Where in the World is Zippy Alexander?

Why, hiking in Big Sur, of course!

Happy Halloween

Evidence that you're never too old to have a blast carving pumpkins!

Five Years Went by So Fast!

Last Friday was our 5th wedding anniversary. Yes, you heard that right, it's been 5 years already: where did the time go? Well, as they say, time flies when you are having fun, and Bill and I have sure had a fun five years - aside from one scary Labor Day week, anyway.

We had thought about going away for the weekend, but since we had just gotten back from a lovely week in San Francisco (HA!), we decided to stick closer to home to celebrate. What better place to celebrate than Roy's in Pebble Beach at sunset?

I had made reservations and they asked if we were celebrating anything special, so I told them we would be there for our anniversary. When we showed up, we were given a necklace of pukka shells, and had personalized menus.

We had an awesome table, overlooking some of Spanish Bay's beautiful golf course & the ocean.

We had a terrific glass of champagne as we nibbled on edamame and waited for our appetizer and then entrees. They were really helpful, making sure Bill was able to order something tasty and gluten-free; not always an easy thing to get when going out to dinner these days.

The weather was perfect, and lo & behold - no fog!! The sunset was absolutely gorgeous!

The folks at Roy's had one final surprise for us... a personalized creme brulee - Yum!

Electric Cars go Vroom Vroom Vroom!

Several weeks ago my parents came up for a visit. I had kept my eyes and ears peeled for something new and exciting for us to do during their visit, and that's how I learned about the first annual Concours d'fromage held at Laguna Seca raceway. The event had an all-you-can-drink/eat wine (5 wineries) and cheese (15 cheese makers) tasting on Saturday night, benefiting Heifer International. We gorged on wine and cheese; a fun and filling time was had by all!

Our ticket to the Concours d'fromage got us into the special electric car & motorcycle races held at Laguna Seca the next day. We showed up early enough to get a good look at many of the homemade, prototype, and expensive factory electric vehicles before they hit the raceway. Bill and Dad had fun talking to the technicians tinkering with their electric cars.

After the races, we got an up close & personal look at one of the Teslas at the raceway. Dad chatted up the owner, who then asked Dad if he wanted to take a quick ride in the Tesla.

Here is how that part of the conversation went:

Owner: "Would you like t..."

Dad: "Yes!"

And off they went!

Dad came back from his ride in the Tesla with a giant grin plastered on his face. Yay!

Bill Turns 40 (for the first time)

I had a secret plan for Bill's 40th birthday, and by jove, I was able to keep it a secret!

I told Bill to be home and ready to leave for a destination unknown by 3:30 on his birthday. I told him to bring lots of layers as we may need them where we were going. I juiced up the GPS, brought water, and packed up the car, and we were off! Bill was ready for a fairly long drive, so he was a bit confused when, 5 minutes after departing, I pulled into the Monterey Bay Inn... Surprise!

Bill is constantly saying Monterey is beautiful but we're too busy to notice most of the time, and that he'd love to take a vacation in Monterey. So for his birthday, I took him on vacation in Monterey!

I booked us an ocean-front room with a balcony:

and on the Aquarium sailboat's evening wine & cheese cruise:

where Bill got to help hoist the sail:

and we got a view of the Aquarium we don't often see:

At the end of the cruise, the whole boat sang Bill Happy Birthday. He even got an Aquarium birthday button to wear (which came off as soon as we disembarked the boat). We then dropped off our extra layers of warm clothes at the hotel, and walked to a yummy steak & potato restaurant for dinner.

All in all, I think his birthday was a big success (if I do say so myself)!

Adventures in Food!

When you can't cook with wheat flour any more, what the heck do you cook?

That was my initial reaction in January when Bill found out he had an intolerance to wheat gluten. It turns out, there's a heck of a lot you can cook, and it's all tasty & pretty darned healthy to boot! We ordered ourselves one of the local CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes, and every Monday I collect our box filled with organic fruits & veggies picked that morning. Then the fun begins: "What do I do with 2 pounds of fava beans?", or "What can I do with bok choy?", or "Eee gads - how are we going to eat 2 whole heads of cabbage before we get our next box?" This week alone we received 1 fennel bulb, 1 head of cabbage, 1 pound fingerling potatoes, 1 pint strawberries, 1/2 pint golden raspberries, a head of celery, 2 summer squashes, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, 10 kiwi fruit, and 1 bunch red chard. The CSA box makes cooking fun, but definitely keeps us on our toes!

One of my recent kitchen experiments was whipping up a batch of "humitas", which are similar to tamales; very tasty, but quite a lot of work. First, I cooked potatoes & quinoa, then mashed them together with spices:

Then I sautéed zucchini, onions, black olives, and walnuts in oil & spices:

I soaked corn husks in water, then wrapped 2 scoops of the potato filling and 1 scoop of the zucchini mix into the husks, and tied them up:

Steamed them:

And then we got to eat them!

Thank goodness they were tasty. I would have been pretty ticked off, after spending all that time, if they'd been inedible! And I made enough for several dinners, and one yummy breakfast:

Family Festivities

I had a terrific week last week - I got to spend the week with my whole family! Toni and I showed up in Portland to on Wednesday spend some time with Mom, Todd, & his family on Wednesday, and by Friday, Bill & Dad showed up so the whole lot of us got to spend several days together. It was so much fun!

Ella modeled her Where The Wild Things Are "Max" outfit that Toni made her for Christmas:

And sweet Emery danced for us in her oversized, pretty skirt (picture taken after 7 or 8 twirls, during which she said "Dance! Dance! Dance!"):

Toni got down on the guitar, while Ella played on Toni's Ukulele:

And everyone loved the bubble machine!

