Noah Augustus Priddy

Whoooohooooooo! He has arrived!!! Baby Noah made his way out into the big world on Friday, April 27th. Isn't he adorable? I'm anxiously awaiting our meals together...

Spring Flings!

It's been a busy past couple of weeks and this Sheep has some shout-outs! Grandma and Mama came out for a visit to rock the house! Grandma was asked to give a speech at the Japanese National Museum and impressed everyone with her energy, charm and wisdom (naturally, of course!). Watch out for the Kawakami collection coming our way in 2009! Kudos to my mom for sticking it out, she's one patient (and wonderful) woman. And Justin one of my old-time pals from "the Moore St. experience" drove all the way from San Diego and Monte's mom who came out all the way from Houston to see Grandma Kawakami. Thank you!!! Also celebrating a ton of birthdays lately, onward with the shout-outs! Happy Birthday Adam! One of my very first friends from my homeland, New Zealand. It was so nice to be reunited with the "originals" - Adam, Grace and Michael. We sure ate a lot of garlic that night at The Stinking Rose...I smelled for two days after that dinner. I seriously started wondering how the chefs deal? Do they wear gloves? Does anyone know? Whenever I cook with one clove of garlic my hooves smell for a good day. Next up was Miki! We went to The Boulevard in WeHo where we shoveled-in (that's Anzai term for eating) mini hamburgers, wine and most importantly CAKE! Mari went all out and made not one, but two cakes...both extremely tasty, yet different. I was focused on getting as much cake into my belly as possible. You ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you will ever be able to experience this tastiness again? Yup, that was me. I was out of control but you can't blame me because first there was Monte's favorite chocolate/toffee cake and then there was the annual lemon curd with cream cheese frosting fabulousness. In fact I'm dreaming about it now. Daryl was up next, where we celebrated at Eleven, also in WeHo. We were mostly entertained by our waiter, strike-a-pose Jonathan, who we had to get in the picture with us! However, one of my favorite moments of the evening was FINALLY getting to witness Miki's tricycle. Yes, she rides a tricycle, which I'm in full support of, as it is helping our earth situation but really, wouldn't it be easier to ride a bicycle? Daryl, you still love her, flashing light and all right? Watch out for the tricycleladyinweho.com blog coming soon! And if anyone captures an action-shot please let me know! Finally, to my baby brother Bryce and my mom. Happy Birthday to both of you! I still remember the day Bryce was born and how we celebrated my mom's birthday in the hospital with a Baskin-Robbin's ice cream cake (notice how I remember the food?!). I miss you both and hope to see you soon!

Getting Ready for a Priddy Baby!

This past Saturday, we officially began preparing for Baby Priddy. So far, we know Baby Priddy is a boy and the proud parents are still trying to pick a name...apparently Dave just doesn't want to give in to Justin Priddy or Timberlake Priddy. Humph.

The Manzai's (Miki & Mari) put together a wonderful Baby Shower for Melanie, where we enjoyed delicious quiche, asparagus, fruits, ginger scones and sparkling wine. We played games, bashed the OC and watched Melanie unwrap presents - revealing that their son will be some sort of jock with some really sparkly gold shoes. We can't wait!


In preparation for the Priddy Baby Shower, I volunteered to make the cake and put those decorating skills to use. I baked a four-egg cake (thank you Joy of Cooking - that book rocks!), whipped up a batch of milk chocolate mousse and chocolate buttercream frosting. This was definitely easier than the last cake I made, and only created half the mess I did the last time. I began with creating my little gumpaste friends the night before and quickly fell in love with Eleanor the Elephant. Isn't she adorable? I am so sheepy when it comes to love. Sigh. Even though Eleanor wasn't quite the attention queen I thought she would be, Larry the Lazy Lion was the one everyone was fighting over, with Marvin the Monkey in a close second (I think it's because he was made of chocolate instead of gumpaste and someone just wanted his head). Anyway, Melanie took our friends home and tucked them away for freezer hibernation as we all anticipate the newest addition to the family!

