Sunset.

{"Be this sunset one for keeping . This june bug street sings low and lovely"}

Tonight after dinner I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store. We needed half and half for our morning coffee. I bought everything but half and half.

I asked the kids if anyone wanted to join me, and I got one enthusiastic yes from my sweet Emmett.

On our way we took a detour: As I was systematically driving along Emmett said, "Mommy! Look at that beautiful sunset!"

I turned right at the next light to get to the top of Signal Hill. Emmett said "Mommy, can we actually get out?" of course, I said.

We watched the sunset together and we ran and ran through the cooling grass and Emmett yelled out to me, "I'm laughing, but nothing's funny! I'm just so happy!"

There's a little piece of my heart lost in the grass there now, and when Emmett is grown, I'll go there and hope to find it. But I think it will have gone off with that sunset.

• Sunset Soon Forgotten by Iron & Wine

More Iron & Wine music on iLike

Ice-Cream.

{hello, raspberry-basil darlings!}

For Mark's birthday a half year ago we gave him an Ice Cream Maker. (Kind of selfish, isn't it? We reap the rewards!) An aside: I always thought to make your own ice cream you'd have to spend all day cranking away. That was once the case, but not anymore. We love this thing. Just turn it on, let it run for 25 minutes, allow to set in the freezer for a couple of hours and viola! The best darned ice cream in town, no kiddin'.

Moving on...

I had an obsession to try basil ice cream. We did some experimenting and finally found a good recipe. It was simple to make. 

First, chop the basil!

 

 Next, you boil the basil with some milk and dissolve the sugar. Then blend until the basil is just wee specks of beautiful green.

The bananas just happen to be there...

I poured it through a mesh strainer to get the bits of basil out, but I think next time I'll allow some to remain. Into the ice cream making machine!

The result was a very mild and herby ice cream. One friend even joked, saying it tasted a little... how do you say.... medicinal. It was good enough, though, that the kids took it down.

Just not quite what I had in mind. My dear basil needed a side-kick.

So, I was in a quandry. I felt I was turning my back on my beloved basil. There are a myriad of flavors that compliment basil beautifully. I spent a few days thinking.

I decided I'd serve it along-side a raspberry sorbet. Sorbet is super easy to make in the ice cream maker. Basically, it's just frozen or fresh fruit and simple syrup.

I reserved some sorbet to make these cute little sorbet hearts for my little loves.

I thought it would be cute to make them in cupcake molds and serve them inverted with fudge sauce. I decided to call them darlings, because they are darling, they were for my darlings, and basil is my darling in the herb community.

don't think paper liners are necessary, but my molds have been around for awhile.

I made and froze the basil first, then the next day made the sorbet. Before adding the sorbet over the basil ice cream, I added a smidge of super-rich chocolate* ice cream I had left over in the center. 

Finished product, as plated:

Oh my stars. It was delicious. Duh. Lish. Us.

They would also be cute in a fancy cupcake mold like this:

I'm hoping to come up with more fun flavors and combinations. Mark and I want to be "the ice cream people". As in, "Oh, invite the Rebennacks to the bar-b-que, they always bring homemade ice cream." You'd want us around, right?!

*Best Chocolate Ice Cream: Make sipping chocolate. Turn it into ice cream. Holy Sugar Cone, Batman!

Harvest.

{Considering Introducing myself to an Intro to Gardening.}

 

Mark works at Hope School, which is a school for severly handicapped children. He is the visual arts teacher. They also have a very abundant garden, and we are the benefactors to their bounty.

He brought home these beautiful tomatoes. As with almost everything, I don't really know much about different types of tomatoes. But, I do know a pretty fruit when I see one! (And, I know that tomatoes are a fruit. A berry to be exact.)

I made a tomato salad with the two tomatoes he bought from the school garden. I just added shallots, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. Nothing more is really needed on a fresh tomato, grown in a sunny garden and picked at peak ripeness. I swear, I can taste the sun.

We do have a tomato plant growing successfully in the back yard. The kids get a few tomatoes a week, and we use them up. (full disclosure: I don't do any of the gardening, so my interest in gardening as a hobby is kind of a facade. Mark does it all, with help from the kids. But I intend to help out. I'll get there.)

I did a quick Wikipedia read and found out some fun facts. I love fun facts.

• China produces the most tomatoes worldwide
• Tomatoes came to the americas by the spanish conquistadors
• The tomato plant belongs to the nighshade family
• There are around 7500 varities of tomato fruits

So, it seems to me that tomatoes are on the easier side of growing. I see lots of apartment balconies with the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. With the availability of stuff like this, there's really no reason to buy mealy tomatoes at the supermarket. Not when you can grow some easily. It not the the aesthetic you're after, but hey...















