My brother took charge of the prime rib while we had a few sides and Filipino favorites mixed in, including garlic roasted potatoes, Pancit canton (stir fried noodles), Pork Adobo (soy sauce pork), Sinigang (tamarind beef soup), steamed broccoli. For dessert, I prepared Meyer Lemon Cheesecake bars with a strawberry coulis - recipe coming soon! Overall it was a delicious meal and it was great to have everyone together before my parents left.
Saturday, the Baron and I did some major spring cleaning. In his basement, we converted one of his large rooms into a storage room for some of my stuff. I purchased the wire rack below, which was a pretty decent size (72" H x 48" W x 18" D). It was perfect on one wall and after cleaning the entire room up, I could probably fit 2-3 more of these racks! I plan on purchasing a couple more so I can organize some of kitchen stuff, dedicating one entire rack to baking equipment and supplies, another to cookware and misc small appliances and a third for catering supplies. {The amount of kitchen stuff I have is kinda scary and ridiculous at the same time...}
After a full day of spring cleaning, we spent the evening with friends at a poker party. The Baron and I ddin't play but we enjoyed watching the Final Four basketball games and overseeing Joel playing with a Thomas the Train set our friends brought over for the kids. It was a potluck poker party so I made these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies to share... they were a hit!
As it soon got dark, we left the party and went to see my parents for the last time before they headed home overseas. I miss my parents already and I'm so thankful they spent some great quality time with us the past few months. It's amazing how the little things do mean so much and their absence is so apparent. It just isn't the same... but thankfully, we have plans to visit them in the Philippines later this year for 2 weeks and we're anxious for our big international trip together!
One of my favorite pics of my mom & me...
Sunday, I taught two sushi classes and they were a lot of fun. I enjoyed the groups I had and everyone had their fill of sushi maki rolls! It's always a great feeling to have students come in not sure if they will be able to make sushi maki... and by the end of class, they are total sushi maki rockstars preparing such amazing rolls with creative ingredient combinations!
Finally for Sunday dinner, we all met up with The Baron's parents, who hosted a belated St. Patrick's Day corned beef dinner. Marnee did a fantastic job (as usual) with her corned beef and this time she prepared a different recipe. It was a wonderful dinner served with buttered parsley potatoes, steamed carrot coins and cabbage salad. For dessert, she made this amazing cheesecake... and I cannot wait to try it myself. Seriously, Marnee is such a wealth of recipes and I look forward to the delicious things she makes because she's always so eager to share her recipes. The Baron will always favor his mom's corned beef {as he should!} but if you want a great corned beef recipe, this one was a very close second to Marnee's - Beer Braised Corned Beef Brisket.
