[Hungry] Happy People

 (This song was playing during an episode of 'Friends' that Aidan, Melanie, and myself watched tonight. I figured it was a happy, upbeat song, that fit my happy, full tummy and mood in general!)

I've been cooking/baking a lot! It's lovely to have friends that also want to embark on cooking adventures with me! So, as of late, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen, whipping up absurd amounts of food! Today's quest lead to some interesting mishaps, which ultimately lead to WAY too many calories and delicious goodness!

I should back up, however, and report of my crazy awesome weekend happenings. SUMMER HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IN TACOMA! Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen...it took until July 30th for the weather to shape up, but it's managed to stay sunny and warm, always around a balmy 80 degrees! Hallelujah! That means, all of Washington is out to soak up the sun!

I started my sunny, stupendous Saturday with a run, a trip to the farmer's market, then headed to Titlow Beach with Dustin for some Cribbage and sunny beach strolling.

Dustin and I played some frisbee in the backyard before he headed off to work. After he left? Yeah...I laid out on the back deck and caught some rays and a few Zzz's prior to dinner. My friend Aidan and I have been planning on having cooking adventures since the last day of classes last semester, so we made it happen Saturday! I was in the mood to cook up Asian cuisine, so Aidan, Cailin, and I set out to make egg rolls, fried rice, and cashew chicken (mind you, two of these recipes came from a "healthy cooking" cookbook, so the meal isn't as artery clogging as it seems). After Safeway failed to sell egg roll wrappers, and the Met was FRESH out of their last package, we set off across town to an authentic Asian grocery store. We FINALLY started cooking at 8pm and sat down to eat at 9:15pm! PHEW! I failed to take pictures of that meal...cuz, well...some aspects of the meal didn't turn out so great!

But then we got FROZEN YOGURT! Bam! Melanie, Aidan, and I took off to Gibson's. I MADE THE BEST COMBO EVER! I always like to portion out my yogurt cup to make different little combinations (rather than smooshing everything together and then throwing toppings all over the place!). So, I did Key Lime Sorbet with graham cracker crust, Very Berry Sorbet with fresh Kiwi, Blueberries, and coconut, and THEN! THEN I did Chocolate/Vanilla swirl with brownie and warm peanut butter sauce. OH MY! The last one was the winning combo, even though all of them were spectacular.

We came home and promptly set out to get Aidan hooked on the Friends T.V. show. Mission accomplished. BAM!

Plans among the housemates were already in motion to make a day trip out to Bainbridge Island the next day, so Aidan crashed on the couch and ventured off with us the next morning. The weather was DUMB that day (yes, I'm aware I just rambled on about the beautiful summer weather...keep reading). We drove to Bainbridge, walked around a bit, weren't all that impressed, and paid too much for 2-bite sandwiches at a local deli. So we drove home, singing obnoxiously to the Avenue Q soundtrack, then made plans to go to the Tacoma Ethnic Fest.

Upon arrival, we strolled around. Again..we weren't all that impressed, but took the time to enjoy a fresh bag of amazing kettle corn (I ate nearly the entire bag by myself. Oops!) and bask in the newly broken sunshine! It was glorious! A game of Scrabble ensued upon arriving home (I won, thank you very much!)

Fast forward to today, Tuesday. Aidan ventured over again and we set out to make my all time favorite dish...Chicken Wellington. Now, my Mom had warned me that the typical puff pastry dough probably wouldn't be in the store. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong type of substitution dough. Oopsies! Turns out, Chicken Wellington isn't really meant to be wrapped in Phyllo dough! But we made it work!

With TONS of Phyllo left, we made Phyllo cups to make lovely (and tasty) presentations of our chocolate mousse dessert...

Aidan whipping up some whipped cream for the mousse!

Ta da!

Yeah...we're classy!

And we had SO much Phyllo dough left that I said "To hell with it!" and made a batch of Baklava. Aka: Calories and Guilt in a Pan!

This was my first batch ever. And holy cow. I'm just going to toot my own horn and say it tastes RIDICULOUS! =)

More culinary endeavors will continue to take place as the summer and school year continue. Although I'm cursed with cooking mishaps, I still enjoy the time I spend with friends in the kitchen!

It's hard to believe we're already in August - meaning school will be here before we know it - but I've certainly enjoyed every bit of this summer...poopy Washington weather and all!