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I wanted to share some photos from Mike’s 65th Birthday Pairing that was the first ‘official’ event. And help you all understand a bit more on this idea of mine. Basically it’s pairing beers with hand made desserts, from scratch-no box cakes or bagged cookies- just good, rustic, simple, home-style desserts. And I’m expanding my recipes as gigs come up. (i.e. the wedding this weekend) So for this birthday, which was a successful surprise for the birthday boy! To start I talked with his wife to find out his favorite beers- Anchor Steam, Dogfish Head, IPAs and from that I just thought up recipes that would go with those same flavors in the beers. I mean I thought of ingredient ideas, and then searched the World Wide Web for actually recipes. The tequila peach galettes were not my own recipe, but were YUM. And it happened to work perfectly dividing the pie batter by 8 to make individual servings. However using a mini food processor to make the dough, not so much. Shout out to Not Without Salt, who wrote about the Tequila Peach Galette, which I transformed in, to individual servings. Next I created a Carmel Apple Crumble in the individual ramekins. Secret Home-Recipe…..or I just didn’t write any of my creation of it down. It was the biggest hit at the party and the only recipe I thought up, or didn’t use a recipe for. And lastly are the Blackberry Cabernet Cupcakes, which were featured on here not too long ago. We had four of his favorite beers, paired with dessert flavors that he might like as well. Batter&Barley’s ideal gig would be for someone open to new ideas, flavors, and desserts, as well as genuine love or intrigue in beer. This could be your next birthday party or seasonal celebration, great mixer for a party or even a rehearsal dinner. Just throwing out some food for thought!

So what’s your favorite beer? So I can start day dreaming about a new recipe….

So this weeks musing… Blackberry Cab {mini} Cupcakes

I found this recipe in perusing Bakers Royale, a great blog with some delicious looking recipes. This was the first one I’ve tried and was pretty dang impressed. I made some slight adaptations, but over all yummy recipe. [I can share the adaptations if you are truly interested, which you should be!] But the best thing is I had an excuse to be in the kitchen on this fine sunny Sunday…my priorities seemed skewed from my normal sun-loving self.

I warned some friends earlier this week that I would be testing out a new recipe for an upcoming event, and pretty much instantly after a FB photo post I had 2 texts in my inbox that the testers were ready! Never seen an adult lick frosting off a cupcake so fast….

Here are the photos from today’s baking endeavors. This is only a test run, so no pro-tricks coming out to play today. Oh… I’m starting a new business, ready for hire: Batter&Barley. Today I was working out some ideas for the new gig. Also I’m going to pastry school in the fall. Guess I’m trying to make the most memorable year yet?!
almost tie-dye! Just a little peek into what Batter&Barley is all about!

Here comes the photos that document what I have been up to. I’ll be honest, somethings didn’t make it on the camera… like …Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cinnamon frosting for the Super Bowl (via “Baked; New Frontiers In the Kitchen”,such a good book!), Vanilla + Almond Cake with Salted Carmel Buttercream, my 22nd Birthday Cake (the recipe is here. and a new favorite of mine. Please make it, you wont regret it!) or the case of Blue Moon I’ve consumed.

let’s start with the cutie that i watch every working day

Valentine Sugar Cookies (recipe from Baked; New Frontiers in Baking. just buy it)

Visiting the SF Zoo and Grissly Bears with my nephew and the family.

Then I took a weekend to visit everyone in San Diego. All the people I love so dearly showed up for a night at the coolest bar/pizza spot in SD, Blind Lady Ale House

Here comes a string of baked items.
Cake cookies… that my mom “re-baked” when I was sleeping because “they were too soft, I didn’t think you wanted them like that” thus killing all cakey goodness

Failed attempt at making cinnamon roll pancakes… next time they will be amazing!

Carmel Delights, or Samoas. aka girl scout cookies. And as I was buying the ingredients I spotted my first girl scouts in Santa Rosa since I moved home…. that sounds quite creepy

Birthday Cake Pancakes. YUM. just add some vanilla or yellow cake mix to the just-add-water pancake mix and you will get Heaven.

Visited San Francisco, with a dear friend Karin. And loved the SFMOMA, as usual.

