Busy Week

It's a busy week for me, all that year end stuff and of course I'm taking new years eve off, so it's going to be a short week.

I just want to wish everyone Happy New Year and see you all next year!

For now, please enjoy some photos of the girls.

Seasons Greetings

We just want to wish all our friends(humans and furfriends)

a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Golden Friday

Just some videos of the snow day fun we had a week ago.

Video 1: First day of snow

Video 2: June doing the zoomies

Video 3: Samantha looking for her Kong

Wordless Wednesday

Test Batch

These are the test-batch-Spritz cookies I made 2 weeks ago. It's a new recipe, so I wanted to try it out first. I made the recipe but I reduced it to 1/2 recipe. As you can see, the edges are quite brown(I'm not very good at taking food pictures), so I made a note to shorten the baking time. The real batch came out much better. I have taken some pictures of what I made, will post them next week.

Note from Samantha & June: We didn't think there was anything wrong with those cookies. They were very yummy. Perhaps we should distract mom when she's baking so that she messed up and we get the "reject cookies". ;)

Golden Friday

Woof, woof dear friends! Our dreams finally came true! We have been wishing and hoping and wishing for snow and we got some snow! Yippee!!!

Mom didn't even tell us about the snow until she opened the door to let us out. At first we didn't know if it was real snow but after licking it, we know it's definitely snow!

June: Gotta lick it and make sure that it's real snow!

June: Doing the zoomies

June: Ma, it's snowing!

June: Shake, shake, shake, after making snow angel

June: What is Samantha doing over there?

Samantha: Making snow angel

Samantha: My Kong is frozen!

Samantha: Snow-covered stuffie and snow-stuffed Kong anyone?

I recommend bringing them inside and then drop them on the floor or carpet and the snow will fall off. Of course after you do that, give your mom a BIG smile!

Let There Be Snow!

We had our first snow last Saturday. This was the snow that almost everyone in the eastern US received last weekend. This was also the snow that my friend Julie from Houston, TX received.

The girls were very happy to see snow! First they licked the snow, making sure that it's real snow. When they realized it's the real deal, they started making snow angels, rolling, doing zoomies... I will let them tell you all about their snow day fun on Friday.

12 Days of Baking - Part 2

A few more recipes/links of the cookies I'll be baking for this Christmas/Holiday season. These cookies are for some customers, as a gesture of appreciation, and for the cookie swap we are doing at work.


The list continues:

4) Italian Christmas Cookies - One of my favorite holiday cookies. It's made with Ricotta cheese and the cookies are very soft!


5) Spritz cookies - This recipe link is from Wilton. I have not made this recipe yet. The one I used was from The Joy of Cooking cookbook. Funny thing is every time I make this, hubby and I fight over who gets to pipe out the cookies. Well this year is probably no difference because a friend gave me a cookie press(my pastry bag broke, I was going to buy a new cookie press but she said she doesn't use hers), I'm pretty sure we'll be fighting over who gets to use the cookie press.

6) Raspberry Shortbread Cookies - I made these last year and I had to make extra because hubby just loved them. Guess I'll have to make extra again this year. :)


If you are not into making many different kind of cookies but would like to bake something to give to some friends or families, why not try these:


Zucchini Apple Bread - I posted this recipe here. You can actually make this into an all Apple bread instead. Just omit the zucchini and use 1 1/2 cup of shredded or chopped apple(I actually did both, 1/2 cup shredded and 1 cup chopped)

Apple Spice Cake - I posted this recipe here.

Pumpkin Chocolate Loaf - If you love chocolate and pumpkin, this is one you MUST try.

Happy Baking!

12 Days of Baking

Ok, it's not really 12 days of baking. I don't and am not planning to spend 12 days baking. But it is officially December and it is Christmas/Holiday cookies baking time(I'm sure some of you may have even started already). For the next few posts I'll be posting a few recipes(well, more like links to the recipes) that I'll be making this holiday season.



1) Chocolate Coconut Neapolitans - This is a new recipe that I'm trying. I saw it in one of my old issues of Taste of Home magazine.


