Central Coast Part 3

This is Montana de Oro's Buchon Trail. We hiked in 1.5 miles in to Disney Point and back. Gorgeous day!

Central Coast Part 2

Grossed out? It's pretty disgusting, I admit it. This is Bubble Gum Alley. If you click on the link you'll see there is controversy in how it actually got started. Even my mom says their San Luis Obispo High School class was the one to start it.

Took the kids, they contributed and then I passed out the hand sanitizer after we walked QUICKLY through the alley. The alley starts off a parking lot on the corner of Broad Street and Marsh Street and goes through to Higuera.

Central Coast Trip Part 1

Growing up on the Central Coast(San Luis Obispo, pronounced san-as in apple, loo-iss oh-biss-poh), there were always things we were embarrassed to admit. When people we would meet from out of town would say, "Oh, yeah, that's where Madonna Inn is!" Oy, if one more person knew us for the pink hotel and the rock bathroom we thought we'd hurl. You never admitted as a child you were part of this. But, now that I'm older, and more, uh hem, SEASONED, I miss it and send everyone there! We came back to visit after moving to the Sierras 3 years ago to visit with friends and family that we miss so much. I was getting off the 101 and before I knew it we were driving into the Madonna Inn parking lot. We realized our kids had never experienced it! As ALWAYS, Madonna Inn is impeccably clean and neat, well maintained, the landscaping is always top notch. I have a set of pink signature Madonna Inn goblets passed down from my grandparents, and we saw the tables dressed with linens and the same goblets when we walked in. Those are my daughter's favorite cups to sip from. I keep them low so we use them often. The entry was decorated for the Easter season of course. Madonna Inn has always had over the top character and charm, and I'm glad we finally took them to our little local treasure that we've taken advantage of.


The tulips in the garden in front of the cafe and entrance.


The rock urinal in the men's bathroom. Don't worry, they were just pretending. Lots of potty jokes after this stop.


There's an electric eye that turns on the waterfall from the rocks above. It's the cleanest smelling mens bathroom! Not that I've been in many, but you know, you just walk by some and peeee-yooooo.


K-Bug in the entry.


Beautiful Day

Next Stop: Gumball Alley

Product Alert: The Ojai Cook, Lemonaise Light

I grew up with and have always stuck with Best Foods Mayonnaise. It's the ONLY mayonnaise for me. I've tried countless lights and fat free mayonnaise and they all taste terrible to me. Bleck. I'd rather not eat it. What's one more attempt? Well, this was it! I found this at a locally owned grocery store that tends to carry a lot of off-brands as well as all the name brands. They also carry local produce. They carry two version, the regular Lemonaise, and then the light version. Since it had all sorts of spices in it that I could see I thought I'd give it a try. And I'm in love! It doesn't taste like a mayonnaise trying to be a light version, it has a really great creamy, unsweetened flavor with a bit of savory. The best part is the ingredients and calories. The ingredients say it all though. Made with canola oil, eggs, Creole mustard, water, corn starch, lemon, salt, cane juice, vinegar, xantham gum, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and paprika. The Lemonaise Light has just 40 calories, 4gm fat(.5 is saturated though), and also only 1g Carb! So it's fantastic for low carbors as well. Best Foods has 90 calories per serving, 10g fat(1.5 saturated), and 0 carbs.

Click HERE or on the picture for a link to ordering it online.

No Knead Peasant Bread (12-24 hours)

This is another variation of the No-Knead Italian Ciabatta Bread, but same concept. Throw it together the night before, bake it the next day. There's no need to knead. Easy peezy. This came from this YouTube video, and "so easy a 6 year old can do it".

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt(I use sea salt in all my cooking)
2 cups warm water

In a LARGE bowl(I use my humongous Tupperware one, everyone seems to have one) mix the dry ingredients together, just use your fingers or a spatula. Pour in warm water and mix well. It will be VERY sticky and look too moist, then too dry, then too moist again. Don't worry about this! Cover with loose lid, saran wrap, or foil and set into a draft free area. This needs to set overnight, so if you prepare it the night before at say 9:00pm, you can bake it after 9:00am, all they way up until 3:00pm. 12-18 hours.

