We had a mind blowing pre-holiday meal at Cesarina. If you haven’t been there, put it on your to-do list. They greeted up with bubbly and warm bread. We dove into that while we waited for our crispy octopus with romesco, capers, red onions and almonds. For the main course, Pappardelle with marscapone and truffle sauce topped with guanciale. parm and cracked black pepper. You guys, it’s the best pasta dish in the universe.
The night before Easter Shawna and I stayed up making a scavenger hunt for the girls’ Easter baskets. How did it turn out? Let’s just say that they would most likely not make it out of an escape room on their own.
We also hid eggs for them to find. We hid them so well that we didn’t find two of them for weeks.
This recipe comes from ancient times, a culinary class I took in another life. It makes you break out the food processor. I normally try to avoid using it. However, it’s worth the extra clean up.
This recipe makes about 4 cups.
INGREDIENTS
2 1-1/2 lb eggplants
1 tbs vegetable oil
3/4 cup plus 1 tbs minced green onions
2 1/2 tbs minced fresh peeled ginger
1 tsp chili-garlic sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 large seeded tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup pack fresh chopped cilantro
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
pita chips (homemade or store bought)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425. Pierce eggplants all over with a fork. Place on baking sheet. Roast in oven until eggplants are very soft and deflated, turning once about one hour. Cool slightly.
Cut eggplants in half, scrape flesh into strainer set over large bowl (do not let bottom of the strainer to touch bowl). Let eggplant drain for 30 minutes. Transfer eggplant to processor. Using the pulse button, process until almost smooth.
Heat veg oil in heavy large skillet over med-high heat. Add 1/2 cup of green onions, ginger, garlic and chili-garlic sauce. Saute just until onions soften, about 45 seconds. Stir in brown sugar, soy sauce , vinegar and lemon juice. Bring to simmer stirring constantly. Mix in eggplant puree and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in tomatoes, 3/4 cup green onions and sesame oil. Cool to room temp. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a medium bowl. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead, but bring to room temp before serving.) Garnish with 1 tbs of green onion and cilantro. Serve with toasted pita chips.
Our last two days…sigh. I swear the first few days go by slowly and then BAM! It’s the end. We were at sea on Thursday and then at Great Stirrup Cay (NCL’s private Island) on Friday morning.
Our day at sea we actually found ourselves some lounge chairs. Were they by the pool, no. Were they three levels up in the middle of fifty chairs? Yes….But we had a place to call home base. We made nice with our neighbors and then decided we were going to go to a wine tasting.
Wine tasting
We had the best time. Turns out we know a little about oenology. Some called us “teachers pets” which just made the experience that more fun.
So, we didn’t leave after that, we stayed for another wine tasting.
Blind tasting along with some macaron’s. We were swapping wines and cookies with are table mates, taking the ones they didn’t love and vice versa.
The next morning we were in the Bahamas. A little island that a big company owns. Great Stirrup Cay.
This was the only stop that we tendered into. With that, it’s one beach and first come first serve.
You can’t just get onto the Tender because you are first in line. You have to have an excursion or a ticket…something.
I read about this before our trip and was prepared. On our first sea day, I went to the excursion desk. I rented us an umbrella and two chairs on Great Stirrup Cay. That got us a first class ticket off the ship and on the first tender/ biggest tender ever.
You guys, I am not kidding when I say that the island was empty when we arrived. The beaches were newly combed, not a footprint in sight and two hours later, the place was packed. If you take any advice from our trip, let it be that. Especially if you want a chair by the water.
We got some nice chairs by the blue water. We drank some drinks, duh. Then we went and played some corn hole. We meandered around the small island and some shops. We shortly contemplated walking to the other side of the island. However, we weren’t sure how far the other side was (the view was sand and trees). We decided against it, we didn’t want to waste our day lost on a hot island.
We spent the afternoon in the water. I took out a paddle board for awhile, we swam, we ate and we just soaked it all up. This was our last stop and we weren’t ready to go home.
But sadly, that was it. That’s the end. It was a great trip, a little too crowded. A little to0 long of lines for dinner and drinks, BUT at least it wasn’t full of college students . That was bad.
Cruises are still our favorite way to travel. And I most definitely want to go stay on St. Thomas or Tortola or both in the future.
One day, you will find me on one of these beaches. I will be the one with the beach bar renting out water toys. Follow the music.
Not unlike St. Thomas, the Tortola port was also semi closed off and vans were the only taxi options. But, we didn’t venture out so please don’t take my word for it.
We went to Cane Garden Beach on the north side of Tortola.
It was everything I wanted it to be.
We found some chairs to keep, we pulled them into the lapping waves and just soaked up the sun.
There isn’t an exciting story about people we met or the amazing sea life we saw. It was just the best day on an amazing beach.
That is all we did. When the time came to leave I was heartbroken.
I vow to return to that beach.
This time our cruise entertainment wasn’t as exciting as the last one. Maybe because this cruise was packed. Either way, we stuck to drinks in the lounge and karaoke for our nightly entertainment.
Our plan for the day was to take a taxi to Magen’s Bay. Getting around from the port was super easy and reliable. The only downside was the taxis were vans and they waited until they had a car full of people before we left. Once we hit the roads, it made sense. It was a long winding drive but so beautiful.
Once we reached the beach we all piled out of the taxi and found someone to rent beach chairs from.
We had to pay for two lounge chairs, I think it was only 25 dollars. Once we settled in we made our way up to Fairchild’s Bar and Grill. It was crowded and lines were long. I guess that’s what we get for going to a popular place.
We don’t have many pictures of our time here and let me tell you why.
We were sitting next to a couple who was on another NCL cruise, the Outlaw Country cruise. {we will call them Carol and Bud.} I asked about their cruise and who was playing on board. I am a country music fan. I didn’t know anyone they mentioned. I guess “outlaw” means someting else. But now we were talking to them for our entire stay at the beach.
The time came for a drink refill so Carol and I went and stood in the long line for rum drinks. While we were waiting she told me that she had been in prison. “Oh, really? I asked. Then she said she’s been out for a few years. She is a whole new person. I mean obviously she is. So, I asked her what she was in for. You guys… She tells me this story. She was arrested in an Oklahoma casino. At the time, she had 40 packs of Sudafed stuffed inside her boots. She told the cops that she “had a cold”…Somehow she ran from them and was on the run for months. I am not kidding you. She told me how she would go to estate sales while evading law enforcement. She’d buy furniture without having a place to put it. Eventually she was caught after a shoot out and a car crash, I mean, of course. HAhahaaa…
She talked about how amazing prison was for her..blah blah blah. She said that she met the man she was now with (Bud ) while incarcerated, (that is another story) That makes sense right? Long story shorter, she got out early for good behavior and made her way to him. Now here they were.
We spent the afternoon drinking, swimming and chatting. They were fun, it was like watching a train wreck happen in real time. But as the day went on, their story changed. They spoke about being clean after their prison stints. They mentioned that they never wanted to end up in prison again. Her loose lips admitted that she keistered some Molley onto their cruise. She didn’t tell him because he has a guilty face.
Good times you guys, good times.
Before we new it, our alarm went off and it was time to head back to our ship.
We shared the taxi with them. These pictures should show you how we were SO glad that they weren’t on our cruise!
Once we poured out of the taxi , we said “Ok Bye” to our friends.
Then we had one more rum drink before getting on our ship.
After dinner we went to the lounge to watch Karaoke.
I took videos but I’ll spare you. It was basically the same people each night. We all sound good on vacation, right?
We decided on a Caribbean cruise for my birthday this year. One week in paradise with warm water and beautiful beaches. This itinerary had us leaving out of Port Canaveral Florida on my birthday stopping in the Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, Tortola and the Bahamas.
Our flight left San Diego late on a Friday night and we arrived in Orlando before 6 am.
We got some coffee and charged our phones while we waited for our ride.
We arranged a transfer from the airport to the port for 9:00 a.m and were at Port Canaveral before 10:00. Unfortunately the previous cruise arrived late {or passengers weren’t disembarking} whatever the truth was, our boarding was behind schedule.
Alas, we were making our way onboard. Our rooms weren’t ready so we headed straight to the pool deck we went.
We sat and people watched. Sang along, more people watching, made friends and then found our room to unpack and shower. We had a nice dinner in one of the two main dining rooms followed by espresso martinis and music.
Day two was at sea which meant we slept in. The only downside to that was the pool decks were packed. This cruise was full which we weren’t used to. There were lines and limited seating for most everything. So instead of sitting poolside we decided on wine and chocolate tasting.
Followed by a night of dueling pianos.
Our cabin at the end of the night.
Our cabin stewardess was the BEST!
The next morning we woke up in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. Our plan was to take a taxi to Umbrella Street and Costambar Beach.
Can we talk about the port though?
It took us a good 30 minutes to walk through the port of Taino Bay. I mean it was beautiful and full of things to do, see, drink, eat and swim in…but WTF. Half of an hour just to get to public transportation.
Once we got in a taxi and made it to our first stop. He didn’t just let us out, he parked and walked with us to Umbrella street. Actually, he took these photos for us.
He suggested that we go to Playa Dorado instead, because “Costambar is too quiet”. Stupid me said OK because Playa Dorado was also on our optional to-do list.
We pull up to a beach and a little bazaar. Our taxi driver was greeted by buddies whom walked along side us through a maze of bright sarongs, t-shirts, hand-made ceramics and then to the beach.
It’s fine, we thought…We are where we want to be.
Sun, monkeys and calamari…. I mean what is better than that?
We swam and soaked up the sun until our time was up. Then we bought shit we didn’t need before our taxi driver took us back to the port.
We ended the night with a nice dinner and listening to music, our favorite hobby.
As we were booking this trip I whispered to myself, “this time it will be amazing”.
Because this time we were going to do things different. We were going to stay at a smaller hotel. We were going to forgo San Diego International and leave out of Tijuana. That’s what everyone said we should do, it’s cheaper, easier..
Side note: we live 10 miles away from San Diego International Airport. We live 26 miles from the CBX crossing.
So, I book a flight from Tijuana to Cabo. The Uber showed up on time and 25 minutes later we are at the CBX border. We got out of the car with our luggage and all the of the paperwork filled out. (you have to have your shit together otherwise you’ll be filling out papers leaning against vending machines before they let you through, oh and they don’t have pens so bring your own.)
We proudly show our paperwork and make our way across the tunnel (border) and into the TJ airport. The walk took about 10 minutes. And then we hit the line for the custom passport check and guess what, we weren’t alone. We were in line for about 30 minutes. After that, there was another check point and then there was a luggage check. We left a lot of time, I’m talking hours to get through everything. But luckily we reached our gate with minutes to spare. We jumped in line and then realized that we weren’t even boarding our plane, we were just getting on a bus to take us to our plane. WTF?
