Jennifer & Ronald

Link: http://www.yelp.com/biz/china-bee-san-mateo

Before taking Ron to the airport, we went for brunch at China Bee in San Mateo. We've heard from friends that they have yummy Taiwanese breakfast so thought we'd finally try it out. We ordered quite a bit to sample our favorite dishes.

Sweet soy milk, rice roll, pickled spicy cucumbers, and salty soy milk. The salty soy milk was properly made (according to Ron) where the milk is curdled and filled with crunchy fried dough and green onion and preserved vegetables. The rice roll didn't have enough meat for Ron and I thought the pickled cucumbers were a bit over-pickled.

The fried stinky tofu. The sauce and vegetables were good, tofu nicely fried, but not all that stinky. Overall still good though as I liked the crunch it had.

Egg crepe. Ron thought the wrapper was machine made so not that good and there wasn't any sauce so it was a bit dry.

Oyster pancake, I thought was yummy. Ron found it too fishy flavored. I liked whatever the red sauce was on top.

Last but not least, xiao long bao. They were really good when hot but not so tasty as it started to cool down. The wrapper was a bit thick but the juice with the meat inside was pretty good.

We're not sure if we'd drive all the way to San Mateo again for breakfast since you can get similar quality at Taiwan Restaurant in SF.

China Bee Restaurant
31 South B Street
San Mateo, CA

Link: http://cupkatesbakery.com/

I'm lucky to have a friend who likes to share sweet finds like Cupkates cupcakes. Apparently the owner created a new flavor: salted caramel, a chocolate cake with caramel buttercream and flaked sea salt (the cupcake on the left). The other cupcake is a lemon raspberry cupcake.

So far, I've tried half of the salted caramel and the chocolate cake is really moist and yummy. Although I think the chocolate may have overpowered the delicate caramel flavor of the buttercream but the salt was a nice touch.

I'm looking forward to trying the lemon raspberry cupcake: lemon cake with Meyer marmalade topped with raspberry buttercream.

I've also tried her vanilla cupcake and a peppermint chocolate cupcake.

I felt in the baking mood again and thought I'd try something different. I follow a few food blogs and had bookmarked this posting for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting. They sounded delicious so I thought I'd try to make my own but would skip the frosting (have to watch that blood sugar you know). The recipe was only for 12 cupcakes so I decided to double it and did a bit of tweaking to the recipe.

Here are the mini cupcakes:

Here's the recipe I ended up using:

Ingredients:
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 cup sour cream, at room temp
16 oz Guinness stout beer, at room temp
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 cup sugar
2-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
12 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Line 2-12 cup cupcakes pans AND 2-12 cup mini cupcake pans with paper liners. Spray the whole thing, cupcake papers and all with nonstick spray (I used Pam nonstick spray with flour) and set aside. (I highly recommend this step as I did not do it for one set of pans and the cupcake ended up sticking to the papers.)
3. Melt butter in microwave then set aside.
4. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix eggs and sour cream. Add beer and vanilla and mix until well combined.
5. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon).
6. Add about 1/3 of flour mixture into wet ingredients and blend well. Add the rest of the flour mixture, 1/3 at a time, mixing well after each addition. When all ingredients are blended, add the melted butter then continue mixing until very well combined.
7. I transferred the batter into a measuring cup with a pouring spout so it'd be easier to fill the cupcake cups. Fill each about 3/4 full.
8. Bake at 350 F for approximately 25 minutes for the regular cupcakes and 15 minutes for the mini cupcakes.
9. Cupcakes will be done when a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove pan and place on a wire rack. Let cool for about 10 minutes then remove cupcakes from the pan and let them cool completely on the wire rack.

I think the original recipe was deceiving in being only for 12 cupcakes since it seemed like with doubling the recipe, it made plenty more: 24 regular cupcakes, 24 mini cupcakes (plus a bit of leftover so I used part of a madeleines pan to make 8 cookies).

