June 30: National Meteor Watch Day

Today was National Meteor Watch Day.

So I went outside at night to watch for meteors.

And this is what I saw.

What is this a picture of you may ask? Good question.

It's the night sky. I didn't see any meteors. I didn't really expect to see any meteors.

Fail.

But at least I tried.

It's the effort that counts.

June 29: National Waffle Iron Day

You all know that I love cinnamon. And along with cinnamon, comes my love of cinnamon rolls.

I recently made my mom homemade cinnamon rolls for her birthday. They were very popular.

You may wonder what cinnamon rolls have to do with waffle irons?

That's an easy one.

Because you can take cinnamon roll dough (from a can), but instead of baking them in the oven, you cook them in a waffle iron.

You then get cinnamon roll waffles. Two delicious breakfast goods cooked into one.

You simply take the raw cinnamon roll dough and put it in the middle of your waffle iron. Close the top and cook for a few minutes.

Look how luscious and cute it looks! Luscious and cute? Those aren't two adjectives you usually use in the same sentence. In this situation I found it fitting though.

Toss some of the frosting they provide you on top. Let it melt into the warm cinnamon roll turned waffle and enjoy.

And here is a beautiful plateful.

I should probably tell you that the cinnamon part really sticks to the waffle iron. As in it's a pain in the butt to clean it.

It's worth it though.

And really, what fun is it if it's easy? The real things in life, now those are worth working for.

June 28: National Paul Bunyan Day

What do Paul Bunyan and my mom have in common?

Do they both have big feet?

Do they both have a blue ox?

Or maybe, they both have beards? (Kidding mother! It's a joke!)



Well actually, they both share the same National Day! Today is National Paul Bunyan Day, and it's also my mom's birthday! (I won't tell you how old she is though.)

I didn't really know how to celebrate Paul Bunyan day, so we will just focus on my mom's birthday!

But I do have a random Paul Bunyan story. My grandpa used to have a lake house in Northern California. Nearby, there was a mini-golf course that had probably a 50-foot tall Paul Bunyan statue. That thing was huge! And one night, it just disappeared. How it disappeared, no one quite knows. It would have taken a logging truck to move that thing. And it was in a residential area, so don't you think someone would have heard some noise at night and investigated? And then how exactly does one hide a 50-foot wooden statue of Paul Bunyan? We all assume it must be at the bottom of the lake. Which is quite a tragedy. Poor Paul Bunyan.

Anyways, a very Happy Birthday to my beautiful mom! She is my rock. She makes me good food and she puts up with my antics. Did you read yesterday's story about how I broke the watering system? I'm pretty sure she was trying to keep a straight face while my (frustrated) dad tried to talk me through how to fix it over the phone. She constantly reminds me not to flail around and that I don't need to yell while talking. She has my best interests in mind.

No, my mom is not turning 20. She made this birthday cake for me a couple of years ago though!

And an awkward family photo! This is a picture from 5 years ago! I have a feeling it was bright out that day.

Anyways, Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! Thanks for everything you do!

June 27: National Sunglasses Day

This story has nothing to do with today's National Day.

That's ok. It's a good story. A great story now. The thing about stories, is that they are hardly great while they are actually happening. This one was panicky and nervous and could have ended up very bad.

It's been hot here. Like 100 degrees hot. My parents are currently out of town. (No, do not come to my house and rob me.)

This means I am in charge of watering the green house and other outdoor plants. My dad lives for his yard. He keeps it well manicured and he is constantly expanding. Then he complains it is a lot to keep up with, then he expands again. Anyways, whenever I am left in charge of watering, I am always slightly nervous. Because if I mess up, what would happen to me? So I always make sure to do a very good job.

I was watering the indoor green house. It was hot. It was even hotter in the green house because, well, it's a green house. I decided, that on this hot hot day, the plants would probably enjoy a 360 degree water experience. What exactly does that mean you may ask? That means, that I decide to swing the hose above my head like a lasso so it looks like a helicopter. Except, remember this is an indoor greenhouse. Which has an electrical fan. It is also rather small. KABANG the water hit the fan and the fan died with a squealing noise.

Huh. How about that.

I didn't think it was that big of a deal but I sent this text to my parents,

I almost immediately received a phone call. My parents had taken my grandma out to eat, but in the middle of dinner, an alarming text like that, required a phone call. Dad asked some questions like "Can you pull the string next to the light bulb and see if the light turns on?" Well, that required me balancing carefully on a brick to reach the string, but in the end, no, the light did not turn on. That meant I had lost the electricity connection and possibly turned off the whole outdoor watering system.

