One morning Jaime asked me if I wanted to go out for breakfast or make iced chai, cardamom pancakes with cashew cream and strawberries, and a curried egg scramble. Um, I don’t know how that line up sounds to you, but it sounded nothing short of amazing to me. And it was.

Iced Chai, individual serving

1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp black tea leaves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 c water
ice
milk

Grind first 3 spices with mortal and pestle.
Combine spices in saucepan with tealeaves, cinnamon and water.
Bring to a boil. Steep for 3 minutes. Add 1 tsp honey.
Pour through a strainer over ice. Fill the glass the rest of the way with milk.

Cardamom Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour (can be mix of whole wheat & white)
3 tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c whole milk
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tbsp melted butter, plus more for the griddle
1 scant tbs ground cardamom

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet.
Fry up on hot buttered griddle.

Cashew Cream

3/4 c cashews
1/4 c rose water
1/2 c water

Combine cashews and rose water in food processor. Add water a little at a time for desired constancy.
Top pancakes with cashew cream and fresh strawberries.

Curried Egg Scramble

4 eggs
1/2 cold water
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp evoo
1/2 c onion, diced
1/2 c spinach, fresh or frozen
fresh cilantro for garnish

Combine eggs, water, curry, salt. Wisk.
Heat oil in pan. Sauté onions. Add spinach. Cook.
Add eggs. Continue to cook until eggs are done.
Garnish generously with cilantro.

Nothing short of amazing. I’m actually surprised Jaime could refrain from devouring it while I took this photo ;)

Double Chocolate Layer Cake, from Gourmet

3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee (Don’t be alarmed, your cake won’t taste like coffee – it enhances the flavor of the chocolate)
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 300°F. Line bottoms of pans with rounds of parchement paper. (I used a spring-form pan so I just closed the pan with the paper inserted, see below.) Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. (I only had one pan so I estimated what half the batter looked like.)

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove parchment paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Creamy Vanilla Frosting, More from Magnolia

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and, stirring constantly, cook until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 10-15 minutes. Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, on the medium high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the cooled milk mixture, and continue to beat on the medium high speed for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (no less and no longer—set a timer!). Use immediately.

Then you frost the cake and cover the counter, floor, and cake with sprinkles. Light the candles. Sing Happy Birthday in your bestest loudest off key voice. Give your hubby a kiss and tell him you are thankful he was born :)

P.S. It really bugs me when bloggers hide behind a computer screen. You know, they put themselves out there in words but never let you see their face? I may be reading too much into it but it feels false to me somehow. It’s like, who are you? So I’m putting mine out there in all its ridiculously silly glory!

And though 25 is just a number, this birthday I really found myself reflecting on where I am in my life and where I want to be in the future. So I decided to make a 30 Before 30 list, 30 things I want am going to do before turning 30 years old! I made my list in no particular order. Some are small and some are big. Some are contradictory (like making donuts and loosing 20 lbs). Some are materialistic to help me set financial goals. I wanted to put this list out there and feel accountable for all the things I’ve set out to do. I encourage you to make a list too. Push yourself and see what you can accomplish! I’ll keep you updated as I cross things off my list :)

1. Furnish and decorate our house
2. Plant a fruit and veggie garden
3. Landscape our front yard
4. Rescue a second dog
5. Go on a tropical vacation with Fred
6. Travel to Italy with Fred
7. Take a trip with just my sister
8. Take a Pacific NW road trip: San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver
9. Get 2 “new” cars
10. Get a laptop
11. Get a video camera
12. Get a sewing machine
13. Make working out part of my daily routine
14. Make walking Charlie part of my daily routine
15. Loose an additional 20 lbs to reach 130 and stay there. (A few weeks ago I was at 155.5, the most I’ve ever weighed, which was just on the verge of being considered overweight at 5’ 7”. That scared me. I lost the first 5.5 lbs in the last couple weeks!)
16. Enjoy a spa day
17. Visit all 50 states (Only 15 to go: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. This may take more than 5 years!)
18. Get our family photos taken once a year
19. Hang up our own photos in our house
20. Design our wedding album
21. Make a soufflé
22. Make my Grandma’s fank (donuts)
23. Make my Grandma’s mákos és diós (nut and poppy seed rolls)
24. Go flying with Fred
25. Fly a plane
26. Eat seafood (it’s been 10 years)
27. Catch a fish, clean it, cook it and eat it
28. Fix my bike and use it
29. Re-learn how to dive
30. Start a family :)

I also started another project this week…Project 365. The project is simple: take a photo everyday for a year. I’m collecting mine on my new iphone which I LOVE and am uploading them to an album on facebook. I love having this visual diary of snapshots! This is what my past week looked like. I just love summer!

The other evening we were walking Charlie around the block and saw a group of kids about to leave for their prom. I started reminiscing about our senior proms. I had mono. Fred, like he still does, kept me on my toes telling me he hadn’t gotten a tux yet even though he had. His choir concert was the same night as my prom so I sat in his high school auditorium over dressed until he could make his escape. And after prom, in true Jersey fashion, we spent the weekend down the shore with all our friends. Calzones on the boardwalk and staying cozy in sweatshirts on the beach.

