The Boy and the Baker Take on Spain

First Stop: Barcelona

It's been just about two months since the wedding and the honeymoon post is long overdue. This post will be the first of a series, detailing our travels through the beautiful country of SPAIN! We spent nine glorious days basking in the Spanish sunlight, immersing ourselves in the rich culture of the world around us. For a country so impressive in music, architecture, and dance, you would not expect any less of its food. To say the least, we were not disappointed. 

The first three days of our trip were spent in beautiful Barcelona, a city that has perfected the fusion between old and new, blending medieval architecture with modern shops and restaurants, leaving a surprise in every corner and down every street as you walk through the narrow alleys of the Gothic Quarter. Strolling along the cobblestone roads, every turn led to new sights, smells, and tastes, saturating the senses and painting a colorful picture of life and excitement. 

Placa Reial, Barcelona

Holy Guacamole!

Chunky Guacamole Recipe

One of my favorite items to get when going to a Mexican restaurant, is chips and guac. When I say guac, I mean REAL guacamole. None of the "add water and mix" stuff. Being in southern California has raised my standards for Mexican food, and thereby guacamole. It makes me oh so sad when I order guac and what they serve me is a watery mush with barely recognizable avocado. Creamy, chunky, spicy, and FRESH are the words I am looking for to describe the perfect guacamole. So I set off to make my own restaurant style guacamole. 

Wedding Cornhole

Make Your Own Cornhole: a DIY Tutorial

What is a rustic barn wedding without a game of cornhole? Some may ask, "what is a cornhole?" Having grown up in southern California, I too would have asked that question not too long ago; but after spending a few years in rural Pennsylvania for college, I'd have to say that "cornhole" is no longer such a foreign term. I think my midwesterner friends would agree. Cornhole, aka "bean bag toss" or just "bags" is a popular carnival or tailgate game more often played in the midwest or east. The objective of the game is to toss a bean bag, or corn bag in this case, into a hole at the end of an elevated board. We decided to make our own cornhole game for our wedding cocktail hour along with giant Jenga for our wonderful guests to play. Now that the wedding is over, it serves as another piece of entertainment for our future backyard BBQs, picnics, and parties. 

Chevron Bean Bags

Make your own bean bags

These cute little chevron bean bags were made to go with our wedding cornhole. Of course we had to get baby blue buttons to match! I only wish we had a sewing machine. Nhan and I hand cut and sewed these bean bags for about 5 hours. I suspect if you have a sewing machine, these should take you 1.5-2 hours at max. Please bear with my hand drawn diagrams below to help you better understand the first few steps. 

Happy sewing!

It's going down, I'm yelling timber!

Giant Jenga Tutorial

Our flower girl playing Jenga at the wedding. 

What could be better than playing Jenga with friends? Playing GIANT Jenga with friends. This game brings me back to the days when we would go to the Barcade in Fishtown Philadelphia then stroll on over to Frankford Hall, a German-style beer garden, for a few drinks and a nice game of classic building blocks. Imagine my excitement when we found a giant jenga set at Ritual Brewing Co. right here in Redlands. We had so much fun with it and knew we had to make a set for our wedding cocktail hour. Now that the wedding is over, it serves as the perfect backyard prop for barbecues, parties, and all sorts of get-togethers. 

Fun Fact from good ole Wiki:

Jenga is derived from a Swahili word meaning "to build."