Here’s How We Had A Tiny Wedding During COVID 7 Jul 2021 9:00 AM (3 years ago)
Jake and I got engaged in 2018 and we were so excited for our wedding! We planned our wedding to be on May 9, 2020. The invitations had gone out and replies were received in early March. We had the rentals, the food, the cake, linens for the tables, most of the crafts done, hotels rented out before the wedding, our honeymoon to Paris and London was all paid for… pretty much all I had left to do was attend my bridal shower and finish the bouquets and do the seating chart. And then… COVID-19 hit. At work we were sent to work remotely from home on March 17. We figured it would just be a couple of weeks and then we’d be back in the office. Oh how wrong we were.
I remember at the end of March when the CDC recommended no gatherings of over 50 people. That was when our wedding was done and over with. All of the work we put into planning our beautiful day for over a year and a half was gone. I was extremely depressed and sad about it for about a month and didn’t want to even THINK about weddings. We had to tell all of our friends and family what was going on. We didn’t know if we could postpone. We tried to find a date in the fall but the dates weren’t working out and I finally just had to stop for awhile. It was a hard time for us, too, since Jake and I didn’t live together. We had “dates” in my parents’ garage standing 6 feet apart and I just felt dejected and miserable. We got to a point where we gave up on social distancing because I needed a hug so badly.
Our original wedding date came and went but I had an inkling. What if we just got married anyway? I didn’t want to wait another year and that’s pretty much how we decided to just go with it and have a tiny wedding.
The updated invitation that I created (you can see the original faded in the background, followed by the “Postponed”, followed by this updated version).
We live streamed the event so our friends and family could still share the day with us since there was no other way for them to be there. We threw out all of our original plans and quickly made plans for a tiny wedding with about 2 weeks notice. Our wedding officiant and wedding planner really came through to help us with this new plan, assisting us out with so many aspects of the wedding and we’re forever grateful to them for their help. Here’s a recap of our tiny wedding!
Morning Of The Tiny Wedding
The day of our wedding, Alyssa came over to help me make flower bouquets from flowers I bought at Trader Joe’s.
Check out all those clippings!
So pretty. Originally I was not going to have any flowers except for paper flowers but in the end, decided two bouquets would be worth it. Alyssa helped me do my nails and then Stacey came over later to do my hair. I was on my own for makeup! I practiced a few times in advance and my original makeup artist helped me over a Zoom call so I could get the hang of it.
Getting To The Wedding
Jake got to the venue early to help set up.
I was almost to the 125 when I suddenly hit traffic… a lot of traffic.
Alyssa took this screenshot and sent it to me later. She called me to tell me what was going on which was a good thing since I was in a panic.
The freeway had been shut down from the protests in La Mesa as I was driving to my wedding. Above is the photo I took from the 8. All traffic was being directed off the freeway to Spring Street.
And this is the photo Alyssa took, who was on the 125.
Me, 3 of my bridesmaids, and my parents were all stuck in the freeway shut down traffic so we were all over an hour late to the venue. As soon as we arrived we did the rehearsal and my bridesmaids and I went off to the Brides Room to get ready. Luckily I did not look at my phone nor have a watch on so I couldn’t stress about the time. Brides are always fashionably late, right?
Getting Ready
Almost all of the photos below are by Jessica Beamon Photo. She was a great last minute photographer for us!
Just a few “getting ready” shots in the Brides Room at the chapel (which our officiant graciously let us use).
I was worried those damn buttons wouldn’t button… but thankfully they did.
Trying to put some curls into my hair that refuses to curl.
The bouquets for the bridesmaids and myself were all made by me (with some help from Alyssa)! They are a combination of paper roses made from old Harry Potter books I got from the thrift store along with sola wood flowers that I bought online.
The best part is I get to keep this bouquet forever!
Can you see the sparkles in my dress?!?! That was my favorite part about my wedding dress. I tried on 5 dresses before selecting this one. I actually saw it on the rack on my second visit to David’s Bridal and I already knew that it would be my dress.
The Tiny Wedding
Here’s the details from our tiny wedding!
The hand sanitizer is a dead giveaway that this is a COVID wedding. Ha.
Jake and his sister, Amy (the Best Woman), walking to the altar. The bridesmaids with the groomsmen followed after this.
My mom walking down the aisle with our “flower girl”, little Miss Maya.
Walking down the aisle with my dad!
Aww! First look!
Saying our vows.
We paused for a moment of silence for family and friends we have lost.
Then we did a Whiskey Unity during our ceremony as well.
I bought a small oak barrel so we could pour some moonshine into it to make our own whiskey. The date on the barrell has our original wedding date on it, ha. We used Cutwaters Devil’s Share Moonshine for the pouring.
We poured two glasses and inserted the funnel so we could pour the moonshine together to make our whiskey. There are lots of ways to do this but we just used one kind and we actually drank the whiskey about 6 weeks later (it was very strong).
Just pronounced Husband and Wife!
