Entries Tagged as 'billy'

Hawaiian Thanksgiving with Billy and Ging Ging

November 28th, 2011 · 4 Comments


Billy & Dallas


Dallas

Two Hawaiian guys, slippers, Hawaiian t-shirts, hibachi, kalbi. Yep, looks like a Hawaiian-themed Thanksgiving!


Hawaiian-Themed Thanksgiving Dinner

For the holiday we went to visit Billy and Ging Ging in the East Bay. We’d originally planned on skipping all the traditional Thanksgiving food and just ordering Hawaiian platters from L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, but whattaya know? L&L is closed on Thanksgiving. So we ended up making Thanksgiving dinner, but still tried for Hawaiian style instead of the American classics.


Hawaiian-Themed Thanksgiving Dinner

Dallas and Billy took care of the meats: Kalbi Korean short ribs and chicken katsu. Ging and I made the rest. Mostly Ging, ok at least under her supervision. We made a chinese salad with ramen crunchies, a warmed spinach/cranberry/pecan salad, tofu, mac salad (with and without wahoo/ono), mashed sweet potato, and fresh pineapple with li hing powder. For dessert we made haupia and a pumpkin mochi.


Damien & Matt

Matt and Amy joined us for dinner. Made made lemon meringue pie and they brought a couple bottles of wine as well.


Damien & Billy


Matt, Amy, Billy


Ging Ging, Damien, Dallas, Rachelle

Amy wasn’t sure what Billy and Ging meant when they said we were having Hawaiian foods for Thanksgiving but when we told her the menu she told us she was looking forward to all of that more than turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes!


Matt’s beautiful lemon meringue pie.


Lemon meringue pie, haupia, pumpkin mochi.

Ging and I prepared dessert plates for everyone. Each got a slice of Matt’s lemon meringue pie, a piece of haupia topped with chocolate pudding and freshly-whipped cream (kind of like haupia pie with no crust), and a piece of pumpkin mochi. The mochi didn’t really stand up to the sweetness of the pie or haupia, but when we ate it the next day on it’s own it was much better. The lemon mirengue pie was so delicious. I ate it for breakfast the next day too! And the haupia reminded me of Hawaii. I made it the night before. It was simple with a mix that Ging had from Lihue.


Ging (talking to her family & rubbing baby #2 due in April!), Matt, Amy, Billy, Damien, Dallas

After dinner and after Damien went to bed we watched a couple of movies: Super 8 and 50/50. I saw 50/50 in the theater and really liked it. I thought Super 8 was pretty good too.

I love turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and pecan pie, but this was a good alternative dinner and I was glad we did it! Also, remind us to tell you the story about how Billy and Ging don’t have a TV but borrowed one (+Direct TV). And then Dallas and Billy had to configure it so we could watch the football games on Thanksgiving. Craziness!

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Professional Wedding Photos

March 30th, 2011 · 1 Comment

We were lucky enough to have Steve Koo, an award-winning Chicago photographer (and friend), come out with us to Kauai and photograph our wedding. Steve did such a good job on our engagement photographs in Logan Square. I was excited to see what he’d come up with for the wedding.

We could not be more happy with how Steve captured the spirit of the day and all the little moments and emotions. We love Steve’s style, how saturated the photos are. It went really nicely in the tropical setting. I could not pick just a few favorite photos from the day, so I posted a whole bunch below!

For a more behind-the-scenes account of our wedding day, check out this post.

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Whale-Watching Oscars Barbecue

March 21st, 2011 · 2 Comments

Name three things you never thought would go together: Whale-watching, Oscars, barbecue! Ha.


Ging, Damien, Billy (Photo by Rob)


(Photo by Rob)


Damien (Photo by Rob)


Jordan & Liz (Photo by Jen)


Cousin, Loden, Brian (Photo by Rob)


Dallas (Photo by Rob)


Cliff Jumping (Photo by Jen)


Ross (Photo by Rob)


Brian & Jill (Photo by Kristin)

If I back up just a little bit, though, when we got back from breakfast a bunch of people had gone to Shipwreck Beach. Dallas and some others left to join them, but since we’d told people to stop by the house on Sunday, I thought I should stay there. Kristin and I sat around by the pool. I took a nap on a float. After a while, it was clear that no one was stopping by until later. I blame this on hangovers! So, Kristin and I went to Shipwrecks for a while too. I had fun playing in the surf with Brian and Chad and Jill for about an hour.


