Mindless Monday

As much work it is to prepare for a camping trip, I still love getting on the road and out of the city. Once you set up "home", your tent, it's just about living. Not much else to do, but enjoy the outdoors. Chop some wood for fire, boil some water for coffee, put on your shoes for hiking and exploring. Life is simple, we don't need much, well a hot clean shower is always nice. I think that is one of the life lessons I always learn when I go camping. Life doesn't need to be complicated, we don't necessarily need a lot of "stuff." We really can get by with the minimal supplies, just the basics.  As we're back to "civilization" and fully dialed in technically, I find it peaceful to just not do much today. Another busy week will present itself and we'll be back to next Monday. So I'm being fully present today, recharging and just happy reading and lazing about in my pj's. 

Failure Schmailure

In the essence of true transparency, I decided to try making a vegan, gluten free dessert. Why you ask? Because quite a few of my friends are vegan or gluten-free and whatever else you can think of, oh raw food eaters (not going to touch that one yet). This is the first time I've tried to make a recipe fully from scratch, I mean developing the ingredients and measurements with no guide. I probably should have started with something simpler, like with BUTTER, and real sugar. 

So as beautiful as the batter and the pluots look, this cake didn't exactly turn out right. First off I could taste the earth balance butter and secondly it wasn't sweet enough and one more thing, I think I should have put the pluots in halfway thru the process. They were so juicy the cake really never fully baked. So what I got was a pudding cake. I do have to say the pluots helped the sweetness. However, I think I'll stick to tarts for pluots and stone fruits. Next try will involve canola oil, instead of earth balance butter, and a little more sweetener and probably some almonds on top for crunch and prettiness. 

So I call this Failure Schmailure....yes I'm still trying to eat it, and yes I'll try this again. 

Muji

About 3 years ago, while in NYC working, I was introduced to Muji. I'd never seen this store, they didn't have one in LA. I love Muji's philosophy:

"In its deliberate pursuit of the pure and the ordinary – achieves the extraordinary."

All their products live by that philosophy. I was immediately drawn to the stationary, I love notebooks and use them all the time. Since then I've been a fan, mostly ordering online.  Earlier this year on a trip to San Jose, right outside my hotel was a Muji store. I nearly squealed, actually I did squeal, and on my night off immediately went to shopping. I told my two co-workers (one based in Denver, the other in Seattle) about my purchases, they'd never heard of the store either.

So a few weeks ago on our last visit to San Jose, wearing my Muji scarf, I made converts out of these two ladies. I think I went back to Muji three days in a row. We all bought scarfs, pens, notepads, socks, I think someone even bought a linen blazer. Oh and I said I'd bought that story board book above and colored pencils for one my friends kids...yeah I am SO keeping that. I love it.

Best thing I found out while there, they are opening a store in Hollywood, I'd prefer if it was closer to the Westside, because it will probably be quicker to fly to San Jose then to drive to Hollywood.  But I guarantee I'll be there when it opens.  Check out their online store, you'll love the simplicity of their products, and if you travel a lot, they have small items perfect for carry-on luggage.

Tech Tuesday

For this months Tech Tuesday, or maybe you'll call it a non-tech Tuesday, I want to highlight what we did before we all had a computer in our hands when we travel.

About 20 years ago I went to Italy with 4 friends.  I traveled with two girlfriends and we made plans to meet up with our guy friends in Rome. Back then, maybe people had pagers, certainly cell phones were not prevalent in the US. I do remember seeing a few very Chic Italians with cell phones, but only a few. 

We were young, traveling off-season (March) and flying by the seat of our pants so we made NO hotel reservations anywhere. Instead we decided to look thru our Let's Go Italy book and decide what hotel we'd meet at when we arrived in Rome. You see we flew into Milan, went our separate ways and agreed that mid-way thru our trip, we'd meet in Rome at "such and such" hotel, with NO reservation. 

Of course when we got to Rome and called the hotel there were NO rooms left. Are you getting the idea, with all the NO's. So I went down the list of hotels in our travel guide, and in my broken Italian found one that had a room for us three girls. I'll tell you about the adventure getting there in another post. When we arrived we asked if there was a room for our friends, and yes there was, so we asked them to hold it for them.

Now, how to tell our friends that we changed hotels and have a room for them.  What would you have done? No cell phone, no contact number for where they were staying, no idea when they were arriving, we only agreed on the day and place, not the time.