Since I reduced the sugar and increased the beer, the cupcake was probably too bitter for some people's taste buds but overall the cake was moist and you could taste the flavor of the Guinness. Next time I'll try it with the frosting, it'll probably give it that extra sweetness it needs.

Yes, silly cat, he squished himself onto this pillow. He was asleep before I took this photo but once he heard me power up the camera, he woke up all wide eyed. He weighs probably 12-15 lbs and is quite round so this is probably not the most comfortable place for him to sleep but he likes it.

Link: http://www.fleurdelyssf.com/

Now on my second visit to Burger Bar San Francisco I decided to build my own burger. I wanted to try the buffalo meat patty since I've heard that it's very moist and does not have a gamey taste like you would think.

So I chose a buffalo meat patty on a whole wheat bun topped with grilled bell peppers (yellow and red) and peppered jack cheese.

I agree the buffalo meat is moist but not oily and this was cooked medium. The burger alone was $16.50 plus it is extra for each additional topping. So perhaps a bit on the higher priced side but you can't beat the view from the the 6th floor of Macy's.

Thank you K for treating me dinner!

Burger Bar San Francisco
251 Geary Street

We did quite a bit of eating today starting with breakfast this morning at Dottie's True Blue Cafe which is within walking distance from our apartment. Our friends recommended this place for a great breakfast but might have a long wait.

We got there around 8am and had to wait about 15-20 minutes, they open at 7:30am. We ordered from their specials which are written on the dry erase boards.

This is the butterscotch french toast. I had one delicious slice. I think eating more would have been bad for my blood sugar.

This is one of their egg scrambles, a type of sausage with mushrooms and basil. It's served with potatoes and a slice of jalapeno corn bread. Also very good. I really liked the corn bread.

For home, we took home some pastries. This is the sweet potato pecan muffin, very dense and sweetened by the sweet potato rather than sugar.

The whiskey blueberry coffee cake. The coffee cake was a bit dry and the topping a bit too sweet. It didn't really work together well in your mouth.

Lunch we had at home but then went to dinner at 5A5 Steak Lounge for Dine About Town. It was probably too much to hope that they would have the Waygu beef on their menu... so here was their menu where we chose one of each.

Iceberg lettuce salad with thick bacon. The bacon was very delicious.

Caesar salad with fresh anchovies. The salty anchovies went well with the fresh taste of Romaine lettuce.

We ordered a separate starter of short ribs with lotus chips. The lotus chips were pretty cool, just like potato chips but probably healthier. The short ribs had persimmons on them which was an interesting touch.

The New York strip steak. The green stuff on top was a bit spicy and creamy, delicious but I have no idea what it was. The steak was tender too and a perfect medium rare but not bloody.

The salmon served with a cabbage leaf stuffed with fennel.

Sticky toffee bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. I wish I could've had more!

Banana Cream Tart. The cream wasn't too sweet and had a subtle but delicious banana flavor. The brulee'd bananas were a nice touch too.

Overall, a very good dining experience and a lovely day of eating.

Dottie's True Blue Cafe
522 Jones Street

5A5 Steak Lounge
244 Jackson Street

Link: http://www.hardknoxcafe.com/

I finally got to try the fried chicken at Hard Knox Cafe. Ron had talked about this place before and it always sounds really good but he's never had a chance to bring me.

We had a bit of a hard time finding parking and then had to wait about 15 minutes inside. But once I got to taste the corn bread, that was already worth it. I loved the "muffin top", especially with a little bit of butter, served warm.

I had the three piece fried chicken with collard greens and mac 'n' cheese. The chicken was very crispy and super moist. It wasn't over seasoned so you could really just taste chicken (rather than say, spice or pepper). It was really good with the Crystal hot sauce.

Ron had the country fried steak with corn and potato salad. I didn't like this as much since it was a bit salty and the sauce didn't have much flavor (to me). The potato salad deserves mention though, it was sort of like thousand island flavored potato salad.

