Shawny's Day

Today was our day together. We woke up early and he made me pancakes.... He definitely knows what makes my heart happy! I sent him to get his hair cut while I got ready to go. We drove to Avila Beach and walked down the pier... I doubt I'm the only person who feels this way, but I hate walking down piers that cars are allowed to drive down! Freaks me out completely. Well, afterwards we stopped at Avila Barn so Shawn could feed his favorite cow. And then we were off to lunch at Garlands in Grover Beach. Shawn had wanted to go to Splash Cafes, that was until he saw how long the line was... Haha.. On our way back home we stopped by Windmill Farms right off the Los Berros/Thompson Rd exit. We had never been there before so we figured we'd check it out. It was a lot like Avila Barn other than the fact it was like a ghost town. No one was there except ourselves and one employee. On the way home I fell asleep zzzz... I was so tired all day and had been fighting it for a while. When we got home I ended up taking a 3 hour nap. Not such a great idea because now I'm going to have problems sleeping. I felt really bad for falling asleep so I helped Shawny make the Black Berry Turnovers I had been promising him. He tried to make them last week, but he wouldn't listen to me when I told him the pie dough was too moist. He told me he knew what I was doing. It turned into a mess and he got so frustrated that he completely gave up. Tonight I made him a pie crust that worked perfectly. I think he learned his lesson.. Always trust the baker. ;-) Well the one store I love more than any other is Williams Sonoma. I <3 it! Last time we were there I got this.

I hadn't yet had an opportunity to use it so this was perfect.

Pie Dough

• 2 1/2 cups AP Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 sticks Unsalted Butter, cut into dice
• 6 - 8 tbsp Ice Water

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and the 2 tbsp sugar until combined, about 5 pulses. 

Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses.

Add 6 tbsp of ice water and pulse 2 times. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers.

Divide into two portions and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While that was chilling we started the blackberry filling. We don't really have a recipe we just kind of go by taste. We used a whole clamshell of blackberries and about 3/4 cup of sugar.

Let it simmer and gently mash up the berries just a little bit. We also added about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and made a slurry of 2 tbsp cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water to help thicken the mixture up. 

Once finished we transferred that filling to a bowl and put it in the refrigerator. I then began rolling out the pie crust and cut it with our mold. 

The next step was to fill the mold and close it up with both egg wash and using the mold to crimp the edges.

Before baking place on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet and egg wash the tops. Shawn also sprinkled the tops with sugar. The final product before baking....

And here is the final product after baking....

MMM.... 

Product reviews... 

The pie mold - my only complaint is that the lattice side sometimes doesn't completely cut through the dough. :-( 

Kitchen Aid food processor - Love it. So glad we got the bigger size, it even came with a small bowl to put inside if you only want to do a small quantity.

All Clad measuring cups, spoons, and sauce pan - I love All Clad! Don't have any complaints at all. Very sturdy stainless steel. Definitely worth the high price tag!

Vent!

Sometimes you just need to let it all out and vent a little bit. I used to think that Shawn was crazy every semester when he would go onto www.ratemyprofessor.com, but now I'm wishing I would have too! Not like it really would have helped me with my business teacher though. Almost all of the businesses classes are taught by him and one other professor. I have been taking his classes for a while now in person and online and he sucks! There is little to no communication from him unless he wants to put you down. You basically take a mid term, final exam and submit 12-16 learning logs. If you don't submit your work exactly how he wants it you get an incomplete. When I submitted my complete assignments I attached my file and copied the material in the message just in case something went wrong with the file. I sent it way before the class even ended and asked him to reply letting me know he had received the file. The only reply I got from him was 2 weeks later when he wrote to me telling me that I didn't submit my work correctly and that I failed to demonstrate how to follow directions. WTH! He didn't even look to see that I HAD attached a file to my submitted assignments. My reply wasn't so pretty so we'll see what grade he decides to give me. I saved the email so if it is anything less than what I deserve I'll definitely be challenging my grade. The classes I took in person weren't much better. He is by far one of the weirdest unprofessional teachers I've ever met! He was late to class everyday and took at least 10 minutes to set up his roller suitcase, water, unneeded papers, and to put a cough drop in his mouth. During classes he would proceed to tell us how great he thought he was. If I could I would never take another class of his again, but unfortunately I don't have that opportunity. At least I don't have any of his classes next semester. Bob Bryant step up your game because you suck! :-)