2) Rugelach - I've posted the recipe for these here. The recipe looks long but it's actually not complicated to make. I do have to warn you: make extra because once you eat one, you will want more, which will leave none to give away to your friends & families.

3) Pecan Butterballs - I make these every year for Christmas. They are very easy to make and 1 recipe yields 4 dozens or more if you shape the balls smaller. When I make these, I don't roll them in confectioner's sugar because I think it's too sweet with it.

Do you do any holiday baking? What's your favorite holiday cookies?

Thanksgiving

As we celebrate another Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, I would like to take a moment to give Thanks. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1) 4 years ago on Thanksgiving day, June came into our lives. We drove to Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving day to pick her up from the transporter. Happy Gotcha Day my little princess! We love you very much!

2) November 26th is my niece's birthday. She will be 3 on Thansgiving day this year. Happy Birthday Grace!

3) We are thankful for our health(both humans and doggies) and thankful for what we have.

4) We are thankful for our family.

5) We are thankful to have great friends and bloggie friends.

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be safe and be thankful!

Quick Post

Just a quick post today. Many of you have asked what June was standing on in the previous post. She was standing on the deck and I was taking the picture from the stairs. Don't worry, the deck has railings now. We took it off to fix it. She was downstairs with Samantha and I and she decided to go up the deck.

Golden Friday - Wordless

Exotic Fruits

As promised, I'm going to introduced to you some fruits that I grew up eating(in Malaysia). These fruits are common in Malaysia and the Southeast Asia. I do not know if you will be able to find any of these here in the US. Perhaps if you live in Los Angelss, San Francisco or New York City, you might be able to find them at an Asian market in Chinatown. I have linked the fruits to Wikipedia, if interested, you can click on over to read more about each fruit.

Durian - Also known in the Southeast Asia as the King of fruits. This fruit has a very strong unique smell which is loved by some and hated by some as well. It's one of those thing you either love it or you hate it. I can't even describe it to you. The part that's edible is the yellow flesh inside the very hard and thorny shell. The flesh is sweet and creamy. It's very tasty if you can get pass the smell. LOL!

Rambutan - I think this is/was my favorite! My parents had a rambutan tree in their yard. The ripen fruit is red but there are also yellow variaty. The outer shell is soft(even though they look prickly, they are not) and it can be easily peeled by your bare hands to get to the edible part. The edible flesh is sweet(some tart) and the texture resembles a grape. Inside the flesh is the seed.
Mangosteen - In Malaysia it's called Manggis. This purple fruit(yes, it is really purple) is sweet and it can be tart as well. The edible flesh is inside, which is white. The outer shell is purple which can and will stain your clothes if you are not careful.
Longan - This is native to China but can be found widely in the Southeast Asia. The word Longan means Dragon Eyes in Cantonese. The shell is thin and the flesh is sweet.
Jack fruit - In Malaysia this is called Nangka. This fruit has a green rubbery outer shell/rind and it's not as pricky as it looks. The edible part is the yellow "bulb" looking sections. Inside the flesh is the seed.
Papaya - The edible part of this fruit is the orangy flesh. The black part of this fruit is the seeds. Seeds & the membrane are removed(kinda like removing the seeds from a winter squash) before eating the flesh. Papaya can sometimes be found in a local grocery store. I do have a funny story about this fruit, I remember mom telling us about someone she knew trying to eat papaya for the very first time. The person ended up throwing the whole thing away because she thought it was rotten(the black seeds)!


Cempedak - Looks similar to the jackfruit but has a totally different texture. The flesh(yellow/sometimes orange "bulbs") is soft and sweet and sometime it could be a little stringy. It can be eaten fresh or can be made into fritters. Mmmm, I love fried cempedak. The seeds are edible as well, when cooked. Just boil the seeds until they are fork-tender. It tastes like cooked chestnuts. My mom however had told us(and it's a myth) that eating the cempedak seeds will make someone stupid. I think I turned out just fine. :)
Langsat - This is probably my least favorite fruit, maybe because it's mostly tangy. I only like sweet stuff. When the skin(thin leathery) is peeled, it reveals the translucent juicy flesh. The flesh is usually devided into segments and there might be small seeds in flesh. Careful not to eat bite into the seeds, they are very bitter!

