Monday, July 25, 2011

trina and justin's wedding


 a few weeks ago Trina and Justin got hitched. it seems like forever that they've been together though sometimes i forget that i knew both of them separately for years prior to their first kiss. Trina, i know from high school, however our friendship can't be summed up by saying "oh we're just hs friends." we are much more than that in my opinion. she's awesome. her interests are plenty (cooking, scrapbooking, reading, UFC, old timey movies, and a few other things i won't mention), she thinks about others before she thinks for herself, she is generous and thoughtful, she can be girly with with gals (Sex and the City and Mary Kate and Ashley) and down with the dudes (UFC), as real a person as can be, and definitely wifey material.


Justin i know through an ex-boyfriend and although my relationship didn't last, Justin and i remained friends. sometimes i feel like it was Trina and Justin's fate that i was in that relationship so that they could meet and thus become husband and wife. how is that for egoism? i digress. somewhere along the line i invited Justin to a bbq at Trina's on July 4th. now the two had met before however either of them had a bf/gf at any given time or were just never that curious about one another. then one Independence Day, at the lake under the sparks of cliche, magical literal fireworks, something changed between the two of them. we all headed back to Trina's house after the fireworks and everybody noticed that they were flirting with each other. what? when? how? i don't think too many people saw it coming but somehow soon after they went to a Giants game just the two of them...and then the movies...and then Gordon Biersch together but with everybody. this particular night i made sure Justin's motives were in the right place. prior to this night i wasn't sure if he wanted to be with her or wanted to have fun with her. my protective side came out and no friend of mine's feelings were going to be played by another friend. he assured me that he really liked her and could see her being his gf and the rest is history.

tucked away somewhere in Fremont is the beautiful Ardenwood Farm, where a few weeks ago they vowed to spend the rest of their lives together. their setting was beautiful and the bride looked amazing.

getting some pics in before the ceremony started....
Kim and Kris, some of my favs.

the boys. Christian, B, Jon, Stefan, Eddie and Martin. 

me and mine



Jess and B

Prior to the ceremony i got to the reception site to help set up the dessert/favor table. their wedding had a lot of DIY involved so before the bride and groom made their way to Ardenwood friends and family were already there setting up the tables, the food, the drinks the favors, the decorations, etc. Kim and i's job was to set up the dessert and cake table, fitting because between the two of us Kim and i made four of the nine desserts. 

the dessert table aka the favor table. nobody actually likes to take home favors from weddings. a coaster with a man and woman's face on it? uhh no thanks. some ugly trinket to display (hell no!!) in your precious space? methinks not!! it was meant to be that everybody grabbed a paper bag and took one of each item to take home as their favor. sounds like a perfect favor to me! edible goodies and with nothing forced into your living rooms for years just to collect dust. 
in one of those round boxes (unpictured) were these strawberry thumbprint cookies that were out of this world!! 

Kim's cute red velvet

Lindsey's crazy good banana bread

my cheesecake lollipops

Kim's maple bacon donut holes

my banana chocolate oatmeal walnut cookies


instead of having a guestbook they had a thumbprint tree. everybody makes a thumbprint leaf and signs their name by it. awesome idea, no?

Justin and his mom

the bridesmaids getting ready to talk. Steph, Tricia and Meiche

Trina with her mom and pops



Ben, their friend and officiate.





Trina looks great but candids aren't always the best for everybody. haha!


lantern centerpiece with paper flowers, painted and made by Trina and Jess i believe. i helped cut out petals!! the little chalkboard displayed table numbers.

le cake. the pair are into UFC so this was fitting. they're in a UFC ring and in the grooms other hand he's  holding a champion belt.


he's not even drunk. he just can't resist the P Titty!!! 


geek!!




this is Bryli all bundled up for the cold night. i call her Brylerson, which i'm not sure Meiche knows that i do. haha.

this kid was bonkers! now, i don't typically use the word "bonkers," but there's no better way to describe him. this was a dance move. he was all over the place doing crazy dance stuff. awesome and entertaining.

the gals


the fellas







gettin' hyphy


it was a great night. nearly everybody helped to clean up after the party was done. the whole night felt like a community celebration! 

congrats to Trina and Justin! their lives together should be awesome. they obviously love each other very much.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

cheesecake lollipops


a friend of mine was having a DIY wedding and asked a few of her friends and family to make desserts for take-home dessert favor bags. the requirements were that whatever we choose to make must be delicious, individual, and easy for take away. i decided to make some cookies as well as chocolate covered cheesecake pops. i figured they were cute, fairly easy to make and i could tie a little ribbon on it corresponding to their wedding colors.


graham cracker crumbs

a really ugly looking cheesecake. i purposely baked it a little longer than normal because i wanted them to be really firm for when it came time to roll. the extra ugly comes from tearing up all of the top portions that had browned. 






cheesecake lollipops


ingredients for cheesecake:
-40 oz. cream cheese, softened
-12 oz. sugar
-5 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
-2 oz milk
-3 tbs flour

directions for cheesecake:
1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. in a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer mix cream cheese so that it's smooth
3. cream in sugar, eggs plus yolks, milk and flour
4. pour into a heat safe glass 9"x13" casserole dish
5. put into a water bath in the oven
6. bake until just barely firm in the middle (this took foooooorever. i think it was something like nearly two hours)
7. allow to cool
8. put in fridge and let sit until completely cold and firm (preferably overnight) 


ingredients for pops:
- cheesecake, chilled
-graham cracker crumbs
- chocolate candy melts or chocolate of choice
- lollipop sticks

directions for pops:
1. take about a tablespoonful of cheesecake and roll in your hands to make a ball
2. roll around in the graham cracker crumbs to coat all over
3. stick a lollipop stick into the bottom
4. place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
5. repeat 1-4 until you've used up all of your cheesecake
6. put lollipops in freezer until completely firm (at least 1hr. i did it overnight)
7. melt candy melts or chocolate in a bowl deep enough to dip the cheesecake balls in all the way
8. dip each ball into the chocolate and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper OR find a foam block to stick them in ball side up.
9. wrap in plastic wraps and tie off with a ribbon

***i made 150 or so cheesecake lollipops for the wedding. they're delicious and fun, but i'll  warn you now....it takes a bit of time to complete. i did this over the course of two or so days. i baked three cheesecakes and crushed 1 1/2 boxes of honey graham crackers. rolling 150 little cheesecake balls in your hands is quite a feat. the cheesecake likes to stick to your hands. oh and don't even think about skipping the freezing stage. if you don't freeze them onto the sticks they will fall off the sticks when it comes time to dip them in the chocolate and you'll lose a bunch of them in the chocolate pool.

elote



when attending a bbq it's standard for people to bring the usual hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, potato salad or fruit salad but i wanted to bring something different. corn is in season, meaning it's sweet, fresh and cheap! everybody loves a good grilled corn, but to amp it up just a bit, i decided to turn them into elote. who can resist a buttery, creamy and cheesy grilled corn? if you haven't tried it yet, please make this soon! it's super easy and crazy delicious!





elote


ingredients:
corn
mayonnaise
butter
cotija cheese
lime

directions:
1. grill corn directly on the grill, out of the husk
2. slather all over with butter
3. slather all over with mayo
4. roll around in excessive amounts of cotija cheese
5. squirt lime juice all over

CHOMP!!!