Good Morning California!

Here's a shot I captured while driving with Todd to work yesterday morning. We were passing large fields covered in a thick morning mist with the rosy sun rising in the distance. Simply breathtaking.

It's been another busy week of travel.  It's surprising to me that I haven't gotten bored yet being a travel wife with no job. You'd think I'd be sitting on my bumpkin watching soap operas and eating bonbons every day, but the days fly by with driving Todd to and from work, grocery shopping, cooking a homemade meal each day, and then going to my swim practice at noon.  I calculated that I spend an hour driving every day, and that doesn't include Mondays or Thursdays which take five hours for us to commute to California or back to Seattle.  Then our weekends seems to be packed with errands, keeping up our home, seeing family and friends, and then getting ready to do the travel all over again on Monday morning.  Phew! (I know, get out your small violins). It's by no means a bad situation, just a lot more tiring and busy than I had anticipated.

However, I feel very grateful to spend each day with my husband, having a meal together each night and catching up on our days in person - something I really missed while being apart last year.  I also am very much falling in love with California.  The blue skies and open countryside have really done good for my soul.  Flying down the highway at 75 miles an hour with my country music cranked up on the stereo is total happiness.    

P.S. Unfortunately no pictures were captured of my last recipe - the chicken balsamico was consumed way too quickly! :)

Slow Cooker: Happy Cook!

Jumping back into the grey cold Seattle climate called for a nice crock pot meal this weekend. Thanks to my friend Carey, I now own a copy of "Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever" and each recipe really DOES look like the best ever. Here's the first recipe I am making, pictures and reviews to come soon since it's still cooking, but the house smells amaaaazing.


Chicken Balsamico with Yukon Gold Potatoes


6 medium Yukon gold potatoes, quartered
8 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
8 chicken thighs, skin removed
salt and pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
8 cloves garlic, quartered
1 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 c. chicken broth


1) Put the potatoes into slow cooker. Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp and remove to paper towels to drain, leaving drippings in pan.
2) Sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper and add to bacon drippings in skillet.
3) Brown the chicken on all sides (12-15 min). Add rosemary and garlic and saute for 1-2 min. Pour in vinegar and scrape bottom of pan to deglaze, then pour all contents into slow cooker.
4) Add the broth. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle bacon on top before serving.


Bon Appetit!

Scarecrows Galore!

So it's "autumn" here in Winters (down to a chilly 85 degrees :-)) and the whole town is decorated for Halloween. Every store has its own scarecrow out front. Here is the scarecrow in front of the Yarn Shop.  And here is the one in front of the steakhouse:

It's the revenge of the cow killing the butcher - scary! 

Todd's parents are in town to visit this week, so they're getting to experience the charm of Winters. We've enjoyed a lunch at Steady Eddy's, the local panini / coffee shop. Tonight we'll be making fish tacos per my mother in law's request.  

This past weekend Todd and I enjoyed a wonderful meal with my parents which included a pear/spinach salad, mashed potatoes, slow cooked pork with butternut squash, and cupcakes from Confetti Cupcakes in Issaquah for dessert. Yum! I'll post the slow cooked pork recipe on my blog once my mom sends it to me (hint hint, wink wink). 

Aside from eating my way through the days, I just finished reading "Half Broke Horses" a fun novel about a very adventurous woman, and am now reading "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver...good so far!

Here's a cute autumn quote I'll leave you with: "Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree." ~ Emily Bronte

Coffee & Cream Cake

Todd and I flew back home to Seattle last night, and going from the sunshine back to the cold and grey inspired me to bake today! It sounded like something warm and comforting to do. Plus I owe our neighbors some thank you's for helping us out while we've been traveling.  
This is a pic of the coffee & cream cake I just made from the "Simply Classic" Junior League of Seattle cookbook. And here's the recipe:


1) Generously butter a bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a medium bowl, sift together 2 c. flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
3) In an electric mixer, beat 3/4 c. butter until creamy, then gradually add 1 c. sugar.  
4) Continue beating while slowly adding 2 eggs.
5) Mix in 2 tsp. vanilla.
6) Alternate adding in flour mixture and 1 c. sour cream to mixer. Beat well.
7) In another bowl, mix together 2 tbsp. instant espresso powder & 1 tbsp. hot water. Add 1/3 of the cake batter and mix together to make an "espresso mixture."
8) Spoon half of the plain mixture into the bundt pan, then add the espresso mixture, then finish with adding the rest of the plain mixture.
9) Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until tester comes out clean. Place on cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes. Invert pan to remove cake and cool completely.
10) Add glaze: combination of 3 tbsp. brewed coffee, 2 tsp. instant espresso, 3/4 c. powdered sugar.


