Cactus in bloom

You should have seen the excitement when we discovered that the long-awaited flower on the little cactus plant finally bloomed today!

We got the little plant from the Flea market a few weeks ago, and Momo has been giving it a lot of love, and patience.

It just shows that beauty can come from all things...even if it's spiky and small.

Outings and writing

We have had a lot of outings of late, with a whole lot of sunshine and heat. We are staying in, too, just enough to write some newsletters (by the budding editor), pack our stuff, and get ready for our epic road-trip. We will share with you our route-plan soon... perhaps you can come with us in spirit!

Allen Say

I read this book to the kids today. We have read other books by Allen Say before, but this one is new to us, and so far, it may be my favorite.

It's a story about a man and his wife, and the days that don't exist anymore. It's poignant, and real, and beautiful at the same time.

I know this post should belong to Our Favorite Children's Books blog (which I need to start posting on again), but I thought I would share it here, too!

Quiet Afternoon

A quiet afternoon around here. It is hot enough to be another afternoon by the pool, and I have a feeling that we will migrate there soon enough. But for now, I am enjoying this quietness...

Easy Banana Cake

In warm weather, bananas go ripe so quickly. What better way to use them but whip up a Banana Cake?!

I found this recipe while in New Zealand...and can't remember where it came from. I did add some yogurt to it ( you should know me by now!), so it's been changed a bit. I think with the yogurt, the cake is a bit more moist, but you sure don't have to add it in.

Sometimes I add a cup of blueberries, or chocolate chips to the batter as well. Other times, to please the only person in the family who likes nuts in things, I sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top. But it's pretty rare...

Banana Cake

Dry ingredients

1.5 cups self-rising flour (or cake flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients

3 ripe bananas, well mashed

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup yogurt

Preheat oven 300 degrees Farenheit.

In a large bowl, mix all wet ingredients well. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, then add to the wet ingredient bowl. Incorporate everything until it is a smooth batter.

Grease a loaf pan or a round cake pan. Pour batter into pan, and bake for one hour.

Water in the desert, Memorial Day Part III

It was a hot weekend in Bakersfield, which apparently is no news to the residents there. By 8am, the kids were in their bathing suits jumping into the refreshing pool.

Just outside of Bakersfield, the Kern river gushes wildly through the canyon. It is a beautiful scene, albeit very dangerous. Though popular with fishermen and rafting, the river takes many lives annually as evident by the sign that warns "Stay Alive!", on our way to the canyon.

We played it safe and chose a very peaceful spot for the kids to practice their fishing. We saw some people panning for gold, some fishermen got lucky with trout for dinner. We, and the doggies, just relaxed in the cool shade against the sound of the rushing river.

The Noriega Hotel, Memorial Day Part II

Dining room before we were seated.

A Basque gentleman

The bar at the Noriega Hotel

Talk about doing something completely new.

Bakersfield, for some reason, has a big Basque population. With that, there are some note-worthy Basque restaurants in town, some of which are located inside of a hotel or hostel type places.

The Noriega Hotel is one such place. Our friends made a reservation for our group to join hundreds of other diners for a Basque-meal, community style.

It was my first time, and I did not know what to expect. I took a peek at the 'restaurant' where tables and chairs were neatly set; where plates and silverware were waiting for some action.

Each group was called into the dining room at 7pm. As soon as you sit down, plates of food start to arrive. First there were salads, a simple peasant soup, bread and cheese, potato salad and beans... Then came the oxtail stew, and pasta, and fried chicken with french fries. Then there was a sweet ending of ice cream. I probably forgot a few things in between there (ah yes, the pickled tongue!), but you get the idea. There was food a plenty. And all the red wine you can drink!

The best thing about our dining experience that evening, however, was the fact that we got to sit next to some real Basque gentlemen. I could tell just by the way they held themselves...and the way they interacted with each other (which was very minimal). They reminded me of the Corsicans (one of our favorite places on earth): rugged, hard-working men, with few words.

Towards the end of the meal, we learned that the one gentleman (in the beret hat pictured above) who sat next to us, had immigrated to the US since the 1950s after he had served in the war. He works in Bakersfield now, and actually lives in the Noriega hotel (after a long marriage with his wife who kicked him out, for no apparent reason). That meal we had just shared with him, was his regular dinner. We joined him in his daily dinning room. Some days there is no one else, he says, and other days, hundreds (like the day we went).

It was a meal to remember.

Memorial Day Weekend, Part I

My mission of doing something new each weekend was fulfilled to the brim this weekend.

We planned to spend the long holiday weekend with friends in Bakersfield, a city in the valley, north of Los Angeles.

We had been there once before, but for a short one night stay, so really, we had never been there before to explore what it had to offer.

On the way there, we made one stop, and it was a cool one.

Mission San Miguel.

I love missions. I love the simplicity, the architecture, the hidden inner beauty. I have been to a few of them in California, and each one has its own charm. Mission San Miguel is just off of Hwy 101, but it's a rather humble site with few visitors.

We walked around the grounds, just enough to stretch our legs before heading to our destination: Bakersfield.

Six and a half

Our annual tradition.

Hap__ Birth__ to ___.

Hap__ Birth__ to ___.

Hap__ Birth__ dear___ and____.

Hap__ Birth__ to ___!

Half Birthday. Half song. Half cake.

We enjoyed the half celebration with a wholesome meal. Thanks, Amy, for introducing this to us three years ago!

Olive Oil-Rosemary-Lemon Cake

Here we go again.

Inspired by a recipe, but can't for the life of me follow the recipe.

In my defense, the recipe asked for spelt flour. And no offense to anyone, but whoever keeps spelt flour around the pantry, good on you! Not a chance over in this household, that's for sure, at least not yet. We have palm sugar, and condensed milk, but no spelt flour.

