The Sweet Taste of Summer

After enjoying a Mediterranean lunch in town with my husband and sister, we headed off to the Avila Valley Barn in search of fresh berries!   We thought a weekday would provide a less busy atmosphere in the Central Coast orchards.    Were we surprised when we found the parking lot FULL of carloads of families.  The ice cream shop was surrounded with ice-cream covered kids waiting for their turn to go pick berries.   Not the quiet walk through the country that we expected, but we had fun just the same.

With baskets in hand, the little kids scurried to the tractor as it rounded the bend. Everyone jumped on as it slowly pulled away from the barn and headed for the orchards and berry patch.  The ripest peaches were atop the tree on the highest branches.   With no ladders in sight, we had to get creative with what we had!    My husband was the first to volunteer!

Freshly picked Olallieberries and Amber Glow Peaches signaling the beginning of summer.   I must admit, some of the berries never even made it to the baskets.   So, so sweet!   ~K

Don't Worry, BEE Happy!

These fun little cake pops will be perfect to take to the concert tomorrow for father's day! Carrot cake has always been a favorite and now dressed like a BEE, it can't get much better than that. 

Everyone gets to enjoy their own bite size BEE. 

Wrapped up for his big debut!

"If food is the body of good living, wine is its soul"

Quote by Clifton Fadiman

We are lucky to not only live on the coast by the ocean, but we also have beautiful wine country at our finger tips.  Many people love taking wine tours by bus, limo or even bikes.  These cookies were made for a wine tasting bachelorette party.

Each bag had a little dress and a wine glass. The lucky bride to be got a wedding dress cookie and a wine glass.

Triple Chocolate Fat Pants Cake

With a name like " Triple-Chocolate Fat Pants Cake" how can you go wrong?  Sarah had given me a book called Babycakes,  which is a bakery in New York that specializes in vegan, gluten-free and (mostly) sugar-free recipes.  She had pointed out this particular recipe in the book as a possibility for her wedding cake, and I decided that this would be the best way to try our hand in vegan cooking.  I have eaten vegan before but never baked anything so when I looked at the ingredients I just laughed.  I had never heard of most of the ingredients before!

Sarah and Greg own a great health food store on the central coast and as I stared blankly down the aisle looking for arrowroot and garbanzo-fava bean flour, Greg was right there to point me in the right direction.  Check out their store:

Sunshine Health Foods - Shine Cafe

The cake turned out great.  Even my meat-eating dad loved it!   It was decorated with blackberries and mint leaves to match the cupcakes below.  (Amy Bakes Cupcakes baked the vegan cupcakes and they were polished off within minutes.)  Sarah and Greg dug right into the cake but forgot that they were supposed to feed each other.  After everyone started saying, "feed each other!" they figured it out.  :-)  

This was one of the most beautiful, touching weddings I have ever attended and I was so happy to have celebrated with such amazing people.  ~K  

Congratulations!! 

xoxo

Rehearsal Dinner Favors

Congratulations to my good friends Sarah and Greg who just tied the knot! The mother of the groom ordered these cookies for the favors to be handed out at the rehearsal dinner. She wanted red and white to go with the Texas theme of the dinner and we went from there.

After finishing up the cookies, putting them in bags, and delivering them the next morining, it was time to finish up the cake. Our first crack at a vegan cake at that!!