Omaha, Nebraska trip!

I want to finish my Catalina posts but somehow my pictures got deleted from my photo account so I have to upload everything all over again. I’m too lazy for that at the moment so I’ll go ahead with my Nebraska post. About two weeks ago I went to visit my best friend in Omaha, Nebraska. It was my first flight by myself and it was weird. I flew out of John Wayne airport (probably the nicest and smallest I’ve seen so far). The pilot that flew me from OC to Denver was awesome. I had a great flight. The pilot that flew me from Denver to Omaha, not so much. The plane kept shaking and I seriously thought we were going to crash. That and my ears kept popping and in the end, my right ear was fine but my left ear wouldn’t go back to normal which irritated me. The flight back was fine. The pilots weren’t horrible but they were okay. The first one was the best. When we landed in Denver, I didn’t feel a thing. No bump or skid. He was a pro.

That’s the best friend and I sitting in her truck outside of Wenninghoff’s. It’s a indoor farmers market in Omaha. It was pretty neat to see all the veggies they grow there. The tomatoes were huge! We bought raspberry cider, honey, zucchinis, green beans, and some corn.

This is a small corn field we drove past on the fwy.

Mr Cigar ice cream from Ted & Wallys. It taste like mocha with chocolate chips and possibly tobacco. It was pretty tasty.

Dinner that my best friend and her hubby made. Her hubby grilled the steak and corn and she made bacon wrapped scallops and stir fried zucchini. It was freakin delicious!

After our steak dinner we baked for her hubby and his friends. We made mini banana chocolate chip muffins, mini pumpkin cream cheese muffins, white chocolate blueberry cookies, and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

The goodies before they were cooked.

Goodies to take back home. I got some jerky from the meat market (Nebraska jerky is excellent!) and some honey and jam for my mom and sister.

The sign outside the meat market! 🙂 They had everything in there. All sorts of bacon, jerky, ribs, pork chops, chicken, duck, alligator, scallops, shrimp, steak, and etc.

My fruit bowl from Wheatfield’s.

My best friend made us french toast with berries, whipped cream, and cinnamon for breakfast. It was freakin delicious!! 🙂

They have his and hers steaks. How freakin awesome is that?! I totally want one now that I’m writing about it. The meat and corn definitely taste more fresh.

The guest bedroom where I slept 🙂

My best friend inside Wenninghoff’s.

Kiko the poker. She got really excited when I first met her. She pawed me in the ribs and gave me a good size bruise.

New York strip with fries and arugula salad from Upstream Brewery. It was my first meal in Nebraska after they picked me up from the airport.

Humugo tomatoes!

Two lane fwys with no traffic. Completely unheard of in California..or at least where I live.

Best friends breakfast from Wheatfield’s.

Overall it was a great trip! I’m really glad I went even though in the beginning I was a bit hesitant. Nebraska is so much more quiet and laid back then California. It was definitely a breath of fresh air. I will most likely go back for another trip but I’m not sure when that will happen. I’m not down to go during snow season! I’m still thinking about the steak, bacon wrapped scallops, and jerky. The jerky is delicious. My mom loves the honey too. I’ve been making peanut butter and honey sandwiches with wheat bread. It’s delish! The midwest isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Except for the tornadoes. I’m not down for that either! Toodles.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

FSP: Operation Bright – Airmen at Offutt AFB

I’m taking a break from my Catalina Island posts and writing about my baking project with my best friend. One of my best friends from college married an airmen and moved to Nebraska. She asked me to visit her and at first I was a bit hesitate because we’re both SoCal girls. You can totally tell just by looking at us. It was a fun visit. I actually miss Nebraska (Yes Kara, you got me. It really wasn’t that bad lol). Both of us are bakers so I knew we would definitely do some baking. Before I went to visit her we talked about possibly doing a baking project for the airmen there. We ended up baking mini pumpkin cream cheese muffins, mini banana chocolate chip muffins, white chocolate blueberry cookies, and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We packed them into gallon size ziploc bags or plastic boxes and sent them to work with her hubby. Hopefully that brought a smile to the faces of all the airmen.

