Owner: Pie Is the New Toast URL:http://pieisthenewtoast.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:21:08 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: I am not the world's best cook, but I love baking and sharing my kitchen successes and failures to boot. I enjoy reading about and sharing food memories and recipes! I also ask for help often, so any tips you can give me, I'm all eyes! Site statistics:Click here
New reviews coming soon 2008-02-27 20:52:00 I promise! In the meanwhile, there is a new website I just found while on Myspace called Eat Whatcom and it gives people the chance to review their favorite websites in Whatcom County! Check it out!For those of you in Whatcom County, Grant's Drive In in Ferndale is closing down, the last day of business will be March 15th. It's sad to see it go. And my husband seems to think that Boomer's in Bellingham is closing, but I don't think that's true- can anyone confirm that? I know quite a few restaurants have closed down in the past couple of years, and with the economy faltering and the high gas prices (seriously, $3.49/regular per gallon at the Shell on Sunset Drive? WOW), we might see more local businesses and restaurants close as well, sad to say.Here's to better times, and at least Spring Read more:reviews
Restaurant Review- Madison's, Ferndale, WA 2008-02-24 12:46:00 Our camera is on the fritz so I have been to a few restaurants in the past month and I have not been able to get any photos. We're looking for a new digital camera for under $400, any good suggestions? (I'm looking at higher Megapixels as well, the one we have is a Canon Powershot A75 from 2004 that has only 3.2 mp, and it is on its last legs. Long story short, I dropped the camera back in August 2005 and we sent it back to Canon for fixing, and paid for it, but it hasn't been the same since then. Now it's either not taking pictures at all or it's just on its last legs.)Anyhow, one night we were coming home from the border (Blaine, WA) and I had heard from some people that there was this restaurant just off of Portal Way in Ferndale off exit 263 that was pretty good, called Madison
's. On o Read more:Restaurant Review
Shameless Self Promotion 2008-02-22 17:26:00 I gotta get some votes somehow!Vote for me if you like my caption (and yes, I realize that the cards need to be a little more visible but I can't re-submit now! arghhh, pity vote?? heh!).It will win my hubby and me a trip to Vegas! Pretty please? (I swear I am done groveling!)More on the online Poker Cats Contest Read more:Shameless
NFB: There are never enough hours in the day 2008-02-20 19:08:00 I am done with training and have been on the floor all week at work, and still trying to get the hang of the health insurance system. It's so confusing, even though I have been working in it since September. And I just love how my husband thinks that because I work in the health insurance industry that surely I must know everything, right? Oy. I spent about 20 minutes on the phone today with his health insurance to find out how much medical equipment was covered and how much our copays and deductibles were. Now, I may work in a similar field but geez! I still get confused!I started my early shift this week and let me tell you that getting up at 3:30am every morning is really getting old really quick. I fell asleep last night at 7:30pm. It's nice to get out early, but going in so early is h
Two thumbs up- Hawaii BBQ & Noodle House 2008-02-10 14:03:00 I ran by this place on my way home on Friday, and I had heard from some co-workers that it was a good place. The prices were far better than the "Haggenese" you can buy at Haggen's grocery store here in Bellingham, and the food was a lot better. We tried: Pineapple Chicken, Sweet N Sour Pork, Mongolian Beef, and Teriyaki Chicken. I'm a bit tired of the sweet, but the Pineapple Chicken was not as overbearing with the sweetness as the Sweet N Sour Pork was...but you have to expect that. The Mongolian Beef was delicious, I couldn't really eat it because it was VERY spicy, but my husband had wanted it so I bought some for him (we shared our entrees over the course of the last two nights). The Teriyaki Chicken was my daughter's favorite.I plan on trying their BBQ
next. They have so many differ Read more:Hawaii
