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Pacific Grove and San Francisco

After a few days in Carmel/Monterey we had to head north into Frisco; but first one last stop in Pacific Grove, where we found glass on the beach! We had such a pretty place to sit and look out at the view, but we also hunted for tiny pieces of glass. We had about a cup full and were so exited to take it home and do something with it. Unfortunately we put it in a soft drink cup that was mistaken for trash and there you go. Oh well, the next few days would prove to be profitable in the sea glass department.

The sky line of San Francisco as we drove by on the 5. It always amazes me the density of the housing and lack of trees. Amazing.

Fisherman's Wharf. You have to do it. Then we took a ride on the trolley cars that was so fun! We got to watch Sparky as he discovered the city. He was excited and animated through the trip. Well, until the last few blocks when he finally konked out and fell asleep in the cable car. On the road again and up to Fort Bragg.

Starting Over

So here we are again.  I have to thank LeaAnn, she made a comment on FaceBook that got me thinking about how much I missed blogging daily.  I used to add photos almost every day, but my camera decided to give up it's battery, and, until I can afford a new one, I am using the ever present phone camera...grrr. In an effort to kick start the effort- I offer up a few photos from this summer.  We took a small vacation with our eldest son, his wife, and their young (2 yr. old) son.  We headed up to northern California, the Redwoods, Glass beach, and even the southern parts of Oregon! We had an amazing time and I ache when I think of how much was not documented on my camera. Even still here are some shots to give you the feel:

The Whaler's Shed at Point Lobos, Monterey/Carmel; now a tiny museum packed with information on the whaling industry that once thrived in the Monterey Peninsula.

Whale bones from the days when many a whaler came into this port to slaughter and market his catch.  Standing next to these bones, touching them, seeing their enormity is thought provoking and humbling. It conjures up vivid images, both beautiful and disturbing.

Hiking the point is an exercise that just keeps exhilarating rather than draining a person. The beauty is spectacular, the scale of the trees, the flowered meadows, the craggy and rocky cliffs, the sounds of the waves crashing, the small animals and insects, the birds and sea mammals, and the moist sweet sea air just keep you walking.  Now, I have to tell ya, my knees are shot - SHOT - that said, I was able to hike all over the hills and trails and wanted more.  The only things that stopped me were the uneven surfaces of the shoreline rocks.  I just felt unstable and unable to hop over the small crevices; so I had to stay on shore while the rest of our party explored the tide pools and the tiny animals that live there.  I highly and strongly urge you to take a full day at Point Lobos if you are in the Carmel/Monterey area. Fabulous!

A small river in the lush, hippy influenced Big Sur! The cool filtered sunlight dancing on the surface of the river was tempting and calming.  Sparky stripped down to his diaper and played with his boats in the water for about two hours. (His kayak and canoe, and yes he knows the difference.)  The Fireman spent those hours with him in the water, floating the boats back and forth and trying to keep Sparky out of the deep parts of the river.  Needless to say they had a blast!

Look at those pebbles and rocks...gorgeous and musical! Thor took a walk across the board bridge, dancing on it at one point, I wish I had video of it...definitely a lighter moment of the day. Soaked and worn out we left, Sparky protesting all the way back to the car where he fell into a deep nap in a matter of minutes.

The photo above was taken as I was trying not to fall off the cliff. Seriously. Note the motion!  It doesn't look that high, however it was literally hundreds of feet above the beach floor.  I just lost my footing and my bad knees failed me and down I went! Of course I managed to snap away with the ol' cell phone! Luckily The Fireman was outside of the car and he caught me before I made a dive down to the shore. yikes.

Last shot of our first day... isn't it gorgeous?

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Triple Lemon Heaven

Start with Lemon cake infused with real fresh squeezed lemon juice, add fresh grated zest. Top the cup cake with a puddle of lemon curd cream cheese, then top with a huge swirl of lemon juice infused butter cream and sprinkle with more zest. Heaven indeed!

Basic cake rules for S'mee:

Use whatever cake recipe you want. If you use store bought (don't come crying to me) no worries, just know they ain't what they used to be. Grab a good cook book and try out a recipe for homemade cake. It's easy as pie. Wait, no, pie is hard, cake is EASY!

So you'll need one recipe for Lemon. You're gonna change the recipe a bit.

Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other.

With the Lemon I want you to add 1 cup of lemon yogurt, 1 large box of lemon pudding mix - the kind you cook, and the juice and zest of 1 lemon.

Blend all of your add ins before you blend the dry with the wet.