One of my friends once told me I was biased against other branches of the military because the big bro is a marine. As you can see, that’s not true. I love all branches. AND I bake for all branches. Actually…I bake for anyone who wants to eat. I think we did a pretty awesome job if I do say so myself. I didn’t get a picture of the banana muffins because I was either too tired or too busy mixing away. We went on base and went to the PX. Since I’ve never been in one it was a bit awkward. There were people just staring but I just assumed they were as curious about me as I was of them. Definitely a different atmosphere then Pendleton where everyone keeps staring. They did have some really good sales. And I made away like a bandit. I got a new sweater that says Offutt Air Force Base. I think my USMC sweater will be fighting for closet space.

If I get the chance to go back I think I’ll be doing a cooking project next. Enchiladas? haha 🙂 Toodles!

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

Catalina Island Part 1

I just got back from my mini vacay to Catalina Island and it was awesome! I took a ton of pictures (a ton being more than 200). I suppose that’s not too much in photographer terms. The views were breathtaking! I’ll definitely have to save up and go back. Love, love, love! Every vacay starts off with stiff drinks right? 😀

This is the Avalon iced tea at Bluewater Avalon. It has passionfruit rum, vodka, gin, tequila, and a hint of lemon iced tea. Holy cow…I was a bit tipsy after drinking this. I could only do half because the flavor of the rum was too strong for my taste.

Here’s a timeline for you to follow..
8/27 – waited FIVE hours at the Catalina Express terminal to board the ferry. Hurricane Maria caused some crazy surges so the two ferries before mine couldn’t dock. Our ferry got cancelled and pushed back to 2pm. Finally at 2pm we boarded and checked into our hotel (The Pavilion Hotel – their service is excellent!). We went to dinner at Bluewater Avalon and because of my intoxication, we went back to our room to chill for awhile. Catalina kind of has a dead scene at night unless you want to go bar hopping. We went and got some ice cream at Lloyd’s and walked along the green pier and sat by the fire pit. We called it a night after that.

8/28 – got tickets to the Avalon Scenic Drive and the East End Adventure (highly recommended) because the water activities weren’t running (Hurricane Maria). The Avalon Scenic Drive was alright. I got to take pictures of Descanso Beach and Avalon Bay. Our driver was kind of a sarcastic know it all so it was eh. We ate lunch at Eric’s on the pier. After that we boarded the East End Adventure in a hummer. It was freakin awesome! It’s pretty much like the real life Indiana Jones ride from Disneyland. Real bumpy so not recommended for people who have neck/back problems or are preggo. We went back to the hotel to wash up and headed down to complimentary wine and cheese hour. After that we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at Avalon Grille and gelato from a Mediterranean cafe two doors down from our hotel. We called it a night after eating gelato along the beach.

8/29 – got tickets to mini golf and the Glass Bottom Boat Voyage. Mini golf was hilarious. We were so impatient that I ended up with a score of 102 and my sister got 87. The card said we should get around 51. Oops! 🙂 After mini golf we packed and left our bags with the front desk. We boarded the Glass Bottom Boat tour and it was HORRIBLE. I’m known to get nausea and such but it was really horrible. The boat just kept rocking back and forth and gave me a headache. I still managed to see some fish and take some pictures but I wouldn’t recommend it. Not unless you want to rock back and forth. After that we grabbed salads at the Mediterranean cafe and chilled in the hotel patio area. Then we boarded the ferry and came home.

NOW…onto the pictures! I named this post Part 1 because I have SOOOO many pictures to share.

The fishies swimming during the Glass Bottom Boat tour. The water was real merky so we didn’t see a lot. It’s definitely not worth $15. Trust me.

Miniature golf was awesome. We aren’t meant for golf apparently so we should take up tennis.

Picture of Catalina houses/hotels and Avalon Bay. I took this picture during the East End Adventure. Cindy (our guide) was so awesome. She used to sing on a cruise ship in Hawaii. I love her, she has the cheesiest jokes.

California lovin with the palm trees right in front of our hotel room.

Vanilla and salted caramel gelato! The salted caramel was excellent. The vanilla one got to be too sweet after a bit. The cafe is super cute. They even serve sushi there.

THE HUMMER!! 🙂 I love this hummer. It was such an awesome ride. I got to see a bison, a fox, deers, and take beautiful scenic pictures.

