Happy baking new year!

This holiday season was one of the funnest holidays I’ve ever had. Let’s start with a very important message:

It’s true! I do love you!

I also love the foodstuffs, which Charles and Regina slaved away on all day, on New Years Eve. Regina really put her Christmas gifts  (Flour and Milk Bar cookbooks) to use. Everything tasted as good as they looked, and just FYI, the winter-weight-look is so hot right now. So if you see me, and I look a little different, i.e. puffy or swollen, I’m just following the trend, thanks to these delights! By the way, the macarons perfection were learnt from a class, not the cookbooks.

The Flour cookbook had recommended to readers, that they master the basic brioche first, before trying the fancier brioches. Regina did not heed. So rebellious and so successful, as shown here with the brioche au chocolat that she and Charles made:

However, she did make the basic brioche, AFTER we enjoyed the au chocolat ones. Priorities:

And then the custom-stamped sugar cookies. Yeah, not the most attractive cookies, but they were made with love. And of course, I like that everyone thinks that my 80’s painterly cookie was the decided best-looking cookie. I don’t even need to point it out. I think you’ll know by how attractive it is.

Not my first time eating multiples of these. The texture….oh, the texture:

The Bird And The Bee and Juliette Commagere at the El Rey on Friday: video and pictures

Such a fun show!

• Classy and confident replies to hecklers: Juliette! yay!
• well-performed music: I know. duh.
• great outfits: super-puff sleeves, hot red strapless short-shorts jumpsuit, ultra body-conscious two-toned minidresses, showcasing a particular mother-to-be’s (omg, I could have just said “bee’s” but I won’t. I can’t.) radiant energy.
• 80s icon, John Oates, jamming on his guitar

Juliette Commagere opened the show:

Am I the only person who saw a “livestream” video of Juliette’s performance? I swear, I saw it. I swear, Mister, I swear! Well, I can’t find it now, which confounds me a little. I did find the video of The Bird and The Bee portion of the show, as you see below. Please press play to get the party started. If you see about 26 seconds of blackness, then you’re seeing what I’m seeing, which I think is good. In other words, at around 26 seconds, you ought to see some lights flicker on. After the lights all come on, it looks like The Bird and The Bee are performing but you can’t hear. Yeah, me neither, But don’t give up! Let the visual run; there’s nothing wrong with your audio. For me, the audio kicks in at 1:22.
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Here are some of the pictures:

The complete set of pictures at my flickr set from this night.

If a picture paints a thousand words…

Then why can’t I paint you…Those are the opening lyrics to one of the top karaoke laser disc selections at my parents’ house when I was growing up. It’s the song “If,” by Bread,

which is not to be confused with the Janet Jackson “If” of the crazy awesome video. You know, the one that every dancer kid tried to emulate for talent show or competition, or whatever knock-your-socks-off dance performance.

In looking for that video, I couldn’t help but watch the whole thing. That part that starts at about 3 minutes…I got chills watching it again. ANYWAY, that “If” song by Bread bounced into my head because of the following two pictures. Except, I don’t think anyone would want to paint a picture of me after they see these pictures. That’s cool. They crack me up, and I hope they do the same for you.

I finally joined Costco and activated my membership card by taking this picture. Apparently, at Costco, I’m known as “Ol’ Winky-eyed Black Tooth.”

Family trip to Disneyland last Friday. I had fun on Space Mountain, I swear.

Sixth annual CAROLING birthday for Wendy

Yes indeed, it’s been six years since we’ve been making the neighborhood a better place. This year was unprecedented. We received such appreciative responses, 100%, from everyone we sang to. We were so touched. A lot of our favorite households from yesteryear weren’t home but we met a bunch more who were absolutely delighted with us. And when I say “delighted,” I’m not kidding around. I would put sparkles around the word “delighted’ if I knew how, but yes, this years’ responses were twinklingly stellar. Here are the small handful of pictures I took. The best depiction will be Kylie’s video. I know she’s been busy last-minute Christmas shopping, so her video won’t be ready today but stay tuned people, it’s coming, and will make you super jealous. Feel free to admire Kylie’s video from Wendy’s caroling birthday last year as a preview of how this year’s video may turn out.

Snowy weather caroling! No, not really. Just grainy camera-work. It was still very fulfilling. With our voices and musical talent, who needs the snow?

We ended on a high-note because awesome Indian food was beckoning us to headquarters.

Most importantly, don’t forget, it’s Wendy’s birthday!

A BIRTHDAY BABY ANGEL got in front of my camera?

Let’s make this an activity for you readers. Here are two group photos. What’s different between the two? I mean, there’s plenty different, but tell me, what’s the MAIN difference? Hint: It has nothing to do with the lighting.
group1

group2

Time to enjoy the cake. It’s not just any cake. It’s a Chinese cake that’s “not too sweet.”‘ We got it from Sweeties Bakery in Gardena and I highly suggest you get yours there too.

Regina handles that cake with a purpose

Did you notice that fine instrument Regina was handling a couple photos above? Here’s a close-up:
l

FYI, it’s “gao-ji,” which means “luxurious.” If you’re not sure, just check the packaging –
It says “gao ji” right on the package. It must be luxurious.

This means, here’s a Chinese lesson:

“gao ji” is LUXURIOUS

“dan gao” is CAKE

“dao” is KNIFE

So, now you know how to say “luxurious cake knife”!