I had everything else the recipe asked for...and I almost did it. I followed the recipe despite the spelt flour (I just used unbleached flour for the whole thing). While I chopped up rosemary sprigs as the last ingredient, I glanced over at the fruit basket, and saw lemons. Fresh, organic, yellow lemons that were screaming to be grated and included in the cake. I succombed to their plea. And failed at following a recipe to its entirety yet again. Oh well...

It's rainy over here today, so the warmth of the oven, and the aroma of the baking cake, are most welcomed. Who knows, maybe we have a new favorite "recipe" on hand!

Summer thoughts

Summer is around the corner.

And for us, it's going to be another one on the road...at least for 3 weeks. And by road, I mean, I looooooog road from California, to Ohio!

We will be resting and swimming at lakes like these. Looking forward to seeing the country as a family! And I will blog as we go, that is, if I have access to the internet from the wilderness.

A New Outing

This marks the third weekend in my "need to do something new" mission before we leave California in one month.

The first thing we have to do was to think south instead of north (it's been our tendency to go north for beaches, state parks and the like).

It was not hard to find a place we had never ventured to in that direction. Just beyond Watsonville, arguably the agriculture capital of California, the coastline is also dotted with numerous state beaches. We settled on Zmudowski State Beach. Perhaps because of its name?

The day was sunny, but on the chilly side. We followed signs, driving by fields and fields of strawberries and artichokes (most of which end up all over the country, and beyond). Jim and I simultaneously remarked on how we felt like we were back in New Zealand, heading to a remote beach, a place we knew little about.

The road ends at Zmudowski State Beach with sand dunes blocking the views of the Pacific Ocean.

Just beyond the dunes, however, we were met with the ample deserted beautiful beach. It was windy, too, or should I say fresh (as the Kiwi would have described the day). Lots of treasures from the sea came home with us. It was a fun new experience: mission accomplished, for the weekend.

Tassajara Bread

I seem to be on a baking roll. An altering-baking-recipe roll. You see, one does not have to stick to a recipe, and the proof is in the pudding!

The other day, we ran out of bread in the house. We like our starch around here, so when we don't have rice, or bread, I go on a bit of a panic mode.

But why panic when we can make bread (not rice, unfortunately)?!

With most of our things still neatly packed in boxes that just went on a 4.5 month-cruise, I don't have any of my cookbooks. Most importantly, I did not have my Tassajara bread cookbook handy. But there is always Google!

Of course there was not just one simple bread recipe. I narrowed my search down to the basic 'Tassajara Bread' recipe, which again resulted in thousands of hits. I cross-checked and found the most trust-worthy one to settle with.

I looked at the recipe, and noted that I had everything except for whole-wheat flour. Was that a problem for me? NO! Not this altering-recipe kind of girl. I went ahead and used unbleached white flour...and added some rolled oats to it. The result...not bad. Not bad at all.

The recipe makes two loaves. The family happily ate those up in two days, which gave me plenty of time to go out and get some whole-wheat flour so that I could make the proper bread according to the recipe.

I still altered it a bit, using half unbleached white bread flour, half whole-wheat flour. And oh, we never have milk powder around here, so forget that ingredient (of course you should try to make it with, if you happen to have it around). This time, I had little hands to help me shape up some fun loaves. They were thrilled to eat their own loaves for lunch with all kinds of options for the topping.

Tassajara Bread (my version)

3 cups lukewarm water

2 packets active dry yeast

1/4 cup honey

3 cups unbleached bread flour

1/3 cup olive oil

4 teaspoons salt

3 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl combine yeast, honey and water. Let stand until the yeast has bubbled about 5-10 minutes. Add 3 cups of bread flour. Mix until well blended into thick batter. Rest under wet cloth for at least 45 minutes.

To the batter, add the rest of the ingredients, gently combining as you add the whole wheat flour. Once the dough is firm, take it out of the bowl and knead on a clean flat surface for about 10 minutes.

Rest the dough back in the bowl for at least another 45 minutes. Punch the dough and shape into two loaves. Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the oven is ready, put the bread in to bake for about 40 minutes until brown and crusty.

Best eaten right away, but great for the next 2 days, especially lightly toasted.

Choco-Oatmeal Cookies

I am not a great recipe follower. Actually, I am a really bad one, you can ask my husband. But when it comes to baking, one should (or needs) to follow a recipe down to science. Or so I was told.

Along the way, I got a recipe for Chocolate chip cookies from my mother-in-law. I asked her if she had a 'half' recipe for these cookies since the usual ones you find will make so many cookies that more of them go into my own tummy than anybody else's (and that's never good). Plus, everybody would agree that cookies are best fresh out of the oven. So the more cookies made in the same batch, the less fresh the uneaten-right-away ones are.

Cut to the chase. I have been using this 'half' recipe for a while now and trying to follow everything as best I can. Today, of course, my usual non-recipe self said I should substitute a little oatmeal for the 2 extra Tablespoon of flour asked for.

It satisfies my creative-baker self, and I think it still tastes great. Here is the revised recipe, if you are interested. And if you would rather use the original recipe, just substitute the 2 Tablespoons flour instead of the oatmeal... And if I remember right, there is something about 1 Tablespoon water, too...But I have never really used that. See what I mean?

Choco-Oatmeal Cookies

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 lb unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Set oven at 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk wet ingredients together until smooth. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients together before adding it to the wet ingredients until all blended. Spoon small balls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet.

Bake about 9-11 minutes until light brown. Longer if you like your cookies crisper. I usually like mine on the chewy side. Eat warm with a cup of tea or coffee...or a cold glass of milk for your children (or your Mid-western husband).