An Apple a Day...

Saturday the boys and I headed out west to go apple picking!   The weather was fabulous, the views lovely and the apples delicious.  We had a great time wandering the orchards, chasing after fallen apples and picking a zillion to bring home.  

B ran around like a crazy dog trying to attack every apple he saw fall.  

It was pretty adorable.  

We ended up with a 1/2 bushel and I've already whipped up some applesauce, a gluten-free apple dumpling that needs some more tinkering with and a tasty apple crumble. Yay for Fall!

I wore my new clog booties for the adventure, mostly because the description of the shoe mentions how they're perfect for apple picking.  In truth, I'd have to disagree.  Climbing around a very apple/weeds/rocky hill in heeled clogs was actually rather difficult.  At least they looked cute :)

p.s. We demo'ed some Brussels sprouts the other night with dinner and are tentatively impressed, full dinner post coming soon. 

Brussells Sprouts, maybe?

Ok, I'm curious, are brussels sprouts really as good as everyone says they are? 

They don't look tasty, really at all, no matter the recipe.  

Ok, if I'm honest they look like little tiny cabbages.  Is that what they taste like?  As I read recipe after recipe I'm starting to worry that I never gave them a chance, I'd hear Brussels and run the other way.  Maybe its time to try them out?  

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Lemon

No way the boy will eat them, at least not the first try around.  Maybe, just maybe, if my little experiment works and I start raving, buying them in droves and cooking batches all week long...  Or, idk maybe he will give them a go.  He's weird like that sometimes. 

J likes cabbage, and so do I.  huh.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

If my local store has any tonight I'm going to grab some, roast them up and give them a try.  Might as well right?   Maybe I'll find my new favorite veggie.  

A Tale of Two Bags

Longchamp Pliage Shopper

Zara Pleated Shopper

One from the boy, one from the girl...er me. 

This past weekend J and I finally exchanged birthday gifts. Somehow this year we both knew what we wanted to get the other and had pre-purchased early.  I bought J a Stetson and it took FOREVER to arrive but it finally did, so we gave in.  I had earlier in the month birthday-treated myself to this fabulous leather tote from Zara to use as a carry-all for the multitude of stuff that I regularly tote around,  only to discover that my lovely hubby had the same idea!

Are we on the same mental page or what?

In fact, my pre-purchase caused a bit of trauma, mostly for me.  J raved for weeks how much I was going to love his gift and he was so proud that he had thought of something that I could actually use and then, of course, I go out and buy myself something for that very purpose.  Luckily, he loves me and loves bags and after way to much soul searching for something as silly as a bag I decided that two bags were way better than one and even though I had no idea exactly what he had gotten me I would trust him that it was different enough that I would be able to use both bags.

Of course, he was right and now we're all happy.

The end.

Hello Cruise Ship

Its that time of year again, when my lovely pier gets tossed to the cruise ships and tour buses and trolleys.  I actually took this picture from our second floor parking lot, they really are HUGE boats.  These last few weeks have been the worst, not only because of increased traffic and general chaos but also because every Thursday its 3 boat day and all our windows facing toward the ocean are blocked by a giant hull.  

So here to a beautiful Friday with tugboats and serene blue seas. 

Enjoy!

Hello tasty fruit

 

When the boy and I married and moved in together I naturally got stuck doing all the annoying chores that someone has to do around the house.  You know, the cleaning, the laundry, the dishes. etc.  I didn't really fight it, he's in law school and he'd never do it anyways but I refuse to do his ironing (badly ironing whenever he asks keeps it this way) and for a long time I refused to make him a lunch.  I spend most of my days eating leftovers, since he won't and am slightly bitter so he can make his own lunch.  But, the problem with that is that he absolutely would rather go out for lunch, so he just spends all my (and his) money on $10 sandwiches all over downtown.  Which also annoys me, I NEVER go out. or at least very rarely.  Plus he has a tantrum if I don't buy lunch meat, in case he does happen to make lunch and then, of course, half of it is wasted - they need to make lunch meat last longer than a week! 

 

Long story short, and really with much less anger than I've expressed here, I finally decided to just start making his lunch because it saves us money, he's happy - that 50's wife at home stereotype is pretty ideal to him, and I'm not wasting food.  So he gets a sandwich, a bag of chips and an applesauce.  On a recent Whole Foods run, I happened upon these adorable little applesauces to go in a packet with a reclosable lid and as a joke bought him a box.  Picture those yogurt to go tubes but smaller.  Turns out he loves them, and they don't explode in his bag like the small regular lunch-sized tubs do.  Win win. except now he HAS to have them, so I therefore HAVE to get them, all the time. 