We eventually made it to our plane.
We landed in Cabo without any problems. Once we collected our luggage and walked outside I realized that we werent at the same terminal we were used to. I don’t actually know how manyYou know, the terminal that has the bars?
Little things like that aren’t a big deal, shouldn’t be a big deal. but at that moment I wanted to be where everyone else was. I wanted to the terminal with the bars, I wanted to be where everyone else was.
Our transfer arrived not long after and we were headed to our hotel.
This was a smaller hotel that was a short beach walk to Medano beach.
We sat on the beach all day every day . Had the best churros ever.
We ate fresh fish, molé enchiladas. Fireworks every night and stormy weather.
I need to mention that those fireworks went off every night. It sounded like we were being gunned down (Hi, I am that old. ) Also, the flamingos underneath us sounded like they were screaming for their lives. I’m not a fan of either of those.
With that being said, it was a nice trip. But I think Cabo can be put on the back burner for awhile.
The trip home was SO much easier even with a delayed flight, go figure.
LA Galaxy, if you know me then you know that I am a soccer person. We are the OG LA Galaxy fans. When we lived in San Ramon (1990’s) we watched the San Franscisco Bay Blackhawks. This is before there was MLS. Eric Wynalda was on the team and I remember running up to him after a win with my friends. Can’t do that anymore.
Nevertheless we are still a footy family. OG Galaxy fans!
LA Galaxy MLS Champions!
Now onto my Averi.
I want to be her when I grow up. She’s just so confident, she has that chutzpah, you know.. so sure of herself.
Days are long and the years are fast, is that how the saying goes? Averi is ten! Can we take a moment and let that settle in?
For her summer birthday she wanted a trip to Great Wolf Lodge (GWL), a pink birthday party and cake pops. She got her wish and now I don’t feel the need to do two of those things again. We have officially grown out of GWL and the cake pops were the absolute worst thing that I have ever done.
I ordered cupcakes for her actual July 10th birthday and then we headed for the lodge later in the week.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our years celebrating birthday’s at GWL but we have outgrown the place. Not enough to keep the older ones interested and I don’t care to stand in anymore lines… for anything.
For her little celebration I gave the kid what she wanted… chocolate cake pops. Who knew the phenomenon of said dessert was such a nightmare to make? I mean I have made croissants and tarts, dutch babies and pavlova’s but leave it to cake pops to lead to profanity, alcohol and tears; and let’s not forget about the mess. I’ll have you know that I did my research and I was ready, armed with all the tools but it was a disaster. The cake and frosting rolled into balls, cake stick inserted and chocolate coating melted just for it all to melt and fall apart, one cake pop after the other sliding down the stick, chocolate getting everywhere, hands, counter, fridge, sink. I ended up saying fuck the cake sticks we will have cake balls, feeling so proud of myself in that moment. But, it wasn’t a real cake pop more like a cake truffle. Averi the empathetic child that she is felt guilty and said that she will never ask me to make those again, god I love her. Happy 10th birthday my sweet Aves.
Lake, village, cabins, horses, skiing. That’s what I think of when I think of Big Bear. Horseback riding on the Pacific Crest Trail, kayaking on the lake, wine tasting followed by karaoke in the village, or skiing in the winter.
My brother and sister in law have a cabin not far from all of the fun.
(Tomahawk Cabin is available for your perfect stay, if you want more info send me a message)
Once we arrived the girls took off running to the dogs and the hammock.
We had a few hours before our trail ride at Baldwin Lake Stables. The two of us have ridden with them plenty of times to know that this was a great place for the girls first trail ride.
However If I could change anything about that ride it would be all of the things. Certain things were a little messy and I don’t think the guides actually knew the horses well enough to determine which ones should have been behind each other and vice versa, especially given the young and novice riders. Yes, I am totally judging the guides on not knowing more than me, but it was fine. No one died.
All of the fears that the girls had at the start were non existent by the time we made our way back to the stables. It wasn’t two minutes in the car when they asked when we could go riding again, mom winning.
We spent the evening having the best family time.
The next morning was a lake day. Perfect weather and a few kayaks later we started the day.
The water was a little murky and I wouldn’t suggest ingesting it. We had a great time.
After a couple of hours on the lake we made our way back to the cabin just in time for the Italy/Swiss match. …..priorities.
After some soccer we headed to the village for doggie treats, ice cream, a little wine and people food.
We spent the morning dreaming about running down to Cabo for a couple of nights, spending the days on Medano beach eating fresh fish and sipping margaritas. Real life has us doing laundry, cleaning fish tanks and getting groceries, good times.
It’s been a busy summer so far. My classroom had an art show focusing on Henri Matisse’s Scissor art.
We went to the fair and luckily didn’t leave with fish this time. The two goldfish from last years fair are still living their best life, sigh.
The girls dragged us on the Zipper which I had horrible memories from childhood (thanks Jess) and I am happy to report that it’s not scary anymore. That evening Old Dominion was playing and we were lucky enough to sneak up on their rehearsal.
While the girls were riding rides, we took advantage of some wine tasting and a funnel cake hot dog.
The only thing that would’ve made it better was if it were beef and not chicken.
We did one last ride before calling it, it was a school night.
She wanted a Taylor Swift birthday including the cake from her Blank Space video. I almost pulled it off, almost.
The cake.
In the video T Swift stabs her white heart cake and blood spatters out of it. I watched the video countless times and scoured the internet for an actual recipe that I thought would mimic the video. A lot of recipes called for a raspberry jam filling, some just suggested decorating the cake with the knife stabbed in it and blood pooling around. But the birthday girl wanted to actually stab the cake for the bloody result, so I set work.
I made a white cake from the box and layered it and crumb coated with cream cheese frosting.
Next I made some fake blood with corn syrup and red and a dash of blue food coloring. Then I poured it into a water balloon. Sounds easy, it wasn’t.
I cut a hole into the cake, big enough to fit the water balloon. This took trial and error and a little panic.
I pushed it down and covered the hole with some of the cake that I cut out and then covered it with frosting.
I breathed a sigh of relief, I had done the hard part and it didn’t look terrible.
I threw on another coatlayer coat of frosting, I don’t know what the proper term is but I added more frosting and then got to piping.
I decided to add some friendship bracelet decor.
What I did next was my big mistake. I put it in the fridge and moved on with my life not thinking of the corn syrup that would thicken.
The build up was too much to handle.
You can see in the video how the corn sryup was too thick to splatter out like we were hoping.
Ugh, so close.
Such a let down. So, if you make this cake I suggest not using a frosting that needs to be kept cold or make it and serve it right away. Happy 13th birthday Kbear. I love you to the moon and back and around the entire universe.
I had so much basil sitting on the counter. I always buy some not knowing if what I have at home is still good and then I get home to see that it is and now I have all this basil to deal with, first world problems. Not wanting to make pesto or have Caprese, again, I decided on a Panzanella salad. However this time I wanted to roast the veggies because, no Caprese again. This recipe is super easy and you’re left with very few dishes, always a win. But you guys, it’s soo good, I mean it’s basically a deconstructed pizza.
INGREDIENTS
8 oz. French or Italian bread, about 5 cups, cut into 1″ pieces
12 oz. cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 small red, yellow or orange bell pepper thinly sliced.
10 cloves of garlic, peeled.
1/2 c. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. shaved parmesan
8 oz. small fresh mozzarella balls (ciliegine or bocconcini)
2 c. packed baby arugula
1 c. packed fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. On a rimmed and lined baking sheet, toss bread, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper and garlic with 6 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and several grinds black pepper. Shake the sheet to arrange everything in an even layer.
Bake, shaking the sheet halfway through, until bread begins to turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
Scatter the Parmesan over everything and continue to bake until tomatoes burst and bread is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.
Remove sheet from oven and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Add mozzarella, arugula, and basil to sheet pan. Drizzle with vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons oil, season with ½ teaspoon salt and toss to combine, scraping up any melted bits from the sheet. Serve hot.
A day of non stop country music with a backdrop of palm trees swaying in harmony. That is a glimpse of what Boots in the Park at waterfront looks like. As soon as we heard Thomas Rhett was going to headline Boots in the Park this Spring we had tickets that afternoon. The festival lineup also featured his daddy, Rhett Atkins, Scotty McCreery, LOCASH and Lee Brice. VIP tickets are the only way to go for this festival because it’s a separate area with it’s own amenities, bathrooms and most importantly benches to sit on because age.
We arrived early planning out where we wanted to park ourselves for the day while we were in line.
We were one of the firsts in the VIP section.
If we had to complain about VIP it would be the lack of food and drink options, but we survived.
While we were sitting and chatting a lady came up to us and asked us if we wanted to meet Rhett Atkins.
We replied with an obvious “yes”.
Our phones weren’t allowed backstage… He seemed like a nice guy and we shared a few laughs.
Rhett was a good story teller and shared personal anecdotes between songs. He told us about the time Luke Bryan went to his hotel room in nothing but his boxers to tell him that he came up with sure fire hit song.
This is that song….
He’s written a lot of songs for other artists such as Blake Shelton and Jon Pardi. He told us backstage that his four year old son might join him on stage for a song. Sure enough at the end of his set, his son came out and sang the old classic “the Itsy Bitsy Spider” and the crowd went wild.
On our way to get a refill we ran into our radio morning show hosts. I listen to Jon and Tammy every morning so we had to get a picture.
As the sun started to go down, Lee Brice took the stage.
And he sang all of our favorites including Rumor.
Next up was not so little Scotty McCreery whom we saw at Boots in the Park in 2019 with Old Dominion. I was eager to hear his latest song, Cab in a Solo.
A drone show lit up the sky.
Finally, the man of the match. Thomas Rhett came out and started the show with one of my personal favorites, Vacation.
His entire performance was stellar. He played all of his hits and talked about how he re-did “Heads Carolina” with Cole Swindel, which I did not know.
It was such a good day with my love and we can’t wait to see Thomas Rhett again.
He did it, the captain managed to dock in Costa Maya! And so did the captain of another large vessel that was there with us.
The ocean was super choppy the wind was busy but we hit the ground running, okay walking.
The port was riddled with sale sharks and I had to literally drag Shawna out of the mouths of two of them. The port has a lot to see and do, you don’t actually have to leave the port at all but please don’t actually just stay at the port. They had a pool with lounge chairs, a full service restaurant, bar and all sorts of shops. We finally made it out to where the taxi’s were and hopped into one with another couple luckily heading to the same beach.
