Breakfast Espresso

This weekend I had the most delicious espresso that was homemade. What a good treat! The chocolate also added to the overall goodness. I'm pretty much in love with a good espresso. 

What are some of your favorite drinks with coffee or espresso? 

Sunday Brunch

The year is in full swing and I am back to teaching, I can feel fall slowly approaching. This is the time of year I'm enjoying summer to its max, and I'm hoping fall will just wait a bit longer. I love the warm days, relaxing on the weekend, and a good summer breakfast or brunch on Sunday.

This weekend I had a delicious homemade brunch. What could get better than pancakes, bacon, and potatoes?...  It's the simple things in life that make me the most happy. 

Santa Cruz The Crow's Nest

Enjoyed my afternoon at The Crow's Nest in Santa Cruz. If you're looking for good food and a relaxing atmosphere this a great place to go.

Nature

Sometimes a day can be busy and to find a relaxing or quiet moment I often enjoy the small things in nature. Here a look of a few things I enjoyed this week on my grad campus.

Homemade Cherry Muffins

This week I made cherry muffins from my cook book Off The Shelf Cooking From the Pantry, by the food writer Donna Hay. I changed up a recipe for no-fuss blueberry muffins and added cherries instead, as well as butter instead of the sour cream. This was due to what I had in the Pantry. I thoughts this was okay considering the books title. Also a lot of crossing my fingers was involved that the muffins would taste good! So here is the recipe:

Cherry Muffins

In a bowl, combine 2 cups sifted self-raising flour, 1/2 cup superfine sugar, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil and 4 oz of butter (this is the part I changed from 1 cup of sour cream) and mix well. Add 1/3 cup water and stir. *(note: At this point the mixture was really thick almost like cookie dough. I added a bit of water the 1/3 cup to fix this problem).  

Wash 20 fresh ripe cherries. Pit the cherries by hand, or if you have a fancy cooking tool go for it! To pit the cherries I ran my knife blade all around the center of the cherry and then popped out the seed. This worked well. Chop and dice up the cherry halfs into smaller pieces. Sprinkle the mixture with the cherries and fold them into the batter. Spoon into a a muffin tin. This recipe makes 12 medium muffins. 

Bake in a preheated (350 degree Fahrenheit) oven for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Allow to cool.

The muffins taste great for breakfast or a late night snack. I made sure to allow them to be cooked all the way through for a nice golden color. Hope you enjoy! 

Any great muffin recipes you have to share?

Farmers Market Finds

The farmers market is always exciting to venture to. I love browsing all the different organic foods, fresh flowers, and stopping by the sweet stand for a fresh cupcake. Here are some my finds.

Relaxation time at Creama Cafe

The start of summer has been pretty busy. Ending the year with teaching and all busy things. Today I had some time to do one my favorite things try some new food and coffee. I went to a cafe called Creama in San Jose. I would definitely recommend the atmosphere, lattes, and food.

I tried a white chocolate mocha with soy milk. The drink was served to the perfect temperature and tasted delicious. Creamy, mocha, with a hint of soy. The sugar cookie was also a nice treat! I've been trying to cut back on treats so this was good! a nice snack. Now, back to eating more nutritious food.

Lil baby birds

The birds hatched and are getting bigger as the days pass by. Here are two pictures of them all in the nest opening their little beaks for food. It has been really neat to watch the nest start as empty, to seeing small eggs, to now 5 little hungry birds.

San Francisco Clam Chowder and Sister Visit

SF has such a special place in my heart! The food is delicious and I love there chowder there. This one was from Boudin Bakery on the pier. I would definitely check this restaurant out if you're visiting SF.  It's a fun little stop where you can watch the bakers make the dough, and also see the water while you're eating.  Not to shabby of a place. 

It was such a great day because my sister came up to visit and I got to play tourist for the day! We drove down Lombard Street, walked around pier 39 and got a coffee snack there, saw the seals, went souvenir shopping, took lots pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lil Bird Eggs In a Canvas Bag

One day I was sitting at my desk looking outside the window on our little patio. I saw a small bird going in and out of a canvas bag that was hanging from an old bike. The bag was meant to be left out to air out from a trip and soon turned into a beautiful home. I watched the small brown bird go in and out the bag. After the bird left the area I peaked in the bag and found a small nest made out of twigs, twine, feathers and more.