It was a good meal to end the day as we had spent all day in an 8 hour childbirth preparation class at Kaiser. It was a lot of information to digest but was very good in giving us an idea of what to expect. We also had a tour of the labor & delivery and post-partum area of the hospital. There's still tons to learn but at least we're not totally clueless anymore.

Hard Knox Cafe
2526 Third Street

Link: http://www.isarestaurant.com/

I met up with Patrick and Shirley at Isa Restaurant for Dine About Town. Although we might have gotten a bit cheated as their regular prix fixe for Mon thru Thur is only $28 while for DAT, it's $35... I hope that these portions we got were larger...

Well for appetizers, we started out with salmon carpaccio (which I didn't get to try).

The calamari with beans and cooked arugula. Very tender and had nice flavor.

The mussels with garlic, white wine, parsley, and grilled bread. A big portion and the "soup" was really good with the bread.

For main courses, we had the pan fried sole with broccolini. The sole was a bit sweet and fresh. I really like the broccolini.

This is the flat iron steak, nice and tender, with potato gratin, creamy and delicious.

Lobster bouillabaisse with fish and clams. The bouillabaisse was good but I couldn't tell it was lobster.

For desserts, we had two cheese courses and creme brulee.

Needless to say, we were pretty stuffed. The bread they offered too was delicious, toasty on the outside and soft on the inside and served warm. I wish I could have eaten more of it, I can't wait to have carbs again!

Isa Restaurant
3324 Steiner Street

Our silly cat Misu:

He's been really needy lately so has been bothering us every evening. He'll sit right next to you and wait you for you to look at him and once you look at him and start speaking to him, his ears perk up. If you don't touch him, he'll rub his face on your arm or leg to coax you to scratch his head. He's super sweet.

In this case, he was sitting right in front of me so I lifted my legs onto the table (excuse my swollen feet) with his head in between. He didn't budge. He seemed happy that I was paying attention to him.

I wonder if he knows a baby is coming so he's trying to get even more attention now than usual...

Link: http://www.beachboardwalk.com/

Ron and I went down to Santa Cruz just to get out of the city. We visited the Beach Boardwalk which was mostly closed except for the arcade and mini golf. It was quite a drive and it started to rain a bit but it was just nice to get away and see some different scenery and spend some time together.

We got there around lunch time so had lunch at one of the eateries. I enjoyed a smoked turkey leg while Ron had a hamburger and garlic fries.

It was very chilly down there so I was bundled up.

We went to play some video games before heading home.

Link: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/blueberry-corn-muffins

Tried my hand at baking again, this time Berry Corn Muffins, using a recipe from Martha Stewart for Blueberry Corn Muffins.

Ingredients

Makes 6 large muffins

1 cup (2 sticks) + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
3 tbsp honey (substituted 2 tbsp agave syrup)
2 large eggs (substituted 1 egg + 1 portion Egg Beaters)
3 cups all-purpose flour (substituted whole wheat flour)
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup blueberries (used 1-1/2 cups frozen berries)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place a Silpat (French nonstick baking mat) or parchment paper on a baking sheet; place six 2 3/4-by-2-inch pastry rings on it. Cut parchment paper into six 10-by-3-inch strips; use them to line molds (paper will extend above rims). I used 2 mini muffin pans (24 muffins) and 1 regular muffin pan (12 muffins) lined with paper liners.
2. Place softened butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and honey in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs; beat 1 minute more.
3. Whisk flour, cornmeal, and baking powder together in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture in mixer bowl. Beat until combined. Slowly pour in milk, beating on low, until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Divide dough among molds (do not pack too firmly; each will take about 1 cup). Brush tops with cold water; sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over each.
4. Bake until tops are browned, centers are set, and a cake tester inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans 5 minutes. Tie kitchen twine around muffins to hold parchment. Serve at once.

Here is my tray of completed muffins.

A closeup of the muffin, the sugary sweetness on top.

The muffins were a bit dense for my taste but went well with coffee or tea. My coworkers described it as having more of a scone texture as it was a bit crumbly and had the sugary top.

Next time I'll try the recommended way but I can't imagine how big they'll be as I was surprised at how many mini/regular muffins I was able to make.

