Foodie Fridays

I've decided to start a new weekly post, for those weeks I'm in town. I'm not sure how long it will last as I do tend to be sporadic and things are heating up in the crazy wedding planning stage. But Friday is usually a "light" day in the evenings of this abode and I'm going to start trying out some new recipes (in anticipation of becoming a Mrs).

For my first trick - Won-ton Pizza Rolls
(head on over to Peas & Crayons for the original recipe, and other amazing goodies)

Now, Ms P&C does a pretty fantabulous job of detailing out all you need to do. But I'm nowhere near the kitchen expert she is, so for those that are "beginners" out here in blog-land I'll show you how mine turned out.
My first step was to figure out if I could create the faux-fryer...and I totally happened to have the necessary equipment:

You are looking at a cooling rack on top of a aluminum foiled cookie sheet. I must admit, I was skeptical as to how this would work...but it did amazing!

Next up - ingredients:
Won-ton wrappers (that I had to search on their website to find where they were sold here in SoCal - Albertson's), pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, pasta sauce, Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven:

Put your won-ton wrapper on the "creating" surface of choice:

Toppings: there is no particular order for this (I played around with the different ways to do this). I'm not big on pasta sauce, so I even made a couple without (last pic in this group). Ms P&C created hers with sauteed mushrooms in garlic too, so there's room for creating your own innards.

Put a thin layer of water on two edges:

Fold (the water acts a bit like a glue keeping the sides together), press, put on Faux-Frying rack:

Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese (actually do this before putting on faux-frying rack otherwise you get a mess below...like you see in mine)

Bake for 8-11 minutes (took about 9 for me...could have gone a or two minute longer for maximum crunch)

And...

Voila':

Won-ton Pizza Rolls!!!

My opinion: these were fantastic. While assembly seems a little time consuming, I'm new to this so I will probably speed up as I get to know what I'm doing. I could have baked a little longer as the edges were crispy/crunchy, but the centers were still soft (but done). The hard part is finding the balance of innards so they don't spill out but I still get the "pizza" taste I'm looking for. That and I LOVE cheese and I want a lot of it...but it's a little hard to keep it closed if it's stuffed too much.

Again, don't forget to check out Peas & Crayons for other great recipes and fun stuff!

Enjoy...

Thursday's Thru the Lense

Today, because I really don't know what else to post, I'm going to share a few pics from my trip to St. Louis a month or so ago.

Of course, you can't go to St. Louis without seeing the Arch! :)

This is one of the Fire Department buildings for one of the outer towns. Love how it looks!!

And this was inside the City Hall Building at University City. LOVE!!

And there you have it. :) These are just a few of my favorites from that trip. I usually don't have much time to take pictures as I'm out making stops all day every day. But I had a few moments to breathe towards the end of a couple days.

Hugs...

Wedding stuff

I have, once again, learned not to judge a book by it's cover. The bakery Hearts Home Farm uses is Jodee's Bakery & Cafe in Temecula. It's off the beaten path...as in I've NEVER been down this road in Temecula before...ever! And I wasn't impressed with their website and the photos offered there. I was very nervous about this adventure. But then I found their Facebook page and got much relief (more cakes...nicer looking cakes). And once I met Malinda on Saturday, all my fears dissipated.

Our package with the venue includes a cake in a certain style up to 90 people. So we were given a look book of cakes that meet that requirement. Found a few liked and ultimately went with a three tier design for 100 people in square tiers (we had to pay extra for the square and 10 extra servings, but not too much). There is a picture of the round version on my vendors page (just envision without the bird's nest on top).

Then we got to taste the cakes!! We tried four different combinations and picked our three favorites.

Bottom: Orange Cake with Midori Liqueur Drizzle and Mango Filling
Middle: Apple Spice cake with Caramel and cream cheese filling
Top: Chocolate cake with Belgium chocolate in two fillings and salted caramel in the third filling.

I can't wait to have this cake!! I hope there's enough for me to have a slice from every tier!!


(for more wedding info and pics and all that fun stuff, check out our wedding website)

Thursday's Thru the Lense

This week's photo comes from...yup, you guessed it...Disneyland!! (it's actually from ElecTRONica in California Adventure)



I really wanted to get on this...but it's was roped off (and already occupied). It's one of (or a replica of) the light-cycles from TRON: Legacy. I can't believe I'm letting Mr. S turn me into a bit of a geek!!