BLD (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner)

These pictures are actually extremely old as I've been meaning to post this forever, however we frequent this place so often it doesn't really matter. BLD is fairly new (less than a year old - I think) and we often enjoy weekend brunches there. But mostly we (or maybe someone more than others, wink) just go there to admire the waitstaff...one in particular. Hmmmmm, charming. Sometimes we even request tables in his section. Enough said. Anyway, BLD was opened by the same team that opened Grace down the street, and the owners happen to be siblings of one of our favorite Anusara yoga teachers, Tiffany Fraser. We've also seen a few celebrity sitings - David Schwimmer (Friends), Victor Garber (Alias) and a few other familiar faces. Anyway, onto the heart of the subject...the food! I haven't had dinner or lunch there yet but have enjoyed many fritattas, "eggs as you like them" (my favorite), french toast and even a bruleed grapefruit! All of which have been excellent. And you've got to get the cream cheese and chive biscuit! Plus the service is always friendly. Definitely try it out if you've driven by wondering what BLD is about (ah hem, other than that diirty Colin video. Yeah that's right, you know what I'm talking about)



BLD
7450 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Mmmm, FIBER! Not just for tree huggers although I do love trees!

For the past 3 weeks I've been on a quest to create the perfect bran muffin. Most people I know wouldn't choose a bran muffin over a fatty blueberry muffin, but after a few additional (unwanted) LB's and encouragement from a co-worker I became obsessed with the bran. First I tried a pineapple bran with dried cranberries which my co-worker renamed, "Happy Cakes" (a good sign that I'm heading in the right direction). Second, I baked banana bran raisin muffins which were probably the closest recipe to the standard bran muffin. This week I tried a banana bran with fresh blueberry recipe which was my personal favorite. I started with a recipe on a blog I recently discovered: http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/
How could I go wrong with a blog featuring my fellow fluffy friends?!

Happy Birthday Miwa!!!

This past weekend was a Miwa-Extravaganza! Her friends don't just throw one surprise party...but two (2)! Which only reveals what a great friend this girl is. This is exactly why we call her THE MIWA, not just Miwa, that would be for the common folks. On Saturday we took over the entire bar at Bodega De Cordova and Sunday we gathered for a more intimate dinner at Blair's in Silverlake, all thanks to her sneaky-sneaky friends Gracie and Robyn.

Since I just finished my cake decorating class I felt it was time to unleash my beginner skills and attempt Miwa's birthday cake. I decided to try all new recipes (probably not the smartest idea) and baked a yellow cake with a berry-custard filling and Italian buttercream frosting. All went well until the frosting, which took three tries to perfect. First the thermometer died on me, which burnt the first batch. The second batch crystallized, again thanks to the thermometer, and finally I got smart and went with the good 'ol eyeball test. Luckily I had made penguins and the cherry blossoms the night before so I had enough time to decorate. All in all, the cake turned out okay and it did make Miwa smile which is all that matters.

Back to the food (of course!) Blair's was the perfect place for dinner. We enjoyed truffle mac & cheese, short ribs, risotto, sea bass and a ton of other tasty concoctions. The wait staff was attentive and helped pull off the surprise flawlessly. Happy Birthday Miwa!

Blair's
2903 Rowena Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Happy New Year!

I'm bringing SHEEPY BACK and am truly looking forward to 2007! But sadly, my cake decorating class is coming to an end. I was unsure of how I felt about the class at first (mostly because I struggled so much) but have come to enjoy this new hobby and am excited about challenging myself to see what else I can create. I think I've been watching too many episodes of Ace of Cakes (I love that show! Thanks for the tip Julie). As I got fired up, I decided to made a buttermilk cake, filled with chocolate custard and frosted with Italian Buttercream. I had enough cake for a big 6" and two 3" cakes (although i had no one to eat them). Throughout this course I've developed a whole new appreciation for cake but I struggle with the fact that pastry chefs spends hours, sometimes days working on a piece of art only to be destroyed and eaten. Hmmmm. I guess I just need to let go and enjoy both the beauty and taste. I absolutely love creating cakes, eating them too, but mostly I just enjoy creating them. In fact I'm staying up way past my bedtime tonight to not only write this post but was working on gumpaste adornments for my final cake tomorrow. Who knew gumpaste birds could be so cute? I think a sheep cake may be in the near future...

Beard Papa

I'm intrigued by its name alone. Who names a cream puffery "Beard Papa"? I remember first hearing about it through friends in Hawaii; sharing stories about people who would line up (potentially for hours) to purchase these cream puffs and everyday, they would sell out. However, that's the way Hawaii works...their trends are fast and furious. So when I heard they were opening in Los Angeles I told myself I needed to see what the hype's about. However, they placed Beard Papa in a shopping center right smack in the crazy heart of Hollywood (mainly built for tourists), so of course it's taken me over a year to get over there even if it's less than 5 miles away. Anyway, last night I finally stepped hoove in the puffery and we were pleasantly greeted with no lines and a smiling puffette ready to take the order. As they were packaging the puffs, I noticed that their business card read "Healthy and Delightful" - what?! Delightful sure, but healthy? Interesting. The shell was light and crisp, the custard contained real vanilla beans. Delish. Since they're healthy I guess I can eat more! And please check out their story online, it's pure awesomeness!!! Those Japanese sure seem happy! I want to meet the bearded man who smokes puffs out of his cigar.

