Suburban Homestead

Striking Gold in California

We said "goodbye" to three incredible days in the Yosemite Valley on Tuesday, after taking in lunch on the outside patio of the Ahwahnee Hotel (a real treat!). Heading out of the park, and up North through the Gold Country, we made a quick stop to cool off at an old-fashioned sweet shop in Jamestown.  I have such great memories of antiquing in Jamestown through the years with my grandma when she was still alive. I had hoped to run through my long-standing favorite shop, The Emporium, but we arrived two minutes after they closed and so I just steamed up the front window instead.

We spent Tuesday night at our first honest-to-goodness RV park. Angels Camp RV and Camping Resort was clean and simple with some highlights that included fruiting grape vines, fig trees and even a pet emu! It certainly wasn't Yosemite, but we didn't mind too much because for the first time in three days, we had full hook-ups! Some RVs seemed to call this place *home*.

We had all of Wednesday to make our way up to Sly Park Resort where we were meeting family for our annual summer campout. We got off to a late start but decided to visit a cute town we knew of - Murphys. That's our beast parked along the adorable tree lined main street.

We stuffed ourselves silly at Alchemy where we indulged on fish tacos, burgers, garlic bread and gourmet bubble gum soda.

She's never really done well in restaurants. ;)

After lunch, Daddy stayed back to trouble-shoot some *issues* with the RV while the kids and I walked the dreamy main strip, admiring waterways, window shopping and looking for something sweet to eat.

Rubber chicken themed goods at Twisted Oak.

Oh yes we did!!!

We were SO lucky to discover Lila & Sage - winner of The Cupcake Wars! Here Little Miss stands in front of the case with her new rubber chicken.

Chocolate Peanut Butter, Strawberry Shortcake and Vanilla with Raspberry - all award winning!

Our last stop of the day was California Caverns - which we loved! We were able to escape the 100+ degree weather for an hour by heading underground into the limestone cavern where the temperature is always a consistant 53.

iGrill, therefore iAm

Daddy got a new gadget at the iPhone store.

It’s called the iGrill and it comes with a tiny iProbe that meatsits your dinner while you go off and enjoy your friends and family. When your meal has come to temp, the iProbe tells the iGrill, which tells your iPhone to tell you to come back to the heat and take all the credit for a job well done.

And we thought we had it made with an electrical thermometer fork!! We tried it out last night with friends and it worked great. More importantly, they brought their Boston over and we forced a doggie playdate on the girls. (Although, now that I think of it, there may have been a little teeth gnashing involved.)

Ruby was so flippin' sweet and so INCREDIBLY cute, I wanted to take her for our own.

Here's where we ate our iMeat after we fed the kiddos their iFish:

Our Neighbor's Blackberry Forest

I live for mornings like these...

Our neighbor's blackberry forest is finding it's way into our yard. This morning I got myself out of bed a little earlier than normal and picked fresh berries for scones. Happy day, happy day! Now I just need to walk up to their door, introduce myself and ask them if I can have access to their forest. Mama's got her heart set on pie and jam!

Lazy Mom's Flag Cake

If you've been on Pinterest this week, you most certainly saw this cake pinned.

Again. And again. And again.

My friend Jill and I tried to make something similar, but with a lot less effort involved.

Don't assume us unpatriotic. We just prefer to spend our summer days floating in the river, chatting.

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

A friend of mine recently turned our family on to the raw cookie dough bites craze when she came over for dinner and gifted us with a bag of them - frozen!

How cool of a hostess gift is that?! Raw cookie dough bites?!?

