iphone Weekend in Pictures

 Thursday we usually have a little date night, and try and stay closer to home since it is a work day the next day, so we went here for dinner.  We had a Hemingway daiquiri with some house made smoked and spiced almonds.....

 followed by duck confit with fresh cherries and morrel mushrooms, sitting on spaetzle.  This dish was wonderful! The restaurant is newly opened, and when we went on the second day they opened their doors, our dinner had a few issues, but I knew it was opening day jitters in the kitchen, and they had some great potential. They have now worked out all the kinks, and boy is it really nice now.  I will say the drink however was watered down a bit, and I think next time if it happens again, I may say something. I'm not much of a drinker, so I'm not going to ding the restaurant based on this.

 We split this nice strawberry rhubarb tart. Crust was tender and flavorful, and over all not too sweet.

 Friday, we headed over to my sisters to celebrate this little cuties 8th grade graduation. We all got a little misty over this, as yet another chapter closes and a newly minted high school student is born. I was in the delivery room when she was born, and it is always so emotional when you see the passage of time through children. You might recognize my other niece with the long dark hair, to the right. She will be a junior next year! Same thing with her, I can't believe she is on the last two years of high school.

 Saturday, we went to Berkeley Bowl to get all of our produce and decided to have a little treat here.

This place  sits in the middle of three other favorite restaurants, but it took us this long to try it out. Now, first off, I'm not an ice cream eater AT ALL. I don't like the milky taste on my tongue, and perhaps that is why I tend not to like creamy sauces, and loath cheese.  This is why I was excited to give this a try, because it is basically vegan. They use the word "Sorbet" very loosely here, given that most of the flavors are a frozen nut based concoction. I had the chocolate peanut butter, and it was very creamy, almost like gelato, so A+ on that. But why I won't go back, is that this size I'm holding, that is literally the size of a ping pong ball, is $3.00!! I think I would rather just make my own fruit sorbet at home, since I'm not a true lover of frozen desserts, and find this slightly outrageous. I get that the ingredients are top quality, but it isn't made of gold for goodness sakes!

David had the pistachio. I love pistachio, but for some reason, it didn't taste that special to me. They do change their flavors a lot, so if I happen to be in the area, and it is 90+ degrees, perhaps I will crack my wallet open and give it another try.

Sunday has just started, so who knows what iphone adventures await me today!

Hope everyone is having a splendid weekend.

Retro Friday, Meet the Parents

Thought I'd back up a bit and introduce my parents. Juanita and Douglas. This picture was taken on their honeymoon, and I believe they are in Disneyland.
My parents met in Panama when my dad was stationed in the Canal Zone. My mom was 20 in this photo and my dad was 22. When I look at them in this picture, they seem older to me, but I think it is because they are my parents. I love how styling they look :)

I want to do a post on each of them separately, so I won't go into their individual stories on this post. I'm foggy on how they actually met, I believe it was through friends. I do know that when they first started dating they had to have a chaperone. Can you even imagine that?  I really wish I had a photo of their wedding in my possession, but alas, they are at my mom's house. Her dress was gorgeous, and designed and made by her stepmother. When they moved to the States eventually, her dress was stolen while it was being shipped back with some of their things. There was no way though that I would ever fit into it, as I believe she was rail thin at 85 or so lbs!

If I remember the story correctly, after they got married, they came to L.A. for their honeymoon, and to visit with my grandparents, who lived in Santa Monica at the time. They also had another small ceremony, since my grandparents were unable to attend the big wedding in Panama.

Unfortunately my parents divorced when I was nine or so. Looking back now as an adult I can understand more clearly that they were like oil and water, and their goals for life were so different. Of course I don't know all the complexities of what went wrong in their relationship, but knowing them today, I can't picture them together. They stayed married for close to 11 years though, so they gave it a good try.

Like everyone, they have their own stories, so when I do their posts, I will go more into who they are.
I thought I'd at least introduce them though.


Happy Friday to everyone!!!

Strawberry-Lemon Shortcake!

 Been meaning to share this tasty recipe with you. A couple of weeks ago I made this out of "Cooking Light." I wanted something to accompany these beautiful strawberries I picked up at our local Whole Foods. Don't you love when the strawberries  smell like actual strawberries, and taste like it too?! They should figure out a way to bottle that natural scent!  Anyway.... I have troubles sometimes making biscuits, and have steered clear of making strawberry shortcake for this reason. I can make scones, no problem, but it seems like when I make biscuits, they never seem to rise or they just lack something.

When I saw this recipe and read it over, it seemed simple enough, and the ingredients sounded wonderful. I'm happy to say that they turned out really good, and flavorful. I will make this again for sure.

 We ended up digging into them straight away, and I forgot to take a picture of them composed in all their glory.

Here is what they are suppose to look like though, from the photo in the magazine.


The recipe is as follows.

9 oz. all-purpose-flour (about 2 cups)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind.

