At last!

We're home!

And jet lagged...

Almost there...

We've got a 28 hour flight ahead of us before we get home.  Hope everything goes smoothly this time around.  We can't wait to be home and snuggle our pups!

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing you and yours a blessed Christmas!  We are happy to be spending this time with my family though we miss B's family this year.  For some reason, log cakes are really popular here for Christmas--each hotel and restaurant create their own versions.  I'll take cake in any shape or form! :o)

**images and a great write up here

More grocery finds

Another installment of different versions at the grocery store!

More Pringles flavors: Blueberry & Hazelnut, Indonesian Satay,

 Lemon & Sesame and Bangkok grilled chicken wing

(I wonder if they test new flavors out in Asia?)

And just when I thought plain old Sara Lee pound cake was awesome--

here's Sultana (raisin), Coffee, Marbled chocolate swirl, Mango and Chocolate!

And a twist on Neapolitan ice cream, 

this time with mango, sweet corn and yam!

Hello 30!

Well I'm officially "vintage" today!  We spent our day in Bali enjoying room service, the hotel spa, birthday cake, shopping and of course good food and companionship!  I will probably have more to write on this later as I reflect but for now I am grateful, blessed and amazed at the travel opportunities, life experiences, delicious food, and people I've met and shared with these past 30 years.  Here's to the next 30!

**these lovely flower pictures were taken at the St Regis where we celebrated my birthday early with Sunday brunch--I daresay the best buffet brunch I've had to date! (and you know I've been to many!)

Laguna Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali

We are spending a couple of days in Bali at the Laguna, which is a lovely Starwood hotel that has these gorgeous lagoons surrounding the property.  We're able to just hop into one of the many lagoon pools from our balcony!  Everyone we've met have been so friendly and it's been a really peaceful vacation so far!

Room details: the most comfortable bed ever

 

Our room's balcony with access to the lagoon is the first one on the right

Rooms with a lagoon view and access (for bottom floors)

 More lagoons

One of the beach cabanas

 

As you can tell, the grounds are well kept 

and lush with tropical vegetation and gorgeous flowers 

More to come!

Upgrade!

We flew to Bali last night and after a long check in process, we were greeted by some good news--an upgrade to world business class!  It was a short 2.5 hour trip but wow was it great.  You could almost lie down horizontally as the seats went back to about 170 degrees.

You know you're in for a treat when these appear at the start of your flight...

ps--Bali is beautiful and I have more pictures to post but I'm going to go laze by the pool again instead ;o)  That's dedication for ya!

Grocery shopping in Singapore

We always stop in local grocery stores when we travel and Singapore is probably one of the best to peruse.  There are a lot of old favorites that I grew up with but most of all, food is imported from all over Asia as well as Europe and Australia/New Zealand, so you get all sorts of interesting items.

These little chocolate cookies are from New Zealand 

and come in three flavors: Snickers, Twix and Mars

Yummy ice cream with Crunch, Smarties, Milo and Kit Kat pieces

Pringles in Asian flavors like seaweed, soft shell crab and shrimp!

The Singapore Flyer

We rarely do very touristy things in Singapore but we decided to check out the Singapore Flyer today. It was a cloudy day but we still had some amazing views.  The Flyer was completed in 2008 and is the world's tallest Ferris wheel, standing at 541 feet (42 stories high).  The capsules you ride in are air conditioned and on the 37 minute ride, you have unobstructed views of Singapore and the marina (built on mostly reclaimed land), the Formula 1 racetrack; and on a clear day, you can even see Malaysia and some Indonesian islands.  An interesting fact is that it originally rotated counter-clockwise but after Feng Shui consultations, it now rotates in a clockwise direction!

A view of the capsules from the bottom of the wheel

The F1 racetrack

The capsule ahead of us at the very top of the wheel

The skyline of Singapore along with a great view of the stadium with its floating field

Day 1...or is it 2?

We made it safely to Singapore though we had about an 8 hour delay in Tokyo with a canceled flight which led us to navigate through customs and immigration in Japan and take a bus to another airport to catch a later flight.  All this on 5 hours of sleep for the past 36 hours.  That was fun.