The best part is they contain NO dairy and NO flour, are PACKED with good nutrition and taste (almost) exactly like the Nestle kinda dough you eat in tablespoon quantities before baking. I adapted her recipe, found here, adding flax seed and tripling the quantities to make enough to last us a week two and a half days. Here's how I did it:

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

Makes 36 bites

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup pre-ground flax seed
• 2 cups raw almonds
• 2 cups raw walnuts
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor, process the flax, almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal. (Note: Because this is a triple batch, and depending on your processor, you may have to stop the mixture and stir a bit by hand to get an even mixture.)
2. Add the agave nectar and vanilla and process to combine.
3. Add the cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips) and pulse just to combine.
4. Roll the cookie dough into balls (about 1 tbsp. each) and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour to firm up then transfer to a zip-lock bag or tightly covered container in the freezer.

Homemade Donuts

I have not been doing a whole lot of cooking lately, but you probably already noticed that. With everything going on, we've done a lot of take-out...and maybe even invited ourselves over to the homes of friends and family when it served us well. ;)

Speaking of food and friends(!), one of mine recently got me thinking about homemade donuts (made from pizza dough) when she sang their praises via a Facebook post. I asked her if she wouldn't mind sharing the details so I could give it a shot - maybe even blog about it - and this is the cute note she wrote me back (I detailed it out in recipe format at the end):

"We start by buying a tub of pre-made organic pizza dough at the Good Earth market here in town. When we get home B. tosses it pizzeria style and E. then rolls it out and cuts it. Because we are so fancy, E. cuts the shapes using a drinking glass and the lid from our vinegar bottle - they make the perfect size donuts and holes. We heat up coconut oil in an old Le Creuset (nice deep sides). We use about 1/2-3/4 inch coconut oil. They bob around for a bit until they are golden brown and crispy. Then we set them on a brown bag to de-oil for a bit before glazing them. Lemon butter glaze - the key to the whole affair! We start with a huge chunk of butter. We LOVE butter. I juice a lemon from our tree (and sometimes a lime because I am exciting like that) directly into the melting butter and also zest - lots of zest- a bit of warm water, and because we live dangerously - a dash of powdered sugar. Wisk-wisk-wisk and then dunk those babies in. When they come out of their glaze bath, I sprinkle a bit of shredded coconut on them and usually they are eaten before they even reach the plate. Happy donut making! --M."

"OK," I thought, "let's do this."

(It's just a photo so no, I did not cook with plastic. But yes, we did deep-fry for breakfast - so there's your daily dose of irony.)

These were so fun to make and so delicious to eat for a special weekend treat. The kids were able to help and just like the donuts at M's house, ours never even had the chance to cool down. Here's how we did it:

 

HOMEMADE DONUTS

 

INGREDIENTS

1 serving of fresh pizza dough, either store bought or homemade

Coconut oil (we used a 14oz. jar)

4 tablespoons of melted butter

Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon

Pinch of salt

Shredded coconut (optional)

Powdered sugar (not optional)

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove pizza dough from refrigerator and let it sit for 30 minutes.

2. When dough is ready, begin heating coconut oil on med-high. Hot oil should be about 1/2 - 3/4" deep, and bubble rapidly when a test donut hole is tossed in.

3. On a floured surface, roll out dough and cut out as many rings as you can, using a round cookie cutter or glass, as well as a balsamic vinegar cap. ;)

4. Moving quickly, and working in batches, drop 3 - 4 rings of dough into the oil and allow to cook both sides until golden brown. While donuts are frying, melt butter in a bowl and combine with lemon juice, zest and salt.

5. With a slotted spoon, remove donuts from oil and let cool on a paper towel.

6. When cool to the touch, dunk donuts in melted lemon butter, remove and sprinkle with sugar and coconut

**It's really impossible for me to say how many this recipe *serves*. How many donuts one should eat for breakfast and how many homemade donuts one ends up eating for breakfast, are two entirely different numbers. You make the call.

I enjoyed these with a fresh brewed cup of Bosnian coffee(!!!) - a gift from a new friend who just returned from a trip back home. Blissful Sunday morning.

California Road Trip - Palm Springs Eatin'

The only thing I love more than absorbing all the creative interior details of a fun-ky boutique hotel, is to digest the equally delicious food you can expect to find in one of their on-site restaurants.

