Let the Cooking Begin!

Aunt Pat and the crew have been cooking at Winter Weekend for years and they have a signature breakfast - baked caramel french toast - which holds a revered place in the hearts of all who attend. This year I got a chance to organize a breakfast, too - scotch eggs and scones!

 We mixed about 48 lbs of ground meat, fresh blended herbs, garlic and seasoning...

And Jami boiled and peeled 10 dozen eggs

And then I made 12 batches of scones

Jami got cold fingers carrying the trays back and forth from the freezer!

 

Thank goodness for Starbucks!

And Jami cooked BBQ, too!!

More Sushi!

 We finally got around to trying the Japanese restaurant near our house - Kabuki. Everything was yummy, and the sushi was plentiful!

 

 

Abi even got an alcohol-free taquito! (Virgin Pina Colada)

Roller Trollers

Shaun took Jami and Abi to Magic Mountain for some roller-coaster action before the cooking prep madness for Winter Weekend...

 

A successful day!

Salsa!!!

We had extra time to prepare for Winter Weekend, as Jami got into town early. Surprise!! I mean, Salsa!! We spent most of the evenings curled up around the fireplace, as it was quite cold in Pasadena - down to 32F! We even had one lonely little frozen puddle one morning. This was nothing compared to Kuna, however, where it got down to -7F. So sorry, mom! :(

We also got to make a trip into the farmers market for local honey, and some amazing chili & fruit jams.

Lunch to Go

Sadly the holidays ended and mom had to fly back up to the Frozen North. We had one more great lunch before she went to the airport though - box lunches from Le Pain Quotidien. Best. Sandwiches. Evah. The pastries were pretty good, too!

Tori Yen Celebration

And what Japanese dinner would be complete without Mochi?? Red Bean for teh win!

New Years

 

All was quiet in the house...

 We had a light lunch of soup, cheese and crackers, because later that night we would be feasting again!

  

The next day, we joined everyone at the farm again for the traditinoal Rose Parade breakfast. And then, blood-orange mimosas!

The feast hall was still decked for Christmas, with just a few new touches...