We decided to go to the hotel where we said we'd meet and try to speak to the owner and let them know to tell our friends where we are. Once we got to the hotel, we couldn't find a door or entrance, we saw a buzzer and buzzed several times. No one answered.  Across the street was a cafe, we ate, drank cappuccino and waited and waited. After being fully caffeinated, we devised a new plan.

Remember no cell phones. "Let's write a note." We laughed at ourselves, because there was no alternative and we thought this was really silly and probably wouldn't work. However, we found a place on the building near the buzzer and left it. This was a busy street, mopeds zooming by, people walking up and down, cafes, tourist, you name it. Our thought, "hope the note stays put." It looked something like this (original note is long gone): 

 Then, well...we went on tour thru Rome. Walked to the Colosseum, that's me above, with my manual camera, some 20 years ago. I still have and love that camera.  We left the boys fate to the Note and had ourselves a grand time. Saw a Vogue fashion shoot, wandered around the Colosseum, dodged the crazy Italian drivers and enjoyed our first day in Rome.

Later that day, when we arrived back to the Hotel the owners were so excited, "the boys are here!" they yelled. We were really surprised, we went running to their room and had to know how they found us. "We saw the NOTE!" We shared our travel tales and rejoiced that all had worked out well. Without the technology we have today we still found a way to make sure we communicated, even if it was the old-fashioned way.

How did we ever get by without our phones? We rely on them so much, I call my husband when we get separated at Costco, "where are you"? Do you remember what you use to do? I have to say these adventures make me smile as we didn't have any alternatives back then. Not every outcome turns out well, but you can always chalk it up to a tale you will have to tell.

Today when I travel in-country it's easy with my phone service in most areas. But only 3 years ago when I went to the UK and France, I didn't have an iPhone, only a Blackberry and my texting was non-existent, email and phone calls were limited, it was only for work. Today it's so expensive to get your phone to work internationally I'm not sure I'd even try. I really like to be disconnected from it all. Though I know I'd be all over Instagram, so I'd probably have to work something out or go into serious withdrawals.

This weekend we'll be camping and I already know we'll have no phone service and I'm kind of looking forward to that.  What do you do during travel, especially internationally, do you take your phones or unplug? Would love to hear.

Mindless Monday

This past week SB and I volunteered nearby, Beverly Hills. Renewed friendships, dug deeper into just a passing hello or how you doing from acquaintance's. Made new friends, found a kindred spirit that is 20+ years older, walked up and down Rodeo drive, knocked at door where Gene Kelly use to live, shopped an estate sale, had my picture taken by tourist's on a star tour, apparently I was standing in front of a celebrities house. What I learned, no matter where you live or work or volunteer, we all have the same problems, rich or poor, we all have aches and pains of aging, of the economy, of family issues, well at least at the moment. When you think of Beverly Hills you think of celebrity and fame which are fleeting, what matters are who we are inside and our relationship with our creator. It's so nice to be with people who have endured all kinds of things in life yet we all have a common belief that gives us hope of a better life that isn't so superficial. Getting off my soapbox now....it's my Mindless Monday, so that's part of what is in my jumbled brain.

Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake

I get so inspired by all the great photo's and blog post and especially about making things gluten-free. I tolerate gluten, but feel better when I don't partake of it. I saw this recipe and knew I had to give it a try. I still haven't been brave enough to try the vegan route...i just can't give up butter. This cake is really moist and very yummy. Give it a try.

Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake
(Adapted from Cakelets and Dollies Recipe which was adapted from Donna Hay's Recipe)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

(NOTE: if you have a vanilla bean, use that, split and scrap out the seeds to put in the mix For my recipe I didn't have a vanilla bean on hand, so vanilla extract worked great.) 1/4 tsp almond extract (because why wouldn't you want more almonds)
Zest of 4 lemons, if you want in more lemony taste you can squeeze a little lemon juice, but this is already a very moist cake so be warned.  Original recipe called for 1/4 cup lemon zest which can be about 6 lemons.
4 eggs, separated, make sure you let them get to room temperature
2 1/2 cups almond meal (Surprisingly I found this at Trader Joes, but you should be able to find in a local health food store or Whole Foods)
10 1/2 oz ricotta
Flaked almonds, to decorated and add more crunchiness
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325. Butter 8-9 inch cake round, I use parchment paper on the bottom and also butter that, it makes it easier to get the cake out of the pan.