The Ace Hotel's King's Highway serves up some incredible eats in what used to be an old Denny's diner. But the food was anything but old school diner quality, serving up local and organic whenever possible. I actually found my only truly vegan meal on that highway. They also offered up insane desserts with a white trasher spin to them - think behemoth chocolate chip cookies baked with potato chips, or a slice of peanut butter cream pie the size of that wicker elephant head hanging over our booth.

Don't be fooled by the still shots - she was a big, hot mess all through dinner.

OK - not the best shot, but sometimes I have to lighten the load and make due with the iPhone. Designed by one of my favorites, Jonathan Adler, the irreverent Parker Hotel pays homage to that crazy, old, world-traveling aunt of yours. With two restaurants to choose from, we opted for Norma's, serving up more casual fare.  I indulged in some ridiculously good fish tacos after powering through a bowl of corn-off-the-cob soup and half of Daddy's calamari. Their signature dessert was a build-your-own milkshake that allowed you to select your own ice cream flavor and favorite slice of pie to be blended all together into one crazy shake. Somehow, we restrained...

The newly opened Saguaro Hotel. We had an afternoon date at Tinto before heading to Sunnylands.

Our waiter did a good upsell with us when he suggested the marcona almonds and olives. Wow. Wow. Wow. The nuts were smoked to perfection, giving them a sort of *bacon* essence. And the olives, well, who knows what they did there - they were just damn good.

Citron at The Viceroy. I'd been hearing about this hotel for years and finally got to catch up. Designed by Kelly Wearstler, it was much smaller than I imagined. But at the same time, it's quaint feel was refreshing for a hotel.

(Vegan) Granola Bars

I have long been a fan of homemade granola bars.

I'm not saying I've ever actually made them, I'm just saying I've always really liked the idea of it.

Organic "bars" run a little high with just six to a box and price tags running you around $6. Don't get me started on all the packaging and extra sugar... blah, blah. What's my problem(?)...I need to start making homemade granola bars.

Soooo...last week in the throes of early, onset veganism (no commitments yet), I tried to find a good recipe. Did I want to trust all the vegans online that claimed their recipe was the best? Or did I want to go straight to the queen and see if I couldn't modify her dairy fortified recipe?

Knock, knock - Hey, Ina!

I was super relieved to see that Mrs. Garten's tried and true granola bars only contained 3 T of dairy/butter. An easy fix, no? I wondered if three tablespoons of peanut butter might not be a good swap and so I gave it my best.

Is subbing peanut butter for regular butter a well-documented vegan trick? Because it worked SO well and I want to claim this brilliance as my own!

Once all the moving parts had been toasted, melted and tossed, I found a really strong young man, with super big "muskles" to help me with the heavy pushing part.

Focus on the food, you can't actually eat her.

These were so divine. And the added dark chocolate made them a much healthier dessert-type food than I would normally reach for after dark. Here's how I did it:

Vegan Granola Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using vegan butter, grease a 8 x 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ and flax seed.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried figs, seeds and dark chocolate and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and firmly press mixture down flat and evenly into pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

** I played around with this recipe some more this week, most recently removing the brown sugar, halfing the honey and adding in two vegan egg substitutes before baking. So far so good! Of course, each revision is less sweet than the batch before it, and maybe a bit more crumbly, but I love that I'm taking down the sugar content for all of us.

My Week as a Vegan

It's true. I did the unthinkable (for me, at least) and cut all animal products out of my life for one week.

For seven days, I completely changed my eating habits to a plant-based diet, rich in raw fruits and vegetable, nuts and seeds.

And I lived to blog about it.

{baked kale chips}

It all started the minute I picked up T. Colin Campbell's, The China Study, and began reading about research compiled over decades of studying the eating habits and health of people in rural China.

Crazy, crazy stuff...

What I once thought was an impossible task, turned out to be a really interesting experiment. It was not the slightest bit difficult, and surprisingly, exercising restraint did not factor into any of it. When you are highly motivated (in my case, by the research), change proves easy.