The next morning, heat your oven to 500', very hot. If you can, use a large dutch oven or non-stick oven proof casserole with a good fitting lid. Preheat the pot you're going to use. Dump the dough out onto a greased and floured counter. You'll want to grease up and flour your hands as well, it is very sticky. Stretch it out length wise and fold into thirds. Stretch opposite into a longer piece again, and fold again in thirds. Pull hot pot out of oven and drizzle just a little olive oil along bottom, you can also sprinkle with a little cornmeal. Plop, yes, PLOP, the loaf folded side down into the hot pot and sprinkle a little more flour or cornmeal on top. Put lid on and bake in the 500' oven for 30 minutes. Remove lid for another 10-15 minutes. The steam from baking with the lid on makes the loaf bubble and rise, and then removing the lid will brown it and let the top crackle. Beautiful!

No-Knead Italian Ciabatta Bread, same as Peasant (takes 12-24 hours)

Edited to Add: Windows 7 may not have been my idea, but I am still waiting for someone to come up with Smell-inet. This stuff is seriously making my house smell like an old fashioned bakery and I can't stop. Last night I made up 3 batches. #1=just plain, which is mannah in itself. #2=added 1/2 cup Grated Romano Cheese and about a Tbl. of dry Italian Seasonings. #3=swapped out a half cup flour for dark rye flour, 1 Tbl. each dry shallots, poppy seeds and caraway seeds. Oh, slather me with buttah and toss me a slice. Okay, not really, that would be really gross. But chili dipping oil would burn the skin. ;)

Another yummy version:  Add 1 Tbl. Dried Rosemary, 2 Tbl. Dried Minced Onion, and 1 Cup Grated Cheddar Cheese(pictured above and below)

This is HEAVENLY. And I played around with a few variations, so easy!

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. active yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt(I use sea salt in all my cooking)
2 cups warm water

In a LARGE bowl(I use my humongous Tupperware one, everyone seems to have one) mix the dry ingredients together, just use your fingers or a spatula. Pour in warm water and mix well. It will be VERY sticky and look too moist, then too dry, then too moist again. Don't worry about this! Cover with loose lid, saran wrap, or foil and set into a draft free area. This needs to set overnight, so if you prepare it the night before at say 9:00pm, you can bake it after 9:00am, all they way up until 3:00pm. 12-18 hours. On a large cookie sheet, cover with non-stick foil and sprinkle a little flour. This just makes it SO easy! Use a spatula to dump the gooey dough onto the cookie sheet. I spray my hands with non-stick spray and then with flour to keep from getting too sticky. Shape and stretch with your hands to get a long flat loaf. Sprinkle with additional flour and cover with a clean DRY towel. Set aside for 2 hours. Heat oven to 425'. Remove towel and bake for 30-35 minutes. When you tap it it should sound hollow. Let cool about 10 minutes(if you can), and serve with butter, flavored oil, or:

When cool, cut down the center lengthwise, and then into 8-10 pieces across. Slice through middle of each piece but not all the way through. Leave the crust intact. Fill with your favorite sandwich fillings(mayo, turkey, swiss, cranberry, avocado, and alfalfa spouts are my fave). This is perfect panini bread!



Also, play with flour portions! I used 3 1/2 cups all-purpose, 1/2 cup dark rye. Yummy! I didn't care as much for the whole wheat, but I'm going to try white whole wheat to healthify it a little.

It's very rustic looking, artisan.

Whopper Cookies

1 stick butter flavored Crisco shortening stick (Or ½ cup shortening, ½ cup Nucoa marg.)
1 C packed brown sugar
½ C sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
2 ½ C all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Malted Milk Powder
1 1/2 cups malt balls, smashed

Preheat oven to 350’. In a 1 qt. ziploc bag, crush malt balls with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer mallet. Mix first 5 ingredients together. Add baking soda, flour, and malted milk powder all at once and mix again. After ingredients are well mixed add crushed malt balls and mix on slow until equally dispersed. Using a small cookie scoop place about 2 in. apart on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 8-12 minutes, just until light golden edges.