I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can also use a regular beater. Mix softened butter, 1 cup of sugar, lemon zest, vanilla (either extract or vanilla seeds from the bean), until its pale yellow and creamy. I did this for about 6 minutes (thus why i like to use my KitchenAid stand mixer). Add in the separated egg yolks one at a time, that is if you didn't already blend them all together, in that case just drizzle egg yolks in a little bit at a time.  You'll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl through out the process.

Mix in the Almond Meal. Scrape down sides and take bowl from under mixer and fold in the Ricotta.

In a separate bowl mix the egg whites until white and fluffy, slowly pour in the 1/3 cup of remaining sugar until it makes glossy soft white peaks. Gently fold in 1/2 the egg whites, you want to make this a lite and airy cake, finally fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Pour mixture into cake pan. Sprinkle almond slices over the top, I covered mine as much as possible.  Put in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes. May need more time, I think I added about 8-10 more minutes to this, but test center with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean and the cake is fully baked. 

When you pull it out it look like a fluffy cake, once it cools down it deflates a bit. After it cools down dust with powdered sugar and serve. With coffee is great.

Mindless Monday

Two weeks of volunteer work, in between regular work, blogging, funerals, going-away parties, blogging event planning, trying to keep up with my girlfriends, calling my mom, and then a week of work travel...leaves my mind mushy.  I literally slept walked this morning as I tried to put one foot in front of the other on my beach walk. I could have easily sat at the end of the pier watching the pelican's above soar over the surface of the glassy ocean waters. Managed a quick cup-o-joe at Ground Works, I love that little coffee shop. It's teeny tiny and yet warm and friendly. Grabbed me a bag o beans of Black Gold to try tomorrow with my morning breakfast. Currently listening to the new Civil Wars album. Hauntingly good and painful to know they may never deliver this vocal magic again. How do you recreate chemistry like that, please make up Joy and John Paul.

California Nature

During our time in Arnold enjoying Nature was one of the best parts. I really forget how much I miss this living in the city. 

Dragonfly's, I swear I chased these bad boys down and still only got just a fleeting image. I will invest in a waterproof camera next time as they buzzed me a million times while floating on the Lake. 

Can you smell the pine leaves, another thing I miss. FRESH AIR.  

These wild lily's were everywhere. The contrast of the green leaves, blue water and bright orange petals made you smile. 

I love trees, the stillness of them and then the rustle when the wind breathes thru them is one of my favorite moments. 

I called this my pine cone constellation, not sure which one, but it reminded me of the stars I saw at night. 

More lily's hanging out at the lake. 

Light, leaves, shadow and pattern. 

I don't believe you could call it a lake if you didn't see the cattails on the edges of the water. 

Airstream Simple Living

This is a simple Tech Tuesday. If you have a job that you can work remotely from your own technology, say a computer. Why don't you? See what one family has done, living simply in an Airstream. Great video produced by Dark Rye. This is such an amazing way to live. It's also a fabulous education for your children.

Life isn't all about owning a fancy house, or the cars we drive, the hotels we stay in, the restaurants we dine at and the clothes we wear. Life is meant to be much more simple. I've been following Joshua Works @worksology on Instagram for a while. I'm moved by the images he shares and the places they've visited..One day we'll all be living the "Real Life." 

California Lake Country

While everyone loves to travel to England in the summer to drive thru the lake country that sings of Jane Austin's past, us Californian's have our own lake country. Visiting these lakes felt like a modern and much cleaner version of Dirty Dancing. It's the idea of creating family memories and enjoying a week or two together. Having no children of our own, I can't say that Rob and I have any family traditional vacation. Unless we count going home to New Mexico every year, which usually involves helping to repair anything on Mom's house, hardly a memory building vacation, well maybe. We usually look for a place we haven't visited yet and go to exploring. We're always up for an adventure, especially when the budget allows, which usually means a road trip.

A few 6 hours north of LA and just east of San Francisco in a town called Arnold there are a few vacation lakes with many permanent residence. And another 30 minute drive and your in the high country with boating and more fishing lakes. This particular one is called Lake Mont Pine. Families have been coming up here for years renting houses around the lake and enjoying leisure time. 