Any tomato experts out there?  Any hints, advice or tidbits you can share with  me?

Jars.

Glass jars give me a very strange yet comfortable satisfaction. I buy certain jams, sauces or pickles based on the jar... and cannot wait for it to be emptied.

I use them to store opened bags of nuts, brown sugar, and other miscellaneous pantry items.

Well. The ante was recently, as they say, upped.

I got a label maker. I call him Label Baby. (who gets the reference? Winner gets a free label, to label him/herself as the winner of course.) The satisfaction has gone from just comfortable to nearly blissful.




















And really, the story as to acquiring the Label Baby is quite sweet. I wanted one for years. I craved one. But my dear Mark would nay-say, knowing me so well, knowing I'd go bonkers labeling needlessly. But, being the dear love he is... he caved and gave me the Label Baby! Label me excited. I actually didn't even open it for weeks, waiting to allow myself the enjoyment. Well it's been open for awhile now, and it [labeling] hasn't stopped. Nothing is safe.

Is this strange? Readers, be honest. Any guesses into my psyche ?

Love-Song.

{my life to music vol. I}

For many many years I've had this tendency. I like to start the day out with a song. The same song. For months.

It sets the tone for a good day, you know?

I am going to start sharing the songs with you.

I recommend you listen to these songs at full blast, dancing with a baby in your arms. I promise you, you will cry with unabashed joy - your heart will burst and it will be stitched back together with the laughter of your children. Then, they will be so purely beautiful the stitches will rip out, and then your kids will stitch your heart back together, yet again, with their simple, uncomplicated love.

This is the current song, Home by Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros.



holy roly me oh my. you're the apple of my eye.

Enjoy.

p.s. it should be noted that all cool and new music I ever hear comes from my connection to the cool and new world, The Admiral.

Breath.

{ I've been away from the computer for awhile, and here's why.}

I recently had an epiphany. (no not that other one, a new one.) I realized:  I have had a desire to make some sort of impact on the world- with my opinions, my words, my designs, my work.

Alas, a breath.... Now I don't feel the need to do that. I just want to make a difference in their lives.

I have enjoyed some light summer reading which ended up hitting me harder than I realized, and maybe harder than it would have most other people.

One book I read (and for the first time) was The Outsiders, and I still don't know how I'm 32 3/4 years old and just now read it. I read it blindingly quick and cried and cried. I love that book, and I love those boys.















As in any [good] book there are moments so touching and real ... I lost sleep and my imagination was so engrossed with the lives of the Curtis boys, I had the euphoric sense of my reality and their fictional world merging.

That's just what a good book does, ya know?

So I realized, I was so interested in the lives of those three boys... and I have my own set of three pair of eyes watching my every move.

Hanging on my every word. 

Waiting to laugh with me.

Waiting to be involved.

Waiting to learn.

What better job is there?

Salt.

{and I don't mean the Jolie picture.}

This may be controversial, but I love salt. I'm trying to learn the delicate differences in the varies of sea salts. I bought some yummy lemon salt at Cost Plus and oh man... roasted asparagus with that lemon salt and woo hoooo, are you in for a treat.





Have you ever tried Salted Caramel? If you haven't tried it yet might I humbly suggest you get in touch with C Salt Gourmet. Quickly.

It's the perfect treat for yours truly. The salt/sweet combination is so wonderful. And you know, the old stand-by of chocolate covered pretzels will never let you down.

I really love pink salt, but to be honest, it's because it's pink. I'd like to learn more about the nuances of different salts - do you have any information for me?


This assortment is cool, a good way to just to tasting and experimenting.
 













So, since I'm all into salt. I'm looking for the perfect salt cellar. I try to buy handmade, local, eco, (insert-other-good-things), thus - thought I'd find one on etsy.

Page Pottery has a cute turquoise, rustic one.














This wood piece by Richard Altenhofen is beautiful, too. It is lidded, functional, and attractive, a bit more modern, so it's in the running, as well.














The modern feel of this set by rae dunn would definately fit Mark's aesthetic and mine, and since we both cook equally and both enjoy it, it'd be nice to have us both represented in our salt cellar.











Hark! I find:
in the paulova shop, this fits the bill. I can even color-code my salts! An organizational dream!












I'll keep you posted on my progress, I know you'll be dying to know!

By the way, which do you like, or do you have other suggestions? Any favorite salts I should try out?