Dad made a long sighing noise but kept his composure. He would call me after he was done eating dinner. He may, or may not, have had another glass of wine before leaving the restaurant.

Dad and I would later spend 50 minutes on the phone as he tried to diagnose the problems. This involved me walking between different electrical boxes located in the garage and the barn. I checked the breaker switches, turned them off, turned them on, turned them off again, and then turned them on again. I hit a million different reset buttons. I would then listen to see if the cistern was being filled up.

 Oh and yeah, I have a fear of going inside the barn because I have a fear that a homeless man is living in there. I don't have a reason to believe that a homeless man is living in there, but hey, it's next to a green house (a food source), it is covered and indoors, it is next to a hose (a water source) and there is a ping pong table in there (an entertainment source). Upon entering the barn the first time, I yelled out "HELLO???" and Dad answers, "Yes, I can still hear you." I had to notify him that I wasn't talking to him, I was checking for intruders.

I pushed a half-million more buttons, turned on different switches, and finally, some combination of all that reset the system. The cistern filled with water, and those beautiful, glorious, life-saving sprinklers turned on once again.

We all learned several lessons this night.

1. It is important to leave a DO NOT list as well as a TO DO list when leaving me alone with the house.

2. Lassoing a hose above your head is never a good idea in an enclosed area where there is electricity.

I have to give my dad credit, he remained surprisingly calmed. He later informed me I would have had to hand-water the whole grass and all his plants which would have taken about 3 hours every day.

Ain't nobody got time for that!

But all is well, the grass is still green, and I am still alive.

Anyways, Happy National Sunglasses Day!

This day is in honor of my mom. She loves sunglasses. She wears them everyday of the year while driving, even in a snowstorm because of the "glare." Along with her love of sunglasses, comes a talent for breaking and losing them.

She has spent a lot of money on sunglasses over the years! It's risky to leave an extra pair of sunglasses in my car, because if she happens to be in my car, she also has most likely left her own sunglasses at home. Which mean she has to borrow them. Which means that she will probably lose a screw out of one side and one of the ear-pieces will fall off. I don't know if mom has a magnetic brain or something, but when she puts on the sunglasses, the screws tend to pop out. And those screws are tiny so it makes finding them difficult, if not impossible. If I break sunglasses, it's because they were in my bag and got squished. I have never lost a screw out of sugnlasses in my whole life.

Let's just call this a talent of mom's.

Mom and I are both wearing Disney sunglasses in that picture. We are also at Disneyland. Do you see the sunglasses mom is wearing? She bought two pairs last October. They are both broken now. Bad luck I tell you. I however, still have my pair. They are safe and sound and I am hiding them from my mom.

This is a picture of a picture so it is kind of hard to tell what is going on. The original picture was taken over 15 years ago. We had just moved back from Singapore. A friend of my mom's, had sent my mom a pair of sunglasses for everyday of the week! I'm not sure how long all these pairs lasted, but it wasn't long enough. Even other people know my mom and her infamous sunglasses issue.

June 26: National Chocolate Pudding Day

I was at the grocery store browsing the pudding section when I found it.

The most delicious sounding pudding mixture! I may have dramatically gasped out loud and then hugged it to my chest. The man who was restocking may or may not have laughed at me.

Coconut Chocolate pudding! We all know I have a love for coconut. Because why would I get regular chocolate when I can get coconut chocolate pudding?

It was creamy. And chocolately. And coconuty. I may have found a new favorite dessert.

June 25: National Strawberry Parfait Day

A quick search on the web yields literally dozens of different recipes for National Strawberry Parfait Day. I had the task of narrowing it down to find a good one. Some involved strawberry ice cream and others involved strawberry jello.

I'm not the biggest fan of jello and ice cream didn't sound very parfait-y to me.

So...

I present you with:

JazzyJ's Strawberry Cream Cheese Yogurt Parfait:

Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup slices strawberries
- various toppings (optional) (such as chocolate shavings or almonds)

Directions:
1. Using a mixer, blend the cream cheese and sugar together. Add in the vanilla yogurt and mix until smooth and creamy.
2. Pour into glasses or small bowls. Top with (pre-washed) sliced strawberries and enjoy.
3. Top with toppings if desired.

This strawberry parfait would probably be good with any other fruit. Especially blueberries. I checked on my dad's blueberry bushes today and they are looking swell! I can't wait to harvest them.

