You Otter Know

I have been crazy busy this last week and it just doesn't seem to be stopping in the near future. I spent this last weekend in Carmel for mother's day (HI MOM). We went to a fabulous brunch and ate until we almost popped.

I got home just in time to celebrate my 2 year anniversary with the boy (HI BOY) where we went to a fantastic fondue restaurant in the bay area and ate until we almost popped, who can say no to melted cheese with bread and melted chocolate with fruit while listening to David Cassidy sing "I think I love you"? I certainly can't, and the 70's pop soundtrack made it all the better.
Now we leave tomorrow for San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles to go apartment hunting until Sunday. Hopefully at least one of us comes home with a place to live and/or at least good prospects. After that it will be pack, pack, pack and then back on the road to LA we go.

I'm glad to say that the ball is now rolling full steam ahead. After being unemployed and bored for almost the last year I'm more than happy to have a lot to do.
Needless to say blogging will be sporadic for the next few weeks until the dust settles. So please bare with me and my limited writing/commenting.

Until I can get back into a good rhythm look at this cute picture of a baby otter and his mommy. It seems like the right time to post this cuteness...as if there were ever a wrong time.

Have a lovely day my dears.

Food Stink

I watched Food inc. last night, and I didn't find it that ground breaking. I think what I was more shocked by is the idea that people STILL don't know this stuff?! The idea that the mass production of food for cheap all the while abusing animals and other humans is not a new idea, so why is this still a discussion? Things need to change, that has been the point for a very long time so why after all the messages we've been receiving is nothing being done?

I know that our food habits are ingrained in who we are but I think that that fact alone would encourage us to think more about what we're eating. When I was 12 years old I ate my last fast food burger, I remember biting off a piece, chewing it and it going down in a lump. I wasn't enjoying it, it didn't taste good or appeal to me anymore and I haven't eaten meat since, I'm almost 26. My point being we can all actively choose what type of food we put in our bodies, whether you eat meat or not, it just takes a litte bit of work.

There is a very big battle going on in this country, it couldn't be more obvious at the moment with Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution, Food inc, and all the food recalls we've been having right at the forefront of the media, cheap fast food and it's detriment to ones health vs. good wholesome cooked food and how expensive it is. This is something I think we've all known for a long time...right? The boy and I live in an town with a high proportion of families in lower economic brackets and on every block, every single block there is some sort of cheap fast food restaurant, don't tell me that you think this is coincidence?

These messages that we see in movies like Supersize Me, or Food inc or read in books like the Omnivores Dilemma are not new messages but we watch or read these ideas and stories and vow that we will change the way we think about food and how we eat it but then we slide back into our old ways and nothing gets done. Why is this? Why is it that even though we know whats in our food, how its processed and how others (farmers, workers, animals even) are affected by it we still don't fight for change and see it?

What's going on?

Give me the cake or I WILL KILL YOU

I gave up dessert for Lent and I AM DYING a slow death and it's only day 2. What the F was I thinking?!!!

I'm not even Catholic for Gods sakes! I'm sorry Jesus but I might not make it the whole way, I'm not much to admire when it comes to eating and self control. This is bananas.

Christmas party treats

It was a success.


The boys birthday cake looked festive and pretty.


The food at the Christmas party ended up going really well. Like almost nothing was left, and seeing as I was too busy to take pictures of it all before I put it on the table there are pretty much only pictures of the scraps. This was my first Christmas party, and the first time I ever hosted and cooked all of the food myself. I'm proud to say that it all got rave reviews, especially the coconut cupcakes, peppermint cake, peppermint fudge and brie en croute.



Riley was our mascot, she HATED her outfit. So she protested by staying still. The outfit came off pretty soon there after.

The coconut cupcakes were perfectly moist and not too sweet, and if you like the texture of coconut they would make a great dessert for a party any time of year. Here's the recipe:

What you need:

3 sticks of butter
2 cups of sugar
5 extra large eggs at room temp.
1.5 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
1.5 teaspoons of pure almond extract
3 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1 cup of buttermilk
14 oz sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting:

1 lb of cream cheese, room temp
3 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pure almond extract
1.5 lbs of confectioners sugar, sifted

What you do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 min. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In 3 parts alternately, add the dry ingredients, and the buttermilk into the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined, fold into 7 oz of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners, fill each liner to the top with the batter, bake for 25 to 35 min, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool.

