Cinema Sentinel: Pacific Rim

Uh...totally awesome fun! Great monsters and fight sequences. I actually felt like I was a little kid again watching my favorite saturday shows. It was great growing up in Asia and getting the opportunity to watch Japanese anime.

Here are two YouTube videos of this movie. If you haven't seen it yet and you like action sci-fi, fun action films, check it out at your local theater or wait for it on Redbox.

Two-egg Lemon Bundt Cake

I haven't baked in a while but when I do, I go old school. I pulled out some old cookbooks and tried a recipe from one of my go-to Better Homes & Gardens Dessert Recipe book. Every time I try a recipe from this book, I feel as if I'm getting to experience baking history first hand. I'm baking something that would be made when my grandmother was young woman, just like me.

Today's cake is adapted from the recipe, Best Two-egg Cake, but I added food coloring (yellow), lemon extract and used a bundt pan because I felt like it.

For cakes to come out clean from a bundt pan, line the bottom with parchment paper. Measure the bottom and cut a hole in the middle for a ring shaped liner. Spray pan with baking spray, this time I used Baker's Joy.

The recipe calls for using two round pans at 375 degrees. I know my oven, so I baked the cake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and reduced to 325 degrees and baked for another 10-15. As you can tell, I'm quite experimental and I hate burning cakes, such a waste of a party.

In the end, the cake turned out quite delightful, very dense with a touch of lemon flavor. I would say, a nice thin slice of this cake would be fantastic with fresh cut strawberries or raspberries and whip cream, garnished with some mint leaves. Enjoy!

Two-egg Lemon Bundt Cake
Recipe adapted from Better Homes & Gardens (1965) Best Two-egg Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons of bourbon vanilla
2 eggs (room temperature)
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
--------------------------------------
2 teaspoons of lemon extract
4 drops of yellow food coloring

• Preheat oven 350 degrees.
• Beat shortening until softened. 
• Gradually add sugar and beat thoroughly.
• Add vanilla, beat and then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. 
• Sift flour with baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternating with milk, beating well after each. 
• Separate about two cups or desired amount, add lemon extract and food coloring. 
• In prepared bundt pan, spoon in vanilla cake batter and alternate with lemon cake batter. I layered my batter. 
• Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Depending on your oven. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing the bundt cake. 

Cinema Sentinel: The Great Gatsby

I haven't posted a lot of movie trailers I'm excited about, but this summer is chock-full of blockbusters to keep us all busy! We've already kicked off our summer of movies with Iron Man 3 this past weekend at our local AMC Dine-In Theatre. If you haven't experienced AMC's Dine-In theatre then I encourage you to do so. If you have food allergies or you are particular about what you eat, then take a look at their menu before you visit.

Okay back to my movie that I'm excited about watching...The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann style! From Strictly Ballroom, to Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!, his films have always made a lasting impression on me and I still enjoy watching them in 2013. As a child, I didn't know Strictly Ballroom was directed by Baz, I just enjoyed the style and characters he so vibrantly created.

I know The Great Gatsby has a different soundtrack than the era it is supposed to be set in but I trust the music director's vision. I can remember listening to Romeo + Juliet soundtrack over and over in  high school on my cheap cd player and then singing at the top of my lungs to "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge! with my thespian friends. Good times of song and dance.

Well, in celebration of this upcoming film, I just wanted to share some 1920s YouTube vids I like and a hotel that I believe is absolutely fitting for this time period. My dear friend Lacy took me along with her to a conference a couple years ago that was held at The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach. This establishment has been hosting famous guests and presidents since 1926. There are two different structures of the same hotel, one historical and one built in the 70s. Lucky for us, we got to stay in the historical hotel. From the moment we drove up and checked in, I could feel the spirit of the hotel, almost haunting yet quite inviting. Read more about The Cavalier Hotel here.

Anyway, thanks for humoring me and let's get right to the videos:
I know I'm a 1920s girl at heart when I dance. Uninhibited and fun!

(via Aaron1912 on YouTube)


(via maynardcat on YouTube)

Last but not least...The Great Gatsby trailer! Release day May 10, 2013. Be sure to get your tickets boys and gals!

(via TheHollywoodBird on YouTube)

Our 1920s look for a friend's wedding we attended in Temecula. Happy Hump Day!

I'm a Mommy...of 16 Weeks!

Let's see, my last post was in March and I bet that was posted on a decent day when I wasn't plagued with nausea and heartburn. These past three-four months I've been MIA from my blog for a very good reason...I'm 16 weeks pregnant!