Sign in Tour Plaza of the Avalon Scenic Drive.

View of the front of our hotel from the second floor.

Avalon Bay! The water reminds me of Bora Bora (not that I’ve been there or anything).

Shrimp and fish tacos that my sister got for lunch from Eric’s on the greenish/turquoise pier.



Scenic pictures taken on the East End Adventure. The EEA drives to the east of the island while most tours go to the west. The last picture is Moonstone Cove. It’s gorgeous in person. I fell in love right away.

This picture was taken at our half way stop. We got to get out, stretch our legs, and take some photos. It’s so beautiful. I really don’t know how to put it into words.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY PICTURES AND POST THEM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. THANKS!

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

Cha Eighteen (Arcadia, CA) – MOCHI WAFFLES!!

I heard of a kiosk at my local mall that sold waffles. Okay, cool maybe I’ll try it. Then someone told me they sold mochi waffles. I LOVE waffles so it was definitely on my to try list and I had to pick up some water shoes for my Catalina trip so what the heck?

Here’s the menu of this delicious place. The pictures look so good!

They also sell an assortment of drinks and teas.

I got the mochi waffle with brown sugar syrup. THE BEST EFFIN THING EVER! It was SO SO good! The outside was crunchy and sweet and the inside was chewy and soft. That’s how I like my waffles to be. The portion size was huge.

You can see the delicious syrup. The syrup isn’t too sweet and blends perfectly with the waffle. The waffle was the size of my face. It was kind of funny because I was walking around the mall eating my waffle and people would stare at me as they walked by. It was because they wanted a waffle too.

They have an assortment of syrups of the mochi waffle such as nutella, chocolate, strawberry, brown sugar, and cinnamon. They also have liege waffles and tea. I think they’re known for their oolong tea. I heard mochi waffles or “moffles” are really popular in Japan. Or at least that’s what the guy behind the counter said. A huge waffle the size of my head for $3.25? Not bad. It’s definitely worth the money. I was laughing because the guy behind the counter put the waffle in front of a tiny fan in an attempt to cool it down before handing it to me. It semi-worked but it comes out piping hot. If you haven’t tried it, it’s a must.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

PW’s Dreamy Apple Pie

You know…I don’t think dreamy even begins to describe this apple pie. Normally I’m not a fan of apple pie. I like pumpkin pie and blueberry pie. I’ve always found that the apple pies I’ve tasted are way too sweet for my palate. Not anymore folks. The PW’s apple pie is so freakin delicious. I made two of them with my residents at work and they were SO SO good. Everyone raved about them and several people asked me for the recipe. That’s how awesome they are!

PW’s Dreamy Apple Pie
2 frozen pie shells

filling:
10-12 regular sized apples, peeled and cut into chunks (I used apples picked from our apple tree at work)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups half & half (recipe calls for heavy cream but all I had was half&half at work)
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

crumb topping:
2 sticks butter (1 cup)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (recipe calls for pecans but I didn’t have that)
pinch of salt

– preheat oven to 375 degrees
– place both unbaked pie shells on a baking sheet to avoid any spills in the oven later
– in a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients for the filling (sugars, flour, cinnamon)
– stir in vanilla extract and half and half
– add apples and make sure all the apples are coated in the delicious filling mixture
– pour half of the filling mixture into each pie shell (make sure each pie has equal qualities of apples and juice)
– in another bowl, mix dry ingredients for topping (flour, sugar, walnuts, salt)
– cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs
– sprinkle half of the crumb mixture on each pie
– pat down the topping slightly just so it sticks to the filling below
– bake at 375 for approximately 50 minutes (depending on your oven, you might need to wrap the edge of the pie in foil and possibly the top – check about 30 minutes into the baking just to check)
– let it set before cutting into it and serve with vanilla ice cream!

I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into a slice so I cut it while it was still warm. Then again, that’s how I like my apple pies…warm 🙂 This is by far the BEST apple pie I’ve ever had. I doubled the recipe of the original dreamy apple pie because I have a lot of residents. A MUST TRY and definitely a KEEPER!