Link: http://www.gorillabbq.com/Gorilla_Barbeque.html

I guess we're in the BBQ mode since we've been eating it for the last few days. Ron remembered seeing this place called Gorilla Barbeque in Pacifica that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network.

So we made the drive out to Pacifica around 1pm and came across a line of about 15 people from the old railroad car that Gorilla Barbeque is housed in. Currently they are only doing take-out and catering but they do have two picnic tables above their parking lot and the beach is only a few blocks down the road. We decided to wait since we had driven all the way down there and some people slowly started get out of line and leave. At one point, they ran out of ribs but we still continued to wait.

Their menu is on their website but the types of meats they have include pork ribs, beef brisket, chicken, hot links, and for 2010 (according to their website): beef ribs on Thursday nights.

We ordered a 3 meat combo, a 1 meat combo, and a Philly cheese steak sandwich. We did it this way because the 3 meat combo includes an extra sauce (2 containers instead of 1). Included with the combos are 2 sides of your choice, rice & beans, cornbread, and 1 container of BBQ sauce. After we picked up our order, we drove down the road and parked near the beach and had our lunch on a bench on the beach which watching the surfers catch some waves.

This is the 3 meat combo of hot links, chicken, and brisket. Everything had a delicious smokey flavor and everything was surprisingly still very moist. The chicken skin was nice and crispy. The brisket was tender, not tough at all. The hot links delicious. The sauce made it even better.

Some of our sides: corn bread muffin, cole slaw, rice & beans. In the canisters, one had mac and cheese and the other two are BBQ sauces. The corn bread was the best thing, it even had fresh corn but the others were only so-so.

Our 1 meat combo was pulled pork with corn on the cob and potato salad.

We also ordered a Philly Cheese Steak which is also served with 1 BBQ sauce and 1 side (grilled eggplant in this case). This was very yummy, actually probably my favorite thing of our lunch.

We have plenty of leftovers and I think we'll have to go back to try their ribs. Some of the customers were pretty disappointed when they ran out of ribs so they must be really good.

Oh, and to note, they use Tater Ware, biodegradable food containers and utensils, made from potatoes. I like them better than plastic utensils, they are much sturdier.

Gorilla Barbeque
2145 Coast Highway
Pacifica, CA 94044

Link: http://www.thedaffodilrestaurant.com/

Dine About Town starts today Jan 15th, so we kicked it off with dinner at Daffodil Restaurant, which is less than 2 blocks from where we live.

There were three of us for dinner and we ordered the DAT menu and the regular menu as well. To start off with, we had these cheese topped biscuits. So delicious with the butter.

The DAT menu includes an amuse bouche, this is a potato croquette with a creamy sauce that had a bit of a spicy kick.

From the regular menu, we tried the French Fried Green Beans with a Horseradish Honey Mustard Dip ($6). Nice and crispy but also a bit oily. The green beans were also a bit stuck together so a bit hard to eat because you had to figure out separate them.

For the First Course of the DAT menu, I chose the spinach salad with fennel and pomegranate seeds. Refreshing.

From the regular menu, the pulled pork with cole slaw and onion rings. Nothing amazing but not bad either.

For the main course of the DAT menu, V chose the short ribs braised in red wine and served with mashed potatoes and broccolini. The meat was tender and you could really taste the red wine.

For my main course of the DAT menu, I chose the Artic Char served with squash and quinoa. The skin of the fish was super crispy and delicious. I've never had Artic Char before but it was yummy, nice and light.

Dessert for the DAT menu was an apple galette served with some berries and vanilla ice cream. I haven't had a dessert like this in the last 2 months, so perhaps my taste buds don't know any better anymore, but it was yummy.

Not sure if we'll be back as it wasn't amazing but DAT gives us the opportunity to try all these different restaurants for an affordable price.

Daffodil Restaurant
665 Bush Street

It's been a while since I've posted but I've been a bit more tired easily and not motivated but am trying to make up for lost time...