Beard Papa
http://www.muginohousa.com/
6801 Hollywood Blvd, #153
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-462-6100

Lucky Strike

Although maybe not so lucky?
It was Melanie's birthday today so we went to celebrate at Lucky Strike at Hollywood & Highland. Check me out on the alley, pretty sheepy, huh? I started strong but slowly lost my beginner's luck. Besides, it's a lot more challenging to bowl with hooves. But it was good times nontheless. Because of my size, my friends thought it would be hilarious if they stuffed me into a 14 lb ball. Not so funny as I could see parts of my body I never envisioned seeing. Ugh. Anyway, we enjoyed many tasty treats including cheese fries, nachos and baked brie. Oh, and watch out for super crabby waitresses (snappy!). All in all it was a memmorable evening and Anzai's, next time you're going down!!!

Happy Birthday Melanie!!!

Lucky Strike
http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

Cake Decorating

Although I'd like to think that my baking is tasty, I'm not good at making things look pretty, so I decided to purchase a birthday present for myself. I enrolled in cake decorating classes at Epicurean with Suzanne Griswold. It was a tough first class, only endorsing my non-existent talent of Martha Stewart like qualities, I left frustrated and feeling a bit defeated. However, this past weekend was a much better experience. How can you not enjoy yourself with a broken icing bag with frosting spewing from places they shouldn't? I looked phenomenal! Icing in my fur, icing in my ears, icing stuck between my hooves - icing everywhere! When I returned home from class yesterday, I decided to try to put my skills to the test and actually decorate a cake instead of decorating a plastic food tray (which is what we do in class). Food is definitely not as exciting when you can't eat it. I baked a sponge cake with a raspberry filling and whipped up a batch of cream cheese frosting. Today I decorated - as you can clearly see my mad basket weaving skills (and such) with such great clarity. Ha. Okay, I know I have a long way to go, and obviously haven't mastered my coloring techniques but it's not too bad for my first try. In fact, it could possibly rival the cakes at Ralphs or Vons, although it'll be a long journey to get to the level of Sweet Lady Jane but I'm looking forward to it!


Epicurean School of Culinary Arts
http://epicureanschool.com/
8500 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 659-5990

Happy Birthday Megan!!!

I'm a little late in posting this...but we celebrated Megan's 29th (uhhhh, I mean 25th) birthday on October 10th at Three on Fourth. Am I a lucky sheep or what? Check me out with all the ladies!!! Dinner was fabulous as we listened to stories of canned corn, reminisced about Oregon and shared our juicy office gossip.

Three on Fourth
1432 Fourth St
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.395.6765

Cupcakes

It was no Sprinkles (and I'm not a fan of Sprinkles - although I think they've been better lately for some reason, is that cause Oprah bought it?). We were on our way back to our hotel when we found this Cupcake shop, named "Cupcakes on Pitt." We were excited. We oooooohed and ahhhhhhed. We were surprised by how many flavors they had. But then we realized the cupcakes were either vanilla or chocolate based with just a flavored frosting. Interesting, but not. Although it did come in its own little container which was handy until the taxi driver shoved our luggae on it. Sad death of a cupcake...
Cupcakes on Pitt
Shop 2, 323 Pitt St
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone (02) 9264 464

Indian Food

Tasty!!! Again, I forgot to grab the card for this restaurant - mainly because I was too drunk to remember. I am still not a lush! But the food I remember...it was fantastic. Can you believe how much we ate? They couldn't even fit all the dishes on the table - so they placed one on the chair. Ha! Hilarious. Have you ever eaten off of a chair? Still...it was TASTY.

Port Douglas and Bill Clinton?

We traveled to Port Douglas, the home of Steve Irwin...who sadly died only a couple days after we left. This was one of my favorite spots on our trip. It's a beautiful little town that reminded me a bit of a city in Orange County - maybe Laguna Beachish. We had a couple of great meals including one at the Jade Inn, and we picked this restaurant mainly because Bill Clinton ate there and figured if it was good enough for Bill it would be okay with us.

