Chibi's 6th Birthday Party

This party was for Chibi's 6th Birthday...Yes he is a dog...Yes he is spoiled. Enough said.

New Year's Eve Dinner at Providence Restaurant

Kirk and I rang in 2011 with a lovely and quite delicious multi-course meal at the 2 star Michelin rated Providence restaurant on Melrose. It was everything we had hoped for and there were amazing little surprises throughout the night. My favorite was the diver scallops, cooked to perfection and just as fresh as can be. I can't wait to go back again....it was a night of food, I'll never forget!

Happy New Year 2011!

My Kirk drinking his favorite Macallan 18

Unfolding what's in store for the night

Bacon bread and butter

My favorite bread of the night: Nori Foccacia

The amuse bouche: Salmon Mousse

The 2nd part of the amuse bouche: Cheese gougeres

1st course: Kumamoto, Beau Soleil, and Malpeque Oysters with mignonette and cocktail sauce consomme

2nd course: Buri (wild japanese yellowtail) with meyer lemon and smoked sesame

3rd course: Veloute d'Homard with truffled brioche, maine lobster and sherry syrup

4th course: Nancy's down east Diver Scallops: with caviar and herbes

5th course: Agnolotti with Porcini, ricotta, and black truffles

6th course: Wild Striped Bass with pacific razor clam broth infused with yuzu and sweet onion

7th course: Nebraska Wagyu style beef with confit sweet potato, paquet de queue de boeuf, and bordelaise sauce

8th course: Blood orange Sorbet with tarragon yogurt

9th course: Milk Chocolate Cremeaux with gingerbread, pear gelee, and rum ice cream

Petit Fours: Fennel Caramels, Chocolate Truffles, and Vanilla and White Chocolate French Macaroons

My Gypsy!!!

I'm the proud new owner of the Cricut Gypsy Machine. I've been wanting this little baby for a long time and to my surprise, Kirk's parents gave one to me for Christmas. I have downloaded all of my cartridges and it's all ready to go. I have yet to create a project as I am still trying to figure out how to use it, but as soon as I do, I'll be posting something...stay tuned!

Halloween 2010.....I Love Spam Musubi!

Kirk officially moved in this past week so we celebrated Halloween together for the first time in our house. We actually got a bunch of trick-o-treaters and some friends also stopped by. I made Kirk a spam musubi costume....its one of our favorite snacks. I wore his spam musubi t-shirt and added some stickers letters to it. It was kind of a pain to make the costume, but well worth the laughs it got.

Ford's Filling Station in Downtown Culver City

I thought I was going to miss Dine LA week this past few weeks as I have trying to be good about not eating out too much. My sister has been mentioning and going to a bunch of places that I've never even heard of. So, I've been feeling a little out of the foodie/restaurnt world. Lucky for me Kirk surprised me with a dinner at Ford's Filling Station in downtown Culver City. We both have never eaten there (well, I had dessert and drinks before). That whole area was super packed that night. We ended up not getting the Dine LA menu, but it didn't really seem that great. Instead we shared a bunch of small plates including bacon wrapped dates, fig and prosciutto plate, squash blossom flatbread, and roasted beets and burrata. For dessert we shared a butterscotch pudding. All the food was really delicious, sort of a casual comfort food feeling. They seem to be good with the meats and cheeses there. The fig and prosciutto plate was my favorite, a nice little sweet and salty dish with a lot of good flavor in the meat. A definite recommendation!

Kirk's Wonka Themed Birthday Celebration: "Come with me and you'll be in a world of pure imagination...

This past weekend was Kirk's birthday party and in celebration of that I organized a Wonka themed party. Kirk loves singing the golden ticket song and he loves candy and chocolate, so I ended up going crazy with candy. There was candy garland, a candy buffet, and lollipops all over the house. All his friends and family were there to celebrate. Thank you to all who came.
Special thanks to:
Kirk's parents for bringing the yummy beef and cooling fans
My parents for bringing some very professional looking ca roll, inari sushi, and spam sushi, and chicken teriyaki as well as cleaning the outside
Kimie and Brice for bringing the sign and for staying afterwards to help clean up and keeping us company.

Lollipop Lane

Gumball Tree

The Gates to the Kirk Chocolate FactoryContract to the Party

Cricut Signage

Chocolate room cake: Lilikoi Crunch Cake from King's Hawaiian decorated with Candy, chocolate waterfall, cookies, and rice krispy treats
Kirk going down the chocolate waterfall

Rice Krispy Treats and Candy shaped cookies
Food Spread: Artichoke dip, Spinach Dip, 7-Layer Dip, wontons, Chicken Teriyaki, Flank Steak, California Roll, Inari sushi, Spam sushi, Chili rice, Stir fried veggies, and Salad



Wonkatons...cream cheese wontons

Kid's Corner: Everlasting Gobstopper Toss, Candy ring toss, and Oompa Loompa Bowling

Oompa Loompa Bowling

Prizes

Favors and Prize

Candy Shop

Homemade LiHing Sourbelts and Fruit Salad, Mini Chocolates, Whoppers, Sour Patch kids, Pretzals, and Peanut M&Ms...all of Kirk's favorites

My Signature Personalized Water Bottles

Dots Candy Garland

Game station

Fizzy Lifting Drink Burping Contest

Five Course Guessing game: the flavors were Dr. Pepper, Cotton Candy, Green Apples, Blue Berry, and 7-up

Golden Egg Hunt: golden eggs were hidden in the house for the kids to find and inside were golden kirk tickets

Violet's Bubble gum blowing contest

Golden ticket: redeem tickets for a prize

Candy lollipops with personalized pictures

Washcloth Candies and Lollipop centerpieces

Me and the Birthday boy

This past weekend was Kirk's birthday party and in celebration of that I organized a Wonka themed party. Kirk loves singing the golden ticket song and he loves candy and chocolate, so I ended up going crazy with candy. There was candy garland, a candy buffet, and lollipops all over the house. All his friends and family were there to celebrate. Thank you to all who came.
Special thanks to:
Kirk's parents for bringing the yummy beef and cooling fans
My parents for bringing some very professional looking ca roll, inari sushi, and spam sushi, and chicken teriyaki as well as cleaning the outside
Kimie and Brice for bringing the sign and for staying afterwards to help clean up and keeping us company.