Monthly Archives: June 2012

I ♥ When You Talk Desserts To Me | Volume 6 | Lemon Ginger Cookies {flourless}

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My wife is quite the perfectionist. Being a photographer and blogger she is always thinking of great ideas to share with her readers or amazing images that she can capture with her camera. Most of the time these plans go off without a hitch, and sometimes they hit a snag. I have to admit it right now though, not all things that go haywire are her fault. I’m sure most of us know the feeling of needing more space, more tools, more time, it’s a universal thing and when I got home today to find a plate of lemon ginger cookies I thought to myself SWEET (pun intended ;-) ) but I took one look at Stacey and I knew all was not so sweet.

My darling Stacey was defeated, something between idea and creation had gone wrong. She explained how she couldn’t find the right ingredients at the store, especially the lack of crystallized ginger in our nearby stores. It was quite the tragedy in her eyes. However, when I bit into the cookie it tasted sweet and good. I really could not find the fault in the cookie, in fact, I ate four more.

The balance between lemon and ginger gives it a mighty snap, almost to the point of pucker sweet, but that’s what lemon lovers love the most, that moment of fresh lemon flavor. It took me a while to develop my lemon taste buds, but I am glad I did for this blog post alone :-)

I think we can all benefit from our defeats in some way or another, it makes us stronger, but it’s also wise to understand that, sometimes, we have to give up what might have been in order to really enjoy what is.

 

Lemon Ginger Cookies (flourless)

Need:

  • 2 Cups Rolled Oats
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter or coconut oil
  • 1 cup coconut flakes
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • pinch of ginger
  • fresh lemon zest

How:

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Beat eggs and sugar together, slowly adding remaining ingredients. Teaspoon drops of mixture on pan with two inches between each cookie. Bake for ten minutes.

* I found the rolled oats to be okay, but I would have rather used ground almonds for more texture.

* Crystalized ginger would have been a better touch than ground ginger (as noted in Richard’s above thoughts).

Lemon Zest Icing:

Need:

  •  1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 lemons

How:

Mix powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice together and then add fresh lemon zest.

 

D.I.Y | Home Decor | Pallet Table

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It all started months and months ago, I wanted to build a table with old and neglected pallets for our patio. Rick and I finally had time to pick some up from a green energy company but then they sat in our garage for a couple of months. This last weekend we enjoyed a sunny weekend working on house projects, working on design projects, attending a bluegrass ho-down and avoiding the awful traffic so we thought it would be the perfect time to tackle this project.

The pallets were originally red and blue, which we thought was cool, as our original plan was for the table to go outside, which needed some lively color in the garden patio, but the tables needed a lot of sanding. Basically, they needed to be stripped down to the wood. We both started feeling the vibe of replacing our beloved coffee table just for a change (coffee table is taking a break in the garage). We made the correct measurements in height and decided to give the table a white wash to keep the integrity of the wood and characteristics.

We are now enjoying our table which brings a bit more masculinity against the flowers and mercury glass and we can easily bring the table outside when entertaining. win. win.

P.S. It is an ideal house for our books. (which typically hide under our bed)

Pallet Table

Need:

  • Two Pallets (check craigslist, or keep your eyes open at grocery stores)
  • Casters with the right size wood screws
  • Hand sander
  • wood stain or paint (depending on your style)
  • pillars (we used 8 4 inch 2×4′s)
  • 16  1 1/2 L brackets
  • and absurd amount of screws
  • Drill (recommended) or screwdriver

How:

Try to match the pallets as best you can in style and size, this makes putting them together a lot easier and more symmetrical. In our case we started with two palettes that were of slightly different sizes. First thing to do is to sand off all the rough spots. Be sure to go over it thoroughly removing any splintering wood or loose nails and boards. Once they are sanded apply your paint or stain. Let dry and finish the wood with a gloss, semi gloss or matte (we did a semi gloss in a spray can, worked great!) Attach the casters to the bottom palette. Attach the pillars to the top of the bottom palette with the L brackets then sandwich the palettes together and finish attaching the top L brackets. Depending on the size of your pillars you may have to attach the L brackets to the bottom of the top palette before you sandwich the two palettes together (I set the palettes together and marked the spots where I needed to attach the L brackets with a marker). If you have any questions use our contact page, we’re happy to help.

