2015!!!!!

My babies didn't even make it past 7pm because my brother took them on a hike.

If you're going out tonight, be forewarned that this is probably what you will look like ALL DAY tomorrow.  However, you definitely won't look as adorable and the person laying next to you might not be someone you know.  Stay safe everyone!!  

The Sous Vide

So this is a Sous Vide (OOOOOHHH....AAAAHHHH):

Basically a Sous Vide (pronounced Sue Vee) is a fancy French way of saying put food in vacuum-sealed bag/container and slow cook in a hot water bath at a constant temperature.  It sounds pretentious and complicated, but it's not at all really.  My Uncle Robin brought his contraption from home and taught me how to use it.  It was awesome and super easy!  Just plug this sucker in and clip it to a large pot filled with water and BAM!  You're Sous Vide-ing! (*WARNING* improper verbage).
The first thing we made was Vanilla Creme Brulee.  Uncle Rob mixed the ingredients together (he found a recipe online) and put them in small mason jars.  He placed the jars in the water bath once the temp reached 180 degrees F (80 degrees C).

It took a couple hours for them to slow cook.  Then we carefully took them out and placed them in an ice water bath to chill for another hour (or as long as you can wait before just breaking one open and shoving your face in it...which to us was about an hour).

Mmm! Check out that vanilla bean!

This is what they looked like when they were set:

Now it's time to Brulee!!  Be very careful with your torch, as most eyebrows won't grow back the same.

They look like they belong in a movie!  Hello, beautifuls!
We even broke a jar with the sheer power of our torch (oops), but we still ate the goodness inside and let me tell you, even if I was slowly internally bleeding from ingesting shards of glass, it would totally have been worth it because it was the most amazing creation ever!  Perfectly cooked and melt in your mouth fantastic!

We were so impressed with our torch that we decided to brulee these bananas as well:

The next morning we sous vide-d eggs (in the shell) and they came out perfectly poached:

Then that night we did talipia by putting each piece in a ziplock bag with lemon and spices and it was the most delicious fish ever!  (You can sear the fish/meat after cooking just to brown both sides, but we were lazy and why mess with a good thing?).

Then, because we're totally fat, we did creme brulee AGAIN, but with lemon and raspberries this time.  OMG!

Okay, let's be real for a sec:  it's SLOW-cooking, so food is gonna take awhile.  However, it's minimal effort and clean up.  It's like a crock pot; you can set it and leave it alone.  You can even leave the house if you want, no problemo!  Overall, I think it's a worthwhile purchase, especially if you entertain because it's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
Happy Sous Vide-ing everyone!

Christmas AKA I'm Exhausted

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve my mother was channeling Jesus circa The Last Supper.  We had so much food, it was obscene.  Although in The Last Supper it doesn't look like they're eating anything, so I guess that made no sense.  What can I say, I'm still full.

Let's start with Apps and Zerts (Parks and Rec anyone?):

This green pesto cheese (I think it's a Gouda) from Trader Joe's is fantastic.  Plus it looks like barf and who doesn't want puke-colored food in their life?

We had so many cookies it was gross.  

Now onto seafood:

We had shrimp cocktail, salmon, crab and lobster tails....Delish!
We're not done yet:

We threw in some bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and filet mignon, just for shits and giggles.

I think the veggies were just to keep us from getting some sort of scurvy.
Afterwards we hunkered down to watch movies and try not to cry from the pain of eating our way through the aisles of Costco.

Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Rob came up from LA and Cousins Shelly and Akshat and baby Sachi came from Folsom.  Sachi was super excited for Christmas!

Of course I had to get a pic of her with baby Kane, who is enjoying his very first Christmas:

He's actually going through a phase where he's kinda scared of babies (I think they're too loud and jittery for his taste), but he's forever my gentle giant and will cower under the bed from a kid the size of his shits.
Ponie, on the other hand, can sleep through a hurricane, and I take these opportunities to dress him up!

Then we had some wine and got a little weird:

Then at midnight, I went to pick up my baby baby boo boo from his sister's house (she picked him (and her husband) up from the airport).  I took the babies and when they awoke from their car stupor they lost their minds!

They missed Daddy!

Christmas Morning

The next morning, we awoke feeling like a ton of bricks, but ready to open presents!

My mom for once didn't do a selfie!  Cray cray!

Aaron and I opted out of giving and receiving gifts this year, but of course my mom and aunt refused to listen and we scored some great stuff.

Our Loot

My mom got me:

EOS chapsticks, which I'm obsessed with, so I was delighted!

A Coach scarf and umbrella (both in purple, now everyone thinks I want EVERYTHING in purple...lol).

She got Aaron:

Bag bungees, so we can hang our backpacks on our luggage, if we so desire.

A tiny toiletry bag with a pocket mirror, which he needed.

A flat toiletry bag, which I'm stealing.

AND his absolute favorite thing was this money belt, which looks like a normal belt, but has a zipper on the inside for cash.  You can also loop this pouch to it and stick it in your pants for your passport, credit cards, etc.  He better get ready for a lot of: "Is that your passport pouch or are you just happy to see me?"

AND his other absolute favorite thing was a drawing our wonderful neighbor/family friend since forever, Georgia, did for him as a birthday gift (she had it framed for his Christmas gift):

Crown is his favorite and we're going to hang it at our bar when we finally have a bar again someday.  Thanks a million, Georgia!

My Auntie Cheryl got me:

Spanx leggings, which are probably gonna be uncomfortable, but beauty is cutting off all circulation to your lower extremities, so I'll just get used to it.

AND a super cute dress to cover my legs once they turn blue and are no longer functional.  I don't usually go for black, but it will match better with everything and I'm just glad something wasn't purple.

Then we had turkey, stuffing and all the Thanksgiving fixings (I forgot to take pictures because I was still in a food coma from the night before).

And We're Off!

Then we went to Aaron's sister, Melissa's house, where his mom's side of the family was gathering.

Here's Melissa and her husband, Lance (who works with Aaron).

More family.

Here's me and Aaron's momma, Lisa.

Here's Aaron and Lisa (I snuck and caught them both smiling!  Ahh!  It's a Christmas miracle!).

Shout out to Lisa, she got us really beautiful gift baskets, even though we told her not to!  That's what mommas do, I suppose.

We had amazing smoked prime rib, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the fixings.  I didn't get a chance to snap a pic, which is a shame because it was a masterpiece!

Then we're off again to Aaron's dad, Tim's house.  I only took one picture here because Tim takes a ton of posed family pics, so I didn't get a chance to get snap-happy, but I think I got a great shot:

It's Aaron's little sister, Timara (although she's definitely eating her Wheaties because she's already caught up to me.  I knew the day would come, I just thought I'd have a little more time to adjust.).  Shout out to Tim and his lovely wife, Janice, for the candy and cash.  WAY too generous!

We had ham, mashed potatoes and all the fixings AGAIN!  

Then we went back to Melissa's because they were having a party.  I lasted about an hour.

HOME!

There was a poker party going on at home, but I was so wiped, I got naked and passed out, and so did my babies:

And that was Christmas.  Whew!  Hope you all had just as much fun!