Yesterday we planned a trip to go explore a new place about a 2 hour drive from our house. It is a beautiful little town nestled in the valley just east of Santa Barbara. Friends have told us that we just have to go and see this place, as it is truly a great little place to spend the day. So we had made up our minds that this weekend, we were going to get out of the hustle bustle of schedules and just eat anything we wanted and go explore. So Saturday morning, we got in the car and headed out. I had told Randy to make this an official “exploring, do anything kind of day” we would need to start off pretty soon with some junk food, so we decide to find a Starbucks knowing that we could always munch on their lemon loaf cake and down that with a mocha frappachino. We get off the freeway at Camrillo and head to the Starbucks. We park and lo and behold, we look right next door to the Starbucks and there in all it’s glory is a donut shop, just begging us to come in. So we quickly pass the door to Starbucks, put my phone back in its resting position, (I had it out ready to use my Starbucks app to pay for our goodies) and walk in the door to the donut shop. We had watched several people sitting around the fountain outside, holding great looking donuts. We came out with two bags. One was mine and one was his. My bag had miniature cream puffs sprinkled with powdered sugar, which is one of my favorite health foods and a blueberry filled donut. Randy had a giant cinnamon roll and a maple frosted donut. Because it is a beautiful day and such a cool day, we find us a bench and sit down to munch down on our donuts. I look across the parking lot and there is a huge wood burning oven where a man is baking pizzas right there in the parking lot for people to buy and take home. Randy looks at me and says, “no” we want to have a good lunch when we get to Ojai and already, we are going to have to walk around the town to get hungry again after eating these donuts. But, I just couldn’t let this go, I had to walk over to see what the deal was and take a picture, so that’s just what I did. I was explaining to the nice pizza guy why I was taking a picture because they just don’t do that in Texas because it is always so hot. He asks me where in Texas I was from and we started talking. I walked away with a free piece of pizza after he told me, “welcome to California”. Randy told me that he thinks the guy would have given me his firstborn just to get me to quit talking, but I ignored that comment and walked to the car with my donut sack in one hand and my piece of free pizza in the other hand. We continue on our way and arrive in Ojai. What a beautiful valley and town. It reminded us of Santa Fe and just the quaintness of the town was beautiful. Shade trees all around the downtown and after realizing that it is 1:30 we decide that in order for us to be hungry for a great fish dinner down in Santa Barbara on our way back into LA, we shouldn’t wait too long to have lunch. We walk down the main street and come to a cute little diner called, Bonnie Lu’s. We look in the window and see quite a crowd, which tells us that the food is good, so walking through the door, the waitress welcomes us and seats us at a table by the window. Ordering a glass of tea, we decide that we shouldn’t order much more than a salad, if we are going to have room for fish and chips later on. The waitress comes and after taking our order, she comes back and just visits with us about the town. This is my kind of town. People yell to each other across the street when they see a friend and stop to talk to visitors. Really a great little old fashioned town. We get our salads and proceed to talk and eat when I tell Randy that my salad could use some more dressing. When the waitress comes to the table next to ours to clear off dishes, we try to get her attention but cannot do so. Randy picks up his cane and holds it up like he is going to tap her in the rear in to get her attention. I immediately yell, “don’t you dare” which of course got her attention. Randy is laughing telling me that he was just kidding, that he would never have really done that but when I yelled, she turned around to see why I was yelling and saw the cane which was about 2″ from her rear. Randy is laughing and now I have to tell her why I yelled. I told her that I thought he was going to get her attention by poking her in the rear and that freaked me out, thinking that I was now at lunch with an official crotchely old man, using his cane to get peoples attention. After asking her for a little more dressing for my salad, which was huge with every veggie known to man, she picks up the salad and takes it with her, even though I had said, “no, don’t take it, I just need some extra dressing”. But she said, that no, she wanted it to be perfect. She brought back another brand new salad with the dressing all mixed in and set it in front of me. I told her that she shouldn’t have done that because I was already full and now, I had to eat at least some of it so I wouldn’t feel bad for her making me a brand new one. At this point, the other waitress comes over and says that we are having way to much fun and begins to visit with us. The couple sitting at the next table begin to look at us because now we have two waitresses at our table laughing and visiting about Texas, then the second waitress tells us that she lived in Texas a year, but came back because she just missed Ojai to much. We learn all about her and how she rides the trolley at night around town because the trolley driver is a friend of hers and he takes her riding on the last shift of the night and then drops her off at her house. This place is just a “hoot” and we hate to leave, but after getting our tea in a “to go” glass, we mosey on down the block to our car and head to Santa Barbara to shop for where we will eat dinner, AFTER our 4:00 Cold Stone ice cream snack. To say we came home at 10 last night, stuffed is an understatement, but then, today is Fathers Day and what better way to a man’s heart, but through his stomach? I think I have his heart now. Happy Fathers Day Sweetie, you continue to give me so much laughter and material to write about. Love to you. TK
Author: Chocolate Castles
Welcome to Chocolate Castles, a blog about food, family and stories that hopefully will bring a smile to your heart.