We landed at playa Mahahual, where we popped a squat in chairs that had the warm waves lapping at our feet.
The water was warm and so clear.
We walked the Malecon for a ways toward the ships general direction popping into stores now and again. Once we had all that we wanted we were back at the port.
One last passion fruit margarita before we embark.
We enjoyed a nice dinner in the main dining room that evening. This was our view.
After dessert we got ready for prom night!
We danced the night away sipping our own spiked drinks.
Meeting the crew was a great way to end the trip.
And just like that… we were at the airport waiting for our flight home. But not before crushing some catfish and beignets.
And that’s it. Our flight was nonstop, had zero hiccups and we were back at home and gasp, unpacking by 5:00 that same day. Norwegian Breakaway was a great ship, a billion times better than the Jewel. The entertainment we loved and obvi favored the four singers and their band at Syd’s Pour House. Food was fine, drinks were pretty good. Ports, we would rate a 4 out of 5 because I’ll always be bitter about Belize.
The alarm went off at 7:00 and we were excited to get on with our day in Belize. We had ferry tickets to take us from Harvest Caye to Placencia so we could wander the narrow streets of the village, nibble our way through chocolate shops, eat fresh fish and sip rum punch while we sunbathed. Buuuut none of that happened because as we were getting ready the captain announced that the weather was too windy to dock and although he made several attempts he was unsuccessful. Day ruined, we were so disappointed. Instead we got a day at sea and since we now had a full 24 hours to reach our next port the captain took it really slow so we weren’t blown off the pool deck.
We saved a couple of pool chairs, had breakfast, made reservations for the Ice Bar and spent the day poolside.
We ran into a lady we met the first day at sea and she told us that the last time she took this cruise they didn’t stop in Belize due to weather. So if anyone has actually gotten off a Norwegian ship in Belize please tell me about it, I have questions.
Once we washed all of the sun cream and remnants of a day at sea off of us we made our way to the Martini bar where we could order a real espresso martini, not that fake shit. The martini bar is a nice place, they have a bar inside and outside with lounge seating in both areas. It would be a nice place to sit and watch the sun set, probably. This is wear we waited for our Ice Bar reservations. Oh the overated Ice Bar, exactly as it sounds is a small bar made of ice. The staff rolled out a cart of hanging ponchos which they gave us complimentary along with some gloves. These two things did nothing, the ice bar was well, fucking freezing.
The bartender was offering couple of different cocktails, we all got one free drink which was basically 2 oz. of said cocktail in an ice glass. I couldn’t handle it, we drank it and split. No thank you, the Ice Bar is not for me, not enjoyable what so ever.
Once we had feeling back in our limbs we went to the sushi restaurant for dinner and it was absolutely delish, one of the best meals on the ship.
And then, “no and then” it was music time.
Followed by some french fries and bedtime. Tomorrow we were hopefully going to be in Costa Maya.
We woke up eager to get off the ship. Shawna had some anxiety leading up to her big day so we wanted to make it the best birthday ever.
We still weren’t sure what or where we were going that day because being in a brand new place is just the best so it all sounds fun! I have family that has lived on the little island of Roatan for years but unfortunately they were on the mainland during our visit. However ,we were encouraged to try Roatan’s famous Monkey La La’s.
We wandered off the ship and through the port, taking it all in.
When what do you know….
We took this as a sign and stopped for a drink.
These were very good. I think they are made with Kahlua, Bailey’s, vodka, creme de coco and condensed milk blended with ice, or something like that. Filling and sneaky.
Still not exactly sure on our plans moving forward, we walked outside to see about a taxi. This is where they are all waiting, the taxi’s, tour companies aka everyone wanting your money. We ended up walking with a man who called himself Dusty, explaining to him that we wanted a place where we could park ourselves for the day, eat and swim and be picked up when we were done. We walked, he talked and before we knew it stumbled upon were lead to a little place on the water called Aqua Bar.
We popped in so we could figure out our life and Dusty sat down with us. I was wondering if he was going to be with us all day. He told us about growing up on this small island and that his moms house was right next door this this bar we were at, of course it was. When we decided that he most likely wasn’t going to have us murdered we set out on our day, but not before popping by his moms house. She was out front of her cute yellow house selling a few souvenirs, shirts, sarongs and some homemade elixers.
She told us about how she made these concoctions during the pandemic and everyone who drank them never caught Covid, or that is how the story went. We went ahead and bought a small bottle to try but decided to wait until we were back in the safety of our house to try that risky little game.
{So…. it’s gross, tastes like gasoline blended with a hamburger.}
Dusty had called us a ride to take us to Sundowners in the West End. A beach front bar with beautiful views of the bay with a super laid back vibe. We staked out a prime spot on the beach and then headed to the bar.
Margaritas and Mojitos were made while I met the local bar cat.
Then straight to the water.
We met a lot of expats who were there for repeat vacations or diving trips and they all had nothing but great things to say about this little island.
We swam and talked the day away.
Then just like all great days the time flew by and before we knew it we were piling into our ride and headed back to the ship.
We never once felt unsafe being in Roatan, just putting that out there.
When we reached our room, her birthday cake was waiting.
Congratulations on turning another year older, ha.
We cleaned ourselves up and made our way to dinner. We had a very good meal at Le Bistro the ships French restaurant.
That night was 90’s night which I was super excited about but the 80’s music turned out to be a little more more fun.
The reason we chose this cruise was because of the itinerary. NOLA to Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. I know right? NCL really does the have best deals, what they lack in certain areas they make up for on their price tag.
We woke up in Cozumel and as soon as we stepped off the ship we were in heaven. The weather was perfect, the water blue and before we knew it we were hopping in a taxi to go eat on the beach.
I read all about the all-inclusive beach clubs and we decided against it not wanting to commit to one place our first time there. However, looking back, I think that is a good way to go. There isn’t much to do in Cozumel unless you are doing a certain excursion or renting a car. So if eating, drinking and swimming is what you want to do, then head to Mr. Sancho’s or one of the other popular places.
We started at Albertos Beach bar and we had the place to ourselves. We ordered fresh caught seafood and margaritas and we were in a happy place.
When we were ready to mosey on, we had our waiter call us a taxi. We were on the southern part of the island so we decided to head closer to the port.
Money Bar beach club.
This place was very nice, reminiscent of Europe. Located on a reef, lounge chairs are above with stairs to take you down to the clear and warm water. And they made delicious espresso martinis.
When the time came to head back to the ship we made one last pit stop. Welcome to Miami is right across the street from the port. A small hole in the wall bar with a Captain Jack Sparrow character stumbling around out front which in itself was strange, but who am I to judge? We stopped in for one more drink.
Once we were back on the ship and clean, we went for dinner. Then, yep you guessed it, back to Syd’s Pour House. We took turns waiting in line and grabbing drinks at Malting’s whiskey bar which was located right outside Syd’s. After the show we wentto pool deck for an 80’s party.
This pool deck was supposed to be adults only but that rule was lenient. I also tend think all young people are 14 years old when they are in fact, legal drinking age and that saddens me. There were a lot of those around this cruise, dancing to music that came out before they were born, sigh.
We ended each night at O’sheehan’s bar and grill. A pub that’s open 24 hours a day and a perfect spot for late night snacks before bed. The pub also had two pool tables but those were being run by professional 14 year old billiard players, or so they thought.
They next day was Shawna’s 50th and we woke up in Roatan.
Packing for a vacation is one my most favorite past times.
Remember when I said we most likely wouldn’t cruise Norwegian Cruise Lines again? Lies, sorry. We took another Norwegian cruise for Shawna’s 50th birthday. But, this ship was bigger than our last one, and checked all of our boxes in terms of on board entertainment and ports. You guys, this trip was amazing!
We were at the airport early because we must make sure the gate is where its supposed to be and then we hit the bar for the obligatory pre flight spicy bloody.
We were on our way to New Orleans which was a first for us. Once we dropped our bags in our hotel room, we hit the ground running. We only had one night to get it all done. We walked along the river and straight into town for dinner.
We had gator, oysters and delicious cocktails. Then we strolled our way to Bourbon street .
We people watched, bar hopped, and listened to all the music. We ended with a nightcap at our hotel bar and then to bed.
Our transfer to the port was included in our package and was effortless. Our time to “check-in” on the ship wasn’t until 2:00 but we just went ahead and got in line right when we got to the port at noon.
I probably shouldn’t spill the tea but you guys, we walked right on (knocks wood for next time). Our cabin wasn’t ready but that wasn’t a big deal because we took our asses straight to the pool deck and made ourselves at home.
This ship was very different from our first rodeo with Norwegian. There was a lot of everything, people, bars, entertainment, people…Once our cabin was ready we went back and got ready for the evening. We had a small dinner in one of the smaller dining rooms but since there was a short wait we sat at the adjacent bar and ordered ourselves an espresso martini. This is where we learned that one can’t just order an espresso martini anywhere, those were only available at the martini bar, so we had something sort of like it, but not as good.
So many options on evening entertainment but we chose The Pour House the first night and every night after. This was a group of four singers with their band that just blew us away, they were so much fun. All of this while we sailed down the Mississippi river.
Day 2 was a sea day which meant a pool day.
This is when it really sank in that we were on a cruise with a lot of people and kids who were on their spring break. Lesson learned, no cruising in March.
The pool was packed but we still had a great time. We met so many fun people, a lot who were on this cruise for their second time, that was good sign.
Dinner, I am sure we had it. I will still stand by the fact that the food on Norwegian’s dining room is just O.K. nothing spectacular. After dinner, you guessed it, back to the Pour House. This time we were in line early. Yes, I said “in line” that’s how packed this ship was. If we wanted a seat we had to get there super early. But this night was important because they were doing a Fleetwood Mac tribute.
It’s been a minute since I have been here, free time is a rarity around here. The last time I logged on I couldn’t find my blog and it’s been a thing, but here I am, hi! I think the last time we chatted was a handful of months ago, lots to catch up on.
This cookbook is full of mouth watering recipes. Her cooking speaks to my heart.
I made the broken noodle bolognese and it was amazing. Ate like a deconstructed lasagna but with less effort.
I also made a fettuccine Alfredo
We went roller skating.
For my birthday we ran off to the desert. We started at a winery in Julian which was better than I remembered. Then we met my brother at our hotel in Borrego Springs. We spend the night at the town bar Carlee’s listening to our local country band. Always a fun time. The next day my brother got us a driver to take us into Palm Springs.
