The other CA alcohol

Not wine - but beer!

There are a surprising number of brewco's out here -- we had dinner at one yesterday in our neighbor city in an attempt to try new places near us (we get a little stuck-in-the-rut).

Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery in Petaluma was a nice little dinner (fish & falafal sandwiches) on the river front. 

Beer sampler!

There was a double IPA that was 8.9% alcohol & so smooth -- a dangerous beer!

Anyone want to try it next time you're out here??

Lotta work... and almost successful!

I undertook a serious baking event this weekend -- I started on Saturday night and then worked from 830a - 3p Sunday!  Taking breaks of course (to let things freeze/rest) - but pretty consistently.

Alright, so what was this thing...

 It's hiding under there! 

That was an actual instruction: "Cover with cardboard boxes"

 Croissants!

Can you see all those little layers?? I'm so proud!

Something didn't work right with the rising process - these little guys were really dense!  But the little layers were awesome & I'm not totally opposed to trying it again some day -- they are Nick's favorite pastries and boy, oh boy, did the fresh ones smell delicious! (And I learned that you could actually do this over THREE days, making a more reasonable amount of work per day.  Just gotta plan ahead...)

#4 check!  What's the fanciest baking you've ever done??

Cornhole & Ladder Golf

Monica got to join in on one of our 101!  While she was out for the half marathon, we spent a day checking out (the wine in) Sonoma & brought a picnic lunch to Larson Family Winery.  They are super dog friendly and have fun events for pets/supporting shelters throughout the year.  (Including the oh-so-successful doggie photo shoot from two years ago.)

So the actual item says "Play Bocce" - which they do have, but you had to give them your ID, etc., and they had two games set up for free outside:  One that we know as "Cornhole" (basically a bean bag toss) & one that Monica called "Ladder Golf" - works for me!

 Lucy LOVED chasing the bean bags that we threw (poorly at the targets)

 Look at that happy/proud puppy face!

No pictures of ladder golf?? Well, we didn't take many pictures of the entire trip, so I'm not surprised.  And we all have... room for improvements! on these games.

Thanks for playing with us, Moni!  #49 CHECK!

Who wants to play Cornhole/Ladder Golf/Bocce with us!!

YAPADTs

You all know that I have a thing for

YoungAdultPostApocalypticDystopianTrilogies

So I was eager to try the "Uglies" series. 

Set in the future, people get super plastic surgery at age 16 to make them all "Pretty".  It's a big point in the plot, but something you'll see coming from - oh, basically the first chapter in the book - the surgery also changes your brain/personality.  Which of course the main characters aren't in to. 

There are some interesting parts: how this "future" society looks back on our time and some of the interactions with authority, etc.  But overall, I cannot get into this!  It is the first young adult book that really felt more like a book written for teenagers (as opposed to Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. that were YAPADTs, but perfectly readable to my 33 year old self).  I think in part the use of the words "Pretty" & "Ugly" got realllly old reallllly fast.  I dunno - any body want to defend the series to me?  I read the first two, I've requested the last one from the library because it's SUCH an easy read, I can finish it in basically one day and I might as well find out how this all ends.  But, I'm not eagerly awaiting it's arrival.  (Unlike Allegiant, Oct 22, 2013!)

More in the SciFi realm, but still basically a YAPAD, was a classic Nick directed me towards:  Ender's Game.

It's coming to theaters soon and was really a fun little book to read.  In the future, kids are pushed to be great and save the world.  There are... a dozen? or so other books in the Enderverse (that's a real word) - but they look like they get a little more sci-fi that I'm into.  Maybe I'll try one more, but this one was really good -- highly recommended!

And with that - #69 is done!!

And as I was writing this, I noticed that my request log at the library is empty!  What should I read next??

Fancy food

It's been a while since we've made a fancy meal at home, so a random Friday that Nick & I both had off seemed like a great day to do so!

On the menu (all from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook):

Creamed corn

Sauteed Asparagus Coins

Wild Cod (actually halibut) en Persillade

 Look at those chives we grew ourselves!  (*So proud)

 Any guesses as to what THIS is??

It's chive oil!  

You blend chives & canola oil (see picture above, thanks Magic Bullet!) and then let it sit over night and slooooowly drain through a cheesecloth.  It was actually really flavorful oil that we mixed with the asparagus.

 Different piles of finely chopped green things (parsley, chives, & lime zest)

 Main course, pre-baked: 

Halibut en persillade - that just means "breadcrumbs with herbs used as a crust".  It was really easy actually, put the fish in a pan, make the top crispy, & then bake in the oven.

 The finished result!  That is the bestest darn creamed corn I ever did eat.  I could have eaten an entire plate of it.  And the asparagus was fun - you cut the ends into little "coins" and mixed it with the tips.  Kind of a lot of work for just presentation, but I was entertained.  Nick had gotten a bottle of champagne at work, so we made a little cocktail with it!

And yes, that's FOUR towels worth of dishes!  Yikes...

So to #13 (cook from Ad Hoc) - I get to count Chive Oil, Parsely Water, Asparagus Coins, Creamed Corn & Cod en Persillade!  Yay for multi-mini check! 

What should we do with the rest of the chive oil? Any thoughts??