This was a very refreshing dessert/snack. I needed a refreshing snack today because it was about 90 degrees here today and it's expected to keep climbing until it's 100 this weekend. It's gonna be a hot one.

Stay cool and stay safe.

June 24: National Pralines Day

To be honest, I didn't know what a praline was. I thought it was a specific type of nut. I'm not a huge fan of nuts. But then I realized pralines are basically like peanut-brittle or other types of caramelized nuts. I like almonds and happened to have some on hand, so I decided to make Almond Pralines.

Toast them almonds!

JazzyJ's Easy Almond Pralines:

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 cup water

Boil that water and sugar!

Directions:
1. Toast the almonds in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes, or until nicely tanned.
2. Place sugar, water, honey, and butter in a sauce pan and stir constantly until it is at a steady boil and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Let sit, without stirring, until the mixture has thickened and is a nice amber color.
4. Pour the liquid over the toasted almonds on a pan.
5. Let sit until set.
6. Break into pieces and enjoy.

And there you go! Caramelized almonds, also known as almond pralines!

June 23: National Wear Pink Day

When I go all out, I go ALL out.

It's kinda hard to take selfies of your whole body. This is a situation in which a selfie-stick would come in handy.

Anyways, I'm sporting spandex with pink swirls on them, a pink shirt, a pink boa, a pink headband, and even pink mascara (which you can't really see). I also am wearing a pink pineapple bathing suit bottom over my spandex. I"m also wearing pink underwear under all that but you aren't going to see a picture of that.

Do you remember Liliana Cecelia Grace? She would like to point out that she is ALWAYS wearing pink. (She thinks this day is merely to celebrate her) :D

Did you wear pink today?

June 22: National Onion Ring Day

Until today, I didn't understand that one can make onion rings at home. I always thought you had to have like a restaurant deep fryer.

Then I found a recipe that you could cook the onion rings on the stove top in oil. Except, I'm banned from cooking in oil because of an incident involving me, my mom, some churros, and a large splatter of oil on the ceiling. That's all I am going to say about that.


BUT THEN...

I present you, Onion Rings that are cooked in the oven!

JazzyJ's Oven Baked Onion Rings:

Ingredients:
- 1 large onion (I used a sweet onion)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder (I didn't have onion powder so I used onion salt)

Then I got created and added:
- 1 tablespoons paprika
- and some pepper (I didn't measure)

Those are onions being floured in a bag.

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray a baking sheet.
2 .Slice the onion width wise and separate the onions into rings.
3. Put the flour in a bag. Mix up the bread crumbs, garlic powder, and whatever other seasonings or flavors you want in a bag.
4. Place the lightly beaten egg whites in a different bowl.
5. Place the onion circles in a bag of flour. Lightly shake the bag until the onion circles are covered in flour. You may have to do this several times with the different onion circles. Do NOT cram every single onion circle into the same bag at the same time. Use patience and do a few at the same time.
6. Now form an assembly line. Take the lightly floured onion circle and dip it in the egg white so it is covered, then roll it in the bread crumb mixture until covered.
7. Lay the onion circle on the lightly greased pan. Repeat until all the onion circles have made it through the assembly line.
8. Cook in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes. They should be a golden brown color.

Gettin' their bread on.

While the front onion ring may be a little blurry, I think this photo is very artistic.

They were relatively easy and since they aren't cooked in oil, they are probably kinda healthy for you. I mean, onions are vegetables, and vegetables are healthy for you.

Ready to bake.

Up close and personal.

I may have eaten almost a whole onion's worth in one sitting. I think my onion breathe might have scared off my cat.

In conclusion, I would make these again. In a heart beat. I might even get a little more wild and throw in some other spices.

June 21: Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

I dedicate this post to my fabulous Dad, lover of football, beer, fishing, skiing, mowing the lawn, and dragging me against my will to baseball games.

Please ignore the young boy standing next to my dad. I have no idea who he is!


Most every year for Father's Day, we see a baseball game. Now this isn't a professional baseball team. Because that probably wouldn't be too bad. This is a semi-pro (?) team. It consists of college baseball players who play on these leagues during the summer to keep up their baseball skills.

One year, the theme for this baseball game we went to was Hawaiian. Which meant you got in for very cheap if you dressed up in a Hawaiian shirt. The only problem is, I don't own a Hawaiian shirt. I don't want to own a Hawaiian shirt. So what happened? I had to wear an ugly poop-brown Hawaiian shirt that used to belong to my brother. You better believe that once I was in, that thing got ripped off, never to be put on again.