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Overpriced pizza 2008-02-03 20:20:00 About a week ago I met up with some of my former co-workers for a get together at the Round Table Pizza in Sunset Square in Bellingham. I've been to Round Table Pizza in the past in California and never really paid attention to the price of pizza there, because it was usually with my family. Anyhow, I ended up buying two x-large pizzas (King Arthur Supreme and the UltaMeat) and I spent over $55 on two x-large pizzas! WOW! They were good, but overpriced. Another gripe we had was how long it took to get our pizzas. One of my friends waited the longest, I believe it was about a half hour, and was not pleased.I thought it would be a fun place to go to, but they lack games and other fun stuff to do there, and the space itself is somewhat small. We might get a pizza to go from there down the roa
Constant Craving, Part II 2008-02-02 00:28:00 I have been immersed in my training at my new job and am absolutely enjoying it. However, maybe it's due to the weather, maybe it's all the knowledge I am feeding my brain at work, but for some odd reason, for the past three days, food has been a constant thought on my mind. We talked about food in class, and I'd get hungry. I started packing larger lunches too, which is not something I normally do. I'd get home and even though I had eaten lunch about five hours before, I was hungry. One of my supervisors joked, "maybe you are pregnant!" Not likely, considering all of my problems (as mentioned in the past).I would love to blame it on winter and feeling ready to hibernate, but I am not sure what is going on. Maybe a fluctuation in my body of some sort? Hormonal shift/change? I don't know bu Read more:Constant
OMG! I found a Jamba Juice-like place up here 2008-01-24 20:55:00 Robek's. Yum. I tried their Polar Pineapple and it made for a great breakfast replacement. Yes, even in 28°F weather in the morning. I will be trying their Chicken Pesto wrap soon.Robek's offers healthy alternatives to the typical "fast food" you see out there. When I found this place I was beyond excited over it. It's nice to be able to go to a place that offers different choices (salads and wraps) instead of the usual greasy burgers you might find when you are on the go. I highly recommend trying it out and adding one of their many vitamin supplements to your smoothie. They also offer other types of drinks, such as wheatgrass for those who are brave enough to try it (not me!) or fresh juices.I haven't been to Jamba Juice
in a LONG time, and we are not near one, so I have not been able t
NFB: Update on my teeth/gums 2008-01-19 18:50:00 As mentioned previously, I had some work done to my teeth
to try to stop my Gum Disease from progressing. I had a cleaning/perio charting done, then I had a root scaling/planing procedure done (also known as deep cleaning) and then I had the remaining 3 wisdom teeth I had taken out. I went in last Saturday to find out where the pockets of my gums were after all of these procedures and the home care I have been doing to help with it. It turns out that my gums are in far better shape this time around! The procedures and my home care have paid off.When you have Periodontal (Gum) Disease, they typically want your "pockets" of your gums to be under 3 mm (or was it 4?). A lot of my pockets in October were in the 5-7 mm range. By the end of my appointment I found out most of my gums were in the 2 Read more:Update
We need to be more frugal 2008-01-18 11:39:00 With the economy going the way it has been, my husband and I have decided we must be more frugal. No more eating out regularly, so no more reviews for some time to come. I think maybe we'll go out somewhere new once a month, but I don't know. I am trying to sock everything I can into savings at this point to have a safety net to fall behind on. I don't know about you, but I have been watching the news closely (a bit too closely) lately. It's scary to think of what might come from a recession (and that is what we are in, whether any of the politicians want to admit it or not, we are in a recession, ask people in various industries (especially the affected ones) and they will tell you that), so we have to be prepared in the case of layoffs.My husband, as mentioned before, is a laborer and wo
