Last week was quite the culinary week for us!
On Tuesday night, we attended a Sur La Table cooking class. Amanda gave us a gift card there for a wedding gift and since our guests were oh so generous at the wedding, we decided to use the GC for a cooking class instead of more kitchen supplies (we're already bursting at the seams!). I wanted Patrick to take it with me, but I knew he wouldn't be willing to cook just anything...after I discovered the "4th of July Feast" I knew I had a winner. Our menu included:
-Baby Back Ribs with Ancho Chili barbeque sauce
-"Awesome Burgers" with a cabernet reduction, bacon, and blue cheese. Shannon, you would have LOVED them
-Asian Slaw with spicy peanut dressing. Henry, definitely right up your alley. I thought I would hate it but it was actually everyone's favorite dish!
-Sour Cream potato salad (only so, so definitely not the best thing we made)
-Lattice-Topped Berry pie (so good, I might be making that again tonight! And I never like pie!)
It was so fun to cook together and learn from such an amazing instructor. I asked a million dumb questions but I think that made me learn even more.
(Look how serious he is, mixing that meat!)
It also made us feel more inclined towards cooking together in the future. Usually we're in a big hurry and I only like things done my way (I know, I'm working on it!) but we've decided to try and make a "gourmet" dish once or twice a month together to practice our skills.
The class was an absolute blast and I highly recommend asking for it as a gift (it was really expensive so I'm not sure if I would pay to go) as it's a great way to spend some quality time with family or friends.
Thursday evening was Heron and my "Thank You" dinner from Henry and John.
A few months ago, Heron and I taught Henry how to grocery shop and prepare some simple, healthy recipes. It was really a great time, but we had NO idea what kind of "thanks" we were in for! We both showed up at 8 pm to incredible smells and smiles from the boys. We were instructed "not to lift a finger" as we were served up a culinary feast! The menu included:
-Fresh fig and goat cheese drizzled with honey and served on endive spears
-Gruyere and Spinach stuffed, bacon-wrapped chicken served with sauteed tomatoes & onions and shallot/thyme new potatoes
-Deluxe s'mores complete with fresh homemade marshmallows and delicious chocolate sauce and raspberries.
Could two girls ask for a better dinner?! We told them guys who want to date a girl don't even go to that extreme, let alone just good friends saying "thanks"! We had a fabulous night and are very excited to see what they whip up in the future! Not to mention what they're making for their girlfriends who are next!
Saturday afternoon I was sitting alone in the apartment waiting for Patrick to come back from his softball tournament when I turned to the "Macaroni and Cheese Tournament" on Food Network. This got me thinking about our first gourmet creation. I quickly researched recipes online and proposed the idea to Mr. Larsen when he got home. Lets just say it didn't take long for him to change and get back in the car! After browsing Whole Foods for the best quality cheeses, butters, truffle oil (yeah, we're that high class) and pasta we went home to whip up Martha Stewart's Mac&Cheese made with Pecorino Romano and Sharp White Cheddar cheese. We make a good team in the kitchen, but I have to say, I think we may have added a little too much Pecorino Romano because our end result wasn't the most delicious Mac&Cheese we've ever eaten. The Romano flavor was pretty overwhelming. We came to the conclusion that we like wimpy cheeses and are going to tweak the recipe to match our tastebuds next time (Read: Mozzarella, Provolone, Medium Cheddar, stuff like that).
I found yet another amazing website. yearbookyourself.com
Robert '76
Daddy '70
Daddy '60
Patrick '76
Patrick '92
(I'm pretty sure this really is his Junior yearbook pic. Minus the perma-goatee!)
It's taken me almost two weeks to get my camera and the cord in the same place.
How can you resist this face?
He hung out in my office every day.
He slept with us every night. At first I thought I would hate it. Oh Noooo, I loved it.
We also ventured into a strange land known to the participants as the "Ren" faire. 
I'd been once or twice as a kid and had great memories. When I saw the ad on the side of a bus, I demanded we go. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. Well worth the $18 admission fee. We'll definitely be back (in like 5 years). 
