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How to Make California Cookies and Much More...

We are pretty lucky living off the California Coast because quite often we can enjoy the dolphins frolicking in the Pacific Ocean when we head to the beach for the day.  As this picture was taken last Friday of our first trip to the beach. Every Friday is designated as "BEACH DAY"!  It is the only day the girls' are mostly scheduled off for the day, no soccer, no volleyball, I say mostly because there are a couple of soccer games on a Friday but for the most part...we are off! Beach days here we come!

The gang is all here!!  Here is our group picture of all the kids, they had a great time surfing, boogie- boarding, body surfing, playing football, roasting marshmallows and getting stung by a Stingray...oh that was not so fun, MacKenzie got stung on her big toe when going out to surf.  Yikes!  Gotta do the Stingray shuffle, some people need to learn the hard way. I told her but she is hard-headed, I wonder where she gets that from....don't you be pointing your finger this way at me...wink, wink.  She is her Mother's Daughter like I said before in previous posts.

We were able to nab a pit, so we had a bonfire when the sun went down and stayed late into the evening until they kicked us out at 10 p.m.

This is picture looking out into Long Beach, California with all the ships with their cargo landing at the docks.  I thought it looked picturesesque with the sunset and the skyline.  Anyways....back to the title of this post California Cookies.  Are these not completely adorbs?!!

When I saw this Cookie on Pinterest, damn you Pinterest!!  Well, really I LOVE you!!  I knew I needed to make them.  Mine are a bit more simple with the white royal icing and the red heart.

If you've been reading my blog for very long you know I'm a bit obsessed with the California state shape at the present time, go HERE to see what I mean ...yes I've been buying pillows with my home state, making a surf spots sign, I even saw a frying pan that I covet, and cheese board in the shape of California...so when I saw this California State cookie cutter it was a no brainer.  Not only do I live in the gorgeous and sunny state of California, my Daughters {as did their grandparents} go to California High School.  I'm sure this little cutter will get put to work a lot!  As I said, my California cookie is more simple, I added the red heart instead of the Hibiscus flower, I did find some purple flowers at my local Joanne's Fabric but they were too large for my cookie. I'll have to check out my local Cake Decorating store for a smaller flower for the next time I make these cookies and you know there is going to be a next time!

 Look how adorable these cookies came out!!   I used my super yummy, easy-peasy sugar cookie recipe.  I'll share the sugar cookie recipe at the end of this post. 

 Now there is a reason I made the California cookies, MacKenzie had her end of the year banquet for Club Volleyball.

Here she is receiving her 110% award from the coaches!! Whoop, whoop, great job Kenz! We are proud of you!  She worked really hard this season and had a great season with her team, made new friends and learned new skills.  She went from playing a hitter to playing back row. 

Not only do they get awards from the Coaches, the girls gave each other awards, they picked names and then they create an award for their chosen player.  Here Kenzie is with her BFF and she gave her the Poor Immune Award, she has Asthma and  often gets sick because of it.  Poor baby, could be all the plants we have growing here in California brings on lots of allergies. 

Her other BFF had her and gave her the "Sunburnt Award", because she is always getting sunburnt...she swears she puts on sunscreen!  I don't know about that.  Her teammate got her a sunhat and tons of sunscreen.  Now if only she'll remember to reapply.  After this last beach trip on Friday I think she may have learned her lesson about reapplying after going in the ocean. It was quite overcast, as many people think if it's not sunny your not going to get sunburnt but the rays poke through the clouds.  Wear sunscreen PEOPLE!

 

Their Club team is called So. Cal. United, that's the reason I made the California cookies...

For the last few years I've been using this sugar cookie recipe from Williams-Sonomas' Message in a Cookie kit that I really like.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sugar Cookies~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients~

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

12 Tbs. or 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup of sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, I always use Madagascar Bourbon from World Market, great flavor

Food coloring Gel {optional}

 What To Do~

Over a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes.  Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food color { I omitted this I wanted mine natural} gel and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture.  Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed.  Add the remaining flour and continue beating until the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2-3 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a least 2 hours or up to 2 days.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.Dip cookie cutter in flour and cut out and lay cut out cookies on parchment paper, bake until golden brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes. Makes about 15 cookies.

Now for the Royal Icing Part....this is my "Go to Video" when I'm decorating cookies with royal icing. I used this recipe when I did the Ball Jar cookies, which came out great. I like how clear and easy it was to follow. He has lots more videos on his youtube channel.

