Napa Henry

Napa to Oakland to Burbank to Santa Barbara and Back

2010-02-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

We went to So Cal on a little business and mostly fun. We stayed with M & L and baby C at their new place.

Monkey was quite excited to finally play with someone younger and SMALLER than her considering her world is filled with people older and BIGGER than her. She was in charge and there was nothing he could do about it.

The power went out for several hours due to some fuse blowing that lots of people thought was a gun shot. The kids loved it, and M was vindicated from accusations by us earlier that day that she is over prepared in the way of lanterns and flashlights.

You may notice that Fancy has had a dramatic hair cut. She wanted her hair short so that she wouldn't have to deal with snarls and blow drying and all that other hair maintenance stuff.

Baby C is asleep in the moby on his daddy.

You win some you lose some.

2010-01-16T20:20:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite kind of recipe...simple. Asparagus, pancetta, leeks and EVOO. That's it! Except salt and pepper. This is from Chiarello's Casual Cooking. Super yummy and light.

Homemade butternut squash gnocchi with a sage brown butter sauce. I liked it but Fancy preferred it raw over cooked. Drat.

Since we had so much butternut squash left over we made soup. The recipe called for leeks and potato (two items we also had in our box) and recommended it be put through a sieve. Well, we now know that it must not have meant a Fine Chinois because all we were getting was butternut milk. Once combined back together it turned out quite yummy.
Not featured is my latest red cabbage recipe. I still have two more red heads of cabbage to get through so there is time to find a good one.

Nov- Dec

2010-01-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

Everything is done in excess at our house.

Monkey enjoys visiting Fancy's school.

Fancy enjoys hanging upside down at school.

Since Fancy's gym class is a class of one, she often gets lumped into other classes. It does not bother her one bit that they are older, in fact I would say she thrives on the challenge.

She is a busy little kid. Also loves dance.

Rootbeer tasting on x-mas eve.

Keeping track of these guys is a major challenge in the rows of x-mas trees.

Pumpkin patch mayhem.

Fancy's good friend and the one she learns all her climbing tricks from.

Monkey still squeezes into the doll stroller.

Brussels

2010-01-04T14:35:00.000-08:00

This is an old one for me now. It is the only way I like brussel sprouts but I LOVE them this way. Baked some up for lunch today. Cut in half, tossed with EVOO, salt and pepper then baked cut side down at 400 for 25 minutes until starting to brown a bit. They come out soft and yummy.

New Years Resolution

2010-01-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't written them down but my thought was to be a little more creative than the same old same old. So my first one is a little complicated. It goes something like this: To fall in love with cooking all over again and to focus on vegetables because we like them and they make us feel good. Since we get a veggie box every other week and it comes with all kinds of yummy organic veggies I want to embrace each and every one and maybe the kids will even start to enjoy them. So today was the first attempt and it was a success (well for the adults anyway).

Braised Red Cabbage
I used a recipe from Mustards Cookbook and although I would cut back on the vinegar and brown sugar it came out yummy and was easy. I don't want to take the time to write out the whole recipe right now but if you want it you can email me.

Coming soon, what we will do with leeks and bok choy. Looking forward to it.

Little more Genius

2009-12-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

So I was just having a talk with Fancy before bed and we were talking about her dance class and how they are doing a Christmas show and she is dancing to Away in the Manger. Well she started to bellow out the song and this is how it goes.
For the full effect you must sing very deep and quite loud.

"Away in the manger
...
the little more genius lay down ... something
(now she is talking instead of singing) the stars were looking down or something.
That's it mom, why is he just laying there?"

Books

2009-11-16T19:33:00.000-08:00

I have been forever meaning to post children's books when I like them. We cycle through so many from the library that are just eh (and usually BLAH), but once in a while we get one that is really cute. The following are the ones that come to mind right now.

The Cheese
by Margie Palatini
Clever little story that gives you a behind the scene concept of the song The Farmer and the Dell. The characters all have their own personalities that jump off the page and great illustrations "paintings" as well.

Wet Dog
by Elise Broach
A simple repetitive sing sing story. The illustrations that go with this are so detailed and fun to look at. By the time you get to the end this cute pitiful dog has gotten his paws into every aspect of the wedding where he ends up.

Sans Training Wheels

2009-11-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, this was after 20 INTENSE minutes of trying. She did not want to give up and look where it got her.

Fun with pics

2009-10-28T19:11:00.001-07:00

playing with silouettes

pushing the limits

A little something new to look at.

2009-10-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

I think it is fair to say that her love for the cat far exceeds the cats love for her. Although she is one tolerant kitty.

