I'm Back!

Hello, so I haven't posted in a long time, but I'm going to start back up. I have done a lot of baking lately and traveling that I want to catch you up on. What's even better is that I'm starting a new chapter in my life so things will get more interesting.

PERU!

I have totally forgotten to tell you guys about my trip to Peru. Let's just say it was amazing and I want to go back right. I just loved it so much and enjoyed the people there so much. We were gone for 13 days in August we left a Monday and came home on a Sunday.
Monday: We had to get up at 5 am to catch the bus with some of the group to get to the airport. We got there and had plenty of time to walk around the airport. My dad and I were on a different flight then the rest of the group and we flew to L.A. and had a layover for a couple hours, so we got to spend time walking around the airport. Then we flew to Mexico City and has a long layover and so we got to go into a lounge there and hang out since it was so late. From there we went to Lima, Peru and met up with the group that we went to the airport with. Once we were together we flow to Cusco.

5 am bus trip to the airport 

Tuesday: We were also still in one of our travel days. Once we finally got to Cusco we walked around the Plaza de Armas and did our fist of many shopping excursions. The first place we went was this back ally and we saw some little kids there, so we played with them and gave them stickers that we had brought for the trip. After shopping and resting that evening we went to dinner as a whole group and it was really fun.

Part of our group in our home in Peru 

Wednesday: We got up early and had breakfast and started our walk to the buses that would drive us to the first village. The first of the two villages we went to was at the end on the road in the mountains and the elevation was 12,500 ft which was very high. When we got there we were greeted by the villages with music and they walked around sprinkling confetti on our hair which we found in our clothes even after we came back to the states. We were split up into for groups through out the trip and my group had walk about a quarter of a mile down to a little building to bring up little chairs and tabled for the dentist that we had set up. This would have been an easy task if I was back home, but at 12,000 ft only on our second say it was horrible. My dad and I took the easy route which happened to be the longest we were taking breaks ever hundred feet or so, because we couldn't breath. The Peruvians though who were way behind us passed us half way up they hill running. I guess they are probably use to it. After we brought up the table and chairs we were put to work with easier tasks or at least I thought that they were. I was in charge of playing with the kids and making sure that they weren't scared when they went into the dentist to get check out. In the dentist there were kids helping teach how to brush, floss and they put florid on the teeth. After many hours of playing with the kids I was offered if I wanted to give an injection in the gum to numb the jaw, so someone else could pull the tooth. So I gave and in injection which is pretty cool. After lunch I switched to be outside to help out with building the school for the kids, so they don't have two walk 3 hours down the hill for school.

My Dad and I in the village 

After the showering of confetti 

Even though it was 12,500 ft the view was spectacular

Thursday: We headed back to the same village we were the day before and got right back to work. I started to help build the school, but found that they kids were way more entertaining since they never get to see toys. I spent the whole day playing with kids and trying to speak Spanish with them which was very funny cause they all laughed, but I didn't care. It was crazy to see the change in the Peruvians attitude towards us on the second day, because at first they thought that we would not help at all, but we almost finished the school that we were working on. It was fun to play with the kids and see how much joy we could bring to them in the simplest ways. I had a girl named Maddy Elisabeth who was my buddy and I picked her up and started spinning her. Her face was priceless when I was finally done and all the other kids flooded towards me, because they thought it was so cool. After spinning two other kids I was out of breath, but the kids wanted more, so they decided to dog pile me which was really fun. After the school was pretty much done we cleared this big open field and played soccer. Okay well I didn't play, but the guys that were on our trip did and they played against the men living in the village it was so fun to watch. When it was finally time to say our goodbyes the music started to play and we started to dance and more confetti came down on us. I thought that the first day was a enough but I guess not. We paraded to the buses the little girl that had became my new best friend found were I was sitting on the bus and waved goodbye to me as we drove off.

And we danced 

Teaching how to brush teeth 

Gabriel in the green Maddy in the blue and me along with Eli and Max

Hood Canal

We had a great time over the Memorial Day weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Tantillo. They treated us to a getaway in Brinnon, Wa where we stayed in an historic 1920's house right on the Hood Canal. We had to take the ferry out of Edmonds to get over there which is always fun. We just missed the ferry so we had to wait in the rain for a while for the next one. Lucky for us that was basically the only rain we had all weekend so we're not complaining. We've had some soggy Memorial Days in the past and we were really hoping this would not be another one to add to the list.  Our first stop once we got to the Kitsap Penninsula was in Port Townsend. We found a 50's style diner to have lunch and then we had some ice cream for dessert. We were off to a great start...