At Lake Mont if you rent a house here, and there are quite a few that hold 8 - 14 people, you will usually get few passes to rent equipment for the lake and just hang out on the lakeside beach. This isn't usual for all lakes in the area most times you need to have a steady supply of change to rent any equipment. Activities at the lake range from swimming, paddle boards, kayaks and small pontoon paddle boats. During the week they also show movies at night outside for the whole family. Oh and the STARS, living in LA we forget they exist with so much disturbance light you never see one. That first night we saw the Milky Way and so many stars you can't even begin to count.

In the still of the day here are the reflections of the trees on the lake.   

What better treat to eat during the summer, by a lake, is watermelon. Indeed eating outside, food taste SOOO much better. 

It's a quick and leisure walk around the lake. You get to peek at all the houses that can be rented and the view they have. Also just a nice nature study of light and color. 

This lily pathway was a welcome surprise. 

Lily and toy still life. It may also be a fish lure, but at this state it looks like a toy ducky. 

Boats and reflections wait for a push to the refreshing water. 

Trail narrows in places along the lake and even SB got into the photo action.

A five minute drive from Lake Mont is the Calaveras Big Trees. This is a giant Sequoia tree grove, it's one of the first tourist attractions in California. The "Discovery tree" is here. This was one of the first Sequoia trees discovered by Augustus T. Dowd in 1852.

John Muir said about this grove: "They [the Calaveras giants] were the first discovered and are the best known. Thousands of travelers from every country have come to pay them tribute of admiration and praise."

This was a treat for us. Other than knowing we'd be by a lake we had no idea where we were going or what was around.

Sadly the Discovery Tree was chopped down and shown around traveling exhibitions as proof of these giant trees. The stump has been planed and smoothed down and even served as a dance floor.  In 1852 they didn't have the modern tools to saw a tree down so you can see that they used various tools and drills to fell this giant. Thankfully Dowd and many other visitors protested to the chopping down of these majestic trees so that we can enjoy our Creator's delight. 

You feel so small and insignificant next to these beauties. 

This is little Marie, 9 years old walking among giants. 

The view from below. 

Between the trees.

The rest of our time was spent at the lake, cooling down and relaxing in the refreshing waters. We even found a few friends to hang with. 

Murphys, California

"MURPHY'S CAMP is a curious old mining-town in Calaveras County, at an elevation of 2,400 feet (730 m) above the sea, situated like a nest in the center of a rough, gravelly region, rich in gold. Granites, slates, lavas, limestone, iron ores, quartz veins, auriferous gravels, remnants of dead fire-rivers and dead water-rivers are developed here side by side within a radius of a few miles, and placed invitingly open before the student like a book, while the people and the region beyond the camp furnish mines of study of never-failing interest and variety." - John Muir

Recently on our roadtrip up North we stayed in a the town of Arnold, just a few miles North of Murphy's.  The old merchant town was the base for all the Gold Rush that invaded this part of California.  Though Murphy's had seen at least 3 fires during it's boom it still has the feeling of an old gold mining town.  My friend took us here as she knew I'd love it.  

Murphy's is about 6 hours north of Los Angeles, While the 405,  5 and 99 aren't exactly lovely, when you get off the roads there is SPACE. Us Angelenos relish some SPACE. I'll share those wide open spaces on the next post.

First stop was the Pokey.  Tiny little jail, let's hope there wasn't a huge rash of crime, not enough room for more than two people and that's pushing it. 

Cream stone and green shutters are so appealing to this old Murphy's Hotel, serving patrons since 1856, it adds charm to the authenticity of this town. 

Don't you just love them. 

Our friends sister helps out a few days at Aria's bakery.  Amazing breads and tasting baked treats here.  She brought us a whole bagful of treats.  Me and the young girls I was with laid out our favorites and took a picture of them the next morning. 

The cinnamon roll and scones were delicious, this is a must stop place when visiting Murphy's.  I'd heard when I was in town that Sunset magazine had made a recent visit, great minds think alike. You can read about it in the August 2013 Issue.

I think I'm kind of obsessed with doors, every door in this town was unique. See below. 

One of the places my friend took me to is Marisolio an olive oil store, that allows you to taste anything.  I ended up trying more balsamic then olive oil and walked out with a ripe peach and blueberry balsamic and a Milanese olive oil. All so tasty I can't wait to try them all with various recipes. 

After our little walk thru the town we drove to Ironstone Winery.  Everyone told us how great all the restaurants were in town, we'll be coming back to taste away.

Ironstone Winery is beautiful and they have it set up for concerts at night.  The wines were tasty and as usual I ended up leaving with a Moscato. I like me some sweet after dinner drink. 