Beverages

2009-09-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

So all I can say is that my husband is into beverages. Today on our way home from sampling the vineyard he will be making into wine he requested we stop to get Ritual Coffee beans and then he needed to stop and get a 9 cup Moka Express because our 2 cup Brikka is not making the quantity coffee he needs (which I rarely see him use). As soon as we get home he promptly starts making sun brewed iced tea and shortly there after heads to the store for some beer. I am not sure I actually saw him drink any of it except maybe a beer. I think he may be a collector of beverages. Hmmh.

Summer Fun

2009-09-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

Summer was a whirlwind but a blast. Here are a few highlights. Not necessarily in the right order of events.

Tahoe with cousins

The answer my friends, is ...

We happened to be in Santa Barbara for the arrival of baby C. When we got home Fancy did a lot of role playing and told me she wanted to be a mommy when she grew up. She would put her dolls in her shirt and even go to the "hospital" and come back out with dolly all born. Cute in a disturbing sort of way. She also requested these side shots of herself quite often.

Happy New Family of three (a couple months later).

Santa Barbara has something called backyard bowl which is a fancy smoothie in a bowl with all sorts of yummy healthy goodies on top (fruit, granola, flax and or hemp seeds, dried fruit). I am still craving them on a daily basis.

T's dad installed a zip line at their house. Soooooo fun but needs some safety features installed before the kids ride.

Grandma Roofie (as the kids call her) turned 91!

A friend visited from France.

Monkey is a local celebrity.

Getting used to the sand.

The family at Stinson.

Learning to swim.

New Floor

2009-08-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

before

after

Things have been busy busy. Ahh, it is so clean and cleanable and did I mention clean?

Family Trip to Tahoe

2009-08-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

This video is 10 minutes long, fair warning.

Use of words

2009-08-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Me: Fancy, you just said you couldn't taste the mayo, why won't you eat the sandwich?
Fancy: The point is, I don't like how it looks.

Later that day:
Fancy: This is his carriage indeed. (referring to a hat she was using as a carrier for a stuffed monkey that she had just taken to the dentist - aka Me)

Hearing a four year old say "The point is" definitely catches me by surprise. She uses indeed a lot now but she still hasn't quite got it in the right spot. These little moments make me smile inside.

Kitchen remodel

2009-08-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

We were able to get new counters recently. The new ones are made from a mixture of concrete, recycled glass and paper! Granted, the backsplash still needs to be done, but we are loving the new counters.

Before

After

Thanks to a selection of legs at Ikea we even added on this side desk.

Sailing

2009-07-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Fun day, we went around Angel Island, through Raccoon Straight.

I am not a huge fan of listing (when the boat tilts). They act so calm about it, like it is all part of the plan. Oh, it is part of the plan?

This is more my speed!

Not a bad view docked either.

another comparison

2009-06-11T21:18:00.001-07:00

monkey

SP will now be called Fancy (I will explain this later).
It is fun seeing that they are so different, inside and out. Here they are at 14 months.

Woot!

2009-06-06T14:52:00.001-07:00

So we have successfully switched out our 80GB for a new 500GB hard drive. It feels so good to have this done. Thanks to everyone who helped me through this process or listened to my worries. I learned so much and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once I just did it. Yipee!!!

My Best Guess

2009-06-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is my best guess at what Monkey was thinking at her last shot visit (3 shots).

After Shot #1: "Hey, watch it lady. Those things are really pokey and you just poked me."

Shot #2: "Whoa, didn't you notice you poked me the first time. Now you are just being plain careless, and I am starting to lose my patience."

Shot #3:"Mom, help, careless woman is coming again. Stop holding me down. WTF! Hello? I so saw that coming and I am only 1! You call this healthcare? I was much better off before I came in for my well baby visit. I want out of here."

I can't believe my eyes

2009-05-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Once my mini was on order, I knew I should get a cool license plate. Since T already had 750ml I thought how cute would it be if I got 375ml. It was taken, darn it, how could they do that, go and swipe my plate. I knew that they probably had a love for wine but I never thought we would actually ever see it. At least it ended up being on a cool car, he he he.

In Loving Memory

2009-05-18T23:13:00.001-07:00

In loving memory of my grandfather, pictured here with his two sons.

Hi

2009-05-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

I think she caught on it was the TV remote at the end.

May Pole

2009-05-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

This is SP's dance class, dancing around the May Pole. This class is from 3-5 year olds, and they crack me up. She is wearing the red tutu (which my friend Suz made for her - super cute!). You will notice she is in a world of her own.

Catch-up part 1 of ?

2009-05-11T23:38:00.000-07:00

I had no idea it has been over a month. So many fun and exciting things have been happening. The one that affects us the most is monkey walking. Here is a quick video. I will try and post more updates over the next several days.