Updates

It's been a crazy week or so. I missed last week's TTTL due to being in Phoenix/Glendale for a conference. This week's will come in a separate post (once I upload my latest pics).

Here's the update:

Last week I was in Phoenix/Glendale for a few days. I had some time on Thursday when I flew in (which was so nice to have a late morning flight instead of being up before the sun) that I got some quality time with Mr. Sun in the afternoon. However, due to ridiculously high heat, that didn't last longer than an hour. Oh Em Gee....Phoenix was around 111 on Thurs (90-something after dark), 109 on Friday (inside all day...thankfully), and 108 on Saturday. Yes it's a dry heat...but it's like opening the oven when you're baking and you get hit in the face with that rush of hot air...only it doesn't go away and it surrounds your whole being! Needless to say I was very glad to get back to SoCal (where our highs have only been in the low 90s that I'm aware of).

Monday I got some pictures for a scrapbook I'm attempting (my first), but a couple didn't turn out so great. But that's ok, I'll reprint them local and they'll be fine.

Tuesday my Save The Dates came in!!! WOOHOO!! So that is my project for the weekend. I've been slowly stocking up on stamps for this...now I'm about to drastically diminish my stash and must start again with many more than the original (for those RSVPs). Once I send them out I'll post one...that way there's no spoilers for those followers that are receiving one. :) I'm also trying to think of something to do to spruce up the plain white envelopes. A trip to JoAnn's is in the books for tonight.

Yesterday my fiance' and I spent the day with thousands of strangers - we went to Disneyland and California Adventure! Had a blast...stayed way later than planned...I'm suffering through the day because of it. But it was worth it and I'd totally do it again!! One of the things I love about having annual passes is there is no pressure to have a plan to your day. We've had trips where we've filled the days with rides (and the lines to go with them) and we've had days with only one or two rides. Yesterday was one of those days. We rode our usual: Pirates of the Caribbean (which now features Black Beard instead of Davey Jones). This is a staple ride for us...it's not a day at Disney if we don't ride POTC. We also road the Haunted Mansion and the new Star Tours. Star Tours closed last year for a much needed renovation. They just re-opened in June as a 3D ride. There are over 50 possible "destinations" you can encounter on your ride. This time we joined in the pod races and a battle in space...all on one ride. So much fun! After Star Tours we took a trip down memory lane and walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle (where Mr. S first said he loved me). Then off to lunch at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney. Upon our return (via The Grand Californian Hotel...there's an entrance to the hotel from Downtown Disney) we went to California Adventure (there's an entrance to CA from the hotel) where we rode my new favorite ride: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. :) We wandered around Paradise Pier (which was also recently updated) and wandered through some shops and such. Then, of all things, we went to a movie! LOL! Yup, there's a AMC Movie Theater in Downtown Disney and Mr. S and I went to see Cowboys and Aliens (AMAZING!). After the movie, which was a much needed break for our knees and feet from all the walking/standing, we headed back to California Adventure and into the Hollywood Pictures Backlot where they are currently holding ElecTRONica (the TRON event that's been going on since the movie's release last year) for Mr. S to visit Flynn's Arcade (if you know the movie you know what I'm talking about) for a while. As much as I am NOT a gamer girl, I did try my hand a few games...and lost. But it's so much fun. After that was dinner then, my favorite part, shopping!! We always save that for last so we don't have to lug around our bags. Our to stores we hit every time: D-Street (for my crack vinlymations) and World of Disney (think Disney Store at the mall, but about 100 times larger and more stuff).

After all that yesterday, I'm suffering through exhaustion today. One of the downsides of working from home...the bed in the other room calling my name because my body knows I didn't spend enough quality time with the pillow and blanket. Going to try to remedy that tonight!

Today and tomorrow's work relates to focusing on my trip next week. I leave for Minneapolis on Monday morning. Yes, I will be visiting the Mall of America while I'm there. I'm actually going to have some time to myself (away from my team for a change) and plan on doing some wedding shopping...gifts for my ladies and other odds and ends that I'm not sure if I need yet or not! :)

Well, that's all I've got for now. Happy Thursday!

Hugs...