Wong Wide Web – Ohana No Ka Oi

Toby started t-ball this season and he is having a blast playing with his buddies from daycare. Looks like he may be a lefty or may be a switch-hitter….still trying to figure that out. Here’s his first hit.

Acme Bread Company is a great field trip that Tyler’s Kindergarten class was lucky enough to go to. Located in Mountain View, Acme Bread Company has been around since 1983. The kids got to see how bread was made from start to finish. They also got to take home their own little baguette (and so did the chaperones…yay!).

Here’s some pictures of the huge mixer and the dough that is ready to be sliced into individual loaf sizes, as well as a few baguettes just about to go into the oven.

A few interesting notes about Acme Bread Company:

• There are 4 locations in the Bay Area
• They typically make 20,000 loaves a day! On holidays they  make even more.
• They are making bread 24/7!
• The flour they use is organic (specially selected) and comes from Utah.

In addition to the Cumberland Walkathon last October, Cumberland had an auction to raise additional funds for their students. We had an opportunity to bid on many items and services that were donated by the Cumberland family. One auction item that caught my husband’s eye was the home-cooked Thai dinner party. He diligently watched the bids and made sure he was the highest bidder at the end. This past Saturday, we held that Thai dinner at our house and had a wonderful and delicious home-cooked Thai dinner made for us and our guests.

The following is the menu that we had prepared for us:

• Seafood Salad – glass noodles with scallops and tiger prawns
• Corn Fritters
• Chicken and Coconut Soup
• Stir Fried Beef
• Sweet Pumpkin and Peanuts Curry
• Fried Rice
• Mango and Lime Fool Dessert

The corn fritters were excellent and definitely a hit with the kids as well. A sweet Thai chili sauce was excellent for dipping them in. The chicken and coconut soup was very tasty. The stir fried beef was a little spicy for some, but went great with the rice. The sweet pumpkin and peanuts curry went well with the rice, also. The dessert topped off the dinner and was very well received my the mango-loving diners, myself included.  Our chef, Susmita, was wonderful and she did leave her card with all of us. A good time was had by all.

Not in any particular order:

1.  Louvre
2.  Eiffel Tower
3.  Eat Berthillon Ice Cream (http://www.berthillon.fr/)
4.  Have a macaroon and tea at Laduree (http://www.laduree.fr/)  – This puts the foo – in French foo foo.
5.  River Seine tour (http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/ or http://www.batobus.com/ )
6.  Paris night light tour
7.  Notre Dame
8.  Musee d’Orsay
9.  Champs Elysees
10.Montmartre – Sacre Coeur

This is long over-due. Toby has been out of diapers and into underwear since early September…just past his 3rd birthday. What a relief to not have to buy diapers anymore! Toby is now in Room 3 of Action Day, Primary Plus.

Just tried this Vegan “Kare-Kare” recipe from my friend. I’m not vegetarian so I get to cheat. I went out and bought some stinky shrimp paste, aka Bagoong.  :-)  Tastes great! Instead of ox-tail I used extra firm tofu.

Kale chips are a great way to sneak in those green veggies. Both my boys like them. They refer to them as green chips.

1. Wash kale well and rip them into 3 inch pieces.
2. Throw out the thick stems. They will shrink considerably in the dehydrator.
3. Dry them as much as possible. If you have a salad spinner that will work great.
4. Place the leaves in a big bowl.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and use your hand to give the leaves a good coat of the olive oil, but don’t drench them.
6. Sprinkle some seasoning of your choice on the leaves and mix well.
7. Lay out the leaves on the dehydrator trays.
8. Set the dehydrator to 120 degrees for 12 hours.

Approximately 3" piece

Coat with olive oil.

Laid out on trays. These will shrink after dehydrating.

I went to Silverado for a Girls Weekend. None of my friends played tennis so I made my way to the courts myself hoping to get in a game or lesson. Right away I was greeted and told that there was a drop-in at 4pm which I attended. I got a chance to play with others my level as well as play mixed with the pros there, Jacob and James. Afterwards, Jacob had set me up with some other ladies to play the next day. I had so much fun…I played 2.5 hours my first day, and then 3 hours the next. I had to cancel the lesson I had set up because I didn’t think my body could take anymore. In any case, I loved that I was able to get a lot of tennis in 2 days as well as being matched to play with people around my level. The courts are nice, but may be due for some resurfacing…there were a few cracks on one of the courts I had played on. Other than that, Silverado is a great destination for someone wanting to get some tennis in even if you don’t have a partner. I’m so glad I brought my rackets. Since I’m also a golfer, I got in a few hits at the driving range and chipping greens. Nice facility for practicing golf. I didn’t get a chance to play the golf course. I will definitely have Silverado in mind for a future vacation.

Ingredients:

• Pork Ribs (2 lbs)
• 2 Tbs. Agave Nectar (Naturel brand)
• 2 Tbs. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. pepper

I have just discovered these Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners, thanks to a wonderful neighbor of mine. As our kitchen is going through a remodel and is basically down to studs and electrical wires hanging around, we have had to resort to microwave, grill, rice cooker, and crock pot cooking. And, since we don’t have a kitchen sink, washing the large items is really quite a chore. However, with these handy slow cooker liners, I’ve not only been able to keep the crock pot clean, but saved water, time, and mess during the clean-up. I highly recommend these for the crock pot cooker. Thanks, neighbor (you know who you are!).