If you want to SUPER-YUMMY-IZE it, Mix 1 tub of milk chocolate frosting with 1/2 cup malted milk. Frost cookies and dip tops in additional crushed malt balls.

Another Room Done....

Finally got to another room. I purchased these vinyl decals from Willow Creek Signs a few years ago for this bathroom. But my walls are really textured, and I have a Cricut and tested the walls out first. If I couldn't get my vinyl to stick I was afraid to mess up and use the good ones. I was walking by an art store though and saw these canvases and got an idea. So, I used the vinyls basically as a stencil instead. It worked! Who came up with texturing walls anyways?! Oh, probably the people that came up with popcorn ceilings.

I wanted a color that was bright and cheery, I think I accomplished that. This is Pampas by Kilz.





Sproost says I'm:

Your specific style combines three more general styles:
60% Cottage Chic
20% Modern Elegance
20% Hollywood Couture



Cottage Chic
Who says that cottages can't be modern and chic? Who says that they have to be floral and cheesy? Not you! You love the carefree spirit that the cottage interior inspires, but you are also serious about your appreciation for modern art and hip treasures. You love old and new alike, and love to highlight them all to expose the uniqueness of each. What better way to show off these treasures than with a light background?

Materials
You have a great sense of humor when it comes to design and even like to make fun of the style itself. Which means that you will throw in a toy boat or a vintage life preserver to keep the mood of the place just like the color: light! The fabrics are natural (cottons and linens) and are light in touch. Much of the furniture is wood or wood framed (the lighter the better, think driftwood!) and as long as it's used sparingly or with modern lines, you even throw in a wicker piece here and there.

Colors
Your true inspiration (whether you know it or not) is the sea... the colors found at your favorite beach: white and light beige of the sand, a variety of blues for the ocean and sky, and greens and pale grays of the sea glass... but the key is white! Your space should feel light and airy and give off the mood one has when at the beach: laid back! The key with Cottage Chic is balance; in one corner there could be a rustic wood table that looks like it could have been found rather than made, but it is offset with a modern vase while another corner is adorned with a modern Lucite piece.

Space Planning
The furniture is comfortable and the layout is cozy. The more it encourages intimate gatherings the better! Just watch out for the red wine spills on the new white sofa! The color throughout is light and airy - and though you love to accessorize with fun colors (the sky's the limit with a white background), the main color seen and felt throughout the house is white or very light versions of colors so that they feel almost white.

Please......

If anyone from Calvin Klein ever reads this blog, which I'm sure they won't, but I am BEGGING you to PLEASE bring back Eternity Purple Orchid. I'm nearly out again and have you SEEN what Ebayers are paying. You obviously have a WIN with this fragrance, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE bring it back! It is the only fragrance I have ever considered replacing your Obsession, that I've worn since high school, with. I even let my Obsession run out for your beautiful and simple purple bottle. I don't even like the color purple, I bought a little sample of Purple Orchid on an impulse buy and fell in LOVE with it. So please, with lot of sugar on top? XO~Me

Be Thou an Example of the Believers....

I just love this message!

You're never too old for some tests....

Yesterday, Mr. D was sustained and set apart as the Bishop of our Ward. I'm SO grateful for our previous Bishop. The theme for Ward Conference was about Capt. Moroni. The meeting was wonderful, and it was nice to know how many people love and respect Mr. D and support him. We're very excited about the blessings to come. I'll have to post more later. But today was definitely a day of tests for this new Bishop's Wife.

The kids went sledding up at a member's home today, it was a joint ward Mutual activity. So, Mr. D went with the kids and drove some. Me+ice= BAD idea. Everyone understands, lol. So, I went and ran a whole bunch of errands. First on my list was Walmart. The girl didn't charge me for something so I went back in and she rang it up. She handed me my Mentos gum to put in my purse but they didn't ring up. I just couldn't drive away!

