I am sooo ready for fall

I look at the Weather Channal for my area every day now hoping for a dramatic change from the high 90's, but no such luck! Does this mean I should just stop looking at the weather forecast as it is a constant source of dissapointment or break out my rain dance gear? I'm thinking beaded moccasins and some feathers. When I was about ten years old our family went on a camping trip to Sequoia. There were a bunch of us kids and of course we had a blast playing in the stream and making up all kinds of games. I decided to use my dads pen knife to carve lightining bolts into a long stick as we were pretending we were an indian tribe. Every afternoon around three storm clouds would gather and it would rain, I loved it! I decided to put my thunder and lightning stick to the test and pounded it down on the shore of the stream. Boom, thunder sounded above us and we all screamed and ran for the safety of our camp site. Everyone was giggleing and out of breath as we huddled together in one of the tents and watched the rain come down. The second time it happened everyone laughed and yelled "run"! I loved this game and would pound that stick on the ground every afternoon and yes, there would be loud thunder and brillant lightning. My dad still talks about that camp trip and my crudly carved stick. Somehow my thunder stick didn't make it home from Sequoia...dang it I could sure use it now!

Home Sweet Home

My daughter and I had a wonderful time on our road trip. We covered over 1500 miles in 8 days. We went from Humboldt County on the Northern California coast to the rolling hill and oak trees of Palo Cedro California, then to the mountains and back home.

It was wonderful to spend the time in the car with my children. I have been taking them to Palo Cedro since they were born and it is a trip they still enjoy dispite the long hours of travel. There was lots of discussion about school as they both start college this month. We listened to some great music....well, not all of it was great and we laughed a lot, which is always my favorite part!

I will miss the cool breezes off the awe inspiring and spectacular coastline. I will miss the Redwood forrests with trees the width of a Volkswagon, and the beautiful countryside of Palo Cedro, but most of all I miss my son. It is always hard to leave him behind even though I know that he lives in a place he loves. I know this is all part of the way things are supposed to be, your children are supposed to leave home and become independent people....right? Well, anyway Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!

When my daughter and I arrived home we were greeted at the front door by our dog Molly, a Border Collie mix and our one year old cat Binx (aka The Cat Dog) I thought Molly was going to flip herself over she was wagging her tail so hard!

So now, it's back to life as usual....but I must say it suites me just fine!

Rustic Peach Tartlets and a road trip!

Hello friends, my daughter and I are leaving tomorrow morning at 4am on a road trip. Yep, we will cover about 1300 miles in the next week. I am looking forward to spending time in the car with my daughter....I hope she feels the same way, but hey, where is she gonna go? I am also looking forward to seeing my son at the end of tomorrows 10 hour journey.

Please look at the AM1220 website tomorrow. My Recipe of the Week is Rustic Peach Tartlets, they are simple and delicious so I hope you will try them. The website address is hometownstation.com, the recipe should be on the front page.

Have a great week!

A bit more brownie info

Yesterday was really wonderful! Everyone at KCAL 9 News was so kind and thoughtful.
Thank you again Annette for all of your help and company!

I want to elaborate a bit on the brownie recipe. I use Blue Diamond almond meal as it is gluten free and I like the flavor it lends to my baked goods. For the brownie recipe I always put the almond meal into my coffee grinder to give it a finer texture before I measure it out. There are two white rice flours that I use, one is from Authentic Foods and the Other is Ener-G Sweet Rice Flour. You can find both of these flours at Whole Foods. I love the caramel-like flavor of dark brown sugar and I find that the brownies are not too sweet as can sometimes happen with granulated sugar.


Please write with any questions you have, I would love to hear from you!!

It's going to be a good day!

As I walked down our stairs at 5:30 am this morning, I had to pause by the window. The sky was just starting to lighten and to my surprise it was cloudy! Now, I realize that this may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I am energized by the promise of rain, espcially in the summer! As we all know, summer rain is a rareity in Southern California and I for one find the wonderful aroma of wet grass and summer flowers somthing to be celebrated, something special.

So, the cloudy sky seems to me a good omen as I start my day because today I will be on KCAL 9 News to do a cooking demonstration of my gluten free brownies! I am very excited and yes, a bit nervous. but I have to say that the morning sky is a gift that holds the promise of something a little different from yesterday.... Now, if I could just decide on what top to wear!

Chicken Posole, the first day of spring and tornados, "Oh my!"

Wow, last Sunday was the craziest first-day-of-spring I have ever seen! We had a small tornado go through our yard that completely distroyed our umbrella (which was closed by the way) and rearranged some chairs. But the worst of it decended upon our neighbors, ruthlessly attacking their yard furniture. They witnessed chairs, chair pads and tables twirling hither and yawn through the air only to have everything unceremoniously dumped in their pool. Sounds a bit "Auntie Emish", doesn't it? Not a good day for chaise lounges or small dogs!

Well, it was a good day to make Posole. Any time we have 7 inches of rain in 24 hours, it's a great occasion to stay in the house and cook!

I hope you will try the Posole and let me know what you did to make it uniquely your own.

Enjoy the sun while we have some, Erin

Happy almost Saint Patrick's Day everyone! Hope you are enjoying this beautiful day as the storm clouds come rolling over the mountains. I am looking so forward to the rain.

Please look at my Colcannon recipe on the AM1220 web site. It is really delicious and definitly falls in the comfort-food catagory. I am making corned beef tomorrow and the Colcannon will be the side along with some roasted carrots. If you have any questions or thoughts to share send me a message. Enjoy!