A New year, a New Beginning! 2008-01-14 21:44:00 Also a huge apology for my absence. First off, my computer is dead (despite the upgrade my husband did to it, yeah, it needs a new power supply so I have been without my computer for over a week now, and am using my daughter's which I rarely use, so I am rarely on the computer). Secondly, I am starting a NEW JOB in the same field (healthcare) here and I am very excited about it. Having to say goodbye to the people I have gotten to know over the past 3, almost 4 months is hard, but this is a positive move, a move up for me, better pay, better benefits, and a chance to move up in any position in this company down the road. I am very excited at the prospects.Other than that, I have been busy keeping up with my kiddo and her schooling stuff, and basically trying to rest more and not play as mu Read more:New Beginning
Here's to another new year- 2008 2007-12-29 19:56:00 Are you ready? Do you do Resolutions? I remember last year one of my resolutions was to get more healthy, and while I was doing well with my T-Tapp throughout the year, I managed to find myself a job and get completely off-track. I have managed to lose weight anyhow, mostly due to being so darn busy, and it's not a lot, but it's something. I definitely am planning on joining the local Curves or another local gym to get myself up and moving around even more in the New Year.I know many people do not believe in Resolutions and find them pointless and I completely understand that notion. For me I look more at it as a goal than a "resolution". Goals are easy to make but can you keep them? I need more organization in my chaotic life, and I feel like maybe if I do some more goal setting I can be
Merry Christmas 2007-12-23 19:42:00 Wanting to wish a very MerryChristmas
to those who celebrate- I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and stay safe!I hope to blog more soon! Read more:Merry Christmas
I can't believe I'm actually going to say this... 2007-12-10 18:00:00 but for once in my life I agree that Starbuck's rocks. You have to try their Egg Nog Creme Frappuchino (minus the coffee). Seriously. That is the best damn Egg Nog blended drink I have ever had in my life. I have tried it from a couple of other ma & pop stands here locally, but honestly, I just was not too impressed. You can actually taste the nutmeg in Starbuck's Egg Nog Creme Frappuchino. Yummm.Speaking of cold, today we did not get up over the mid 30's here in Washington State, and the roads were icy. It was time to put my studded snow tires to the test, and they did well. There was only one instance where I actually slid when I came to a stop, but other than that I did well on the ice. *Scary*.So, the countdown is on to Christmas...only 15 days left til it's here. If you celebrate Read more:believe
What in the world happened to you? 2007-12-08 16:28:00 (You get bonus points if you can tell me who sang that mid 90's song, answer will be in the comments section in the next week or so if no one can pinpoint it!)Wow, what a whirlwind the past week has been. First, we had our first snow here last Saturday, then we had a weird shift in the weather pattern and the snow melted and then we had a ton of rain. As most of you know, our neighbors to the south of us in Washington State are now dealing with clean-up from a massive flood and storm damage. Our hearts and thoughts go out to those affected.Not much new in Foodie land, I have been very busy with work, home and PTO duties that I really have not had much of a chance to go out and do anything. I did get a chance to go out and have some fun last night at the Quarterback Pub near Western Washin
Foodie Blogger Meet-Up: Cascade Pizza, Bellingham, WA, 11/23/07 2007-11-30 18:09:00 I was able to meet up with Ben and Suanne from Chowtimes, as I had mentioned before on Friday, November 23rd, at Cascade Pizza
in Bellingham. We had a great time talking about how we came into the great big blogosphere, about our lives and more about where we were from. They both came down from Canada that day on Black Friday to do some shopping. I am hoping next time I will be able to get up north to Canada to visit them!I have been to Cascade Pizza many times before and absolutely love this place. It was the first restaurant we ate at when we first moved to Washington State, it has always been a favorite of my husband's from when he was a kid. I ordered the Baked Rigatoni, Suanne ordered a specialty pizza, and Ben ordered the Lasagna and Ribs plate. Overall we were very pleased with our Read more:Blogger
