Surfing Tales, Part 2

Bright and early on Christmas Eve day the crew--My Mom, My Sister, and I the casual observers; My Dad and Conservative Hubby ready to hit the waves--headed down to the beach to meet Peter, the surf instructor.


Peter was, of course, exactly what you'd expect from a California surf instructor. Laidback. Lean and muscular. Shaggy blond hair. Willing to leave late for his Christmas Eve travels in order to squeeze in an extra surf lesson.

He met us in the parking lot by the beach and proceeded to pull surfboards and wetsuits out of the back of his white van.


My Dad and Conservative Hubby got geared up and we snapped the requisite pre-surfing photos. (Please note Conservative Hubby's loafers. Only Conservative Hubby would wear loafers while in a wet suit.)


Then we all headed for the beach.


And oh what a glorious surfing morning it was. Bright blue sky, sunshine, great beginner waves. It started out a bit chilly but got warmer as the morning progressed.


The boys began on land, of course, learning how to properly navigate the waves on their boards, how to stand, and what to do once they were standing.


My Mom and My Sister looked on.


Once the boys were good and practiced onshore, it was time to head for water.


And to promptly get knocked over by a wave.

My Dad came out of the chute ready to go.


He was on the board paddling.


He was breaking through waves.


He was making his move.


He was on his hands and knees.


He was almost up.


Almost.


There!


He was riding in


like a pro


thinking this was a piece of cake.


No problem.


And then he was off the board.


And then he was down.


Between Conservative Hubby and My Dad, we experienced more than a few glorious wipe outs. (This one was Conservative Hubby ... or at least his board.)


Conservative Hubby did not have the initial showy surfing skills My Dad exhibited--he was more careful, methodical, waiting for the right waves. But he may or may not be in slightly better shape than My Dad, so when they all came in for a break, My Dad decided he was sufficiently exhausted.


Conservative Hubby chilled for a minute,


reluctantly participated in my photo shoot, and then headed out again.


Only this time, the long-haired family member heading out with Conservative Hubby and Peter wasn't My Dad ... it was My Sister, who decided it was time to get in on the fun.

What happened next?

That, my friends, you'll have to wait and hear about tomorrow.

Surfing Tales, Part 1

Let's get something out in the open right now.

I did not surf in California. I did not surf in California for a number of reasons.

For one thing, it was very cold in the water and on land for the 8 a.m. surf lesson.

Plus I had fake bronchitis and sinusitis.

I call it fake because that's what Conservative Hubby said it was all week--fake because I didn't "sound" like I had it. Apparently symptoms such as wheezing and chest pain and general congestion do not matter unless you sound really, really stuffed up and terrible.

For another thing, I'm a chicken.

There I said it.

When I was younger, I was pummeled by big waves on numerous occasions--once so hard that three hours later I bent over and what felt like a gallon of salt water came pouring out of my nose. Let me tell you, this does not feel good.

Plus my swimming skills are a little lackluster, which is why I absolutely adore the ocean and the sound of waves and the scent of the breeze off the water and the feeling of the sand between my toes but prefer to enjoy it all from the shore ... or at the very least from water that isn't so deep I must swim.

Besides, if I had taken surf lessons, who would have taken 240 photos of the action ... some of which you will be seeing in a couple of moments?

Returning

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I promise you that you'd get surfing photos? Way back in 2010? And did I say I'd post them right away and then proceed to fall off the face of the earth for over a week?

Oops.

My bad.

But it happens, you know. Especially when you can't tear your gaze away from the sunny California coast.


Or the equally sunny Gulf coast.


Or when you're on vacation for 10 blissful days sans computer.

You try finding the motivation to cull 240 surfing photos down into one blog post when there's sand and sun and surf waiting for you. Then let me know how it goes.

Probably about as well as it went for me, eh?

Alas, I'm landlocked once again. I'm armed with my computer once again. I'm (slowly ... reluctantly ... ) throwing off the fog of a lazy vacation filled with food and fun and family.

So I'll return to you soon. I'll post more surfing photos soon. (And a few food photos, if you're really nice to me.) Promise.

But I'm not going to promise it will be tomorrow, because we all know how well that worked out last time ...

A Merry Christmas, California Style

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and family and blog readers! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday filled with merriment.

Conservative Hubby and I are enjoying a holiday of sun, fun, and ... guess what?


The past two years, I've celebrated the holidays in our nation's lovely capitol with My Family. This year, after My Sister's cross-country move, we took the Family Celebration on the road to a new, warmer destination: Santa Monica, California.

And, for the first time ever, Conservative Hubby even came along!

So, for our Christmas Eve day, we did a few decidedly California activities.

My Father and Conservative Hubby spent part of yesterday morning hanging ten ... riding the waves ... or whatever it is cool people call surfing. My Mom, My Sister, and I enjoyed the action from the beach until about halfway through the surfing adventure when My Sister decided to join them in the water. (She's an old pro by now ... sort of.)

