Brunch Baby Shower in Texas

Six months into my pregnancy, I flew home to Texas to visit family and friends. We first flew to Austin for a friend’s wedding and then drove back to my hometown of Sugar Land to see my family. I’m so glad I did because I got to see people that I love, and they got to see my big belly.

My Kay and I

My Kay and I

Maybe we went to 6th street. Okay, yeah we did!

Maybe we went to 6th street. Okay, yeah we did!

The beautiful Driskill Hotel

The beautiful Driskill Hotel

A little bit of us for a while longer

A bit of only us for a little longer!

A bit of only us for a little longer!

When I was home, my parents and sister threw me a mini baby shower with my aunts and cousins. That was a nice surprise to have a brunch shower. Lots of food including a crepe cake, fruit tart, french toast, croissant casserole, Torchy’s queso, and bacon deviled eggs.

Delicious!

Delicious!

We also played a fun little game, similar to pin the tail on the donkey, but a much more adult version. It’s funny playing a game like this with your cousins, aunts, and dad! If you want to try out some adrenaline-pumping games with your family, sites such as FM카지노 might have something great to offer.

Pin the sperm on the egg!

Pin the sperm on the egg!

Ming-Gih and little MG

Ming-Gih and little MG

These photos totally remind me to count my blessings. I’m fortunate to have the people around me to love and support me through my entire pregnancy.

^^^ My sister and mom ^^^

^^^ My sister and mom ^^^

I love my mama

I love my mama

No love like the one between a mother and daughter!

Did anyone else fly during the end of their second trimester? What did you do? What about third trimester? How was that experience?

Lots of love,
Jay

Brunch at Home

March means Spring is here. March also means it’s Mg’s birthday month! One of my best girlfriends also shares this birthday month too!  As you can imagine there’s tons of eating and splurging that goes on in March.

This past Saturday, I decided to cook brunch for the birthday boy and girl. Such a fun thing to do! Brunch in an intimate environment, save some money, and eat home cooked food. On the menu was crab cakes benedict, apple smoked bacon (from TJ’s, best bacon evarrr!), hash browns, fruit, and mimosas. Delicious and oh-so-filling!

Centerpiece
^^^ My sweet centerpiece. Holly’s present in the middle, with a gorgeous daffodil. Perfect for Spring!

Holly & David
Holly and David

MG&J
The Lams

Birthday girl
Birthday girl ^^^ Happy birthday Holly!

Birthday boy
My sweet Mingus ^^^

Here’s my crab cake recipe so that you can have your own brunch at home. It’s a classic recipe, without any fluff, just a lot of sweet, pure crab meat.

Ingredients:

  • 16 oz jumbo lump crab meat (You can purchase for $15 at Costco)
  • 1  egg
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 1/4 cups breadcrumbs (I used my homemade breadcrumbs, instructions here)
  • 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions for crab cake:
1. In a large bowl, mix together the crab meat, mayo, mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, onions, and pepper. Beat the egg and pour it into the crab mixture. Combine well. Then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place into the fridge for 20 minutes.
2. High heat to heat up a large pan and add butter. Once the butter is melted, turn the heat down to medium, and place 1/3 cup of crab mix onto the pan. Shape each patty to your liking.
3. This next part is all about patience. Leave the crab cake on the pan for 5-6 minutes, until golden brown. Then very carefully flip each crab cake and cook the other side for 5-6 minutes. Set the cakes aside and let it cool for 1 minute. It’s ready to eat!

Crab Cakes

Pan Frying

Gorgeous

Done

Directions for crab cake benedict:

1.To make hollandaise, whisk 4 egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice together until light in color and fluffy. Mixture should thicken and double in volume. Use a mixer if you have one! It’ll make it easier. Melt half a cup of butter and let it cool but not solidify. Prepare a double boiler, pour in the egg yolks and continue whisking rapidly. You do not want your eggs to cook. Then slowly pour in the butter to the egg yolks – do not stop whisking! Add a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of salt. Once the hollandaise sauce is thickened and warm, it’s ready!
2. Toast an english muffin, then spread butter onto the muffin.
3. Now combine your ingredients – first the muffin, then the crab cake, add a poached egg, and a spoonful of hollandaise sauce. Brunch away!

Brunch

So much food! As you can imagine, we had food comas afterwards. We tried to fight it by walking to the local farmer’s market, but once it hit 3pm, it was nap time.

What’s your favorite brunch item? And also tell me your favorite brunch restaurant (because I may need to go check it out).

What did you do this weekend?
Jay
—–
Original hollandaise sauce recipe

Yacht Partay!

What did you do this weekend?

Oh me? You know… the norm… just went to a yacht party. That’s all. Boarded in gorgeous Sausalito. Curled my hair. Wore heels (not my running shoes). Typical fancy schmancy stuff. You know me!

Yeah right! My normal weekend is eating a lot. And a fancy weekend means hosting a LAN party. Saturday was a special occasion, our friend’s birthday bash on a yacht. It was fun to get dressed up for a reason and hang out with friends.

You know it will be a glamorous day when you start the day off with homemade brunch!

Homemade brunch
Rib-eye steak eggs benedict with bacon and a hash brown. We used the leftover steak from our Valentine’s dinner. Yum!

I’m taking reservations for brunch at the Lam house. Call me! Just kidding.

Back to the yacht… San Francisco Bay is always such a beautiful sight. Seeing Golden Gate Bridge never gets old, and sailing under it gives the bridge a whole new perspective.

Bridge
Amirite?

GangThe gang – we’re having fun! I promise!

Johnson
GQ – He’s single ladies!

Dan and Jess
My roommate, Jess, and Dan

Jay and MG
Me and my Mingus

MG
Whoa, that guy is handsome  <3 <3 <3

We drove by a scenic spot to look at the Bridge too. This foggy city honestly has my heart.

View

After the yacht party, four of us went to the city to have dinner. We went to one of my favorite restaurants, Limón Rotisserie, which is Peruvian food. The food is delicious, and the the dishes are affordable (~$70 for four of us, that’s under $20 a person). We then headed over to Hayes Valley to shop around and get dessert at Smitten ice cream. Smitten is a made-to-order ice cream shop in a shipping container. The ice cream is your typical gourmet ice cream with a really creamy texture. It’s about the experience and watching them make the ice cream with liquid nitrogen.

For those who got inspired by Smitten’s shipping container shop and you want to do something like that of your own, you must first gather enough information, such as Delta Mark’s guide on how to prep ground for shipping containers, so your out-of-the-box project will also be successful.

Smitten

Saturday was a fantastic day! I take for granted how beautiful San Francisco is, and it’s days like these that remind me I should be ever grateful to be where I am.

Take a moment and count your blessings. What are you grateful for?

Happy Monday!
Jay