That time my dad let me get drunk when I was three....and Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Yeah, you read the title correctly.
I got drunk when I was three years old.
Under parent supervision.

Yeah, I know.
I'm BA like that.

It was New Years Eve.
1984.
My Grandma and Grandpa were hosting their annual New Years bash.
And all of their friends were in attendance.
Along with me and my dad.

My mom is a nurse. She was at work.
So dad was in charge.

Except, we all know what happens when dads bring their kids to their in-laws.

I was free to roam.

Also, I looked something like this.
So cute.
I KNOW.

My grandparents have a bar built into their living room.
As a kid I used to sit at it while my grandpa would mix their Manhattans.
Behind it was a plethora of different shaped and colored bar glasses.
My grandparents used to let me take them out and "play restaurant" serving them on trays.

Anyhoo...
While the adults were socializing, probably loudly, merrily....
New Years Eve at my grandparents was THE place to be.

...many of them left empty glasses, with a few ice cubes, and splash of whatever they were drinking, and a maraschino cherry, right at three-year-old-eye-level.

Maraschino cherries were like three year old gold.
And it was a freaking gold rush.
So, of course, I helped myself.
Threw back the last sips of those Manhattans, chomped on the cherries, and enjoyed the party.

My very responsible dad made sure I got home safe, tucked into bed before midnight, when my mom would be home.

I think my dad and I would have gotten away with it, except, any three year old who eats more than three maraschino cherries, and drinks any alcohol, is NOT going to have an awesome tummy come midnight.

So, a few hours into sleep later, my mom wakes up to her three year old daughter.
Vomiting RED.

And panicked.
She thought I was throwing up blood.
And the interrogations began.

Now, I'm not exactly sure how the story really goes here, but either my dad KNEW what had happened, or they pieced together the bits (I probably smelled like a toddler drunk tank), but let me tell you - my dad has not lived it down.
Twenty seven years later, and this is still a story that gets told at family events.

But seriously, can you blame me?
I love maraschino cherries.
And after that I was only ever allowed to have ONE.
BOO.


So, where does the Pineapple Upside Down Cake come in?
Well, for Christmas, I unwrapped two of these....

I just thought my mom was giving me something practical.
And filling up space under the tree.

Ever year, she also gives my sister and I one really fun, really impractical item from Williams Sonoma.
Two years ago, I got an Ebelskiver pan, last year I got a Breville Pie Maker.

This year.
I got this.

And used those pineapple rings...
and maraschino cherries....

to make these.

And oh, they were, SO. GOOD.

Like.
SOOOOO.
GOOOOOOD.

The cake itself was heavenly.
And the syrup for the bottom - or top when it's flipped over -
1/4 cup pineapple juice, 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, 1 1/4 sticks of butter.
DIVINE.
I may have to recreate that and make myself some macadamia nut pancakes or something to go with it.
Or anything that could be a vehicle for that crazy syrup.

Sadly, I can't find the mix available anywhere online.
I will have to see if they have any in the store.
Because, this pan is going to need to be used again.
ASAP.

Also, moral of the story, make pineapple upside down cake and supervise your children around maraschino cherries.
Also, also, my mother happily gave me the pineapples, but no, she did not give me a jar of cherries for Christmas.
Which is probably better, they wouldn't have lasted past New Years.

Versatile Blogger Award

Oh heyyy!!

My friend Gabriella - a real life friend - from high school, youth group, and for a short while we were even neighbors (oh and I literally ran into her on Saturday!) - awarded me this cute little award! And it seems like something kinda fun to do when I don't have much else going on around here, so I'm writing this up ahead of time and am posting when things are kinda slow around this bloggity blog!

First off - I am supposed to share 7 things about myself, and then bestow the award on 15 people.
15 is kind of a lot, so um, bear with me.

Fun Facts:

1. I am a lefty. I consider myself a purebred lefty, as both my parents are lefties. My sister was born lefty, but rebelled....and I always thought I was the rebellious one.

Laura: Rebel Without a Cause

My Dad: A lefty, but also a rebel.

2. I worked at a chinese food restaurant for a day in college. Serving water. And sometimes I got to serve the tea too. I got paid probably fifteen bucks for the whole night. And a free dinner. It was totally worth it.
But they never asked me back. Best job I ever had.

3. Speaking of college - I did all of my GE's in a program with no grades and no tests. Just pass or fail. And a TON of reading. 30 books in my first semester reading. And a ton of essays as well. #crazy but I loved it. I studied for ONE test in all of college. ONE.

Here are me and some of my roomies and friends freshmen year - I decided to skip reading for the night and head to the Halloween party in the Student Union.  I don't have a CLUE what book I skipped (probably something overly political and heinously boring), but I have some funny memories of the roomies on the dance floor.

For the record, I am wearing my poodle skirt from my 5th grade halloween costume.

Also for the record, Jen and Emily are obvious but I have no clue what a few of the other girls are...(I know Morgan was scary spice...is it possible they all were scary spice?)
except for Domenica in the red - she was "Hecka Tight Heart Pant Girl" - that was the exact name of her costume. I believe she was HTHPG every Halloween thereafter.

Also, we were partying like it was 1999, because it was.

Halloween 1999

My No Study Zone Desk. All party, all the time.

4.  My very first dog was a Rottweiler named Boris. He was freaking awesome. One day when I have a house with a yard I'm gonna get another Rottie. The crazy german kind. Where you can say some crazy German word and it will kill who ever even looks at you. Actually, I kinda had a weird stalker one time and in my self-defense plan I had the following order of action: door chain, self defense class, Killer German Rottweiler, male roommate, handgun. Unfortunately, I couldn't even get the door chain installed - so I didn't get past step one.  You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. About all of that.