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I’m usually not a fan of oatmeal cookies but these cookies are so good. I guess I’m against raisins as well since I used chocolate chips instead. I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They’re delicious! These cookies come out perfect every time.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups old fashion oats
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons room temp water
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips OR 1 cup regular semi-sweet chocolate chips

– preheat oven to 350 degrees
– in a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugars, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
– mix butter into dry mixture
– add in eggs one at a time, mixing after every addition
– add vanilla extract and water
– fold in chocolate chips
– scoop dough onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes

These cookies are the business. All my residents love them and the staff members love them too.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

banana chocolate chip muffins

I made banana chocolate chip muffins the other day at work and the residents loved them. They smelled SO good when I took them out of the oven. People from all over were walking back to see what I was making. This by far is my favorite banana muffin recipe. I’m not a fan of banana and nuts combined so I went the chocolate route. You could definitely substitute the chocolate with nuts.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 cups cake flour
2 cups butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
8 ripe bananas, smashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

– preheat oven to 350 degrees
– in a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients minus choc chips
– in a separate bowl, add melted butter to smashed bananas
– add vanilla extract and mix again
– add two eggs, one at a time and mixing after every addition
– add banana mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined
– add chocolate chips and stir again
– fill sprayed muffin tins about 2/3 of the way full
– bake at 350 degrees for 25 or more minutes depending on your oven

These are the business! 🙂 All my coworkers ate em up and said they were really good. If you’re not a big fan of bananas I would add about 5 or 6. I like a lot of banana flavor in my muffin so I added 8 smashed ones.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

banana chocolate chip muffins

I made banana chocolate chip muffins the other day at work and the residents loved them. They smelled SO good when I took them out of the oven. People from all over were walking back to see what I was making. This by far is my favorite banana muffin recipe. I’m not a fan of banana and nuts combined so I went the chocolate route. You could definitely substitute the chocolate with nuts.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 cups cake flour
2 cups butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
8 ripe bananas, smashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips

– preheat oven to 350 degrees
– in a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients minus choc chips
– in a separate bowl, add melted butter to smashed bananas
– add vanilla extract and mix again
– add two eggs, one at a time and mixing after every addition
– add banana mixture to dry ingredients and stir until combined
– add chocolate chips and stir again
– fill sprayed muffin tins about 2/3 of the way full
– bake at 350 degrees for 25 or more minutes depending on your oven

These are the business! 🙂 All my coworkers ate em up and said they were really good. If you’re not a big fan of bananas I would add about 5 or 6. I like a lot of banana flavor in my muffin so I added 8 smashed ones.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

chocolate chip waffle cookies

I made chocolate chip waffle cookies with my residents today. They LOVED them! These cookies are delicious. I could totally save these babies all for myself 🙂

Legendary Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted

– in a large bowl, add sugars, flour, salt, and baking soda and give it a good stir
– add vanilla extract and melted butter and stir again
– add in eggs one at a time and stirring after every addition
– fold in mini chocolate chips until just combined
– preheat waffle iron to regular setting (I used a 3 with my Cuisinart one)
– spray waffle iron, top and bottom with non-stick spray
– scoop about a tablespoon of dough into each section of the waffle iron (mine has four) and let the iron do the work
– enjoy with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee!

These are excellent if you’re making cookies with kids or just for a fun project. They look like waffle bites but they’re actually chocolate chip cookies which makes them extra delicious. Try them sometime 🙂

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

toasted marshmallow milkshake

I made these at work a few weeks ago and they were delish. The coolest part was they let me use a flame torch. Not the super big ones like you see on the Food Network but the mini ones. It was awesome! 🙂 I didn’t burn anything or anyone.

Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake
approx 10 toasted marshmallows (make sure they’re really toasted and not burned)
3-4 large scoops of vanilla ice cream (vanilla bean ice cream would be best)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2-3/4 cup of whole milk
extra toasted marshmallows for garnishing
whipped cream for garnishing

– in a blender, blend together the 10 marshmallows and ice cream until creamy
– add milk and vanilla extract and blend again
– if the shake it too watery, add more ice cream. if it’s too thick, add more milk. adjust to your taste 🙂

These are delicious! You can also add frozen strawberries and make strawberry marshmallow milkshakes. So so good!

Fail Sweetly,
Justina