You'll have to take the time to drive here, it's worth it and totally family friendly. More to come on the lake. Enjoy!. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies

A few years back I made the peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies above. I find this is still a go to recipe I use all the time.  In fact it was just over 4 years ago, July 15, 2009 last time I posted about it. We have an annual 3 day convention we go to every year and well I find a little treat and pick me up in the afternoon is just the thing to help me pay attention. I've adapted this recipe from a local small town Iowa cookbook. It's super easy and a great idea for something to do with kids. They can unwrap all the kisses and help put them on the warm cookies as you pull them out of the oven.

After you mix all the ingredients start hand rolling the dough into small balls.

Roll the balls into sugar and lightly coat. 

Place the rolled cookie dough onto cookie sheets and cook at 375 for 8 minutes.

Start unwrapping all your chocolate kisses while you wait for the cookies to bake. 

After first 8 minutes, take out the cookies and gently smoosh one chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Then return to the oven and finish baking for 5 more minutes, then let them cool on a rack. Then eat away, Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 c. Butter
1 c. Peanut Butter (I use Trader Joes or a Natural Peanut Butter, I've used Skippy before but i like a little more texture in this recipe).
1 c. Sugar
1 c. Brown Sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs, beaten
4 T. milk (in a pinch i used Rice Milk, we never have regular milk in our house)
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Additional granulated sugar
1 pkg of kisses

Directions: Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar; add eggs, milk and vanilla.  Sift together dry ingredients, except additional sugar and candies; add to butter mixture.   Shape into balls; roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.  Remove from oven and press and chocolate star or kiss on each cookie until the cookie cracks around the edge.  Return to oven for 5 minutes.

Mindless Monday

Did you know that JCPenney's sales Marchesa gowns? I found this out when I was checking out the JCP's newly revamped home section here. I was this close to trying on this dress and running out with it, they have a cute short red number that is adorable here. But seriously I have no events coming up and I don't foresee the Red Carpet in my near/any future. This day I was specifically looking at the Happy Chic Jonathan Adler collection as well as the Michael Graves Design tea kettles, toasters and other amazing modern home furniture by designer Sir Terence Conran.

I love when a brand that seems to have gotten stale works to revive itself. Though in much of my reading on JCP's troubles they have a long way to go, with new CEO out and old new CEO back-in, there's much to be done.

I personally felt like JCP was reintroduced to me, a middle to low income SoCal girl. Although I may not be the Middle American target, I loved seeing cool design in the store. Not sure this has fully caught on yet as it was pretty sparse in customers. JCP may have isolated their core audience with a no-sales approach in the past, but you have to admit the new home designs of the "store within a store" are appealing.

Did you also know they have Sephora stores within the store, I didn't either, and they've been there since 2009.  Seriously great design should always be affordable, none of this Design NOT Within Reach. And this is so not a sponsored post, I just felt like I needed to say how I felt about JCP. It's is a Mindless Monday dump once again.

Stone Fruit Crumble

On one of my farmers market runs I went to get peaches and came back with not only those, but quite a few other stone fruits. This included nectarines and pluot's. The later I had never had, but wow were these sweet and juicy, bursting with flavor. I had to get a few.  I came home right away sliced and ate em. 

Every once in a while I find a new blog, to me, or a new food show, this time I found both. The Pioneer Woman. Ree Drummond is just so REAL, I would love to meet her in person. She has a great recipe for what she called a "Crisp." Only she made hers with peaches. I decided to combine my farmers market peaches, nectarines and pluot's that I still had on hand and put them in a baking dish below.

Zest 1/2 a lemon and squeeze the juice too over the stone fruit and if you want more sweetness add in 2 tbsp's of maple syrup (the good pure kind)

Have I ever mentioned that I someone how always pick the HOTTEST most HUMID day to bake and at the time of day that the sun is beaming into our little apartment. Well I do, at least the house always smells good, that's my excuse to SB. 

To make the topping, in a separate blow mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt and cut in 1/2 cup cold butter. Either do this with a pastry blender or a good old fashioned fork. I've done both, but prefer my pastry blender I got from Sur La Table a while back, this one.

Fully cover the fruit and pack down lightly. Cover with tin foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20-30 minutes until crunchy on top. I have gone the full 30 minutes to make sure it's nice and crunchy.

