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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.
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.
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!
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!