I observed immediate benefits to the change in diet, none of which I'm willing to share on this forum. ;)

With my motivation and confidence building daily, I found myself eating more vegetables in any given day than I probably ever had before in my life. What's not to love about that?! While my main goal was just to avoid dairy, meat and H-U-N-G-E-R, I was happily surprised at the insane quantities of fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains I had to take in just to keep up.

{quinoa with asparagus, carmalized onions, raisins + toasted pinenuts}

I couldn't help but feel like a poster child for healthy living - I felt lighter (because I was), healthier and little ailments that I might normally feel during the day, ceased to exist.

And then I had to travel to Denver on business... :(

I'm back home now, and back to a mostly vegan diet (just cream in my coffee - I can't drop that one yet). With the exception of a night out on the town with friends, where vegan and/or low-dairy vegetarian options were nowhere to be seen (I ordered the salmon), I'm back to enjoying the *good life*.

Did I really just write that? Who am I?!

What I read in The China Study, and what originally motivated me to abruptly switch to a plant based diet, is not what motivates me today. Daddy did a lot of additional research in the study's findings and I'm not convinced that those living in rural China have better health only because they eat a plant based diet. There are other factors that I'd love to see studied as well - stress, for example. But I certainly saw immediate benefits in my own body, and that is enough to motivate me towards a lifetime of change and (even) healthier eating.

(But no matter what, I will never stop loving my chickens.)

Denver Wrap Up

My trip to Denver this week offered a feast for the eyes and stomach. While my friend B. and I traveled for work, we were lucky enough to stay at a fun spot, and to find some great restaurants over the course of two days.

The Curtis Hotel offers just about as much fun as you can hope to have at a DoubleTree Hotel. (And yes, there were warm cookies waiting for us on arrival.) With a *fun and games* motif, along with some brilliant graphics that ran all the way down to the door hangers, this place offered up some colorful inspiration for our next project - revamping a family friendly apartment complex. :D

Zucchini *Pasta*

I was recently speaking to a woman, swapping success stories in the garden and kitchen, and she shared a great idea for a no-pasta *pasta*.

She told me how to make an all vegetable *pasta* dish that I would swear tasted like a hearty bowl of meaty goodness. I listened, I committed, and then I made it for dinner.

I've already made this dish twice in the past four days. The first time I julienned four zucchinis by hand, which took some time. The second time, I used my Mandoline (duh) and the job was done in seconds. Following her instructions, I made sure to remove the center part of the vegetable as it doesn't hold up well when blanched.

I then prepared a sauce, simply using a jar of my favorite red, adding some onions and artichoke hearts.

Once my sauce was ready to go, I blanched the zucchini for 5 - 10 seconds, just until I started to notice it brighten in color. Then I quickly removed it and drained it, and immediately served it up topped with sauce and shredded cheese.

I'm really excited about this new dish because it's super healthful and the zucchini adds a great crunch. It also solves part of the 'what-do-we-do-with-all-this-frickin'-zucchini' issue.

Sunday at the Farmers Market

We went to the farmers market late this morning with the idea of eating an awesome lunch and returning home to a clean kitchen.

We got a lot of resistance from the under-four-foot crowd when we told them they were going to spend the morning at the market "exploring seasonally accurate whole foods for purchase". Nothing like your own pizza and a pocket full of bouncy house tickets to turn a kid's attitude around!

I had my heart set on the Taco Guys before we were even able to effectively bribe the kids into getting out of the house and into the car. I've posted about these *guys* before and continue to follow their truck around town. If you ever happen to see it rolling down the highway, do yourself a favor and follow it - ideally with your sirens ON.

Surprisingly enough, moments of joy overcame us all and *some* of us got up to dance...

...some of us, more enthusiastically than others.