Vacation.

Dear ______,

________ is really ________. We are having a ________ time.

Wish you were here,

Angie.

No, seriously.

We're on vacation visiting my Mom and Pop in Naples, Florida. I was hoping to post about our vacation, and include pics. But I can't quite get some technical such and such to do much. (and much)

we're in Florida. In August. 

Vacationing is a hobby I would really love to have. I've done a bit of travel, here and there. Seen some amazing sights, places, people. With three little kiddos it kind of scares me, though. I am the "err on the side of caution" type, so even a camping trip seems daunting to me with a 5 month old, 3 year old, and 4.5 year old. 

The Wally Wagon. My dream car.

Will you share your thoughts on travel, with kids, without, whatever? Where do you like to go? 

When we go to Paris we WILL get berets with our names. We WILL embarrass our kids.

Routine.

{The best part about having a day-to-day routine is breaking it.}

With all these little kids, our dear little dependents, we tend to create routine out of necessity and to keep our sanity. But, of course, they are growing fast (and they are right - it does go by very fast) so our routine is constantly changing. Bedtime, though, tends to be pretty consistent.
take a bath
put on jammies
clean up toys
wrestle with Daddy
brush, floss, rinse
last trip to the latrine
read a chapter (currently The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe)
goodnight!

Tonight, we did things a little differently.

They made cookies. Right before bed. We're not normally the type of parents to throw in a wrench like baking sweets just before bedtime, nor are we that stodgy that we'll shy away from flying by the seats of our jammie pants. But tonight, watching Mark and our two big kids (3 and 4.75 is big. They are kids now) gave me an intense joy I want to remember forever. So I'm writing it.

Mark just said "Come on, guys, you're making messes of yourselves. Ah, I guess that's part of the fun. Nevermind."

Perfect.

{Get over yourself already.}

I really like to read the blog Simple Mom. I find it very relaxing, sweet and honest. (just like me. except I'm not relaxing, and I wouldn't really say sweet. Nice enough, but not sweet. But honest, I'll give myself that one.)

So you know how I've been trying to figure myself out. Now that I haven't a job. Now that I have three little kids. Now that my pant size is double what it used to be. Now that I can't finish anything I start, if I even start it at all. Well part of why I'm having trouble figuring out my hobby is that I have this lingering thought, picking away at my good intentions, "If I can't do it really well why bother." Well, now, if you said this to me, my wise reply would be "how will you ever get really good at it if you don't practice?" I say this to Elliette all the time about ballet. But that's you and her, and not me.

Today I read this post on Simple Mom and while a cool breeze was literally rustling my fly-away hair during my reading, I also felt a breeze of optimism in my crowded little brain.

this is the best I could capture the breeze.

Hey, yeah, you're right, I think. Okay, I'll go pick up that embroidery! Or should I sew dresses for the girls? No, I think I'll make cookies. Wait, I wanted to make more ruffle bum bloomers. No, I should write in my journal...

I didn't do any of those things.

So I'll just share it with you. Maybe later I'll actually do one of those things I got all flowery about.  I did, however, detail the dryer.

What are you inspired to do?

Trucked.

{Long Beach Street Food Festival}
























This past weekend the family headed downtown for the first festival in Long Beach devoted to the burgeoning gourmet food truck.

I have been intrigued by this culture for awhile. When I worked at Harveys the lunch truck would come around (and yes, we did call it the Roach Coach) and it was really just what you might think of in a lunch truck. Fast. Cheap. Greasy. Unhealthy. Accessible. It was a novelty and a convenience, but not much more.

Since then, Los Angeles has had a few gem gourmet food trucks. There's the cool factor of many of these Haute Coach's availability. They alert followers via online social networks of their where-abouts, so only those "on the list" know about them. It's titillating because you can't just go on a whim, and you have be in on the secret. It's very Hollywood.

Sceneadvisor.com does a good job describing the trend:
"The recession's effect on the North American dining scene has been well-documented. In the past few years, some of the continent's finest restaurants have either made the move towards "casual gourmet" or shut their doors altogether. But there has also been a move in the opposite direction; rather than running for the nearest McDonald's, many diners have sought solace in "gourmet" versions of downscale standards, and some savvy entrepreneurs, recognizing the new demand, aim to deliver. Literally."

Well, hip or not. I love it. We have three little kids, so being seated for a meal can be daunting. But walking up to a truck, keeping Emmett enthralled by the big tires while ordering, and then just planting ourselves on a curb or even in our car... so nice. And normally, we'd have to hit Taco Bell for such a comfort, which brings it down about 37 notches. Being able to have a potato taco with pickled onions from world-famous Border Grill, kids chowing on truly healthy and delicious beans n' rice all while playing duck duck goose in the grass! A dream!

