Wine tasting in Amador County

Gropius and I took his parents wine-tasting in Amador County which means that I got to spend all afternoon watching the three of them drink wine while I enjoyed variations of bottled water and water crackers at all the wineries we visited.  Fun, fun, fun!

Memorial Day Ice Cream

It was hot on Memorial Day, so we all decided to go get ice cream at Gunther's, a local Sacramento institution.

Breakfast.

I decided if I was going to have a chocolate croissant and splurge on a latter, I might as well be civilized about it!

Random meal.

chicken with tarragon mustard cream sauce.

We made it because the tarragon in our garden looks like this:

Its growth is second only to that of the mint (which is growing in the MIDDLE of our pathway??)

Pizza

Hamburger, green chiles, corn and cilantro + pizza = delicious!

Mother's Day

Lulu is old enough that she's really starting to get into Mother's Day and I have to say, I totally dig it. She insisted I have breakfast in bed and wanted me to eat dinner in bed, too!  (I think watching me eat dinner in bed back in April of 2013 after I got back from the ER with a kidney stone really made an impression because now she thinks that's like a really special event??).

So, I enjoyed a tasty breakfast, compliments of my loving husband who was woken up early to make my breakfast.

But, I can't say that I enjoyed the kitchen afterwards...?

And my family got me a beautiful necklace that I adore and wear often!



And later that afternoon, when Gropius took Lulu with him to work/play outside and I had some quiet time to myself (the best present of all!), I made myself a tasty almond cake.





Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Spaghetti with Leeks

Easy, quick weeknight dinner that cooked together in one pot.  Can't beat that with a stick.

Dr Pepper Brisket

Compliments of The Homesick Texan's blog.  We followed her lead and made soft tacos the first night and then used the leftovers for nachos.

Delish!

kosher for Passover with GF tortilla chips, if you ignore that whole dairy-meat mixing thing!

CFS

otherwise known as chicken fried steak.  Best comfort food ever made!

The Decadent Rice Krispy Treat

A recent kitchen experiment of mine, compliments of Food52.  They taste very decadent and definitely non-Rice Krispy treat-like.  And without the traditional marshmallows, they are vegan and gluten free.

Baking Binge.

I was on a bit of a baking binge this weekend.  We had a bumper crop of Moro blood oranges from our tree and we needed to pick the remainder because the tree is starting to flower.  So, I made a blood orange cake:



I ended up having to do the frosting twice because the first time, it sank into the cake.

And then I couldn't resist these, especially when we had all the ingredients in hand.

Breakfast at Nopalito's

I had a fasting blood test done this morning and I celebrating breaking my fast by eating breakfast out (which I almost never do) at a nearby restaurant, Nopalito's.  They serve southwestern food and I had their chile verde pork with pinto beans and corn tortillas (minus the fried egg) and a hot chocolate.

Chicken Fried Chicken

This dinner brought to you by the Homesick Texan.  I didn't make mashed potatoes because my mom always made Minute Rice instead so that's what said "home" to me.

NOTE:  the sugar snap peas and asparagus would NOT have been on the table growing up.  Those would've been Del Monte canned Italian-style green beans cooked in bacon grease and Lawry's season salt.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

I came across a recipe for chocolate chip cookie cake and I couldn't get it out of my head.  So, I made it.  And we devoured it.  With ice cream.  For breakfast.





That's the best part about being an adult.  If you want to eat chocolate chip cookie cake for breakfast, you CAN.

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe here, minus caraway seeds and raisins because I don't like those.

Coffee Break

Well, really Mexican hot chocolate, but who's counting??

More than pizza.

My welcome home card from Lulu:  Mama from Lulu "I love you.  I love you more than pizza."