5. In all of the places I have gone and things I have done, my favorite vacation memory of all time was renting scooters in Canada with my best friend Julie, and taking them through the drive thru McDonalds at 10am for soft serve cones. Because what else do you do on a scooter in a random town in Canada?

Prince Rupert, BC

6. If I were to do this whole life plan over, I'd have gone to school to be a computer nerd. Or a courtroom reporter. Clocking in at up to 130wpm could have really paid off.

7. My first car was a 1990 Pontiac Grand Am. When I bought it the sales guy was like, "oh yeah, it has the new AC 250....you roll down two windows...and go 50"
RUDE.
Surviving three Indian Summers in wine country - complete with the "Sonoma Aroma" with no A/C should get me a medal.

10 points if you know where this picture was taken.

So thanks again Gab! And congrats on finishing the FULL Nike Marathon - you are my running hero of the day!

And I am awarding this award to everyone with a button on my sidebar under friends.
Yep, YOU.
Yeah, no I am totally talking about you.
Don't close that window just yet.
You have been awarded.

NOW DO IT.
Gimme 7 fun facts (you can comment them or do your own post) AND GO.

When Life Gives You Lemons

So, coworker Andrea is preggers with twins. She has recently been craving lemon flavored treats. Unfortunately, I'm finding that pregnancy cravings are contagious, to me a non-prego, so I gladly offered to make my grandma's lemon muffins in an effort to make the pregnant lady happy. This was definitely not a problem. I brought them in Monday, and for some reason the whole office has been in a good mood all week!

I grew up with a lemon tree in my front yard, and before my grandparents moved to Elk Grove, they had one in their yard in Redwood City as well. One of my favorite things to do as a kid was pick lemons, slice them in half, and suck out the sour lemon juice. I don't have a lot of memories of their RWC house, since they sold it when I was six or seven, but I do remember puckering my cheeks in my grandma's kitchen, while slurping a sticky lemon. My family often likes to bring this up, however, I am not ashamed of my lemon love!

Grandma Grover, chowin down on a burger!

One of my fondest memories of my Grandma Grover would be walking into her Elk Grove house, after two hours of "are we there yets" driving from the Bay Area, and smelling fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and lemon muffins. Sometimes, only the cookies would be baked, but we always brought lemons since their new house didn't have a tree, which, while we were out exploring the latest toys and creatures residing in their yard, my grandma would whip up into her famous muffins. We'd come back in hot, dusty, and dirty and the aroma of the lemon muffins fresh out of the oven (paired with the lovely air conditioning) would refresh us!

My grandma passed away about a decade ago, and since, I have never encountered a muffin just like these. Until I baked them myself for the first time, it never dawned on me the oddity of pairing lemon with cinnamon, but some how it just works. The cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top is what makes these muffins special.

Now, I know this is a blog spotlighting cupcakes, but we don't discriminate around these parts (muffins have feelings too you know):

First up, Gather Your Gear (and preheat your oven to 375*):

After gathering your gear, you may want to do a little more prep - such as zesting and juicing your lemons. I used two lemons (from my parents tree, I like the ones that are just about to fall off the branch, usually a deep yellow almost orange color)for the zest, and two and a half for the juice.

Kitchen Tip: Throw the squeezed lemons down your garbage disposal (and run it) to make your kitchen smell lemony fresh! And squeeze the juice from the remaining half of a lemon into your water to make your day a little more cheery!

Next, you'll need to separate your eggs. I put the whites in my KitchenAid, and whipped them up until stiff. Yolks in another bowl, for now. I whisked them together, but I don't think that is necessary:

Combine your dry ingredients - flour, salt, and baking powder. Sift. (No pic, but you can use your imagination here).

Now, like Jess, I am a Kitchen-Aid-a-Holic, so I removed the egg whites from my mixer, and placed them in a separate bowl (see above) so I could use it again, that means another dish to wash, and washing your mixing bowl twice, but it's worth it. You will probably want to do this too. Cream the butter and sugar...and try really hard not taste it. Because you will just want to eat it by the spoonful. Add in the yolks. Then alternate adding in the flour mixture and the lemon juice. Your batter is going to be so fragrant and delicious at this point!

And here comes the fun part, FOLDING! I dumped in the whites and the lemon rind and grabbed my spatula:

Kitchen Tip: I wish someone had told me this years ago, but if you have a KitchenAid mixer, you need to get yourself the matching KitchenAid spatula - this kind (or whatever color you choose) - they curve EXACTLY to the bowl so you can get every last bit of batter out, and have a flat tip which scrapes around that little bump in the middle of the bottom. Seriously, it will change your baking life. It also makes a great gift for KitchenAid newbies.

Once everything is combined, spray your muffin tins. My rule for lemon muffins is NO MUFFIN PAPERS. Grandma Grover never used them, so I don't either (just for lemon muffins, at least). I used my cookie scoop to fill the pans, about a heaping scoopful for each muffin (I used the double recipe portions, and was able to make 20.

And the last step before you bake, is what makes these muffins unique - the Cinnamon Sugar Sprinkle. Combine 4 tablespoons of sugar with a half teaspoon of cinnamon, and using a spoon (or by hand) sprinkle the mixture over each muffin. Feel free to be generous. I actually encourage it. The Cinnamon Sugar will make a crackly, flaky, crusty top when it bakes - it's the best part.

Bake at 375* for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let cool for a few minutes and remove the muffins from the pan.

(Don't forget to savor the pucker that happens in the sides of your cheeks with each bite.)