Then we drove over to the Olympic Game Farm near Sequim, Washington. We bought a loaf of bread to feed the animals and we drove our car through the park and the animals walked right up to us to eat the bread. Best part of the adventure was this enormous buffalo that drooled all over my dad's arm. Mom felt so sorry for him that she bought him a "I got drooled on at the Olympic Park" t-shirt. We saw buffalo, elk, peacocks, bears, wolves, llamas, deer, zeebra, moose, and a few more that I can't remember. It was a lot of fun and Michael was very entertained. We considered it a success because he made it all the way through without throwing up from the awful smells.

Next we headed to our beach house and unloaded and admired the adorable house and outside surroundings. Then we hit a local spot for dinner, The Halfway House. We all loved our dinner - chicken fried steak, fish and chips, oysters, shrimp salad, and a cheeseburger for Michael, of course. Then some of us had delicious home made pie for dessert. We stayed up late and played a couple rounds of Farkle because grandpa insisted and then we all went to bed. Great day!

Saturday morning mom made us fried eggs and toast and then it was time to go hiking! There are about 25 waterfalls on the Kitsap Peninsula so we decided to try 2 of them. The first one didn't turn out to be much of a hike be it was beautiful and we took a bunch of amazing pictures. The second hike was a 3/4 mile hike to the most beautiful waterfall I think I've ever seen. Why fly to Hawaii when you can hike to waterfalls right here at home? It was a great time and it felt good to get some exercise and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. Still no rain so we were all feeling very relieved.

Next it was time for the Shrimp Festival which was taking place right in our backyard in Brinnon. We were starving so anything would have tasted really good. Turned out there wasn't much of a shrimp selection at any of the food trucks. Mom got shrimp and grits which everyone decided was probably the best. My lamb gyro was amazing and everyone else loved their blackened shrimp and Hawaiian donuts. We couldn't leave until walked around all the booths. We sat in some comfy chairs, tried on some jewelry and scarves and sampled some more food and then we decided to try the spinning ride that made mom dizzy and made us all want to throw up. Enough is enough and the clouds were starting to roll in so we decided to say good-bye to the shrimp fest and relax for a few hours back at the house.

It doesn't take us long to build up another appetite and soon it was time to decide on dinner. Grandma would have been happy back at the Halfway House but dad put his foot down and decided we needed to try something new. We ate a late dinner at the Ajax Cafe back near Port Townsend. The meal was amazing and everyone enjoyed their dishes....and desserts, of course. This restaurant was unique in so many ways. The table settings were eclectic and mismatched and there were hats of every kind hanging all over the walls. After dinner we tried on a few hats and snapped a couple of photos and shared a few laughs. Another fun day ended back at the house with a round of Uno and Farkle just so grandpa could have his revenge from his loss the night before.

The next day we took a drive to Fort Worden which is an old fort that was built to protect the Puget Sound before WW1. Now it's used by families for camping and large groups for summer camps and stuff. It was a lot of fun and I got some cool pictures in some of the old ammunition rooms. For dinner that night we decided to go home and bbq some Copper River salmon that we bought at a local grocery store. Dad cooked it to perfection and it was so yummy. Dad also built us an amazing camp fire so we had smores for dessert around the fire and watched the eagles fly above us and the seals swimming in the water. What an amazing and beautiful place we get to live in. The clouds were hovering the hills across the canal and it was absolutely beautiful. Washington is the most beautiful state in the country and if you don't believe us you should come and visit and see for yourself!

It was a great weekend and one that our family will never forget. We missed Tanner, who had to stay in Sammamish to work and we missed Bonnie, who is still in Boston on her mission. It seemed really empty without them. We heard from Bonnie on Monday via email and we met Tanner for lunch when we got back to Sammamish so it ended up great. Thanks grandma and grandpa for a wonderful trip!!

San Francisco Pictures

I know its a week after I have gotten home from San Francisco, but here are some picture that I really liked that didn't get posted at first and some that I edited and really liked. Some might be silly, but they were fun, so you get to see them 

Mom likes this, so I posted it. 

It's blurry, but I really like it 

Samoa Cake

I thought that it was time for a recipe for this blog, so here is my Samoa Cake recipe. A little back-story on this cake. I love Samoa's and once I finished all my girl scout Samoa's I was sad that there was no more, so my search began for a substitute and it came in a cake form. The Samoa cake is like a freaking Samoa cookie but better cause it’s a cake. I knew I had to try the cake, so I grabbed my keys and headed to Safeway in search of all the things I needed for this cake. I got home and put myself to work. After a long night of figuring out what I was doing and being impatient, the cake was finally done. I got out the knife and sliced me up some cake and I was unimpressed. After spending so much time on it I thought it would be better than it was. I knew I needed to try again and an opportunity soon came up. My mom was in charge of getting desserts for an auction, so she asked me to make the cake, because she enjoyed it more than me. I made the cake for a second time. Not being able to test it at the end almost killed me. It was off to the auction and at the end of the night I got texts telling me that it was amazing and that it sold for $250. Now just today my mom tells me I get to make this cake again for another auction. This time it is even more important and the auction is a huge deal. Stay tuned for what happens with it. 

