Point Defiance Zoo & Cake That Reminds Us of The Trip

After months of sun deprivation, of course we were ecstatic to know that we would be having a sun-filled weekend. We went to the zoo on Saturday. While we love the Woodland Park Zoo, we were just there few months ago, so we decided to visit Point Defiance Zoo. Yes, it's quite a drive to Tacoma from where we live. But it's worth the trip. What I love about this zoo is, the animals are more active and easier to spot.

The kids were well-behaved, no one complained about being tired or hungry or sleepy or bored. That classifies as a good day. We saw all the animals (except the red wolf), soaked up all the sunshine and went home happy.

He loves the sandbox, telling me how it feels like sugar. My reaction? "He better NOT put it in his mouth".

The next day (Sunday), we made a cake that will remind us of our trip to the zoo. We practically toss things into the mixing bowl, without any recipe. But we did jot down the measuring of the ingredients, in case we want to make it again next time. Lucky for us, it did turn out well. The butter reminds us of the bright, yellow sun. Brown sugar resembles the sand in the sandbox. And the chocolate.. uh.. let's not elaborate.

Pandan Cake: No, It's Not Kryptonite

As a rule of thumb, when there is a choice, I won't consume food that's artificially colored. Ironically, my number one weakness is chiffon pandan cake. To my defense, it's a quite difficult task to find fresh pandan leaves (otherwise known as screwpine leaves) here in Seattle. Awhile back I found fresh pandan leaves at the Asian grocery store I frequent, but the next week I was shit out of luck. It's so much easier to stock up on pandan extract. I have 2 kinds; one without added coloring and the other one looks like it's loaded with kryptonite. Guess which one I ended up using?

Lemon Pound Cake Story: When There's a Will, There's a Way. Eventhough There's no Water

Have you ever done something, thinking that it was a great idea, but halfway through you realized it was so dumb? I'm notorious for doing exactly that. Yesterday my landlord sent all of the tenants note saying that there will be no water from 1-3pm today. Before I went to bed last night, I kept reminding myself about it. See, ever since I've become a mother, I often have brain farts. No kidding. Once, 2 hours after I put the rice and water in the rice cooker, I wondered why it hadn't "ding"ed yet. I didn't press the cook button.... 

Today, surprisingly both kids were behaving well. No one's nagging Mommy for this or that. So I decided to make the long postponed lemon pound cake my husband has been asking for. And you know what? While at it, why not make some whole wheat bread too? So after I kneaded the bread dough and leave it to rise, I made the lemon pound cake. All was good. The boy even helped a little bit by trying to squeeze the lemon juice. The girl was playing quietly by herself in the bouncer. Life was beautiful. Until.....

4th Birthday Party

Although he's been with us since January 2007, this is his very first birthday party. It wasn't that we didn't want to, it's merely because we could not. This year was perfect, seeing that my mom was here (we just sent her off to the airport last night *cries*). His actual birthday was on the 7th, yet we decided to do it on January 1st, since my mom's flight was on the 2nd.

While other people planning on where to go on New Year's eve, we prepped and cooked our ass off for the next day party. Honestly though, I had fun. I'd rather spend time in the kitchen, than trying to find parking in downtown Seattle just to look at fireworks. And boy, was I glad my mom was here to help me watch the baby while I cook! I made egg rolls, tom yum soup, papaya salad, fried noodles (symbol of age longevity in Chinese tradition) and turkey with stuffing. Didn't get to photograph the food, because we were rushing to get the cake done.