NEXT stop, Dollar Tree, and she didn't ring up one of the colored sand things, but I caught it before she totaled it up, lol. NEXT stop, CVS. I asked the cashier if she had seen any of those coconut M&Ms and we started talking about how delicious we must imagine them to be. I put 1 12 pack of Diet Coke on the belt and I guess she got distracted, she didn't even see the other 3 in my cart. LOL So, I get out to the car, double check the receipt, and sure enough, she only charged me for 5 out 8 items. LOL So, I went back in. HF is testing me! Am I really qualified to do this?! I was laughing, seriously laughing. She got it all worked out and I left.

Next I go to the grocery store and there are coupons in their ad I need but they were all out. So the lady at the customer service desk said a lot of cashiers have extras. So, when I went up, those were the ONLY coupons left the one cashier had, lol.

I get home, unload everything by myself, everyone is gone, I turn on the computer, and the kids get home. Mr. D says Ick needs to go to the ER. Oy! So, I look at his hand, he smashed his left hand when the 3 boys and him crashed the inner tube they were on. His knuckle above his ring finger was GONE. So, we're thinking the thing is totally dislocated.

So I take him in, and an hour and a half later we finally get triaged. In the mean time we're being quite entertained by a kid(probably a HS Senior) and his girlfriend and a chaperone and his daughter. This kid, K, wasn't wearing a helmet and he obviously had a concussion. "Where am I?" You're in the ER. "What happened?" You hit your head. "Where? Where was I?" At Dodge Ridge. "I'm SO sorry (sobbing too). I never fall, I'm so sorry I ruined your day." It's okay K, you're more important. "Where am I?" You're in the ER. "What happened?" You hit your head. It was JUST like out of 50 First Dates. It was so hard not to giggle. But even his friends were. The chaperone told Ick, "THIS is why you always wear a helmet!" LOL His parents finally got there, they were from Pleasanton, about an hour and a half away. Poor kid, he was waiting in the hallway because the ER was PACKED for a CT Scan. His forehead was totally scraped up too. He was vomiting and SO tired. They had him laying semi-erect and let him fall asleep. He was just getting so agitated before that. His dad was caressing his arm though and kept making sure he could wake up.

So, they finally x-ray Ick's hand and by the time the Dr. comes out his knuckle is back where it's supposed to be. So, if it was dislocated, it went back by the time we left. It's actually bothering him more now, but it looks better. After all that, a lady puking blood in the waiting room, that poor kid, I decided Heavenly Father was having fun with me today. But I was taking it all very well.

Oh, and the BEST part!!!!!! Since the ER was full(yes, I called the ped. first and he was closed) they took Ick and I back to the "Psych" room. She explained that she may have to rush in and throw us out, sometimes they only get maybe 60 seconds notice. So, we're going in and there are a pair of nurses on each side of the bed, one is changing the pillow case. The ER Manager(?) leaves the room and the nurse starts to take off Ick's jacket and the other guy is eying Ick. The ER Manager comes running back in and tells the nurses that he's not a 5150! LOL That's code for 'danger to himself'. The nurses turned all sheets of red and started laughing. They were getting ready to strip him down for a psych hold! LOL I told Ick, "SEE, this is what happens when you're sarcastic to the triage nurses!" Bwahaha

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients. Using a small cookie scoop place cookies 2" apart on cookie sheet. Dip a fork in sugar and "cross hatch" cookies to flatten. Bake at 350' for 8-9 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Crockpot Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

1 large butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1" pieces
2 Tbl. olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 large or 2 small apples, peeled and diced(any kind, gala or fuji best)
1 qt. vegetable stock
1 rounded tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. each: black pepper, white pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, and cumin
pinch of red pepper flakes or more to taste
1 cup plain almond milk(or milk/cream)

Preheat oven to 425'. Spread diced butternut squash on large cookie sheet lined with non-stick foil. Drizzle olive oil over squash to coat, mix with hands if needed. Bake for 15-20 minutes, just until some pieces are starting to golden up around the edges and pieces are all sizzling. While baking add the diced onion and apple to crockpot. When squash is done add to crockpot. Sprinkle seasonings over the vegetable mixture. Pour vegetable stock over crockpot ingredients and just give it a gentle stir. Cook on LOW 6-8 hours. Just before ready to serve, blend mix with an immersion blender(stick/handheld blender). Pour in almond milk and mix well. Serve in a mug or bowl. Top with toasted coconut, croutons, grated parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts on the side and soft garlic breadsticks or rolls.

