Sacra-mom-ato

My Summer List

It's been a REALLY long time since I posted.  It's a function of how little time I have to devote to a blog (kids, work, projects, etc.) , but it's still something I think about.  So here goes my Summer List!

 

Rivercats baseball game

Exploratorium

Bon Odori festival

Ferry into San Francisco

Jelly Belly factory tour

Music in the park

Blackberry picking

Camping

Swim, swim, swim

A day at the beach

Tomato caprese salad

Fresh basil pesto

Make strawberry ice cream 

Second Saturday

Read, read, read

Watch the Twilight movies

Read the CS Lewis fantasy series

Watermelon!

Watch the Harry Potter movies

Barbecues

Eat outside as much as possible!

Ice cream dinner

San Jose Children’s Museum

San Francisco Zoo

Diamond Creek picnic day and swim

Truckee

Hawaiian ice at Osakaya

Doughnuts at Marie’s

Berry cobbler

Sliders

Take a nap outside

Eat a really juicy peach

Tomato bruschetta

Muir Woods

My Autumn List

Autumn is here (though you wouldn't know it in Sacramento... Summer has come back with a vengeance with string of 90+degree days!) and it's time to get my Autumn List in order.  Why make a list, you ask?  Well, I made a Summer List which actually helped me to prioritize what I wanted to do this past summer with my kids.  I figure that making a list for Autumn will help remind me what is important about the season so I can actually focus on those things rather than let opportunities disappear.  So here it goes!

Pick apples at Apple Hill

One final camping trip

Trick-or-treating

Dress up in our Star Wars finest for Halloween

Bake witch finger cookies

Bake an apple pie

Carve a pumpkin

Bake a pumpkin pie

Decorate the house for Halloween – cobwebs, spiders, black crows, pumpkins, witches

Sweaters for the entire family

Put together a year-in-review photobook

Go to a football game

Watch the World Series on TV with hotdogs and popcorn and peanuts

Make apple chips with the dehydrator

Warm, mulled apple cider

Go to a pumpkin patch

Decorate the house for Thanksgiving with Indian corn, leaves, berries, and baby pumpkins

Go on a leaf walk

Have a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks (and try to figure out how to make it on my own!)

Knit a scarf

Make lots of soup

Fire in the fireplace

New slippers!

Create an amazing Thanksgiving Dinner

Clean out the vegetable garden and think about next plantings

Make meatloaf and mashed potatoes

Make beef burgundy

Baked apples with vanilla ice cream

Make pumpkin spice bread

Bake persimmon cookies

Go to Otow Orchards for persimmons

Make stewed kabocha pumpkin

Jump into a pile of leaves!

 

What's on your Autumn List?

 

 

 

 

Lake of the Sky

Just back from a fun camping trip to the Lake Tahoe area.  Lots of great memories to cherish:  campfires, roasting marshmallows, swimming at Fallen Leaf Lake, hiking to Balancing Rock, "discovering" DL Bliss for the first time, making sandcastles, running into an old Ukiahi classmate, relaxing on the beach. 

Pita Bread

Made some pita bread for the first time, using a recipe from my favorite bread book:  Artisan Bread Baking in 5 Minutes A Day.  It needs some tweaks (or maybe it's just my oven).  I was able to get the oven up to 500 degrees but in 10 minutes, the pitas came out crispy, not soft.  I shortened the time with the last batch and they came out soft and pliant, but then hardened a bit when they cooled down.  I think I need to shorten the time even more and perhaps wrap them up in a damp towel when cooling?  Experiments, experiments.  But these pita were delicious (albeit crispy) and perfect with our dinner of fresh falafel and tahini sauce and tomato-cuke-feta salad. 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

 

Our search for an all-beef hot dog, led to this monster above - the Dinger Dog, which led to this...

which led to this:

 