Hooray, married!
The First Dance
We bought a 100 toy lightsabers so we could walk under a lightsaber arch for our grand exit for our original wedding… so for the tiny wedding, we had our family and friends hoist the lightsabers up as we walked back into the gazebo for our first dance.
We danced to “I Wanna Grow Old With You” by Adam Sandler.
But! Then we had a lightsaber battle!
We mixed in the dialogue from the sword fighting scene between Inigo and Westley from The Prince Bride. You can watch it below!
Tiny Wedding Reception and Cake Cutting
We didn’t have a dinner, just some veggie snacks plus chips with salsa. We were going to have a full taco bar reception and now we hope to do that for a future anniversary party. Our wedding planner did a great job setting everything up!
Various dips, gucamole, hot carrots, tomatoes, and carrots.
Mexican Cokes were one of Jake’s “must haves”.
The cake and favor table! I really loved the lightsaber touch.
Amy had these adorable Star Wars cookies made for us!
And inside these little bags (which I thrifted for $2) are caramels from Sugar Mamma Caramels.
♥
Before the cake cutting, our friends did some toasts.
I thrifted these champagne glasses. I got heart chalkboard stickers to put on the outside. The stickers washed off so we still have them.
And we did that intertwined drinking thing (sparkling cider) and Jake had to stoop way way down to be on the same level as me. Ha!
Our very simple wedding cake done by my friend Faye of Faye’s Desserts. The cake toppers are Leia and Han Amiibo figures with some of the balsa wood paper flowers that are in my bouquet.
Somehow I got frosting on my nose…
Jake trying the frosting, which you can clearly see that he loved. PS – I made that boutonniere that he’s wearing which is a Lego R2D2 with a little spray of fake flowers. His bow tie was bought off of Etsy.
His turn.
The cake was a white cake with berry puree and a chantilly cream frosting which was so nice and light! Faye did such a great job with this cake!
Feeding time.
Lightsabers lit up (after the cake cutting).
My beautiful bridesmaids after the cake cutting!
Yay We Got Married
Here are some other photos from the tiny wedding day! A selfie shot taken by Alyssa.
And a photo from the silly selfie by our photographer. I love both viewpoints.
I’ll always treasure this photo. Another reason I’m glad we decided to go ahead with our tiny wedding was that Maya was able to be apart of the ceremony. She passed away 2 weeks after our wedding.
I made this to match the sign for our “Achievement Unlocked – Got Engaged” sign from our engagement photos.
Our Wedding Party!
Just looking all cute and married and stuff!
♥♥♥
Ring shot!
With my family!
With Jake’s family!
After our wedding we went to the Bahia for our “mini moon”. I was hungry and requested McDonalds. This is us going through the drive thru in our wedding clothes.
Happy meal for a happy bride!
Venue: Faith Chapel
Officiant & Videographer: Josiah Elias
Photographer: Jessica Beamon Photo
Wedding Planner: The DIY Bride SD
Brides Dress: David’s Bridal
Bridesmaid Dresses: Azazie
Wedding Shoes: Clarks Cammy Wedge Pearl Sandal
Wedding Cake: Faye’s Desserts
Necklace: Parravi Jewelry
Brides Ring: Zales
Grooms Ring: Modern Gents
Livestream: Event Live
Souffle Pancakes at Morning Glory 1 Jul 2021 1:50 PM (3 years ago)
Not too long ago Jake, Bucky, and I all went out for breakfast at Morning Glory! I’ve been curious about their Souffle Pancakes and we finally found some time to go for a visit.
The decor at Morning Glory is pretty top notch.
This eye moves around. It made me think of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings.
I wholeheartedly agree with this sign. Screw perfectionism.
Me and my husband (!) before I got my haircut. It’s been over a year since we got married but I still get a kick out of saying “my husband”!
Bucky sitting nicely and waiting for some breakfast.
We started off with some coffee. Inside that cup is Jake’s house coffee [$3.50]. Morning Glory also gives you this little platter of raw sugar and creamer.
I got a cold brew [$4.00] and swirled some creamer in.
One of the first things we decided on at Morning Glory were some potatoes. I love me some potatoes and they didn’t have normal old hash browns. Instead they have scalloped potatoes and “dirty scalloped potatoes” [$7.00]. The difference between this and the “non-dirty” one is there are globs of creamy sausage gravy drenching the scalloped potatoes. And the sausage gravy is WORTH IT. Perfectly seasoned with lots of sausage bits, it was the perfect accompaniment to the creamy and crispy potatoes.
Jake decided he would order the Fried Chicken & Waffles [$17.00] with a sunny side up egg on top. Jake really liked this version though he wished the waffle was a bit crisper. He liked the egg on it, too.
We tried two different sides of meat, including this Thick Cut Bacon [$6.00]. I thought this would be extra crispy but actually it was very chewy and not crispy at all. Since I prefer crispy, I would pass on this in the future. Good flavor but not the best texture.