For making the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth. Frost the cupcakes and cover the tops with the remaining coconut. I did this by dipping the frosted top into a bowl full of coconut.

I'm adding the fudge recipe because I have always had a hard time making fudge, it's always been difficult for me for some reason and this one was so easy to make and took no time at all.

Peppermint fudge:

3 cups of sugar
1.5 sticks of butter
1 small 5 oz can of evaporated milk
1.5 packages (12 squares) of bakers semi sweet baking chocolate chopped
1 jar Jet-Puffed marshmallow creme
1 cup of chopped planters walnuts (I didn't put these in)
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 tsp of peppermint extract

Line 9 inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan, set aside.
Place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large heavy saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 4 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees, stirring constantly to to prevent scorching , remove from heat.
Add chocolate and marshmallow creme stir until completely melted. Add walnuts, vanilla and peppermint, mixing well.
Pour immediately into prepared pan, spread to form an even layer. Let stand at room temperature for 4 hours or until completely cooled, cut into 1 inch squares.

Enjoy!

Bah humbug I suppose

It's been a while folks, I got back from Carmel on Tuesday, but had such a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Now we're all moving on to Christmas. Sigh. I LOVE Christmas time, it's my favorite time of year, but I'm moving slowly this year and I don't know why. Decorating the tree, and the house is one of my most favorite things to do around this time and I don't even have a tree yet. I'm on it though, we're getting one this weekend.

There are some people in my family that are so easy to shop for, I could pick out a million things I know that they will like, but there are those certain pesky family members (ahem...my dad) who have EVERYTHING and if they don't already have it, I can't afford it. I never know what to get them, and then the things I do end up buying are opened on Christmas morning, never to be seen again.

Real Simple always has an interesting article this time of year in their holiday edition of unusual gifts for everyone in the family. However, all of the things in there are soooooo dull. The only ones that stood out? Pierogis you have shipped in, and a clambake in a bucket featuring a real live lobster for $123...um no. They do have a gift idea application you can get for free for you iPhone users though, it's worth looking into. I'm thinking this is going to be a homemade Christmas. I'm working on a few special knitting projects for the sisters, and I think I'm going to bake up some special treats for a few family members and friends. I feel like I may be taking on A LOT more than I can chew (pun intended) but I am feeling up to it. And maybe this will be a lesson learned since my movement into the cooking world is a very recent one.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I will soon start to add recipe ideas to give away as gifts for those annoying people who are impossible to shop for. Everyone likes food, especially fancy homemade food that tastes good. It seems like a win win!

I guess what it all comes down to is I love Christmas so very much, but I feel like it's coming up so fast and I've barely had time to process Thanksgiving being over and it now being December much less Christmas day being 23 days from now. Where did the time go?

Weekend Shenanigans

I have a serious bone to pick with NASA, the boy and I sat outside last night freezing to death to watch the meteor shower, and not a thing. I have never seen a meteor shower in all my life, and this was my fourth solid attempt at viewing one without success. I would really like to see one, NASA stop pulling my leg, please?


For the past few weeks when I drive home from the gym I have noticed a huge persimmon tree right on the side of the I-5, completely burdened with the weight of unused and unappreciated persimmons. Feeling that this was a waste I finally convinced the boy over the weekend (who isn't huge on taking things that don't rightfully belong to him) to grab a bag and help me pick a bunch.

We pulled over on the side of one of the busiest major freeways of the West Coast, ran up the shoulder, charged the embankment of the huge ditch, up the other side knee deep in dirt and weeds at this point and start pulling bunches of persimmons off the tree.

Having finally gotten to the tree I realized it was on someones fence line, but after committing, I didn't think they would notice a few missing off a tree completely covered in them! We pulled off as many as we thought we could without being obvious, and since we were right in the viewing field of every trucker, commuter and road tripping folk in the greater Northern California region we stopped and ran back to the car.


But I got at least 15 good ones, and I'm just waiting til they ripen to use them in a recipe. In the meantime, I found this pretty hammered silver bowl over the weekend and put them in it as a table arrangement for now. I'll put up the recipe when I finally get to working with these pretty persimmons. I'm half thinking I should go back to get more...is that so bad?


Have a beautiful day.