Cooking spray

1/2 Cup  all purpose flour

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

4 cups sliced strawberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/4 cups frozen fat-free whipped topping thawed ***( I just used a light brand from Whole Foods, in a can" I normally whip up my own, but I wanted to keep the calories low.


1. Pre heat oven to 425

2. Weigh or lightly spoon 9 ounces ( about 2 cups) flour into dray measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 9 oz flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. ( I used the food processor)  Combine 1 1/4 cups buttermilk and grated lemon rind. Add the buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, and toss gently with a fork to combine. (Dough should be wet and about the texture of cottage cheese.)

3.Coat a 9-inch round metal cake pan or baking sheet with cooking spray. Place 1/2 cup flour in a shallow dish. Scoop 10 equal dough portions into dish. Gently shape each portion into a round by tossing in flour to help shape the dough. Arrange in pan. Discard excess flour.
Brush dough with melted butter, and sprinkle turbinado sugar. Bake at 425 for 22 min. or until the shortcakes are lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 min. Remove shortcakes from pan. Cool on wire rack.

4. Combine berries, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, (I used less) and lemon juice; toss to coat. Let stand for 15 min. Split each shortcake in half; spoon about 1/3 cup berry mixture and two tablespoons whipped topping.

Serves 10 Calories 267    Not too bad for a nice little summer treat.

Hope you try them, and make sure to use the turbinado sugar, it gives such a nice crunch on top!

Enjoy :)

Baby Boy Puppy Sun Suit

 Just finished sewing this little gem up today, and it is in the shop. I really love the way the little shorts part of this sun suit turned out. The drape of the linen is wonderful and just the right weight.

 Can you picture, if you had twins( girl and boy) how cute this and the bunny one would look on them?!

I wish they still made this look for little boys, and everything wasn't just trucks and sports emblems.

 Well, I just clicked on something here and I seem to not be able to write any text below this next picture. This new blogger format is testing my patience!   Anyway, I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday weekend. We did absolutely nothing, and it was great!   The summer season sure feels like it has arrived and with it brings a whole new routine, which is very welcome and I'm excited for.  Cooking with summer ingredients, long sunny days etc. I think after all these years of not liking the summer months, and complaining rather loudly about it, as my family will attest to, I have now learned to embrace it, and love it for what it brings. So, I'm ready summer.......lets have some fun!

Retro Friday

 These photos are even more dreamy in quality than the other two I put on here, so I'm sorry they aren't super crisp. I love this photo though, because Nicky, the family dog, is in it. He was such a sweet dog, and he was with us for years and years. The other thing I love about this picture, is the fact that it is by a stream. On days when I need to relax and think good thoughts, I always go to a place like this in my head.

Most people love the ocean and the calming feeling they get from the crashing waves. For me it is here, and maybe this is why. Perhaps being born in the mountains, and being by streams like this, is why I love the feeling it gives me when I think about it. As I type this I can hear the water in my head and smell the pine trees. When I was about 2 or 3, we moved to the valley, but since my dad worked in the mountains as a forester, we spent a lot of time going to the mountains. My favorite were the picnics, and playing in the water. My brother and I would see how long we could keep wading in the icy water. Loved the slippery feeling of the moss on my feet, and how crisp and clean the water looked.  I think in these photos, I'm about 6 months old or so, and my brother is 2. In the above picture, I love how I'm mesmerized by the water. ( Look how, even thicker my hair looks!)
I wonder if my dad was on a small cliff when he took these, it is such a nice angle.

Where do you go in your head to relax, and do you think it may have something to do with your earliest memories in life?

New in the shop, Vintage inspired Bunny Sunsuit!

 Finished this little guy over the weekend, and I think it turned out pretty sweet. Vintage vibe, with lots of charm.

 The embroidery was lots of fun to do, and was a good excuse to incorporate my other love.

 These buttons are vintage. I bought them at a vintage fair in San Francisco last year, and when I was debating what buttons to put on this garment, I had remembered I purchased these! They are so perfect on it. They just don't make beautiful buttons like this anymore!

Next up, is the little boy version. Well, it can be for a little girl too, but it just screams little boy to me. The bottom half of this one is going to made up with a very nice blue linen. Nice weight, and I think it will be very cute!

The next items I plan to make, will possibly be for bigger sizes, like 5 or maybe 6. I feel like I have been neglecting that size range, and would like to get some pieces made up.


On a different note, thanks for all the lovely comments on my retro Friday post. I have some pretty great photos to put on here, and I'm excited to share them. Carolina had asked me about my mom. I will do a post on her in late June, to honor her birthday, so look for more of her story then. I have some beautiful photos of her for that post!

