Some Monday humor

Thought I would share some funny pictures to (hopefully) make you laugh today!

Hopefully you found at least one of these pictures funny, so then we won't feel like the above gif ;)

And last but not least, if you need some encouragement for the day!

Check out my Pinterest board for more funny pictures!

Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for Five For Friday.

1. I made a pretty awesome dinner earlier this week! I made BBQ chicken sandwiches and Kansas chopped salad. They were so good!
The only thing I did different with the croutons is I used Italian bread instead of ciabatta, and I used Italian seasoning instead of seasoned salt. I also omitted the hot sauce in the dressing and used a few different veggies in the salad. Overall, it was a great meal and everyone liked it!

2. I finally got a book I had been waiting for! It was released on November 1, but it was out of stock for a while. Then it came it stock so I quickly ordered it and then it got sent to the wrong address. So I called Amazon and they sent me a replacement, which ended up taking a couple of days to process. And then we got the snow last week which means delivery was delayed for 4 days (thanks FedEx. :/ ) And I finally got it on Monday! (I know book nerds like me will understand the struggle!)

3. I also made cookies earlier this week. Chocolate chip cookies are the best! Although chocolate chip cookie dough is pretty awesome too! ;)

4. I got my hair done this week. I went in to get a touch up on my color, but ended up with a full color. I like the way it turned out. It's pretty much the same as I had before. I also really needed a trim, so it was nice to get that done!

5. We have been watching a lot of Mork & Mindy lately. It is such a funny show! If you need a good laugh, I would definitely recommend getting it! Mork is just hilarious.

Have a great weekend!

How to make browned butter

Today I thought I would post a quick tutorial on how to make browned butter-or beurre noisette, which is a popular French technique. I started using browned butter this past summer in some of my baked goods. I have used it in bread, muffins and cookies. I haven't tried it in any cooking recipes, but I will definitely be giving it a try soon! It gives off a rich, kind of nutty flavor. So good! It's pretty easy to make and I don't think you will be disappointed! So give it a try next time you bake something!

 Start out by putting your butter (I used 1 stick or 1/2 cup because that is what my recipe called for.) in a skillet on medium-high heat. Some say to slice the butter so it melts faster, but that isn't necessary.

 Keep an eye on it as it melts.

 Give the pan a quick stir.

 Now that it's melted, you need to keep stirring it as it cooks. You do NOT want it to burn!

 It will start to bubble up. Just keep stirring!

 You should notice it starting to turn a light tan/brownish color. It will also give off a nutty smell. Once the bubbles start to subside, turn off your burner and remove the skillet from the heat.

Your butter should look like this now. Those little browned bits in the bottom of the pan? Those are the toasted milk solids.
Now pour the butter into a bowl or dish or whatever. You don't want to leave it in the pan because it will continue cooking and you don't want it to burn! 

Let the butter cool before adding to your recipe. 
Next week I will be posting a recipe using browned butter!
Enjoy!

Snowy weekend

Thursday morning I woke up to find it had started snowing! They had been saying on the news we were supposed to get some snow, but, let's be honest, the weather people here are almost always wrong. So I wasn't expecting any snow at all. Thankfully they were right! My family all like the snow, so we were quite excited. The forecast said to expect only about 1-4 inches, but we ended up with 8!

I'm hoping the snow will stick around for a while! It's been pretty chilly here, it was 0*F Sunday morning! And the high has only been about 21*F. I don't know if this is a sign of a more snow to come, or if this will be it, but I am going to enjoy the snow while it lasts!

San Francisco Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2

This was (sadly) our last day in San Francisco and also the day we would be driving ourselves into the city. 

We were a little excited to drive across the Oakland Bay Bridge, although we weren't quite sure how the toll was going to work. We were surprised that they still had toll booths. The fee was $10 as we were waiting, and then the time changed  and the fee dropped to $8. Quite an expensive trip across the bridge! But anyways, we drove through the city toward the Golden Gate Bridge. We were both pretty excited to see it. Michael and I really liked driving through San Francisco and checking out the pretty scenery. We parked at the Presidio and headed over to the bridge! It was overcast and foggy (which was fine, I think the fog added some character!). 