MONSTER Cookies. New Favorite. Also from Baked. One part PB cookie, One part Chocolate Chip, One part Oatmeal. 3 parts AMAZING

Vodka Infusion. This was something I saw when I was doing research. Research, now means, reading food blogs for hours to find recipes worth re-creating, changing and loving. So I spotted this. It was love at first sight. I don’t even like vodka. But the idea of making even better mixed drinks, took me to Costco, K-mart and the internet to find more recipes. I would like to thank Costco for selling large amonts of Vodka for cheap. I would like to thank Peru for making it possible to get mangoes in the middle of March. And Mason Jars for being hip. I decided on these flavors…..
this one was inspired by my dear friend Matty and a roof top bar in Cambodia
This was the first cocktail concocted. Bubba Hubba Vodka + Ginger Ale. A winning, sweet, cocktail.

And the last item was created for today: St. Patrick’s Day, where one Irishman can be found in every crowd
The cake is a chocolate stout, which I will not link. The idea was better than reality.
However the components almost make one inappropriately named delicious drink. The cupcakes were topped with Bailey’s buttercream using a 2-D tip. I just substituted the cream for the alcohol in the buttercream recipe. yummy.
and I did lick the beaters like a 7 year old….

My final thoughts…
I don’t know where my life will take me. No one does. But I’m forging a path that will lead to life changing experiences, heart breaking moments, heart warming instances, and finding a way to make tomorrow better than today. At the end of the day, I don’t want to say that was easy, but that was worth it. Now, I’m searching for a new path to find a new dream.

I’ll start by answering the question that I have gotten the most, and will most likely continue to hear. “Why did you join Peace Corps?” I joined Peace Corps because I didn’t want to waste my life. I wanted to find a way to use my passions and who I was created to be, in the best way possible. To not let my hands go idle and my mind go numb. To feel to the greatest capacity, to love those in my life the best way I could and constantly be looking for ways to change to make tomorrow better than today. After six months of trying to meet these goals, live the life I desire, I come to a point of exhaustion. Where the exact opposite of what I want for my life, I find myself doing. Now, I am retreating to the things that make my hands idle and my mind numb because the reality of my life is so far from what I want, distant from whom I am, and retreating to a place of deprivation. Through life struggles, perseverance is created which develops our faith in life, humanity, or God. Through all of this my belief that we are all created uniquely to offer different strengths has been heightened. I am not the right candidate for this position, but by no means does that mean this isn’t the right job for someone. I would have never learned that until I joined Peace Corps. This hasn’t been an easy process from the start, but has definitely been something that has shaped my life. The lessons I’ve learned through this process have continually pointed me to the fact that I cannot survive alone. I cannot go through life without a community that encourages me and holds my hand when the tears come. Nor has this experience come to a close because of my community at home, because they are the main reason I stayed so long.

It’s hard to watch you dreams slip through your fingers. To watch something that you have wanted for so long turn out to be something so wrong for whom you are. Nothing about this choice was a waste. Not even wanting it for so long, because as most of you know, this dream is what got me honors in High School and a B.A. from UCSD. Nor can I say spending half a year on a 2-inch mat, peeing on my feet every day and watching cockroaches sputter across my floor was a waste. This experience has changed my life, my appreciation for humanity, and encouraged me to find something that I was created to do. Gandhi once said “our finger prints don’t fade from the lives we touch.” I don’t know if I touched any lives here through my work, or lack of real work here, but in the end we will never know who’s lives we really touch. But the important thing is trying to remember to be a person that you would want to shape your life. For me, in this experience, I’m not that person. I’m not a person who I would want to shape anyone’s life. So my decision to go back to California may not be the one you would make, but for me, living here, trying to always change and become a better citizen of this world, I know this is no longer where I should be. I can’t say that my choice to move home, is right either, but the peace I have now to move on to a new adventure, reassures me that this is the right decision.

So I end with this note with a quote, that I hope shapes your life as much mine:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive; and go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” –John Eldridge

Currently I have the most annoying bug bites, I just don’t understand how they always get your elbows. I have three mosquito bites on the same elbow. AHHH. Also I had to kill about a thousand ants just to sit down and write.

To work, currently work in the high school is slow and going. No big success to report as of yet. I can’t remember if I told you, readers, that one student gave me an ear of corn, uncooked and shucked. My host mom roasted it, then dropped it… so I will never know the quality of this gift. Also I just started teaching at World Vision in the afternoons. Last week was my first classes. I had 12 students ranging from unable to recite the ABC’s to college level knowledge. This is the same as my high school classrooms just a smaller scale. Yet, I am still completely dumbfounded on what to actually do as I stand in front of these kids.