The Maple Sausage Links [$5.00] on the other hand were outstanding. Not too salty, great amount of flavor and it had that salty-sweet combo from the maple inside the sausage. Yum.
Now here’s the star of the show, what we really came to try at Morning Glory – the Souffle Pancakes [$16.00]. I had been seeing these tall, fluffy looking pancakes all over Instagram and it was finally my turn to try these! I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. Like… what can you really do to make a pancake different?
Well these souffle pancakes are certainly very different from anything else I’ve tried. The first bite was heaven! They are incredibly light, airy, and fluffy and they felt like they melted in my mouth. I loved the texture and the flavor of these pancakes. I ate them with a bit of butter and syrup but they sure don’t need much. I would definitely come back to Morning Glory just for another plate of these delightful pancakes.
All in all we quite enjoyed our breakfast at Morning Glory. We happened to go early in the morning and didn’t have to wait long for a table, though I hear the wait can be pretty long here. I suggest going when they open to try and snag a table right away.
Morning Glory
550 W Date St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Disneyland Food, Mobile Ordering, and Tips in 2021 10 Jun 2021 3:14 PM (3 years ago)
I’m going to dust off the old blog here to talk about Disneyland, Disneyland food, what’s changed since Disneyland’s closure for COVID-19 and some other good stuff. Let’s get into it!
I haven’t been to Disneyland since November 2018 when I was last a passholder. Jake and I got engaged in December of 2018 so I was glad we didn’t have that extra expense as we saved up for our wedding (I wonder if anyone still wants a post about our wedding after all this time…?) but I still really wanted to check out the new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. We planned to go last March… but you know what happened. We were excited to get back into the park and finally visited again on June 9th while the park was still operating at a lower capacity and was only allowing California residents. Here’s my experience and what we ate and did at Disneyland!
First thing – you gotta wear a mask. At all times. The only time you can take off your mask is if you are in a designated dining area AND you are actively eating or drinking. If you’re just hanging out, someone will ask you to put your mask back on. It also has to be a mask with ear loops, it cannot be a neck gaiter or something like that.
We parked before 8AM. We were going to park at the Anaheim Hotel, but the parking was full. Instead, we headed over to Anaheim Gardenwalk (400 West Disney Way Anaheim, CA 92802). You get a receipt with a number on it as your parking ticket. When you are ready to leave for the day, text your parking receipt number to 949-532-8293. It will take a minute or two but you should then get a text back that says “Validated”. Then you can go to one of the walk up parking pay machines (we went to the one on level two because that is where we parked, they are not on every level) and paid $18 for the whole day. Parking at the Mickey & Friends structure is currently $25 and the tram is not running which is why we opted to park a little bit closer to the entrance on S Harbor Blvd instead of hoofing it all the way from the Disney parking garage.
There was a long security line to get in BUT it was always moving so it didn’t seem too awful. The park didn’t “officially” open until 9AM but the rides were already open by the time we got through the front gates and made our way down Main Street.
We got into the park about 8:45 or so and hopped onto Peter Pan’s Flight since the wait time was listed at 20 minutes (in reality it was more like 10 minutes). Then we headed over to Batuu!
I hadn’t eaten anything so while we walked to Galaxy’s Edge, I pulled up the Disneyland App and placed my mobile order at Ronto Roasters. Ronto Roasters accepts mobile pay/ordering but they also have a “stand by” line. After we got there and we were in the correct window time, I clicked the “I’m here!” button so they would start making my order.
[Ronto Wrap – Roasted Pork, Grilled Pork Sausage, Peppercorn Sauce, Tangy Slaw, wrapped in Pita / $12.99]
The Ronto Wrap had the option to put everything on the side, so I did. I’m not into coleslaw, but I did put a little bit on my half of the wrap that I shared with Jake. It’s more satisfying and filling with the slaw, but I wasn’t a fan of its tangy flavor so I used it sparingly. The peppercorn sauce was pretty tasty on the pork. The roasted pork was just okay but I did like the snap of the pork sausage.
[left: Meiloorun Juice – Pineapple Juice, Minute Maid® Lemonade, with Blueberry, Cranberry Juice, Lemon Juice, and Desert Pear / $5.49; right: Tatooine Sunset – Gold Peak® Unsweetened Tea, Minute Maid® Lemonade with Melon and Blueberry in a light up sipper cup / $24.99]
We tried both of the special drinks at Ronto Roasters. The bright pink drink is the Meiloorun Juice. Meiloorun is a fruit that pops up in Star Wars Rebels – a favorite snack of rebel pilot Hera Syndulla. This drink is very fruity and pretty sweet.
Tatooine Sunset is not as pretty looking (it just looks tan colored) but tastes much better in my opinion. It is less sweet and it’s more like an Arnold Palmer with melon and blueberry juice mixed in. Jake decided he wanted that fancy sipper cup (which has a little creature inside of it when you open the lid and it lights up) because he forgot about the Jango Fett sipper cup (available at Galactic Grill in Tomorrowland).