, Foodie
Tis the Season 2007-11-29 15:30:00 Somehow, it's just inconceivable to me that it's nearly Christmas. My honest-to-god opinion is that this year has just literally flown by. I'm stuck about 2 months behind in September. As this year comes to a close I have to wonder where the heck this year went.In other news, today I am enjoying an early day off from work as it was very slow (very very odd for our busy season), but I am also enjoying the clear and crisp weather. We are in the midst of expecting snow that still hasn't come (not that I'm complaining- I hate the snow). People are out and about, trying to get everything ready for the holidays, traffic is a nightmare in Bellingham at times, and I'm wondering if we'll ever be ready for the holidays and winter. My husband is just about done with his truck, and I finally have my s Read more:Season
Giving thanks 2007-11-22 12:41:00 Lately I have been stressed out at work and with things going on there. I've been dealing with anger, resentment, and stress all in one. Then I watched the news last night and they had a report about a man they found dead in a sleeping bag off of a freeway. I don't know if he was a transient or a homeless man, but they doubted it. Anyhow, it made me realize how lucky I was. Right now the temperatures are dipping into the high 20's at night, and I cannot begin to even imagine trying to find warmth while living outside. When I'm outside in the early morning before work, I am cold. I rush to my truck to defrost and heat it up. It's easy for me- I have shelter. So many people do not, and it's so easy to take little things like that for granted. I don't think shelter is a little thing, but it's Read more:Giving
Foodie blogger meet-up 2007-11-20 18:03:00 I get to meet the writers behind Chowtimes on Friday. We will be going out to dinner at a local restaurant and I'm sure we'll be sharing stories! Now let's hope that I do not forget my camera this time!I am looking forward to the meet! More to come, later! Read more:Foodie
Restaurant review- Luis' Mexican Restaurant, Bellingham, WA 2007-11-14 19:14:00 I decided to take my daughter out for dinner a couple of weekends ago after we went to the Big Lots to do some Christmas shopping. We sat in the truck for about 5 minutes between her, my husband (on the phone) and myself trying to figure out which restaurant we were going to go to. I did not want Chinese food, I was in the mood for something different, so I said, "what about Mexican
food?" to my daughter, who just poopooed the idea. Then she saw a restaurant by Big Lots and said, "let's go there" and we decided on Luis' Mexican Restaurant.It's quite festive inside, but the neighborhood that it is in is one that has somewhat of a bad reputation, which is one reason why I am not around that area very often. However, the colors were fun, and we decided to have dinner and ordered take out for Read more:review
Goodies from home 2007-11-11 10:23:00 I love my mom. She knows how much I miss California and the ease of buying the little things, such as Mochiko rice flour, without spending an arm and a leg on it (seriously- $3/box at Haggen's? Are you for real?). So in the beginning of the week last week she told me she was sending me a box of goodies for my daughter and myself, and I had a hunch it was Mochiko! It came to me and it was not only boxes of Mochiko, but Yan Yan (the little cylinder with chocolate dipping sauce and those sweet little sticks), Happy Panda (panda cookies with chocolate), Shrimp Chips (which I really don't care for, but I thought it was sweet of her!), and Jack & Jill Chocolate Covered Pretzels, the stuff you find in Asian stores. It totally brought me back home and I called my mom to thank her.As I have men Read more:Goodies
NFB: Bad, bad week 2007-11-09 18:19:00 Did you just ever have a week that made it so unbearable you did not want to face work? That's how I felt this week. Just a sorry week is all. Right now is our busy season where I work and I can kiss my holidays goodbye. That honestly has me in a bit of a funk, but what can you do?I am glad it is the weekend, but right now I am feeling extremely down and bummed. Between work and home, I feel like I cannot keep up. I'm just exhausted.All of that, and I STILL need snow tires for my truck!Thanks for reading/listening to my whine.
