The Big 80!

A few weekends ago we all drove up north and spent a weekend on the coast in Bodega Bay celebrating B's fathers 80th birthday.  We giggled, we ate, we drank and had the best of times. This was my first time using airbnb and it worked out great!  We stayed in a beautiful, modern and spacious home with the largest chef's kitchen I've ever seen and amazing views of the harbor and the state park. 

We did get professional family photos taken, but here are some of my favorite candid moments from the weekend captured on my Nikon.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Oma's Tomato Pie

This past weekend we went up to Oma and Papa's ranch for a relaxing day of picking apples, wandering the property, rides in the mule truck, feeding the animals, and baking.  Oma is a master gardener and her fruit and veggies are gourmet in quality, variety and taste.  Her tomatoes in particular were more than abundant, so Oma introduced me to her recipe for Tomato Pie.  It's beyond delicious and perfect for brunch, as an appetizer or as a meal in and of itself. 

Oma's Tomato Pie

Ingredients for the Crust if you want to make from scratch, otherwise a premade puff pastry will work great and save you time.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup ice water

  

Ingredients for the Filling

• 4-5 large ripe tomatoes, sliced thick and sprinkled with salt, left to drain in colander for 20-30 min
• Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn or sliced into small pieces
• 2 cups grated cheese blend of your choice (mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, cheddar, etc.)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cherry tomatoes and a sprig of basil for garnish, optional

To Make

If you're making the crust from scratch: Combine flour, salt, sugar and butter in food processor. Pulse until blended. Add ice water in slow steady stream pulsing just until dough holds together, about 30 seconds. Flatten dough into disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out dough and pat onto bottom and sides of tart pan. Bake crust for five minutes, then remove from oven and reduce heat to 400 degrees.

 

Arrange tomato slices over crust, sprinkle with basil. Mix cheese and mayo in small bowl, salt and pepper to taste. Spread evenly over the tomatoes and basil. Bake pie 30 minutes or until top is browned and bubbly.  Remove from oven and let cool. 

Family Vacation - Laguna Beach

B and I were talking over a bottle of wine back in May about needing a family vacation.  When considering destinations, our list started shrinking when thinking about cost, flights, babysitter options and kid friendly activities, and we ended up deciding to visit with my mom and step-dad in their newly remodeled home in Laguna Beach.  It's really convenient that they live in a vacation destination. We loaded up the car and drove down the last week in June. It was a very fun and relaxing week spent mostly on the beach, but here are a few highlights and one lowlight from our trip.

 

From top left to bottom right:

1.      Date night!  We were fortunate to get in a few meals sans children.  Hurray for grandparents!
2.       Crystal Cove State Beach where I used to vacation with my parents when I was a little girl.
3.        B tried to open a jammed child lock and got a suspension spring coiled through his index finger. It took 4 hours in the ER, x-rays, updated tetanus shots and many glasses of wine, but he is now OK.
4.       Luke rocking grandma’s sunglasses upside down. 
5.       Emma walking on the beach
6.       View from one of my favorite walks in Laguna Beach
7.       We built lots and lots of sandcastles
8.       The pool at the Montage Hotel
9.       Sunset from my parents deck

We got to see some great friends, ate really yummy food, and got to sleep in!  All in all, it was just what we needed to recharge for the summer. 

Emma Turns 1

In an effort to post fairly about both my children, here are some pics from Miss Emma's first birthday.  Her birthday fell on Father's Day this year which was really special, and made it easy to plan a family brunch to celebrate Emma and her awesome dad. I kept it really simple, inviting just  family and made some quiche, my favorite strata, bacon and turkey sausage, fruit salad, blueberry muffins, coffee cake and cupcakes. All the food I made the day before except for the bacon and turkey sausage which made for an easy relaxing party.

We had a wonderful afternoon celebrating my sweet, funny, toothy, cuddly girl.

Emma's photo wall.

Chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the favors

The only photo I could get of Luke and Emma together

Aunt Peg and Uncle Mark with Auntie B

She started out just picking off the sprinkles, then dipped her finger in the frosting...

Emma then got bored trying to eat the cupcake and wanted to play with it...

And then she wanted nothing to do with it.

Luke on the other hand, LOVES cupcakes

With her Uncle Brett

Em and Oma

Luke Turned 3!

I spent a good 3 hours uploading 4 months of photos from my camera last night staying up waaaaaaay past my bedtime, but it was well worth it in the end as there were some wonderful memories captured. 

Luke turned 3 back in April and to celebrate, we had a fun birthday party at My Gym, a children's gym in San Ramon with lots of structured and teacher led activities for toddlers.  This was the best. decision. EVER!  They take care of all the prep work and clean up, and all we had to do was supply the drinks, snacks and cake and show up!  The kids all seemed to have a ball and Luke will still ask if we can go to his birthday party again.  He's adorable.

Here are some pics of the party and my 3 year old birthday boy!