Random Pictures

It's a pretty awesome feeling looking out my slider and seeing plants that are now taller than me. My makeshift planter made out of a diaper box is holding up fairly well, too. Next time I definitely won't spend $8 bucks a pop for large pots!

Ikea...so much fun:

Another one of Simon's art installations:

We went to a fun little event at the Livery and Rose got this awesome papillon painted on her face (we met some francophones in line and explained that Rose just happened to be sporting the only picture for which she knows the French name):

 

 Wish I had a picture of little buddy's "choo-choo" (which was on his arm)

We became members of the Oakland Zoo:

My mother-in-law has been making some awesome food.  I should be taking pictures of everything to document it (and make it easier for me to replicate).  Here's her cinnamon cake:

Layers of cake (baked one at a time in the oven) filled with a frosting made with (what I think is) butter, powdered sugar, milk, and cinnamon

Here are some other things she's made that I can think of off the bat:

*Chess cake (I forget the Armenian name).  It's a black and white cake that looks like a chess board.

*Mayonnaise-based salad consisting of corn kernels, chopped walnuts, shredded chicken, and garlic

*Cauliflower dipped in a batter of egg, salt, and red pepper and fried

*Peroshki (doughy batter filled with mashed potato mixture and fried)

*Thin slices of eggplant sautéed in oil, filled with a yogurt/walnut/garlic mixture, and rolled

*Moravenik. In Russian it means "ant hill" because its texture is reminiscent of the little tunnels ants make. It is made by grating small shreds off a frozen chunk of dough. The shreds are then baked until golden and are mixed with a sweet "glue" made of sweetened condensed milk, butter, and honey. The mixture is patted into a tray and frozen until set.

*Dolmah (grape leaves stuffed with ground beef, onion, rice, and spices)

*Pilav (various rice dishes with meat, carrots, raisins, or other stuff)

*Salads made with cabbage, carrots, onion, olive oil, lemon, basil, salt, and pepper

And here is something I actually made two nights ago:

 

Homemade Pizza and Eggplant Parmigiana