Little bits of the lots that happens...

Days are always so packed… 

I have yet to learn not to try to fit more in than each day's fair share…

Most days I end up adjust my expectations…

I don't believe in races and yet I find myself racing…

I love all these things I want to do…

I just need about a thousand more pounds of muscle and a million more hours…

Or a wee bit more patients…

                                                     Cheers ~ Marica

Seeds and a School Day...

Last week rain was on its way, the weather had warmed up just enough, 

and seed packets in my kitchen drawer were whispering to me…

I am hoping the ground will stay warm enough for peas...

Children are masters of poking seeds in the ground…

 And there is nothing like company to make gardening more pleasant...

 Well it may not be spring, but something is in the air.

                                                                         ~ Marica

Lunch of Golden Bass Soup...

Sick children and a lovely cool, yet sunny day inspired this soup. 

Of course it also helped I had golden bass in my refrigerator. 

Golden Bass Soup

In a medium pot saute:

Dash olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 carrots, chopped somewhat finely 

1 clove garlic, minced

After a few minutes add:

1 pound goleden sea bass washed well first

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon paprika 

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Salt and black pepper to taste

A few dried chilies if you have them on hand

Continue to saute until fish breaks up and browns a bit.

Add:

1 + 1/2 cups left over tomato sauce

4 - 6 cups water

large bunch chard, diced

a dash of white wine

1/2 a lemon zest and juice.

                                    Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend ~ Marica

Hammock Fun

Do you remember playing on hammocks as a kid? I can't think of too many more inspiring man-made objects to set off the imagination. A boat, a spider web, a hammock high in the bows of a tree keeping you safe from goblins or wolves below… Oh I have so many fond memories. 

Well this Christmas my luck children received a beautiful hammock from my mother. She was kind enough to spend time and choose out this absolutely beautifully crafted piece… It took a couple of weeks to arrive, and so just last week the kids and I built it. Actually it was mostly my daughter and I… We have the building fire burning in us I guess… She helped hold pieces, read directions and attach the bolts...

It's lovely layered wood with the curve made by each thin piece attached so the arc is just right...

Happiness is a kid in a hammock...

Or so I think…

            

                                                                          Cheers ~ Marica

                              

Kitchen stuff… Three onion soup... And a granola recipe...

Lots of food… It always seems to go in spurts… I go full throttle kitchen madness and then we will eat burritos for dinner way too many nights in a row… Most of the way I do everything is like that. I feel overly compelled, overly involved and then, break. Stop. Gotta put the screeching over energized ditty to an end. Does anyone else have this syndrome? 

I haven't been getting to my camera as much as I would have liked, but the following are some kitchen bits that made its way onto "film"…

Baked buns with caraway seeds… I have finally gotten the bun drill down. A soft yeast dough, an egg, enough oil to let it stay supple, and then not to forget salt. I don't like salt too much, so I often have to force myself to add a reasonable amount when I know it is a necessary addition. Egg washed and baked, these came out very lovely...

Tamale pie… Oooooo I recommend tamale pie...

And then in the darkness here is a three onion soup with puff pastry baked on top. It was so indulgent!!! Sauteed yellow and pearl onions in butter, beef broth added, fresh thyme and fresh green onions minced… Black pepper of course… A touch of lemon juice… And then, poured into custard cups, buttered rims and covered in puff pastry. Baked. Oh holy of holy fancy soups, this was fancy!

And last, a little photo shy, or a lazy photographer who didn't catch a click, is the granola recipe:

Granola

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

In a large bowl combine:

8 cups oats

1/2 cup coconut oil melted

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

1 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup pecans ground + a 1/2 cup whole

1/2 cup quinoa ground

1/2 cup dried gojo berries ground

1/2 cup flax seeds ground

1/2 cup sunflower seeds ground

1 cup shredded coconut

1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt

Mix well then add:

1 cup almond milk

Pour onto two oiled cookie sheets.

Bake at 275 degrees until golden,  about an hour.

Stir every 15 minutes or so to be sure everything cooks evenly.

     

                       Best Wishes to Everyone!
                                                            ~ Marica

The Croissants Set...

I was going through photographs and I realized I never posted this set from a couple of months ago.
I like it; a simple progression in the life of being a croissant . . . That is before being devoured …

Dough resting . . .

Now triangles, filling in place . . .

Rolled and ready . . .

 Baked and in a pan now dripping full with butter . . .

Done and ready for eating . . .

 The recipe I used was from The Joy of Cooking.

                                                        Best January wishes everyone!!! 

                                                                  ~ Marica

A weeks trip away… Maui... and it is better than I could have imagined...

I have never been on a real island, at least that I can think of… Maybe I have and it will come to me later, but as far as I can stretch my mind, I haven't
 been on an island surrounded by sea water all on its own, defending itself from being
 swallowed up by the billions of waves constantly crashing at its shores…

Well, now I have, and it was so unbelievably wonderful. Much more wonderful than 

I would have imagined. My mom and I spent a perfect week, just the two of us visiting Maui…

 I tried oysters for the first time... Somehow all the sea around made it seem most fitting. 

I tasted the ocean stronger than ever before...

I played in they biggest waves I've ever been in. California has big waves, but nothing like this…
This picture doesn't do justice...

We saw humpback whales and snorkeled in a coral reef, a for-real coral reef!

We sat on rocky shores, the black jagged shapes so harsh and beautiful…

The most amazing though, was the road to Hana.

The winding, quite often one lane road that curled its way through Maui's jungle forests… 

And by the way, one lane as in… ONE LANE!

We stopped and picnicked on the short wide wall of a moss covered bridge...

There were so many of these bridges we kept having to stop to take pictures. They were so magical...

As we ate, a jeep stopped, several people got out with flashlights and remarked that if they didn't come out in an hour to call for help. We asked where they were going and they said their was a hole beside the road that was a lava tunnle… We finished eating and decided to explore it a bit. It was pitch black immediately and we had no flash lights, but my camera's flash was a god send. We went a short bit making sure to keep the tunnel opening visible. I got a couple of good pictures before my camera died and we decided we best go out... 

A couple hours later we paid to see a mile long lava tunnel. 

We preferred the pint size one we explored alone.

The contrast of sky to foliage kept making me take my camera out...

On a different day we drove the north west shore. It was amazing as well and 

when we stopped of to see an ocean blow hole we found an alien land…

This guy must have been king!

Spectacular...

It all took my breath and my heart away… I can't wait to go back and filter in the perfect air and wild fruit… Hawaii, the cliché that I now know could never be cliché, it was just truly wonderful!!!!

                                                                          Cheers ~ Marica