a cutting board how to

A few months ago I got some pretty wonderful cutting boards thanks to my mom, and thanks to a Williams-Sonoma outlet being in her backyard. A few months later (now) the boards were lacking their shine and I knew some oil is what I needed. But what kind? And where would I go that wouldn't rip me off? My first stop was Sur la Table and I was thankful to find a couple options there. I ended up with generic mineral oil as opposed to their version for $.75 cents more, and am quite happy with the results. There are different oils if you have anything bamboo, but this worked quite nice. I'm going to try and keep up the maintenance about once a month or so, but rubbing a little bit of the oil on a cloth then onto the board. Wa-La.

seasons

A couple weeks ago I left the above, and came home to the below. Oh Santa Barbara. Today what made me really happy was coming home to our gardener (which comes as part of our rent) weeding in my garden! Now I'm really motivated to put some seeds in there and see what winter veg I can grow for the winter garden. Stay tuned!

Fall into Another Good Spoon

Fall into another Good Spoon

You're Invited to the Fall Good Spoon Cooking Class

Now that the sun is going down earlier, maybe we can begin to pretend it's Fall! Think pumpkins, butternut squash, and so much more. Come away from a cozy and fun night with new friends, recipes you'll have mastered, and fresh new ideas that'll help you more easily conquer the transition from Summer to Fall.

When: November 14th, 2009
Where: Santa Barbara
Time: 7:00 PM
Cost: $25

RSVP by 11.12 to reserve your spot- Space is Limited!

my pumpkin zucchini bread

Some of you know my all time favorite zucchini bread recipe is from my grandma. I have countless memories of slabbing on some cream cheese and enjoying this wonderful treat for breakfast or a snack- probably even part of dinner sometime. When my roommate's boyfriend had it, he offered to let me borrow season 4 of how I met your mother, if I made him zucchini bread.

Well, I had some pumpkin in the house and ended up tweaking the original recipe just a bit, to make this my own. Somehow I was all out of all purpose flour, so I used self-rising and whole wheat. I think this turned out to be a good flour combination since sometimes whole wheat alone can tend to be too heavy of a flour. I used some grated zucchini I had frozen. I took it out of the bag and let it drain over a mesh sieve and squeezed out any excess water before adding to the bread.

Recipe-
3 eggs, beaten
1 c. veg oil
3 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. sugar
2 c. grated. peeled, zucchini
1/4-1/2 pumpkin puree
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cup self-rising flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt

Beat wet ingredients. Mix dry ingredients and add to wet ones. Bake in 2 greased pans at 350 for 1 hr. to 1 hr. 20 min until toothpick in center comes out clean.

You can add nuts or raisins to this if you'd like- or chocolate chips would work too if you like the sweets. Enjoy plain or with a little cream cheese!

fall in los olivos

This afternoon Les and I headed up for a quick trip to Los Olivos. Excuse me. Les, Molly and I. I've been wanting to try out Saarloos, Stolpman, and the Enjoy cupcakes I follow on twitter. Yup. We stopped into Saarloos and were happy to discover a wine and cupcake pairing. Done and done. Stolpman was pretty wonderful and I highly recommend it- great reds. It's fun as I wine taste more and more. My palette is getting a bit picky, I must say. I love fall up there. Since well, even if it's warm it feels more fall like. Persimmons and yellow leaves on the trees. Hello, November.

big day. little clogs.

A little bit ago I made a big purchase. I got Danskos. Standing for hours in the kitchen is no good on one's back and well, I like to stand for hours in the kitchen. Now that I've been going to Pilates more often I'm even more conscious of my posture and real excited for the new digs. It felt like a really big day in my culinary life when I bought them. And I mean- they could be worn with a dress or skirt- when I'm doing a cooking class, or cooking. A really great investment I must say and something that makes me feel like I'm taking baby steps in the right direction like others who have followed their dreams with these here shoes. Oh little clogs, where will you take me?

I wanted to also highlight this apron Annemarie so graciously gifted me with awhile ago (from etsy of course). I told her how roosters are in kitchen design because they're supposed to be good luck. With the Good Spoon, she wanted to encourage me and encourage me she did. I'm not sure she's seen me in it, so I had to snap a pic when I wore it the other day. Thanks, AP!

montana: guns & beer

So I'm back in Montana this week. We got to enjoy some more of Missoula and saw Ben Folds play there which was really exciting. His tunes took me back to high school. It was fun to watch and listen to him and sing along. Thanks Benny. Missoula is a cute place. Funny enough two people from my hometown, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, now live there which is pretty random. After walking around a bit, I can see why. We went to Kettle House and enjoyed a pumpkin ale, and then we walked over to the local bread store to get a loaf for the week.

Back in Great Falls highlights would probably be contained in the all star day we had yesterday. Eric and Benjamin suggested we go shooting. I have never held a gun for more than 2 minutes so likewise, shooting it, even the thought, gave me a nervous rush. We went out to who knows where and I did in fact pull the trigger and shoot a gun. I was pretty glad that after the first couple shots I was less giggly and nervous, and could at least know how to load it and shoot. Next time we can work on skill. Today, I have a bit of a bruise on my arm. Oh well. It was worth it.

After shooting we headed back to grill steaks and brew beer. Being someone who enjoys good brews, it was fun to see what goes into the making of a beer. I must say, it's pretty worth it to make your own beer. Once you have the kit, the ingredients aren't much and it just takes a bit of time. We started a bit later and were up too late waiting for the brew to get down to 70 degrees so we could pitch the yeast. I'm not sure we waited long enough because it doesn't seem to be fermenting yet. Apparently, we can get more yeast and pitch it again. The smell in the house was like that of a brewery and the boys loved the hops, grains, and malty aroma. What a day.

Today, I'm enjoying the scenery and am going to get myself out for a walk shortly to move around a bit. The barn and canoe and horses are all right here in his backyard. I'm a little bit in love with the different color pails in the barn. Would make for an awesome picture or painting I think. Well, a couple more days here then back to life in SB!