My parent's think it's funny to get the announcer at the baseball game to announce that it is my birthday. It is never my birthday. That is the last place I would ever want to spend my birthday. So ever year, one of my parents sneaks off (they pretend they are going to the bathroom) and they inform the announcer of my birthday. Now you may wonder why I don't just keep track of my parents so that they can't inform the announcer? Well you see, if one parent goes to the bathroom, and I decide to accompany them, the other parent just sneaks off. I can never win.

Anyways, this year my dad was unfortunately gone, so we couldn't go see a baseball game! My dad spent this Father's Day taking care of my grandma (his mother). Which proves, that besides from being a fantastic day, he is also a fantastic son!

For some reason my mom decides she has to be in every photo so I am having a problem finding a picture of just my dad and I.


Besides our disagreement on the "funness factor" of baseball games, I have the best dad. He carted me between college and home numerous times (I didn't have a car.) He likes to take me to movies and out for frozen yogurt. He worked hard so that he could take our family on vacations.

He is a silly guy and only a little embarrassing. (The first time one of my friends from college was at my house, he got up and did an interpretive dance.)

And even though he wears an attrocious hat, I love him, and I wouldn't change a thing about him.

I LOVE YOU DAD!

Finally a picture of just the two of us! We are waiting to get on Tower of Terror. The only reason mom isn't in this picture is because she doesn't go on this ride.

Happy Father's Day!

 Another picture of just the two of us!

And another one! In case you are wondering what I am wearing. This was my eccentric outfit I wore when I went pond skimming. I was the Duck Knight. Which is a cross between the Dark Knight and the Ducks (my college's mascot.)

Please Read:

Dear Friends and Family,

 It has come to my attention that several of you have been over zealous when it comes to clicking ads on my blog (eyedealinbakedgoods.blogspot.com). Please only click on an ad if it actually interests you. Please do not click on an ad just to click on it. 

I appreciate your support by reading my blog. 

 Thank you for understanding.

 Janelle

June 20: National Ice Cream Soda Day

My favorite type of ice cream soda, by far, without any competition, is root beer floats!

It's the only type of ice cream soda I like actually.

Refreshing. Foamy. Crisp.

June 19: National Martini Day

Has anyone ever watched Scrubs? I loved that show, until it switched producers and the last few seasons were awful.

Anyways, I love JD. I thought of JD on this day because he loved apple martinis. Clearly a very manly drink ;)

I don't think I have ever had a martini before. So clearly I wanted a sweet and decadent one. A chocolate martini sounded good to me!

Note: If you go to the liquor store to buy chocolate alcohol, do not be persuaded to buy a cheap bottle of tequila just because the bottle was super cool. Not even if the bottle is gold with a skull design on it and it is labeled "limited edition collector's item." You don't need this bottle of cheap tequila.

Note 2: The above mentioned may or may not have happened to me.

JazzyJ's Chocolate Martini Recipe:

Ingredients:
- chocolate liquor (I used creme de cocoa because it was cheap)
- vodka (plain flavored, unless you want to be adventurous)
- half and half

Directions:
Mix 2 parts chocolate liquor with 1 part vodka and 1 part half and half.

Shake over ice and serve chilled. I decided to be extra fancy (because doesn't a chocolate martini just sound like a really fancy drink?). I dipped the top of my glass into the creme de cocoa and then dipped it in cocoa powder. 

Since this is a martini, you may want it shaken.

But what do you do if you don't have a martini shaker?

Well clearly you improvise and use a protein shake shaker!

It worked well for me.

As you may have noticed, this is actually a margarita glass, not a martini glass. I had to improvise. My dad had to drink his chocolate martini glass out of a wine glass. That's just the way we roll around here.

This may or may not be the alcohol I bought just for the bottle :D It's okay though, I know I'll put the tequila to good use. Can anyone say Hello Margaritas?

June 18: National Dump the Pump Day

Today is all about celebrating other forms of transportation that encourage you to save gas.

You can carpool, take public transportation such as a train or bus, you can walk, ride your bike, or even ride a unicycle. Just don't drive alone in a car, and don't fill up your tank with gas today, because today is all about "dumping that pump." At first, I was confused what "dump the pump" meant. In a moment of confusion, I thought that today was about celebrating getting your septic tank pumped. But that would be weird. Dump and pump? Do you get it?

I do actually unicycle. I think I was 16 when this picture was taken. I was such a baby!

Also, that is not my helmet I am wearing in that picture.

