Mash-up Mania!

I am a lover of good music mash-ups and I cannot get enough of Madeon - Pop Culture. Oh man when I first saw that video I put that thing on repeat!! Ever since the viral hit, people are posting cool videos to the music and oh yeah the song NEVER gets old. The first video is the original and the rest are neat spin-offs!!

Black and White

This is probably my favorite thing to post; black and white photos, particularly fashion photography. These photos are just so elegant.

S'mores

Today I baked something completely new from Baker Girl Blog, Graham Cracker S'mores Candy. They looked so delicious and s'mores are the ultimate summer treat. (So much for no sweets diet!) Wanna try? Check the recipe below! *Tip: To cool faster, I stuck my tray in the fridge. If you cut too soon, it's a gooey mess!

Graham Cracker S'mores Candy via Baker Girl Blog

12 sheets of graham crackers
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 Hershey bars, broken into pieces
1 cup milk chocolate chips



Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang over the ends, and spray foil with cooking spray. Line graham crackers up on the foil so that the sides are touching.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and mixture comes just to a boil (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers. Bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until bubbly.

Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle mini marshmallows, chocolate bar pieces, and chocolate chips over the crackers. 



Return pan to oven for another 2-3 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften and puff up. 

Cool completely. Lift from pan using foil edges; cut into bars and enjoy!

Freshest of the Fresh!

Today is the Garden Dinner Party at one of our properties! The F&B team held a special reception this afternoon where Chef Nic, Chef Travis and Tim Connelly of Connelly Farms spoke to our guests about how our on-property garden came about! All tray passed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails at the reception, plus the dishes presented at the dinner were made with ingredients fresh from the garden. The table decor was also made by our florals team using ingredients from the garden as well! Our food and beverage team is extremely talented and I'm proud to showcase their hard work! Listed below are the goodies from the reception and the menu that will be presented at dinner.

Hors D'oeuvres

• Salmon Tartare, poppy seed wonton, shallot crème fraiche
• Green Gazpacho Shooter, micro celery
• Pistacho Crusted Bison, wine poached pears, goat cheese

Cocktails

• Aromatherapy Cosmopolitan, goose la ‘orange, grand marnier, white cranberry juice, lime, simple syrup, tea forte lavender infusion
• Cucumber Cilantro Gin-arita, hendricks gin, diced cucumbers, cilantro, agave nectar, splash of orange juice, triple sec

Dining Odyssey: Garden Dinner Party Menu

• Hamachi Tartare, sesame strudel, madras curry
• Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, chicken oysters, black garlic, honshimeji mushrooms
• Farmer Tim’s Heirloom Tomato Salad, first press olive oil, goats milk feta, compressed watermelon
• Seared Duck Breast, cherry polenta, asparagus, fig compote, natural jus
• Charcoal Grilled Elysian Fields Lamb, turnip gratin, sauteed chard, smoked bacon and cipollini confit
• Wild Berry Clafoutis, vanilla bean ice cream and lemon cookies

Behind the scenes

To gear up for fall we needed new photography to promote the programming around one of the properties. Activities and events such as Halloween, Thanksgiving pies, smores around the fireplace and outdoor music. Thinking that my manager would lead this project, she turned to me and gave me the reigns! I led my first all-property shoot, it was so much fun and I loved every minute of it! Take a peek!

To Temecula!

Today was a very long day, but overall great! Had a morning meeting in Temecula, celebrated manager's birthday with bomb-diggity chocolate mousse cake made by the property! My body acted like a vacuum to that cake, that's how good it was. After we left, boy, did it get HOT in the afternoon. You would think driving back to SD it would be cooler, nope. SO glad to be home and oh yeah....tomorrow is FRIDAY!!

The January of Fashion

It finally arrived in the mail! Goodness 758?! I can't wait to check out the editorials!!

First Food Truck

Whoo-hoo! I am proud to say that I've tried my first food truck food! I tried out Devilicious and their signature butter poached lobster grilled cheese. Verdict? Mouth-watering chunks of lobster between melted cheesy goodness and perfectly toasted bread. It was pretty freaking good. Gourmet food trucks totally fit into the California lifestyle; you couldn't find anything like this back home in WA...

The Desert

This past weekend we did some R&R in Palm Springs. I love the desert! The heat, pool and sunshine make the perfect combo for a lazy weekend. Who doesn't love laying in a pool lounge floating chair?! On the way back taking the 111, you approach Whitewater river (I think that's what it's called). It's an ice blue river in the middle of the desert and it's phenomenal.