The Sequoias 2011

Shawn loves the outdoors so we decided to go camping in the sequoias for our summer break. It was absolutely beautiful there. I was a little hesitant about going because I'm not a fan of bears! Haha.. well while we were there I wrote a journal for my little brother Eddie so he could feel like a part of the trip. So I decided to share the journal with everyone.

Day 1               Last night I had to work at 10pm until 6:30 this morning. Usually after work I go home and go straight to sleep, but at work all I could think about was all the things I still needed to get (batteries, bug spray, ice & advil) and all the things we still needed to pack. So after work I went over to Walmart and waited until 7am when they opened. I got everything we needed and headed to the gas station to fill the car up. Once I got home I stayed up and finished packing everything up. We took off around 9am and about 20 minutes into the drive I finally went to sleep. At about 12:30 Shawn woke me up to get some lunch in Lemoore. He stopped at Popeyes and I don’t know if the food was really that gross or if I was just really tired. I’m thinking it was a combination of both. For the next 45 minutes I kept falling asleep and waking back up so I just gave up on sleeping. We were almost there anyways. The roads up the mountains were really narrow and there was some construction going on. It was really creepy and I’m glad I wasn’t the one driving. As soon as we got to our campsite we started setting everything up. We had to take all of our food and other supplies out of the car because there are black bears in the Sequoias so everything had to be kept in bear lockers. Once everything was set up we went out to do a little exploring. We drove down to some other campsites and hiked up what I think was a granite rock. It was pretty big but not too huge.

On our way back to the car we saw a deer just hanging out.

We did some more exploring, but nothing too exciting. We came back to out campsite and made foil dinners. Shawn has started this super healthy eating thing. I like to call him a hippy, but he doesn’t like that. So almost everything we brought up with us was “organic”. Hopefully we’ll see some changes soon. The weather was pretty warm so we figured the nights wouldn’t be very cold, boy were we wrong! It was freezing.

Day 2               I did not want to get up. It didn’t help that Shawn woke me up at about 8am and I was still tired from the day before. We had cereal for breakfast and packed our lunch. We had cooked up some chicken strips before we left the house so we had chicken and mozzarella sandwiches on Ciabatta (fancy Italian bread). We also had some granola bars, pretzels for me and organic pita chips for Shawn. We started heading out on a little drive. It quickly became a long drive! First stop was a place called the Lost Grove. It was covered in Giant Sequoias.

After we walked around a little bit we drove to our next destination called Grant Grove. Here we walked on a small trail and saw some more giant sequoias. They also had one that had fallen over that they hollowed out so that people could walk through it.

That’s Shawn J. After our little hike it was still pretty early so we continued on with our long drive! It was so crazy and scary. I’m still afraid of heights and for part of the drive we were right a long the edge. Thank goodness Shawn was driving. The drive took about an hour, but it was so worth it. We ended up at Grizzly Falls.

It was so beautiful. It was like a giant mister. As you walked up to it, it would spray you lightly with water. We ate our lunch here and then headed back to our campsite. Shawn let me take about a 30 minute nap and then we took off again to hike Muir Grove. (Check out the map, sorry no pictures) I was grumpy and didn’t want to carry the camera. It was about a 2 mile hike. On the way there we saw a black bear right outside of where we were about to hike so that made me even more annoyed. But Shawn kept pushing me so we continued even though I didn’t want to. I must be really out of shape because the hike totally kicked my butt! Plus we were idiots and didn’t bring any water at all. Once we got back we were both dirty and exhausted so we drove down to the public showers. There are only two locations in the whole park with showers open to the public so we had to wait quite a while. I broke the rules and bought a Dr. Pepper. Haha! Once we got back I took a nap while Shawn started cooking dinner. We had steak, some nasty pasta, a French baguette I got from work, and a fruit salad. While we were eating dinner the people down the road from us got there remote control airplane stuck in a tree.

