the evolution of Leni

Chocolate Wisdom

I have a box of Italian Baci Chocolates. Not only are they delicious, but they have a little fortune/proverb in each one. Today's said:

Judge not thy woman; the more you judge her the less you love her.

Below is a photo of last week's proverb:

The Best Pizza in Irvine, Ca

Gina's Pizza is my favorite pizza. Wait, let me clarify. Gina's "Barbacoa Chicken" pizza is my favorite pizza! After unloading Lex's stuff in her apartment, we went over to Gina's to grab a bite to eat with my best friend. I'm really looking forward to visiting Irvine again this weekend! Now I just need to decide where I'm going to eat and what I'm going to do!

Those two girls are also the best two girls in Irvine, Ca!

A Photo Post!

Spunky is such a good sport. This is actually Brooklyn's outfit, but I just had to snap a pic of Spunky in it. She's my little Rudolf!

This would be a bad picture of a scary raccoon. You can see his eyes glowing in the dark.

Here's a better picture of him climbing up a tree. (Lex, Lor and Brookly spotted the raccoon as they were arriving last Friday.)

This is Brooklyn:

And here are some of the cookies we decorated:

Somehow I didn't actually take a picture of the gingerbread house.

And this was a picture of Spunky last night. She was initially hiding because of the rain, but somehow ended up sleeping like this:

I drink to save lives.

If you order a RED drink at Starbucks, they will donate 5 cents to the Global fund.

The photo above is from the Starbucks website.

My drink of choice today was a Venti Eggnog Chai Latte. And yes, I do know how many calories are in it. I knew before ordering it and did it anyways! Sometimes you just have to enjoy life.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was different this year. It was more like a large holiday party with family and friends and it lacked the intimate private family moments that I was used to.

With all of the chaos, it didn't occur to me to take photos of all of the wonderful food before we all started eating. I did take these two photos after, however. From the amount of left-overs that you can see in the photos, you can imagine how much food there was to start off with!

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. P.S. The pies that I made were amazing. If you like pies and want the recipes let me know. (I found the recipes online somewhere but I can't seem to find the links to them.)

The Cooking Has Started

First off was the Caramel Apple Pie:





I used the extra pie crust to make a mini-pie for myself:



It was yummy!



The second pie I made was a Pecan and Date Pie:



I also prepped the Baby Onions to bake tomorrow and made [my favorite] Cranberry Relish. (It always tastes better the next day!) Tomorrow morning I will get up early and peal 15 lbs of potatoes for Mashed Potatoes and 8 lbs of yams for Sweet Potatoes.

I'm not really sure what to expect tomorrow, all I know is that there will be over 20 people there! I am also not quite sure how I will be transporting all of this food without getting it all over my car!

I really miss my family right now! It sucks to be cooking alone in my apartment the day before Thanksgiving! It is super depressing. No wonder suicide rates are higher during the holidays! It just doesn't feel good to hear neighbors laughing and kids playing while I sit alone in my apartment. I wish I were home.

On the Menu

I have put together a list of recipes that I will be making and taking to Thanksgiving dinner. My grocery store list is together and printed. Although I wont be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family, I will be taking a little of our traditional family Thanksgiving recipes with me. After all, it wouldn't feel like Thanksgiving without them!

On the list of things I will be making:

• Cranberry Relish
• Mashed Potatoes
• Candied Yams or Stuffed Sweet Yams (I haven't decided which yet.)
• Flan (3 of them!)
• Cranberry Walnut Baked Brie (At least 2 - but maybe 4 - of these!)
• Date and Pecan Pie
• Caramel Apple Pie

Food of the Gods

I love pomegranates! Last night, I made a childhood favorite recipe: pomegranate seeds and chopped walnuts. So delicious!

This should have been posted on Monday

Here are some photos from the weekend with the girls.

We made pizza for dinner.

And we went to Alta's for breakfast.

Here's one at the train station:

And another on the train: