Road Trip

Destination: Central Coast.

My mom and I had been throwing around the idea of a road trip for a couple of months and we decided to get up and go last weekend. There are so many places to stop at on the central coast, we tried to fit in as many as possible in one day, ONE DAY!

First stop was spontaneous, Portos in Burbank - cheese rolls. My mom had never had a Porto's cheese roll before! After that we got on the road, for real this time, and we stopped off in Pismo beach for some famous chowder at Splash Cafe - we waited in a long line for the stuff. It was good, but heavy. Oh-so-heavy. I wasn't hungry for the rest of the day, and we were on a road trip, I wanted to eat everywhere (isn't that what road trips are for?), but didn't have the room too. HEAVY!

Next stop was Kelsey winery in Avila Beach (which also happens to be the place where I left my wallet on the way down, and where my wallet still happens to be!), then to Morro Bay to check in at our hotel, then up to Cayucos to wander the pier, then up to Harmony to visit their winery.

Harmony is one of those towns I've passed through several times and have ALWAYS wanted to check out. The sign off the 1-hwy says, "Harmony: Population 18" and there are a couple buildings in a little valley. That's it. That's Harmony. Oh, and a winery, which was very beautiful, worth the stop.

We then made our way up to Cambria, then to the water for a bit to take photos, then back down to Morro Bay for dinner. Exhausted just reading this? It was great, and I was so tired.



photo session on the beach:






Harmony. Don't we all want to live in Harmony?

Mt. Baldy Ski Hut

Justin and I like to set little goals for the year, like "Hike to the summit of Baldy" or "Hike to the Henniger Flats." For the most part we complete our goals, just not in a timely manner. We've had this goal for a while. Last time we attempted this hike was about FIVE years ago! We started the hike but had to turn around because Justin had to work in the afternoon. This time, we camped out the night before and hiked to the ski hut in the morning.

It was perfect. And it was HARD, for me at least. It was steep, hot, tiring. But so, so worth it. We just took it slow.... SLOW, one foot in front of the other, breathe, water, next foot.

The few people we saw on the trail were hiking all the way to the summit, which was about another 1.25 hours on the rugged trail past the ski hut - they weren't messing around. They were geared out and tough lookin'. They made us look like amateur kids up there with our tie dyed shirt, cut off shorts, and wimpy backpacks. It's our poor folk get-away.



camp, our favorite spot up at Manker

on the trail

Ski Hut, in view! thank God!

Summit of Baldy and the ski hut on the right

Victory is sweet. It's amazing up there. We have a special place in our hearts for Baldy.

Suuuummertime

I have a lot of photos from the recent happenings that I haven't posted yet. Shaaaaame! I had a minor set back with my computer a couple of weeks ago. I got a call from Audrey while I was at work, she said, "I have terrible news..."

My computer fell off the desk.

How does that happen, you ask? It does when I made a stupid decision to put it on this shelf thing on our desk. I guess what happened was, a painting fell above our computer, knocking it off its little shelf, on to the desk, knocking over a beer and then proceeding to fall screen-first to the ground, in a puddle of beer. Horrible. Terrible. No good. But that's all over and done with. The computer is fixed! Hallelujah! Only problem now is that my keyboard doesn't work... I had to borrow this one, when-will-it-end!

Anyway, besides computer drama there has been lots of good things going on this summer... Plenty of time spent outside, on the grass; few trips up north; family gatherings and those sorts of lovely things:









I love the days where we just sit outside on grass.

It's Hot

This has been a staple this summer. I can't sleep very well when it's hot, I toss and turn. I wake up less than refreshed, needing caffeine. Usually, me and caffeine, we don't mix... But right now, I'm hooked.

Currently, I am sitting at my desk, sweating. I know this heat wave is short lived, it will pass (right?!). In the meantime, damn! I need more Iced Green Tea... in a mason jar, because that makes me happy.

Summer Afternoon

Life is hard for dear Oscar. It involves, sleeping, playing in the yard, rolling around in the grass in the sun, he lives with 4 adults and 1 baby who love on him. Rough life. This is just a typical rough day on the porch, relaxing in the heat of the day.

Gazpacho

We've had a surplus of tomatoes this week. Some from our CSA, some from our friend's garden, a few cherry tomatoes from our garden... The other night I roasted about 5... and I burnt them. Shoot. They were still mostly edible but what was 5 tomatoes turned into a 1/4 of a cup of rich sticky tomatoes, and I ate them all in one sitting. Then the next day I made gazpacho. Something about a cold soup really turns me off. Cold and soup, oxymoron? But I got over that and decided to try some... When life gives you tomatoes... yatta yatta....

Turns out... it's really good! I added extra spice and avocado to make it exciting. I suspect adding barbecued shrimp would make it out-of-this-world. I had it all week for lunch... and you know what? I still have more tomatoes...

Gazpacho
inspired by this recipe
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large red onion, diced
2 large cucumber, diced
5 ripe tomatoes, diced
4 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Tabasco to taste
Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Topping:
Sliced avocado
Cilantro
Sour cream/Greek Yogurt
Grilled shrimp

In the bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine the minced garlic with half the red onion, half the cucumber, half the tomato, half the tomato juice, olive oil, lemon, Tabasco, and a dash of salt. Pulse until all ingredients are blended well; mixture will have a nice speckled, colorful texture. Pour into a large bowl and add the rest of the tomato juice, and the remaining onion, cucumber, tomato. Stir mixture together and check seasonings, adding salt or Tabasco if needed. Chill soup for at least a couple of hours.Remove the soup from the fridge and stir. Check seasonings one last time. Ladle into a bowl and garnish.

Watermelon

Every time I go to my mom's house I leave with something... Either she gives me something, or I steal something... sneaky!! Really, it just works out this way. Last week she GAVE me a watermelon. A really good, small, sweet watermelon. Our house ate half of it that night, and a couple of days later it was still sitting in our fridge ... staring at me every time opened the door. I hate to see fruit/vegetables go to waste. Which is really hard right now because we have a whole CSA box for just two of us, plus tomatoes from a friend's garden. I don't want any of it to go to waste! Gotta get creative, gotta do some research...

So, the other night, when Justin was at work, I was left on my own to scour the fridge. Turns out I had all the ingredients for this watermelon margarita. I also made fried okra - with okra from our CSA box. I am rarely at home alone for the evening, its strange, so quiet. But it was nice to sit on the porch with my watermelon margarita and fried okra, watching the neighborhood...

Summer food

I'm loving trying new salads. Thank you to everyone who had suggestions - I plan on trying them all over the Summer. It's fun, it's fun in a nerdy food type of way. I've been having a salad for lunch everyday, I typically use whatever we have on hand from our teeny garden, from friends' gardens and from our CSA box. My friend Cait introduced me to something that rocked my salad world: a salad with an egg on top! What! Where have I been!? It's so good.


This week we are taking care of our friends Rob & Lisa's chickens and in turn we get to enjoy the eggs... I'm telling you, fresh eggs, from healthy backyard chickens = amazing. You can taste the difference. The yolk is darker and stands taller. I want chickens so badly. I'm not sure it's the best idea for where we are living because our landlord is somewhat of a micro-manager, but someday, I'd love to raise chickens!!

Happy Monday to all.

Carrot Cake Cookies

Sometimes I imagine how silly I must look to my neighbors when I take photos of my food on the porch, but the porch has the best lighting. Whatever they think, it's worth it.

I have a new favorite food blog, Sprouted Kitchen. I made these cookies the other day. I will definitely be making them again!