Hot Pot At The Packing House

I've been wanting to visit The Packing House from before it even opened, and I finally got my chance.  It is a landmark building from 1919 in downtown Anaheim California.  It used to be a Citrus Packing House when there were only orange groves there.  It's been restored and is a food hall with communal dining now.  There's live music and a lot of energy!

My Uncle and I went out to lunch and had a hard time choosing which eatery we would dine at.  Everything looked good.  We finally settled for the "Rolling Boil Garden Fresh Hot Pot".

They bring you rice, noodles, a lot of fresh vegetables, meat, chicken or fish, and sauces of your choice.    They place a bowl of broth on a burner in front of you and you can cook a little at a time and eat as you go.  It's fun and so delicious! 

There are two floors and a central atrium.

There are outdoor gardens and really large roosters.  I'm not sure why.  I definitely want to go back and try more restaurants and kiosks.

Back To School Bento Box From Bento & Co.

It's back to school time again!  It seems the summer just went by so quickly.  I don't know where the time went.  Well, the fun thing about school starting up again, is back to school shopping.  Last year my daughter lost her lunch box at school for about 3 months.  It eventually turned up, but her froggy ice pack and Paperchase Alice in Wonderland bento box were missing... hmmmm.  Mysterious.  So we had to shop for new ones.  Her favorite thing these days are cats, so it was great to find this cute pink flower and kitty ice pack set at Pottery Barn Kids.

Next on the list a new bento box.  We found this great website that has so many fun things for kids (and grown ups)!  Since "Kiki's Delivery Service" is one of my daughter's favorite movies, it was serendipitous when I found a bento box with the cat Jiji from that movie at Bento & Co.  Surprisingly  the bento box from Japan arrived must faster than the ice packs from Pottery Barn Kids.  In fact the ice packs never arrived.  I had to track them down and re-order them.  It was very annoying.  But we got it taken care of and they arrived just in time for my daughter's first lunch at school.  Whew.

To make her first lunch special, I tried my hand at a cute cat sandwich and happy face cheese and crackers.

Retro Kitchen

I just love retro kitchens!  A while back, I had a house that was built in the 1930's so it was really fitting that I had a retro looking kitchen.  I started decorating in this style but we had to move, and I've always wanted to get back to this style.

I found a lot of fun items that would go perfectly in a fun and quirky retro style kitchen!

Untitled #55 by debralynn5 featuring a jessie steele apron

MAC Lipstick Watercolor Prints!

Happy Friday to everyone!  I have finally cleaned up my studio enough so that I can walk in the door and find my desk.  It's amazing how that helps the creative juices to start flowing!  I've completed a couple of paintings and added them to my Etsy shop.

I've painted a collection of pretty pink, red, purple and coral MAC Lipsticks  that are perfect for decorating a vanity area, powder room, night stand.  In fact anywhere in your boudoir will be a delightful home for these lipstick prints.

Pink MAC Lipstick Watercolor Print

Red MAC Lipstick Watercolor Print

Purple MAC Lipstick Watercolor Print

Coral MAC Lipstick Watercolor Print

These individual lipstick prints come in 2 sizes:  5 inch x 7 inch and 8 1/2 inch x 11 inch.

This print of 3 MAC Lipsticks comes in 8 1/2 inches x 11 inches.

This print of 4 MAC Lipsticks comes in 11 inches x 14 inches.

Have a lovely weekend.

Dior

Dior by debralynn5 featuring pastel dresses

Miss Dior Perfume Bottle Print by debralynnmejia on Etsy

Miss Dior Perfume Bottle Print by debralynnmejia on Etsy (clipped to polyvore.com)

Banana Bread With Chocolate Chips!

My friend Kathi always makes really delicious and moist banana bread.  My banana bread is inconsistent.  Sometimes great, sometimes too dry.  I finally asked her for her recipe and here it is:

Banana Nut Bread

2 1/2 C flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 c. butter or crisco

4 eggs

6 mashed (over ripe) bananas

1/2 c. nuts

Cream together crisco and sugar.  Add the eggs and bananas.  Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add to the banana mixture, 1/2 a cup at a time.  Then add the nuts.

Use 2 bread pans or rectangular cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Well, I didn't have that many bananas or any nuts.  So I cut my recipe in half and added chocolate chips instead of the nuts.  I run my life by the theory that chocolate makes everything better!   I switched out a dairy free margarine for the butter because I can't have dairy.

* A good tip from my friend is to put your bananas in the freezer when they start to get dark and  speckled.  I keep a zip lock bag in my freezer for the bananas that are over ripe and ready for banana bread.  That way you can keep them for a when you have time to bake.  Just thaw them out and you are ready to go.

This isn't a full size rectangular cake pan, since I only made half the original recipe.  I have a smaller cake pan.  ( I couldn't find my bread pan)

Sorry, we kind of attacked the banana bread as soon as it came out of the oven.  We didn't get a photo of it in it's pristine fresh out of the oven glory.  

It was really moist and very yummy!!