Visiting Friends & Land's End in San Francisco

We planned a visit to the city this weekend to check out The California Pioneer Museum and the zoo. Friday night was so much fun that we slept through our wake up time and decided to modify our day to fit in some extra sleep. 

We'd heard of Land's End, but had never been to experience it. Off we went into the fog. 

Land's End is a part of the Golden Gate Park Conservancy, which is part of the National Parks Service. It's a very complicated governmental own-age structure, but it works. 

Land's End is at the site of the famous Indoor Sutro Baths (google it). Recently, a film was made and shown locally in our Niles district about the Baths. I wasn't able to see it, so I'm hoping PBS gets involved somehow. 

Anyway.. Sutro Baths. The Cliff House. Fog, fog, and more fog. It was beautiful!

After our little excursion we headed out to Golden Gate Park with Sarah and Sergio for a little bit of soccer playing and some coffee at a local cafe. Andie and Richard met up with us and we played my new favorite board game for hours. If you haven't played "20 Questions" and you see it at a thrift store, buy it, play it, and then gift it to me. OK? 

Kels

Burnout Syndrom

Over the last three weeks I have become somewhat of a ticking time bomb. Maybe that's not the right expression, but it works. The semester started only 22 days ago, and I'm already totally burned out. I have been doing homework non-stop, with the exception of my birthday and one Friday evening, every single day and night unless I'm cooking, cleaning, or eating. It's pretty freaking depressing.

I'm not ungrateful though. I know that I am lucky to be able to attend school and work full time. I'm lucky that I have no monetary worries in life. I'm lucky that I have a patient husband who knows that I'm basically bipolar during the school year. BUT... that doesn't mean that I don't want to plop on the couch on my one day without class and watch a whole movie.

BUT

There is just too much reading to do within my major. I read before I go to work. I read at work. I read before class, during class, and after class. I read before I fall asleep at night. It's hard work, and I'm proud of myself, but I'm tired. I just don't know how I'm going to get through this semester without killing Anthony, or my dog, or some of my fellow students (you guys know what I'm talking about).

You can go ahead and take a gander at my instragram feed. Yup.. reading is my life right now. Maybe during the course of this semester I'll find something interesting to tell you guys about on this old blog of mine.

 

Happy Thursday!

Kels

EASY DIY Homemade Sushi (California Roll)

If any of you know me very well then you know that I really like sushi.

But my idea of sushi is a California Roll... and that's all.

So, usually when I go to a Japanese Restaurant I will order a bento box with terriyaki chicken, a california roll, rice, salad, soup, and gyoza (friend potstickers). It's seriously THE BEST and I highly recommend Satomi Sushi if you're in the East Bay.

The problem with this situation is that Anthony does not like sushi, so if we do go out to Satomi he will order a huge plate of terriyaki chicken and rack up the bill.

So, when I saw this easy recipe for homemade sushi on Pinterest I decided to try it out.

Recipe copied from this recipe by Potholes & Panyhose

You will need:

Calrose Rice
Rice Vinegar
Cucumber

Carrot

Imitation Crab

Seaweed Sheets

a bit of sugar

Avocado (I forgot to buy this, so it's not in this actual recipe)

While your rice cooks on the stove or in the rice cooker go ahead and prepare your veggies. Make sure to scoop out the insides of your cucumber before cutting it up.

At this point I really wasn't liking the idea of imitation crab, so I googled what is really in it. Turns out it's usually white fish with a tiny bit of crab and lobster in it. It's real fish, just not REALLY crab, so I'm not as grossed out as I was before.

To make your sticky rice you add rice vinegar and a bit of sugar to your rice. Make sure you don't use a medal bowl. Also, you only need a TINY bit of vinegar and sugar. I made 1 1/2 cups of dry rice (it made three rolls) and only used about 1 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tbsp of vinegar.

Spread your rice onto your seaweed

add your veggies 1/3 way down

roll it up

slice it and enjoy!

See, I told you, easy!
Happy sushi making.

Kels

EASY DIY Pumpkin Cream Cheese

I read A Beautiful Mess every morning and I always end up pinning their ideas to my Pinterest boards.

The other day, Emma and Elsie posted about homemade pumpkin cream cheese. I am a HUGE pumpkin fan; I can never get enough. So, this post was no different: I pinned it. Then, I blogged about making it. Then, I MADE IT! I couldn't wait to try this stuff. This recipe is super easy and really yummy!

You'll need:

1 can of pumpkin

1 package of cream cheese

nutmeg

cinnamon

sugar (I added this)

Cream the pacakage of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of pumpkin together
sprinkle in as much cinnamon and nutmeg as you wish

add sugar to your liking
(It was a little too pumpkiney for me without the sugar. I added about 1 tbsp)

Spread on your bagel and enjoy!

Try it out if you like pumpkin - it's VERY good.

Kels