Scenes from Thanksgiving Week

Hannah helped make some chocolate orange flavored cookies.  I'd post the recipe but I have already forgotten where I got it from........yeah, that is how I cook, rarely the same thing more than once.

Thanksgiving morning, Hannah was cooking the cranberries to make a yummy cranberry sauce.

The Thanksgiving table set for dinner. You know you live in Arizona when the front door is open to let the outside air in to cool the house.

A version of my Mom's "Christmas Tree Hunting" lunch (we used to cut our own back in Minnesota).  Mom's were bacon wrapped with the cheese in the middle but I put cheese in Hebrew National dogs and covered them with crescent rolls. 

Hannah wearing the Christmas tree skirt.

Simon with the wrapping from the outside tube lights.

The almost finished Christmas tree.

Simon with a craft project...yes, it is a volcano he is painting.

And he did mix vinegar and baking soda together with the neighborhood boys later in the weekend.

Happy almost holidays to everyone!

LA in November

Better late than never with my posting lately.

While on our LA junket, we hit Griffith Park and visited the trains....

Saw the Hollywood sign from a distance at the observatory!

I think that might be Mars (OK, I don't know)....

I love that my children LOVE men of science!

 View from the top of the observatory!  You can see HOLLYWOOD far, far in the distance.

Then, it was time to hit the walk of fame.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre.....

 Guiness World Records Museum...Simon asked if that outfit made him look fat?? That kid kills me

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 This mime was amazing!! All glowing and gold! Simon even tried to touch him.

A Day in the Life: Channel Islands, CA

Some of my "regular blog readers" know that Hannah & Simon's Dad (David) passed away a couple  months ago.  Last weekend the kids and I took a trip to Los Angeles to spread David's ashes in the ocean as his last request. 

David has some amazing friends, two brothers (Laurence & Keith) who took us out on a gorgeous sailboat to David's final resting place in the Channel Islands (Santa Cruz & Anacapa).

Along the way, we had a beautiful day on the Pacific Ocean, enjoying the weather and paying our last respects to Hannah & Simon's Dad. This blog post is a series of scenes from the day.......

Sending David off into the gorgeous blue water.

Flowers in the ocean......

David's final resting place.  A gorgeous view.

The lighthouse on Anacap Island.

Flowers from Hannah & Simon for their Dad.

Smuggler's Cover

I love my children!

Simon, Lawrence & Hannah

Enjoying the ocean air and the relaxing piece of being on the water.  We can't forget Leonardo, the boat dog.

Keith showing Hannah how to steer the boat.

Lawrence & Leonardo

Oxnard Marina

Simon supervising bring the boat into dock.

the boat........

David, I hope you find peace & beauty in the hereafter while watching over our children.  They miss you.

Focaccia Bread

I made a nice focaccia bread recently.  Here is my pictures of how I made  it....

Mix the yeast with sugar & water.

Add the flour, knead until soft & pliable.

Let rise and then press it out into a baking sheet.

Poke with chop sticks and drizzle with olive oil.  Add coarse salt & pepper.

Bake and it tastes SO GOOD!

Ingredients:

1 envelope active dry yeast (2.5 tsp of bulk yeast)
1 t salt
2 t sugar
2 t olive oil
1 1/3 c warm water
3 c flour, plus more if needed
2 T fresh or dried rosemary
½ yellow onion, chopped fine (about ½ c)
1 T coarse ground salt
Olive Oil for top of bread

Directions:

In large bowl, combine yeast, salt, sugar, olive oil and warm water. Stir gently to dissolve yeast and set aside for 15 minutes.

Slowly add flour 1 cup at a time until dough is elastic and doesn’t stick to your fingers. Make dough into a ball and place in greased bowl.

Cover and let rise until double, approximately 30 minutes. Punch down and knead gently on a floured cutting board until dough is workable. Place dough in a greased baking sheet (9 x 13) and spread out to fill sheet.

Let dough rise for about 10 minutes. Poke tope with fingers. Baste generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with onions, rosemary and salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Plum & Ratatouille

I am sharing a co-op basket at work with a co-worker.  Recently my basket included a plums and a bunch of Italian veggies/herbs so I decided to make a Plum Cake Tatin and Ratatouille.

Dinner with steak, baked potato and ratatouille.

The plum tatin was SSSSOOOO good.

Bloglines!

I use bloglines to follow blogs.  They are shutting down on Nov. 1, 2010.

I don't know what other program to use?

Can anyone recommend a program to follow rss feeds??

Thanks!

What we did most of our vacation

Held up the beach.  Yes, that was a VERY important job to which we were well suited.

Read books either at the beach, in bed, on the patio or just about anywhere.

Front patio of the condo

And watched another amazing sunset!  I love sunsets and watching them over water is even better!