I met the two bears. The Papa Bear actually walked out on the family after losing the civil suit against Goldilocks.

Well the past few seven days has been interesting… to say the least. It was the best of times and it really was the worst of times, but you know what? While the worst times really REALLY sucked, I had a blast during the good parts. I’ll attempt to forget the bad parts or at least tuck it into that part of my brain that I only pull out when I’m feeling lousy.

In the past seven days, my body has travelled quite a bit… around 1500 miles, give or take. I’m going to check off the “go to a state I’ve never been to” bucket list thingie, even though it wasn’t 100% completed. I didn’t take Optimus out of California this time. Shout out to Conan’s Dad (Conan a cat belonging to Miss Kitty and her BF, now named Conan’s Dad) for letting us use his car. He gets way better gas milage. But let’s start from the beginning!

MEESHYland to Orange County

Prior to leaving for the OC, I had loads of things to get done. Big Momma Bee had to be picked up from work, Optimus needed an oil change and his A/C fixed, and groceries had to be purchased so that my old people didn’t starve. After I picked mom up, I took Optey to his usual mechanic for an oil change and then moved him to the mechanic next door to get my A/C fixed (my normal mechanic doesn’t do certain things). While I was waiting, I asked Miss Kitty for a favor and we went off to get Crazy Otto’s for brekkie.

SO. MUCH. PHOOD.

Crazy Otto’s is hands down my favorite local breakfast spot. The servings are huge… probably actually too big, but at a really good price. I ordered a milkshake… because milkshake… and then ordered a Build-your-own-omelette with burger meat, ham, bacon, mushrooms and cheddar. I may be forgetting something there but it was a lot. Most breakfasts include a huge portion of hash browns and either toast or biscuits and gravy. Their biscuits and gravy is super delish. I only ate half of my meal, but it was super tasty.

After getting all the things done at the house, I sped down the freeway, all happy and carefree, until…

The Man

I was being a very naughty girl and was driving way too fast. I was too excited. Thankfully THE MAN let me off with a warning and I stayed an angel for the rest of the way there. 

By the time I reached my destination, Ate J’s house, I was too tired to do anything, so I just talked to my sis and my second cousins. Or are they first cousins once removed? I dunno. 

We had a late start the next day and ended up at Whole Foods for lunch. Totally depressing experience. All the food looked good… but just was really bad in my opinion. I can usually find something to like about my meal, but the overall ickiness of it made the things I did like about some of the stuff just not good. And Kombucha? That was a weird experience. Totally overpriced. I might give it another try, but probably not that one.

I do like the packaging though

I overpacked it and it cost a fortune!

When we got back to my cousin’s house, my sister had to sleep and so I was left to entertain myself. I took a nap until my cousin came back with her kids and then my niece (who is technically considered my second cousin or first cousin once removed or whatever her real familial title is, filipinos are weird with things like that, but it makes it way easier on my life) and I decided to make cake truffles… THE MOST EPIC CAKE TRUFFLES OF ALL TIME.

Wilton and Duff from Michaels: because I like getting ripped off on mid quality cake decorating supplies.

My niece and I had decided on making Doctor Blue truffles, but with a twist. We made Tardises (Tardi?), Daleks, and Companion Cubes (which I know isn’t whovian, but seemed like a fun thing to do) with Marshmallow Fondant instead of my usual chocolate shell.

I opted for marshmallow fondant because I remember that people don’t really like marzipan and the recipe seemed really easy. It did make the truffle too sweet, but alas, I have not read a good way to change that. 

Melty Marsh

Making the fondant… fawn-dahnt? fawn-dent? how do you pronounce it?… was very laborious, but still pretty easy. It just was a beezy trying to make sure I was doing it right and of course kneading. Who knew I needed to get into shape for baking!

What seemed like an age later….FONDANT!

I died dying.

Coloring the stuff was a whole different problem. We needed very deep colors for our project and was trying to slowly make the color change, but by the time we were getting it done, it was late so about halfway through, I dumped a whole bunch of food coloring onto the fondant and I turned into a smurf turning the fondant in my hands. I think it was worth it though. 

The hardest shape to make was the dalek, because they’re awkwardly shaped in “real” life. The hardest one to make in general was the Tardis. It just had too much small details to make perfect while half asleep and forgetting the white piping frosting for the words “Police Box.” The easiest was surprisingly the companion cube, but it was still pretty long to make because I had to painstakingly make wee little fondant rounds using the end of a piping tip as a cutter. Heart sprinkles definitely made our lives easier that night. 

The cake ISN’T a lie! It’s in the companion cube!!

I’m thinking of adding the companion cubes to my orderables on the Chelle Bee Sweets FB page, but instead of a velvet cake, I’d make a black forest with cherry flavored fondant. I’m happy with the way they turned out.  Not bad for some last minute baking.

The next day, I still woke fairly early and once my sister got back, we talked to Ate J and then went off on a mini-adventure. We headed to Surfas in Costa Mesa for some random goods and ended up at the OC Mart Mix across the way. I had some iced tea from Seventh Tea Bar (facebook) who served Macarons made by Sweet Lilikoi Patisserie (facebook). The man at Seventh Tea Bar was totally adorable and helped me find a tea that I would like (I’m not a tea fan). It needed some sugar, but the flavor was good. It was the macarons that got me. I actually went back to buy some after I foodgasmed the first time. I also had some macarons from Surfas but they weren’t as amazing. 

After, we went and had some Korean Barbeque at All that Barbeque. It was super delicious and at $14.95 for lunch, it was super cheap. It even had some seafood on the list. It was really delicious. I’d totally go again.

Well I’m too tired to continue with the storytelling. Stay Tuned for Part Two, where things get sketchy!