Go Here for the California Cookie cutter from Amazon or  I've seen them on Etsy and Ann Clark carries many different States that you can choose to show your own State Pride in cookies.  Happy Baking and now I'm off to do some Swimsuit shopping...oh boy!

 

 

 

Shakin' it up on my 50th Birthday Party

I turned a half-a-century on Friday night but I felt like the Earth was talking to me loud and clear.."BOY Girl your old!"...we had a 5.0 {actually 5.1} Earthquake in celebration of my Birthday. 

I invited my High school friends {with their spouses} over to celebrate...

But I don't think they planned on doing clean up duty....I lost a few of my Ironstone platters and a couple of glass cloches....so I guess I'll be hitting the yard sales and Goodwills to replace them or maybe it is time to thin out all my "junk". As you can see on my the bottom shelf of my hutch I have quite a few of them.  My daughter also had her huge mirror broken. The shared glass was  all over her room and she is very shaken up {no pun intended} so she has been sleeping with her littles sister everynight since it occured. We have had  a lot of aftershocks on and off all day yesterday and it is very nerve racking worrying if "the big one" will hit. 

But despite all the unexpected Shakin' up of my birthday I was so glad that everyone was fine and got to spend time with my favorite peeps!  

MIA...WHY?

I know it's been a really long time since I've posted...well there is a reason for that.  About 2 years ago my Mr. Incredible had been diagnosed with Skin Cancer on his lip.  He had surgery to remove it and now that ugly cancer has reared it's ugly head again.  We have been going to doctor appointments and that has consumed most of my time, {if you've been reading my blog for awhile you know I'm a Breast Cancer Survivor and I just past my 4 year mark, yea me!}.  Mr. Incredible's skin cancer came back and it has travelled to his neck. This past week he had surgery to remove the tumor and will begin Radiation at the end of the month.  

                                                 {image taken before Skin Cancer took away his bottom lip}

As you can see he is a quite fair and has had numerous spots burned off his skin.  It doesn't help that he is in the sun all day for his job and surfed all his life.  He is much better about wearing sun screen these days.  Just wanted to give you guys an update about what's been going on.  

In happier news...I'll be having a GIVE AWAY on my Blog in the next post...so come back and check that out.....

A few things you may or may not know....about Li'l ol me...

Over at My Sweet Savannah she was interviewed by another blogger and answered a few questions about herself. so I thought I would do that on this post about me.  I haven't done this in awhile, so here goes.  If you have any questions about me...go ahead and ask them in the comment section and I'll be glad to answer in a future post of Q and A's. Not that I'm all that exciting but you may be curious I see I get a lot of visitors from all over and this is your chance to delurk..I promise I don't bite.  :)

                                         1-what is my favorite season?

Summer, I must say I love all the seasons but I love sleeping in and going to the beach all day and not being on a schedule

{from Pinterest}

  

 

2-what is my favorite food?

Ice cream, without a doubt

Name 3 things on my bucket list.

Go scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, drive up the Pacific Coast and stay in quaint Bed and Breakfast places with my husband, travel Europe.

4-my favorite quality about myself.

  

that I'm not shy

5-least favorite quality about myself.

That I don't always think before I talk

6-favorite thing to do on a lazy day.

Staying in my pajamas, putter in my cottage and watch movies with the family and play board games

7-my favorite brainless tv show.

Modern Family

8-favorite quality in a friend.

Being there when needed

9-What are three things I love about my spouse?

Hardworker, his love of his family, loving me still when I was hairless

10-What is the hardest part of parenting for me?

When others are mean to my girls and knowing that you have to let them fight their own battles 

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day { i know i'm a day late and a dollar short}

 
My father and I  in the front Canoe and my Uncle Johnny Mac and my cousin in the Back Bay of Newport, Calif.  My Aunt had a house on the beach and we would spend a lot of time there..I have fond memories of that house...in fact I distinctly remember the Dutch door looking out at the beach..still to this day...I WANT a Dutch Door {minus the ocean view}

 
Here is my Daddy at Cabrillo Beach.  He was the happiest camping and being around people.  He was such a "social butterfly".  We camped a lot growing up and I suppose that's where I get my love of camping from, but it didn't matter who you were, my DAD always invited the WHOLE campground to our site.  I can remember camping at Three Rivers and we had the "Hells Angels" over for a barbecue.  Another time some young Army men, more like boys really  where hanging out at our Campsite and my Dad was more than happy to play the host! 

