Los Angeles Zoo: The LAIR

This weekend hubby took us (yes, I was just as excited as JD was) to The LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates and Reptiles) at the Los Angeles Zoo. The new exhibit is really amazing, it houses more than 60 unique and endangered species featuring both indoor and outdoor setting. It was a fun and educational experience, we can't wait to visit it again! 

Guinness Bundt Cake

I love to cook, but when it comes to baking I cringe. I can bake brownies, pumpkin breads and gooey cakes just fine, but an actual cake with frosting (even from the box) intimidates me. This past weekend my mother-in-law invited us over for corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick's Day, and I offered to bring dessert. I asked my friend Nika for suggestions (she's Irish) and she suggested I make a Guinness cake... cringe! Well, on Saturday I finally decided to put my cake baking fear behind me and picked up all the ingredients for a Guinness cake. That afternoon I made my very first bundt cake from scratch and guess what?! I really enjoyed baking it and according to hubby, JD and the Garcia family it was really good!

Guinness Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

•1 cup Guinness beer

•1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

•3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

•2 cups all purpose flour

•2 cups sugar

•1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

•3/4 teaspoon salt

•2 large eggs

•2/3 cup sour cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan very, very well. Bring 1 cup Guinness and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add Guinness-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.

Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. 

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack or plate to frost.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Drizzle)

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 3-4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons milk
  

Directions: To make frosting/drizzle, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla and slowly mix in powdered sugar. Add milk to desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled bundt cake.

Note: I placed my frosting in a sandwich bag, snipped one corner of the bag and drizzled the frosting over the bundt cake.

Walmart, OSH, HomeGoods & The Container Store

What do all these stores have in common, you ask?! Well, I just found out they will all be opening new stores in the South Bay this year. I'm so excited, I just had to share the news with all my local friends and followers! Below are a few details and dates, please try to contain your excitement... Just kidding, get excited!
 

will be located where the former Mervyns store was located, on Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. It is projected to open in late summer 2012.

will be located where the former Kmart store was located, on Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance. They may also be adding a grocery store to this location. September openings are planned for OSH and HomeGoods.
 

 

will be located where the former   Borders Book Store was, located in Plaza El Segundo. Grand Opening will be on June 16th, 2012.

LAIR at the Los Angeles Zoo

I'm really excited about LAIR, the new exhibit that just opened at the Los Angeles Zoo! It may be hard to believe but I love reptiles, and snakes happen to be one of my favorites (I always wanted one as a child, but my mom would have moved out of the house). JD is fond of lizards, I assume its because they look like baby dinosaurs, so I'm pretty sure he will love this exhibit too. I'm hoping the weather will be nice this weekend so we can pay the reptiles a visit. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures just for you mom!

 

Creamy Caramel Flan

Can you beleive that until recently I had never made flan from scratch (I can just picture my mom frowning as she reads this)?! Well, on a whim I finally decided to try to make one and was excited when I found a very simple recipe on All Recipes. With my trusty assitant chef JD lending a helping hand, I made my very first homemade flan. It was pretty easy to make and I'm guessing I was'nt the only one who enjoyed it; since everyone dug into it before I had a chance to take a pretty slice picture! If you love flan you have to try the recipe below, it really is easy to make and yummy too. Enjoy!

Creamy Caramel Flan

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 5 eggs
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden. Pour into a 10 inch round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into caramel coated pan. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, until center is just set. Cool one hour on wire rack, then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a rimmed serving platter.

Recipe Source: All Recipes

Getting Organized: Kitchen Drawers

I can't believe I haven’t blogged for over a week! It's not because I don't have anything to blog about, I do! I’ve just been so busy. I went back to school a few weeks ago after taking a couple years off, so I now find myself studying instead of blogging and pinning. With so many things to do, I've been trying to make our everyday life a little easier at home by getting organized, and the kitchen was the first room on my list. I have to admit I dislike our kitchen for so many reasons (we're going to start working on changing that soon), but I'll give it points for being functional. All of our lower cabinets are actually drawers (which I love), but this also means that things seem to just get thrown into them, as you can see below.

So a couple weeks ago I went to IKEA and bought a bunch of plate and utensil organizers and emptied every single drawer in the kitchen and started organizing!

Now all of our kitchen drawers look like this, I love it! Even JD gets excited about helping us put the dishes away because he can clearly see exactly were everything belongs.

If you're looking to get organized, I totally recommend stopping by IKEA. They have really great organization collections for every room in the home.

Date SMASH Stamp

Yesterday, while shopping at Joann's I came across this really cool date stamp, it was just sitting there by the checkout line waiting for me! It reminded me of the old library stamps used back when I was in grade school and I guess I became a bit nostalgic. This date stamp is definitely functional and fun, with quotes like; “STOLEN', OH, SNAP!”, “Hot Mess” and many more! The stamp is part of  K & Company's SMASH Collection, and is used with their inspiration scrapbooks, but I'm thinking I will find plenty of other uses for it!

Dinosaur Shirts by Vicarious Clothing

With JD's birthday only a few months away I've started looking for his 3rd birthday, birthday party shirt! Every year we buy him a themed birthday shirt and after his birthday I tuck it away for safe keeping. This year his birthday theme is dinosaurs, so I've been on the hunt for the perfect dino shirt. I've come across a lot of really cool ones, but I've falling in love with these fun shirts from Vicarious Clothing.   I'm thinking that the "CARNIVORE" one suits JD, that is unless they come out with a "OMNIVORE" one in time for his birthday!

Library Card Catalog

For a few months now I've become a little obsessed with vintage library card catalogs. There is something so nostalgic, striking and just plain awesome about them! I have come across some really nice re-purposed ones online, but the one below from Poetic Home has to be my all time favorite. I can picture many interesting uses for them: storing trinkets, wine, napkins and so much more. Can you imagine a separate little drawer for all of those little things floating around the house!?

Well, having a mom who works for a school that was built in 1950 has it's perks, and can make for some interesting stored and forgotten items. It turns out that my mom's school actually had not just one library card catalog in storage but two (15 drawer sitting atop a 10 drawer)! They definitely need some TLC, but I'm hoping to get at least one of them to look like the one pictured above from Poetic Home.

Long Beach Antique Market

Event Held 3rd Sunday of Every Month

Long Beach Veterans Stadium

4901 E. Conant Street

Long Beach, CA 90808

 www.longbeachantiquemarket.com

I Heart Nordstrom Rack!

They recently opened a new Nordstrom Rack near my home and I have to admit I've become a little obsessed! For my birthday last December I received a few Norstrom gift cards and have been slowly spending them in the last few weeks. I'm always amazed at their low prices and although their items may be considered "Last Season"! I don't particularly mind; I just adore cute stuff. Here are a few of my latest finds.

1. Kut from the Kloth Catherine Boyfriend Cut Jeans

2. CL by Chinese Laundry Ionia Wedge

3. Envy "Medium Tool" Bag

4. TOMS Navy Canvas Classics

Teaching JD about Responsibilities

Before we got JD a dog, we had a long talk with him about what his dog would need on a daily basis. Other than the obvious love and attention that a dog requires, there are walks, meals, water, play, sleep and discipline to think about. JD loves Bailey; sometimes he doesn’t even want to go to school because he hates to leave her behind. He enjoys taking Bailey out for walks too, but this morning I actually made him come along for a morning walk. The first thing JD said as we walked out the door was “It's so cold mom” and I agreed with him. I explained that even though it was cold we needed to take Bailey out for a walk and he said, “So she can go pee-pee and feel better.” How cute is that! Kids around JD's age can be so egocentric and we are hoping that having Bailey around will teach him to think about others needs.