winter アイス

our winter hibernation is nearing it's end (thank God,) but we sure have enjoyed some quiet weeknights in, eating sweet treats on our electric rug, watching Californication.  Here is a delicious treat we ate recently - - little mochi covered ice creams~  Manju really wanted in on the action; he really does act like a dog sometimes the way he begs for people food!  

finds by car.

a roadside farmstand.  everything a buck~

a conveni out in the countryside had a new kit kat we hadn't sampled yet. YUM!

happy st paddy's ~

I celebrated with a matcha tea latte yesterday ~

baking in the toaster

Thanks to Trish and her recent shipment of Semi Sweet Nestle Chocolate chips, as well as my mom's ground flaxseed package, I have made 3 batches of cookies this week. 

3 batches sounds like a lot of cookies, and it is... but I have been cutting the recipe in half at least!  And, to accomodate the fact that I'm doing the baking in our teeny toaster oven, I'm using a little baking sheet no bigger than an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper. 

I remember my Grandma's cookies and making them with her every visit to her house in Thousand Oaks... they were the BEST !  She would put almonds into the food processor and make a fine powder with them... and then add them to the batter.  I wanted to try and re-create them, so I found some already ground almond powder at our big department-store-food-floor and simply added it to the nestle cookie recipe.  The only other adjustment I made was the flax instead of egg trick (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons of water mixed, equals 1 egg.) 

The cookies turned out perfect, and as of this moment, sadly, there are only two left :(

I think I'm finally getting used to this whole toaster oven baking thing...

love day

had a relaxed Valentine's Sunday, and finally took Ben to Hara Donuts. he ended up enjoying the sweet treats and was impressed by their full sized coffee cups. I love this cafe!

I went shopping in the afternoon and came home to these...