While Daddy took the kids down to the inflatable wonderland, I walked the isles and filled my bags with tangerines, grass-fed beef, kale, milk and six pounds of strawberries. The market was thinning out towards the end of the day, and while there may not have been the selection of produce there was earlier in the morning, there was still plenty, PLENTY to choose from. What's even better is that everyone was offering exceptional deals in the final minutes, throwing in extra of this here, further discounting that over there. It was great! I picked up the last chicken this man had to offer (check out his great shirt!) and we roasted it tonight with lemon, thyme and a slathering of butter, OO, salt and pepper. I served it with roasted potatoes, and an arugula salad with beets, goat cheese and pistachios. Strawberries with cream where for dessert.

Joe Jack's Fish Shack, Puerto Vallarta

I am sad to report that we are all back home, safe and sound. Seven incredible days passed in a blink and I owe it all to good friends, an essential ingredient to the perfect vacation with kids. I still have pictures and thoughts to share about our time south of the border, which I'll try to post before the week's end. One such share-worthy event is a great restaurant where we enjoyed dinner in Old Town. It took a lot for us not to return to this place on our second and final night out in PV, *sin niños*. Then again, I can't think of any spot in town I wouldn't be willing to revisit. Did I mention I'm sad to be home safe and sound? (Sigh.)

Dinner in Old Town, Puerto Vallarta

We are currently on our first all-inclusive family vacation, and we have ventured into this new territory with good friends.

All-inclusives are great with kids, especially when they have good friends from their hometown neighborhood to play with all day. We hang out by the pool, sun-up to sundown, ordering food and drink at (what feels like) no charge. The kids run in and out of thrilling activities all day long -- face painting, kite making, boogie boarding, and beach soccer, just to name a few.

Last night we decided to take advantage of the already-included-in-our-total-charge childcare, and headed into Old Town, Puerto Vallarta sans kids. We got a restaurant recommendation from a friend who grew up in PV, and headed towards the beach to have dinner at La Palapa.

Our friend played one of his favorite sexy moves and reserved us a table on the beach in the sand!

The whole scene was so fun as we watched tables being prepared for proposals that were set to happen at sunset. Candles were lit, rose pedals were scattered and tiny, twinkling lights were turned on.

The food was wonderful. I half expected our tuna stack appetizer to be bland when it arrived on white rice, but was happily surprised at its incredible flavor. Below, our tortilla soups being served up.

The restaurant's ambiance just grew warmer and more romantic as the sun set lower, and more decorative lighting came on.

OK, I must admit... I used a flash in the two following images, but I did so ONLY to accurately show the vibrancy of the setting sun. I kid you not, no backdrop was used in the these pictures, this was the real deal:

After dinner, our friend ordered one of La Palapa's special coffees, which were prepared tableside. I was a fire performance of epic proportions.

Snapshots of an Early Morning Love-fest

Nothing says Valentine's quite like some heart-shaped eggs and an ornamental plum tree in full bloom.

Five out of six of my girls.

See the plum tree behind the coop? We also have a great view of it from the kitchen -- boasting the first bursts of spring color.

Love Bug Cookies

Guess what the toddler and I did Sunday morning?

A little bit of this...

...and a whole lot of this:

A new friend and neighbor just had her third child! So I decide to make a double batch of sugar cookies for Valentine's, and personalize a plate full for her and her family. I've got to say, the labor intensive production of artfully decorating cookies gets easier each time, and that much more therapeutic. Once you go to all the trouble and fuss to make it happen, it's so calming to just sit down and pump out a ton of pretty little treats. I need to do this with a group of committed friends on occassion. This kind of craft needs to be the modern day sewing circIe. I was certainly grateful to only have one child in my care that morning. Together, we made for one happy little pair.

Congrats, Hilary!!!

Valentine's Cookies

Last night I hosted another one of Kate's cookie classes for all my girls who could not make the first class in December.  The theme was Valentine's, and the students were a great mixture of neighbors and friends.

Here are some pictures I took of Kate's art - cookies decorated the night before so that *students* could have a little inspiration. If it's not obvious from these shots, let me tell you: they were flawless! (I say *were* only because Kate and I ate them all while cleaning up the kitchen.)