It was pretty funny watching them try to get it out with a fishing pole. In the end a little boy climbed up the tree and finally got it out. We played scrabble slam until it was time for bed. Another cold night, but this time we used all three blankets so it wasn’t that bad.

Day 3               I didn’t want to get out of bed again. I’m lazy! So Shawn got up and made us breakfast. He made roasted potatoes, bacon, eggs, and we shard a banana. Today completely wore me out! We took off around 9:30 and took a shuttle to Moro Rock. It’s only a ¼ mile to the top, but it’s all up hill. Kicked my butt completely.

It was so beautiful up there. Once we got to the bottom we ate a snack as we waited for the next shuttle. Next on our adventure was the Giant Forest Museum. On the way there we drove through Crescent Meadows and by the tunnel log. It is so cool. It’s a fallen down tree that you can drive through. At the museum we took a break and then walked through the giant tree trail.

About half way through we saw a red black bear. He was so cute.

Once we finished the trail we waited forever to catch two more shuttles back to our campsite. Right now I’m just relaxing and Shawn is cooking dinner. Our campsite!

On the menu for tonight is spaghetti with chicken sausage. We’ve never had it before so it should be interesting! Just as I imagined dinner turned out great. The chicken sausage was amazing, so many herbs and spices… MMM.. Since I had already been attacked by bugs on the second day we played UNO in tent. We called it an early night and went to bed around 9pm.

Day 4               I was so eager to wake up and start packing. It was a long 4.5 hour drive back home. I couldn’t wait to take a warm long shower once we got back home.

I'm behind!

 My last post was back in April so you can definitely say I'm BEHIND! As soon as I could get a break from school Shawn and I went up north to visit his dad and step mom Debbie. We love them and it was so nice to get away! Below are so pictures of the animals that roam their property. <3 

We hiked down to one of Shawn's favorite waterfall. Sorry I don't remember the name of it.

Afterwards we had a little bit of lunch and then hiked the Shadow of the Giants.

Just two people in love enjoying some good food!

So Shawn and I have been trying to take one day a week that we spend alone together. Today was that day. We decided to go have a picnic/bbq in Shell Beach and then went for a little stroll down to the beach.

Aww he's soooo cute! I love him!

"Hey Danielle, get a picture of me and my meat with the ocean in the background." - Shawn

Our little stroll down to the water where we found lots of fun little creatures.

We found these little crabs all over the place!! Some creepy and some small and cute!

So pretty when they're open. Shawn loves touching them so they close up.

We had a lot of fun on our little date, but Shawn couldn't wait to get home to start working on our feast. He loves to cook and for the most part I love to eat what he cooks... Haha.. It feels like every time we go to Costco he goes straight to the seafood section and is always begging me to buy the seafood assortment pack. Usually I say no because he never really has a recipe in mind when he goes shopping for food, but this time I suggested that he buy it and make a seafood Paella. He thought that was a great idea and in our cart it went! It is usually a meal made for a large group, but tonight it was a meal made for two with LOTS of leftovers. Shawn gets really frustrated with peoples palettes these days. He feels like all people want to eat are processed chicken nuggets, but won't dare to eat something fresh and healthy for you. I can't wait until we move out into our own place and can invite people over for dinner that will enjoy the foods we like to eat as much as we do. The recipe he based our meal off of is listed below. Of course he made lots of changes. I would have listed them below as he was putting the meal together, but I was extremely tired and had to take a nap as soon as we got home. I didn't go to sleep until almost 2 am and woke up at 7 to register for classes. It's going to be a super busy night at work so I hope I don't get too tired!!! Enjoy!