 
He could make a mean Salsa and homemade chips. Many times he could be found in the kitchen making breakfast for his family. 

 
He had a heart of gold and I can remember people saying, "your dad would give the shirt off his back, if you needed it".  He was quite a character and I could write a book about his life.  He was  a bit crazy in a good way.  He loved his family and LOVED his dogs....I can remember one time when he picked me up at the airport when I flew in from Hawai'i and while we were waiting for my luggage, {I never travelled light} he struck up a conversation with another person waiting on luggage at the turnstile and he pulled out a flip-roll of pictures of his dogs out of his wallet..."oh yes, this is the father of my dog, he had a starring roll in the movie THE WHITE DOG."   I miss you Daddy very much and I wish you could be on this earth to see your Granddaughters you would be sooooo VERY proud of them!!   Happy Father's Day to all the Dads on this planet and to all the Dad that live on in our hearts!!  We LOVE you!

The Story of Us {con't}

Did I leave you hangin?  Well....let's see where did I leave you last?  Yes..this restlessness that was inside me.  When I got back to the Island of Kaua'i and started getting my classroom ready for the upcoming year I came to find out that I was pregnant.  Yep...and I really wanted a baby just wasn't sure if this was the right time.  I had such mixed emotions.  I called Troy back on the Mainland and told him the "news".  I didn't get a good read on his take on the whole matter.  I went on and started teaching, I was very excited about this growing life inside me but did not know what was going to happen with Troy in Calif and me in Hawai'i, how where we going to make this relationship work?  School started and that first week while teaching the Second Grade something dreadful happened............I miscarried our baby.  I was so heartbroken.  I immediately called Troy and told him what happened and said to him, "Your off the hook now".  He told me, "that he didn't want to be off the hook".  Wow!!   A few weeks later....he planned on coming for a visit.   He had a return ticket back to Calif and when I took him back to the airport to catch his flight while waiting in the parking lot, he said, "let's go home".  I was like "home?"..to the li'l Lime Sherbert house?", he said, Yep.....

 
We ended living on Kaua'i together for about a year. Troy spent his days fishing and crabbing.  He always had a cold glass of wine for me when I came home and dinner, usually Chef Salad.

 
It was a nice break for Troy living on the Island for a year.  We spent our weekends at friends barbecuing...or hanging out at the beach.

 
 
That year went by in a blink of an eye.  When June came and I closed up my classroom for the summer, we came back to California to visit family and friends.  It was then that we decided that we would try again to have a baby and low and behold...it didn't take much  time....BAM!!!  We were pregnant!

 
                 {here we are in Santa Barbara, pregnant with Madison}

We decided to move back to California because it is so expensive to live on Kaua'i and I wanted to be a stay at home Mom.  Troy could go back into the Ironworks and we would be able to live off of one income. 

We got married in March of 98 and then in May we had Madison.  It's amazing that it's been 13 years!!  We have never been happier and enjoy our life together, raising two daughters.  Happy Anniversary..Mr. Incredible, here's to another 13 years!

The Story of Us...

Today is OUR 13th Wedding Anniversary, Yes, Troy and Gabrielle {the High School Musical couple}.  I have known my husband since I was 19. We met at a party place we used to go to called the Fullerton Bowl.  It was a bowling alley but they had some back rooms you could rent and often our friends would have parties there. That is the first time I  layed eyes on my mysterious, lanky {Edward Cullenesque} blued eyed husband and he on his fiery, petite latina.  Yes we are opposites to the core if you look at us on the outside but not so much on the things that matter.  We dated a whole 9 months, we practically were living together, he rented a house with his brother and I was over there all the time. In the summer I walked to work from his house, at the time I worked at a park for the community and it was one block away.  In the short time we dated we did and went many places.  One memorable trip was to Mexico.  Just across the border to Tijuana.  I would make him take me into all kinds of "Raunchy Places".  I was very naive back then and was enthralled with the seedy side of life.  He was not at all comfortable and it was very strange that these women would come up to him and offer their "services" while it was obvious he already had his "hot Mexican Mamacita".  Anyways..he said, "let's get our of here".  We spend the day strolling down the main street shopping and eating the good food Mexico has to offer.  We stopped to take a picture on a burro, we thought it was so funny that the man called us "HoneyMooners", come get your picture with my Donkey who had painted on stripes to resemble a zebra.  It was a memorable trip to say the least. 