Jade Inn
39 Macrossan St.
Port Douglas, QLD 4877

We also enjoyed the best fish & chips I've had at some restaurant I unfortunately never got a card for. Fish & chips with some VB hits the spot! Would love to have some right now. Ugh! Anyway, check out my (fried, of course) dessert! If you're going to eat a banana this is the way to do it!

Cafe Thailand

Cafe Thailand is one of the best meals I've had in Australia. It was one of those lazy vacation days where you didn't plan anything and just kind of wondered the streets when we stumbled upon it. We were basically the only two people in the restaurant. Anyway, I had my usual Pad Thai and Monte ordered his favorite, Green Curry. We were both pleasantly surprised! Mmmmm, mmmm, goodness! After our meal we got gelato (of course!) and walked down to their shopping center and found Target. But it's "Target." not "Target" - does is matter that it has a period after the name? I was so excited thinking of all the interesting Australia products I could buy but it turned out to be more like really bad JC Penny's instead of Target. Oh well, at least my lunch was good!

Cafe Thailand
Shop 7/93
Corner Aplin Street and The Esplanade
Carins 4870
Phone: 40412624

The Red Ochre

We were enjoying a few beers at the local pub and the bartender suggested that we go to the Red Ochre Grill to try some real Australian mean (aka roos, emus and crocs). The thought of it made me naueous, these are afterall some of my friends. However, Monte and Miki were up for the adventure so I agreed to tag along. We couldn't even get a table without a reservation (which is odd in Carins because everything is pretty low-key unlike LA LA land), so we made a reservation for a couple nights later. We were looking forward to it since they had awards prominently displayed and it was always a full house. Ha! This place is sneaky-sneaky! We were sadly disappointed in our experience. Monte and Miki shared some craziness - emu pate, crocodile wontons and kangaroo with horseradish. I only wish I had a picture of their faces once they started chewing! Anyway, our suggestion is to stay with the norm. I devoured my 3 tiny pieces of salmon and udon noodles which actually wasn't bad (except of the exaggerated price). Basically, it was a lot of overpriced fou-fou strangeness. We were all still hungry and were contemplating McDonald's on the way back to the hotel (if that says anything), instead we got cheap massages from the Chinese at the night market.

Red Ochre Grill,
43 Shields Street,Cairns,
North QLD

Carins

After a couple of days in Sydney we made our way north to Carins - no one really seems to know where this is when I tell them, but we came here to see The Great Barrier Reef. The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm just like Hawaii! And there's tons of Japanese tourists here too (again, just like Hawaii)! My favorite memories of Carins are the "Tuna Towers," gelato and BORIS!!! I miss you BORIS!!!

Friendship Garden

How can one go wrong at the "Chinese Garden of Friendship" in Darling Harbour? It's beautiful, serene and contains a lot of interesting rock formations (see Aunty Miki's picture). You can walk the garden at your own pace and can even purchase tasty treats that you'll receive at the end of the garden tour.


http://www.chinesegarden.com.au/

Victoria Bitter - Nothing Better!

After our long day we topped the afternoon off with a few sips of tasty goodness at the Oyster Bar.
Ahhhhh my first Australian beer. VB. I love the VB!!!
Can you believe my brother Bryce, who doesn't even drink, asked me to bring some VB back for him? To Bryce - Good On You Mate!
And Dave - bleh for asking for Toohey's New!

Animal Planet

My first stop in Sydney was the Taronga Zoo. We caught the ferry over from Circular Quay to Mosman and took the "Sky Safari" where you get an incredible overview of the entire zoo before entering. The first thing you see upon entering our my new friends - the Koalas! They are cute, cuddly and smell of citrus...uhhhh, kind of. Unfortunately, the only picture I got of my new friends were of their backsides. (Until I met my Boris - more on him later) I like big butts and I cannot lie! After the cuddling, we roughed it up exploring the roam-free-Australian-animal ranch containing kangaroos and one very lonely emu. I admit, I was a bit nervous about a roo getting kung fu on me but felt better once I saw Aunty Miki running away from the bird. Ha. She was much more interested in the platypus (cute but poisonious) and the wombats - however the only wombat I saw was fat, lazy and nasty. Ughh. My seond favorite is the Meerkat, mostly because they're hilarious to watch. They stand around looking like they're waiting for a volcano to erupt (really for predators) but I guess they didn't realize they're at the zoo yet. After making my travel buddies watch Meerkat Manor, I guess the zoo Meerkats must be pretty damn bored. Loads of other animals just showed us their backsides (like the koala picture) which was frustrating. Why do all the animals decide to sleep while I'm visiting? Shouldn't they be hungry?

Taronga Zoo
http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/