The Perfect Summer Dessert

Since moving to my new house I have gone above and beyond in the kitchen. By trying new recipes, stepping outside my comfort zone and actually following the instructions I now find myself having fun instead of getting frustrated. I am a proud library card holder and check out 2-3 cook books a week. This week I picked up "Cooking with all things Trader Joes" by Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati (click here to purchase from Amazon). To say that I enjoy Trader Joes is an understatement, I adore it!


The recipe I chose to make was "One Bowl Peach & Blueberry Cobbler" (on page 206)

You will need:
- 1 Cup Buttermilk Pancake mix
- 1/4 Cup Melted Butter
- 1/2 Cup Sugar ( I used 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 of Agave Nectar)
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 3 Cups of Sliced Peaches ( I used White Nectarines cause my boy loves them)
- 1/2 Cup Blueberries
- 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon

Add ons that I did (not needed but oh so good)
- 1 cup of Strawberries
- I did a crust on the top that was super easy to make. I just used the same pancake mixture from above, added 1.5 Cups of Granola and drizzled honey on top. It was YUM but not needed.

Directions:
- Pre heat oven to 375
- Select a pie dish. Melt butter right in the pie dish and set aside.
- Add pancake mix, sugar, and milk to butter in pie dish. Stir with fork (yes while in dish). Batter should be lumpy. This is a very relaxed recipe in case you couldn't tell.
- Scatter fruit over the top of the batter you just mixed. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon over the berries.
- If you decided to make the crust I mentioned then now is the time to put that ooey goodness on top of the berries.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown.

 White Nectarines

 Juicy Strawberries that I added

 Fruit added to the top of the pancake mixture

Fresh out of the oven

Success!

Fashion Down Under

I'm lovin the look book from Australian based company Market HQ. This shoot is so hippie dippy (yes, I made that word up), yet simplistic and elegant at the same time.

Wind in My Hair

Photo by Helen Leeson. Taken in San Francisco, CA. 

Favorite of the Week: Artist Jackie Tileston

I am drooling over the paintings done by Artist Jackie Tileston. She was born in the Philippines, received her B.A. in Fine Arts from Yale University and has been featured in endless galleries/ exhibits around the world. She says "My paintings feed off of the history of abstraction, physics, traditional eastern imagery, Chinese landscape motifs, digital imaging, and other sources." You must go look at all her paintings on her website. I am so inspired by her artwork; Might just have to go home and paint tonight. Don't you just love these paintings that I've pictured below?! 

Lots of Love in This Heart

Love is such a powerful and amazing word. Sometimes its such a strong feeling that it can be hard to express out loud. One day you have to, and will, let it out. When you do, it will be one of the greatest feelings in the world.

(Photo credit to my love, Jordan Brown. This photo was taken at Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, as I was tying a scarf around my head) 

A jam that fits perfectly with this post. 

The Quote from my Morning Cup of Tea

This quote was hanging from the end of my tea this morning and I've been thinking about it all day. My conclusion... this is very true. Thoughts?!

"In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, 

not the man to whom the idea first occurs"

- Sir Francis Darwin

(photos by me. Taken at various different parks around Los Angeles) 

Runaway Train

Many moons ago I felt the urge to escape Los Angeles and hopped on the train south bound to San Diego. The Downtown Los Angeles train station is so beautiful, and filled with history, that I snapped photos every time I was there. The train from LA to San Diego runs along the coast and I just so happened to be ridding during sunset. Ah- may- zing. Here are a few of the photos I captured on that very evening.

Destination: Sea Ranch, California

Sea Ranch is a quaint town in Northern California that I was lucky enough to experience in December 2010. It's such a unique coastal town that is filled with natural architecture, tide pools and nature of all sorts. I just added the trip to my Adventures page but here are two photos from one of my favorite days during the trip.

New Heights

There is a small hill/ mountain that I once spotted while lounging in Golden Gate Park that I decided I must climb to the top of. One very windy, yet sunny day, my boy and I made the trek to the top. We were not disappointed. The view was unbelievable and here is the proof.

Happy Monday!

Tea Time

I absolutely, undeniably, love tea. My favorite brand of tea is Good Earth, flavor Vanilla Chai. One reason I love Good Earths teas is the small quotes that dangle on the other end of the tea bag. Oh, life's simple pleasures.

(First two pictures taken by me and I just couldn't resist adding the last three lovely photos to this post)

Favorite of the Week: Art in Nature

This is my first post since having to delete 25 posts, from the past year, but I'm back in action. This being said I wanted to end my hiatus by sharing the amazing works of Jim Denevan. He creates his masterpieces with a walking stick and mother earth, that's it. Aren't these photos astonishing?!

Hiatus

Last night was such a wonderful night. My boy and I got the keys to our new place and went out to a lovely meal, including wine tasting, to celebrate. When we arrived home I asked him to take a look at my blog because absolutely no photos were showing up in my posts. He is a Web Developer meaning he is usually able to figure out these glitches in a heartbeat. Sadly, this glitch was unable to be fixed and I was forced to delete around 25 posts from the past year. After shedding a few tears, with my head in a pillow, I realized there was nothing I could do. Life is far too amazing to dwell on the past. After all this I have decided to slowly rebuild my blog and posts. My photos for today are themed devastation, I'm sure you can guess why.

Warning: the reason I lost all my pictures was because when signing up for Google + (the latest social networking tool) I saw that all my blog photos were in an album. I really didn't want my social network world to be linked with my blogging life so I simply clicked the "remove photos from Google + album" this then deleted my all my blog photos from Blog Spot. 

I hope I'm not The Only One...

This morning, on my morning bike ride to work, I saw something so disheartening that I can't help but wonder what this world is going to be like in 10-15 years. Without going into too much detail, I began to wonder what the word Peace really means to today's society. On any given day you will see people wearing peace sign shirts, jewelry and ink with tattoos but what does the word really mean to them? As I approached my place of work I caught myself humming this tune. (I hope this post was not overly deep for anyone, but it was a must that I express my feelings on this very morning)

"You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as on"

- John Lennon

On the bright side the boy and I have found the most amazing home in the heart of San Francisco and will hopefully be getting the keys tonight. Pictures to come!