Here Kate shows us the proper *technique*. Oh the jokes that followed... ;)

I'll leave you with this shot below - one Kate forwarded me from her phone, of some recent work she'd done. (OK fine, I grabbed her phone and forwarded it to myself.) Who knew I needed a pear-shaped cookie cutter? And a lemon one to go with it? Well now I know.  Thanks again, Kate! xoxo

If you live in the Bay Area, and would like to throw a cookie decorating party with Kate as your instructor, it's such a great way to get a group together, morning, afternoon or night. She charges $45/head and pretty much does it all! You leave with some great, new knowledge and a box of your cookie art. For more info, you can contact her at kateplaskon(at)gmail.com or at 415.225.7516

Big ol' Spicy Drumsticks

I know I'm a bit late to *the game* on this, but I have to share a bit o' *accidental genius* that happened in my kitchen yesterday while I was trying to whip up some of the Pioneer Woman's Spicy Wings.

Here's how it all went wrong so right:

PW's recipe calls for 2lbs. of drummettes - the drumstick looking half of the chicken wing.

I went to two stores late in the Superbowl Sunday afternoon and between the two, I could only scrape together 1lb. of those drummettes, seeing as everyone in town was making wings. With a heavy heart, I bought regular, full-size drumsticks and allowed myself to start panicking.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

Two lifetimes ago, I worked in a restaurant. Many restaurants, actually. And out of the hundreds of evenings I spent walking the floors, slinging giant white plates of hot French/Italian/American food at people, there was one night (just ONE!) when a special Tarte Tatine was offered with, not the predictable vanilla ice cream, but cinnamon ice cream!!!

It left quite the impression on me. The flavor was not subtle at all - it was big - VERY BIG! In fact, it reminded me of a creamy, frozen version of my mother's go-to breath freshener in the '70's - Big Red gum.

Being too young at the time to know an ice cream maker from crock-pot, I bought a half gallon of Dreyer's ice cream, let it soften until I could blend in heaping scoops of spice, and re-froze it. In the morning, I ran to the freezer, (maybe I'd have ice cream with my coffee,) but was shocked to find my half-gallon of ice cream had shrunk during the night to little more than a pints worth. That morning, I was awoken to an undeniable reality of cheaply made, mass produced food: additives. In this case, the additive was a lot of air!

That was a long time ago now, and since then I've tried several brands/versions of cinnamon ice cream, but found them all to only *hint* at the spice. For me to be able to relive that first taste of cinnamon ice cream, that creamy cold scoop of *Big Red*, I needed to take matters into my own hands. Thankfully, it's simple. Here's how I do it:

 

Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 cup of very cold whole milk

2 cups of very cold whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients and turn in your home ice cream maker per manufacturers instructions. (My ice cream maker is by Cuisinart and I mix it for about 20 minutes before storing it in the freezer for several hours before serving.)

Wordless Wednesday

 

Vine-Ripened Tomatoes in January?

I don't quite know what the deal is on this one, but I harvested about 50 Sun Gold and Cherry tomatoes on New Years Eve.

Did this happen for anyone else in Northern California? I ripped out most of my tomato plants months ago and only had two still planted (for no other reason than shear laziness). I had been walking past those remaining two for ages, never really allowing the visual information of colorful fruit to fully register.

Duh.

And then it just sort of hit me. So I tried one and it was delicious. As I went to pull them off the vine, I hardly had to put a bit of effort into the harvest. It was as if my approaching body heat gave them cause to jump ship themselves - they were literally dripping!

I baked a large pasta dish that night and just threw them on top before finishing it all off with bread crumbs and baking. Such a treat!

This day last year: "Olive Oil Muffins"

Wordless Wednesday

Take a Peek in My Drawers

When I first started this blog, I had the idea to organize my kitchen cabinets and drawers, documenting the process, and sharing my favorite tidbits along the way. Part of me wondered if this wasn't weird of me.