After our morning snack, we hopped onto the Smuggler’s Run ride for the first time – AWWW YES. Hondo (the pirate) is your “guide” through your ride on the Millennium Falcon and it was a super fun ride. We got the ride to ourselves, which is probably something that will only happen during the pandemic.
Our next stop was at the Tropical Hideaway in Adventureland. This is next to the Jungle Cruise (which is currently closed). The Tiki Juice Bar is currently closed and this is now the spot to get your Dole Whip. They are also supposed to have steamed baos and other treats, but they were not available on the day we went. This is a nice spot to hang out as they play relaxing music and there is a parrot in the corner that puts on a little show and talks.
[DOLE Whip® Swirl with Raspberry and Pineapple / $5.99]
I decided I wanted a swirl. They have Pineapple, Raspberry, Mango, or Lemon available which you can also get in a float (with juice on the bottom). It was still in the morning so I decided swirl only was the way to go. I loved this sweet and tangy combo of the raspberry and original pineapple – very refreshing!
After Dole Whip – we were off to Tomorrowland! We hopped onto Star Tours and before we got onto the ride, I managed to snag a boarding pass for Star Wars – Rise of the Resistance. This ride is only available via virtual queue on the Disneyland app. You have two chances to get on this ride – at 7AM and 12PM. It’s much easier to get into the 12PM boarding groups.
After that – it was time for lunch at the Galactic Grill!
I’ve honestly never given much thought to the food at Galactic Grill because I remember it being terrible in the late 90s and never gave it a chance again until this visit. I saw a sparkly dessert that I wanted to try and also added a chicken sandwich to the mix.
[Fried Chicken Sandwich – Fried Chicken Breast, Spicy Coleslaw and Parmesan Ranch served with choice of Dannon® Oikos® Greek Yogurt or French Fries / $11.79]
This is another “mobile order only” station – no walk ups here. I was incredibly surprised by how GOOD this sandwich was. I was expecting it to be “ehh, it’s fine” but the chicken was fresh, crunchy, had a lovely coating, was juicy, and the parmesan ranch sauce was damn TASTY. The spicy coleslaw does give it a little kick and extra flavor and it didn’t make me go “ewww coleslaw” like most coleslaw does. Highly approve!
[Galactic Parfait – a galaxy parfait with layers of Chocolate Cake, Blue Cheesecake, and Purple Mousse filled with Raspberry Marmalade and finished with Glitter Glaze, Edible Silver Stars and a Chocolate Truffle Shell / $5.99]
First of all – HOW PRETTY IS THIS?! Those edible stars and sparkly glitter glaze on top really roped me in and I had to try out this festive Disneyland treat.
At the very top is the “glitter glaze” and right below that is the blue cheesecake layer, followed by the chocolate cake, with the purple mousse on the bottom. The only layer I didn’t love was the mousse – but the rest of it was delicious. It wasn’t overly sweet and the cake provided some texture in between the layers. The cheesecake was creamy and smooth and there was an overall “blue raspberry” flavor going on.
Here’s a video of me sampling the parfait so you can see the layers better.
After our little lunch, we headed over to Space Mountain, then Winnie the Pooh, and then hung around waiting to get into Rise of the Resistance. Rise of the Resistance actually broke down before we could board so we ended up waiting an extra hour to get in. But, once that was done we got on right away. I loved the immersive experience of that ride and the different parts you go through until the end – SO FUN!
[Hand Dipped Corn Dog / $9.79 with chips or mandarin oranges]
It was almost 5PM at this point and I still wanted one last treat to eat and I used the Disneyland app again to place an order for my favorite corn dog at the Little Red Wagon at the end of Main Street. The Little Red Wagon looked like they had a standby line so I didn’t need to place a mobile order but I didn’t know that. But it was fine since it gave me time to pop into the Candy Palace for some to go treats.
The only thing I didn’t like about mobile ordering this time is that there is not an option to decline the side item. In the past I have always ordered the corndog by itself so I didn’t have to pay extra for a bag of chips (or mandarin oranges). But, it’s fine since we quickly ate the chips. The corndog didn’t taste as fresh as it usually does and it tasted like it was made well in advance… but it was still a pretty good corndog.
Earlier in the day, I popped into Jolly Holiday Bakery and got some Matterhorn Macaroons [$2.99] to take home. These are one of my favorite to go treats! I loved the bit of white chocolate on top and all of that coconutty goodness.
The Candy Palace did not have my beloved Peanut Butter Squares (CRY) so instead I got this Mickey Sugar Cookie and some chocolate peanut clusters (not shown) and peanut brittle for my parents (to say thanks for watching Bucky all day for us).
The only thing I didn’t get to try was the Haunted Mansion Wedding Cake (which looked like a blood splattered cake thanks to some cherry sauce) – but oh well. I couldn’t get a good time for the French Market which only accepted mobile ordering – all of the times were always too far in advance by a few hours.