Coconut - One cannot mention tropical fruits without talking about coconut. The picture below shows the fresh coconut that you don't/won't normally see. The white-processed coconut that you buy at the store is the white flesh that's inside the green husk. When the green fibery husk is removed, you'll get a very hard brown shell(the nut). Inside the shell is coconut juice(not to be confused with coconut milk) and coconut flesh. In a young coconut, the flesh is soft and the juice is clear and has a lightly sweet taste. I love drinking the juice straight out of a coconut. The flesh will get thicker and whiter as it aged. Coconut milk is extracted from the white aged flesh by grinding up the flesh, add some water and squeeze out the white milky juice.

Starfruit - The entire fruit is edible except for the seeds. It is very juicy. I have seens start fruits at a local grocery store.

This concludes our lesson on tropical/exotic fruits. Next time when you are at a grocery store/Asian market/international grocery store, try looking for some of these and why not give it a try. Who knows, you might like it.

Golden Friday

For today's Golden Friday, we have decided to post about our friend from South Africa, Maxdog.
Max has been diagnosed of mast cell tumor. He was supposed to have his surgery 2 days ago but the vet had decided not to but instead refered him to a specialist. Max's mom will have to wait till next week for the appoitment. Here's a picture of this handsome boy.

Most of you know that the waiting and the not-knowning is very painful. Please keep our friend in your thoughts and please keep your paws/fingers crossed for Max.

Maxdog, here's June, I'm keeping my paws crossed for you buddy!

XOXO,
Sam & June

Tulip bulbs

Ok, I don't normally do this but I have to. I have over calculated the amount of tulip bulbs needed for a customer's flowerbeds. So now I have about 500 bulbs overage. I have called the place I purchased them from but they do not have a return policy. Therefore, I am trying to sell these.

Here's some info on the bulbs:
This blend is called Three Queens. Three pinks of regal bearing - a reddish pink touched with white, a soft mauve and a lilac.

Zones: 3-7 (Prechill before planting for zones 7b-10)

The bags are 100 bulbs each for $35/bag. (100 bulbs will plant an area of 20 sq ft. Recommended 5 bulbs/sq ft)

I would gladly pay the shipping charges.

If you are interested in buying some tulip bulbs(must take a full bag, if possible), please email me at ysdavis at hotmail dot com

Thank you.

Fruity

I'm sure you have noticed by now and I'm sure I'm the one who is in the dark....

Have you noticed that this blog has been taken over by my dogs?

This is suppose to be MY blog, hence the blog title. I thought I would be nice and let them do Golden Friday but it seems that they have been posting more than just on Friday. I think they are trying to take over my blog. Guess I better put in some more ME time!

Let's talk fruits. Frankly I'm not really a fruit person. I eat fruits just because I know they are good for me and instead of eating a donut or bagel, I eat fruit and yogurt. Here are the fruits I like:
Banana - I love bananas. I think that's one of my favorites.

Blueberries - Love those little blue yummies.

Strawberries - Only if they are sweet.

Apples - Also only if they are sweet. I can't stand tart apples.

Mandarin Oranges/Tangerines

Pineapples

Melons

Asian Pears - These pears are really sweet. If you have never try them before, you should buy1 just to try. Who knows, you might like it. You can buy these at Walmart or your local supermarket in the pear section. Here's how it looks like

Do you like fruits? What is your favorite fruit or fruits?

Next week I will introduce you to the fruits that I grew up eating. Please stay tuned.

Golden Friday

Hello, My name is Samantha and I am a toy addict and also a toy hog.

I play with my toys constantly.

I like to take my sister's toys.

When she gets a toy, I will leave my toy and try to get hers.

I will sit next to her and whine and bark until she leaves her toy.

Are you a toy hog? Do you constantly play with your toys?

Have a barkful weekend!