Is it weird that I want to share what's in my drawers with others? Is it wrong that I enjoy looking in other people's drawers?

I know we all got the same junk in our drawers, but isn't it kinda fun to see who has what tool and which tool works best for whom?

So I threw the question out to a fellow friend and blogger:

"Is it weird if I blog about what's in my drawers?"

"No!" she replied. "Isn't that what blogging is all about? Looking in other people's drawers?!"

I ended up putting the idea on the back burner, always finding something more time sensitive to write about. But now with the new year in full swing, it's time to get down to business and start acting on my resolutions: (1) get organized and (2) blog more. So here you go. I'm dropping everything and giving you a peek in my drawers.

My *sweet* tools drawer, before and after. (I'm sorry to say I forgot to photograph my *savory* tools drawer, before or after). And, yes, I have been known to use every single one of those measuring spoons and cups in one afternoon. But only on a really, really good day.

My baking drawer (kinda). Let me first say that I am not good with maintaining the inner drawer peace and order day in and day out. BUT --- this is particularly bad, post-holidays baking craze. It doesn't normally look this pathetic. In fact, today, it looks like this:

Now, if I was Bruno Mars' girl (read: amazing) I would have remembered to take before shots of everything. But I'm not, so I didn't. You'll just have to envision a post-holiday apocalyptic kitchen and by doing so, you will really appreciate this:

...and this...

...and this.

Last but definitely not least, my favorite -- an upper cabinet where I organized all our egg holders and even turned a chicken casserole dish on it's side for everyone's continuous viewing pleasure.

Through all this organization, I forced myself to let a lot of things go, things we never actually use or have too many of. Like the rolling pizza cutter. (What's wrong with a butcher knife, right?)

After all was complete, and I had my list of *replacement parts* jotted down, I ran out to Crate + Barrel for several items, like a working garlic press that I can use without losing my mind, a ladle (because someone walked off with mine??) and maybe a couple other items. :)

You might guess that I'm most excited about my new potato masher (wink, wink), but no. I'm crazy about these new kitchen towels!!!  Great linens on cabinets are like fabulous pillows on a couch - they can completely lift it all up. They are an affordable way to change up a room and with the right ones, you can bring a room to life.

My Mom's 80th Birthday

We celebrated my amazing mother's 80th birthday at Nick's Cove in Marshall this afternoon!

Doesn't the cake just say it all?!

We ate oysters and flatbread, fish and chips, crab sandwiches and cioppino!

It was a great time with everyone. Thanks to Jackie for making it all happen!

xoxo

This day last year: "Brining Olives - That's a Wrap!"

Christmas Brunch

This Christmas morning, we ate the same tart I made last year, only I used my recently-made pomegranate jelly instead of quince. And instead of topping the tart with circular cuts of pie dough, I used *North Pole Animals*.

Of course, there was also eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee. But you can't really form any of those into cute, cold-weather loving animal shapes, now can you. Enjoy your food!

We Love Bouche de Noel!

I have always admired the whimsical Bouche de Noel (aka Log Cake), although I've yet to bite into one.

That will all change TONIGHT! I signed us up to bring one to Christmas dinner at my sister's house and if the reactions from licking the bowls are any indication of how this is going to go, I think Mommy has a new Christmas tradition.

The kids and I had a blast yesterday morning making all the holiday desserts. They loved making the marzipan mushrooms.

I also rolled out some Christmas lights in marzipan, a trick I stole from our grocery store's log design. The almost-five-year-old made the mushroom below on the right - which I love. It's true to form with all the baby mushrooms shooting up on the big on.

I used this recipe but reserved 1/3 of the frosting recipe to use on the exterior of the log - something that wasn't actually called for. I will serve it up at my sister's house surrounded by leaves and dusted with powdered sugar, like this photo.  I'm already thinking about next year's cake - I'm going to dress up the log with little gnomes, red capped mushrooms and tiny presents. Happy Holidays!!