Two weeks past where I would quietly check the bag to see if anything had occurred. After two weeks I figured the nest was left, and a better spot was found. A few days later I peaked in the bag in the morning and found two small pale white- peach speckled eggs. I was thrilled. They were so tiny, about as large as my thumb nail.

I started to do some research and believe they are house finch eggs and a mother. I will hopefully see soon. Every day I quietly would check the eggs and four more eggs were laid. Now six small eggs wait in the nest and the momma bird sits on them day and night.

I look forward to seeing them hatch and hope they do well in the protected area. This little nest is such a great reminder of how beautiful nature is and the process of life. I'm looking forward to sharing more soon!!

Any tips on once the babies hatch and this bird type? Hope you all have a good week!

Peach and Raspberry Tart

This tart ended up tasting amazing! I couldn't stop eating it with coffee for breakfast over the weekend I made it. This past month has been really busy with grad school, so my baking & cooking new recipes has slowed down a lot. I'm sad I'm short on time, yet know this summer will be great because I will have a lot more free time!

This recipe was found in a new book called "Off the Shelf Cooking from the Pantry" by Donna Hay. Donna is an Australian based food writer and chief.

I will try to post the recipe soon! For now here are some quick pictures.

Spring Flowers

Tulips are beginning to show up left and right. Spring is just around the corner, I'm so excited! Here a lil bed side table flower arrangement.

No Knead Bread

I can't get enough of this homemade bead it is so delicious. It takes 24 hours to rise, then 2 more hours to rise before it baked for a total of 45 minutes in a pre warmed cast iron pot with a lid.  I would love to share this recipe, yet it is secret.  If you ever get a chance to cook with me or bake, it might be revealed to you...

Fresh out of the oven the bread is warm in the center and slightly crispy on the outside.

Fresh Orange, Swiss Cheese, Sunflower Seed, Spinach Salad

This salad is a delicious salad with notes of sweetness due to to orange slices, and a nice amount of balsamic taste due to the balsamic vinaigrette by Ken's Steak House.

Overall lay down the spinach, top with Swiss cheese pieces, sunflower seeds, 6-7 orange slices, and dressing.

Enjoy!

Ham Cheese Avocado Garden Greens Sandwich

This sandwich is simply delicious and easy to make. A tops of ten minutes. After a long work day and work out I wanted something quick to make, yet hearty and tasty.

I came up with this sandwich. It pretty much has all of my favorite sandwich garnishes. I hope you will enjoy it too!!
Are there any really tasty sandwich recipes you like?

Ingredients:
Bread-2 slices of your choice (I used Butter Top Wheat)
Organic Micro Greens- Trader Joe's- A handful washed
A little mayo
Ham- 3 sliced
Asiago Cheese- 2 sliced
Avocado- 4 slices
Butter spray
*You could also make this vegetarian by leaving off the meat*


Directions:
1. Spread one slice of bread with mayo, lay one cheese slice on top. Place the other cheese slice on the second piece if bread.
2. Add 3 slices of Ham, or leave off for vegetarian option.
3. Add 4 slices of avocado on top of the cheese.
4. Out a handful of micro greens on a slice on top of everything. Spread out evenly.
5. Close the sandwich.
6. Spray the butter spray on the outer part if the two sandwich bread sides.
7. Put the sandwich on a medium warm skillet on the stove top and grill each side for 3-4 minutes. Slice and Enjoy!!

Served with a spinach pomegranate salad.

pomegranate, strawberry, carrot spinach salad

A very tasty refreshing salad. This salad can be served as the main course, which I did last night, or it can be made with less ingredients to be served as a side salad.

Ingredients:
Pomegranate seeds 1/4 cup
One sliced carrot
4 large sliced strawberries
3-4 cups of spinach leaves
Tuscan Italian Dressing- Trader Joe's

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix by shaking the ingredients together. Serve and enjoy!!

Happy New Year

The New Year is here and I am excited for all another year brings.  This blog has been fun for me to look back on recipes, floral projects, projects I have tried this year.  This year one of my new years goals is to try to take a cooking course, and learn a few more recipes.  It would also be fun to learn how to make wind chimes or garden signs for herb and flower identification.

{Small Purple Flowers Blooming in the Snow- photo credit.}

The New Year brings a time for reflections, and growth.  I feel it is a time to reflect on all I am grateful  for and the beauty that surrounds me.  This year I am looking forward to new projects and learning more about different types of flowers.  What are some of your new recipes or floral ideas you would like to try?