We're enjoying our time here though everything feels a bit like we're in slow motion because of the jet lag.  The food is great as usual and here was our first meal--kaya toast for breakfast.  Kaya is a type of coconut jam that is native to the region and is delicious spread on thin crisp slices of grilled toast and lots of butter.

The longest journey ever

 If I've timed this right, this post is scheduled to hit as we fly from Japan to our final destination.   Hope our luggage makes it!

Six years ago on this day...

I wish I still had some of that cake...

Favorite Friday Recipe: Corn Souffle

This is probably one of my most favorite tried and true recipes--it's great for holiday occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas and easy to bring for potlucks. 

If you're looking for another side dish to add to your holiday dinner table--this is it!

Corn Souffle

Ingredients:

• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can whole corn (drained) 
• 1 tub 8oz sour cream (I've used greek yogurt to great success) 
• 1/2 stick melted butter (I've used less as well, the actual recipe calls for 1 stick, so it depends how adventurous you're feeling!) 
• 1 box of Jiffy corn bread mix

Directions:

• Mix the two cans of corn and sour cream together
• Add in melted butter and Jiffy corn bread mix and combine thoroughly
• Place in 8x8 baking dish (or just mix everything in the baking dish to start)
• Bake for 50-60 min at 350 F until firm in the middle and golden brown on sides
• Best served warm with a big spoon!

**this recipe can be easily doubled to fit in a 9x13 pan

I had taken a lot of step by step pictures but my camera card is holding them hostage!  This recipe is part of Prettymommy's holiday recipe exchange.  This week featured some really great recipes including:

Monday: Enchilada soup by the Go to Girls
Tuesday: Deviled eggs by civetta
Wednesday: Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies by the 30 Girl
Thursday: Snickerdoodle-Eggnog cookie pies by Lighter and Local
Friday: Corn Souffle by me!

Wishlist Wednesday: Etsy gifts

Still racking your brain for a unique Christmas gift for someone?  

Here are a few of my favorite items currently on Etsy:

Tea towel calendar by Cicadastudio

This beautifully printed calendar would look lovely on a kitchen wall

Butter pecan caramels by LeBellaCaramella

This shop also has other quirky flavors like creme brulee, 

lavender, earl grey and thai coconut for that foodie on your list

Tiny dot silver necklace by edor

A simple everyday necklace most ladies would love

Ipad wool felt sleeve by packandsmooch

A stylish option for that tech savvy friend

Little ceramic house village by thelittlereddoor

Super tiny house figurines that you can customize:

maybe NOEL for Christmas or a family's last name

Eco friendly hand painted ceramic coffee cup by yevgenia

 Great for coffee, tea or hot chocolate drinkers!  

The delicate hand painted flowers add such 

a lovely touch to an every day item

Vintage Monday: Pyrex primary color mixing bowls

In B's family, a person can ask to "put his/her name" on an item that they want later.  For example, B's name is on the grandfather clock in his dad's den (not by his choice though), his sister has her name on the rest of the items in the house, and his grandma has a quilt with my name on it.  Well, a few months ago, Grandma L was asking me if there was anything else I was looking for (my response being what am I *not* looking for?) and mentioned that she had some Pyrex mixing bowls but that her other grandson Mark had his name on them.

I didn't think much about it then because of course he's her grandson, he probably has great memories helping his grandma cook/bake with them and that they are special to him.  In that next month, I noticed more and more posts on pyrex collective about the much sought after primary colored mixing bowl set that piqued my interest.  I wondered if those were the ones that Grandma L indeed had and the next time we were in Missouri, I thought I'd ask to see them.  Well imagine my surprise when grandma told me that grubby hands Mark had already taken them after she mentioned that I had asked about them!  I would like to take this opportunity now to formally state that I did not have designs on these bowls, nor thought of trying to replace them with another set, spirit them away, or feign innocence when asked why I had them in my possession.  Ok maybe I did formulate all those plans for just a bit but I didn't carry any of them out!  (B wouldn't help)

So anyways, as you can see from these pictures, I actually do now own a set of primary color mixing bowls, not by theft or sleight of hand.  But rather through my favorite way of rummaging through the antique mall.  These came from the same little shop as my little fridgies and now sit side by side in my Pyrex dedicated cabinet!