Pi Day 2018!!

 We did have our annual Pi Day celebration this year.  Due to the scheduling of Callie's Band Concert that evening at 6, we had to have our Open House from 3-5pm.  We had a great turn out and much pie was consumed.  I'll link the pie recipes for anyone who needs to try them!  We had 22 pies made by me, and 3 pies brought in by friends.  I made 11 different varieties and everything was delicious.  I only made 1 banana cream (fine, I made 2 but we ate the other one before Pi Day!) and one Pecan, but had 4 Toll House Pies.  2 of the Toll House Pies were made the traditional way with walnuts in them.  Rylee and Delaney hate nuts in their pie, so I made 2 with Reeses Pieces and chocolate chips, but no nuts.  Friends brought a delicious Chicken Pot Pie, a yummy peanut butter pie and a surprisingly tasty vegan chocolate pie.

Here is a list of my pies and links to the recipes:
1. Nestle Toll House Pie (Also called "Cookie Pie" by my kids.)
2. S'mores Pie
3. Lemon Chess Pie
4. Chocolate Chess Pie
5. Oreo Caramel Pie
6. Chocolate Truffle Pie
7. Samoas Girl Scout Cookie Pie
8. Banana Cream Pie
9. Pecan Pie (From my Fannie Farmer Cookbook)
10. Irish Beef Pie (I put it in a pie crust and put a crust on top and bake at 400 for 45 minutes)
11. Chicken Pot Pie  (No link, it is handwritten into my cookbook.)

Lovely Chocolate Chess Pies!  This is my favorite pie.  There seem to be several different recipes, but I like mine.  It is more complicated, but it makes perfection!

The Oreo Caramel Pe.  It is always a favorite.  I cut it very small- 12 slices in the pan, and it is always one of the first ti disappear.  It is not my favorite because it is SO rich and has so much going on in it. But it is quite delicious.

I only made 1 Pecan Pie.  It was runny in the middle, which is why I don't like to make Pecan pie!  I almost never get a perfect middle.  It was still very tasty though! 

The Samoas Girl Scout Cookie Pies.  I should have used a bigger pie pan.  These oozed over the side and made a bit of a mess in the oven.  They don't look as appealing as the other pies, so I was worried there would be a lot leftover. Nope.  Not a single slice was left!  And if you do try this recipe, the top stripes are suppose to be straight melted chocolate chips.  I found that to be too thick and hard, so this time I melted the chocolate chips with a little cream to make it softer.  It worked beautifully.

My S'mores Pies!  Oops.  I should have used a larger pan for these as well.  Alas, I only have 2 larger pie pans and I used them for the Oreo Pies.  The marshmallow cream poofed up a little too high here and made the oven smell really good... and then it smelled really bad and smoked up the kitchen.  Oops!  But I salvaged the pies and tucked things back where they belonged and all of it was devoured.

We had half the pies on the kitchen counter and half on the table.  Rylee made cute name cards for the pies.  That's the Irish Beef Pie on the left, then the Pecan and Toll House, Samoas and then you can see half the banana cream.   It was a great day and a nice event.

Hong Kong Pix Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Thursday was a gross and rainy day.  But we still went to the Temple.  It meant not very many pictures, because I didn't want to get wet.

But I was there and it was wonderful.

This is my feeling-very-pleased-with-myself face.  We figured out how to take the city bus out to Stanley Market and here I am, riding an actual city bus, all by myself!  Okay not entirely by myself.  intent and April were there too. 

No photos of the Conference at all, but here is the crowded MTR train on the way home! 

Friday morning we walked to the MTR behind this guy in this awesome coat. 

After Conference we ran off to the 10,000 Buddhas Monastery.  We felt pleased with ourselves again that we were able to successfully negotiate our way there without anyone really knowing how to get there. We were greeted with this sign. 

Oh my!  Fake Monks?!!  We were quite disappointed to not see any fake monks.  Or real ones, for that matter.  

I don't know if there were 10,000 statues, but there were a LOT!

 And it was at least a half lime walk to get to the halfway point.  And the entire hill was lined with these guys.

What made it so fun and awesome was that each statue was different.  Different bodies, faces, poses.

Some were very interesting and some were what you would expect a monk to look like.  And some you thought might be passing out scriptures.

