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"The Rock" in Morro Bay Yesterday we took our time driving from Santa Barbara (Buellton, actually) to our home in the San Francisco Bay area. At first we were in search of a winery called Black Sheep Finds in Lompoc. We drank their 2005 Genuine Risk Merlot  while on vacation and loved it. We wanted to bring home a few bottles. We couldn't find it so we ventured to San Luis Obispo, then on to Morro Bay where we had a yummy seafood lunch at Giovanni's Fish Market. Then on a whim we decided to go to Moonstone Beach in Cambria so Elli could collect some cool rocks and then to San Simeon to see the enormous elephant seals and their baby pups. We saw a glimpse of Hearst Castle on the hill. Then had a long and windy drive home (in the dark) along the coast - 4+ hours. Trying to get a closer look. The long, sloooooowww line at Giovanni's  Fish Market. View from the car window. Amazing, huh? The sun is starting to set on Moonstone Bea...

Check out this cute little guy playing Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours."  Here's Jason Mraz, the singer, performing the song live on stage. I think the little guy did a pretty good interpretation!! Have a great day!

December 20, 2009 Dear Santa, I don't know about you, but I'm really glad 2009 is just about over.  I'm sure the economic crisis affected your toy workshop in the North Pole, just like it affected our lives down here in sunny California. Looking back, I would say I've been mostly nice this year. A little bit naughty. But who isn't? I survived nearly getting fired by my client. Don and I were able to keep the business afloat and not let anyone go. We did reduce hours, but everyone had a job. Elli has been flourishing. She and I have spent a lot of time cooking together. I have accidentally yelled at her for spilling flour on the floor.  (that would be the naughty part.) I started this crazy blog and even attended a blog conference to learn more about this stuff. We're all healthy (flu aside) and of sound mind (in my opinion anyway.) I should probably spend more time with Don, my better half, instead of spending so much time on the computer and iPhone (n...

Still looking for a unique gift for the wine lover in your life?  Or your boss? Or maybe that picky client? Well we have the answer. Check out these leather wine bags we're making at Pollin's in Napa . They come sized for six bottles or one bottle. The divider is removable so you can also use it as a really cool tote. Each bag is one-of-a-kind. Don hand picks the hides at Hide House of Napa - so each bag is an original. Let me tell you, these are super cool. I'm trying to get him to bring one home so I can carry it as a purse.  Honey????? Hello!? So shoot us an email if you're interested to don@pollinsofnapa.com. We can ship it FedEx as late as December 23rd. (You know you want one!) 6 Bottle Tote $150 1 Bottle Tote $55 Pollin's Interiors and Custom Upholstery Don Mulkey 707-224-1905 don@pollinsofnapa.com

Sorry I've been M.I.A. I'm on day 12 of the cold/flu bug and I'm finally feeling better. My horrible cough is almost gone. I don't need triple doses of Advil to get rid of the headaches. I'm starting to feel alive again. I just couldn't deal with the blog when I was sick so I kind of just let it sit for a week. Speaking of which, what to do with the blog..... I've been trying to figure out what to do with this silly blog of mine. I've had a lot of fun writing it. But sheesh it takes a lot of time and energy. Maybe I'll feel differently after I've hired someone at work and don't feel so exhausted every day. All I know is that it's not a good thing to spend a lot of time on something that annoys the heck out of Don, and I only have a handful of readers. So basically I'm writing for myself (and my mom.) That doesn't make much sense does it? Maybe I just need a diary. Then I can really write down what I feel and there won'...

We cracked open our first crabs of the season on Sunday. I am so sorry if you don't live here in the Bay area. You are missing out big time. The Dungeness crabs are soooooooooo good. The meat is sweet, and tender, and oh-so-delicious. Don had a hankerin' for his famous crab fettucine so I skipped right on over to Whole Foods and picked up two whole crabs - which they clean and crack for you. Which trust me, makes getting the meat out a whole lot easier. No pliers or hammers required. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Don is a good cook. In fact, he's the whole reason I wanted to learn how to cook. He's the kind of cook that doesn't use a recipe or a cookbook. He has that natural gift of knowing what tastes good together. I am so envious of that talent. He's also an amazing artist, photographer, interior designer, etc. In other words, he's the creative one in the family. I'm the other one! Just kidding. I'm creative. In my o...

First off, let me say I love my husband. He's the man. He's my mister. Now on to George Clooney. Prrrrrrr .....he's my Hollywood fantasy man. The dashing good looks, cocky demeanor, amazing voice, sexy smile, the twinkle in his eye that is part trouble, part dude......sheesh, I guess I should stop, I'm gonna be in trouble. NOT. Don doesn't read the blog. I'm safe. (I'll tell you about his crush on pretty little Scarlett Johannsen some other time. Cradle robber.) Anyhoo, George is in a new movie, "Up In the Air", that is getting rave reviews, pre-oscar buzz, and I can't wait to see it. We saw "Fantastic Mr. Fox" last weekend in which he plays the voice of "Mr. Fox." He's fantastic as the fox. But I can't wait to see his mug in this movie.   meow!! So get on out there and go to the movies people. Show George some love. Maybe he'll invite me (and the fam) to his Italian villa, aka, mansion, for a l...