The Beginning of Retro Friday

 Welcome to the beginning of my Friday series, where I go down memory lane. I thought I would start from MY beginning, so that I can have a nice timeline of sorts going here. I have always kind of wanted to do this since I started the blog, because I wanted a scrapbook of sorts to remember moments of my life, both present and past. So here we go!
I love looking at the photo of my mom pregnant with me. I often wonder how she felt at the time this photo was taken. I only know a few things about this time in her life. She was 23 in this photo (somehow she seems older to me), and my brother was maybe close to two years old. I see so many likenesses in this image of her. In it I can see my oldest daughter, and myself. If you are reading this Nicole, don't you think you look like her here in the mouth area???  My mom is Panamanian, and she probably, at this time, still didn't have a great command of the language.  She told me once how depressed she was living in the mountains of northern California, especially when winter would set in. There were days she just didn't know what to do with herself, and being a young mom with no friends in the area, must have been rough. She taught herself English by watching soap operas.
My brother was a little stinker, so I'm sure he kept her busy.  One story my mom told, was that my brother did not handle having a new baby in the house very well. She said that once, while I was taking a nap in my crib, he pulled my legs through the slats and bit me several times! He also tried to cut my hair. How a small toddler had access to scissors is a crazy thought to me.  When my mom caught him doing these things, he got in big trouble of course. He pretended to drink rubbing alcohol, and my mom had to rush him to the hospital!  I have many stories about my brother, some good, some not so good, but hey, isn't that the story of most siblings!

Here I am! I had a full head of hair, and being the only girl born in this tiny mountain hospital, the nurses went crazy playing with it. My mom use to tell me the story of the doctor who delivered me, asking her if she wanted to give me up? He had five sons, and always wanted a daughter. I'm sure my mom was kinda creeped out by this, but I'm sure he was just joking. My mom thought it was because they were a young struggling family, and they might not be able to afford having another baby. I think she was being dramatic.

These pictures were reprinted from slides, so they have kind of a dreamy quality to them. My dad took so many beautiful photos of us when we were little, and most of them were on slides. A while back I borrowed them from my mom and had them printed, so that my girls could see them, and I could include them into our family photos.  

I'm not sure how many little kid pictures I will put up on here, perhaps the ones that bring up a story or a feeling, we will see where this takes me..........

What is your favorite story of when you were born?

A Little Bit Of This and a Little Bit of That

 I know, this post is a bit late, but I thought I'd share some photos of the Wayfare Tavern. This is where we sat, because we were 30 minutes late for our reservation. The Bay bridge was backed up like no other, and we underestimated how long it was going to take to get there on time. I don't mind watching the kitchen, it can be like theater, but unfortunately the seats were not that comfy. On the plus side, the food was very good!

 The restaurant has some very nice decor to it, and I wish I could have photographed more, especially the super cool bathroom on the second floor ( where we would have been sitting), but I decided to keep it to the food.

This was called "Dandelion Wine." It has procecco  and other refreshing things in it, like that piece of lychee fruit swimming on the bottom.

 I think I had this last time I was there, and it was pretty filling....carrot soup, with roasted pineapple pulp, corn fritters, and shaved country ham. Very nice, but it should be  smaller I think, for a starter.

 This is one of their signature dishes, and Caitlin loves her eggs, so she had this deviled egg starter.

 Dave, had this nice salad.

For the main dish I had lamb braised in Guinness. It was a very lovely dish, and the lamb was so tender and delicious.

 Both Dave and Caitlin had the pappardelle pasta with wild mushrooms. It has other yummy things in it, but you can look on their menu, if you really are curious.

 Dave decided to be brave and have this chocolate pie...... It was huge!

 We had the red velvet cake with white chocolate ice cream. I had to take mine home, since I was too full. It was such a nice treat for the next day.

Backing up a day. We went to my nephew's first communion. It was such a nice ceremony.

 They always look so darn cute dressed up for the event. My nephew, Matthew, is in the center.....

 He is taking it very seriously.

Look how dashing he looks.



I decided that Friday will be the day that I post  retro pictures on this blog. I had to have a think about how I wanted to do it and how to start.  Check back on Friday for the beginning of the retro photos.

I'm busy sewing up those vintage inspired items still, so I've got to get off this lap top and get to work!

Happy Mother's day!

 I woke up this morning to this stunningly gorgeous bouquet in the living room, sent by Nicole. As I read the card I must say I teared up. I posted many photos of it, so that you can see all the gorgeous flowers that were in it. I was able to skype with Nicole this morning, and she told me about this florist, and to look at their web site. I'm in love!!!! Go and check them out.

 There are little delicate flowers tucked away, and with such care.

 A little piece of Nicole is with me today, even though she is far away.

 Caitlin made me one of her magical handmade cards!! So sweet, and of course will be tucked away with all the other cards she has made me. They are all treasures. She got me a gift certificate to Sephora, so that she can help me choose some make-up products that I have been wanting. She is a genius with the make up brushes, so this will be loads of fun.

 My sweet husband got me these yummy chocolates!!! Along with this..........

Now, I know some moms would not like this for Mother's day, but I have been wanting one of these slicers forever! Now I can make all those beautiful summer salads with whisper thin slices of veggies.

This will be a fun tool :)

For dinner tonight we are going here.  I hope all the moms who read this have a very happy Mother's day!!