You can serve this with vanilla ice cream or vanilla Greek yogurt. I've done both and was happily content.  It's a great recipe, tested on myself and then on my friends three kids, it's a hit. Use whatever stone fruits you have on hand. Peaches are everywhere now, so take advantage of the deals and the amazing juicy fruits.  Enjoy!

Tomato Caprese Salad

A few years back there was a tomato scare in California.  For some reason this didn't stop us from buying tomatoes.  I believe there wasn't even any foundation on what the scare was.  It's a distant memory.

We love tomatoes.  Believe me this is not how it always was.  I use to HATE them, passionately.  But taste buds change and we make lots of Bruschetta with tomatoes these days.  I use to work right next to a farmers market and every Wednesday morning I would go down and buy what ever was in season.  This was how I got turned on to Heirloom Tomatoes.

SB loves heirloom tomatoes so we got the great idea of taking a big terracotta pot on our 3x9 balcony and growing our own tomatoes.  I of course like the romance of planting the seed and watching it grow.  Comes from my grandmother's green thumb and letting me plant my own radish garden in her vast yard as a child. Incidentally I don't really like radishes either but I loved this project with grandma.  So to make this long story longer, I bought two packets of Heirloom tomato seeds, Cherokee and Brandywines, and I planted them in the pot.

The packet said in 8 weeks we'd have some shoots, well more than 8 weeks went by and not a glimmer of anything.  So I put the seeds in a little bit of water and put them on the window seal.

Eventually these little roots grew and I planted these seeds.  Finally shoots appeared. Did I tell you we only have a 3x9 apartment patio. Well our friend gave us an Earthbox that you supposedly can grow anything in. SB nurtured this box and we had a Jack and the Giant Tomato Stalk...only NO tomatoes. When any appeared the bugs got to it. I think we eventually got ONE good tomato out of all that effort. We sliced, salted, olive oiled and ate it, all in one bite. That was the end of our tomato garden. I think we'll wait for that Farm we dream of, that way SB can get his chickens too.

In the meantime, I make weekly walks to the local farmers market and gather whatever is in season. I gathered these luscious heirloom tomatoes, in every color available.

This is the easiest recipe for fresh tomatoes. All you need is basil, tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients & Directions:

Heirloom tomatoes (slice)

Salt

Olive Oil (make sure it's quality oil and drizzle it over the tomatoes) 

Buffalo Mozzarella (slice and intersperse with the tomatoes) 

Basil (rough chop and sprinkle on top) 

Balsamic Vinegar (drizzle)

Serve with toasted crusty bread drizzled with Olive Oil and rub with a garlic clove for extra flavor.  I prefer La Brea bakery bread, it just taste and toasts better.

Simple and flavorful. Enjoy!

Fall Color Trend

I'm starting to see what MY Fall color trend will be.  Separately and without realizing I've been drawn to Teal or as Essie labels it "trophy wife".   I've always loved this color, but I have to say a quote from the Wedding Planner had me put it on the back-burner a few years ago: 

"Fran has chosen teal for her brides maids? Teal, the color of gangrene. My last bride who chose teal ended up getting her marriage annulled in 12 days!"

What's your favorite soon to be Fall color?

1.  Nail Polish - Essie Trophy Wife $8 at CVS or Rite Aid

2. iPhone Case - Rifle Paper Co   currently $36

3. Purse - Target currently $15.99

Stuffed Squash Blossom

I love going to the Farmers Market, more in the summer than any other time.  It seems like the produce changes out every two weeks.  This day I ran down at the very end and saw these amazing squash blossoms and had to try them out.  The farmer gave me two full baskets for the price of one. Tip: go at the very end for good deals. Go at the beginning if you need the best and lots of it.

So I texted SB to look up a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms, I was bound and determined and knew I'd need more ingredients when I got home.  So I gathered the filling ingredients, cheeses, Ricotta and Parmesan were top on my list.  To be honest I had to look up a YouTube video to figure out how to put this together, especially taking out the innards.  YouTube it away or Bing it and you'll find the perfect tutorial.

Here's what the inside looks like of a squash blossom.

Gently pull out the stamen inside, you'll see it when you try to open the blossom.

Here's what the empty squash blossoms looked like with out the stamen.

Here's what the innard stamen's look like. No use for them, accept I thought they were pretty.

Filling had ricotta and Parmesan cheese, pinch of salt and chopped parsley.

Fully dip or immerse them in the tempura batter.

