Sunday, November 21, 2010

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.

Monday, November 15, 2010

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.