Also to those of you who know I am an avid Community fan, I have been caught up thanks to the wonders of friends and technology. Also I have started watching Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Ugly Betty and Weeds. And have read 13 books to date, not as many as some volunteers, but I’m pretty sure more than I completed in 3 years of college. So to that I guess you realize I have a lot of free time. I mean a lot. After work today I took one nap, and can pretty much guarantee if the weather keeps getting hotter I will be taking another shower proceeded by napping. I am true surprised that I haven’t melted here, all my Christmas candy has though. I like in eternal August, however I am a little shocked at night I do want a sheet, I mean all I can handle at night is a thin single top sheet. And this is the cool season. I really can’t imagine the hot season. I doubt there will be any positive blogging during those months.

The pictures! I just moved to a new house that is a lot quieter and has two windows!
So mom sent me some close pins to hang up photos and it has made it a lot homier. I may have created a shrine to my nephew, Cannon. But I haven’t started offering incense or fruit, so I guess it isn’t technically a Cambodian shrine. I must say despite my best efforts it always seems a little cluttered, but that’s what happens when you only have one item to conceal possessions and it’s a military grade metal trunk.

[insert a messy room with a picture shrine to my adorable nephew, friends, Africa, family, and mail all hung on plastic string and mini clothes pins]

I can’t really tell you why I am posting blurry pictures, or why my camera can’t take a decent picture without a flash. But it will help you get the feel of things.

This is from my weekend in Phnom Penh where I tried to regain composure. But listening to Michael Buble and Taylor Swift play at a Coffee House in the capital just makes you miss home a bit more. Another cool thing that happened that weekend was my jeans ripped. Cambodia ages your clothes about 4,000 times faster than normal, so bringing 2-year-old jeans wasn’t my brightest plan. I’ll be going to the tailors again once I wash them.

[insert photo of an amazing pumpkin muffin, pretty vanilla latté and comfy chairs]

This was a find in Siem Reap a few weeks back. I guess Costco doesn’t know the only Cambodia grocery store chain carries its products for about 4 times the going rate.

[insert picture of cans of tuna from costco]

That’s the latest from this side of the globe. I wish I had more adventures, but I cant really think of much more to share with you. Hope you are all sleeping well under your comforters and flannel sheets.

Peace be the journey.

ps. I over-estimated my ability to be patient for photos to load. Sorry

These are from the wedding I attended. Yes the wedding is in the smack middle of a road between two houses. Naturally.

This is one of my favorite kids. I would say I like him better than his brother only off the principle that one of the twin boys likes me. Or likes me enough to put on pants to play with me, while the other refuses and continues to run pants-less around the market. I have no clue what his name is mainly because him and his brothers name are one vowel different.

And this is Terry. His 3 year old cousin. I think she makes it know she is 6 months other. As you can see she is clearly pushing him out of the picture. But he refuses to not let his little personality not shine through.

This is the sunrise over my market. Aka where I buy food. Kinda like Safeway except for the aisles have mud, meat is sold raw on plywood, and I can buy pumpkin by the slice.

An average peddler sighting on my way home from work. I feel like that cap book from when I was a child, is real here. The book where a man piles thousands of messenger caps on his head and rides his bike around until he sells them all. I think that’s also what these bike peddlers do. I have seen bikes covered in pots and pans. I just wish it was easier to get a shot of how stuff they can pile onto one bike, because it is quite impressive.

One of my favorite tropical fruits here. I believe they are called Rambutan, in English. Meaning absolutely nothing to me before Cambodia. But they are amazing! Super sweet and tasty. I’ve been watching Season 3 of Ugly Betty and one whole episode revolves around some superstar (Adriene Lima) claims her beauty to eating these fruits. Could be fictional… but could be true.

A construction side at my site.

The views around my town. Mainly from the road that I “exercise” on with my host sister. AKA walk for an hour and only manage to go 2 km. I think it might be her goal to not break a sweat. But it’s impressive and completely out of her culture to even be exercising so that’s a step in the right direction for her. I just need to figure out how I can run on these little jaunts.