 

This past weekend I made my regular trek over to whole foods and found these lovely Fruit versions of his applesauce packets and bought myself some.  and they are amazing.

 

All aggravations aside, if he NEEDS his applesauce packets, then I NEED my fruit packets.  so there.

Hello Hair.

+

=

Dry Shampoo + new Sephora hairbrush that actually reaches my roots = excellent no shower hair.  

Hello new shoes and happy happy fall.

Dear Caitlin, 

This is my Welcome Back Fall outfit!  I really wanted to wear my plaid flannel skirt but even though its rainy its still almost 70 degrees.   I settled for velvet, not that velvet is ever something to settle for. I pretty much love it.   

This is one of those skirts that J doesn't like and thinks is too wild for normal wear.  I happen to adore it but I do find it hard to style sometimes.  Originally I thought it would be great with my Minnetonka moccasins but actually they make me look short.  These Zara wedges though are perfect :)

Don't mind the pudgy face photo, look at my hair!  I attempted a messy braided bun and it sorta worked!   A hair how-to session is a must this fall whenever you happen to make it down to visit.

Happy First Day of Fall  - hope you splurge on a pumpkin latte on your way home!

Love,

Steph

In which i borrow from my friend Caitlin and post about random stuff that I'm thinking about now.

Flowers from the hubby...

just because :) 

and a few photos of B's summer.  

Lots of sand (he loves to dig next to the wall so it crumbles back in on his hole and he has to work overtime to get anywhere)

Rolling in the wildflowers! 

and of course, chilling on the couch that he's slowly learning to jump onto. 

Mmmm

I think I really need the green pair too...

or is that too much?  

Zara

is the new shopping bane of my existence.  After spending waay to much time standing in an uncomfortable but adorable pair of heels at the bar the other night mingling with J's law school buddies I decided I needed a comfy dressy pair of something that would work for everyday and looking o-so-nice.

Found these beauties at Zara, which now has ONLINE SHOPPING and bought them yesterday afternoon.  

Low and behold they arrived at my door, well office this MORNING! and I love them.  and now love Zara more with their free shipping, free returns and super quick turnarounds.  

YAY.

I spy....

As I biked onto my office pier this morning I spied a lobsterman out hauling up his lobster cages and it made me smile.  Its a beautiful day and I work on a beautiful waterfront and sometimes that's enough to make it through the day. 

happy almost friday!

  

p.s. this photo is courtesy of google search, once I locked up my bike and got inside Mr. Lobsterman disappeared before I could go back out for a picture. 

One mug or two?

Well its Monday, and my tea mug broke today :(  Just the handle, so it's still kinda usable.  Now my walk from the kitchen to my cubicle is just that much more of an adventure. 

Tea Mug

Growing up, my Mom was always a tea lady and my Dad was always Mr. Coffee.  All summer you could find a nice, cool fresh brewed pitcher of tea in the fridge as well as a steaming hot pot of coffee every morning.  The only thing you had to remember was to use the CORRECT mug for each beverage.  According to my mother, coffee smells wonderful but tastes terrible and has the tendency to dominate whatever to-go cup or mug you decide to pour yourself, so please use the coffee mugs for coffee and my tea mugs for tea - or else.  She even went so far as to have separate mug shelves (my dad is not so great at remembering details like this, so a convenient shelf he knew he could use helped greatly), and, of course, the coffee shelf was always overflowing while the tea shelf was always half empty - once its been coffee-d there's no going back.  

At home, I have a favorite mug that really I use for everything - coffee, tea, smoothie and so far, I have no problems with any cross pollination.  My to-go mug, however, is decidedly coffee'd. It doesn't matter how much milk and sugar I add to my tea, it always has that gross coffee aftertaste, so its now exclusively used just for home-brewed java.  I debated getting a fancy tea to-go brew mug, you know, the kind that has the tea infuser attached? but last winter I settled for detours to my local coffee shop for a $1.65 any size Irish Tea that is the perfect company for my often frigid walk to work.  This winter? We shall see....

Coffee mug

My office coffee is not great and I decided early on that I'd need a mug for coffee and a mug for tea.  Its always freezing at my desk and tea breaks throughout the afternoon are a must, as well as the usual cup or two of coffee all morning long.  Having the separate cups certainly improves the flavors - especially the tea.  Plus, for whatever reason, when I brew my cup of coffee in the mug, it finishes with a nice foamy layer on the top, giving it a much tastier look than in Styrofoam.  Its a win-win. 

p.s.  This is how B handled the heat this weekend...

a lot of so..'s and a Road Trip!

 Golden Gate Bridge on the way to Sonoma!

us, after a day of biking and lots and lots of tasty wines. 

we were happy bikers. 

