Morning in the harbor

One of my most favorite places to be is in Dana Point Harbor. I've always loved being by the water. It is so fun and peaceful.  Usually once a week I'm able to spend a morning down there and today, hubby decided he wanted to go have breakfast there. We packed up the kids and off we went.  I had planned on taking the camera to see what I could capture and although you would think I'd take pictures of the water, I found myself drawn more to the flowers we saw along our walk.  I did take a couple of water pictures but mainly focused on flowers. I hope you enjoy them :)  Thanks to my hubby and munchkins for a wonderful morning! 

I couldn't go down there and only take pictures of the flowers.  Here are a few of the harbor.  I'm hoping to go down again soon and take pictures of the jetty.  

Art #1

  Ok for some crazy reason I've had this desire to see if there's an artist hidden inside me.  I think I've said before that when I was in elementary school and we had Meet the Masters, I cringed.  The lecture on the artist was fine but then we had to try the different styles of art and I would get frustrated and annoyed.  At the time, I had no idea why I didn't enjoy it but I think I've drawn (no pun intended) the conclusion that I didn't like it because I am a perfectionist and if my art didn't turn out the way I wanted, I get mad and loose my patience and give up.  A few months ago, I decided I wanted to give this whole art thing another try.  Part of it is because I love a challenge and another part is because I want to see if my patience has improved over the years.
  A couple who is near and dear to me is expecting in the coming months.  They have chosen whales as the theme for their nursery.  I really wanted to give them a keepsake gift.  With that in mind I decided to try a piece of art for them.  Now this wasn't going to be something that would take up an entire wall, but something could that the couple could sit on a shelf or dresser if they wanted to. In fact, I got so brave I even wanted to water color once I drew the whale. Drawing the whale was much easier than I thought it would be.  Water coloring however proved to be a task. Throwing in the towel crossed my mind more than once but I wanted to finish it.  I am definitely still the perfectionist  I was in elementary school (guess we can't change the stripes on a zebra can we?) but I had fun working on it, probably drove a few people crazy in the process and it's not perfect but I did it!  After many tries with watercolors (and at the recommendation of my husband) I ended up using oil pastels and was much happier with the results.  Here are my whales in all their glory :) 

Apple Dump Cake

Recently we were watching an episode of Pioneer Woman and she made a dessert called dump cake.  My husband said it looked really good and that we should try it. I've actually had dump cake at my Aunts house and I'm a big fan.  I had asked my Aunt how to make it and she said you put a can of apple pie filling into a cake pan, pour cake mix from the box on top of it and then put butter on top of that, throw it in the oven for awhile and that's it. I always thought she was leaving out a step or two but she wasn't! It really is that easy :)  Here's the recipe from a cookbook I have just to prove how simple this was.  PS If you're not an apple fan, you can use other fruit instead!

Drawing Part 1

Okay so this week I decided to post two drawings I'm currently working on.  Art is not something I feel particularly confident in. I never liked it in when I was in elementary school. I think a part of that was I didn't have the patience for it and I never really knew how to. I didn't take art classes in school. I remember learning about the primary colors but that's it as far as my art education.  I preferred writing.    I wanted to give drawing/sketching a try again as an adult and I am finding it to be very therapeutic.  The first drawing is because I love whales.  I know this is really light but hopefully you can see it.

The second drawing is of Minnie Mouse.  I'll confess, I sketched this when I was really frustrated but was pleased with the results LOL.....  This is Love Bug's favorite Disney character. Again, this is really light.  Thank you YouTube for having instruction videos on how to draw Disney characters. 

Ice cream day

After venting about Facebook, I decided I should probably go back to writing about happier things.  Happier things to me usually involve dessert :)  As I've said before, hubby is not huge on desserts so I asked him what I could make that he would actually eat. His response was vanilla ice cream.  Really?!?!? vanilla ice cream?!?!? That's it?  Well that's easy enough to do.  I dug out our cuisinart ice cream maker last Saturday and froze the bowl so that Sunday I could go to work on making this frozen goodness.   Emeril Lagasse has a recipe that had my favorite word in it... easy!  This recipe was so simple and good! 

Old Time Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
Pinch salt
Good quality chocolate, for garnish

Directions

Whisk all ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After the ice cream is made, transfer to an airtight container. Cover tightly and freeze until ready to serve. When ready to serve, make chocolate curls using a vegetable peeler. Serve ice cream garnished with curls.

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003

Friend?

For the last two years, I have taken a vacation from Facebook. I think a few family and friends don’t understand why. I had my reasons and for awhile I wasn’t able to put those into words. It took some time and I’ve come up with this:  Facebook is starting to scare me. Some of you will laugh and roll your eyes, some of you will think I’m overanalyzing and some of you may even be intrigued.  Hear me out.  Facebook scares me and the reason why is because after listening to people talk about Facebook, I worry that we are slowly starting to rely on it more and more to maintain the relationships we have.  I’m going to ask a question and maybe this will shed a little light on what I’m talking about.   How many times have you thought about someone and wondered how they were doing? You probably do one of three things.  You either call them and catch up or make plans to catch up in person, you text them or the easiest and probably the most convenient is you log onto Facebook, click on their name and use two minutes as a gage to see how they are.    Now I know that we all have our own groups of people who we get together with or actually call on a regular basis but how does that number compare to the number of “Friends” we have on Facebook?  Do I have your attention now? Do you see why it worries me? Great! Read on…I’ll explain some concerns I’ve heard or even have myself when it comes to this social network.

I’ve noticed a trend in conversations recently.   This trend has become a phrase and this nail on the chalkboard phrase is “yeah, I know I saw it on Facebook.” I cringe even typing these words. I’m sure you’re aware of what I’m referring to. Someone tells you, “Oh didn’t you see it? I posted it on Facebook.” Or “you’ll have to go check Facebook.” When people say this, its usually accompanied by the “duh!” look or a look of shock because “what do you mean you haven’t seen it on Facebook?”  This kind of makes me laugh because  (and I know this may come as a surpise) there are people who don’t have Facebook or if they do, they do not check it frequently. After hearing this more and more from in person conversations I’ve had with people,  I worry that it’s becoming a social expectation to check Facebook to see what’s new and exciting in our friends lives. We’re starting to stop picking up the phone because if we post it on Facebook, whatever we want to share can be done in an instant and the need or desire to see someone in person or talk to them over the phone probably goes away.  

My other complaint is I think Facebook skews our definition of friend.  Let’s be real for a moment, the word “friend” on Facebook is used so loosely.  For someone to be a “Friend” on Facebook, all they have to do is accept your request.   A “friend” can be someone that you have only met once and you may not ever see or talk to again.  You’ll spend time liking things the person posts but they will only be a friend on Facebook. I’ve heard people get upset when others don’t accept their friend requests and I sympathized with them. No one wants to be rejected however I would rather someone be honest and not accept my friend request then accept my request and not do anything more then “like” what I post every now and again.

Lastly, I’m noticing that we are or have been “friending” people that we wouldn’t even say hello to if we saw them out in public.  On a few occasions, I’ve heard someone say that they saw someone from Facebook out somewhere but either they didn’t say hello or their “friend” didn’t say hello either.  Is it that important for us to “friend” them on Facebook but not important enough to acknowledge them in person?  Really?!?!? Is that really a friendship or are you just spying on them? Oh I’m sorry, did you find the term “spying” offensive? Let me rephrase that “are you keeping tabs on them?”

Please understand I am by no means saying that Facebook is “da devil.”  I am not saying I think we should all close our accounts and get rid of Facebook. There are great things about Facebook and despite what I may have conveyed here, I really do like it.  Facebook is how I keep in touch with most of my sorority sisters, where I see what my far away extended family is up to and where I have reconnected with friends from elementary, junior high and high school.  Facebook has allowed me to connect with people that I want to build and maintain relationships with by actually talking over the phone or gasp.. in person. I don’t want to just click on a name to check in with someone. I personally am at a place where I want to know that my Facebook “friends” are my “friends” outside of a website.  My real hope is that it isn’t going to become the only way we maintain our relationships with others.   Maybe I’m asking too much, maybe I’m a dreamer and being unrealistic but I don't want and I won't allow my relationships to only exist in a virtual world... 

      

It's cupcake time...

I have a really bad sweet tooth. It’s a GOOD thing my husband doesn’t because otherwise I’d be quite fluffy. Last week I was itching to make something sweet.  I love chocolate and I love cupcakes so I decided I’d find a cupcake recipe.  Well I didn’t want just ANY chocolate cupcake I wanted to challenge myself a little bit so I searched the net (Martha and Ina’s didn’t look interesting enough to me) and finally came across a chocolate cupcake with a coconut filling recipe with a chocolate buttercream frosting.

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2-1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• Filling and Frosting:
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut extract
• 1 container (1 pound) prepared dark chocolate frosting

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Directions

Cupcakes:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously coat 18 indents in two cupcake pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

2.  Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speedfor 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. On low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with milk, in two additions. Divide batter among indents, 1/3 cup each.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

Filling and Frosting:

1.  Beat butter, shortening, confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Mix in coconut extract. Transfer cream filling to a pastry bag and fit with a small tip. Insert tip deep into cupcake and fill with cream until you can see top bulging. Spread cupcakes with prepared frosting and serve.

Since I had already made the cupcakes and filling from scratch, I figured why not make the frosting from scratch too. Giada’s looked good and had the word easy attached so I tried hers… Here’s that recipe:

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli

Directions

In a medium bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter until light and smooth. Beat in the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth and creamy.

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl and place over a small pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the melted chocolate to the vanilla frosting and stir until smooth.

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
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Chicken Carbonara

I'll admit it. I have an obsession. I watch ALOT of Food Network.  I mean I can spend hours on there watching all the different chefs and their shows.  Now of course, I like some more than others but I can watch all of them.  One of the shows that amazes me is Chopped.  The fact that these chefs can get a basket of random ingredients and just make something wonderful is mind boggling.  I don't operate like that.  People say think outside the box. Sorry folks, I like my box. That being said, I really enjoy cooking. I always have but there are a few things that keep me from cooking more.
1. I really don't like cleaning up the mess
2. I don't like having dirty hands
3. I'm not super confident in my abilities. 

On Oscar night this year, I decided to try a chicken carbonara recipe from Tyler Florence. This recipe was fast, easy and really good! I can tell if a meal is a success based on my husband.  When he said he wanted to take the leftovers to work the next day, I knew this was a keeper.  Here's the recipe and yes, I cut and pasted it from Foodnetwork.com

Total Time:
25 min

Prep:
15 min
Cook:
10 min

Yield:
4 to 6 servings

Level:
Intermediate

Ingredients

1 pound dry spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces pancetta or slab bacon, cubed or sliced into small strips
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
Freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Directions

Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm (as they say in Italian "al dente.") Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
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Ventura

For the last 3 years, we have joined our best friends for some sort of a getaway for Presidents Day weekend.  This year we traveled up the coast to Ventura.  Now you could put the eight of us in a cardboard box and we'd find a way to have fun :)  Here are some of the things I found interesting to look at while we were out exploring.

 and my personal favorite from the weekend: 

The Singing Butler

 
  One of my favorite artists is Jack Vettriano. I was introduced to some of his paintings years ago when my Grandparents put The Singing Butler over the couch in their living room. I thought I would take a few minutes and share why I love this painting.
   I thought it was interesting that my Grandparents put this in their house. First of all the setting is at the beach. The beach has always been a place most of our family has enjoyed going and we have spent many hours there. Secondly the couple in Vettriano’s work are so happy and in love. My Grandparents were married 67 years and had a love worth striving for. The man and woman in the painting are dressed so elegantly. Ever since I can remember my Grandparents were always well dressed and had a great sense of style. Lastly and I can’t forget to mention my Grandfather enjoyed a dance here and there and from what I hear, was actually pretty good. I’ve heard many of the women in our family say he was a great dancer and he was their favorite partner (aside from their husbands of course)
   I’m really not sure why my Grandparents liked this painting. Maybe they looked at it everyday and it made them smile. Maybe they saw themselves in the couple dancing on the beach. Maybe they knew that after they were gone this picture would bring so many smiles to our families faces when we saw it. Maybe it’s even done all of the above. Well played Grandmother and Grandfather… well played. It is only appropriate that I end with the expression that hung above their front door “Sursum Corda” which simply means “Lift Up Your Hearts” 


 Here are some other painting from Jack Vettriano that I like