Well that was a cultural experience: I don’t know if I can really recap the last hour and half spent at the wedding in journal form, so I think bullets to describe it would be more fitting. And I just attending the wedding reception, most guests only attend this part. (Those of you reading this that are planning on getting married soon, your guests would appreciate it if you take that Cambodian norm to heart.) The wedding itself has gone on for at least 2 ½ days. I know this because I live across the market, about 500m away, and have herd their music, monk chants and announcements loud and clear from my bed from about 4am to 10pm for the last 2 ½ days and it’s still going strong. I can hear a Cambodian rendition or rip-off of a Put Bull song. (Take note wedding planners, no one wants to hear your music when they should be sleeping or when they’re not even in attendance. Especial songs that were originally in English)
1. Show up with people you know, and then you will sit with people you know. My mistake to be flying solo.
2. I sat next to two wedding crashers. Or that’s my assumption because when the money envelope came around, they got up a left. It was like of like offering at church, expect mandatory.
3. One servers shirt read: “Mosquitoes never ever die” Nice Engrish. Props to changing something from being grammatically correct to incorrect. Apparently, Abercrombie produced it. Interesting.
4. Servers obviously were not wearing any sort of uniform. But identified by plates of food or cases of beer in hand.
5. I felt like I was at a college frat party with all the cheap beer being consumed at excessively high volumes. Except instead of young college “cool” kids, they were older men drinking like it was going out of style. (Like that black sheep alcoholic uncle at an American wedding) The table in front of mine was that drinking table. When they would get another can from the server (who walked around with cases of beer–enforcing the college frat party feeling), they would make him drink an entire glass of theirs then eat some mystery appetizer. I hope the servers were part of the family, then that situation would be a lot less weird.
6. You drink beer in a glass with a lot of ice and a straw.
7. I don’t think a server wearing a “scars” mask should be working as a food server, or forced to drink beer out of someone else’s glass.
8. I now know what lard looks like. And of course using half a chopstick to keep it on the burner is a good idea.
9. I hope the pink meat I consumed from said burner won’t come back to haunt me.
10. The older lady that I was seated next to me told me the market isn’t a good place to live because it isn’t quite. Thank you, I haven’t noticed. Oh wait….
11. I realized I just added older to lady in #9 because I’ve lived in an Asian country for 4 months, where status of age has been engrained into my thinking.
12. The groom was a teacher at my school, so all the schoolteachers and directors were in attendance.
13. All the male teachers were drunk, like really drunk. And apparently in an hour will be back at school teaching. (Some female teachers were too, but they aren’t “proper” by Cambodian culture, so I give them more slack because of their rebellious ways.)
14. This was the first meal I’ve eaten in Cambodia (with Cambodians) that rice didn’t come first. It was last and almost no one ate it.
15. A daughter at my table, perhaps 17, was mixing cheap beer, coke and winter melon soda together. Why? Obviously her dad didn’t care that she was drinking, seeing he was pouring it.
16. The meal consisted of four courses: APPETIZERS-small fried spring rolls, noodles (nasty) and peanuts, FIRST-large fried spring rolls with beef jerkey on the inside, SECOND-grill your own raw meat until it’s less raw, THIRD-mystery seafood platter with veggies in a silver fish shaped dish upon a fire, FOURTH-boiling hot soup with a side of fried rice and steamed rice, DESSERT- take-home candy bar like the wafer cookies at Safeway that come in white, pink and brown. Except only the brown (I am eating them while reporting to you on this event, and they taste the same so it’s a win for you, Bangkok General Food, Co)
17. In the course of the hour and half reception, the wedding party sat across from each other at the entrance and changed 3 times. Consisting of the bride and groom, 3 groomsmen who are all teachers that I recognized and 3 bridesmaids that only is a teacher at my school.
18. Women guest attire is ala 80’s prom. For a conservative society where women cannot show their shoulders, or knees- apparently a wedding is the exception to this rule. I saw a mini skirt, lots of see-though lace, cleavage, no backs (to that: old ladies should really update their wardrobe), strapless shirts, and all extremely fitted. It was quite scandalous. However the majority of women where these scandalous tops with silk sampots that go to the floor, which are rumored to be the hottest possible clothing item.
19. Male guest attire: same as any other event, in America or Cambodia. Button down, slacks and a belt.
20. However many men were wearing a tan Camel cigarette shirt and I’m pretty sure was to indicate they were the uncles of the groom.
21. The wedding had two wedding photographers with digital Nikon SLR cameras. If the new iphone sells for $1,200 in the capital, I can only imagine what those two paid for their cameras.
22. After seeing one guest in a dress that I would actually wear at home, perhaps ill invest in some wedding clothes- aka a lace mini dress.
23. Exiting with the female teachers that weren’t drinking and didn’t want to dance was my best decision made yet- sticking around to see old drunk men get drunker doesn’t seem like the best way to spend my afternoon
24. The saddest part of the whole event was watching street children weave in and out of chairs collecting the empty bottles and cans. Crouching in between chairs so the servers would see them. They eventually would get caught, and told to leave without their cans. The worst part is that these I recognize these street children because they come to my house to watch other kids play Grand Theft Auto 3 aka shoot up civilians and blow up everything in site. (I think I’m a little bitter)
25. OH yea this celebration went down at 11am on a Monday.