My non-food but still food related purchase – Minnie Mouse Donut ears! After thinking about it all day, I finally decided to get them. I’m not crazy about the pink bow, but I love the donuts and I figured I might regret it if I didn’t get one! These were $29.99 and I got them on Main Street (next to Disneyana) but I also saw them in other spots (like at The Star Trader in Tomorrowland).
Disneyland opens to people outside of California next week and more of the restaurants are opening up on June 17th. I’m not sure how long they will be keeping the social distancing protocols, but we really enjoyed a less crowded park. It was nice to be able to actually find a table to sit at for meals instead of lurking in some corner to try and eat (which we did many times as passholders). Will you be headed to Disneyland this summer?
Marinated Korean Style Pork Belly 18 Feb 2021 9:10 AM (4 years ago)
I made this Korean style marinade forever ago and finally decided to make it again for Jake and I. It’s Korean style pork belly and who doesn’t love that? The marinade is incredibly flavorful and surprisingly uses grated pears in the mix for added sweetness. I saw a video by Judy Joo that used this marinade but it was used on beef short ribs and instead I put it on pork belly.
I cooked the Korean style pork belly two ways – pan fried and in the oven. Above is the oven method. I put it on a rack so the pork belly dripping would fall into the pan. The marinade also drips off a bit and burns a little and I didn’t want that on the pork belly itself.
Here’s the pork belly after it’s been pan fried.
And this is the pork belly after it was cooked in the oven. It got some char on the edges. If I could have a grill in my apartment, I would have grilled these. So if you have a grill, please do that!
It doesn’t matter which way you do it, I think both methods are fantastic since the Korean style pork belly tastes amazing either way. BUT… Jake preferred the pan fry method and I slightly preferred the oven method.
Hope you try this one out – it’s so good!
Korean Style Pork Belly
Ingredients
1 lb pork belly, sliced
4 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos (I used a combination)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 2 teaspoons fresh ginger)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of kosher salt
4 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
2 pears, washed and grated on a box grater (I did not peel them)
Directions
1. If you got a slab of pork belly, be sure to partially freeze it and then slice it. Freezing it will make it easier to cut. Cut slices so they are about ¼” thick.
2. Add pork into a resealable plastic bag.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl and then pour it over the meat. Massage the marinade into the meat well. Let it chill in the fridge for a few hours – though 1 to 2 days is best (flip the bag over from time to time if marinating for multiple days).
Pan fry method:
Heat a fry pan until very hot over medium high heat. Add a splash of oil to the pan. Shake off any excess marinade from the meat and place into the pan. Add only one layer of meat (do not overcrowd the pan) and cook about 4-5 minutes each side until browned on both sides.
Oven method:
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare a cookie sheet or baking pan. Line with foil or a silpat mat. Place a cooling rack or grid on top of the baking pan. Shake off excess marinade and place pork belly slices on the rack. Bake for 13-15 minutes.
Flip the slices and cook for another 13-15 minutes until browned on both sides.
Chicken Satay with Peanut Date Sauce 17 Jan 2021 10:45 AM (4 years ago)
Have you ever had peanut butter sweetened with dates? There’s a product called Jool’s Peanut Date Butter that I received a sample of recently and used to make a delicious peanut sauce with. The peanut date butter is naturally sweetened with dates instead of refined sugar and adds a nice subtle sweetness to the peanut butter.
You can see a bit of oil at the top. Once you mix it together the first time, you won’t need to mix it again. It takes a little arm work to get it done at first, but since you don’t have to stir it again I don’t mind it.
Just three ingredients!
This is how it looked after I stirred it together. Very creamy and you can see bits of the dates in the peanut butter.
I found the peanut date butter to be very delicious. I really loved the flavor of the peanut butter with the addition of sweet dates. It didn’t really change the texture but tasted like a slightly sweetened peanut butter. As someone who LOOOOOVES peanut butter, I thought this was a great version and wished every store carried this stuff! Good job, Jool!
After eating the peanut date butter straight from the jar, I thought, “hey self, what can we do with this peanut date butter instead of just making really good PB&J sandwiches?” and I thought a savory peanut sauce with chicken satay was the way to go. Recipe below!
Chicken Satay with Peanut Date Sauce
Ingredients
Satay:
1/3 cup coconut milk
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sambal oelek (or sriracha)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
Peanut Date Sauce:
1/3 cup peanut date butter (or another natural peanut butter)
1/3 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons of lemon juice (or lime)
2 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon sambal oelek
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1. Dump all of the peanut sauce ingredients into a bowl and mix until smooth and delightful. Set aside. Can make this in advance if desired (up to three days, let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes).
