MLB

We went to a real baseball game for our anniversary. My first ever. I learned two things:

1. Fireworks are better over a baseball diamond.

2. My man is even hotter in a baseball cap.

home is where the rodeo is

We're home! Made it just in time to catch the last day of our county fair. We ate candy almonds and got sun kissed while we watched the rodeo. All in all, a very Americana Sunday.

see you real soon...

We leave tomorrow for our summer vacation. There's just nothing like a good old fashioned family road trip to make you feel the sunshine season. Ah Americana.


This will be my first vacay in a long long time that I won't be taking my laptop. I'll certainly miss checking in with y'all but I can't wait to share all my photos and stories with you when I get home. Cheers.


{photo from the Library of Congress}

Fair!

The rickety rides and fried food carts have started to arrive at our seaside fairgrounds. 








Oooh I just love the County Fair!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for so many things... I can't even begin to write them all here. What are you most thankful for? Do you have a top 5?

{I'm thankful for finding these fantastic Wild Life Prints. See more of them here.}

gone fishing

I doubt if I'll be shopping for bait and tackle this Saturday. But I will definitely stay outside so long as the sunshine weather stays. Maybe Mr. C and I will go for a downtown stroll or a picnic in the park. Or maybe I'll plant a garden and bake pies. And then again, I might do none of those things and escape to the beach instead. The possibilities seem endless.

Happy Friday friends. Hope this weekend finds you doing something you love.

{photo of boys in the bayou from the Library of Congress}

plums and other stone fruit

As long as I am waving goodbye to summer and all that it brings to market, I guess it's about time I say farewell to the stone fruits.

I made this fabulous plum galette from a recipe I found in Sunset. I go mad for plums and nectarines especially, and I love to bake with both.

It was beautiful and delicious, with it almond paste filling and tender cream cheese crust.

persistent 'Insistor'

The soundtrack of our Sunday is still stuck in my head on Monday. This song is especially sticky. We also had a good dose of Pine Hill Haints, but I have yet to find a really excellent video of them.

Besides listening to good music, we chased the sun and went on another perfect picnic. Oooh, I just love a picnic. Did any of you find a patch of sunshine to bask in over the weekend?

Cream Cheese Brownies

I had this insane craving for cream cheese brownies...

... so I decided to make some.

They turned out pretty terrible—not enough chocolate or cream cheese—but we ate them anyway. Every last one.

Good and (sort of) Good for You

I guess it's been a little while since I've posted any baked goods.




But to be honest, it's been quite a while since I've baked. Even longer since I've baked anything good. But when my mom gave us a lifetime supply of yummy peanut I just couldn't resist making some PB chocolate chip cookies.

The recipe was originally from here, but I adapted it a bit. I added 2 tablespoons of flax seed which gave the cookies a lovely little crunch... almost like eating crunchy little bugs. Mmmm... bugs.

Obligatory Thanksgiving Pie

I never showed you all the Thanksgiving pies Ian and I made because, well, we had a terrible time baking them. We made 4 altogether, and it took 2 days and 6 pastries. The worst part was that they tasted terrible. No one took seconds on desert and the left overs went to waste. Anyway, they looked good. The one shown here was filled with cranberries and pears and topped with a (burnt) lattice.

Black Friday

Happy shopping to all you bargain hunters and good luck with your retail adventures. I will not be joining you. Instead I will be eating leftovers and avoiding crowds.

Pies are for Eating

I didn't make it to the pie contest today. This week was so crazy and I just wasn't prepared. Pies are for eating anyway, right?

Happy Saturday everyone.

Summer Longing, Peach Blueberry Pie

Dang, it has been a while since I posted. Flu season and November mayhem have got me longing for sunnier days. I'm looking at old pie photos and thinking of August heat. This series makes my mouth water.

It all started with the freshest farmer's market peaches and the loveliest blueberries...

... and it ended in oozing deliciousness.

The big pie contest is this weekend. Not sure which pie to make yet. Any suggestions?

forget your troubles

It's Friday. The sun is shining. Come on get happy.

Prize for Peace

I was in shock and awe this morning as I heard the announcement that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Price. My heart swells with patriotic pride for the first time in a long time.

{found image, I'm sorry I don't know the photographer to give proper credit}

Happy Labor Day

Here's to fresh summer watermelon and rolled up shirt sleeves. Hope you all have a glorious day.

{This image is from the 1955 sultry Americana classic 'Picnic' with William Holden and Kim Novak. If you've never seen this film, you simply must. And there's no better time to watch it than Labor Day.}

set the cruise control

Happy Friday everyone and happy Labor Day weekend. This sweltering holiday, with it's melancholy end-of-summer tone, always seems to sneak up on me. Just when school is back in session and our Ventura thermometers have hit their peak, it's time for a little Americana vacation. Time to celebrate the working man and woman by taking a day off.

Amidst the parties and picnics and beach BBQs of the long weekend, I think I'd like to go for a drive with my sweetheart. What are you all going to do for the next 3 days?