Quick fry em up. I would use grapeseed oil in the future, only thing I didn't like was the canola oil taste.

These were delicious.  Rich and cheesy and I loved the green zuchini, I would definitely leave them on when you make this.

Here's the recipe: 

Stuffing:

1 cup Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup parmessan

pinch of salt

chopped parsley

Tempura Batter: 

Canola Oil (I would use Grapeseed oil next time)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup Chilled Pilsner, lager-style beer, or club soda (I used Hanger 24 Orange Wheat Beer) - You may need more to get the right consistency.

Zucchini blossoms (stamens removed; about 16)                                            

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together for the tempura batter. Chill for a few minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and set aside. I like the flavors to meld.

Gently pull the stamens from the blossoms and you can either cut the green zuchini off or leave it on. I prefer the green it was delicious. 

Gently put in about 1 tablespoon of cheese per blossom. More if it fits and delicately twist the blossom so the ingredients stay in.

Heat oil in a deep pan about 1 inch deep, needs to be really hot about 350. Test with a bread crumb. If it fries quickly then your good to go.  

Take batter out of refrigerator and mix well, may need to add more beer or club soda to get a good consistency for coating. Dip each stuffed squash blossom and fully coat in the tempura batter and start frying them up. It's a quick fry.

Make sure you turn them over to get it all fried up.  Do this in batches to make sure the oil stays hot.

Drain on a paper towel, salt and serve. Enjoy!

Cuba A Bittersweet Tale - Part IX

One day while visiting with Abuelo I watched the kids outside play in the pot-holed dusty street. Not a Gameboy or iTouch around. Life consisted of a cart, horse and laughter. Simple living. They would circle the block a few times, run and jump off cart.  Innocence. I was moved by this moment. Then smilingly I walked back into the house laid down my camera only to have one of these stinkers dart in and grab it. The whole house jumped up and chased this kid down and retrieved my camera. Innocent moment broken with the realization of poverty.

Lazy days of the summer of 2000 in Habana, Cuba. Dad asked for these images to paint a picture, I hope to see it someday soon.

We drove to an old Church where Grandma use to attend services. The children playing outside happily let me take their pictures.  Can you feel the heat all the kids run shirtless and smiling.

Down at the Malecon the kids fished and played on the edge of sea leading into the harbor of Habana.

Don't be fooled by the moody image above. It really was a humid mirky blue water day in the bay full of boats.

For transportation in this city they of course have all the old vintage cars. Laws in Cuba at this time didn't allow people to buy or sell cars or homes.  So the country has been filled with 1950s Fords, Buicks and Pontiacs, some in mint condition, others barely sputter down the calle's. For most of the weeks we were there we rode around in a Russian Ladas. Around town we saw few modern Peugeots and Kias. I saw maybe one shiny black SUV and was told only the elite athletes and celebrities are allowed to purchase new vehicles.

One thing about being a tourist with a camera is you stand out quite a bit. Plus usually I know how to blend with my clothing, but that was impossible unless i wanted to wear spandex.  So anytime I took a picture people noticed.  These guys told us "hey, you taking a picture old guys working on old cars?" Indeed I was.

We stopped and chatted with them.  They wanted to know about my Dad, he told them a brief version of why were were there and how long it had been since he'd been back.

Another means of transportation where these small taxi's. I think I would prefer a vintage 1950 turquoise blue ford personally.

My cousins, who I'd just met, and spoke perfect English, learned on their own reading Vogue magazine, told me about the buses and trucks. As many people as possible would cram in them on their way to and from work. These ladies choose to walk rather than endure this, especially in the heat. I would too.

One thing about old cars, they die or stall all the time. We pushed this car so many times while I was here. Living in NM cars get stuck in mud and snow and whatever else the elements produce. I secretly kind of love pushing a car. I begged this day to push the car, but this male dominated culture wouldn't have it, so I was subjected to sitting in the back taking these photos. People are used to assisting in an old fashioned jumping a car and they come out of the wood-works to help a soul out.

Lastly on the highways it's routine to pass a buggy pulled by a horse. This is the way and life of getting around in Cuba.

Mindless Monday

So this past weekend I attended a wedding, where the bride is never emotional and gets choked up during her vows, which made me cry. And I NEVER cry at weddings, not even my own.  Then during the reception my dear friend Jessica went into labor, so I left the reception early, made my way home, changed and then took off to the hospital.