2. Add all of the satay ingredients (minus the chicken) into a big bowl and mix together until it’s nice and happy. Add chicken thighs and coat the chicken in the mixture. Cover bowl. Refrigerate chicken for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
3. I don’t have a grill so I have to cook these suckers indoors. Break out your grill pan and set it over medium heat. Add a little bit of oil and let it heat up. Add chicken in batches and cook, turning every few minutes, until browned. Will take about 10-15 minutes per batch. Transfer to a serving plate.
4. You can serve the peanut sauce on the side… or as preferred in our home, drown the chicken in peanut sauce and then happily devour. Sometimes I will double the peanut sauce because my husband, Jake, really really really loves peanut sauce.
* Recipe based on the Grilled Chicken Satay Skewers from Cook’s Country
Photo of the stuff you need. Minus the chicken and the curry powder because I forgot to stick that into this photo…
Chicken marinating in it’s happy place.
This is what the peanut sauce looks like after it’s mixed together!
A plate of freshly prepared chicken satay, non-skewer style and covered in peanut sauce.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary sample of Jool’s Peanut Date Butter. I was not further paid nor compensated for this post and all thoughts are my own.
Restaurant Quality Dumplings Made At Home with Cali Dumpling Delivery 17 Nov 2020 6:50 AM (4 years ago)
I recently had the opportunity to sample dumplings from Cali Dumpling Delivery – a new delivery service that delivers dumplings right to your door! This new dumpling delivery service is available in Northern California, Southern California, San Diego, and Las Vegas. I’ll be covering the San Diego Cali Dumpling Delivery service.
I tried three different varieties of dumplings. The cooking directions are clear and concise and they make it really easy to make these at home.
PORK PAN FRY DUMPLINGS
Here’s what the front of the bag looks like. It has your cooking directions and tells you what inside.
For the pan fried dumplings, you place the frozen dumplings into a hot pan with some canola oil. Cook for 5 minutes, then add water to the pan and cover with a lid. This will allow the tops to steam while the bottoms stay crisp. With heating time, the whole process takes about 15 minutes.
And here’s the result! I turned my dumplings a little to get them crispy on the sides, too, but you don’t have to do that. I just like having extra crispy sides.
The dumplings I chose were filled with pork and they were very juicy and had a great flavor. The dumpling wrapper is thick and slightly chewy and it does taste like it came from a restaurant – but instead I cooked it safely at home! I made my own dumpling sauce to go with these or you can add dumpling sauce to your order from Cali Dumpling Delivery if you want to take the extra step.
SHRIMP, PORK, CHIVE DUMPLINGS
For my next batch, I chose the Shrimp, Pork, Chive dumplings. This version is boiled in water – no pan frying involved.
This one is also very simple to make. Heat water until boiling and drop your dumplings in. Once they float, cook for another 2-3 minutes. I actually preferred to boil them a little longer as I found it needed a little extra time for my liking. Again, the whole process takes about 15 minutes to get the dumplings ready. Cali Dumpling Delivery makes it so easy!
For these dumplings I either drown them in my own homemade sauce..
Or just eat them plain with some fried rice. Either way, it’s a very easy meal to make when you don’t feel like cooking or want something simple to make. These are perfect for my work at home lunches since they don’t take much time.
I forgot to take a photo of the inside of these boiled shrimp, pork, chive dumplings, but it contains larger pieces of shrimp in the mix. I thought it had a few too many chives – but hey, I would still eat it. I prefer more chives on top then on the inside.
PORK XLB
The final dumpling type I tried from Cali Dumpling Delivery was the Pork XLB. I don’t have a bamboo steamer, all I have is a countertop plug in steamer so my dumplings did not get as hot as I would have liked, but I think in a normal bamboo steamer with boiling water underneath, it would get as hot as I think it should be!
I placed pieces of parchment under the dumplings. When I did this a second time, I make the parchment pieces smaller. You can also use cabbage or lettuce.
Here’s how they look after they’re steamed. Some of the juice seems to have escaped that one on the bottom!
For making these pork xlb at home, I have to say it’s pretty yummy. It’s not quite as good as having it in the restaurant since mine weren’t hot enough and some of the juice escaped, but it was still a yummy version.
You can see a little bit of the soup in there but some leaked out a little bit. In the restaurant I always have to be careful when eating these, but these were already a good enough temperature to pop whole into my mouth. The pork filling is flavorful and juicy though I do wish there was a bit more soup broth. I didn’t complain too badly, though. I was still really happy to be eating dumplings in the comfort of my own home!
All in all I would really recommend Cali Dumpling Delivery. The dumplings are easy to heat up at home and don’t take a lot of time or fuss. The fillings are flavorful and juicy and taste very similar to what you would get in a restaurant.
Cali Dumpling Delivery delivers twice a week – on Mondays to the northern part of San Diego and Wednesdays to the southern part (see neighborhood list here). Place your orders by 5PM the day before your delivery date to ensure delivery for that week. Delivery is a flat $10 fee. Dumplings come in 30 piece bags and range from $16-$18 per bag.