Summer Must Have: Groundwork | 2011 Grenache Rose

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I was enjoying a warm afternoon with one of my favorite wine buddies, my cousin Kacey, and she shared with me a glass of “pink” wine, a Rose to be exact. It was a glass of Groundwork 2011 Grenache Rose. I sipped and talked and then suddenly expressed pure joy and had to know where this wine was from. I examined the bottle as I finished the glass and conversation. A couple of weeks went by and I still was curious about the wine, so I visited the Groundwork Wine website, also known as Sans Liege, and ordered a well-priced bottle to share with my husband.

I like this wine, a lot. In fact, it is the best rose I have had this year, if not ever. It tastes like a summer vacation full of travel and epicurean quests. The nose is a Provencal-style rose, fruity and floral, with the aroma of fresh strawberries and a zip of lemon zest, and on the palate is a bit of spice and sweetness like sweet basil from Greece, and extra qualities which reminded me of tropical fruit from South America. This wine is like a well stamped passport.

Sans Liege/Groundwork is owned and operated by Curt Schalchlin, Schachlin does all the cellar work himself, sourcing the fruit from various key vineyards, the vineyards are thoughtfully chosen by Curt. His story is pretty interesting, he began working at Trader Joe’s when he was young, later he built relationships with Herman Story Wines and Barrel 27, he developed his craft with unpaid, hands-on learning in winemaking, soon he was on to producing his own barrels in the Central Coast and now wholeheartedly moving forward with his wines.

Find them on facebook here

Tasting room location:

870 Price Street  Pismo Beach, California

Arrange and Rearrange

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The other night after a long day of work and then more work, Rick and I relaxed before bed by watching a movie, but my fireplace mantle drew my attention and like a zombie I stood up and started to rearrange my mantle (see above: it is more busy than usual but I am a lush for candles and flowers).

This happens frequently, I will go into the bedroom to put away a sweater and then, an hour later, everything is out of the closet and put back with more order and tidiness. Do not get me started with moving furniture. Since we moved into our current home at Christmas time our bed has been in four positions in our bedroom. I currently love the new placement of the bed and furniture and plan to keep in that way (maybe). I know it’s a little manic but I find harmony in placing things in a thoughtful manner and making our home look pretty. Not perfect, but carefully carefree and cute, if that makes sense.

I hope I am not alone in the need to rearrange and organize…

On Saturday, I was looking for a hammer and found a blank canvas, in a few minutes I had the paints out, painted, cleaned up, found the hammer and was back to the current project. Later, in the evening Rick asked “where did you find that painting?” Uh… while looking for the hammer.

The Blue Owl | Santa Barbara

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A few years ago I met Cindy Black. She owned a catering business in Santa Barbara and as a food lover and food photographer, meeting people like Cindy is like meeting Santa Claus. Her passion for food is infectious as well as her wise cracking sense of humor.

Cindy is the mind behind The Blue Owl, a brilliant idea for the nighttime scene in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara: a late-night gourmet drunk food restaurant (there’s no need to be drunk to enjoy these spectacular dishes though). The menu features such amazing yummies like a tri-tip sandwich with pickled veggies and oyster chili mayo and a red curry shrimp roll with fried tofu, slaw and carmelized onions.

The success of the Blue Owl’s late night restaurant has recently launched a second day time location.

The new breakfast and lunch menu is a lighter, more healthy fare with a few sweet and salty touches true to The Blue Owl style, like “wake ‘n’ bacon”, a fried egg and bacon hugged between two Crème brûlée waffles, or an egg sandwich with creamy crab melt, heirloom tomato and arugula on fresh bread, or a hearts of palm salad topped with egg and pickled veggies. Cindy is even creating homemade sodas and artisinal pastries.

We loved Cindy so much that we had her cater our wedding, which was such a crowd pleaser. Cindy and The Blue Owl crew are a friendly, fun, and crazy talented bunch. The Sunday Sparkle highly recommends you start your day or end your day with a little Blue Owl in your life.

Find them on facebook here

or visit www.theblueowlsantabarbara.com