It was so neat to finally see the Golden Gate bridge in person! 

We walked around for a while and took tons of pictures. Once we had visited the gift shop, we drove down to the Palace of Fine Arts. (Which in the above picture is that gold dome in the middle right side of the frame.)

 

 

The Palace of Fine Arts was really pretty. Michael and I wished we would have had more time to walk around there. Definitely somewhere I would recommend going if you are ever in San Francisco!

Overall, Michael and I had a great time while in San Francisco. We both really liked the city and want to visit again someday. There are still SO many things we want to do there! There were a couple of things we wanted to do but didn't have time to (like go by the Full House house, the mission district, and Alcatraz.) I don't think you could ever run out of things to do. So, if you ever get the chance, definitely visit San Francisco!

San Francisco Part 2

Part 1 & Part 3

Day 2 started out with us waking up early to get to Michael's appointment at the French consulate. We HAD to be there precisely at the scheduled time. If you are even a minute late they cancel your appointment. We got up in plenty of time, ate some breakfast and left the hotel. We headed to the ferry landing, parked, and waited in line. We waited and waited along with a bunch of other people, who were all wondering why the ferry wasn't being loaded. Guess what? The ferry was malfunctioning and wasn't going to be running! So we hurried back to the car and headed for the other Oakland ferry landing. Sure enough, as soon as we got on the freeway, there was traffic. We were really starting to freak out. We came all this way for this appointment and we could NOT miss it! After a stressful 15 minutes or so, the traffic cleared up and we made it to the ferry landing in time. Once across the bay, we quickly walked to the French consulate and we even made it to Michael's appointment a little early! The appointment went well and Michael was able to get his paperwork all turned in so he could go to France.

The Consulate is in Union Square, so we shopped and walked around there for a little while.

After Union Square, we started walking toward Chinatown. We were pretty hungry and were looking for a place to eat lunch somewhere along the way. Unfortunately for us we walked through a somewhat creepy area and didn't find anywhere to eat. We kept walking, figuring we would find something once we got into Chinatown. We walked through a tunnel and into Chinatown!

 We finally came across a place that looked like it had a decent sized menu and there were a lot of people seated inside the restaurant, so we thought we would check it out. I don't remember the name of the place (I don't think I would recommend it anyways.) The food wasn't too bad, not somewhere I would have picked had I had a choice, but we were starving so it was fine.

Anyways, Michael and I were not too impressed by Chinatown. It was dirty and crowded with tourists. I have heard Japantown is better as it isn't as crowded and is more interesting. So, if you are in San Francisco, I would recommend skipping Chinatown.

After Chinatown, we walked to a British store I had read about online.

 

 The store had a lot of Doctor Who stuff, which was pretty cool. Michael and I picked up some candy, custard, and some tea, and then we walked to Alamo Square to see the famous Painted Ladies.

It was a long walk from Chinatown to Alamo Square! We were glad to finally get there.

We were a little disappointed that two of the houses were under construction, but they were still kind of neat to see!

The view of San Francisco from Alamo square.

By the time we were finished at Alamo square, it was getting to be dinner time. We were really tired from all the walking over the last few days and we couldn't figure out the bus schedule, so we started walking back to the ferry building, hoping we would find a good place to eat. 

We didn't have to wait long. We came across this cute little neighborhood with some restaurants and this place smelled really good so we went in.

It was SO good! Michael and I both thought it was probably the best pizza we've ever eaten. It was a little expensive (we paid about $20 for a small pepperoni pizza.) but the pizza was really filling and we even had some leftover. The staff were a little different. I wouldn't say rude, but they weren't too friendly either. I found out Patxi's has a location in Seattle, so we are definitely going to have to go back with the rest of the family! 

After dinner, we continued our walk back to the ferry building. The ferry ride back was kind of neat. It was overcast and getting dark, so I got some neat pictures of the city.

 Michael and I on the ferry back to Oakland.