Oatmeal Ball

I've posted about these before. But they are so good, and always changing with infinite ingredient possibilities. Recently I've been adding chia seeds, Maca, and hemp seeds.

The recipe base is the same as last time. But here is what I did this time.

(By the way, I never know what to call these, No-Bake-Healthy-Sticky-Oatmeal-Ball-Cookie- Things. Justin calls them Sticky Balls. And uh ... I ... don't love that name. Any recommendations?)

Oatmeal Ball
Dry ingredients:
2 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut flakes
1/3 cup pecans
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup maca

Mix those together.

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey
1/4 cup coconut oil

Mix those together tell well combined. If you are having trouble mixing them well, you can heat them up a bit on the stove to get them to melt.

Mix the wet and dry and form into balls. Put in the fridge for a bit to harden up. Enjoy.

note: ingredients are all estimates. this is very forgiving

P.S. We listened to a Donavon album on our way up the dirt road to Boulder Basin and I can't get this song out of my head...

Boulder Basin

Saturday we went camping again.

This time, Boulder Basin. It's about 20 miles from Idylwild, 8 miles up the 243 and 5 1/2 miles up a dirt road. I really thought no one would be up there. We saw one other person the road, and it felt like we were going nowhere. But we were far from the only ones there, almost every site was occupied - with families. Lots of kids. Screaming kids. A forest service guy was explaining that kids turn into werewolves when you get them outside, and it's true, I saw it.

Boulder Basin turned out to be very beautiful. And the views, amazing.



Justin trying to be dangerous, as always...








The last photo is a note we found on the ground, on a trail. It had a wilted and withered balloon attached. We took a photo of the area that we found the balloon (over 7000 feet up!) and we are going to send them a letter.

My aunt Laura is currently in a convalescent home so this touched my heart. Laura has brain cancer, she is only 41, she is there for rehabilitation. We went to visit her on the way home from Boulder Basin. While there we met Betsy, who is 99 years old. She loves to talk, and likes to stare out the window at passing cars. She is NINETY NINE years old, I wish she could tell us stories about what it was like to grow up in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and so on. But poor Betsy, she has a hard time remembering an hour ago. But she is still funny. We were watching the cars go by and she said, "It went right on by, out the side of my eye to the back of my head."

Olvera Street. Mexico.

Friday Justin and I took the train to Olvera Street. I make any excuse to take the train. Even one stop over to Memorial Park, or two stops over to Wholefoods.

It's been a while since we've taken it all the way to Union Station. It's been even longer since I've been to Mexico - way, way longer. When I was younger we used to go a lot. We used to camp on the beach, go to La Bufadora, we used to buy live lobsters on the beach, play with them, and then eat them for dinner. We still have family down there, but it has been a long, long time since we have gone, and that makes me very sad.

All these trinkets and toys brought back so many memories. I think I've owned at least one of each: the guitar, the marionettes, the foam lizards, the grab bags, and the Mexican candies.

That's it. I feel a Mexico trip coming on.

Another old photo. My dad and I in Mexico somewhere, sporting our matching "La Bufadora" t-shirts. I still have the yellow one my dad is wearing.

Eaton Canyon

Last year we were in Eaton Canyon at least once a week. Now that we moved two miles south we've been there less frequently. TWO MILES really makes a difference!? Even still, it's nice to have a place to get out, to hike that is close. It's dry right now, but the waterfall still has a trickle. I can't wait till the creek is flowing again. I've heard rumors of a moderate "el nino" in the works, anyone else hear this rumor?

I still have memories of being in Junior High during an "el nino." It rained for weeks straight and I remember being in 7th grade science class during a thunder storm. We opened up the door and watched in awe. After school things got really interesting (for Southern California weather, that is), it snowed! It snowed in San-freakin-Dimas. Well, I guess it was a large amount of hail that stuck for a while, but it looked like snow. We ran outside had snow ball fights. It is a good memory. The San Dimas post office used to have posted photos from that day, "the day it snowed in San Dimas."