I’ll always look back at that time in our lives and cherish it. That bliss in the beginning of a new relationship is like nothing else. It’s hard to believe it’s been 7 years. I had no idea then that I would marry that wonderful person. But here we are. We still have that feeling of bliss. And I never want it stop.

We moved back to Clovis from Las Vegas 2 weeks ago. On the drive back we made a detour to the Grand Canyon. It. was. big. And actually very challenging to photograph. Not only because of it’s immensity, but also because it was sort of hazy all day. We were able to take Charlie walking around the south rim with us. I realllly wanted to see the National Geographic Imax film but it was too hot to leave Charlie in the car, so we skipped that. I really love Imax.

So we were home for 2 days. Just enough time to get unpacked, do laundry, pack, and have some piña coladas with friends. And then we flew to Ohio to celebrate Easter and my Grandma’s 95th birthday with my big loud family whom I love very much :) Can you imagine 95 years? I think it’s awesome just to think about all that my Grandma has seen in that time! She actually didn’t know Fred and I were coming, which was part surprise and part she couldn’t understand what I was saying on the phone. So when we got to her apartment she was taking a nap on her recliner. The front door closed a little too loud and she woke up from her nap with us standing right in front of her. She blinked. We smiled. She smiled and said, “I had to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming.” It was very cute.

My New Year’s goal was to blog at least once a week, which I have kept except the past 2 weeks. But I’m okay with that. I was busy living my wonderful life :)

Here’s our backyard with our awesome built in fire pit. We’ve used it a few times so far to make s’mores. Excuse Fred. He’s always walking through my shots ;)

I love dining al fresco (fancy, I know) so a patio table and chairs and a grill are top priority. I’d also love to get some outdoor love seats and comfy chairs for hanging out around the firepit! This is my favorite patio set I’ve found so far, that’s in my price range. It’s from Ace, I love the red…we need some color outside, everything is way too brown. The sofa is from wickerfurniture.com and unfortunately out of my price range. Still looking for something that is!

I’ve always wanted to do gardening but I never had the space so the best thing I had were small pots of herbs inside. Now I have the space but Clovis’ soil is less than stellar. So I’m going to build a raised bed garden for some veggies. Here’s a tutorial I found on how to do it. I’m also going to plant some big pots of herbs on the patio! They look so beautiful and are edible too! I use a ton of herbs cooking so having them fresh on hand is so exciting! (Images below clockwise lesliesarna.com, thebackyardpantry.webs.com, bhg.com)

I’m excited to read this book I got, Grow Great Grub. I’m also going to go to a local gardening store to learn more about growing in Clovis since I think the dry heat and wind are going to be big obstacles to contend with.

And to complete this spring backyard post here are two perfect warm weather beers Fred and I stumbled upon. I’m not a big beer person but these two have just the right amount of fruit flavor, I love them! Pyramid’s Apricot Ale and Blue Dawg Brewing’s Blueberry Lager. Yum!

I can’t wait to share our backyard transformation with you!

We’ve had Charlie for over 2 months now and admittedly we’ve been bad about training him. We haven’t worried about it because he’s generally a good dog. Excuses excuses, I know. The one behavior I really didn’t like was Charlie pulling me on walks. The funny part is that when we first found him he wouldn’t even go on a walk! He was terrified, wouldn’t move an inch. But he loved our backyard. So my solution was to put him on leash and start walking him around the back yard, which worked, and then we made the transition to the street. I was so proud that I got him to walk I sort of ignored the fact that he was yanking my arm off!

My parents have an older dog so they sent us a few of their old training books. Two were ASPCA books. The other was Cesar’s Way by Cesar Millan. I was intrigued by it because it’s all about dog phycology. I found myself way more interested in learning how Charlie thinks rather than teaching him to do things with treats. I got about half way through the book and decided to get The Dog Whisper on DVD from Netflix. It’s Cesar’s National Geographic show where he demonstrates his techniques. I had read what to do but I really needed to see how to do it. I learned that I need to project calm-dominate energy towards Charlie and whenever he first starts getting distracted on a walk I need to snap him out of it by making a sound to get his attention and get him back on track by acting as his pack leaser. So the next morning I woke up determined. And I did it. Charlie walked right next to me because he knew I was in charge. It was like magic and I was so happy! Charlie still needs reminding on walks especially when he sees other people and dogs but its a vast improvement from before! If you have a dog I really recommend you explore Cesar’s methods of dog phycology.

I also knew that dogs need exercise but my main solution for this was taking Charlie to the dog park. This was great for socialization but walking with a dog is key, and not just for exercise. It’s all about migrating in a pack and it gives me the chance everyday to continue to show Charlie I am the pack leader. So Fred and I take Charlie on two 30 minute walks a day before breakfast and dinner. After a walk and eating Charlie is in resting mode and I can get my work around the house done. Like doing laundry while Charlie takes a nap on our blankets :)