The Fest was super-fantastic because we got to try lots of stuff all at once. Because some lines were long, our food would settle, making room for the next round and allowing us to munch all afternoon. (Oh, I love munching all afternoon.) We were with friends, so standing in line was a great chance to chit-chat and play with all of the kids.

A band of police officers, Blue Steel, played popular-among-30-something-hits, which was fun. I danced to Modern English with the kids and crooned some Rod Stewart while waiting for Mark to return with the grub.

Okay, onto the food. We enjoyed - thoroughly:

-=-Calbi tofu tacos. I love tacos. and I love tofu. These were really tasty, and priced well.

This is a photo of 1 tofu, 1 shrimp taco

-=-Border Grill (I was so excited! This is one of my favorite places ever.) We had the sweet corn tamale cone, potato tacos and rice n' beans. It was one of those embarrassing moments when I kept murmuring "mmm... this... is.. soo ...oooo. gooood..." to myself. It. Was. Awesome.

-=-The Place LA, we had a mediocre veggie burger and soggy fries, but the service was very good.

-=-World Fare, we had the truffle mac n' cheese balls, which probably taste great right out of the frier, and taste pretty good as we had them. They are rich enough that the side of 3 balls was enough for four of us. The goocher was their drinks: Strawberry Basil Lemonade and Orange Lavender Iced Tea. Both drinks were out of control yummy. They also have an upper-deck dining area, which is really cool.

-=-For dessert we checked out the Sweets Truck but couldn't really figure out what they had, the signage wasn't so hot. We wanted to get some ice cream sandwiches from Cool Haus but at the end of our stint there, the line was just too long. (readers who waited for Cool Haus - was it worth it??) So we went back to World Fare, where they were smart enough to have a separate table set up selling quick-grab desserts. We had the Cheesecake Red Velvet Cupcake (Elliette's choice) and a Brownie (Emmett's choice) and both were marvelous. The brownie, especially, was lip-smacking, nice crackly top crust, and very moist and perfectly dense center.

The admission price of $8 might have deterred us, honestly, if Border Grill hadn't been there (I am a super fan, seriously) but the good news it went to the Adopt-A-Teacher and LB City College Student Scholarships programs. (Kids were free, and you could pre-purchase for $6) Being married to a teacher myself I kind of felt the solidarity in the moment. The parking fee of $10 was steep, but I blame that on the convention center. Next time we'll definitely take the free Passport there.

The Grilled Cheese Truck was also there, but we didn't partake. This is why:

That long line goes allllll the waaaaay to that orange truck. I'll try and catch in LA soon, though, the menu looked yummy and very fun!

All in all, we are excited for it to come again. The location at Rainbow Lagoon was really cool, the layout was great, and the selection was fun. I also loved the live music.

Did any of you go? What did you think?

See you there next time!

Dud.

{my misadventures in baking, vol. 1}

I enjoy cooking. I'm pretty good at it, maybe a little rusty after a year of illness from a really difficult pregnancy, and having a newborn, but still, I manage. Baking, though... ugh. I just can't seem to get it!

Well, as is typical for me, I think I'm super fantastic enough to just make any old thing. But I don't really love following recipes. Baking is a problem, naturally, because as I'm told, you have to follow baking recipes and not just wing it.

See, I feel cooking is a creative expression. Which is partially what I enjoy. But to bake something - I feel like I'm in chemistry class again. Which, was a short-lived venture... I barely squeaked by high school chem. My dad is a chemist... I hope he wasn't disappointed. He never showed that he was let-down, if he was. What a sport.

Lately, I've been really enjoying being the homemaker I am, so have wanted to get a handle of baking. I've tried. I've not succeeded

I will share my dud.

Strawberry Cobbler. Seemed simple enough. This recipe isn't complicated, so I thought even I could handle it. I Hulled the strawberries and was feeling fine, just look at these berries! .

































Emmett is better at this than I am.

You'll notice there's no picture of the cobbler.

It was gummy, flat and the tips of the strawberries - which should have been enveloped by the tender cobbler - burned.

Any tips, friends?

**Edited July 27th by Angie:

Hi, friends! I figured out what I did wrong! I sub'd cake flour for all purpose, and had "self-rising" in mind, so omitted the baking soda and salt. This is what caused my flat, gummy no-good cobbler. Thanks to everyone!