If you want to make your own dumpling sauce at home, here’s a photo and a tiny recipe of what I put into my dumpling sauce:
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon hot water
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1-2 teaspoons Umami Red (or sambal oelek or chili garlic sauce or whatever else you like)
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Mix these all together in bowl. Taste. Adjust to your liking. Dip yo’ dumplings into it!
Visit Cali Dumpling Delivery to get you some dumplings STAT!
Disclaimer: I received complimentary dumplings with delivery. I was not further compensated for this post. All opinions and photographs stated here are my own.
Sunnyboy Biscuit Company 6 Nov 2020 11:31 AM (4 years ago)
Hello from your host here at This Tasty Life. I decided to post. Wow!
We don’t go out to eat tooooooo much these days, but one recent little trip involved breakfast at the Sunnyboy Biscuit Company in Hillcrest.
Sunnyboy Biscuit Company has a good amount of outdoor seating. I made Jake go inside to order after we perused the menu.
Our breakfast from overhead.
Jake got this Swell “COLAfornia” – a brewed soda made here in San Diego. I don’t usually like soda but this one had a good flavor and wasn’t insanely sweet. I approve.
This is our new puppy. My beloved Maya passed away on June 15th and I was completely heartbroken. I still am, actually. But our new puppy, Bucky (named after Bucky Barnes from the Marvel movies), has shone some light into our lives. He’s a rescue dog that we adopted from Amazing Strays in August. He was found in a box outside of a grocery store in Mexicali and luckily was taken in by this amazing group before we found him.
Now onto the food!
One item we definitely wanted to try (since Jake and I try it everywhere) was their chicken fried steak. Jake got a side of mushroom gravy for me to try since he’s a mushroom hater. The mushroom gravy was excellent with a lovely amount of mushrooms swimming around in the luscious gravy. I slightly preferred the sausage gravy over the mushroom gravy, but both are really good choices.
I wanted to show that this was made with a good cut of steak and breaded with a very crunchy coating. Very tender and good flavor on the crust.
Biscuits were why I wanted to come to Sunnyboy Biscuit Company and they did not disappoint! The biscuits held up very well to the gravy. I let Jake eat the eggs because I’m not in an eggy mood these days but that sausage gravy was fantastic. The perfect thickness, good seasoning, and held on well to the fluffy biscuits (which had a nice crisp edge to them). Would eat again.
A smashed potato patty sounded great to me but in the end I didn’t love it. I wished it had a bit more seasoning or some herbs in it or something. Maybe I should have covered it in gravy…. hmmm.
I don’t remember what this was called since it was on the menu since it was a seasonal offering, but this was basically made with biscuit dough, peaches, a lot of cinnamon, and lovely little glaze. It all worked so well together. Good bits of gooey cinnamon, the glaze which wasn’t overpowering, and the fresh juicy peaches paired with the crunchy biscuit dough made for a stellar dessert.
Sunnyboy Biscuit Company is a great little place to stop by for pickup or to dine at one of their outdoor tables. I’m sure I’ll have another biscuits and gravy craving and would not mind coming here again!
Sunnyboy Biscuit Company
3749 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92103
7AM – 2PM
Peach Pie Bars 20 Sep 2020 8:25 PM (4 years ago)
Hi friends! It’s been a long time since I posted on the blog though I have still been active on my Instagram and Facebook pages (@thistastylife). A lot has happened since I last posted in April (!) but instead of getting into all of that, let’s talk about dessert instead.
I was watching Food Network on the Firestick the other day and on Girl Meets Farm, she made some Apple Pie Bars. I wanted to do something similar, but I wanted to do it with peaches instead. I also adjusted the filling and topping slightly more to my liking and viola – a new recipe!
It’s a pretty simple one. These Peach Pie Bars start with a shortbread crust to form the “bar” part of this dessert.
Then comes a lovely peach filling. You could also swap this for nectarines. Or plums. Or pears. Or apples!
Then there’s a streusel topping that makes you feel partly like you’re eating a crumb top pie (or a crisp).
It’s quite delightful and crazy simple to make this dessert. I highly recommend eating one of the Peach Pie Bars warmed up with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I like that this feels like you’re eating a bunch of different kinds of desserts all wrapped into one. The shortbread crust gives you cookie/bar feels, while the filling makes you think of pie, and the topping makes you think of pie or crisps! You can’t go wrong with this one, and I advise you make it stat.
Peach Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling:
3 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons apple juice
1/2 cup of jam (I used strawberry)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
In a bowl, mix together the ingredients for the crust. Use your (clean) hands to get in and squish the butter until it is well mixed into the dough. It will start to come together to form a ball. Place into a 8×8 baking pan (lined with parchment paper, if you have it). Bake at 350 degrees in an air fryer/convection oven for 8-9 minutes, or about 10-12 minutes in a regular oven, until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in another bowl mix together your fresh peaches with lemon juice and apple juice. Add in strawberry jam, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, and cornstarch. Stir to combine and pour on top of your slightly cooled crust.