We started with brunch at Bongo Johnny’s. Bottomless mimosa’s are always a good idea.
Shawna found us a speak easy hidden behind a wine shop.
PS Air bar was a unique experience.
If I am going to sit in an airplane seat for any period of time I want be in a different location when I leave it. This was a one and done place for us.
We ended the day at the casino playing Roulette.
Jenn met us at our hotel that evening and then we all went back to Carlee’s for another go round. We played pool and danced the night away.
We had a yummy breaky the next morning before heading home.
We went for margaritas for the March birthday girls.
This is a simple and delicious cake. Not too sweet with warm notes of cardamom, it’s definitely a good back pocket dish to pull out for your next gathering.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the pan
2 cups all-purpose flour, extra for dusting the pan
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 ½ cups plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3 large eggs
Grated zest of 5 mandarin oranges
2 Tbs of fresh mandarin orange juice
1 ¼ cups whole milk
2 tablespoons sifted confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
*candied orange slices for garnish is optional
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease a bundt cake pan with a little olive oil and dust with a bit of the flour, shaking out the excess.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a large bowl, combine the 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, cardamom, and eggs. Using an electric hand mixer set on high, beat the mixture until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil and beat until incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and add half the orange zest, the orange juice, and milk. Beat until smooth.
Add the flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix on low just until you have a uniform batter.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the center is set.
Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes in the pan,
Before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar and sprinkle with orange zest or candied orange slices.
Woo you guys… we all got super sick around Christmas, it wasn’t fun.
We did manage to fit it some festivities closer to the new year.
Averi was (is) the only child that still believes, I will hold on to that for as long as I can. It’s like a toddler who wants to walk, just keep pushing them down, no need to speed up the growing.
We had our tree up all month, it really is a vibe…just makes the house happy.
You can see that we had the Era’s tour on in the background…not gonna lie, I’ve seen it three times.
Speaking of tours. I went to the SDFC Chrome ball tour supporters rally, so excited to have our own MLS team.
We had a small Christmas at ours with just the girls.
Then we spent a late Christmas in OC with the family. Good food, fun games, sunshine and the best people and doggies.
This is a delicious chicken salad Inspired by the Indonesian salad Gado Gado. It has crunchy veggies doused in a peanut butter-sesame dressing and topped with a coconut granola like topping. This has the salty-sweet-spicy-crunchy combo of flavors we are always looking for. It’s so good!
Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Separate 1 egg. Place the white in a large bowl (save the yolk for another time) and vigorously whisk until fluffy, foamy, soft peaks form.
Add 3 TBSP brown sugar, 3 TSP toasted sesame oil, 1 TSP curry powder, 3/4 TSP salt and 1/4 TSP cayenne pepper. Whisk to incorporate.
Add 1 1/2 cups nuts, 1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, 2 TBSP sesame seeds and the zest of 1 lime. Fold with a rubber spatula until thoroughly coated.
Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake, stirring halfway through, until the coconut is lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly, then use your hands to break it up into chunks.
Make the dressing
Finely grate a 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger into a large bowl. Ad 1/3 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1 TBSP vegetable oil, the juice of 1 lime, the remaining 1 Tsp toasted sesame oil, and the remaining 1 Tsp brown sugar. Whisk until smooth, salt to taste.
Make the salad
Chop, slice, julienne, trim, shave and/or dice 1 1/2 pounds of mixed crunchy vegetables. Add all of the veg to the bowl of dressing.
Coarsely chop the leaves and tender stems from 1 bunch of cilantro and add to the bowl.
Add 2 cups of packed chicken meat to the same bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add a few handfuls of coconut crunch and toss to combine.
Divide salad into serving bowls/plates and top with more coconut crunch.
We took advantage of the extreme temps and low rates that Cabo had to offer at the end of summer. A favorite spot on our Mexican Riveria cruise, we thought exploring it more than a day sounded like a nice getaway. We chose a RIU resort and as beautiful as the grounds were, we didn’t love it and wouldn’t recommend it.
This was the view from the lobby bar, by far the best bar at the resort in terms of drink options, bartenders and service.
We hung out staring at this view until our room was ready. A few beers and tequila shots later we unpacked our luggage in our just ‘fine room’. The room seemed damp the entire week, and had a musty smell but it was extremely humid during our stay, maybe that is why.
Then we hit one of the two adults only pool. They both were smaller infinity pools with a swim up bar. It was so hot outside we were sweating with excitement to jump into some cool water. You guys ALL the pool water was warm and there wasn’t any shade, that was a tough pill to swallow.
But it was beautiful.
We found a couple of lounge chairs, pulled over an umbrella, walked down to the beach and bought two hats.
For dinner we ate at a fusion restaurant. I think we ordered a fish dish and a lamb dish which was obviously not memorable. Unfortunately none of the food or drinks for that matter, were great. The buffet which we hit up for breakfast had a lot of options but some of it was questionable after sitting out for hours.
The next morning we had some coffee and fruit sent up to our room and enjoyed our patio.
We spent a couple of our days in town. The beach in front of our resort (and most of the resorts nearby) wasn’t swimmable. I researched this before we booked and never saw that it was dangerous, so that was a real let down when we found that black flag waving. We took advantage of the ocean (which was cooler than the pool) down at Medano beach. Reachable by foot but way too hot for that, we took a short taxi ride to town. Our first stop was at the Sand Bar, a favorite of ours from our cruise stop to Cabo.
We also popped into Cabo Wabo for a drink.
A little window shopping and then a stop at another favorite of ours, The Monkey Bar.
A very small bar with a handful of stools, great margaritas and country music.
Then we walked by an even smaller bar, or so they claim.
Our resort had some questionable entertainment each night. Karaoke night was by far the most fun. I was a judge which I took very seriously.
I started having some stomach issues halfway through our stay. Luckily OTC meds helped enough and allowed me to enjoy the last few days.
We spent another day at the pool chatting up the people we had met. But the pools were sort of gross, and it gives me chills thinking back on it now. Older folks sitting in the pool at the bar for hours, never getting out to use the toilet. Questionable things floating in the corners of the warm pool water, ew.
On our final day we decided to stay out of the pool and head back into town.
After some souvenir shopping for the girls, we stopped at Uno Mas for a margarita, it’s another cute little bar outside the marina.
We ended up back at the Sandbar where we sat for hours eating the most delicious octopus and fried fish. Sipping cold Chardonnay and floating in the ocean.
Our last evening we walked to the steakhouse for dinner and then the lobby bar for a couple of espresso martini’s.
We both wound up feeling terrible by the time we were heading home and were sick for a good week later. I blame the buffet, the pools and one pool bartender.
Final thoughts; find a better resort to spend your money on.
Photos have been piling up and I always have the best intentions of posting them, I don’t know where the time goes.
Heading back to the summer…
Belmont Park and SD Fair fun.
Summer night meals.
Roasted snapper.
And…
Esquites, which was so good I made it multiple times in a week.
I used a couple of recipes but mainly this one. I made it with fresh corn and the frozen roasted corn from Trader Joes and they both worked, but….the fresh corn was obviously superior.
Caramelized onion and blue cheese tart.
Fun day on the Island with Uncle C and Aunt A Frankie and Tony.
Kaili and I spent 24 hours in LA for a BlackPink concert. We stopped in Dana Point to meet family for lunch and then continued through OC and LA traffic reaching our destination a handful of hours before the concert. We checked into The Biltmore, dropped our stuff in the room and took a tour of the hotel.
We had time before dinner to go explore our neighborhood which included Grand Central Market.
Had I known, I wouldn’t have made dinner reservations, which turned out to be a bust anyhow. On our way out we stumbled upon vendors selling their creations. We window shopped our way to a Starbucks. She got a drink and then we went back to the hotel where I got a drink AND we ordered dessert for after the show.
Not shown, a glass of chardonnay a piece of cheesecake and chocolate mousse.
We tucked our goodies into the hotel fridge and relaxed before our get ready time.
Once we were ready we ubured to dinner. As soon as we walked in I had a feeling I had made a mistake about our timing. There was only one waiter and a bunch of people with no food. He was honest and told us that the kitchen was backed up. I told him we were heading to Dodger Stadium and he suggested we just head straight there as traffic in and out is bad. Well shit…at that moment I wished we had eaten at the market. I called another car to come pick us up and we were heading to the stadium an hour and a half early. It did take a long time to get into the venue and by the time we were in line it was close to 8:00. Everything was packed, the line for food, merch, drinks and the bathroom. People everywhere. I realized that if we were to do this all over again we either get there super early and hang around inside the stadium or we arrive minutes before the show is to start.
Were are seats great, no. Were they expensive, also no. I won us tickets on a radio show so there was no complaining about our view.
I wasn’t able to get her a lightstick as I promised because the line was constant all night. She new every song and I think it’s safe to say she had a great time.
Do not show her that video, she was hell bent on me deleting it.
We left the concert a tad early to beat all the ride share traffic. Once back in our room we washed up, put on our jammies and ate dessert in bed.
Averi, fabulous and nine years old. She had a mermaid theme birthday and chose McDonalds for her dinner choice..She hasn’t changed much in that department. She is, much like me, an emotional mess, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets her Big Girl before her older sister. But she is smart, sassy, funny and outgoing, the world is hers!
A couple of weeks ago we stumbled upon a farmers market where we stumbled upon ‘Crepe on a Stick.’ I thought “how clever” and ordered myself a guava and cheese on a stick. At that moment I forgot how good that combination of flavors is. Which brings me to this recipe. I recently made these for dinner, but they would be just as good in the morning with a cup of coffee.
Pastelillos de Guayaba
Ingredients
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 egg
7 oz. guava paste, cut into 16 ( 1/4 inch) slices
6 oz. sliced emmentaler cheese (Swiss or gruyere if you need a substitute) cut into 1/4 inch slices
Directions
Thaw your puff pastry.
Once your pastry has thawed, line a 12-by-17-inch baking sheet with 2 pieces of parchment paper. (The double layer helps to protect your pan when you’re cutting the puff pastry.)
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Prepare your egg wash by whisking your egg and a splash of water.
Lay one layer of puff pastry on top of your parchment paper lined baking sheet. Make a 4-by-4 grid (give or take, this isn’t math) and put a piece of guava stacked with cheese on each square…space evenly.
Leave about 1 inch of space in between and top with the second puff pastry sheet.
Using a pizza cutter, slice the puff pastry into pieces, touching the top lightly to determine where to slice.
Use a fork to crimp all four edges twice on each side, then arrange them evenly on the baking sheet, leaving space between each. Brush the tops and edges lightly with the prepared egg wash and place baking sheet in the center of the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes or until pastelillos are beautifully golden brown, flaky and puffy.