Samoa Cake:

For the Brown Sugar Batter

·       1 stick of butter, softened

·       1 cup of dark brown sugar

·       2 eggs

·       3/4 cup all-purpose flour

·       3/4 tsp baking powder

·       1/2 tsp baking soda

·       1/4 tsp salt

·       1/2 cup whole milk

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one a a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and whole milk to the butter mixture, one at a time, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Set batter aside

For the Chocolate Batter

·       1 cup sugar

·       1/4 cup oil

·       1 egg

·       1 tsp vanilla

·       1/2 cup milk

·       3/4 cup + 2 T all-purpose flour

·       1/2 cup + 2 T cocoa powder

·       3/4 tsp baking powder

·       1/2 tsp baking soda

·       1/2 tsp salt

·       1/2 cup boiling water

Cream sugar and oil together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla, and milk. In a medium bowl mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture until well combined. Carefully stir in boiling water. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan well. This is a marble cake. Pour some of the brown sugar batter into the pan, then top it with some of the chocolate batter. Alternate until both batter bowls are empty. Tap bundt pan on the counter a couple times to remove bubbles. Bake approximately 1 hour or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine only took about 50 minutes) Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool entire

 For the Frosting

·       1 can of sweetened condensed milk **Or substitute canned dulce de leche

·       1/2 cup confectioners sugar

·       2 T vanilla extract

·       2 sticks butter, softened

·       1/2 tsp salt

·       1 cup toasted coconut

Place the whole, unopened can of condensed milk in your crock pot and submerge in at least 3 inches of water. Cook on medium for 10 hours or on high for 7. *Alternatively, boil the whole, unopened can on the stove FULLY SUBMERGED AT ALL TIMES for 4 hours. Let it cool. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until desired color is reached (about 6 minutes). Beat cooled cooked condensed milk (or dulce de leche), butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla and salt for 3 minutes. Add in 1 cup toasted coconut. Chill for 1 hour

  For the topping

·       1 1/2 cups toasted coconut

·       1/2 cup chocolate chips, melted

Frost the cake with dulce de leche frosting Toast remaining coconut and press into the sides and top of the frosted cake. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring frequently. Place melted chocolate in a pastry bag with a small tip or ziploc bag with a corner cut out about 1/4 inch up from the corner, and drizzle stripes on the cake.

 

First Time I made it. The rest went in to trash. 

This cake is ready for the auction!

Final Day of Spring Break

We made it to Eugene, Or around 11:30 so we decided to call it quits and stay the night. Dad was glad it was his last night having to sleep with Michael and this night proved to be the roughest. We slept in until after 8 which is good for us and we grabbed some breakfast at the nearby Denny’s. We could have headed straight north on I-5 and made it home in about 4 or 5 hours, but mom wasn’t ready to call it quits yet. How can you do a food tour of the Northwest coastline and not stop for an ice cream in Tillamook, OR? Unfortunately, this meant a detour and the roads leading to Tillamook are slow and windy so the journey home ended up being close to 9 hours. It was worth it, though. We loved driving through the beautiful logging and fishing towns along the Oregon Coast. This is a beautiful part of the country and everyone should venture off I-5 and try it at least once. We realize that we could buy as much Tillamook ice cream as we want at our local Safeway, but there’s something about buying it in the factory that makes it taste so much better. Plus, they have flavors there that aren’t available in the grocery store. Mom ordered blueberry and caramel hazelnut because she can’t buy them at Safeway. She said they were delicious and it was better than the ice cream at Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco. Dad got a peanut butter chocolate shake because that’s what he always gets and Michael got vanilla because that’s what he always gets and I got oreo because that’s what I always get. Was it worth the detour? Definitely!

caramel and blueberry 

Vanilla

Cookies and Cream

We skipped lunch and thought about skipping dinner but Michael wouldn’t hear of it. I’m not telling where we ate because we broke the rule of not eating any fast food for our whole trip but it was the ONLY place to eat in this little town in Washington just on the other side of the Columbia River. This is a picture of the bridge we drove over that scared my mom to death. The adorable, little town on the other side of the bridge is Astoria, OR and you have to go over this bridge to cross the mouth of the Columbia River to get to Washington. Mom made us stop and take a picture because she thought it was so beautiful. Welcome back to Washington! Until our next adventure…..