I don't know about you. But I grew up on Kraft Mac and Cheese . There's nothing wrong with Kraft, but there is nothing like the creamy goodness of homemade mac and cheese. It wasn't until I was an adult that I had real gourmet mac and cheese. Oooh la la. Heaven on a plate is what I say. I've made Martha Stewart's recipe with the breadcrumbs on top. Delish. I've made the Barefoot Contessa's with tomatoes on top. Awesome. This time I made Ree Drummonds aka, The Pioneer Woman, with nuthin' but cheese on top. Divine. Since I'm a cheese lover I made it with really good white cheddar and aged gruyere. Oh. My. Gosh. So creamy and delicious. It was fantastic. It tasted delicious before we baked it. And it tasted super yummy with the crispy cheese baked on top. You have to try this recipe. It's seriously good. I have a new love for Gruyere cheese. I bought aged gruyere at Whole Foods, or maybe it was Trader Joe's, I don't remember. It wa...

We were talking about cooking in my office the other day. My boss, Josh, was saying there is no need for cookbooks anymore. And my other co-worker, Sue, sort of agreed. I told them it's true you can download and print just about any recipe anymore, but I still like a good old-fashioned cookbook. I love the stories in cookbooks, how personal they are to the author and I really appreciate photos of the recipes. They then proceeded to tell me their favorite, "must-have" cookbooks and all their favorite recipes. The first book was Julia and Jacque Cooking at Home and the second book was Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan . Why don't I have these books? Where have I been? Of course I wrote down the names of both books and made a mental note to purchase them as soon as possible. I actually love cookbooks and have quite a collection. So I was kind of shocked that I didn't have these. Josh, who happens to be my boss, has worked with me for three years ...

Yesterday we decided to head up to Napa and St. Helena. Then just for fun Don decided we should trek over to Healdsburg too. Not exactly in the same area. But what the heck! We started out at the store, Pollin's , to check on a few things. Elli went nuts when we pulled in the parking lot because there was the perfect pile of leaves right in front. She couldn't resist. Then we headed to St. Helena to have lunch at Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen.  I had the mushroom tamales filled with grits, almonds and chard with Yukatan salsa. The chard was a bit tough. Don had a salad - grilled rare ahi tuna, udon noodles, nori strips, sesame seeds and a miso glaze. Elli had chicken fingers that weren't very good - my little foodie said they were burned. And she was right they were a bit like chicken jerky. But her fries were awesome. So I was disappointed. The food was ok, but not great. And the service was ok. Bummer. Next we stopped at Olivier in St. Helena to fill up our O...

I tried Emeril Lagasse's Coconut Cream Pie for dessert tonight. There is only one word to describe it. Heavenly. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. Of course we did do the meringue twice - because I forgot to add the sugar to the egg whites the first time. It came out perfect the second time - as you can plainly see. There was only one other glitch. The rolls didn't really work out either. They never rose. They tasted like pretzels! But it didn't matter. It was still a great day. I hope yours was too. I almost forgot, the wine for the evening changed slightly. Don pulled out a wine from the wine cellar for tonight. It was the 2000 Chimney Rock Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Oooooooh, was it good. And now it's all gone. Too bad. Now it's time to settle down and watch a movie with the family. See you tomorrow!

Wow.  I don't know about you, but there has been a flurry of activity in my kitchen. Elli has been my sous chef all day. It's awesome. She's old enough that she can actually lend a hand. Like stirring the milk for the pie for 4-6 minutes so it doesn't burn. Love it. We've only had one disaster so far. We didn't hear the timer go off for the pie crust. So it's a good thing I bought frozen pie crusts and they come two per package. The meringue is not quite right. It looks all wrinkly. So I just checked the recipe and realize I forgot to put the sugar in the egg whites. DOH! I'm going to scrape it off and do it again. Don's sleeping. He'll never know. Ever. He never reads this blog. So unless you tell him we're good. Everything else is pretty much done. Just have to make the gravy.  I'm waiting for the turkey to finish to do that. Then I'll pop the dressing and potatoes in the oven too. Everything tastes sooooooo good. I don't ...

Good morning everyone! Or good afternoon to my east coast friends. I'm live blogging today. So if anyone is out there tell me what you're up to!!! I'm out of my funk and totally enjoying my day so far.  We're watching the parade. I made a yummy breakfast of fried eggs, english muffins and chicken sausage which will hopefully tide us over until dinner at 3pm. I ran into a friend yesterday (literally, I nearly bonked her with my cart in Safeway) it turns out she and her daughter don't have plans for today so hopefully they will be joining us for dinner this afternoon. I really hope they come. Thanksgiving should be spent with friends and family. Menu for today is roast turkey breast, the Barefoot Contessa's fabulous Parmesan Mashed potatoes ,  steamed green beens, cornbread dressing, home-made cranberry sauce, The Pioneer Woman's dinner rolls and Coconut Cream Pie for dessert. Phew. I've got chicken broth simmering on the stove with carrots, c...

I don't know what's wrong with me. But I'm just not into Thanksgiving this year. Actually, I do know what it is. We're not going anywhere and we're not having everyone over. I should be planning, shopping, cooking - and I'm not. Don doesn't want a big dinner, and I obviously don't want to cook a bunch of food for just three people. But we have to eat something. So what to do. I made a boneless turkey breast one year. It was ok. Maybe I'll look for a new recipe and try that. I don't know. But I better figure it out. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Zoiks. I don't know about you, but my favorite things to eat on Thanksgiving are smoked turkey, parmesan mashed potatoes, home-made cranberry sauce, warm rolls and pecan pie with home-made whipped cream. Maybe I'll do just that. Keep it simple. Elli will be really disappointed if we don't do something to celebrate. She's been learning all about the pilgrims and indians and what it me...