Tonight we were invited to Captain Vineyards in Moraga for a wine tasting. We participated in harvesting their grapes last October so now it was time to have our first taste of the wine.

Since we were heading out to the East Bay, we decided to stop by Bo's Barbeque for dinner. We had eaten there one other time and remembered that their BBQ was pretty good and they have a delicious selection of beer.

We ordered the 3 item combo which includes ribs, brisket, and links. Everything had a good smokey flavor except that the brisket was a bit dry. I think they gave us the end pieces so they were a bit tough like jerky but still tasty.

The meal includes 2 plates of salad with some fruity vinaigrette, sweet potato, bread, potato salad, and BBQ sauce.

After our dinner, we headed to The Captains for their wine tasting. I had a few sips and the wines seem well on their way to become delicious. Right now they seem still very fruity and haven't taken much of the flavor from the oak barrels yet but they were still lovely. The barrels themselves were beautiful, see how red they are in the middle.

We also got a preview of their new wine label.

The Captains are a great couple. They've taught us a lot about making wine and allowed us to have these unique experiences which we otherwise wouldn't have an opportunity to experience. It's amazing how much they've accomplished in a short period of time and I hope we can continue to support them in whatever way we can.

Captain Vineyards
1969 Joseph Drive
Moraga, CA 94556

Bo's Barbeque
3422 Mt. Diablo Blvd
Lafayette, CA 94549
(925) 283-7133

From my favorite cookie cookbook (Big, Soft, Chewy Cookies by Jill Van Cleave), I altered the recipe for Southern Sesame Seed Cookies to make it healthier and to be able to use ingredients I had readily available at home.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sesame seeds (substituted toasted flax seeds - available at Trader Joe's)
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (cut this to 1/2 cup)
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (used whole wheat flour)
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. If using sesame seeds toast them in dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring until golden brown, about 5 minutes, set aside to cool.
3. In mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend.
4. In separate bowl, mix flour, toasted sesame seeds (or readily available toasted flax seeds), baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture.
5. Scoop 1 rounded tablespoon of dough and drop onto lightly greased or nonstick cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
6. Bake until cookies are browned on the edges and feel firm to the touch, about 10 minutes (mine took about 15-20 minutes to reach this stage). Using a spatula, transfer cookies to a rack and let cool.

Makes about 20 cookies.

Store cookies in an airtight jar or tin at room temperature for up to three days.

Instead of being a chewy cookie, mine turned out more like "crisps". They did have some "chew" to them, probably due to the brown sugar but I liked the crispy edges and the flavor of the toasted flax seeds. I haven't done a blood glucose test after eating these yet since I've only allowed myself to munch on a crumb or two as a snack but the sugar and flour split between 20 cookies seems a small amount.

Original recipe was for Sour Cream Banana Bread

I altered the recipe to make it more diabetic friendly but I first must say, my husband didn't like it at all. I find it edible but not delicious so will have to make some tweaks to it to see if I can make it better. It has a very nutty flavor because I used almond flour (available at Trader Joe's) and quite a bit of walnuts.

It barely alters my blood glucose but is quite filling so works well for one of my daily snacks.

Wet Ingredients (mix first):
1/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 large ripe bananas)
1/2 cup lowfat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry ingredients (mix in a separate bowl):
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Use non-stick spray on mini muffin pan or large loaf pan. Mix together wet ingredients until well blended. Mix dry ingredients together in separate bowl then add to wet ingredients. Mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated, do not over mix. If using a muffin pan or mini loaf pan, bake about 15 to 20 minutes (until cake tester comes out clean). If baking large loaf, probably will be 35 to 40 minutes (use a cake tester).

I made some with or without nuts and I made muffins as well. Beware, bread will stick to muffin liners, so not advisable to bake this way. Next attempt will include more bananas for flavor and probably more oil (instead of mostly applesauce). I was surprised I could taste the Splenda aftertaste so I may need to try a different sweetener.