Paella

INGREDIENTS

• 1
  pound extra-large shrimp (21/25), peeled and deveined
• Olive oil
• 8-9
  medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1
  pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs , each thigh trimmed of excess fat and halved crosswise
• 1
  red bell pepper , seeded and cut pole to pole into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 8
  ounces Spanish chorizo , sliced 1/2 inch thick on the bias (see note)
• 1
  medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained, minced, and drained again
• 2
  cups Valencia rice or Arborio
• 3
  cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3
  cup dry white wine
• 1/2
  teaspoon saffron threads , crumbled
• 1
  bay leaf
• 1
  dozen mussels , scrubbed and debearded
• 1/2
  cup frozen green peas , thawed
• 2
  teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1
  lemon , cut into wedges, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss shrimp, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 teaspoon garlic in medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper; set aside.
2. 2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until skin begins to blister and turn spotty black, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer peppers to small plate and set aside.
3. 3. Add 1 teaspoon oil to now-empty Dutch oven; heat oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add chicken pieces in single layer; cook, without moving pieces, until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn pieces and brown on second side, about 3 minutes longer; transfer chicken to medium bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add chorizo to pot; cook, stirring frequently, until deeply browned and fat begins to render, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer chorizo to bowl with chicken and set aside.
4. 4. Add enough oil to fat in Dutch oven to equal 2 tablespoons; heat over medium heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes; stir in remaining garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes; cook until mixture begins to darken and thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in rice and cook until grains are well coated with tomato mixture, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, wine, saffron, bay, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Return chicken and chorizo to pot, increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Cover pot and transfer to oven; cook until rice absorbs almost all liquid, about 15 minutes. Remove pot from oven (close oven door to retain heat). Uncover pot; scatter shrimp over rice, insert mussels hinged side down into rice (so they stand upright), arrange bell pepper strips in pinwheel pattern, and scatter peas over top. Cover and return to oven; cook until shrimp are opaque and mussels have opened, 10 to 12 minutes.
5. 5. Optional: If soccarat (see note) is desired, set Dutch oven, uncovered, over medium-high heat about 5 minutes, rotating pot 180 degrees after about 2 minutes for even browning.
6. 6. Let paella stand, covered, about 5 minutes. Discard any mussels that have not opened and bay leaf, if it can be easily removed. Sprinkle with parsley and serve, passing lemon wedges separately.
7. 7. If You're Using a Paella Pan
   A paella pan makes for an attractive and impressive presentation. Use one that is 14 to 15 inches in diameter. A 14-inch ovensafe skillet will work as well, but do not attempt to use anything smaller because the contents will simply not fit. Follow the recipe for Paella, increasing the chicken broth to 3 1/4 cups and the wine to 1/2 cup. Before placing the pan in the oven, cover it tightly with foil. For soccarat, cook the paella, uncovered, over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees after about 1 1/2 minutes for even browning.

Super Cute Tuesday!

So on my days off while Shawn is at school I get some alone time to go shopping. I know that Easter has already passed but these were too cute to pass up! I'm a sucker for anything cupcake! Judge me if you dare, but I know secretly you wish you had these. :-P

Easter Week

So as an early Easter present and because it was spring break for Shawn and I, he decided to take me up north to Monterey. It was nice to get away and spend some alone time together. I get so caught up in my busy life and sometimes forget that we need time to be alone and bond. This time together was very needed and we had a great time. The first thing we did when we got there was go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. For some reason I always remembered it being much bigger.... I don't remember seeing these spotted jellyfish the last time I was there... cute.

Shawn's favorite were the Seahorses... We searched everywhere for them. Funny thing was we walked right past them when we first got there.

And of course my favorite were the sea turtles... They were tucked away hiding and we accidentally stumbled upon them, but I'm so glad we did! I love them, they are just sooooo cute!