Let rest for a few minutes or you will be biting into lava.
I am not a huge fan of ground beef, or burgers really. But, I recently had a lamb slider that was so good. I like lamb and I like gyros so that is what we have here. I did what I do and Googled about five different recipes and made it my own. So we have ground lamb, garlic salt, ground coriander and fresh mint for the meat. I slightly caramelized one sweet onion, bought Tzatziki from Trader Joes and grabbed some fresh arugula and brioche buns.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. ground lamb.
1 clove garlic, minced
Pinch of garlic salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon ground Coriander
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
One sweet onion, sliced
Fresh arugula
Tzatziki
Hot sauce if you like it spicy. My preference with Gyros is Sriracha.
DIRECTIONS
Combine the lamb and the next five ingredients with a bowl. Your hands are the best tool for this. Form into four or five patties, depending on your preference,
Grill or pan fry the patties until cooked to your liking, I like mine medium rare.
Meanwhile, saute the onions in some olive oil until tender and starting to caramelized.
Spread the Tzatziki onto one of the brioche buns, add the onions and top with fresh arugula. Top all of that deliciousness with your lamb patty and voila~
To say that we have been taking advantage of our SeaWorld passes is an understatement. I think we have been about four times in the past two months and we have done it ALL. Food, shows, rides, drinks….you name it, we’ve done it. Averi has gone from afraid of rollercoasters to riding them on repeat. I knew that she had my thrill DNA somewhere inside of her. Now she is bummed because she isn’t tall enough for the scarier rides.
Averi’s favorite ride was the water ride.
Sound on.
However, once she braved Manta, the other roller coaster that she is tall enough for and it doesn’t have loopty loops, is now her favorite ride.
Between rides we take food breaks to watch a show.
The skyride is perfect for a cool down break.
Sometimes I say “yes” to games and face paint but in return they have to sit with me and listen to some music.
BUT….my most favorite thing to do at SeaWorld is riding Emperor. The front row is the best, shoes off is even better but it you want to feel like you are really flying through the air, eyes closed and hands up.
Here you go….
I have such a good time hanging out with my girls on those sunny, (okay so it hasn’t been sunny in weeks, sigh) Saturdays.
The week before mother’s day was teacher appreciation week, and boy did I feel the love. Between catered lunches, candy, flowers, wine and gift cards, I was spoiled.
For the holiday weekend; Shawna and I ran off to the desert for some sunning, soaking and reading, three of my favorite things well four!
We spent the entire day in the sun and then had a mediocre dinner. We woke up on Mother’s day, went back out to the pool for a couple of hours and then headed to Temecula for some food and wine.
We went to a new winery in town, it only opened a couple of months ago, however this was our second go around.
I am not mad at the wine. I really enjoy their Chardonnay, I think it’s one of my favorites from that area.
Also, we must acknowledge that pizza in the picture. The pizza maker is Carmine (an Italian > New Yorker > Californian) and he has a traveling wood-fired pizza truck. Handmade sourdough crust, homemade fresh mozzarella… you guys, this pizza was so delicious. The one few that we ordered had a name, but I am terrible at recalling names…They had a base of San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, slightly caramelized onions with fennel sausage, fresh basil and were finished with a drizzle of olive oil. (and maybe some hot honey at home)
I tore this recipe out of a 2019 Fine Cooking magazine that I got from who knows where and who knows when, but I’ve had it on the refrigerator door for months just waiting to be made. The recipe calls for Bomba Calabrese hot sauce which I could not find anywhere local. However randomly in one of my Hello Fresh boxes were two packets of Calabrese hot sauce so obvi I had to finally make these wings.
This recipe was different than a lot of wing recipes I have seen, hence why I probably ripped out the page and saved it. The end result was really good, the anchovy paste gives it a depth of flavor that just hits differently but deliciously.
These wings twice cooked, once in the oven, finished on the grill and then drizzled with some of the remaining sauce.
INGREDIENTS
1/14 cups canned crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Italian hot sauce, such as Bomba Calabrese Hot Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBS white distilled vinegar
1 1/2 TBS anchovy paste
1 packed tsp. lemon zest
1 packed tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt
Pepper
3 lbs. Chicken wings
1/4 cup canola oil; more for the grill if needed.
DIRECTIONS
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place a large heavy duty rimmed baking sheet in the oven until it’s hot, about 10 minutes.
In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatoes, honey, hot sauce, olive oil, vinegar, anchovy paste, zests, thyme, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 cup water. Purée until smooth, about 1 minute. If not using right away, cover and refrigerate up to 5 days.
In a large bowl, toss the wings with the with the canola oil, 1 TBS salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and dump the wings onto the hot baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer with tongs. Return to oven and bake until the wings and oil begin to sizzle, 12 to 13 minutes.
Remove the wings from the oven, transfer to a large bowl, and toss with half of the sauce. Let stand 10 minutes.
Arrange the wings evenly on the hot grill. Grill until browned and charred in places, turning every 3 minutes for a total of 9 minutes.
As the wings finish cooking, transfer them to a large, clean bowl. Drizzle with some of the remaining sauce, and serve the sauce of the side.
Twelve years ago I had a baby and that baby is now a tween.
Kaili, used to love milk, fruit, music and her mama….now she loves water, spicy chips, music and her mama! Some things never change.
She is in deep with BlackPink and a few other Kpop bands, so in true fashion she requested a BlackPink cake and Korean BBQ for her birthday dinner.
The cake was a red velvet and cream cheese frosting and a dark chocolate ganache drip on the top.
The whole family gathered at a popular Korean BBQ spot and it was a hot mess of a meal. Kaili has decided that she doesn’t need to go back and I am fully on board with that decision. Definitely don’t want to cook my own food with small utensils and noisy children, adding in that everyone wanted to eat something different was just chaos.
Even though it wasn’t a relaxing meal, it is always fun to have us all together. Lot’s of laughing and love!
Happy birthday my K bear, I can’t believe it’s been 12 years since we started this journey together. I love you!
The Spanish tortilla or Spanish omelet is an essential dish in Spain. I am sure if you’ve ever been out for tapas here or in Spain, then you’ve seen it on the menu.
My mom spent three months in Santander, Spain back in 1997 and when she came back she would make this for us, to rave reviews. It is delicious. It has been off my radar until I was watching either Top Chef or Ciao House where they were discussing the tortilla, I wasted no time texting my mom asking for her recipe. She didn’t have her original one anymore but she sent me a recipe that looked closest to what she remembered making.
I actually happened to have all the ingredients on hand..We’ll call that food fate.
In a nut shell…it’s easy to make and only calls for five ingredients, potatoes, eggs, onions, olive oil and salt.
Peel and thinly slice about a pound of potatoes ( I think I used four yellow potatoes), then do the same to one medium onion ( I used a sweet onion, which I think is better for this recipe). Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan until it’s hot and then add the potatoes and onion. Cook for about 20ish minutes, stirring and turning them until they are soft. Meanwhile whisk four eggs in a large bowl and add a good pinch of salt (I also added a few grinds of fresh pepper). Next you’re going to add the potatoes and onions and stir to incorporate them.
Reheat the same pan and add some more olive oil. Pour in the tortilla mixture and swirl the pan as you would an omelet. Cook 6 to 7 minutes until egg is set.
Take the tortilla out of the pan and put the cooked side on a plate. Flip the pan and place it on top of the tortilla as a lid. Flip the plate and pan together to flip the egg in the pan. Cook the other side for another 6 to 7 minutes.
You can eat it right away or wait and enjoy it at room temperature. It’s good any time of day and I like to add a few dashes of Tabasco to mine, Tabasco and eggs are meant to be.
The irony of my blogs name….Finding time to blog has become an art to say the least. It’s been 55 days since I last posted here, not that I’m counting. I will feel my guilt tug at me and consider sitting down to tell y’all about what we ate or how we are all getting older…. but then I start to feel more guilty and just don’t…I am sure there is a therapist reading this with BIG thoughts.
In reality, I am back in the classroom and just wrapped up DRDP (Desired Results Developmental Profile) to prepare for conferences.
And now that is done, and I am ready to catch you up. Even though it’s been some days since we last chatted, I do remember saying that I was going to make a few of Jet Tila’s recipes out of his cookbook….and I did.
Obviously it was delicious as we knew it would be.
Shawna turned the big 49 and we took ourselves to Vegas to celebrate. Casey and Aileen gifted us a stay at the Golden Nugget so that is just what we did. We LOVE Downtown Vegas. Sure the big hotels with the fancy shit and $25 buy-ins might look nice, but dammit it’s not worth it. (insert Ted Lasso’s voice) They are great for certain shows and concerts but I promise you, the fun and the food is just as good downtown. The end.
Fun story happened minutes after this picture was taken. We were sitting at a great table outside ready to watch a country (cover) band that we quite enjoy. A man approached our table and said “I’ll give you $300 for your table.” Shawna replied with a “fuck you.” I mean it’s Vegas you guys….Then he pulled out $300 and she said, “babe, grab your shit, we are moving!” And that is how I saw my first ever bubbly vending machine.
We took that money and ran….to a pool table and sipped some bubbly with someone who could have been Lil’ John, and didn’t do half bad on the Roulette table.
Oh, I almost forgot Dancing Chucky, you’re welcome.
We also saw the Padre’s play, they lost but the food and weather were winners.
The girls like to make TikTok videos…. but just for us (no they don’t have SM or post this shit..over my dead body.) Anyhow, they liked this one.
We spent Easter Sunday at SeaWorld, we have SoCal passes and can go back and back and back until Averi conquers a roller coaster, little scaredy cat…Definitely not my DNA.
The only plus is that she holds all our stuff while we ride the fun ones.
It’s a phase right?
I think that brings us up to April. I hope to see you guys sooner than 55 days…Cheers!
Winter is not my jam. Snow, cold, rain, wet, all of the above, I don’t love….you know? However, the girls are fond of the rain and especially the snow. So to get it out of their systems, we had a snow day.
We drove far enough East until we hit snow and we let them run free.
After some snow angels, little snowmen and a lot of exploring….
A couple of hours later, they had had enough.
Perfect little snowy escape.
I much prefer to sit in the sun with a book…cat sometimes included.
Oh and off topic, if you are looking for a new cookbook that you’ll want to cook your entire way through, this is it.
Another one that I am obsessed with right now is this.
The girls are on a Korean BBQ/Bulgogi/dumpling kick so this book has done the work for our weekly dinner plans.
I am making a few of Jet’s recipes this week, I will report back.