Out of all my friends who have had babies, naturally, with and without drugs, c-sections, I have actually never been in the delivery room for any of them. Jessica asked me to come, so I took the chance, I think she'll be the last of my close friends to pop out any more gorgeous children.  While I was super excited about this opportunity, I was nervous. Did I tell you I gag at everything. This was a problem in elementary school when throwing up for kids was second nature and well when I would see it, yes I would GAG and then throw up and get sent to the nurses office.  So you see my dilemma. I can happily say no gagging happened at all. I was proud. Jessica was amazing, calm yet emotional. Held on tightly with her perfectly manicured hands during the delivery.

So after crying at the wedding I proceeded to cry at the birth of this lovely little girl.

Sailer Carlyle, she's a beauty. I had no idea how emotional birth would be, I am thankful to participate and am moved by this moment. Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Maxwell and to the Real Family for bringing in a beautiful little girl to our world.

Keep a look out on My Life at Playtime, this is her niece and there are sure to be some lovely pictures of this precious little girl. 

San Pedro Mini City Guide

Giving you all a quick break from Cuba and focusing on a cool SoCal city. Recently I spent a week in San Pedro, while i wasn't exactly a tourist, I did get to spend time in the area with quite a few of the locals.  I have to say I've driven to this city several times on my pacific coast highway adventures.  But this is the first time I really hung out in the area. Gaffey seems to be the main thorough fare from where the 110 ends at the coast.  South of Gaffey seems to be a lower income area and flatter to walk.  North of Gaffey you start getting more houses and less apartments, also at the top of hills up you can see the San Pedro harbor, I really never got tired of this view.

So I found out that there are lots of Italian and Croatian's living here, purely because at one time this was a fishing town. Back in the day there were up to 70 commercial boats in the harbor, now merely 12. So of course you'd expect to find some good fish in the area. Our friends took us to a place on Gaffey called Baja Fish, small place tucked in between a few other places. They had salmon and various fish tacos served with beans and rice, all very good. I'd go back to this place for sure, everything tasted fresh.

Baja Fish

611 S Gaffey St

San Pedro, CA 90731

While walking thru one of the neighborhoods I was startled to see a peacock on top of someones garage. Then they told me there are all over the area.  This was so bizarre to me, but seriously I saw about 25 Peacocks mostly male but I saw a few females and their chicks. It was a bit misty in the area and their calls were haunting, I felt like I was at a wild animal park.  The history goes that peacocks where gifted to the Vanderlip family and Estate which is in the area. There are quite a few in this neighborhood of San Pedro and Portuguese Bend in Palos Verdes.

Along with great fish in the area I also found an amazing Italian bakery. A few locals told me about the place.  I went in and asked what the favorites were and they pointed to the treats below: Rum Ball, Almond Cresent and Cannoli.

Amalfitano

9111 S Western Ave,

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275  

Oh my goodness, I took a bite of that rum ball on my drive home with coffee and I have been dreaming about it ever since. Dark chocolate covered rum infused cakey texture with just enough to not get pulled over for a DUI. I can't wait to go back.

Walking again in another neighborhood one of the locals pointed out this Corner Store, she loves to go here for breaks and raves about the lemon bars.  We took a quick stop had a few sandwiches, sodas and took some baked goods home. This is going to be a place I come to all the time, I would have never found it had I not been with a local. This is the best way to find out about these special little places. Some of my best dining experiences have been when I asked a local for a recommendation.

Corner Store

118 W 37th St  

San Pedro, CA 90731

At the Corner Store they have live music. On this day these guys were playing a few old tunes. The harmonica player was funny, he stopped playing for a minute to tell me he liked my hot pink shoes.  

Nothing fancy here, but feels like a family joint.  Simple fair with an easy-going vibe. 

We order the Italian Stallion: grilled chicken breast with provolone cheese, mayo, sicilian bruschetta on ciabatta roll. Tasty goodie.

Loved this view from the table.

They have a wide range of sodas in every flavor imaginable.  You can even take some flowers home. 

My friend insisted we take home some sweets, she order a Brownie, Apricot tart and Butterscotch Blonde. Wow were these delicious. Rob preferred the brownie. I was partial for the apricot tart, but the brownie was my second favorite. Again this is a place I'd returned to and hopefully very soon. Take a day and go explore this great little area. The views are great and I saw a few hiking trails along the coastal line with a historical lighthouse and park nearby. Enjoy!