Guilt-LESS Chocolate Fix

This is my favorite fix for a generous single serving of chocolatey goodness.

Spray a mug or bowl with non-stick spray. Dump in 4 Tbl. Chocolate Cake Mix(any kind), 2 Tbl. diet soda(such as Diet Pepsi, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet 7-up, etc...), and 1 tsp. mini chocolate chip morsels.

Mix it all together well. Microwave for 50-60 seconds and let sit for 1 minute. Top with a little frozen fat-free whipped topping if you like. This hits the spot!

Shepherd's Pie

2 lb. extra lean ground top sirloin
Extra-light olive oil
butter
1 yellow onion sliced thin and half-wise
1 lb. mushrooms, stemmed & quartered
1/2-1 cup red wine(non-alcoholic)
2 cups beef broth
2 Tbl. corn starch
1 lb. baby carrots sliced lengthwise & steamed
1/2 cup frozen peas
8 large potatoes, peeled and diced
milk
butter
1 Tbl. fresh rosemary finely chopped
salt & pepper to taste

In a large saute pan brown ground top sirloin, breaking up pieces as it cooks. Drain any grease and set aside in a large bowl. With pan still hot, add 1 Tbl. olive oil and onion. Cook down onions until golden and caramelized, but not burnt. While onions are cooking, steam sliced carrots in microwave until al dente(approx. 4 minutes on high). Add carrots to beef mixture. Add onions to beef in large bowl when translucent. While pan is still hot, add additional 1 Tbl. olive oil and add mushrooms. Cook at high-med heat until golden on all sides. Add 1 Tbl. butter and cook additional minute. Add red wine and lower heat slightly, cook until wine reduces by half. Add salt and pepper and stir. Mix beef broth with 2 Tbl. cornstarch with wire whisk. Pour over mushrooms and stir until thickened. Turn off heat and pour mushroom/gravy mixture over beef mixture and fold until all ingredients are coated. Pour into greased deep 9x13" pan.

In a large pot, bring 2 qts. water and diced potatoes to boil, salt water and reduce heat slightly to avoid boil-over. Cook for approx. 20 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and return to pan. Add 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup milk or sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, rosemary, and mash with potato masher. Spread potatoes over beef mixture. Bake at 375' for approx. 35-40 minutes, uncovered, until top is golden.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Rough chop and puree in food processor the following:

8 roma tomatoes
1/2 purple onion
2 scallions
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1/2 bunch of cilantro
a large jalapeno pepper(only de-seeded one half)
salt, black pepper, & white pepper to taste,
tsp. or so of sriracha sauce
a splash of lime juice
a splash of golden balsamic vinegar

Happy New Year!

Last night we had 25 youth(including our 4) over for a New Year's Eve Party along with a presentation for the youth's new theme, which is Joshua 1:9(..."Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.) You can print up some great handouts, posters, bookmarks, etc... from sugardoodle.net . The handout below I found HERE.

We have such great kids between our two wards(church talk for congregations) and they are fun, friendly, and great to be around. They get along SO well too, no boundaries or issues when they get together. I hope everyone felt welcome and included, by the looks of things, everyone was having a great time.



We devoured a lot of goodies the kids supplied. Mr. D made crepes and the kids brought the fillings, some sweets and snackies. I really hope we didn't offend any French, I some with toppings probably more suitable for ice cream sundaes. But, oh well, it all looked good and disgusting at the same time. LOL




The adults gathered around the piano for some Boggle and games too. It looked like they were sitting around a piano bar, lol. Kept waiting for someone to come over and play something.


Some were playing Apples to Apples, after Curses, and before MAO(CRAZY!).





Always something to do.






At midnight we flew paper airplanes off the porch(remember this next year, because they are SO much easier to clean up than confetti and poppers). Then we watched a few quaint firework shows off in the distance. Thank you whoever put on the shows!