And here I am again! I have no idea why I am wearing a long sleeved shirt under a short sleeve shirt. I am NOT that type of person.
Do you see those spandex though? I made them. They are part of my super mad sewing skills.

One day my Etsy store will expand to include spandex.  Or maybe I will just open up my bakery and sell my spandex in there? But that's only if I don't join the circus (clearly I have the unicycling skills to join a circus). On that note, in my senior yearbook, I was voted "Most likely to join a circus."

SO MUCH TO DO AND SO LITTLE TIME. 

I temporarily thought that once my Disneyland internship ended, I would stay in the area because Anaheim has a Clown College!  I remember telling my mom that and she got super upset and exclaimed "I will NOT have a carnie for a daughter." Clearly I was joking (well, I was joking a little.) Also, the word "carnie" is not polite. So don't use it. 

I digressed a little up there, but that's okay. I hope you carpooled today!

June 17: National Eat Your Vegetables Day

I am very particular when it comes to vegetables that I will eat.

I mostly only eat green vegetables. I can only think of one exception to this rule, and that is corn, which is yellow.

I never ever eat red vegetables. Because red vegetables are things like tomatoes and red peppers. Two things I can't stand. If there has been a tomato touching anything on my plate, I will find out, and I will hunt you down. I can't stand the taste of tomatoes.

Vegetables that I eat:
- asparagus
- peas
- green beans
- spinach (raw in it's natural form, not cooked)
- broccoli
- avocado (is avocado a vegetable?) (regardless, I eat them)
- sometimes lettuce
- corn (especially on the cob)
- cucumber

And that's that. My dad has a greenhouse in which he grows a plethora of vegetables. Luckily a lot of them are green, so I am "allowed" to eat them.

Note: I do not eat all green vegetables. I avoid kale, zucchini, and bok choy at any and all costs.

June 16: National Fudge Day

Gooey. Rich. Creamy. Decadent. Smooth. Tongue-swirling. Bold. Jubilant. Elated.

These are all words I think of when I think of fudge or when I think of eating fudge.

I made some really easy fudge to celebrate today. It only consisted of three ingredients.

JazzyJ's Super Easy Red Velvet Oreo Cookie White Chocolate Fudge:

Ingredients:
- 12 ounces white chocolate chips
- 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
- 2 cups crushed Oreo cookies (I used Red Velvet Oreo cookies because I had them in stock)

Note: Since this was such an easy recipe, I determined that it needed a long name.

Directions:
1. Crush the Oreos. I did this by putting the Oreos in a thick bag and gently hitting it with a rolling pin. Be careful because you don't want to pulverize the cookies and end up with just dust.
2. On low-medium heat, melt the white chocolate chips with the condensed milk until thick and creamy.
3. Quickly stir in the crushed cookies and spread into an 8" by 8" pan that is lined with wax paper.
4. Let sit until completely cool, either at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Eat and think of other strong descriptive words to describe this fudge!

Do you see that junk missing in the bottom corner? Yes I had to eat some almost immediately. This fudge is really sweet and really rich. I forgot that with fudge, less is more. I ate a little too much of this fudge (because it was addicting) and then I got a bit of a tummy ache. So eat with caution!

Note: I think the fact that I used Red Velvet Oreos instead of just regular Oreos really made this fudge better. I am in love with those Oreos anyways. I am even more in love with this fudge.

June 15: National Smile Power Day

I've heard that you should smile when you answer the phone, because the other person will be able to tell.

I kept this little tid-bit of advice in my mind when I had my interview for the Disney College program (DCP).

I smiled when I answered that phone call (the most important phone call I have ever had in fact!) and I kept smiling the whole time.

As you know, I did get the internship at Disneyland and it did change my life. And maybe I got the internship because my interviewer was able to sense my smile. You never know.

I did a lot of smiling at Disneyland because you are supposed to smile and be happy. And I was happy.

I was reading an article in which a study determined that people find those who are smiling more attractive. No duh! Would you really find someone who looked grumpy more attractive than someone who was smiling? Sometimes I wonder about these "studies."

Smile because Mickey Mouse is ALWAYS smiling.

Smile because ice cream exists and ice cream is delicious.

Smile because Christmas at Disney is so magical that sometimes it's overwhelming in all ways good.

Smile because friends are one of the best parts of life.

Smile because let's be honest, this is one of the best photo bombers I have ever seen.

Anyways, go out and smile to the world, and see if just perhaps, the world is smiling back at you.