I have a teen-aged daughter, therefore, I receive the occasional fashion advice. Usually unsolicited.
I returned home from an event last night and The Girl greeted me with… not disgust, not vicarious embarrassment, but more of a request rather than advice. The request was that I avoid wearing my khaki pants and red Keds. It was more of a beg than a request, springing from her 15 years of parochial schooling. And I really got a great, big laugh out it, once I figured it out…
Apparently, I was dressed just like a Catholic school boy.
My mom and I have been arguing about how to make cookies for about three decades. She says that I have ruined her recipes, I say I have improved them. Her secret? She doubles the sugar in every cookie recipe she makes. Her recipe for “Chocolate Chippers” that is outstanding. I grew up eating these cookies, went on to bake them and share with everyone in high school and beyond. Eventually I sold them by the dozen along with cinnamon rolls and a few other baked goods in our town’s farmers market when The Girl was just a baby. I made a lot of money from those rolls and cookies for one reason- they are DELICIOUS!
If I have sold uncountable dozens of cookies, I think I have earned the right to say that I have not, in fact, ruined the recipe. But amount sold is not the best indicator that my version of these cookies are great- it is the fact that when mom comes over, she is aghast if no cookies are on the counter, in the cupboard, or in the freezer. How can that be? How can there not be at least a bag of them in the freezer?
I do it just to drive her nuts.
I will proceed to drive her further insane by trying a new recipe tonight, one for Soft Almond Sugar Cookies. I was a good kid and easy teenager, and am enjoying all kinds of ways to annoy my mother now. Tonight, all I have to do is follow the recipe that I saved on Pinterest a couple of years ago. By doubling neither the sugar nor the almond flavoring, she will go mental. Just watch- there will be only one comment on this post and it will be from her…
CodyKitchenConfections.blogspot.com
This recipe (and photo on the left) comes from CodyKitchenConfection over at Blogspot. I followed the recipe exactly, except (and there is always an except) I used all-purpose flour instead of cake flour. I thought that two teaspoons of almond wouldn’t be enough- the dough didn’t have enough almond flavor, but the cookies sure did. These were great! Mine came out more flat, but I blame it on not refrigerating the dough… as per the recipe (OK, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly). I’ll see how the second half of the dough turns out after sitting in the fridge overnight.
They don’t look the same (my fault) but they taste GREAT!
These are an nice, soft, super-almondy sugar cookie, and I’d make them again. The Girl is in the kitchen stuffing her face full of cookies as I type. You are going to love them, mom, if she leaves you any.
Evening meetings at the high school to gather information about activities that interest The Boy had us hurrying home to get steaks on the grill before the potatoes finished baking. It was a good evening to pull a wine from our awesome raffle winnings!
Since I was throwing sirloin steaks on the grill, I searched for a nice red… mmm, reds are my favorite. Paso Creek Zinfandel sounded good, so, I popped it open to drink while the steaks cooked. I chose well, what a nice wine! Dark red, big fruit and bigger tannins make this a zinfandel strong wine that can stand up to our salsa on the steaks.
I think I am beginning to keep my reds straight- pinot noirs are lighter, cabernet can’t be beat for best overall dry red, zinfandels are heartier than cabs, merlots are worthless… am I missing any?
One of the first places we discovered upon moving back home to California was a leetle-beety-teeny-tiny fish joint El Pescador. In its new location, right across the street from the old, El Pescador now has an eat-in area for the patrons at least by ten times the original spot’s size. As a regular, let me say THANK YOU to the owners for this move! La Jolla has a bajillion places to eat fabulous food for all budgets, and if the absolute freshest seafood is on your list, do not miss this place.
El Pescador has a fresh fish counter with mostly local catches, but also offers popular items flown in from far-away sites. The menu features some of the best fish sandwiches, according to The Husband, and I love their seafood salads on greens. Check out their menu here.
You don’t order a burrito at El Pescador, you order a burro. And yes, they are pretty big. I finally ordered something other than the FABULOUS mixed seafood salad and tried the Burro of the Day- a halibut and shrimp (both local) monstrosity with black beans, fresh spinach and a yogurt based white sauce, served with salsa and chips. A two word summation: Holy yum.
I am a creature of habit and this really shows in my dining choices. I will order the same thing at restaurants- it is always linguini with red clam sauce at the Italian join instead of the special, only a ham and cheese sandwich at our favorite deli, never a turkey club, always the same three sushi favorites at every Japanese restaurant… enough was enough, and I have been loving it. Nothing like a public forum to hold myself accountable, yea, WordPress! I picked a winner Monday night… but might go back soon for that seafood salad?
I did it! I ran across the Coronado Bridge on Sunday morning with about 10,000 people, The Boy and The Husband. The Boy ditched me immediately after we crossed the start line, but is forgiven because he had a finish time of about ten minutes better than me, so, good on him.
While this was for a great cause, and I had a great time running with our neighbor’s SDG&E team, these runs with the 5 a.m. wake up times cause me to seriously to question my sanity… or at least decision making abilities.
We ran across the bridge with a reservist who told us about his five tours on active duty, and dozen more as a reservist. He had speakers tucked in a backpack playing military running cadences for the group’s motivation- it sure helped me get up the bridge. When asked, he suggested that civilians who are interested in donating time and treasure to returning soldiers should look into the Wounded Warrior Project for a reputable organization to guide us.
Before we actually hit the Coronado bridge, we passed a mariachi band playing for the throng, but on the other end of the bridge was the Navy brass band to help us finish- what a great way to wrap up the run!
This honorable man ran the four plus miles in full gear and holding the flag. He wasn’t the only one I saw running with a flag and gear, either.
From the home page of the Navy Bay Bridge Run you can read that “this annual Navy-hosted event includes the public in raising money for the Navy’s Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) programs.” It was an honor to run with these men and women on active duty, reserve and retired status, and all us civilians pitching in a tiny bit to bring attention and funds to America’s navy personnel. An honor and a privilege.
branching out... on a limb 