Consistency is not my strong suit when it comes to this blog, I’m sorry. I have excuses, are they good, probably not so I wont bother with the whys.
I went to an ECE (early childhood education) beach retreat and it was a really great experience. There is no end in learning how to create new and challenging learning environment.
I also had a birthday, sigh. Turns out I am older than I thought. 46 WTF?
I was spoiled with pressies, cake, balloons….and tacos!
We went out to dinner and had a nice meal, cake pop for the win!
Not about food:
The girls are new aunties to two pups. Let me introduce to you Tony and Frankie, brothers rescued from TJ who now live their best life in Coronado.
Has this recipe been taunting you on social media like it has us? Hello food porn. Boursin, good…crispy, good. hot honey, gooood…all together, sensational!
Super simple to throw together, this would be perfect for a quick appetizer, or for dinner. We had it with sliced French baguette, some toasted with evoo and some not. It was delicious.
Hot honey can be found on shelves anywhere these days, because it’s so good… on everything. But for this I just heated up some honey and red chili flakes so I could control how spicy I wanted it and I wanted it HOT!
Ingredients
Boursin cheese (garlic and herb)
2 Tbs flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs (seasoned with salt and pepper)
salt and pepper
TO SERVE-
Hot honey
Bread or crackers of your choosing
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Place the flour, the beaten egg and seasoned panko breadcrumbs into three separate bowls.
Coat the Boursin first in the flour, and make sure that the cheese is completely coated. Dust off any excess flour and then dip in the egg, once again ensuring it’s well coated. Finally coat in the panko breadcrumbs.
Place the crumbed cheese on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Place in the preheated oven and allow to bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.
While the cheese bakes, make your hot honey with honey and diced chilies, or honey and crushed red pepper or your favorite store bought hot honey. Whatever way you go, just heat it up in the microwave or a small sauce pan. Also, prepare your French bread for serving. Thinly slice the baguette and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until crisp and golden on both sides.
Once the cheese has baked and looks golden brown, remove from the oven.
Serve on a plate, drizzle with the hot honey and toasted bread. Serve additional honey on the side because you will want more!
Our final day of the trip was spent on the beautiful streets of Ensenada.
Definitely not beautiful.
We didn’t get into town until noon or so, we were all watching the docking process from the decks above. Eagerly wanting off of the rocking ship.
This guy here was the best. Alvin was the assistant cruise director and he was a hoot!
We hopped on a bus that took us to the main drag of town. We just wanted lunch and drinks, nothing special on our minds.
Clever name huh?
We were heading to Hussong’s, apparently the oldest bar in Ensenada when we took a wrong turn and was coerced into a bar with free shots, blue shots.
It was a little iffy but the guy promised us that we would be ok and why would he lie to tourists? We really need a sarcasm font.
After our drinks we found our way to Hussong’s, imagine that.
I wanted to pop into this place when I learned that it was established in 1892. It’s also apparently where the margarita originated and it’s still standing. Did I order a margarita? No I did not, but Shawna did and it wasn’t great. Just a basic lime margarita.
I went with the timeless favorite….
The place was a tourist trap, it wasn’t as crowded as the other chain, Papa’s and Beer, that place was PACKED.
The bathrooms were interesting. The toilet paper was meant to be grabbed before going into the stall.
Very sanitary.
One drink and we were out. Then I found out that there is a Hussong’s in Vegas, WTF. We could have found a way dingier dive bar had we known that, sigh.
Time for lunch. We chose El Corralito for no particular reason than it was there and some people eating, that’s always a safe bet.
(One time long ago I got really sick after a day in Ensenada and I have some major PTSD).
You guys, the food was INCREDIBLE. Probably the best meal of the trip, aside from my Indian dishes. The sad thing is, we ordered what we normally do at our local Mexican places at home, ha. Cheese enchiladas, crispy chicken tacos, rice and beans. Can’t go wrong with those..Oh and mango margaritas…Why are they so good?
After lunch we hit the 7-11 for M&M’s because one can only try so many bad desserts in a row. Then went back to the ship.
Last dinner, last late night of mediocre entertainment.
I don’t think we ate dinner that night, but I could be wrong. I know that we went back to the martini bar for two last espresso martini’s.
We listened to some music and said goodbye to new friends and the best server in the lounge.
Then we played Roulette and probably ordered room service one last time because we didn’t eat dinner.
And that’s it, that’s the end. Well almost. We kept our luggage in our room so Saturday morning we just woke up, got dressed, grabbed our shit and walked off the ship. Our car was waiting for us and we were home by 9:30.
Reflecting on our trip, I don’t think there is any need to sail with Norwegian again. Next time we want to try Princess or Celebrity, advice welcomed. I would also like to hit the Panama Canal or Western Caribbean.
We woke up Tuesday morning to a Royal Caribbean ship docking right next to us in Puerto Vallarta.
Our plan for the day was to get to Los Muertos beach, eat lunch and lay in the sun.
We walked around until we found a place that had some open chairs on the sand and that place ended up being Burros Bar.
We ordered margaritas, I had a Cadillac and my babe got the mango, and apparently it was two for one.
For food we ordered the shrimp aguachile to share, a shrimp quesadilla and a shrimp burrito. Her burrito was the best and I really wish had ordered the snapper, food regrets are the worst.
After lunch we walked down to the beach and laid out for awhile.
After a couple of hours we found ourselves ready to head back to the ship where we could lay by the pool and the drinks were already paid for.
We stopped for some ice cream at one of the ports shops, dropped our stuff in our cabin and situated ourselves by the pool.
Before heading back to our room we watched the Royal Caribbean ship depart port.
After dinner we decided to watch a show called “Rock you Tonight” It was bad, if we were watching a high school performance then it would have been pretty good, but for cruise ship entertainment it was really not good. The entertainment in general was poor. I ended the night not feeling very hot so we went back to the room and said goodnight to Tuesday.
Wednesday was Mazatlan and sadly we were only there from 7:00 to 2:00. We got off the ship around 9:00, took a cab to a beach somewhere, and then we just walked until we found a man who offered us a couple of lounge chairs for a small fee.
As we were lounging in the sun wishing for a drink, a man with a menu appeared. He claimed that him and his mom were from Cabo and that they are making drinks in the alley. Shawna and I glanced at each other questionably and then said “ok, why not?”. My babe was braver than me and she ordered a very large mango margarita…..I ordered a Tecaté, playing it like a wuss. Her drink was really good and once again I had a drink regret because the nice man never came back, sigh.
We had an alarm set to make sure we allowed time for lunch.
We walked back down the beach until we hit Joe’s Oyster bar and popped in there.
Once again we ordered ceviche and shrimp tacos.
The shrimp in the tacos were fried, and they were SO DELICIOUS!
Our time was up so we went back to the ship and to the pool which was already crowded. We spent the afternoon swimming, drinking and meeting new people.
We took that night off, brought dinner down to our room and just watched a couple of movies. Oh, I forgot to mention the food at the buffet. It was set up by different stations, salad, pizza, entrees, desserts etc. But every day one side of the entree station had four or five Indian dishes, plus condiments such as chutney and raita. You guys, it was the best thing on the ship. Every dish, each day was phenomenal. Anyhow, that is what I had dinner that night.
And just like that it was Thursday which was our last day at sea. When we woke up we were rocking and rolling, we peeked out our window and this is what we saw….
Obviously, we wouldn’t be outside so we looked at the daily schedule of events to try and plan an inside day. Norwegian didn’t have as many fun ‘at sea’ activities as Holland America did. I am not sure if it was the actual games, the cruise staff or the guests, maybe all of the above, but it was all just blah.
We wandered around, popping into the bridge.
Played a little basketball in the arcade.
We watched a dance class from the safety of the back of the lounge while sipping Dirty Shirley’s.
Then we saw the sun really making an effort so we bundled up, grabbed our books and went to the pool deck.
But we couldn’t hang. The wind was ICE. So we took that as a sign to just go read in the room until dinner. We had reservations at Le Bistro that evening. I opened last years birthday gift to enjoy while getting ready.
It was DELICIOUS!
We both ordered the Escargot Bourguignonne, I got the Coq au Vin and my babe got the Duck de Canard. I guess I only took one photo and it was of the escargot, so voila!
The dinner was pretty good and after we headed to Bliss lounge to watch Karaoke and that was a lot more entertaining than the rock show, that’s for sure. The next day was our final day and we spent it in Ensenada.
We said adios to 2022 while cruising down to Mexico. The cruise deals lately are phenomenal, I highly recommend taking advantage if you can. Most cruise lines are now offering unlimited drink packages which are really hard to beat, if you like that sort of thing. Since flying anywhere lately is not only expensive but also a shit show, we decided to go back down to the Mexican Riviera but on a different cruise line. We were really spoiled with our Holland American cruise last year, very few people, ZERO children and great musical entertainment so there were big shoes to fill. We decided on Norwegian because it was a first for both of us, the dates worked out and the price was really easy on the pocketbook.
The itinerary had us leaving San Diego on New Years eve and hitting Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Ensenada, then back to SD.
We arrived at the port mid day and had a very simple embarkment. Unfortunately, new years eve was a cold and drizzly day, not an ideal way to start the trip. Pool deck activities don’t hit the same when it’s cloudy and cold, but we still gave it our all! Once we found our cabin, we hit the Lido deck for lunch, took a stroll around the ship, grabbed a couple of adult beverages and snagged a couple of pool loungers for people watching.
Norwegian’s selling point seems to focus on freestyle cruising. That means they give you more freedom from the OG of cruises. Instead of fancy dinner attire in the dining room at either the early seating or later seating, they have multiple dining rooms where you can go eat at anytime. While you can’t show up in board shorts and flips, you can wear pants and a t-shirt. However, I feel like most cruise lines offer that now, on Holland we went to dinner when we wanted to not at a certain time each night. Besides the two main dining rooms, there were also a handful of places to eat that were included. A buffet on the pool deck along with a poolside bar and grill. There was also an Asian restaurant and a 24 hour diner type place called O’Sheehans. It looked like a Hennessey’s but the food wasn’t great. The 24 hour part was exciting as we really needed that on our last cruise, but it turns out we didn’t need it on this one.
The view wasn’t bad.
These days the cruise lines have a few extra restaurants that you can dine at but for a price, some may have a fixed price and some are priced by entree. The Jewel, which was the name of our ship, had six to choose from. Italian, French, Sushi, Teppanyaki, a steakhouse and a Churrascaria. When we booked the trip, our package included all beverages $15.00 and under, wifi, one excursion and one alternative dining choice.