Restaurant review- Oriento, Bellingham, WA 2007-11-05 18:16:00 My husband took us out for dinner and knowing how badly I have been craving Chinese food, took us out to a restaurant we were recommended by someone I met a while back. We went to Oriento, which is down on the Guide Meridian in Bellingham, WA and is across the street from one of our favorite pizzerias in Whatcom County- Cascade Pizza.Again, I did not take pictures. We ordered a kid's plate for my daughter, which was a big plate, it consisted of a deep fried won ton with cream cheese (yikes!), fried rice, sweet n sour pork, and french fries. I think there was something else but all of that grease did not sit too well with her later...she wasn't feeling too well later on. My husband and I decided on a dinner combo that was about $11.95/per person and it came with pork fried rice, beef brocco Read more:review
I realize I am so far behind 2007-11-04 20:10:00 and I want to apologize to my readers. I am extremely busy right now with work, PTO stuff and trying to get the student directory done for our school. It's no excuse, I should at least put some time aside, but I have not.I do realize I still need to review Oriento in Bellingham, and now I also need to add Luis' Mexican Restaurant to that as well (another Bellingham restaurant). I recently decided that every other week I will take my daughter out for a Mommy-Daughter type of day where we go to the park, museum or something and then we go to a restaurant we have not been to- specifically ethnic cuisines we have not tried. I think it will a good experience for the both of us, considering we are both very picky eaters.I will be back though, I promise! I am so behind
on baking and my crockpot m
Restaurant Review- Chihuahua's Mexican Restaurant, Ferndale, WA 2008-03-09 13:24:00 I have heard so much hype about this restaurant and how awesome it is. It's so awesome it's always packed and I have never ventured in there because of that fact. We decided to go real early before the Friday night dinner rush a few weeks ago and surprisingly enough, it was not even packed. Anyhow...I had been dying to find another good Mexican
restaurant in Whatcom County to try out, and for the past few years I have been trying to get to this one. I will say it was definitely worth the wait, and we'll be back, but definitely before the dinner rush!We were seated and given our drinks (I ordered a HUGE frozen Margarita- let's just put it this way- it was loaded with Tequila or whatever it is that they put in Margaritas...so loaded I had a major buzz going home- of course I had a designated Read more:Chihuahua
, Restaurant Review
Few updates 2008-03-16 13:23:00 I am currently in the process of trying to find a new look for my site and will be updating as soon as I do. It's just kind of hard to find the time to do it at the moment. I'm looking at revamping my entire site and even possibly changing the focus as well. It's mainly due to the fact that I don't blog a lot about food anymore, and I have always kept this blog up for both food and personal, but more so would like to just make sure that my readers understand that. It's kind of a rough time at the moment with regards to lack of creativity (both in the kitchen and blogging) and lack of time, and that is why I don't make promises I know I possibly won't be able to keep.Baking has really taken a backseat since I have been working these past 6 months, and I really miss it. Part of it has to do Read more:updates
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food 2008-03-18 18:16:00 I am buying this damn book for my 8 year old daughter. I've had it up to HERE with the junk food habits. The other night, I made Sandra Lee's Pot Roast in the crockpot, and Miss Finicky whined about the carrots and potatoes. She was spoiled on Saturday night because she had her party, so we had pizza and cake, but I'm at the point of banning any and all junk food in my house, because I am so tired of hearing the whining and complaining about healthy food.I don't think I should have to grind up cauliflower and hide it in her soup or meatloaf. I think that it needs to be out in the public so she doesn't end up hating it. Then I start second-guessing myself because my own father was pretty strict about the foods I ate when I was about her age. I don't want to perpetuate an eating disorder, bu Read more:Bears
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Happy Easter 2008-03-23 13:12:00 We do not celebrate Easter
anymore. One of the main reasons is because we have no one but ourselves to celebrate with. The ILs are always busy with their families or work, and we don't have anyone else to get together with. The same thing applies to Christmas, but we celebrate that. I don't know why we don't celebrate Easter anymore...I think around Spring we start getting busy with activities and just forget that Easter falls on a certain day (not to mention you never know when it is because the calendar is so wonky). For example, at work on Friday, some of the providers I spoke with wished me a happy Easter, and I had totally forgotten that it fell on this weekend in March as opposed to in April, like we're used to it being in.So I started wondering what we can do to start our own tradit Read more:Happy
, Happy Easter
NFB: Health and medical insurance 2008-03-21 21:19:00 I finally got medicalinsurance
through my new job and I have been taking full advantage of it. I just had a procedure done yesterday and will learn the results next week. I am also undergoing an Endoscopy on Monday as well. I am really nervous about it (because I will be partially sedated and I don't like sedation) and what it might find out. I have been dealing with Acid Reflux and Heartburn for 8 years now without much relief and I finally got myself to a Gastroenterologist. I just hope there is nothing seriously wrong with me and that we can figure out if it's my esophagus or if it's a gall bladder issue.With that said, I have looked up the "GERD" diet (in short, GERD is Acid Reflux Disease) and boy oh boy, is it bland. Boring. My problem is I get so bored with bland food so quick. I Read more:Health
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