Ok, while reminiscing I realized I probably had a photo of that snow day somewhere. And sure enough:


Yes, that's me in the old bomber jacket, and tight black jeans that are tucked into my construction boots. 1993.

Peanut butter cup

I drove all the way to the Eastern Sierra to get this shot.

They're that good.

I found someone who likes the chocolate and peanut butter combo as much as I do.

She has a post for chocolate peanut butter cups, I've already made it a few times. Good. Addicting. Dangerous.

But it makes me happy.

Onion Valley

This last weekend Justin and I went camping in the Onion Valley near Independence, CA. Onion Valley is a funny name. The whole time we were trying to figure it out. Does it smell like onions? It is shaped like an onion? I did a little research, I hear it might be because it used to be covered in wild onion plants?

We love the Eastern Sierra. Its desert like, rocky, hot, dry, but amazing. If you go into the mountains high enough it starts to lighten up, trees, green, wild flowers, crystal blue lakes.

We feel like we've been able to see a lot of California, but we realize we've only seen the tip of the iceberg. The more I go to areas like the Eastern Sierra, or even out in other desert areas like the Salton Sea, I really start to appreciate California. Sometimes being stuck in the city can make you jaded, but California is still wild. Lots of it. There are beautiful redwoods, and dry, hot, eccentric deserts. I love it! Have I already said that? I love it!

the view from our campsite. We got lucky, it was the only spot left when we pulled in at sunset.


The Onion Valley


Hike to Gilbert Lake - 10,500ft




Justin was so excited about camping, so excited. Really.



I love that smiling photo of Justin - he was totally posing.
There are more photos from our trip here.

Cold Brewed

Have you heard of this? It's all the rage.

I used to work at a coffee shop called: Coffee Klatch, it's where I met my husband. They have great coffee that they roast themselves, in store. And it's also where I built an insane tolerance to caffeine.

I am not sure what has happened since then, but now coffee and I don't get along. It makes all jittery, I feel really strung out, the floor seems uneven when I walk. I know, I'm a wimp. But I love the taste, so I'm on the decaf boat.

With a little pinch of almond extract, a little bit of agave and half & half, this is addicting.

Life on the Compound

The Compound... It's what we jokingly call our house that we share with our friends Noah, Audrey and Abel (& Oscar!). That name came from watching Big Love. It's a joke!

The compound:


Oscar, who I call Oscie-pa-montie. Little stuffed animal toys make him happy:


This is a plant that my grandma gave to me, its from a plant that she got from HER grandmother. It's generations old! It's a type of cactus orchid called Epiphyllum, and when it blooms, it's beautiful. Mine isn't there yet:


The most adorable person living on the compound:

Fixings

Here are a few things that I've made in the last couple of months, but haven't shared yet. I must admit, I have had almost no desire to cook recently. It's the heat. The thought of warming up the kitchen makes me dizzy. And on top of that, I haven't had a great appetite. But I want to take (food) photos, so I've been clicking away, trying to take photos of almost anything to fulfill this need, love that I have for taking photos.


Bread and butter jalapenos:


Curry noodles:


Quinoa (what-we-had-on-hand) dish:



Hide Bread:

30

Last weekend we celebrated Justin's 30th birthday. THIRTY! That's huge, monumental!

On J's birthday we went to Venice beach (and all I got was this lousy photo of us). It was our goal to swim, swim in the glorious ocean. Sadly, it has been a long, long time since I've swam in the ocean. I somehow developed a fear of waves, after being tossed around and taken under one too many times at Huntington Beach in my younger days. I'm mostly over that, and the waves at Venice were nice and mild. I swam and loved it. I didn't want to get out. It felt so nice to be in the water, to dive into the (mini) waves.

We've decided we need to go back, and soon. This Friday, I hope.

That evening we had a bbq with some good friends at our house. I made J a chocolate cake with peanut butter ice cream (made with coconut milk, I hope to share that another time. It is so good).


Justin loves his friends. He wanted nothing more than to have everyone over, have food, have some drinks and hang out. And that's exactly what we did. Happy 30th j!!