As soon as we got home it was back to baking. I had a last minute cake pop order for a birthday the next day. Red Velvet cupcakes were her fav. Wrapped up just for her!

A couple days later it was all about Easter themed cake pops.... They took over our lives completely for a couple days, but they were just as fun!

I had to work the night before Easter so I spent most of the day sleeping, but as soon as I woke up it was over to Shawn's sisters house we went to eat for the first time that day. The best part was Shawn's delicious dessert, Strawberry pie.

Afterwards we went to my grandmother's house for a fun filled night. We had a wonderful dinner as always. My grandma is such a good cook! After dinner we had a grown up Easter egg hunt. This tradition with my siblings never gets old. I just wish my little brother Eddie was there to celebrate with us. Once all the eggs were collected and prises were given out we sat down to play the game HedBanz. Shawn absolutely loves this game and I have to admit it's pretty fun. Shawn and Brooke did the best, but grandma was probably the funniest player. In all, I had a great Easter.

Dessert

Tonight Shawn made a wonderful dinner that I enjoyed very much. Sorry I didn't get a final picture of the meal. It consisted of Maple glazed pork loin, scalloped potatoes, oven roasted mushrooms (not for me) and some bread I brought home from work the other day...... I can't look at Shawn without laughing right now. He can't stop complaining that he ate tooooo much and is sooooo tired. For dessert he decided he was going to made a blackberry cobbler at 8pm. Haha to me it looks like he's on a total sugar high.

Fresh Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 4 cups blackberries, picked over, rinsed & drained
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, cold, cut in small pieces
• 1/4 cup boiling water

Preparation:

In a large bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, and blackberries; combine gently. Transfer to a cast iron skillet, about 8-inch.

In a bowl, combine the flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1/4 cup boiling water and stir the mixture just until it a soft dough is formed.

Bring the blackberry mixture to a boil, stirring. Drop spoonfuls of the dough carefully onto the boiling mixture, and bake the cobbler on a baking sheet (line with foil to avoid a mess) in the middle of a preheated 400° oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.



The Feast

So we were supposed to cook dinner together on Tuesday night, but I was spent and went to bed at 6:30pm. On Wednesday we decided to go to the Santa Maria farmers market and get some fresh produce. After running around all afternoon we came back and started dinner. New York Steaks, Stuffed Potatoes with Shrimp, and Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto. We were all soo full afterwards. Here's the recipe for the Stuffed Shrimp potatoes... you'll love it.

Spicy Shrimp – Stuffed Potatoes

Makes 6 servings

Stuffed Potatoes

Ingredients:

6 large Baking Potatoes

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 cup Sour Cream

¼ cup Butter, softened

1 (3 oz) package Cream Cheese, softened

2 teaspoons Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Rub potatoes with olive oil; sprinkle evenly with kosher salt. Place on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, or until potatoes are tender. Let stand until potatoes are cool enough to handle.

Cut off top one-third of potatoes; scoop out potato pulp into a large bowl, leaving shells intact. Set potato shells aside. Add cheese, sour cream, butter, cream cheese, and 2 teaspoons salt to potato pulp. Using a potato masher, mash to desired consistency. Spoon mixture evenly into potato shells. Return potatoes to baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes, or until browned. Top each stuffed potato with Spicy Shrimp.

Spicy Shrimp

Ingredients:

2 pounds large fresh Shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper

¼ teaspoon Salt

¼ cup Butter

¼ cup minced Green Onion

3 cloves Garlic, minced

½ cup Chicken Broth

¼ cup fresh Lime Juice

1/3 cup chopped fresh Cilantro

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine shrimp, flour, red pepper, and salt; set aside.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add green onions and garlic; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add shrimp mixture; cook for 1 minute, or until shrimp are just pink. Add broth and lime juice; cook for 2 minutes, or until mixture is thickened. Stir in cilantro. Serve over stuffed potatoes.