Dessert gone wrong

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , , ,
10 May 2010
3

This week, Ralph’s has strawberries on sale for only 99 cents a box, so Panda got some for his mom. We had a box and tonight, Panda and I attempted to make chocolate-dipped strawberries.  We were optimistic, but soon found ourselves with an unmanageable mess.  This is how it all went down…

milk chocolate and white chocolate morsels

We had the chocolate -

strawberries

- we had the strawberries.

strawberries being washed in a bucket

The strawberries got washed...

melting the milk chocolate morsels in a bowl in a pot

...and the chocolate got melted.

milk chocolate morsels partially melted

milk chocolate all melted down

dipping strawberry into chocolate

Then the strawberries got dipped.

dipping strawberry into melted chocolate

Even with lots of swirling, the chocolate wouldn't quite stick right.

using chopsticks to hold chocolate-dipped strawberry

We had to resort to using chopsticks when it started to get harder.

first chocolate-dipped strawberry

The very first one! Not too shabby... right?

row of chocolate-dipped strawberries

Mmm, looking good!

chocolate drying up

Oh no, what happened? It's getting all dried up now.

about to microwave the chocolate

We give up and decide to try microwaving.

burnt chocolate with water added made mush with chocolate rocks

Panda wanted to try salvaging what apparently was burnt chocolate by adding water. Didn't quite work out as we wanted.

white chocolate morsels

Giving up on the milk chocolate, we decide to start using the white chocolate.

white chocolate dried up

Somehow managed to mess this up too... I swear everything went wrong after we started to accidentally get some water in the bowl.

last bit of white chocolate morsels

One last chance to try to make it right. Going back to how we did it originally.

smearing white chocolate onto strawberry with fingers

The chocolate solidifies quickly when it comes in contact with the cool, moist strawberry, so Panda ended up working on them with his fingers.

tray of milk and white chocolate-dipped strawberries

And to think, we wanted to dip those pineapples too... Next time, I'm getting fondue chocolate!

Los Angeles foot traffic

laelene Posted in general blog, photo blog，Tags: , ,
07 May 2010
0

people crowding crosswalk in PasadenaPeople always talk about LA’s traffic problems, but you know where we don’t have a problem?  Foot traffic.  In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t notice the notable lack of people walking around the streets.  Now I understand why Westwood always felt so much homier and festive – because there are always students walking around!  So imagine my surprise when I stopped at a crosswalk to find this many people criss-crossing!  It’s probably one of the few places in LA where you’ll find so many people that you can’t even see the other side of the road.

Sadistic or cute?

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , , ,
03 May 2010
0

A little bit of both, maybe.

bernie strapped to the front of a big rig

bernie strapped to the front of a big rig

Crescent moon

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: ,
28 April 2010
0

It’s really grainy and difficult to get a good shot at night, but I think these turned out decent.  🙂 (Click on images to enlarge.)

crescent moon at night, over office buildings

closeup of crescent moon one night

Welcome to my office

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: ,
24 April 2010
1

I work at a really cool place. There aren’t many of us, so a lot of the furniture seems to get neglected, but hey, at least we’re ready for guests!

front desk in reception area

The desk that nobody sits in.

leather chair in reception area

The leather chair that hardly gets used.

gray sofa in reception area

I've only ever used this as a prop for my plants so they could get sunlight.

built-in coffee maker in kitchen

This coffeemaker isn't used nearly as much as it should be - instead, the guys find themselves going over to Starbucks multiple times a day.

staircase as seen through wall

I can't quite figure out what the walls are made of - sometimes it is opaque, sometimes it is translucent. Here you can see the stairs behind the wall that my desk faces.

black rolling chair

I love that the chairs are a bunch of bungees - it's great for my fiddling hands to play with!

Note that my neighbor used to be a dog (see his bed and toys?), but he got relocated when we got ourselves a new guy to go there.

flat screen tvs on walls

We've got a bunch of TVs scattered around so people can enjoy the music videos/sports competitions/movies that are played throughout the day.

my desk

And that's my desk! Got a phone, laptop, second screen, external keyboard and mouse, lamp, photo, and even a mini water cooler!

Other gem to note: the random machine at the end of the entryway, which gets used for only seconds at a time.  There’s also weights and a bench in another section (not pictured).

A very special treat

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
21 April 2010
0

Sprinkles gives away free cupcakes daily, if you follow them on Twitter and get to their shop in time to be the first 25 to say the secret word of the day.  Sometimes, that free offer is a flavor not sold at their stores – a much coveted prize (for me, anyway).

This day, it was this lovely chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache and marshmallow filling, which isn’t a special flavor, but came in a very special way.  I was surprised to get it so fresh that the ganache hadn’t even firmed up yet; now there’s a rare occasion!  It was just about the last one left too.  Beautiful.

chocolate marshmallow and red velvet cupcakes from Sprinkles

On the left, the chocolate marshmallow with fresh ganache. On the right, the classic red velvet.

Lunch buddies

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
17 April 2010
0

Sometimes I like to sit outside and eat my Quizno’s, with the traffic on Sepulveda whizzing by.  And every time that happens, curious and hungry birds are there, waiting for me to share some of my food.  These two were particularly bold in demanding I feed them!

bird sits on chair across the table

He sat across from me, carefully watching for his potential lunch.

bird looking back over shoulder

A bit of a model, eh? Check out the classic over-the-shoulder glance. Perhaps he was trying to impress me so I'd feed him. 😛

bird eating bread on table

I decided to share some of my bread and he nearly got within arm's length.

pigeon by feet waiting for food

He made it very clear what he was waiting for. Quite persistent!

Why computers should be cleaned

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , , ,
14 April 2010
0

If you’ve had your laptop or desktop for a few years and the fan is having trouble cooling the device like it used to, it’s more than likely you are the victim of a massive dust bunny.  It’s a fun adventure to take apart your computer to clean it out and help lengthen its life.  After all, you don’t want it overheating and oftentimes, that can be caused by these dust bunnies!

dust bunny sits inside laptop

The little devil knows how to block air flow.

massive dust bunny

The dust bunny inside Panda's laptop. No wonder his fan was having trouble.

Egocentric

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: , ,
10 April 2010
0

Am I being too self-centered when I see my initials (backwards) in a bottle cap?

Alcohol packaging

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: ,
07 April 2010
0

Much like perfume bottles, there and endless designs that make them look oh so cool. From the largest to the smallest, they make me want to collect them. In fact, I have a few mini bottles in my display case, chosen for their unique look.

Here are some found at a restaurant, larger than our arm!

extra large bottles of alcohol

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