Our good friend Ryosuke (Richard) was in San Francisco helping his girlfriend Michelle move here! We met up with them for dinner and showed them Japantown — so great seeing Hokie friends again and enjoying some delicious Japanese food! 🙂
A trip to Japantown isn’t complete without the geisha float from Murata’s Cafe Hana, of course. We ended the evening introducing them to one of our favorite desserts! Green tea slush, green tea ice cream, red beans, and mochi pieces. (It’s usually topped with whipped cream but I ordered it without because I don’t like whipped cream.)Â It was, as usual, amazing.
Two delicious treats in one! I made these for the Nakayoshi Annual BBQ today, but unfortunately a lot of them toppled over in the car and they were a mess when we got there. 🙁 At least I got a couple nice pictures of them beforehand!
Notes for the future: Keep the macaron and cupcake separate until we get to the final destination and top them before serving. Also may not want to use softer frostings like cream cheese frosting, since they have a tendency to not hold the macaron as well.
Last Saturday was sunny and hot, so we took Mio to Alameda Beach so that she could have a fun beach day! We invited our friends Tarrin and Jason along, since they live in Alameda, and they suggested the delicious idea of having brunch at Off the Grid which is now in Alameda on Saturdays. Off the Grid is a gathering of food trucks and tents selling all kinds of yummy street foods, and we’d actually never been to the weekly ones in San Francisco nor Berkeley, so this was our first time!
Excited to eat delicious street food!
Mio staying cool with her shades.
I decided to try the Hiyaaa! truck.
My bulgogi on a roll from Hiyaaa. There was kimchee inside, too!
Dan got the Peruvian burger and potatoes from Sanguchon
Digging in!
Tarrin and Jason also got some delicious andouille poutine from Fins on the Hoof for us to share, and we picked up a lemon lavender cupcake from a cupcake truck and a chocolate cream puff from Pacific Puffs for dessert, and headed over to the beach together.
We’ve taken Mio to the beach before when we went to Santa Cruz last Labor Day weekend, but she was young and not very mobile so she couldn’t really get the full experience, and it’d been cold so we didn’t put her int he water at the time. So this was Mio’s first true full experience of the beach, where she could walk around and play in the sand and water!
Trying to coax Mio into the water…
Mio is stunned by how vast the ocean is!
We changed her into her bathing suit and got her in the water!
Mio’s first time in ocean water! She was loving it, and kept trying to move into the deeper water.
“Jump! Jump!”
She kept lifting her legs up so they were flat against the water… lol.
As you can see from the video below, she’s quite the waterbug! She was really loving the water, and later the sand… definitely a beach babe! 😉
Mio finally had enough of the water, and started walking towards the shore…
First time playing in the sand… and eating, it too! ::sigh::
Walking about, exploring the sandy shore… she was really interested in the other kids.
A contemplative Mio, deep in thought as she looks out at the ocean. As Jason put it, “very Hemingway.”
There are no words to describe how much her expression here tickles me!
She soon fell asleep in Mama’s arms and took a little nap on the beach.
After all the fun in the sun, it was eventually time to go home…
Mio riding on Tarrin’s shoulders as we head back to the car.
Auntie Tarrin is so good with Mio… Mio really loves her!
Thanks Tarrin and Jason for making our beach outing so much more fun and memorable! We loved that we could spend the day with you. 🙂
Dan loves all things coconut, so I made chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons for him as a Father’s Day treat! This was my first time making coconut macaroons, but I found that they were surprisingly easy to make, and require few ingredients. (I hate when I set out to make something and find that there are 20+ ingredients listed — my lazy self is immediately turned off and discouraged by such things.) I’d been feeling under the weather since Saturday evening with a slight fever, congestion, and runny nose, but I was determined not to let my cold get in the way of doing something special for Daddy. They turned out great, and Dan loved them!
Coconut macarons, out of the oven.
Nicely toasted coconut flakes!
Dipped in chocolate for extra yummy goodness!
Look at those beauties!
There was one member of the family who was not happy with the whole experience, though… little Mio is not allowed to have such sweets yet, much to her distress.
“I want themmm!”
She’s never had a chance to try anything like macaroons, but somehow, she knew they were good.
…and that she needed to get her hands on them.
Sorry bubby, only carrots for you!
Dan, on the other hand, was thrilled and very pleased with his treats. Mission accomplished! 😀
Last Sunday, we went to a garden party hosted by Dan’s British coworker Liz, celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee — the 60th anniversary of her being the Queen. We’d never been to this kind of celebration before so we didn’t know what to expect, but it was a really lovely garden party with such beautiful details…
The Diamond Jubilee flag on the fence in front of the house.
Trifle and strawberries with cream.
Loved the presentation!
The little cuties at the party.
Cedar has gotten so big now. He's almost two years old!
I'm a sucker for details like this... so cute!
"Whack-A-Rat" game
Mio eating some fruit.
Delicious-looking cupcakes on display.
More yummy treats!
Mio was constantly running off somewhere and exploring the beautiful garden. It was all we could to keep up with her!
The food was superb, and everything about the party had the designer’s touch! We had a wonderful time. 🙂