Grab yet another bowl (this is a recipe for using lots of bowls) and combine your flour, oats, sugar, salt, and softened butter. Again, mix and then use your hands to squish the butter into the mixture to make it form soft, crumbly mounds. Sprinkle this on top of your peach mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees in a regular oven for 35 minutes. In an air fryer/convection oven, bake for about 25-30 minutes.
Let cool and then slice into bars. Highly recommend eating it warmed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Fluffy Whipped Dalgona Coffee 1 Apr 2020 6:00 AM (5 years ago)
I jumped on the internet bandwagon and I made whipped coffee! The “official” name is Dalgona Coffee but I prefer “Fluffy Whipped Coffee” because I’m a weirdo.
It basically looks like coffee whipped cream. I think everyone is going nuts for because A) it looks pretty B) it’s easy to make and C) it feels like you’re being extra indulgent and really nice to yourself making this treat.
You really only need three ingredients to make this. Here you go:
Fluffy Whipped Dalgona Coffee
2 tablespoons INSTANT coffee (must be instant)
2 tablespoons sugar (I read you can use a different sugar, but it’s recommended to definitely use sugar for it to stay “fluffy”)
2 tablespoons boiling water
You dump all three things into a bowl and get out your hand mixer (or stand mixer) and whip it (whip it good) for 5 minutes.
It will change color and become this light, golden brown.
You can also just use a regular whisk if you need an arm workout… good luck with that.
Iced Whipped Coffee:
Fill a glass with 8oz of milk (oat, almond, silk, 2%, whatever floats your boat) + ice
Top with the fluffy whipped mixture you just made.
Take a photo.
Then ruin it by mixing it together properly. Ha.
Hot Whipped Coffee:
Same as above but warm your milk first!
Step by Step Video
Check it out on my Instagram Story by clicking here.
I didn’t realize that the photos I saw of it all over the internet were just for show. You actually need to mix this together and you need some mixing ROOM. So pour it into a bigger cup/vessel so you can properly mix this up. The whipped coffee won’t be fluffy anymore. Sorry.
Here’s how it actually looks after mixing. It’s like having a coffee milkshake. It’s a little sweeter than I like but it was still tasty. I wouldn’t have this every day but it is a really fun break and it’s awesome to see how fluffy the whipped coffee gets! I recommend trying it!
Savory Scones with Cheese, Garlic, and Herbs 24 Mar 2020 6:00 AM (5 years ago)
Since we are now ordered to stay at home and practice social distancing, I have a lot more time on my hand. Enter: Savory Scones with Cheese, Garlic, and Herbs. I wanted to make scones but I didn’t want sweet ones. I decided that some fresh herbs from the garden along with a heaping bit of garlic and cheese would just be the trick to for these savory scones.
These turned a lovely golden brown and had pockets of cheesy goodness. Helloooo!
I’m going to do a semi step-by-step thing. You can just skip to the end for the recipe, too.
Making Savory Scones
First step was to freeze some butter for about an hour and then use a grater to get it into tiny little pieces.
The butter was then cut into a flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Next I added both fresh and dried herbs and garlic.
Cheese Time!
Plus cheeeeeese!
Cheddar would be a fine choice but this is what I had on hand.
Next, cream and egg get mixed together to form some magic.
I kinda skipped a few photos… but basically you stir the dough together and then dump it out on a floured surface and bring it together to form a ball. You want to handle the dough as little as possible at this point.
If the dough is too sticky, add more flour in.
If it’s too dry, add some more cream or milk in.
Form it into a circle and pat it together.
Let the dough chill for 15 minutes.
Heat up the oven and then after the time out is up, cut into wedges and place onto a tray with parchment (or baking mat)
Brush the tops of the scones with cream.
Bake until your kitchen smells heavenly. Pull these golden brown suckers out and enjoy a few minutes of savory scone bliss.
Savory Scones with Cheese, Garlic, and Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for hands and work surface
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (plus 2 Tbsp for brushing)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, or sage)
- 2 teaspoons herbs de provence
- 2 teaspoons grated garlic
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese
Instructions
- Freeze yo butter for about an hour. Then using a grater, shred the butter.
- Mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- Using a pastry cutter or some forks, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- In a measuring cup, beat your egg into your heavy cream.
- Add fresh and dried herbs, garlic, and cheese to your flour mixture.
- Add liquid ingredients into the dry and mix with a spoon until it comes together.
- Flour a surface and dump your dough out. If it’s too wet, add a little more flour in. If it’s too dry, add a tablespoon of milk or cream.
- Pull the dough together until it’s one big lump. Form it into a disk. Be sure to handle the dough as little as possible but also make sure all of the flour is incorporated!
- Wrap the dough and chill for 15 minutes.
- Preheat and set oven to 400 degrees.
- Take out the precious dough and place it on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the tops with heavy cream.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool, or, eat immediately and burn the roof of your mouth but think that it was totally worth it.