Busy Busy!

Sorry for the lack of updates!  It's my last quarter at FIDM (only 7 more weeks!), and I got an internship this past week :)  So most of my time is consumed with all of that at the moment.  I'll try for a big update as soon as possible <3

Tis the Season to Eat and Drink!

First day back in LA, and I'm worn out from the 10 hours of traveling yesterday (and probably the wine I was fed from my chatty neighbor on the plane ;) ) So I'm just going to do a quick little post of the lovely drinks and food I enjoyed over break. 

Christmas

 In honor of my mom and grandpa's birthday on the 24th, I made some more jello shots from the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen.  For our brunch I made some Bellini's and for the evening I made Old Fashions and Pink Squirrels.  

For Christmas Dinner at my Dad's side we had our traditional meal; turkey, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, onions, parsnips, brussel sprouts, squash, stuffing, green bean casserole, and cranberries...seriously so good, my eyes are usually bigger than my stomach :)  A tradition has kind of developed for me to make the dessert, so this year I made Apple Cranberry Streusel Custard Pie (the recipe makes enough for two pies!)  I love cranberries, so I was a big fan.  

New Years

 Another tradition with my family is to fondue for New Year's Eve.  I've missed out the past several years, but I stayed in town this year and enjoyed the celebration!  We do an oil, swiss cheese, and chocolate fondue.  I had the idea of using ravioli this year, which my dad was skeptical about, but everyone seemed to enjoy it, yay me ;P  We consumed booze of all sorts, but compliments to my dad for suggesting and making us Cosmos!  I continued the jello shot trend and made a variation of the Double Rainbow Cake shot, using just yellow food coloring and sprinkles.  

Someone had too much party ;)   I think that wine glass was spilled twice! 

It was a delicious holiday season...Time to start bootcamp with my roommate I think!

Today's Cooking
Now that I'm back to the real world I had to restock my groceries...$120 later...

 Stuffed pastas are one of my favorite dishes, I would love to try making my own pasta at some point, but for now doctored up store bought works fine :P  I did a google search for "ravioli sauces" and found the Cheese Ravioli with Crab and Garlic Sauce recipe.  I halved the sauce recipe but still used about 4 oz of pasta (I can't really see how you can get six servings from that!)  I added some white wine to the sauce, and used canned crab (since I'm not a fan of imitation crab and wasn't looking to spend the money on fresh crab).  I also sauteed some shredded carrots in with the crab to give it a bit of color.  As a side dish, I baked some artichoke hearts with parmesan cheese.  At first I didn't think the sauce was going to add much to the dish, but when it's combined with the crab it really works nicely together.  I'm pleased with the way the meal turned out, it was definitely satisfying.

Still need to do some unpacking and organizing.  I start class again tomorrow.  Break ended too soon!  

Viva Las Vegas! The Start of Christmas Break...

Sorry for the lack of updates :-X  Finals ended and Christmas break started in full swing, so I have lots to update, I'm just a bit behind ;)  

To celebrate my roommate finishing school, and her boyfriend's birthday, we went to Vegas the weekend of December 16th.  I've never been, so it was fun to learn a bit about gambling and see the casinos, etc. 

Hotel

 We stayed in the new Rush Tower of the Golden Nugget, which is in Downtown Vegas.  The hotels and gambling are generally cheaper downtown vs. the strip.  The hotel has a yummy Italian restaurant called the Grotto which we ate at twice.  I had vodka ravioli the first night and veal parmigiana towards the end of the trip...yum! 

Decor

There were amazing Christmas displays set up while we were there.  

 

The Bellagio had the most elaborate display that included a huge tree of silver and gold, fountains, polar bears made of carnations, and ice skating penguins :P 

 The Venetian was a close second, showcasing white peacocks and a pretty waterfall.  They also had ice skating in the front of the casino and my favorite tree, which looked like big iridescent bubbles. 

Beverages

The best thing about gambling is you get to drink for free while doing it ;) and you can walk the streets with your drinks as well!

 I recently bought the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen book (which sprouted from the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen blog) so we decided to test out the "Grasshopper" recipe for the drive down/arrival to Vegas.  Unfortunately Bevmo apparently doesn't carry green cream de menthe haha so they turned out looking like milk :P  Still tasty though!  I got a "Madras" mojito at one point, which is Bacardi "O" with fresh cranberries.  I'm usually not a very big mojito person, but come on it's like Christmas in a cup!  Cheers to New York New York, who is genius enough to put cup holders in their bathrooms haha.  For our final night we went to a comedy show, complete with a yard high slushie drink of course :)  and I got to wear my new dress, a cute find actually from Forever 21. 

 A trip to Vegas isn't complete without viewing the Bellagio fountain show and the Mirage volcano. 

It was a fun first experience of Vegas.  I'd definitely like to go back at some point in the future to experience a couple of the bigger shows and go dancing :)  

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, holidays, and a Happy New Year!  I have a lot of holiday photos to share from Wisconsin, but now I'm off to the airport to catch my flight back to LA.