If only I had taken some pictures of the delicious ribs Todd smoked (and all the trimmings that Kirsten prepared), but alas, I was too busy eating.

Thank you, Todd & Kirsten for hosting such an enjoyable long weekend!!

Food!

Last year I bought Bill a smoker for Christmas. But truly, it was a gift that keeps on giving... to me! I've been able to enjoy all of the yummy items he has cooked and/or smoked as he's gotten the hang of his new toy.

Bill has smoked several great items, but the best so far has been our Thanksgiving turkey.

It was juicy, tender, and super-tasty. The only downfall was that it was done about 3 hours before we had anticipated it to be, causing me to have a minor panic attack with all of the sides barely started. Thankfully, Mom, Dad, and Bill all pitched in and helped me out.

Bill has also smoked some delicious chicken, including an ancho chile rubbed flat chicken; a recipe I got from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday cookbook.

Whenever we smoke something with bones, we've been trying to make homemade stock. With our most recent flat chicken, we made a stock, shredded the left over chicken, and made a terrific soup. Bill even made homemade noodles!

Am I a lucky lady or what? (I did make the bread in this last picture, so at least I contribute a little!)

Playa Practice

So we're starting to prepare for Burning Man 2010. First up is transportation. We need to get Jen some kind of powered transport since the thin air is a bit too much. A couple years ago, we bought a cheap electric bike on eBay. It has nowhere near enough power to get up the hill we live on, but the desert is pretty flat, so...

Near us is a park with a rough sandy field that emulates the Black Rock Desert well enough. We took the bike out for a test ride.Notice Jennifer's hands-on-hips pose? That followed a small tumble, and the attitude in the pose is "OK, buster - you try it then." So I did.

Yeah, it's not going to work. No power, tires too skinny, and the 46 pounds of off-center battery weight make this a complete non-starter. Back to the drawing board.

Zippy got bored. We caught him tagging this wall next to an abandoned U.S. Army training building (the park is on a former Army base). Bad Zippy!

Rachel and Brandon

Jen and I are in Kansas City for my cousin Rachel's wedding. Wow - it's been a lot of years. She's the last of a generation's babies to tie the knot, so we're all feeling emotional to see her taking this step. She just seems so very happy.

Here's Peyton asking "is that her?"

And the answer is... "Yes!"

There was a touching ceremony accented with orchestral renditions of songs by The Cure, U2, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and others. They did a nice job picking out songs with meaningful depth, melodic breadth, and just enough of a pop of fun to remind us that this is a celebration of love, not a prison sentencing! :)

Finally: SWAK!

XMas Morning at Home

We're saving travel and vacation-day budget for a March wedding (yay Rachel!) in Kansas City, so this year Christmas is at home. Here we are with our tree, waiting for breakfast to bake.
Breakfast is going to be Praline French Toast - a baked egg, bread, and sugar concoction that has us on edge with anticipation!

Merry Christmas!

Zippy's Foray to the U.K.

I can't believe my luck! Just weeks after being rescued from my tin can prison, I crossed the pond and arrived in England. How cool is that?! I stayed across the street from Clifford's Tower - York Castle's Keep, which sits high atop a man-made hill and was originally built by William the Conqueror in 1068.

Right next to Clifford's Tower, is the York Castle Museum. It had historic household items dating back several hundred years. My favorite exhibit was the toys! I wanted to break them out of their glass prison, but didn't have as much luck as the folks who released me.

I also walked the wall that encloses York's city center. I stopped to get a quick picture of myself in front of the York Minster, an amazingly beautiful cathedral.

I had a fabulous time exploring England. I can't wait to see what other adventures I'll have in the future.

Pip pip & cheerio! - Zippy

Rachael & Paul

The reason for our trip to York was to see my friend, Rachael, get married to her bloke, Paul. We all went to an 18th century pub in York, The Black Swan for the rehearsal dinner on Friday night, where I got a great picture of the happy couple.

And a picture of the two exchanging their vows at The King's Manor on Saturday:

And a picture of the former Books/Cole Publishing gals at the reception:

Congratulations, Paul & Rachael Stamper!!

Castle Howard

About 30 minutes northeast of York lies the estate of Castle Howard, ancestral home to the Howard family. This stately home has a centuries-long history as the seat of the Howard family, who have been involved at the top levels of English politics and society. Touring the indoors and the grounds, we found its grandeur to be remniscent of Hearst Castle (I'm sure it's much more proper the other way around) and its history to be richly deep and interesting. The grounds were gorgeous, as you can see:
In addition to fighting slavery, championing Irish causes, and being involved with many other liberal efforts, apparently the Howards like peacocks, too.
This home was also used as the set for the BBC television production and later the Miramax cinema production of "Brideshead Revisited". I'm not personally familiar with either, but Jen says it's in the Netflix queue now...

Jolly Ol' England

After a rather inauspicious start involving a departure change (thunderstorm canceled Monterery - LAX flight; re-booked through San Fransisco requiring a one-way rental car to get to SFO on time), and an "inoperable" plane (requiring deplaning and waiting 5 hours for a new plane & crew), we finally arrived in Manchester, England. Whew!

We met up with friends Stacy & Robert, who took us to Fountains Abbey. Henry VIII had this abbey demolished when the Anne Bolyn troubles were taking place.
They also took us on a drive through the Yorkshire Dales, with a late lunch at the Wensleydale Creamery - Yum!! Here's a picture of the Yorkshire Dales:
We also met up with Rachael & Paul (the soon-to-be-wed happy couple), and the others here from "across the pond" for dinner last night. We packed a lot into our first fun-filled day here in Yorkshire.

Oh! And check out our view of Clifford's Tower from our hotel:
Pretty darned awesome!