Star Wars: Where Sciene Meets Imagination at the Tech Mueseum

If you guys follow me on Instagram, you probably know that I love all things Star Wars related.  The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose recently had an exhibit featuring costumes and props used in the series.  My husband and I took a drive down there on one of the last weekends before the exhibit closed.  Along with the props and costumes, there was also a Millennium Falcon flight simulator and labs where you could play with robotics and technology from the movie.  There is also a larger museum outside of this one exhibit, with lots of hand-on exhibits (great for kids).  There was no flash photography allowed, so these pictures were all taken with my iPhone (which does better than my DSLR in the dark).  

These are the real deal Han Solo and Bobo Fett costumes.  Harrison Ford was a very slender man back in the day.

X-Wing Starfighter

The wampas from the ice planet Hoth, definitely a fan favorite

  

Millennium Falcon

Jawa

These guys used to scare me when I was a kid.

Of course, I had to get a picture of the big guy!!

Stormtrooper

Jedi Robes (Anakin and Obi-Wan)

Wookies

Droids (R2D2 and C3PO)

Padme Amidala

St. Paddy's Day At Home

This year, I wanted to hang out at home and have a nice relaxing St. Patrick's Day.  My husband and I took the day off, slept in, and spent a lot of time in our garden.  We didn't have to deal with rush hour traffic (and our typical hour long commutes home) so we had plenty of time to play with some new recipes.  

Our most important purchase was the alcohol.  Not just for drinking, but for baking. 

 *Note: No hangovers were incurred during the making of this blog post.  

I found a recipe for Irish Car Bomb cupcakes, and decided to give it a shot.  They didn't turn out so pretty (they didn't rise as much as I thought they would), but they were delicious.  

And since we already had the ingredients, we decided to make an Irish Car Bomb cocktail (or two several).  You have to drink these quickly (as soon as you drop in the shot glass) or the Bailey's will curdle.  I admit that my first attempt was a little rough, but practice make perfect (and my second attempt was flawless). 

Finally, we have come the main course, crusted fresh herbed rack of lamb with potato leek gratin and roasted garlic sauce.  It was rich.  It was decadent.  It was pure heaven.  The only down side was that my fingers still smell a little garlicky this morning from peeling all 20 cloves.  It was so worth it though.

I hope everyone had a nice St. Patrick's Day.  Do you have recipes you enjoy making for the holiday?

My So-Called Instagram Life

A new favorite quote, discovered on Instagram.

Some new discoveries at Trader Joes.  The dried kimchi was awesome.  I am still trying to find a way to successfully use the black garlic.  So far, it has been a bust.

Did I mention that my frog Irving has a betta tankmate named Floki?

I originally purchased this deer head for the holidays, but I think he is here to stay (at least for now).

I was pretty excited about these.  They were good, but the Rice Crispies Treat version is even better.

This is where Petunia sits while I blog.

 I tried a flight of sangria at dinner with friends.  Because who can say no to sangria?

Another brilliant interpretation of my name.

Irving's wife, Hazel.

The night Petunia discovered the frog tank.

A beautiful sunset over San Francisco Bay.

Petunia, with a mile a tongue on my leg.

My sweet Harriet is such a happy girl.