Enjoy!

Cooking Adventures Continue

Another Real Simple meal was made the other night: Pan Roasted Cod with Fennel and Spinach Cous Cous. Again, another surprisingly easy and delicious meal! (picture to come soon)  Here are the steps:


1) Cook 1 bulb fennel sliced, 1 red onion sliced, salt and pepper in skillet for 8-10 minutes. Add 1/4 c. dry white wine. 
2) Add 1 1/2 lb cod seasoned with coriander to skillet and roast in 400 degree oven for 8 to 12 minutes until opaque all the way through.
3) Meanwhile cook cous cous and then fold in 2 cups of chopped spinach and serve as a side dish.
Bon Appetit!


Tonight I'll be trying another new dish. We're having our first house guest, a co-worker of Todd's, coming over to our place for dinner.  


Other than cooking and swimming, things are still going pretty well here in California.  Todd and I have taken up playing chess each night after dinner, and I finally won for the first time last night! (Although I suspect he might have been going easy on me).  


Also, my thoughts and prayers go out to my ex co-workers, who are dealing with layoffs this week. I know it must be very stressful and I wish them all the best.

Wine Not?

This past weekend was the first my husband and I stayed in Winters instead of traveling home to Seattle. Friday was my birthday, and so Todd and I went to our favorite local restaurant, Ficelle, for tapas and wine to celebrate. The place was packed with people, and everyone seemed to know each other since it's such a small town. We kicked back with some vino, stuffed chile peppers, and hamburger sliders and did some excellent people watching. 

Saturday we ventured over to Napa Valley for wine tasting. We took Highway 128 which goes from Winters through the hills near Lake Berryessa to wine country.  I think the drive there and back was probably our favorite part of the day. The sunshine on the rolling hills and intoxicating smell of eucalyptus floating in our windows made for a really fun drive!  We did enjoy the wineries we visited, even if it was just to wander the beautiful grounds: Opus, Coppola, The Franciscan, and Peju.  

Some advice I'd give when traveling in wine country: 

- Don't expect to see every winery (there are SO many!), instead pick 2 or 3 and really kick back and enjoy them. Take your time with the tastings, and stroll through the beautiful gardens.

- Make sure you have a safe driver or hire a limo/wine bus to take you around. 

- If you're traveling to Napa in the fall, make your hotel reservations WAY in advance. This is harvest season and literally every hotel room was booked this past weekend.

- Take a little package of bread, cheese, etc to the wineries with you. That way you can buy a bottle of wine and sit out on the patios and enjoy a picnic.

Cheers!

Winters Update

Here is a snapshot of some tomatoes my swim coach gave me last week from her garden. She had a big tub of them that she handed out after practice, including small cherry tomatoes that tasted like candy! 

Two nights ago I made another new dish for Todd: cooked linguine tossed with tuna fish and sauteed garlic, oil, and red pepper. I also added in some more cherry tomatoes - delish! I need to remember to start taking pictures of the meals I make...

Yesterday I had a little California adventure while Todd was at work, I drove 2 hours to San Jose for lunch with my brother.  This week's weather has been really weird, so it mainly rained the whole time, but it was still fun to see more of California.  My brother gave me a couple of awesome country CD's (Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley) for my birthday gift, which made for excellent listening on the drive home.

Now Todd and I are considering how to spend my upcoming birthday weekend, our first that we're staying in Winters and not traveling home to Seattle.  We were planning on going to Lake Tahoe, but the weather looks like it's going to be colder than we had hoped for hiking. So I think we might do some drives near Winters, maybe even venture over to wine country! I'll keep you readers updated on where we end up going and fun things I'd recommend to do. :)