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Fathers Day Friday
Father’s Day is two days away and I began to think what I could possibly give Randy to express what he means to me. They always say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and that is partly true, but with Randy, I thought something that would mean something to him would be to make him a photo album from pictures taken throughout the year with the kids. So have been fervently working on this for several weeks, and still haven’t got it finished. So second thing I thought would be to not spend money this week, so other than the grocery store and a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, which when he learned last night that I didn’t buy something that I really wanted, he quickly pressed his hand to my forehead and ask me if I was sick, I have not spent money. BUT…since I did spend a little at HL, I thought that maybe I should make him a meal that would truly show him just how much I love him. So tonight, friends are coming over and thought that I would splurge and make a huge meal of some of Randy’s favorites. You almost have to have company to eat all the food that is being prepared and since Mr. RC doesn’t eat leftovers, if you drive down our street tomorrow, please stop by for some food that will surely be sitting in the fridge. The menu I planned is this: Pot roast with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, fresh green beans, deviled eggs, stuffed celery, hot rolls and homemade chocolate pudding layered with cherry pie filling, whipping cream and homemade chocolate cake. Surely this great feast will make up for the little shopping spree at Hobby Lobby yesterday.
When we think of what our husbands have done for us throughout the years, it is a great day to honor the model that they are to our children. One year after Randy and I had been married about 5 years, my son Jamin, sent Randy a Fathers Day card which thanked him for loving me, the way he did. He told Randy that he was a great example of how a husband should treat his wife and had taught Jamin how to love a wife. I think that blessed Randy’s heart so much.
On Sunday, I am really going to try to express to him how thankful I am that God has allowed him to walk these last 17 years with me through so many different seasons of our lives.
What an honor it will be to celebrate you this Sunday. In case I still don’t finish the photo book, guess I had better get out my recipe for chicken fried steak to cook tomorrow. Maybe that will buy me some time.
The roast recipe is as follows:
1 chuck roast
1 onion, sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can French onion soup
1 can water
3 tables Kikoman sauce
1 teas garlic powder
Salt and Pepper roast and brow n on both sides in about 2 tables oil. When browned, sprinkle garlic powder over roast and pour both cans of sour over roast, the water, kikoman sauce and place sliced onion over the meat and sides of meat. Cover tightly and bake at 325for about 3 hours or until meat is tender when cut into chunks. This makes a great brown gravy that will be thick and doesn’t need any salt or any other flavor. Pour gravy over mashed potatoes.