But more about the surfing adventure tomorrow ...

After surfing, we moseyed down to Venice Beach for lunch at a wonderful little organic ale house. And then we took a peek at the freak show that Venice Beach is known for. (It was a pretty calm day, actually.)

Conservative Hubby, of course, loved it. He said he thought he was breaking out in hives. And the crazies were commending him for his military service and his nice striped green collared shirt ... and no, Conservative Hubby is not nor ever has been in the military.

After that, we did some last-minute shopping on Santa Monica's adorable little Main Street before wrapping up the evening with our long-standing holiday tradition: chowder (which, for the past three years, has been served at My Sister's big farmhouse table).

As for today? Santa made a stop last night, so we have some stockings to explore. Then there's a brie and salmon strata in the oven calling our name. Later? Fish tacos on the beach for our Christmas Day dinner.

Not a bad way to spend the holiday, eh?

Merry Christmas!

Chocolate Peppermint Snowflake Tart

Sometimes the recipes I try are pretty good. Sometimes they're not that great. And occasionally, they're really great.

The really great recipes are the ones I mentally star, the sort of recipes I undoubtedly will come back to time and again.

I wasn't expecting this recipe, which I cut out of the newspaper one day last week, to be in the really great category.


Only it was. It is. It's on the hit list, I think.

It's a chocolate peppermint snowflake tart. The recipe, courtesy of the AP, goes a little something like this:

Crust ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Ganache ingredients:
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 ½ teaspoons peppermint extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Heat the oven to 375 F. In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and process until the mixture forms a dough, about 30 seconds.

Remove the dough from the processor and break off about a third of it. Set this aside.

Press the remaining dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the crust all over. Freeze for 15 minutes, then bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the center of the bottom feels firm.

Meanwhile, make the snowflake cookies.

Roll out the reserved dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. Move the dough to a baking sheet, including the parchment paper, then refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Use 1- to 2-inch cookie cutters to cut out 8 to 10 snowflakes (of multiple sizes, if desired). If the dough becomes too soft, you may need to chill it in the refrigerator as you work. Once all of the cookies are cut, transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Bake the snowflakes for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on size of the cookies), or until firm. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet.

To make the ganache filling, in a small saucepan over medium, heat the cream until simmering. Add the chocolate and let sit off the heat for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract, then pour into the baked tart shell. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

When ready to serve, dust the snowflake cookies with powdered sugar, then arrange them on the top of the tart.


If I remember correctly (I was in a food haze when she said it), Kid Sister called the tart "Andes mints on steroids." I like this. Or perhaps it was the Girl Scouts' thin mint cookies on steroids. That might be even more fitting, with the bit of crunch the tart crust and cookies provide.

Either way, it's rich and festive and oh so yummy.

Getting Ready for the Holidays

The Christmas season hit full stride last week, when I attended five holiday parties in three days.

Then, last night, we celebrated Conservative Family Christmas at Conservative Parents' house. It was a lovely evening filled with merriment, good food, and way too many gifts.


Oh, and a roaring fire, which I was very excited about.

Although we aren't hosting any holiday get-togethers at our casa this year, I did the usual decorating.


(With Butter's help of course.)


And the penguins are back again this year to keep Butter company in the window.

It wouldn't be Christmas without them!

Appeasing the Cookie Monster

Before my annual Christmas cook-making extravaganza, I did some holiday decorating. A friendly, festive little cookie jar is among the things I set out each December.

Only this year, the little cookie jar wasn't quite as festive as in years past. In fact, when I came home from work one day I discovered he'd gotten rather demanding.

How do I know he'd gotten demanding?

Because he left me this note.


I didn't want to deal with a cranky cookie jar all month, so I obliged. I filled the cookie jar to the brim with Conservative Hubby's favorite Christmas tree cookies.


I thought this would appease the cookie jar.

Little did I realize that he'd be overtaken with a sugar high from all the sweets I left him and would go off the deep end.

Case in point: A few days later, I came home from work to find this:


Poor cookie jar lost his mind (and, apparently, his face).

Then again, I can't help but wonder if it was the cookie jar that lost his mind or some other character in my house ... perhaps the character that actually consumed all those cookies?

The world may never know ...

Peppermint Ice Cream

About that surprise I mentioned yesterday ... Remember? The one I said went along with the cookie plates we delivered last night?

It was this.


Jars of homemade ice cream.

But not just any homemade ice cream.

Jars of homemade peppermint ice cream.

Who doesn't love a festive frozen treat?

(Best of all, it was easy. All I did was add 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint flavoring to the traditional vanilla ice cream recipe I usually make. Then, in the last five minutes of ice cream-making, I dumped in a cup of crushed peppermints. Voila! Homemade peppermint ice cream.)