Fill your cup cake liners or cups to 2/3 and check them at about 20 minutes or whatever time your recipes calls for, using the first time. (like if your recipe say 20-23 min. go with 20) The idea here is that you want to catch them when they are "just" done, not over baked. It may take longer than the 20 minutes, but bring them out when they spring back or pick test clean.

Let them rest for about ten minutes and then your are going to seal them with a simple syrup. For 1 recipe 1/8 to 1/8 water and white sugar should give you plenty of syrup. Put the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves, set it aside and grab a pastry brush. When the 10 minutes is up, brush the tops of the cakes with the simple syrup, turn them out onto a rack and let them cool.

The middle:

For the Lemon Curd Cream Cheese, again, 50/50 cream cheese with really good lemon curd. Make your own or buy a good brand. Soften in the MicroRhonda for about 20 seconds and beat with a spoon to blend. STOP eating it! This is like Lemon Crack, resist the urge or you won't have enough for your cup cakes! Put the lemon amazement into a pastry bag fit with an 802 round tip. Push that tip into the center, and then into the middle of the cake and begin to fill the cup cake until it begins to bulge. Pull the tip out and there you go. OR you can just pipe a little puddle on top. Place the cakes in the fridge to cool and firm up the filling before you frost.

The butter cream: Again, use ANY butter cream recipe you want. I prefer my sister Robyn's over anyone else's I've tried - even Pioneer Woman's- and it spanks. Her recipe is:here. My exception to her recipe is as follows: I s-l-o-w-l-y add the water, and most of the time I don't use the full cup. Also I almost always use 50/50 butter and shortening. It may have something to do with where I live (Mojave Desert) and the amazingly dry climate coupled with the altitude.

Lemon is pretty easy, but here you go. Butter cream in a bowl, add 1/2 to 1 whole lemon depending on your taste, blend and pipe on top of the cup cakes using a 807 round (channel a Dairy Queen ice cream gal). Sprinkle with lemon zest. Done. : )

All cup cakes are best covered and put in the fridge until about a half hour before serving... but again it won't kill you to do otherwise. I like those disposable baking tins that have the clear plastic lids. They are tall enough not to smash the frosting and large enough to carry a dozen, plus the lid keeps them nice and moist. Trust me, these are moist.

Hazel's My Girl!

I love me some hazelnuts and Nutella, so it was a natural progression that someday they would wind up in a cup cake. Devil's Food cake, Nutella Mallow (first you take the mallow...) filling, then topped off with hazelnut infused butter cream swirled with chocolate, roll the whole shebang in fresh toasted -then crushed- hazelnuts, and "paint" the top with chocolate. Yup if you love those flavour combos then Hazel's your girl too!


Basic cake rules for S'mee:

Use whatever cake recipe you want. If you use store bought (don't come crying to me) no worries, just know they ain't what they used to be. Grab a good cook book and try out a recipe for homemade cake. It's easy as pie. Wait, no, pie is hard, cake is EASY!

So you'll need one recipe for Devil's Food. You're gonna change the recipe a bit.

Dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in the other.

With the Devil's Food I want you to add a 1 cup of sour cream and 1 large box of chocolate pudding mix - the kind you need to cook, and 1/2 cup of Hershey's syrup.

Blend all of your add ins before you blend the dry with the wet.

Fill your cup cake liners or cups to 2/3 and check them at about 20 minutes or whatever time your recipes calls for, using the first time. (like if your recipe say 20-23 min. go with 20) The idea here is that you want to catch them when they are "just" done, not over baked. It may take longer than the 20 minutes, but bring them out when they spring back or pick test clean.

Let them rest for about ten minutes and then your are going to seal them with a simple syrup. For 1 recipe 1/8 to 1/8 water and white sugar should give you plenty of syrup. Put the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves, set it aside and grab a pastry brush. When the 10 minutes is up, brush the tops of the cakes with the simple syrup, turn them out onto a rack and let them cool.

The middle:

For the Nutella Mallow I used 50/50 nutella to marshmallow cream. I nuked it for about 20 seconds to soften them both up, then beat them with a spoon to blend. If it's too stiff, nuke it again, this ain't rocket science. : ) Put the gooey madness into a pastry bag fit with a 802 round tip. After the cup cakes have cooled you're just going to poke that tip into the center of the cup cake so that it's in the middle, go ahead an eyeball it, there are no cup cake police. Give a good squish on the bag and fill that puppy up until it begins to puff the top of the cup cake, remove the tip- a small puff of filling will come out of the whole you created. No biggie, you'll cover that with something else delicious later. Place the cakes in the fridge to cool and firm up the filling before you frost.