Police, DMV & Storage
Yesterday didn’t turn out exactly like I had planned. I had studied the DMV handbook until I knew every question that might be ask of me on the written test. It was going to be exciting to tell my kids, who think that ” poor mom can’t remember anything anymore” that I passed my test on the first try. The appointment was at 1:30 so, since I am still the type who likes to get to her tests plenty early, we arrive at 1. When we walk in, I notice that certainly, normal people, such as myself (yes, I do like to think of myself as normal, although I’m sure some of you might disagree) had surely hired someone to take their place to avoid standing in the 3 deep 10 foot long line to tell them I was there for my 1:30 appt. Looking around the huge room, all I saw were people that looked like the mug shots that were placed around the walls. Knowing that I had been warned about this certain DMV and what I might encounter, I dressed down in shorts, tshirt and flip flops. That was still to dressy. With no tattoo or face piercing, I truly felt like I stuck out like a blueberry in an apple pie. Finally, the lady behind the bullet proof glass window calls me up and I hand her my Texas DL and she asks me for my passport. What? Passport?, that was never mentioned when I went on-line to see what documents I needed. Because I am married and my name is different than my birth certificate, she informs me that I needed either my passport, or BC and Marriage License. So back to the drawing board. I was so ready to have a new picture taken, I had even had my roots dyed on Fri and Randy was there to stand behind me with his fingers pulling at the skin around my eyes so I would look like I was 50. Now, I will have to relearn the sample tests, as even though I think I remember all the answers, by Friday (which is the first available apt), it’s anybody’s guess if I can remember how many feet I have to have between my car and the car in front of me. Randy felt sorry for me and said he had just the thing to brighten my day. Visions of walking hand in hand into Chico’s brought a smile to my face, that was when he informed me that a Sonic Cherry Coke would be just the thing that would cheer me. So with Chicos in the rearview mirrow, we head to Sonic. While we are there, he tells me that at least we can go to the storage unit and find our summer bedspread. Now that did cheer me up. Our storage unit is, well, let me think how to describe it. We did get a really good deal on the monthly price, and I know why. Our “climate controlled” unit, which is controlled by I guess a 95 year old that thinks 105 degrees is cold, is in the part of the building that is right in the middle of the T (the upper middle of the T,) and the motion light only stays on for about 5 minutes. As Randy is unlocking the huge garage like door, I run down the long hallway so the light will turn on and give us light to start looking through our plastic tubs which holds all our treasures. By the time I got back down the hallway, we had exactly 2 minutes to look before I had to run down the hallway again to get the light to turn on. After about 10 times of this, we still haven’t found the bedspread and we are dripping wet. I suggested that maybe this summer we don’t need a bedspread and we will come back in the winter for our Christmas spread. At least we will be dealing with frostbite instead of heat strokes. We leave. We round the corner only to see the street roped off by police and yellow tape across the entire street. OK, I have to admit, this does get me so pumped up. There is nothing more exciting than car chases and watching arrests being made. News….happening right in front of us. Maybe just maybe, the wife beater shirt we keep in the car just in case Randy ever gets interviewed on camera, might just be coming out of the glove compartment. Since we don’t have a trailer out in the country with a couch on the front porch to stand in front of and we stilI have all our teeth, we always keep the wife beater shirt ready, for any impromptu interviews. I quickly put on lipstick, practiced my “he went that way, officer” when cars behind us began to honk for us to keep on going all the while reminding us that we are still “#1”. Maybe the Texas license plate has something to do with them thinking we are #1, hum… So not only did I not get my license that would make me a legal California Valley girl, I didn’t come home with my summer bedspread and I didn’t get my camera interview. Will let you know how Friday goes. Am taking my dental records with me, just in case I need them.
Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad
This is the second one I couldn’t wait to post.
8 oz uncooked angel hair pasta
2 cups cubed chicken breast
1 1/2 cups coleslaw mix
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
1 medium sweet red bell pepper, julienned or finely chopped
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved
2/3 cup reduced-fat Asian toasted sesame salad dressing (can you believe I am actually posting a recipe that has the word “reduced fat”) I am so proud of me
1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts (I added about 1/2 cup, love the peanuts in this)
Cook pasta according to package directions and then set aside after draining to cool.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, coleslaw mix, oranges, red pepper, snap peas and green onions. Sprinkle with salt. Toss to combine.
Add pasta and dressing to chicken mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts. YUM….
Italian Brunch Torte
I had a hard time deciding which if the two new recipes that I found over the weekend, taken once again from Taste of Home. If you even just want a magazine that gives you pretty much nothing but good, down home, (boy do I sound like a real “hick” or what) food, Taste of Home is your go to magazine. The recipes are usually so simple with not a lot of ingredients that you wouldn’t have around the house or just easy pick up at the grocery store. So this first one is such a easy recipe that is perfect for those late Saturday or Sunday breakfast when you are wanting something besides a granola bar or bacon and eggs.