I spent a relaxing morning at the Burke Williams Spa. For Christmas, Ron presented me a package of pregnancy massages and this was my first visit. I've had one previous massage while pregnant at La Biang Thai where they have you lie on your side. At Burke Williams, they have a special pillow that has a cut-out in the center for your chest and belly and you are supported by your shoulders and thighs. It was so comfortable! I miss being able to sleep on my stomach... I wish I could get one of those pillows for home!

Included with the pregnancy massage is a complimentary milk bath. It's a private bath with or without jacuzzi jets and they supply you with cucumbers for your eyes, an ice cold towel, ice cold water to drink, and a platter of fresh cut fruits. It was lovely, I almost fell alseep. The tub is the perfect size for me too so that I'm not in danger of drowning if I slip down too far. I'm looking forward to my next few sessions before baby makes his appearance.

Ron met me for lunch so we just went downstairs to the food court of Westfield. We ended up at Jody Maroni's which is a sausage sandwich place. It's in the corner on the Bloomingdale's side.

I ordered the Kobe Beef Hot Dog... just thought it sounded interesting. It is served on an onion roll. I missed bread... I didn't allow myself to eat the whole thing though. I couldn't really tell it was Kobe Beef, just tasted like regular beef so I don't think I'd pay the extra cost the next time around.

Ron ordered the chicken pomegranate sausage with garlic fries. The sausage is served with grilled onions and peppers. A bit sweet and spicy.

After my morning massage I had a lot more energy, I did four loads of laundry, cleaned up the house, baked, and did some sewing. It was a nice way to end the long weekend.

I attempted to make healthy madeleines for our NYE dinner dessert but they didn't quite turn out as I would've liked. But thought I'd share my experiment.

I purchased the green tea (matcha) powder from Lupicia, which is around $15 for 100 grams, so that I could try this green tea madeleine recipe found here. I won't post what I did (unless someone really wants to know) until I tweak it a bit to make it more acceptable. The cookies turned out a bit dry and not quite enough green tea flavor.

I originally was going to make lavender madeleines but then changed them to chocolate using dark chocolate cocoa powder. These also turned out a bit dry, perhaps due to overbaking. Using agave nectar, you're supposed to bake a bit longer but I think I may have overdone it and dried out the cake.

In these recipes I tried using whole wheat flour and agave sweetener to make them healthier but I will continue to experiment and hopefully come out with a better tasting madeleine.

Ron and I had lunch in Chinatown today at Capital Restaurant. He said they are famous for their salt & pepper chicken wings so we ordered that plus a bowl of BBQ pork wonton noodles.

The chicken wings were nice and crispy and very salty and peppery (a bit too much for me). The meat was very juicy and tender.

The noodles were a bit overcooked for me, I like them al dente but the broth was good and the wontons decent. The BBQ pork was a bit fatty but then Ron said he might have eaten all the non-fatty pieces.

Overall it was an okay lunch but I'm just not that big a fan of salt & pepper chicken wings. The restaurant seemed clean and overall the service was efficient.

Finding ourselves in Daly City, we had a snack at Yogurt Circle at Westlake Shopping Center. Now that I've discovered that frozen yogurt has less carbohydrates than I originally thought, I've been sort of craving for it since I can't really eat too much ice cream (too much lactose and sugar). It's 39 cents per ounce self serve so I chose mango tart and strawberry-banana yogurt topped with mochi and slivered almonds, this bowl was about $2.50.

They also have a stamp card for buy 6, get the 7th bowl free. I might be back...

Capital Restaurant
839 Clay Street

Yogurt Circle
500 Westlake Shopping Center
Daly City, CA

We rang in the new year at our friends' condo in SOMA. On their rooftop we could see a bit of the fireworks (although there was a taller condo in front that partially obstructed our view). Just a few pictures to share.

With the ladies in our friends' kitchen just finishing up our new year's eve meal (before they get to playing poker).

View of the city before the fireworks.

Happy New Year!

I love the smiley face ones.

Enjoying a bubbly drink.

Happy 2010! What are your new year's resolutions?