Tien, Pina Colada Master


Cousin, Dad & Dallas Grilling


Dallas, Josh & Tweeny Grilling


Richard & Amanda


Richard & Rachelle


Todd, Kelly, Damian, Vanessa, Sara, Brian, Adam, Christine, Trevor, Kate


Todd & Kelly


Such a pretty sunset!


One last sunset shot, this one taken in the same spot a few days earlier. (Photo by Kristin)

When we came home friends began coming over to hang out. Some just stopped by on their way out of town or on the way to other plans. We had a big barbecue to try to eat up our leftover food and drinks. It was a task we were not up for! We sat out on the lanai and watched whales while eating dinner. There was a beautiful sunset that night and I found a bunch of our friends across the street watching the beautiful show. Also, the Oscars were on (on a time delay) so some people were having fun watching who won. This was our last day on Kauai, so it was nice to hang out with everyone one last time.


Watching the Oscars


Watching the Oscars


Josh & Tweeny watching basketball


Paul, Kate, Caroline, Cory, Tammy, Chris, Dallas


Party Slippers


Cory & Kathy


Dallas, Danny & Chris

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Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

August 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment

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When Dallas, Billy, Josh and Killian went to the Bulls/Celtics game I decided to do a little baking. I like to bake when we have company because then I don’t have to eat everything myself. Plus, I thought they’d like a snack when they got back. Killian always says he loves my baking, so I thought the other guys would too.

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I made this recipe from the Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook, of course. I’ve made a lot of recipes from that book this year. They always turn out great and this time was no exception. Returning from the game, the guys plowed into those bars. Especially Killian, who must have downed at least half the pan himself. Not that I am complaining, It’s the best compliment when you can’t stop eating something I made!

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Martha Stewart’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

This version of a well-loved combination from childhood concentrates the flavors into a sweet dessert that appeals to all ages. We like strawberry jam, but feel free to substitute any flavor you prefer. Makes about 3 dozen.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups strawberry jam, or other flavor (I used black raspberry)
2/3 cup salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with butter, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, and coat inside of pan with flour; set aside. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. On medium speed, add eggs and peanut butter; beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

Whisk together salt, baking powder, and flour. Add to bowl of mixer on low speed; combine. Add vanilla. Transfer two-thirds of mixture to prepared pan; spread evenly with offset spatula. Using offset spatula, spread jam on top of peanut-butter mixture. Dollop remaining third of peanut-butter mixture on top of jam. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Bake until golden, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool; cut into about thirty-six 1 1/2-by-2-inch pieces.

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Shopping in Poipu & Lounging at Salt Pond Beach

July 30th, 2009 · No Comments

After checking out the Russian fort and Kauai Coffee, we drove to Poipu to go shopping at the Poipu Shopping Village. I’ve been shopping there a lot before, it’s mostly the same. I got Billy and Ging a baby gift for their first son, Damien, who was born a couple weeks ago. It was good to go down to Poipu, though, because even if the shopping village has not changed, Poipu has. There is a ton of development.. and a lot of it only half complete because of the poor economy. And, get this: There’s a roundabout in Poipu now. It’s kind of neat to see all this, but I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic over seeing the small town blow up.

After shopping we had lunch at Joe’s on the Green (at the Kiahuna Golf Course).

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Joe’s on the Green, Koloa, Kauai

joes_on_the_green_kalua_pig_sandwich
Kalua Pig Sandwich :: Joe’s on the Green, Koloa, Kauai

And then after lunch, we headed back towards Waimea, but stopped off at Salt Pond Beach in Hanapepe. Again, a place I’d always wanted to check out, but never did. Aunty Cathy told me this is a popular beach for locals and not many tourists were there, and she was right. So we just lounged around and walked on the beach, swam out in the water for a couple of hours.

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Salt Pond Beach, Hanapepe, Kauai

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Salt Pond Beach, Hanapepe, Kauai

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Salt Pond Beach, Hanapepe, Kauai

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Salt Pond Beach, Hanapepe, Kauai

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Salt Pond Beach, Hanapepe, Kauai

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