2 tubes (8 oz each) crescent rolls, divided
1 teas olive oil
1 pack (6 oz) fresh baby spinach
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
7 eggs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teas Italian seasoning
1/4 teas pepper
1/2 lb thinly sliced ham
1/2 lb thinly sliced hard salami (opt) If you choose, just add another 1/2 lb of ham or turkey
1/2 lb sliced provolone cheese
2 jars (12 oz ea) roasted sweet red peppers, drained, sliced and patted dry
Preheat oven to 350. Place a greased 9″ springform pan on a double thickness of heavy duty foil (about 18″ square).
Securely wrap foil around the pan. Unroll one tube of crescent dough and separate into triangles. Press onto bottom of pan to form a crust, sealing seams well. Bake 10-15 min or until set.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add spinach and mushrooms; cook and stir until mushrooms are tender.
Drain on paper towels, blotting well. In a large bowl, whisk six eggs, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning and pepper. (I added a little garlic powder)
Layer crust with half of the ham, salami, provolone cheese, red peppers and spinach mixture. Pour half of the egg mixture over the top. Repeat layers; top with the remaining mixture.
On a work surface, unroll and separate remaining dough into triangles. Press together to form a circle and seal seams; place dough over filling. Whisk remaining egg and brush over top of dough.
Bake, uncovered 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until thermometer reads 160 degrees. Cover loosely with foil if needed to prevent overbrowning.
Carefully loosen sides from pan with a knife; remove rim from pan. Let stand for 20 min before serving.
Mini Van Sightings
It is getting serious, my daughter has informed me that she has enrolled Caleb for yet another (yes, this will be his 3rd) week of vacation Bible School next week. The sleepy little town of Gilbert, AZ is now having the words “VBS is full….cannot accept anymore children)” put out on their church signs all over town.
When the church workers see a gray minivan driving into the parking lot, they quickly lock their doors and put up the “VBS is Full” sign on the door. So learn from Jodi’s experience, borrow your friends or families cars to go searching out churches VBS…..it might just save you a week of having your little darling at home with nothing to do. Since she has expired all the churches, she is moving on to the Y camps. She is having her van painted over the weekend.
Chocolate Cherry Cola Cake
Taken from the summer issue of Taste of Home, this cake got great reviews last night when I took it to a dinner party. Before leaving home, I ate 4 cupcakes I had made with some of the batter, just to try it out, of course. Because of the marshmallows and cherry coke, the cake is so moist and the chocolate flavor is amazing.
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallow, ( I had found chocolate mini ones, so I used those)
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teas baking soda
1 cup butter, cubed (so it melts quicker)
1 cup cherry-flavored coke
3 tables Hershey’s cocoa
2 eggs at room temp
1/2 cup buttermilk (if you don’t keep this on hand, make your own with plain milk and vinegar)
1 teas vanilla
Frosting:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow
2 tables cherry juice (recipe called for 2 tables frozen cherry-pomegranate juice concentrate, but my store didn’t have any so bought a can of sweet cherries in heavy syrup and used the syrup from that)
Fresh sweet cherries with stem for decor
Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom of two greased 9″ pans with parchment paper; grease paper also after they have been put in pan. Divide marshmallows between pans.
In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar and baking soda. In a small saucepan, combine the cubed butter, cola and cocoa. Bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
In a small bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture, whisking constantly. Pour into prepared pans, dividing batter evenly. Marshmallows will float to the top.
Bake for 25-30 in or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 min and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
For frosting: *(IF you want enough frosting to frost sides of cake, double the frosting ingredients)in a medium bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in marshmallow cream and juice on low speed just until blended. Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread top with 1 cup frosting. Top with remaining frosting.
NBF (new blogger friends)
I am so excited. The past couple of weeks, a lady from Atlanta began to follow my blog and has commented several times on different postings from chocolatecastles.com. As I began to reply to her, she would send back more of her ideas that she posts on her blog.