April and I thought life should imitate art! 

Did I mention how impressive it was?  And how these things went on and on and on forever?!

And did I mention how fun some of the poses were?!  I really wish there were plaques that told the story of whatever monk it was. I really want to know about them!

Oops.  April and I are pointing to the rules we broke before we knew they were rules. 

We only made it halfway up.  It closed at 5pm and we got this far at 4:45. We had just 15 minutes to check out this area before trekking back down. It was gorgeous. This was the temple. No photos allowed inside though. 

So pretty! 

I have no idea what any of this was, but it was lovely and interesting. And closing.  They kept announcing that it was closing time.

So I got my selfie in and then we ran a2way just before they kicked us out.

Check it out. I finally made it to Ikea and I only had to go to Hong Kong to do it!  We did spend some time meandering through the Ikea just because we could.  And we had lunch there. 

And I made a friend there! I was sad I didn't have enough room to bring back some of the delightful things I found there. 

And Saturday morning I went to Conference and then had to run away at 11 to catch my 2pm flight.  This is a picture of the second suitcase I bought.  I needed room to bring home more loot!  And I wanted to make sure I would recognize it when I got off the plane. 

Chillin' at the Hong Kong Airport waiting for my flight to leave.

Layover in Taipai.  I was not thrilled that I had to walk a long way to go through security again and then make a U turn to walk back the way I just came to get to my gate.  And then my flight was delayed 30 minutes.  But all went well and I got home safely and It was a wonderful trip!

Hong Kong Pix Tuesday and Wednesday

On Tuesday we took the Star Ferry back across the water.  We were heading back to the Stanley Market.  there were some items that had become more desirable after sleeping on the idea of them.

I did go back and look at this.  But at $750HKD I still couldn't buy it for my mom.  Maybe if it slid easily out into a rapier, I would have sprung for it.  But a walking stick that needs to be unscrewed with two hands and then only becomes a pointy spear wasn't quite worth it.  But I did debate! 

 We had an authentic Chinese lunch while at Stanley Market and it was fabulous.  This is after we finished.  So delicious!

How much fun was the ride home?!  This much fun!  It was such a blast!  Riding in the top of the big bus with no roof and zooming down these scary streets was awesome.  I need this picture to remind me just how much fun I had.

Hong Kong is so pretty.  The vistas and landscapes are really impressive.  And the dichotomy of giant new age buildings and beaches and greenery is pretty cool. 

We stopped at the water for a Sampan ride.  It was a little boat and we cruised around the water for half an hour.  It was worth doing. 

 It's me!  On a little boat in Hong Kong!

 The floating restoring.  On a cool note.... Dan and I went to see the new Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie and I was so excited that I had been right where she was when she was running through the boats in Hong Kong.  This is the restaurant why go barreling through. 

The boat driver handed us all hats and offered to take a photo.  So we did!

At the Ladies Market for the second night in a row.  More purchases were made and much fun was had.  I bought a little carry on size suitcase and stuffed my loot inside it. 

 This is where our Guest House is located.  Straight across the street and right into that building. So if you ever want to stay at a scary guest house... this is the place!

Wednesday we headed to Disneyland!  This is Kristal, me and April.  We are riding the Disney Train to get there. 

Whoo-hoo!  I'm at Disney Land and I don't have any kids so I can ride whatever I want to! 

And I did.  Here I am, waiting for Space Mountain which had almost no line at all.  It was fabulous and I rode it twice! 

Cruising through "It's a Small World".   And then singing that song the rest of the day because it was stuck in my head. 

Riding the Slinky Dog with Kristal in Toy Story Land. 

 I wasn't sure I wanted to go on the parachute ride, but it didn't seem too bad, so I got talked into it. Nope.  I hate heights.  As long as my eyes were closed, it wasn't too bad.  So I kept them closed and hung on for dear life and they laughed at me.

 We roe the river cruise ride and enjoyed it.  The guide took our picture when the ride ended.  Lynnette, April, me, and Kristal.

Hong Kong does have some different food options than USA Disney's!  I had a Mickey Waffle, not the fish balls. 

 We stayed for the Parade, which I don't think I have ever watched all the way through before. 

 Then it was Goodbye DisneyLand!