The captain pulled anchor at 4:00 and… we were off like a prom dress. Then the wind kicked in, so we bid a farewell to the pool deck and went to see how the casino was doing. Maybe we played some Roulette, and then we went to get ready for dinner and some dancing.
There were two dining rooms to choose from and honestly neither of them were anything grand and sadly, either was the food.
After dinner we chose to go to the Spinnaker lounge where the house band was playing top hits and then a DJ was going to count down the night. This would be the place we went to end each night, sadly it wasn’t anything great either.
We woke up to a new year but the weather was still in 2022.
Knowing that the sun was in our future, we spent the day playing Battle of the Sexes, Majority Rules and Bingo.
We tried the other dining room for dinner and this was a clear look into Norwegian’s “free-style” dining. Some guests did not care about what they wore, ordered or acted at the dining room. Classy is the opposite of what we saw. The night ended the same but we ordered room service and watched whatever we could find on the tv until we fell asleep.
We woke to sunny skies in Cabo San Lucas.
We were excited to head back to Medano beach and just lounge with food and drinks with our toes in the sand. That was all we wanted to do in each port. We walked around the marina, stopping for a couple of margaritas.
Then we walked through town to Medano beach seeking out The Sand Bar.
The beach was packed so we weren’t going to be able to lounge on the beach, the holiday brought ALL of the people. We were lucky enough to find a seat at the Sand Bar but then we proceeded to wait forever to be served. Sadly they were out of the octopus so we ordered a spicy shrimp ceviche, fish and shrimp tacos. Nothing was memorable aside from the view and the weather.
When we were finally able to wrap up our meal, we hit the street and got a cab to take us back to the main drag. We were going to pop into Cabo Wabo (don’t be judgy) for a drink but with three cruise ships in port, that was a HELL NO. So we asked around for a place with a good margarita and we were sent to The Monkey Bar.
This place was literally just an outside bar with about eight bar stools and a handful of tables. We chatted up a couple who just moved to Cabo and met a man who was a tour guide. We got his card for when we head back in June, hopefully he can hook us up with some fun activities.
The margs were pretty good.
When our glasses were empty we hopped on the tender and went back to the boat. We soaked up some sun at the pool, had dinner and then tried our luck at the martini bar.
Two days into the trip we knew that this cruise wasn’t going to live up to our Holland American cruise, sadly.
I made curry paste, from scratch. Gourmet as hell you guys! It took a few stores to find all of the ingredients for this recipe but between H Mart and Ranch 99, I was able to get it accomplished. This recipe for the curry paste makes more than you need for one batch, which was about six servings, so I threw what was leftover in the freezer for next time.
From what I read, this comforting Thai dish is a staple at street food stalls, house restaurants and is a popular take away dish. It seems that they serve the curry sauce over boiled chicken and steamed rice, opposed to simmering the chicken in the sauce. Since I am not a food stall, I made it Bon Appetit style.
Ingredients for the Kalaya Curry Paste
⅓ cup trimmed and thinly sliced lemongrass (from 2 large stalks)
⅓ cup thinly sliced shallot (from 1 large [1 1/2-ounce] shallot)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper (about 1 1/2 ounces)
¼ cup peeled and thinly sliced fresh turmeric root (from 1/3 cup whole turmeric)
2 tablespoons paprika
1 ½ tablespoons black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons ground white pepper
1 tablespoon peeled and thinly sliced fresh galangal
½ tablespoon ground turmeric
8 garlic cloves
5 makrut lime leaves
3 to 4 fresh red Thai chiles
¾ cup water, divided
Directions:
Combine the lemongrass, shallot, crushed red pepper, sliced turmeric, paprika, black pepper, white pepper, galangal, ground turmeric, garlic, lime leaves, and Thai chiles in a food processor, and process until vegetables and herbs are very finely chopped, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water; process until mixture looks creamy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Scrape down sides of processor bowl, and stir mixture. With processor running, pour remaining 1/4 cup water through food chute, processing until mixture is smooth but slightly gritty and paste-like, about 2 minutes. Set aside 1/2 cup Kalaya curry paste in a small bowl.
Store remaining paste in an airtight container in freezer.
Ingredients for Chicken Curry
2 tablespoons palm sugar
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
1 (13 1/2-ounce) can coconut cream, divided
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs), cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk, well shaken and stirred
¼ cup fish sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
3 makrut lime leaves, plus more for garnish
2 fresh green long hot peppers sliced (I used jalapeños) (about 1 cup)
Directions
Heat a medium-size heavy-bottomed pot or a Dutch oven over medium-low. Add palm sugar, shrimp paste, reserved 1/2 cup Kalaya curry paste, and half of the coconut cream (about 3/4 cup), and cook, stirring often, until curry sauce is fragrant and bubbly and palm sugar is dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in chicken pieces and coconut milk. Increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Gently boil, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers at least 165°F, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in fish sauce and salt. Stir in remaining half of coconut cream (about 3/4 cup). Remove pan from heat. Stir in basil and makrut lime leaves.
Garnish curry with jalapenos, basil and lime leaves.
Hello strangers, happy new year! I hope everyone had a great one and isn’t sick or drowning in rain…or both.
I left you with the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe and then ghosted you for the holidays.
Christmas eve had us cookie decorating, baking and prepping for Christmas day feasting.
The kitchen was busy, we made an eggnog cake, the ‘can’t have Christmas without sherry cake’, and creme de menthe brownies.
I also made this farro saladwith apple, parmesan and arugula. You guys, this salad really is the best.
The girls had to wait until 7:00 AM on Christmas morning, how terrible of us huh?
Once we were cozied up and had coffee in hand, we started the festivities.
Halfway through the carnage we broke for breaky. and then we continued with the mayhem.
Out of everything Kaili opened, I think this was her favorite, sigh.
Her relationship with spicy chips is on another level.
Later that morning the family came over….. and with a baby black lab in tow.
This is Pluto, isn’t he the cutest?
Casey and Aileen were puppy sitting for a friend, and I can say that Pluto gave us all dog fever, well everyone except Shawna, pfft.
We spent the day opening more gifts, eating, playing games and saying “no” to the girls asking for a dog every other minute.
My dad and Casey put together Averi’s new Rainbow High doll house.
We played Right Left Center and Kaili won.
It was a great Christmas spent with all my people!
Those five days between Christmas and New Years is big question mark. No one knows what day it is or what they are supposed to be doing, it’s like existing in confusion.
I took the girls to Coronado for an afternoon.
We had a delicious lunch, enjoyed a walk along the water, more puppy love and some swimming.
The weather was perfect until the sun went down, and then it was time to head home and warm the bones.
Snickerdoodle’s are not my favorite cookie, not even in my top five. So when I made this recipe, I did not think I would want them for breakfast, however paired with cream cheese frosting, they are suitable for any time of the day. With Christmas a short few days away, these are perfect to have out for little and big hands to grab.
I made these a few times, once from scratch and then I used a sugar cookie mix as a short cut and it’s just as good. Since time is minimal these next few days, get the mix and make it easy on yourself. But you do have to make the cream cheese frosting, that is a must.
INGREDIENTS
1 package of sugar cookie mix
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 cups powdered sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line backing sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the cookie dough according to the package directions. Using a 1/2-inch cookie scoop or spoon, scoop cookie dough and roll into balls. Roll the dough in the cinnamon-sugar and then place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool completely.
While the cookies bake and cool, make the cream cheese frosting.
In a stand mixer or a bowl with a handheld mixer; beat cream cheese and butter until light and creamy. Add salt and then gradually add the powdered sugar, beat until smooth.
Once the cookies are cool, spread frosting on the bottom half of the cookies, top with remaining cookies and press gently together so the frosting spreads to the edges.
Store in an airtight container. They are good out of the fridge too!
This year we made reservations instead of recipes for Thanksgiving dinner…in Vegas. The next morning bright and early, we headed to the Las Vegas American Outlaws chapter bar to watch the US play England.
The vibe was phenomenal.
What happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas because we both got colds while we were there, the drive home was so much fun (insert sarcasm font).
About a week later we had our yearly visitor.
Everyone this is Tipsytoes Bellshire.
Casey and Aileen took the girls for a day of Coronado fun. They made ornaments and cookies with Santa, explored the Hotel Del and went out to lunch.
They came home happy and hyper, it was a fun holiDAY!
(Why didn’t anyone brush Averi’s hair that morning?)
I was unsure of how the World Cup would look during the month of December but I gotta say that I dig it. Waking up to soccer every morning has been wonderful.
We are about a week out from Christmas and I am happy to say that I think I’m ready for it.
Cold nights, toasty fires, eggnog espresso martini’s and the WC final match….not a bad December.
This recipe is out of Chrissy Teigen’s 3rd cookbook, Cravings All Together and it’s a solid five stars. Instead of the traditional mayo dressing with bacon, which is obviously delicious, we make a dressing out of cashews to dress the broccoli. And the dressing is the star of the dish, it’s so good. It’s sort of like a satay peanut sauce but not… actually now that I think about it, I am going to make this dressing to dip chicken in.
It’s a little sweet, a tad spicy, crunchy, nutty and creamy an easy and delicious salad that almost hits all of the five flavor elements.
Plus it’s dairy and gluten free if that’s your thing.
INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
2 medium heads of broccoli, trimmed and separated into florets (about 6 cups)
Kosher salt
1 cup chopped salted roasted cashews
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
2 Tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon finely diced jalapeño pepper (preferably red, with seeds)
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 cup thinly sliced
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
DIRECTIONS
Place 1 1/4 cups of water in a 5 quart saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the broccoli, cover with a tight fitting lid, and steam until broccoli turns bright green but is still tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Drain and then spread the broccoli in a single layer on a paper towel-lined plate to cool. (Don’t place in an ice bath, that will create soggy broccoli) Season the broccoli with the salt.
While the broccoli is cooling, make the dressing. Combine 2/3 cup of the cashews with the 1/3 cup vinegar, sugar, jalapeńo, soy sauce and fish sauce in a blender until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute; add water by the dressing if it’s too thick.
Arrange the broccoli on a large plate or platter, then scatter the onions and cranberries on top. Drizzle 1/2 cup of the dressing over the broccoli, then scatter the remaining 1/3 cup cashews over the salad. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.
Is the earth spinning faster than normal? Is that why time is going by at lightening speed? Wasn’t it just Halloween and now it’s Thanksgiving, I don’t understand.
This will be a catch up of whatever has happened in the last month. My memory has been failing me lately..I made a delicious curry paste from scratch and then made an even better chicken curry but I can’t for the life of me, find the recipe I used. It’s like, poof! Gone from my memory and apparently my search history too.