Our educational impromptu whiskey mugs. 

Marshmallows and Crossword puzzles - pretty much the best way to spend an evening at the campfire. 

Trees bigger than my head seems to be able to remember.  

and clouds and fog that begged for a dinosaur sighting

Crater lake.  

we just sat around and stared, it was that lovely.  plus, all the hiking was closed  due to 4 foot  + snow piles. 

The beach at La Push - no werewolf or vampire sightings, alas.  Just deer, giant waves and  trees to climb all over.  

more of Olympic Nat'l forest

no, its not the sound of music, but it sure seemed like it!

Our last hike with deer and marmots close enough to touch.

OK, I know I've been gone for forever and I'm not going to apologize.  That said, I just got back from an absolutely amazing road trip with one of my best friends ever.  She's starting law school in the fall in Austin and decided to spend her summer cruising around the western US in her Grandma's Buick. Lucky I joined her in San Francisco and accompanied her up the coast to Seattle.  It was a whirlwind 12 days of 3 cites, hiking, no showers, temperatures from 32-75 and snow in July!  and, yeah it was a long time to be away from the boy and the dog, neither of whom enjoyed my absence.   B now has a rust spot on his behind from licking his butt in an attempt to fix the hair knots he collects back there...which the boy didn't know about because he was sooo sick while I was gone that he actually called his Mom and she came and helped out.  Never a good sign.  Plus, when I got back, I managed to buy the WRONG flea/tick medicine for B and he ended up having a flea scare and 2 of the biggest nastiest ticks in his beard poor guy. 

But, things are finally starting to calm down. yay. 

which brings me back to this poor blog that I've been ignoring all summer.  taking pictures while trying to make dinner, workout, walk the dog, care for the boy, dress myself nicely and manage to work has been extremely hard and I mostly just don't have the energy to try and make it work most days.  All of you bloggers out there, I am SO impressed!  I don't know how you do it.  Don't worry, I'm not giving up.  While on my road trip adventure I discovered that I don't hate the way my blackberry takes photos, that I DO need an outlet to share thoughts, goals, how I feel and a place to organize/spout out my artistic/creative whatever and really a blog is a great way to do that.  so we'll see what happens :)  

Sneak Peak!

Banana Blueberry Sorbet

I tossed this together for the boy last night.  He really liked my Lemoncello Sorbet (at least once it froze) and when I found blueberries buy 1 get 1 free at the store I grabbed a bunch figuring he'd want some blueberry pocket pies.  Instead he requested another sorbet!  

gosh its been a long time...

I'm not quite sure what happened to May.  It seemed like 4 long weeks of dreary rain, 50 degree weather and stress buckets from everyone around me.  I somehow decided to skip several weeks of food shopping at Whole Foods and the lack of J-acceptable meats combined with the collective anxiety of a husband in law school finals and a sister in her first end of the year finals + packing drama really sent me over the edge and into mess-ville.  But, I survived, got my sister packed, shipped, stored and on an airplane; my husband is finished with school for the year and finished with his two week sit on the couch and not move recovery period and we had a gorgeous Memorial Day weekend that shouted SUMMER as loud as it could and I made Lemoncello Sorbet.  Successfully this time :)

I'm also now biking in skirts to work and not getting cold.  Life is good. 

Lemoncello Sorbet

I found this recipe on this amazing blog:  And Now for Something Completely Delicious 

I stumbled onto this gem of a foodie blog when I discovered her Banana Streusel Coffee Cake (pictures coming soon!) and have several more recipes in my To-Try list.

The last time I attempted this sorbet I accidentally heated up the lemon juice along with the sugar, lemoncello and water and it just never set properly.  I also carried across town to a clothing exchange, which may be why it was so slushy and not sorbet-y.  At least that's what I thought at the time.  This attempt I actually managed to follow the directions (sometimes that's harder than it should be) and remembered to keep the lemon juice for after the syrup was boiled.

One of my pet peeves when it comes to ice cream machines is that often, it takes two days to make any recipe.  First you boil the syrup/flavors then you cool it overnight and the next day you freeze it in the machine and even then most times extra freezing is required to get the non-soupy texture that you're looking for.  My dad loves soupy homemade vanilla ice cream. He also uses a recipe that doesn't require any cooling and don't get me wrong, he makes a rocking vanilla but some of those two day, more complicated recipes really do have superior flavor.  So I guess its a trade off.

Unless you want a Lemoncello Slushy, be sure to have plenty of freezing time.  The texture from my picture at the top took 2 days of extra freezing.  and idk maybe I'm doing something wrong.   In the end though, it doesn't matter, because even completely melted this sorbet is amazing and perfect for a hot summer afternoon.