Also, I could gain 60 pounds and still be sexy according to these folks. I like the way they think. (But not the way the women umm "show off" the extra weight on top, if you get my drift)
So what if we decide we have to go to Laguna every chance we get? You would too if you got to lay out at a gorgeous beach for two straight days! (note: this was taken on the 4th when the beach was 5x more crowded than any other day of the year. Usually it's pretty deserted. My kind of place!)
Mostly we went to the beach and read "Breaking Dawn". (I need to borrow someone's to read the last 200 pages 'cause I didn't finish!)
But we also went to the Angels vs Yankees game (Killed 'em!)
got beat up by our boogie boards (oh wait, just Patrick),
played with Maggie 
took model shots
and went to Tommy Bahama's for a delicious family dinner.
I'm almost too embarrassed to admit this, but even though we live TWO BLOCKS from the entrance to the De Young Museum, we still hadn't been before Friday night. We decided it was high time we visited and we were SO glad we did! Who knew. We especially enjoyed the Chihuly exhibit (running until September 28th). It brought back such wonderful memories of London 2005 and our trip to Kew Gardens where we were surrounded by Chihuly.
After dinner, we picked up some Burma Superstar and had a delicious burmese feast! We LOVE Burma Superstar, especially the Sesame Beef. YUM!
-"Awesome Burgers" with a cabernet reduction, bacon, and blue cheese. Shannon, you would have LOVED them
-Asian Slaw with spicy peanut dressing. Henry, definitely right up your alley. I thought I would hate it but it was actually everyone's favorite dish!
-Sour Cream potato salad (only so, so definitely not the best thing we made)
-Lattice-Topped Berry pie (so good, I might be making that again tonight! And I never like pie!)
(Look how serious he is, mixing that meat!)
A few months ago, Heron and I taught Henry how to grocery shop and prepare some simple, healthy recipes. It was really a great time, but we had NO idea what kind of "thanks" we were in for! We both showed up at 8 pm to incredible smells and smiles from the boys. We were instructed "not to lift a finger" as we were served up a culinary feast! The menu included:
-Fresh fig and goat cheese drizzled with honey and served on endive spears
-Gruyere and Spinach stuffed, bacon-wrapped chicken served with sauteed tomatoes & onions and shallot/thyme new potatoes
-Deluxe s'mores complete with fresh homemade marshmallows and delicious chocolate sauce and raspberries.
I feel like we've been quite the Jetsetters these days. It seems every other weekend we are going somewhere. It's been fun, but I think I'm ready for a little break. Anyways, here's the latest on our latest trip:
Day two was Statue of Liberty and Shake Shack Day. In all my NYC travels, I somehow escaped the Statue of Liberty every time. I was determined to see it this trip! I'm really glad we did. It's one of those things that need to be done once every few years (kind of like Alcatraz here in SF).
We met up with some of our fellow 489ers (that's BYU Ad Major speak for BFF's forever) at Shake Shack that night. We've decided that Shake Shack is what we would like Heaven to be like. Delicious hamburgers, fries and ice cream. SO good!
Day three we went to the Moma. Those of you who know me well know my penchant for modern art so I LOVE the MOMA. We saw an amazing exhibit by Olafur Eliasson. I loved it. I spent a little too much time there so Patrick and the B-12 boys ditched me to go eat. Completely Understandable. I am a little slow at museums when it's something I'm interested in. (If I'm not, however, that's a whole other story). After the MOMA we met up with 489ers at Havana Central for a little Cuban corn and then saw The Incredible Hulk. Can't say I loved it as much as Iron Man, but still very enjoyable.
Day four we met up with my good friend Lauren from Y&R for delicous brunch at 5 points. The banana stuffed brioche french toast? INCREDIBLE. I'm still dreaming about it. After brunch we ran over to Times Square (If Shake Shack is my idea of Heaven, Times Square is my idea of Hell) to see a matinee of Spamalot. Lots of silly fun. Probably not the best musical I've ever seen but we definitely enjoyed ourselves. I'd recommend it for sure. As we walked out of Spamalot we were greeted by some of the craziest rain I have EVER encountered. It was absolutely POURING down. Most of you know how much I hate the rain, so I made Patrick go back to the I-House instead of exploring the city more. Shannon, I think even you would have given up. This rain was brutal. We went to dinner at Toast and then went to bed early to prepare for our 5:30 am departure. Our trip went by SO fast!