Last night, we enjoyed an outing to a RiverCats baseball game at Raley Field, courtesy of Jeff's company.  They rented out the "Home Run Terrace", a nifty little area of enclosed lawn, seating (even chaise lounges!), dining tables, and a buffet of food.  It was such a nice, child-friendly event (since our area was fenced in, the kids could run around with abandon) and they even provided free parking!  We really enjoyed ourselves and love the quaint, small-town-baseball nature of Raley Field.  And even better, the RiverCats won in come-from-behind fashion over the Las Vegas team, 4-1.  We left a little early, but still managed to see the fireworks from the car as we drove on I-80 home. What a great way to end the evening!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Another thing checked off my Summer List:  Rafting down the American River!  During our joint Sacramento tenure, Jeff and I have always lived within close proximity of the American River but never took the opportunity to raft down it... we have been missing out.  We had a fun time on the raft with our friends - leisurely going with a few easy rapids here and there.  Next time, we will bring food and beach gear and water soakers so that we can really make a full day of it.  Now, off to our next adventure... baseball... the Sacramento RiverCats! 

We're going crackers

The last of my first batch of homemade crackers was eaten today by E & V, so it was time to make another batch.  I used the Olive Oil cracker recipe I found here and had used with great success before.  I doctored the crackers up with different toppings before baking:  rosemary & black pepper, sunflower seeds, sunflower seeds & dried cranberries, and parmesan cheese.  4 different kinds of crackers total, and I was able to fill up 4 large mason jars with my cracker bounty.  So easy to do and a great money saver.  I also LOVE knowing the exact ingredients I'm putting into my children's bodies:  whole wheat flour, sea salt, olive oil, and water.  No preservatives, no additives, no coloring. 

It's State Fair Time

The State Fair is here! 

Sacramento is typically in the high 90s and into the 100s by the end of July, but for the past two days, we've had delicious 85-degree breezy weather.  My friend Susan and I had decided a week ago to take our kids to the State Fair and we certainly lucked out with the weather!  It couldn't have been more perfect.  And going on a Tuesday meant that the kids got free admission AND the rides were only $1 each. 

We really enjoyed the Dinosaur exhibit, with giant animatronic dinosaurs. 

 
 
  



And we had plenty of "firsts" for E & V:  First time on a ferris wheel.  First time on a monorail.  First time on a roller coaster (albeit a mini one).  E & V were actually doing things they wouldn't normally do, such as the rides.  It was so much fun!

We missed the animal nurseries and the farm displays but we'll just have to make a plan for next year.  After 4 hours of traipsing around at the fair, we were definitely ready to go home. 

Ferry Beautiful Day

It was another triple digit day in Sacramento, when it's already 70 degrees and not a whit of a breeze at 6am.  Time to escape.  We sped down the freeway to Vallejo, meeting my godmother and her husband, and taking the BayLink ferry to San Francisco. 

I'm always taken aback by how absolutely beautiful San Francisco is.  The approach to the City is amazing... the building and landmarks rising up on the hills overlooking the glittery bay, dotted with sailboats.  The classic Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog, the Art Deco dome of the Exporatorium, the Coit Tower, the TransAmerica Pyramid building - San Francisco is simply gorgeous.  On a clear summer day, it is truly breathtaking.  I feel so lucky to live so close. 

Eli and Vivian loved being on a big ferry boat - their first ride ever. 

 

 

We disembarked at the Ferry Building, which has become a temple to the food gods.  Lots of amazing food stalls and shops.  We ate at Gott's Roadside (formerly Taylor's Refresher) and had a delicious lunch of cheeseburgers, fries, and onion rings.  Yum!

 

 

Then, we took a charming trolley (a restored 1937 New Orleans trolley) to the piers further down the Embarcadero.  We explored around the Fisherman's Wharf area (trying to avoid the tourist traps) and briefly visited the California Maritime Museum.  Then, it was a scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's before taking the ferry back to Vallejo.

Camping Adventure: Bodega Dunes

We had our first family camping trip EVER this weekend, thanks to the generosity of both site and wisdom of our friends, the Peppel Family.  We spent a fun time at Bodega Dunes, just north of the town of Bodega Bay.  Eli and Vivian are both addicted to camping - "Mommy, I want to go camping FOREVER!" - and who can blame them?  Let's see... their weekend was filled with beach, friends, smores, tent, and sand.