Favorite Gifts to Give

Every year, Daddy receives holiday gift baskets from various business associates. Occasionally, there will be a lovely box of Harry + David fruit and nuts, if we're lucky. But more often than not, the boxes contain mass quantities of not-worth-the-calories dark, chocolate fudge, brownies and cookies. Right now I have a 12" pecan pie, "Made in Texas", that I'm wondering what to do with.

And it always makes me wonder, who is in charge of ordering this stuff?

I'm guessing whoever is in charge of ordering is just sending out the same thing to every client. And I understand why this must be, but at the same time, I just cringe at all the waste.

I have never asked Daddy what his office sent to their clients in the past, half-scared to know the answer. Instead, I offered to take over the ordering this year, in an effort to lighten the world a few more mommies having to dump seven pounds of mediocre dessert food (to their chickens).

Walking through the San Francisco Ferry Building recently, I got the idea to send out gifts from local producers.  Not only would we be sharing our favorite foods from home, but we could keep the money local while supporting small business.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

Here's what I sent:

If you are a business associate of my husband, and you have 2+ kids, I sent you Miette Bakery's Valencia Hamper.

Gosh - I wish someone would send us one of these! (Anyone? Anyone?!?)  I know it is on the sweet side, but it's Miette, so that makes it OK.

If you are an associate of my husband and you are married with a grown child or two at home, I may have sent you a Cowgirl Creamery Holiday Collection,

or a sampler from our favorite local spot, Rustic Bakery.

For small offices with several people on staff, I sent the Miette Holiday Box.

If you are a single woman, or mom, I sent you a selection of body products from McEvoy Ranch, as well as a bottle of their olive oil.

And if I couldn't figure out much about you, I probably sent you a little taste of California in the form a gift box from my favorite olive oil producer, California Olive Ranch.

On a more personal note, I also wanted to give gifts to all the wonderful service providers in our immediate life: the dog walker, the gardeners, etc. In the past, I have always given them cash but with the introduction of Milly's dog walker, who takes her for an amazing 4-5 hours a day, 2 days a week, and with whom I have more of a personal relationship with, I wanted something a tad more thoughtful. So to all these people I gave $25 gift certificates to Rustic Bakery. I love that I get to share one of our favorite spots while supporting a local business, owned and operated by women supporting our local agriculture.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!

Happy Holidays! 

Teddy Bear Tea

I'm going to sound entirely like Fancy Nancy when I say this, but we went to a Teddy Bear Tea today. And it was at the Ritz-Carlton.

*Nana* took a gaggle of us girls as her guests and we got to dress up!  Little Miss wore her party best, and I wore a vintage blouse my mother sewed in the '60's from silk fabric my uncle brought back for Japan. (Epic, Mom.)

Chicken Pot Pie

Growing up, I remember four rotating dinners upon my TV dinner tray: Kraft mac-n-cheese, fish sticks, spaghetti marinara and chicken pot pie.

Three out of four came from a box.

I loved them all, but there was something special about those chicken pot pies -- they were all mine, and I didn't have to share the contents of my little tin tray with anyone. There were no family style dilemas to be had while eating pot pie - it allowed for total culinary independence, and that was empowering. I ate a lot of those little pies, served up on a folding fiberglass TV dinner tray, inlayed with maple leaves and little gold squiggles. Janet, Chrissy and Jack Tripper, along with George and Weezie Jefferson, were there with me for every last bite.

Flash forward thirty years and I still love me some chicken pot pie comfort food in the winter! The only difference now is, I make my pies from scratch.

Cookie Decorating Class

I recently hosted a cookie decorating class, instructed by my friend Kate, and opened it up to all my friends with early morning availability.

Kate baked cookies for nine, and brought all the necessary elements for decoration. For 2-1/2 hours she instructed on how to make piping and flood, how to correctly prep all your tools and lastly, how to decorate gorgeous holiday cookies. (I, of course, couldn't help but throw in lunch - Ina's Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette... of course.  ;)