California Lefse

This is what lefse looks like when you have no special tools, just a regular rolling pin, a countertop and some flour sack towels.  Not super thin, but it actually tasted quite good.  We ate it with chile verde, like tortillas.  Multicultural Christmas meal at its best.

The Baker

Testing out the new gear

Julia putting her new knife to work, helping me prep for Christmas dinner.

Apple Picking at Chileno Valley Ranch

On Sunday we visited Chileno Valley Ranch, where we picked a bunch of different varieties of apples.  We hadn't been there for three years, so we were surprised at how popular their ranch has become.  Last time we were there it was very low key and there were very few people there besides our family, but this time it was quite busy and they had added some attractions around the farm.  Their apples are unique varieties and are really tasty.  Definitely a pretty place to visit in the Fall!

Pumpkins at McCelland Dairy Farm

On Sunday, we drove up to Sonoma County and visited McClelland Dairy Farm on the way back home.  They had pumpkins on the vine, so Alex and Julia enjoyed checking out all of the choices and picking a special one each.  They also had a viewing area for the dairy cows, who were being milked at the time, which the kiddos enjoyed.  Add in a hay maze and a giant sandbox filled with wheat kernels and you have two happy kiddos.  To top it off, we had some hot chocolate and a pumpkin milkshake as a treat.

Making Jam

The kids and I had fun making some peach jam out of some of the peach bounty from last week.  They were good helpers in the process and we ended up with some yummy jam sweetened with apple juice concentrate.  We used some of the jars to give to neighbors, since it has been a little loud at our house with demo noise this week.

Tomatoes

We have been harvesting some tomatoes and this week since we had quite a few, I decided to oven roast them with olive oil and salt at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes and then we put them on a pizza crust with pesto and mozzarella.  Yum!  They were so sweet and tangy.

Boysenberries

After trying to escape the heat too late on Saturday.  We decided to go to Half Moon Bay, but so did a LOT of other people, we ended up in Portola Valley picking boysenberries in almost 100 degree heat.  Needless to say, we picked about a pound and then took a spot in the shade to enjoy some drinks and our little picnic.  Not super refreshing, but the boysenberries tasted good on the sno cones later!

What's in the Garden Now?

We harvested the first of the tomatoes this weekend and put them in a salad with the first of the green beans. We blanched the green beans and then marinated them in a balsamic vinaigrette and sliced up the cherry tomatoes.  Yum!

Checking out the City with Jia Ying

We took BART into the city today for a little adventure.  We went to the Ferry Building and had a lunch of ramen from Hapa Ramen and tamales from Donna's Tamales.  Everyone enjoyed their food and then we took a streetcar up to Pier 39 to see the sea lions.  We watched them for awhile, watched some birds, looked over at Alcatraz, where Alex would now like to visit and then took a ride on the carousel, before heading back on the streetcar to The Ferry Building.  Quite a fun day with Jia Ying!

Little Sous Chefs

Alex and Julia both love to help in the kitchen.  The other night I was making a mushroom sauce and they were very excited to help cut up all of the mushrooms.  Julia was cutting them in half and then passing them along to Alex to chop them into smaller pieces.  Quite the fun assembly line.  They did a great job and were very proud of their work!

Cucumbers

One of Julia's favorite snacks is cucumber.  She decided the other day to just start eating a whole cucumber, rather than waiting for it to be sliced.  Other favorites include watermelon and raw old fashioned rolled oats.  Not alot of calories involved with those things, but she loves them!

Waffles for Dinner

Daddy was out of town for a couple of nights last week and we had chocolate chip waffles for dinner!

Sushi Time!

Today was Alex's last day to bring snacks to share with his class and he requested "sushi".  We made some tuna and avocado sushi this morning and he bought them in to share.  He and Julia love to eat them as a snack or we often bring them with us on picnics, but I was a bit skeptical as to how his classmates would like them.  From his report, it sounds like one other friend liked them quite a bit too.  Alex ate four pieces, his friend ate three and then others deconstructed and ate portions of the roll which they liked, while others just wouldn't try it.  Sounds about right!  He told me that his friend told him it was "the best sushi he has ever had," to which Alex said he replied, "Well, it is because my Mom made it and she is a really good cook."  Awwww...heart melts.

 I told him that he needed to not eat too many, since he was "sharing" and it sounds like he listened, because typically, he would probably eat about eight or more.  He came home and polished off some more during lunch with Julia.  The funny thing was that it coincidentally was ocean week too and these fit right in, with the tuna and seaweed from the ocean.  He was quite excited about that little coincidence.

Sonoma

We took a day trip to Sonoma today and enjoyed every minute.  We visited Cline Vineyards, which was very kid-friendly.  They had pretty grounds, with lots of ponds, some stocked with fish to feed, some donkeys, lots of exotic birds to look at and a California Mission Museum.  They also happen to have lots of picnic tables, so it would be a great place to just bring a picnic and hang out.  We would have done that, but Sonoma is the home to one of our favorite restaurants, The Girl and the Fig, so we chose to drive into town to go there for lunch.  This visit was no different than any other, the food was fabulous!  We ordered a lot of dishes to share and enjoyed Oxtail Risotto, Pork Belly sandwich, Mussels and Frites, Smoked Salmon, a wonderful cheese plate, Duck Confit Hash and Lavender Creme Brulee for dessert.  Unfortunately, for Julia, she slept through the entire meal, but we made a special little to go box for her, which she enjoyed after some playing in the park.  It seems that Alex and Livia like the restaurant as much as we do, too!

Easter Party

 The flower garden

 The carrot patch

 Jello Jiggler eggs

 The hunt is on!

 Snack time!

Miss Debbie hands out more loot

Alex's class had their Easter celebration today at school.  They dyed eggs, made Easter bunny ears, had lots of snacks and went on an Easter egg hunt.  Throw in some songs, a Bible story and some special treats and it was quite a morning.  We made some Jello Jiggler eggs, per Miss Debbie's request and I was pleasantly surprised at how they turned out.  For some reason there was a shortage of lemon jello at the store, so I didn't get to use yellow as one of the colors for very many eggs as I would have liked to, but the kiddos enjoyed them regardless of color!  Since there were also some Rice Krispie treat eggs, we decided to balance out the choices, by making a couple of "gardens" with bunny snacks to share as well.  I'm happy to say that there weren't many veggies left at the end of it all, even though it seemed like I received quite a few "no thank yous" when passing them around.  Oh well, one can only try, right?

Valentine's Dinner

On Valentine's Day, Alex and Julia set up a cafe and had some of their puppets and stuffed animals come to join them for a dinner which they cooked in their kitchen.  I had purchased the little tables second hand the day before, thinking that they would be useful and they immediately took them and used them as desks the first night and then the next night, this is how they were used.

When I inquired as to the name of the cafe, Alex responded "Whatever kind of food you like....it's all here!"  Maybe more of a tag line, but sounds like customer service is their strong suit!