She is one talented lady with great party theme ideas and after looking at some of the pictures that she posts, she does know how to throw a party. I ask her permission before telling all ya’ll (yes, I know, how hicky, but I haven’t got to say that in such a long time) about her blog and a couple of her ideas she has told me about.
Her name is Sue and she is a transplant from New Jersey. She quickly adapted to the southern way of entertaining and from looking at her blog, I dare say that you wouldn’t know that she wasn’t born right in the middle of Atlanta holding a glass of sweet tea, with her pinkie sticking straight out. You really need to check out her blog at :
Sue@www.rue-mouffetard.blogspot.com
She will be having a party for her neighborhood blogging friends in a couple of weeks and will be serving pink cookies with pink drinks. I had posted info about making the pink lemonade cookies, which you can find at WalMart in the cake mix isle (Pillsbury makes them) She then thought how cute these cookies would look with the fruit drink she makes, so she passed on this drink idea to me.
Pink Ladies
Welches Strawberry or Raspberry punch and add sparkling water and fresh fruit. Dip the pretty glass in honey and then pink sprinkles.
Just think how pretty your table will look, using pink or white linens and use pink and white polka dot (or striped) ribbon tied around napkins. A vase of pink flowers in the middle. If you don’t have a vase you want to use. Use pretty wrapping paper glued around an old can and set your flowers in the middle. Or use pink jelly beans in a large container and set your vase of flowers right in the middle of the jelly beans. Tie the same ribbon around the container. Very cheap to do and looks fab.
I’m very excited to have my new NBF; I can’t wait to see more party ideas she has up her sleeve. Thanks, Sue, you are a true Southern Belle.
VBS Is A Life Saver
My daughter called this morning on her way home from dropping Caleb, our 3 year old grandson off at Vacation Bible School. I asked her, ‘oh I thought he went last week to VBS” and she politely told me he did, but this was another one. In the sweetest little voice she could muster, she remarked, “mom, don’t judge me”. Now, I began to think that maybe she was just wanting Caleb to have a definite idea of if he might want to be a preacher when he grew up and she was showing him what it would be like to be around the church all day, every day. But before I could begin to quote the Ten Commandments, she told me that she had signed him up for 4 different VBS’s this summer, as a way to keep her sanity. Now, I do admit that Caleb is rather, hum…how do I put this? a very “active child with a great and very active imagination” but I’ve got the feeling that Caleb is going to have the same reputation around Phoenix church’s as Randy does around our area Costco’s……don’t let him in.
While Randy eats Costco’s profits up walking around the store “snacking” on all the “free” samples, churches will be having teachers retire before their time. The positive outlook on his being taken from church to church this summer is the fact that by the time he is older, he will think that going to church is just the normal thing to do and maybe will realize that that is a better place to hang around, rather than the mall. Just a thought and a hope. Jodi then began to tell me how excited she is about a friend of hers calling and telling her about a VBS that is at night. I am jealous that I didn’t think of that when Jodi was growning up. I’m smiling thinking about all the “crafts” from all the VBS’s that Jodi will be having to display around the house; the gold sprayed macaroni necklaces that she will have to wear to not hurt Caleb’s feelings, the popcicle stick house she will have to dust around, in order not to knock it down and my favorite, the potholder that is so thin, you get burned every time you use it.
So moms, if you are going crazy this summer already wondering what to do with the little ones, get that church directory out and enroll them in every VBS you can find. It is a great babysitter and it is free and who knows, they might just actually learn about some of life’s important facts, that God is real and that He loves each and every one of the little darlings, no matter how many VBS’s they attend…….and that’s the truth. Saint Caleb called me when he got home today and told me.
FYI Butter Tips
Just finished baking the pink lemonade cookies I posted a few minutes ago and am including a picture of them. I ended up rolling the tops in colored sugar to add “sparkle”. Just wanted to mention that any time you are using any type of box mix to begin a recipe, always use unsalted butter as your shortening when it calls for oil or butter. Because prepared mixes already have so much salt in them, using salted butter will just add more of a salty taste. 
