradition that my sister, Nicole, started way back when. I am not really sure where she found this gem of an idea, but I love it, and while it is traditionally made on the 4th of July, I figured its patrotic nature to be perfect for watching the debates. It is a really easy recipe if you need a quick dessert for an occasion, I am sure you could switch up the fruit on top to make it less patrotic.
Here was my finished product





You will need:
1 large loaf of pound cake- Frozen Sara Lee is my cake of choice sliced into 1/2 inch slices

Strawberries and Blueberries

Whipped cream, Kool-whip works as well

make a layer of pound cake in your dish. Cover with whipped cream, and then in a layer of thinly sliced strawberries. Then place another layer of pound cake on top, and cover with whipped cream and then....make your flag with sliced straberries and blueberries

D.C. United Game

This past weekend Alex took me to a D.C. United game. It was through his work, so we got to sit with the NDI group, which was neat to see who he works with. The stadium is older, having been the playing grounds for the Redskins and the Nationals in prior years. Food options are limited and not nearly as good as going to a Nationals game. And don't expect there to be any ketchup. We did a marathon walk looking for ketchup for our chicken fingers and were left to use mustard or being condiment-less.

The game was really fun though. It felt very European, with the crazy section of devoted fans waving giant flags, throwing around rolls of crate paper, banging on huge drums and generally just going wild. The game was relatively short for a sporting event but was very interesting. United didn't score which was sad, but I will still impressed with the level of skill.

Half time ended up being very entertaining as there was a giant yellow chicken with an odd tail, wearing a sombrero dancing, or rather bopping around on the field while little kids teams faced off against each other.



This was the chicken

Baked Alaska...Just for you Sarah Palin

To continue my themed desserts that I am taking to our friend's apartment where we watch the debates since we are sans tv, I made baked alaska (Alex's idea) in honor of the VP debate. I give myself 4 stars for this recipe attempt.
First the making of the sponge cake:

Butter Sponge:
1 C. Sifted cake flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 C. Milk
1/4 C. Butter or Margerine
6 Egg yolks
1 C. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Beat egg yolks till think and then add the sugar slowly. Add vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and mix until just barely mixed together. Heat milk and butter together (I did this in the microwave) make sure it is really hot. Pour into mixture and stir. Bake in a greased pan (9x9) at 350 for 30- 35 minutes. Don't invert and leave in pan, you will construct the rest of the dessert in this pan.

Here is what my sponge looked like:




Once the sponge is done baking, let it sit until cool and then place in the freezer. Meanwhile find a bowl that is smaller in diameter than your sponge and line with plastic wrap. Press your choice of ice cream into the bowl (about 1.5 quart) and place in freezer. Now you need to make your meringue.

Use your left over egg whites from earlier...only you only need about half of the 6. And then you need about 1/4 cup sugar for every egg white. Place your eggs in a ceramic bowl (NOT PLASTIC) and use a wisk to beat. If you have a hand mixer opt for that, but I was on my own. Beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar beating until dissolved. Add a little (1/4c. to 1/2 c.) powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla, keep whipping until strong peaks. Set aside.

Take sponge and ice cream out. Place ice cream in center of sponge. Cover in meringue. SEAL THE EDGES!! Baked on 500 degrees until meringue is golden brown...serve right away.

And here is my baked alaska