 
                        {edited to add Burro pic in Mexico} 

 I still have the silver bracelets that we bought on that trip. They are now in my jewelry box, all tarnished.  It was a short lived romance and we broke up within that year. I went on to live in San Diego, live by the beach and attend San Diego State University.   

Troy went on and got into the Ironworker trade and ended up marrying someone else.   

 

 Flash forward to 1996...I was living on Kaua'i and worked as an Elementary school teacher.....

 

but had come "back home" for the summer {I'd recently broke up with my boyfriend of 10 years}.  I was living in this cute Lime Sherbet House. I loved that it had this wrap around Lanai, I wanted a house like that forever, I still yearn for a small porch.  We used to eat our dinner out there by candlelight and you could hear the Luau music from the nearby hotel.

It needed some beautiful flowers and plants to bring it to life but at the time I did not feel like nesting at all.  I could see what it could of become..this cute little Island cottage. Even though we had a beautiful vegetable garden out behind the house.  Troy has always had a green thumb.  Yes..at one point he did come back to live with me in this cute little cottage but I'm getting ahead of myself in the story. 

Well I had been home for the summer of 1996 and visiting friends and we had gone to dinner at The Elephant Bar.  I was single and come to find out, Troy was newly single too.  He was in the process of getting a divorce.  I called him up from the pay phone {hey..cell phones were not the thing they are today}, he decided to meet me and the rest of my gang at a pool hall.  We reconnected that night.  The next day I went home to my Mother's Cottage in San Diego.  Now I wish I had a picture of that home..it is a true cottage in every sense of the word.  Troy called me every day at exactly the time he said he would.  He asked {pleaded} with me if I would postpone my trip back to Kaua'i.  So I did and I decided to fly out of Los Angeles instead of San Diego.  When I got to his house the night before my plane departed back to the islands we had a beautiful night together.  We drank wine and did spent the night in each other's arms for one last evening.  He drove me to the airport the next day...and their was this restlessness inside me the whole way flying home.  I could not pinpoint this feeling that was happening inside me.  In a short couple of months I would find out.

{to be continued}....
 

Lemon Chicken...and a Happy Little Flower

One of the things I found out about having Chemo, which I did not expect was that things would taste weird to me.  My taste buds are totally whacked out!  Well, the first time I had my infusion {that's what they call it when they "infuse" you with all that poison}...I guess it sounds better then "inject", everything tastes like metal.  I felt like I had a mouth full of nails when I ate. Some food are worse than others.  I googled why that was and sure enough that is one of the side effects of getting "infused". The site suggested eating things like Lemon amoung other things.  So I pulled out one of my MIL {she is a great cook, after all she is from the South and I use a ton of her recipes} recipe for Baked Lemon Chicken.  Not only is this recipe tasty it is also very healthy so that's a bonus. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Baked Lemon Chicken~~~~~~~~~~

3 1/2 pounds chicken, skinned and cut into pieces

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1 1/2 of thinly sliced cloves of garlic or 1 teaspoon of garlic powder

4 fresh thyme springs or teaspoon of dried thyme { I used mine from my Herb garden,,yea, go me!}

