Taste of Autumn

This recipe tells me that autumn is really here. This weekend we enjoyed some great spiritual enlightenment & the most delish pumpkin bread you'll ever eat. (Thanks to the Jensens for hosting a festive conference dinner!)
What are your favorite autumn flavors or memories? Do share! I discovered a new fall favorite--Starbucks salted caramel hot chocolate. Another little taste of autumn coziness!

Spicy Pumpkin Bread
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
2.5 cups sugar

3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground ginger

*Don't forget the chocolate chips!

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

My Heart Belongs to Daddy

Our trip to San Diego starts off with a bang. The night before we leave, this cute girl throws up 10 times between 10pm-1am. In the morning, she throws up on the drive to the airport. A few seconds later our car's "Malfunction" light blinks. And blinks. We make it to the airport & have a wonderful trip in spite of the rocky start.

Our week at the Grand del Mar, courtesy of Daddy Deloitte.


Chris spends a couple days in meetings while his girls swim and eat gelato.

Then off to Sea World, Coronado Island, La Jolla beaches . . . .

But I would've been happy if we hadn't set foot off our resort: Tuscan-style pink villa nestled in a rugged canyon . . . more Italian countryside than southern California. Towering palms, hand-painted ceilings, Roman fountains, lavendar pillow pouches & nighttime biscotti, did I mention the gelato?
Our last day, we leave for airport with hair still wet from swimming and me wondering, Why don't I live here?

“So I want to warn you laddie
Though I know you’re perfectly swell
That my heart belongs to Daddy
Cause my Daddy, he treats it so well!”
--Cole Porter

(more San Diego pictures here)

Why We Love Not Having School Kids

If you are looking for us this week, don't look here:

We will be found here.

September at Last

Our Anna-girl is five! Per her request: Birthday date with best friend Cadence at Paint Away. Painted the coveted unicorn. Ice cream cones after. Cheese pizza & fruit dinner. Fudgy chocolate cake & festivities with Talbots. Ocean-themed cake to go with new favorite movie--Nim's Island. Long-awaited present: A jumprope! (She told me it didn't work; I told her you have to learn how to use it.)

Taste of Summer

What do you associate with different seasons? Music? Smells? Sounds? Summer for me this year has been all about flavors, particularly lemon & lime. Here are a few summer cuisine standouts. From my kitchen to yours. Peach and Blueberry Crumble
For the fruit
2 pounds firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)
For the crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Slice the peaches into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into individual ramekins or a 9x13-in pan.
3. For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins (or 9x13-in pan) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nectarine Mint Salsa (serve with grilled fish)
2 fresh nectarines, pitted & diced
3 TBSP finely chopped bell pepper
2 TBSP sliced green onions
2 tsp fresh lime juice
½ TBSP chopped fresh mint
½ finely chopped small seeded jalapeno

Tomato, mozzarella & pesto panini
2 large tomatoes
1 (16-oz) ball fresh mozzarella
12 slices bakery white bread, sliced ½-inch thick
1 cup prepared pesto
salt
unsalted butter
Spread the top & bottom of each sandwich with softened butter. Spread the inside evenly with pesto, put a layer of mozzarella & cover with a layer of tomato. Sprinkle the tomato with salt. Grill the sandwiches in the panini grill for 2-3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze. Cut in half & serve warm.

Summer Science & the Painted Ladies

My friend Amy Talbot is one of my favorite people in the world. When I heard she was going to be here this summer, I set to work planning how to monopolize her for 3 months. Why do I love Amy so much? When I asked if she wanted to do a weekly science camp with me, she said, “That’d be fun!” No hesitation.
So began the Mommies’ Science Camp. Oh, the adventures we had with six kids under the age of five! We learned about farms and animals at Farrel-McWhirter Park. We traveled to the moon in cardboard rockets and held balloon rocket races and ate astronaut ice cream. We even blasted off two “real” rockets with the dads (and lost them). We learned all about H2O and its stretchy skin and why we love it in every form (even rain). My personal favorite—BUGS: We let ladybugs crawl all over us and watched our Painted Lady Butterflies grow from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. My girls put on wings and danced as butterflies, but I won’t claim that Amy’s boys did the same. And of course, what science camp would be complete without a visit (or two) to the Pacific Science Center.

As summer ended, it came time to let our Painted Lady Butterflies free. The girls lifted them tenderly and watched them flutter off in the breeze. I saw tears in Anna’s eyes. She told me, “Mommy, I feel a little happy and a little sad.” It’s in the spirit of this sweet girl that I dedicate this poem:

Hurt No Living Thing
Hurt no living thing;
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.
Christina Rossetti

Summer Science & the Painted Ladies, II