Easy as a {Pecan} Pie

  There is no denying that I have a thing for pie. Pie is easy, comforting, fast, light and full of flavors. I especially like fruit pie (hint..hint..next project comes an apple pie). In the past months I discovered this special recipe of Pecan Pie which uses "brown sugar" in place of a traditional corn syrup. As interesting as it sounded, I knew I had to try it and the result was impressive. Totally differnt in a good and interesting way, something yummy with a twist in texture. I appreciate a simple list of ingredients which are already in your kitchen. I slightly modified the original recipe by reducing sugar to 3/4 cup of brown sugar alone and 1/4 cup of unsalted butter. One cup of pecan according to a recipe is not a lot so I normally put as much as I desire. It turned out just perfect, not too sweet. You can find a full recipe {here}   Pecan - ready!     Pie crust - ready! (store bought for convenience)   Brown sugar - ready!     The rest of the ingredients - ready! Tip: Make sure you use a hand mixer and beat eggs at high speed or your filling comes out very flat.   Filling - ready, set and bake!     Hmmm.......okay I am getting fat..sigh!

Hello July~*

What?!? The first half of 2013 has already passed and here I am sitting and staring at a calendar trying to deny the fact that in the past two months I was beyond lazy and lacked of inspiration. It has been quite awhile since that last post so it felt out of place here like how do I post..literally. So until I get back in the full swing of blogging again, I shall keep this short and leave you with some photos.   4th of July     Yellow flowers growing from vegetable plant   Fruit Salad     Cupcakes to satisfy our sweet calling (bought from a cupcake place)     YUM!!!!!!!!!!

Cowgirl's way

  I couldn't believe it took me nine years to finally ride a horse in Texas! Now I wish I could have done this much earlier because it was soooo MUCH fun. Why did I waited this long!?!?!    Horses are such beautiful creatures. I have always loved and been fascinated by horses since childhood. Once upon a time, I wanted to become a female jockey but that dream never came true because my parents were concerned about safety. The only time I remember being on a horse was back in high school during a field trip to the beach. I got to ride a horse for the first time on the beach (very briefly). That's about it until this past weekend my dream came true. I said let's go do horse back riding!! My husband and I randomly picked the closet ranch we found on Google, here comes horsies!!   We each got our own horse and learnt a basic horse riding lesson for one hour. I rode on a female horse, her name was Freckles (she lost one eye, poor girl) while my husband and a little one rode on a male horse named Bruce. I was a little nervous knowing that I had to actually control a horse given that I lacked a "real" experience riding one indepently and for one hour that could feel like a lifetime  but I was wrong! A trainer got on her horse and we all followed along on ours. We toured a small, quiet neighborhood and open fields. A trainer picked each horse based on rider's experience (in my case - no experience or whatsoever). Freckles was a great horse for beginners like moi. She was gentle, walked at a fairly slow pace and was always at the end of the pack which I didn't mind one bit but I still had so much to learn about her so we could get along better. I appreciate that people there take great care and seem to genuinely love their horses. Their horses look healthy and happy which make it an even better experience.   This whole experience was so much fun. I am not very good at this point but with more time and practice a real cowgirl may be born...hee-haw!! Can't wait to go back.

Hee-Haw!!!!

  Happy Memorial Day to everyone and especially to those who fought (and are fighthing) to protect this country every single day, including their families. I can't imagine what it is like to live the life having the loved ones in a distant land where dangers are constant left and right.     Our family of three spent Memorial in a unique way this year but I will save that for the next post. For now, here's what I wore.