3 cups thinly sliced onions

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1 lemon sliced into 10 slices, seeds removed

~~~~Directions~~~~~

Combine salt, pepper, garlic and thyme.  Lay chicken pieces into a 11x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle seasoning over chicken.  Combine onions, stock and lemon juice in a sauce pan.  Heat to a boil. Pour hot lemon mixture around chicken.  Top each piece with a lemon slice.  Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown and juices are clear.  Easy Peasy....try it.  Perfect for summer...

I usually like Broccoli but with this "new tongue" of mine..not so much.  

 
On to the second part of my post title...Aren't Gerber Daisies..the happiest little flower.  They just seem to say to me in a very cheery voice, "hello there Gabrielle"....

And they look even cuter in an Aqua blue mason jar.......

I picked them up at Trader Joe's where I pick up my Steel Cut FROZEN oatmeal, that I love to eat with vanilla yogurt and blueberries.  Yum!  If you have not had the oatmeal from Trader Joes..you should get some..I love it and it fills you up and satisfies your tummy.   Well Happy Hump Day to you peeps....go out and pick up some flowers, you deserve it.
 

What a Weekend, full of rats, cake bombs and more...

You never heard of a cake bomb? Well do you live under a rock or somting? A cake bomb went off in my kitchen this weekend.  It started like this.  With all my success of Cake making these days I was feeling like "I was all that"!!  The birthday cake for Kenzie birthday got big raves from the guests, the Rainbow Cake  was hailed by the crowds.  So I tell my friend who is hosting a baby shower {for our fearless Girl Scout Leader} I can make the cake...I'm down with that.  Have you seen my cakes lately..."I'm the bomb Chickca" I tell her.  Well check out this mess.................

well it turns out "I" was not the bomb making cakes but the Cake was a bomb and not in a good way.  I have the book Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, which I love and has the greatest ideas in there for cute cupcakes. {you can see the cover in the top left hand corner of above picture}

 
I come across the Baby cupcakes I see inside the book and decide I can do that and then while I'm at the Cake Decor store I come across the Giant Cupcake from Wilton's {i know my neighbor has one I can borrow} and I decide to make a Giant baby instead of cupcakes.  I buy a fake bottle and a diaper pin so I don't have to make that and that will cut down on the time to make them/it. Plus making a giant baby cake is easier then frosting 15 to 30 cupcakes and decorating them.  While I'm there I see some Bavarian Creme...ahh yes..let's put Bavarian Creme in the middle...then I get another brainstorm, she is having a Safari Theme in her nursery so why don't I do a Giant Monkey..they look sort of like babies.  I can use some big wafer cookies for ears and brown frosting.for the fur and wa-la a Baby Monkey Cake.  On Friday I start making my 9 in cakes and my Giant Cupcake {for the monkey head} Everything is going good.  I wait for them to cool a good long time.  Pop the first layer out and put it on my cake stand. This is were the fun starts!   I add the Bavarian cream and then plop the second layer on top...it starts to crack and break apart into three pieces.  I yell at Mr. Incredible to come get the bamboo skewers to stab it.  It is no use, it starts to slide off the top. I scrap the top layer off and I decide to make another layer, maybe I did not cook it long enough and it's too soft.  I put that layer on top...it does the same exact thing. 

      here is the first layer

I feel like I'm in an I Love Lucy episode, where she is on the conveyor belt and eating all the candy because she can't wrap them fast enough.  I was trying to cover it up with butter cream frosting to stick it together, it just made it heavier, then I put the Giant cupcake on top and that did it...it slid off the top and on the counter..

I was now without a cake and I have a soccer game first thing in the morning and I hope...Cost-Co will save my butt and have a cake.  In the end, they do save my butt along with Martha Stewart.  I get a Chocolate Cake and add some Safari Stickers {Martha's line at Michael's} and call it "good".  A cake that I should of cost me about $20.00 to make, cost almost $70.00 bucks!!

Meanwhile....while I'm trying to "decorate" this cake my daughter comes in to tell me there is a rat climbing the wall....we have a brick wall in the back with and Orange tree so I assume she is talking about that wall behind the Orange Tree.  I go outside in my towel  {flashing the neighbors as this itty bitty towel doesn't cover all of me} and the bugger is not climbing the wall by the Orange Tree but climbing the wall of our house next to the back door.

"Mom, mom he is shaking!!" she is very upset. {the lover of all creatures great and small} The dog  and the cat, who by the way can't stand each other are at the bottom of the wall in cahoots in catching this creature.  Mr. Incredible finally comes home and rescues it and lets it go near the Orange Tree and we bring all the "killers" in the house.  The next day comes and I need to wash uniforms for the afternoon soccer games {since my daughter has pizza all over it from the night before from the Galaxy game we went to}I go to grab the tide and SCREAM!!  Mr. Incredible thought I was having a heart attack and walks to the garage.

 
I guess since It was my Birthday, Mudge {the cat} did not want me to feel left out and brought me a gift.  OH, ain't he thoughtful!   If you are still reading this Kudos to you.   What a crazy weekend.   Glad it is Monday so I can have some peace!! Want some cake?

thank you!!!

 The past several weeks when finding out my "situation" I have gotten the most heartfelt support from all my friends, colleagues and family.  From the bottom of my heart I want to say THANK YOU!!  I appreciate all of you in this very unsettling time of my life.  I would be lost with out you all my dear and wonderful friends....my heart is filled with happiness and love as I type this.  Friends are definitely the flowers in the garden of life!!