The butter cream: Again, use ANY butter cream recipe you want. I prefer my sister Robyn's over anyone else's I've tried - even Pioneer Woman's- and it spanks. Her recipe is:here. My exception to her recipe is as follows: I s-l-o-w-l-y add the water, and most of the time I don't use the full cup. Also I almost always use 50/50 butter and shortening. It may have something to do with where I live (Mojave Desert) and the amazingly dry climate coupled with the altitude(I'm right at 3.500 grrrr).

O.k. Butter cream- for the hazelnut infused butter cream (sit down please this is embarrassing to admit) I use powdered coffee creamer. Yup. Coffee creamer flavoured as "hazelnut". I am sure there is a way better product or flavouring to do this, but I haven't found it yet. The coffee creamer is dry, ground uber fine, and is made to blend with dairy so it works. The trouble is that I just keep dumping by the spoonful until I like the flavour. The flavour will mature so when you think you're almost there stop. You're there. Just blend in the dry powder and you're good to go. I also added Hershey syrup to the butter cream. I just squirted some in to the bowl swiped the butter cream a few strokes, kind of marbled it. You can decide how much chocolate is too much!

To decorate the cakes I just schmear it thickly on top in a big blob. Take the back of your knife and make a nice flat edge on the sides, leave the top looking like a storm at sea. Roll the edge of the frosted cake in the fresh roasted hazelnuts, coating just the sides. Leave the top alone.
(to roast or toast? your call. Either one will do. Hazelnuts: You place about a cup in a pan and either bake them for a bout ten minutes at 350 or put them on top of the stove and keep 'em moving until you smell that lovely aroma! Pop them into a food processor and crush them up or put them in a Ziploc and smack them with the back of a hammer to crush.)

"Paint" an extra bit of syrup on the top by dripping a dot on top of the frosted cake. Use the tip of your knife to drag the syrup across the butter cream like a brush stroke or two. E-Z.

All cup cakes are best covered and put in the fridge until about a half hour before serving... but again it won't kill you to do otherwise. I like those disposable baking tins that have the clear plastic lids. They are tall enough not to smash the frosting and large enough to carry a dozen, plus the lid keeps them nice and moist. Trust me, these are moist.

Gramma's Oatmeal

Many times I have tried to explain the difference between my Gramma's way of making oatmeal and what the world usually makes as oatmeal. For me, they couldn't be further apart!

Last week when I was with my Father/Mother in law he asked me to make them some "Coaches Oats". He explained to me how I would take one bite and be hooked because the texture of Coaches Oats was amazing. I have to agree, compared to most people's cooked oatmeal the Coaches Oats had a much better texture, a good bite, and a great oatmeal taste, however they still couldn't beat what I grew up on.

Now, I'm going to take a moment here and allow you to really look at the fabuloucity that is my Gramma's oatmeal. Go ahead, look. See how each little oat is its' own distinct piece of delicious heaven? They snuggle, but after that, these oats are their own beings! They flake! You can pick each one up at a time if you are seriously bored, or crazy, cuz, really? Who would pick up one oat at a time? No one! You're going to want a soup spoon to dig into breakfast!

O.k. Stop looking. Continue reading.

Gramma's way of cooking the regular Quaker Oats makes a great -firm but tender- (al dente) oatmeal that has absolutely no "oatmeal goo", which, sadly, the Coaches Oats still had a bit of.

I wish I could teach you her method on line, but it is a matter of feel rather than anything else. The feel of the amount of raw oats opposed to the water you cook them in, how and when to stir to avoid the goo, how long to let it cook. In three to five minutes you'll be amazed at the difference in taste, texture, and how much people want to eat it!

When the kids were little I would add chopped nuts, craisins, raisins, cinnamon, and we'd call it "Puppy Chow". Now my Grand-kids love to eat "Puppy Chow" when they are here for breakfast. Thor likes it with brown sugar and "oatmeal cookie" spices. For me, I could eat this as in the photo, as "Puppy Chow", or with a bit of white sugar and cold milk. Amazing taste and texture no matter how you choose "dress" it. Oh, and a piece of burnt toast for me! (Not sure why I love burnt toast with my oatmeal, but it's great!) One bowl and you can go well into lunch full of energy! Don't forget how good oatmeal is for your cholesterol!

So, if you are ever in the Mojave Desert on a cold rainy day, craving a steamy hot delicious bowl of oatmeal, with a tiny puddle of real butter and a spoonful or so of golden brown sugar, call me; I'll teach you how to make it the way Gramma did. You'll never cook it any other way!