I do know that we took the girls trick or treating, I remember that. It was our first time since Covid and it was a lot more quiet out there than it used to be. Dark houses and the lack of kids could have been because it was a Monday, I don’t know why we can’t just dedicate the last Saturday of October to Halloween.
Like I mentioned, I made a fresh curry paste that was super flavorful and very spicy and then made a chicken curry. If I ever find the recipe, I will make it again surely. I think I served it with coconut rice but who really knows, not me.
We took the girls rollerskating with their friends and I made the most delicious Snickerdoodle sandwich cookies with cream cheese frosting. These, you guys, are ridiculously good.
Oh and we finally made it to Cutwater Spirits tasting room. The drinks were delicious, the food was just ok. Next time, because there will be a next time, there are still so many cocktails to try, we will just sit at the bar.
I also made Chrissy Teigen’s broccoli salad with cashew dressing, and it was SO good. I will post that next time.
And obviously we are watching ALL OF THE SOCCER! The World Cup is such an exciting time, especially since we finally made it back into the tournament! Big match Friday, where will you be watching our USMNT?
You guys this recipe is ridiculously good. That’s all I have to say about it really, it’s just so good. The filling is almost like a thick soup and you could eat it with a loaf of good bread if you wanted. Pie crust was my favorite, puff pastry was good but didn’t hold up like the pie crust did. However, it really doesn’t matter because the mushroom gravy, if you will, is amazing alone.
I made this in individual ramekins but you could make this in a pie plate for a holiday dinner, it will get eaten up, I promise.
INGREDIENTS
4 ounces butter, divided
12 ounces mushrooms (I used cremini)
2 cups yellow onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup carrots (about 1 small/medium), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brandy
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
leaves from 3 springs of thyme
1/4 cup packed Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 package frozen pie crust
1 egg, whisked
DIRECTIONS
Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottom saucepan over low heat, then add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every so often to release their natural juices and soften. Remove the mushrooms from the pan, set aside, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
Melt the remaining butter and add the onions, garlic, celery and carrots and sauté for about for 6 minutes or until soft, stirring periodically.
Stir in the flour and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the brandy, stock, cayenne, and your cooked mushrooms.
Bring to a simmer and stirring often, allow the sauce to thicken, about 5 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and remove from the heat. Add in thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. Taste for salt.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Divide the filling into four 8-ounce ramekins and place on a baking sheet.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the pie crust thin and cut 4 rounds approximately 1/2 – 1 inch larger than the width of the ramekins. Spray the rim of each ramekin with cooking or spray (or you can use your egg wash) and 1/2 inch down the sides. Top each ramekin with the pie crust rounds, folding the excess over and gently pressing it against the ramekins using a fork to help seal it to the dish. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash and use a small knife to poke 3 small holes in the top of each pot pie.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving.
We kicked off the spooky season with my first visit to Knott’s Scary Farm.
We went straight to an amazing looking roller coaster. The lights were all lit up and it looked like a boardwalk. The ride was so fun we did it multiple times. The downside, the exit took us into clown alley. Yes, I know that I am an adult, but I have an irrational fear of clowns…sigh, I am not proud. It took all that I had to not look them, even when they came running at me head on…Otherwise I would have cried.
We had a such good time, rides at night are just better. Parts of the park were very dark and creatures of all sorts would follow us around breathing down our necks and jump out at us. A lot of them had on shoes with metal taps so when they ran and slid at you, it made an awful sound..basically scaring the shit out of us at every corner we turned.
We were walking through a very dark area with fog machines clouding our path when we realized why so many people run in the wrong direction in horror films. You know how we scream at those idiots? Well, we were them…We had a hard time figuring out where we were and where we were headed. If was legit in danger, I would have just fell to the ground and succumbed to my death.
However, it was fun and definitely something to do again.
The girls had fun at the store trying on masks.
We hit the pumpkin patch and we made it easy on ourselves this year. We went to one in Temecula, gave the girls some money, grabbed a glass of wine, and hung out while they did all of the things. Petting zoo, panning for gems, snow cones and all of the other shit that is a waste of money.
We no longer buy our pumpkins at the actual patch which saves a lot of money. We just grab them at a local store on our way home, the girls don’t care.
Then we carve them and then they die. {the pumpkins, not the girls.}
Luckily we got a few photos of our artistry before they wilted 20 minutes later.
The next day we made Oreo bats and I realized that the girls are almost too old for these food crafts. They just want to eat the ingredients rather than create. However, I MADE THEM HAVE FUN!
These are super simple using only 3 ingredients.
Oreos, bite size Reese’s and candy eye balls. We used the oreo filling as the glue for the wings and the eyes. Pop them into the fridge for 10 minutes to set or don’t and just eat them right away.
I think they turned out cute!
The girls have their costumes and we are excited to take them out Monday night, and then go right home to inspect their candy! {aka take all the good stuff}
Why have we been neglecting farro for so long? I have been using it a lot recently because we can’t get enough of it’s chewy texture and nutty flavor. This dish here though, is the best reason to cook some up. I promise, you won’t be mad at it.
Farro Salad with Apple, Parmesan, Arugula& Fried Shallots
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 cup whole-grain farro
2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1 Large shallot, very thinly sliced
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
2 tsp. honey
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cup lightly packed arugula
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup shaved fresh Parmesan
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil
1/4 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
In a medium saucepan, combine farro, vegetable broth, salt, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook, stirring occasionally, until farro is tender and no broth remains, about 30 minutes. When farro is cooked, transfer to a large glass bowl to cool.
Meanwhile, make the fried shallots: in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine oil and shallots. When the shallots begin to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove shallots from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel lined plate and season with salt. Let oil cool.
Make the dressing: in a medium bowl, combine the cooled olive oil with vinegar, mustard, and honey and season with salt and pepper.
Assemble the salad: combine cooked farro, crispy shallots, arugula, apple, parmesan, basil, and pecans. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat.
This isn’t a new recipe. I think this cookbook is a handful of years old but it’s full of great recipes.
I made this for our weekly Taco Tuesday for us moms, however Averi was caught eating leftover steak off the cutting board.
*This recipe wants you to skewer the meat, I didn’t do that, it was just an extra unnecessary step for this occasion.
Ingredients
⅓ cup sugar
5 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons gochujang paste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 ounces flank steak, sliced against the grain into thin strips
⅛ teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Quick Pickled Cabbage (recipe to follow)
3 tablespoons sliced green onions
1 fresh jalapeno, sliced for serving
Directions
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Add steak to bowl or combine all in a gallon size freezer bag; . Marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning after 30 minutes. (Can hang out in the fridge for longer).
While the meat is marinating, make the pickled cabbage.
Pickled cabbage
3 cups chopped/shredded napa cabbage
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Teaspoons gochujang paste
Combine 3 cups of shredded napa cabbage in a bowl with the garlic. Bring vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and gochujang to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cabbage; toss. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving.
Preheat grill to medium high heat.
Remove steak from marinade, and discard marinade. Grill the slices of meat, 2 minutes per side.
(Thread steak onto 8 (8-inch) skewers; sprinkle with salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness).
Grill tortillas 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred; keep warm.
Place tortillas on plate, and divide steak evenly among tortillas. Divide the Quick Pickled Cabbage evenly among tacos; sprinkle with onions and jalapenos.
Back in January the best dad, my dad turned 80. He is a brilliant man. He is the rock of our family. He is the perfect example of what it means to be a husband and father.
We had a little surprise party for him with a few close friends and family.
What a life he’s had and continues to live. From a savage soccer player and coach to flying jet airliners. Having a cartoon strip in the newspaper and magazines. Traveling the world all while having art hanging in galleries. He’s checked off a lot of boxes in this thing called life. He is truly living his best.
My brother and sister in-law planned the entire thing and it was such a hit. Good food, good wine and great company.
As we were booking this trip I whispered to myself, “this time it will be amazing”.
Because this time we were going to do things different. We were going to stay at a smaller hotel. We were going to forgo San Diego International and leave out of Tijuana. That’s what everyone said we should do, it’s cheaper, easier..
Side note: we live 10 miles away from San Diego International Airport. We live 26 miles from the CBX crossing.
So, I book a flight from Tijuana to Cabo. The Uber showed up on time and 25 minutes later we are at the CBX border. We got out of the car with our luggage and all the of the paperwork filled out. (you have to have your shit together otherwise you’ll be filling out papers leaning against vending machines before they let you through, oh and they don’t have pens so bring your own.)
We proudly show our paperwork and make our way across the tunnel (border) and into the TJ airport. The walk took about 10 minutes. And then we hit the line for the custom passport check and guess what, we weren’t alone. We were in line for about 30 minutes. After that, there was another check point and then there was a luggage check. We left a lot of time, I’m talking hours to get through everything. But luckily we reached our gate with minutes to spare. We jumped in line and then realized that we weren’t even boarding our plane, we were just getting on a bus to take us to our plane. WTF?
We eventually made it to our plane.
We landed in Cabo without any problems. Once we collected our luggage and walked outside I realized that we werent at the same terminal we were used to. I don’t actually know how manyYou know, the terminal that has the bars?
Little things like that aren’t a big deal, shouldn’t be a big deal. but at that moment I wanted to be where everyone else was. I wanted to the terminal with the bars, I wanted to be where everyone else was.
Our transfer arrived not long after and we were headed to our hotel.
This was a smaller hotel that was a short beach walk to Medano beach.
We sat on the beach all day every day . Had the best churros ever.
We ate fresh fish, molé enchiladas. Fireworks every night and stormy weather.
I need to mention that those fireworks went off every night. It sounded like we were being gunned down (Hi, I am that old. ) Also, the flamingos underneath us sounded like they were screaming for their lives. I’m not a fan of either of those.
With that being said, it was a nice trip. But I think Cabo can be put on the back burner for awhile.
The trip home was SO much easier even with a delayed flight, go figure.
LA Galaxy, if you know me then you know that I am a soccer person. We are the OG LA Galaxy fans. When we lived in San Ramon (1990’s) we watched the San Franscisco Bay Blackhawks. This is before there was MLS. Eric Wynalda was on the team and I remember running up to him after a win with my friends. Can’t do that anymore.
Nevertheless we are still a footy family. OG Galaxy fans!
LA Galaxy MLS Champions!
Now onto my Averi.
I want to be her when I grow up. She’s just so confident, she has that chutzpah, you know.. so sure of herself.
When I wonder what she got from me, she runs into walls and spills shit.
The Art of Thyming 