Cookies

Tonight Conservative Hubby and I bundled up and embarked on a mini adventure that has become a tradition since we have lived in L-Town: Cookie deliveries.


We took cookie plates (plus a special surprise you'll learn about tomorrow) to many of our neighbors and a few other friends in town. (And yesterday, we took the same cookie plates to Conservative Family dinner to share the love with Conservative Mom and Dad and Kid Sister and T-Bear.)


Of course the cookie plates included the old standbys: sugar cookies, candy cane cookies, Christmas trees, peanut butter blossoms, and fudge.


But of course, as I did last year, I added a few new treats to the plates. This year, that included toffee and candy covered pretzels. Yum.


If you'd like a few treats yourself, stop on by. We have plenty of cookies left.

No, really. Please come over. Don't MAKE me eat all of these myself.

Toffee

Every year, I try to make a new holiday treat to go with the old favorites.

After spotting what looked like an easy (and lovely) skillet toffee recipe on The Kitchn the other day, I decided I had to add toffee to this year's list.


I made it the other night, and I have to admit: I think it's pretty darn tasty.

Although, full disclosure: I broke it to pieces with my hands, and the chocolate was so darn soft the pieces are now littered with my fingerprints.


Oops.

I promise, my hands were clean.

New Additions

Now that you've had over a week to fully digest Thanksgiving dinner and all the leftovers, I wanted to share with you a peek at a few new additions to this year's Thanksgiving table in Georgia.


By the time we hit Turkey Thursday, Conservative Family had already consumed two Thanksgiving dinners--one part of a fundraising dinner early in November, the other our annual dining experience with Q & MB and family.

So we were ready to mix it up--but just a little bit.

For starters, there was Kid Sister's new spin on her family favorite monkey bread, which you caught a glimpse of here.

Then, inspired by Pioneer Woman's domination of Bobby Flay on his Food Network show Throwdown, we decided to tackle two important recipes.

First up, Ree's Cornbread Dressing with Pancetta, Apple, and Mushrooms.



And Bobby's Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter. (Yeah, Ree and and Bobby and I are on a first-name basis.)


Ooh la la. Both recipes were gooood. But don't take my word for it. Even My Mom ate and enjoyed both dishes--and she never touches stuffing and doesn't like Brussels sprouts.

Until now.

Monkey Bread

Most days, this blog could be called Cooking with Julie. Occasionally, it's Extreme Cooking with Conservative Boy.

But today we have a new guest star: Kid Sister.

In the first-ever episode of Cooking with Kid Sister, the lady of the hour is showing you to how to make her world-famous Monkey Bread.


Before I began dining with Conservative Family on Turkey Day, I hadn't ever heard of this creation called Monkey Bread.

(Although I have since learned that there are a few other people in the world who have been making this tasty treat in their families for years.)

And somehow, in the time I've become acquainted with this delicacy, it has gone from relative obscurity to mainstream appeal. Can you believe the recipe is now printed on the wrapper of bulk packages of Pillsbury biscuits during the holidays?

Kid Sister is a trendsetter. That's all I can say.

So anyway. The thing about this year's Monkey Bread is this: You won't find the recipe for it on any wrappers.

That's because this year Kid Sister got innovative.

And you're witnessing it right here.

You see, usually Monkey Bread involves little pieces of biscuit dough, of course. And lots of butter and cinnamon and sugar. But that's it. Just throw it all in a Bundt pan and bake.

But this year, stealing a page from her brother (or not), Kid Sister went EXTREME.


First, she sprinkled mini chocolate chips among the layers of dough. And then she poured a mixture of melted butter and brown sugar on top.


It was an experiment. Sometimes experiments fail.

For the record, this one wasn't a failure.


In fact, it was so delicious a fight almost broke out at the dinner table about which side should get to keep the pan of Monkey Bread by them.

It was so delicious we wondered why we even bothered with pie.

It was so delicious, I'm pretty sure Kid Sister is going to have to make the exact same recipe again next year.

And in the meantime, she really should tell Pillsbury to stop stealing her ideas.

Leaving This Face

Dear sweet Butter was particularly dear and sweet at the beginning of last week.


After Conservative Hubby was already in Georgia golfing and around the time I started packing for my travels down south, Butter put on his angel face.


He knew somehow--even before he spotted my suitcase--that he was getting left behind.

But rather than his usual mournful gaze and puppy pout, he decided to woo me with his big eyes and most serene poses.


And goodness, it almost worked. Had I not been flying, I may have scooped him up and taken him with me.

Instead, he was stuck at home all week. Lounging in the sun with his dog sitter, who no doubt lavished him with all the attention such a sweet little pooch deserves.

So don't feel sorry for him. Not this time anyway.