This has been an answer to our prayers and even though I had terrible pregnancy sickness, deep in my heart I was thankful for every unwanted pregnancy symptom that made my days miserable. My heart goes out to all mommies and future-mommies who have and will go through pregnancy sickness. To be honest, I thought I would be able to handle it well and still continue with normal day-to-day activities/chores but I was deeply mistaken. I can't tell you how much I hated the smell of my own home. I hated the smell of my fridge. Worst of all, I hated the smell of buttercream and all things sugary. Even the thought of baking and decorating a cake would send me straight to the bathroom. It was bittersweet when I had to cancel my Wilton classes. I was on a roll with this cake decorating venture but at the same time Life decided to take me on a hormonal ride called major pregnancy sickness . We shall meet again Wilton!

For now, I'm currently enjoying my 2nd trimester and looking forward to learning more of what I can do to prepare for a baby. I look forward to sharing our baby story with you on my other blog...The Full Time Mommy (in construction).

Thanks for reading my post today!! :)

Some funny pregnancy announcements online:

Found on Weffaroo's Photobucket. Too funny! 

Found this one via Pinterest via 9laughs.com under Honest Pregnancy Announcement. I feel for the poor mommy but I love his enthusiasm.

I can totally see my husband and I doing this, trading my nice dresses and him some of his old electronics (never our Xbox 360). Found this via Cheezburger.com

Bounty of a Local Farmer's Market

We haven't had the sunniest weather here in California but I can't complain. I can tell you one thing I don't miss about the Midwest...winter, snow and sleet. But I miss other things about my midwest hometown. I look forward to visiting my sisters there this summer! Yay!

Well, today I thought I'd cheer myself up by posting pics of things I've purchased at my local farmer's market in the Santa Monica area. It's great to be in a state where I can get a variety of almost all my favorite fruits and veggies year round and for a much cheaper price. So I hope this gets you excited for Spring and Summer and all the glories that your local farmer's market has to offer.

These figs were amazing and come to think of it, these were my first real figs I tried. I love fig Newtons but I prefer the real stuff now. 

 Found some multi-colored fingerling potatoes and ended up as a delicious potato salad. Have I mentioned how much I love potato salad? 

There was a man selling bread on the outskirts of the market and I decided to try something new...Squaw Bread. The taste reminded me of one of my favorite beers, a nice cold pint of Guinness. Wonderful bread, I should've saved some for my husband but I ate the entire loaf in two days. I'm still working it off me. 

Last but not least, one of my top 5 favorite fruits, the luscious strawberry. Pretttttty darn good. It was just as sweet as Driscoll brand strawberries. Mmm...mmm...mmm.

My First Wilton Decorated Cake

The next class of my Wilton cake decorating course consisted of being asked to prepare two bags of frosting, frost an 8 inch circle cake and decorate with any of the three designs given. There as a fish, hamburger and cupcake. Of course, I chose the cupcake.

My instructor used my cake as an example of how to frost. It was a toss up of how I felt about that. On one hand I preferred her to use her own cake and frosting so I could learn. But on the other hand, maybe she had confidence in me that I already know to frost a cake and so she didn't mind using my cake as an example. Did she recognize my ability to decorate from my mad Star piping skills on the cookie from last class? Haha. Jk. Jk.

Anyway, it was fun to get the opportunity to get my hand sweet and sticky with frosting as I decorated my cotton candy pink and blue cupcake. We used Wilton Tip #18 for the zigzags & stars on the edge of the cake, Tip #1 for the cupcake and Tip #3 from the little squiggly lines for the cake liner area. For the multi-colored looked in the zigzag, streak both sides of the bag with blue and fill the rest of the bag with pink. Burp the bag and frost away!

Happy Friday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you are surrounded with friends and family who love you. But if no one loves you, I'm sure Ryan Gosling does...at least his memes. Woke up this morning and found this in my inbox from my sis Juls:

She really knows how to crack us all up. I don't really get the Ryan memes but every time I see one of these memes, I laugh a little. Thanks Juls, Sam and Anz for wishing me a Happy Valentines. Love you, Ladies!

As for me, I like to bake cookies and treats pertaining to V-day but this year, I'm focusing on learning how to decorate better. We haven't learned how to create the signature Wilton rose just yet but this is my first fragile attempt to create one for Valentine's Day. This was the nicest one out of five. Have a great day!