Southwest Road Trip

As we approach fall my favorite time of year, I'm going to spend some time reminiscing on one of my favorite fall road trips. Here on the west coast September and October are the perfect times to travel, gorgeous weather and shoulder season, so crowds are limited. A couple of years back I took a Southwest Road trip, I'm going to highlight some stops along that fabulous fall journey. Enjoy.

Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park

Day 1 - Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Spent a day hiking in Zion National Park, taking in the gorgeous views, cliche but it was breathtaking.  Finished the evening in Springdale, UT at Oscar's Cafe eating green chile enchiladas on the patio, enjoying the dramatic southwest sunset. Absolutely amazing.

Road tripping to Bryce Canyon from Zion

Day 2 - Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce Canyon National Park

The scenery here is as dramatic as ever, it's a must see. We finished the day at the Bryce Canyon Lodge for an afternoon glass of wine. We didn't stay the night because the rooms were sold out. Either way I'm a sucker for National Park Lodges and I make sure to stop in and see the lodge at each National Park I visit. I just love the old rustic feeling, it can't be beat.

It's a much farther drop then it looks here.

Loving It

Fresh From the Garden...Finally

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta with Crumbled Mozzarella

We've been working on our first garden and now that spring is in full swing we can finally start to reap the rewards of growing our own food - basil (tomatoes too, although they are not quite ready yet). Basil makes a wonderful addition to so many quick and simple recipes; it's easy to incorporate into almost everything you eat in late spring and summer. Here is one of my favorite simple recipes, good tomatoes and fresh basil are key to making this appetizer a success.

Fresh basil plant in our garden

Tomato & Basil Bruschetta
Serves 8 - 10
Ingredients
6 vine ripened tomatoes, diced into cubes (make sure they are nice and firm and very red)

8-10 fresh basil leaves cut into fine strips (discard the stems of the leaves and just use the leaf)
2-4 fresh peeled garlic cloves finely chopped (adjust amount according to how much garlic you like)
1 Tbs. of good extra virgin olive oil
A few pinches of salt, or salt to taste (garlic salt or fine sea salt works great)
1 Sweet Baguette, sliced and brushed with olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil)


Directions

Basil leaves freshly cut

Prepare ingredients as noted above and combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, 1 Tbs. olive oil and salt in a bowl. Add additional salt or other ingredients to your taste. Cover and refrigerate the mixture to let the flavors combine. Slice the baguette into thin slices and put the bread slices onto an un-greased cookie sheet.  Brush one side of the bread lightly with olive oil. Toast the bread in the oven, olive oil side up under the broiler for 5-10 minutes, until bread is toasted and slightly brown. Remove from oven and top with a spoon full of the tomato bruschetta mixture. Arrange bread pieces on a platter and serve immediately. I have a large family so I often forego toasting the bread and preparing the individual slices.  It's a bit lazy but I simply slice the bread and serve the bruschetta in a bowl with a spoon, so people can prepare their own individual slices. The fresh bread soaks up the flavors of the wonderful simple and fresh ingredients. Serve it however you prefer. Enjoy.

Tips

• Use the freshest ingredients possible, get basil, tomatoes and garlic from your garden, local providers/markets, local farmers markets, etc., organic preferred.
• Cooking is an art form, so remember to think outside of the box. There are so many variations you can add onto this, for example sometimes I use small grape tomatoes, I find them much more flavorful then a standard beefsteak tomato. Other ideas...drizzle with balsamic reduction, sprinkle with fresh chunks of mozzarella cheese, remove the garlic...the options are endless.  Enjoy.

Simple Decor

Simple flower arrangement made from flowers in my yard.  Perfect decor for a summer BBQ.

Fava Beans on the Way

My fava beans are finally starting to grow. Only a few more weeks, I can't wait.  

Fava plants in my garden

Beautiful flowers from the fava plant

The fava bean pod starting to grow

Mini Bread Bowl

Good idea, not much more I can say about this one.  How we came up with it?   A couple of months ago we were on a road trip up the Northern California coast on the hunt for the best clam chowder in a bread bowl.  My boyfriend D refuses to eat a bowl of clam chowder if it's not served in a sourdough bread bowl (the way they serve it in San Francisco).  If you've never had it, you've got to try it.  It truly enhances the soup eating experience with a great bonus in the end...delicious bread pre-soaked with rich clam chowder, it's amazing.  We were way north of San Francisco and assumed the bread bowl would be easy to find.  Not so much, restaurants either didn't serve bread bowls or were sold out.


Desperate times call for desperate measures and often spur the birth of genius ideas.  I consider this one of those ideas.  D decided to convert his sourdough dinner roll into a mini bread bowl.  Ridiculously adorable, tasty, and not too shabby on the calorie count either.  Thanks D for your genius idea.

My Edible Garden Day 1

Lately I've had the urge to grow a garden. It was one of the main reasons I wanted a home with a yard, to  grow my own food.  The slow food movement is a big deal here in the Bay Area, everyone is always talking about from farm to table and growing your own organic produce.  I'm tired of talking about it, I'm ready to do it...

I have no idea what I'm doing. My boyfriend was kind enough to build me a garden box filled with soil he got from a friend, apparently he thinks I'm capable of growing a garden.  I think I am too, I just don't know much about it yet.  I was falsely encouraged by our odd warm winter weather this year and headed to the garden store.  I plopped some seeds in the ground, literally plopped them in.  I wanted to plan out my garden, I really did.  I was just so excited, I couldn't wait. I dug little holes with a spoon in slightly straight rows, plopped in some seeds and watered them.  The seeds included organic Red Russian Kale, spinach, chives and sage.

So the seeds are in the ground.  Now it's time to wait....and wait...and wait.  I'm checking every day, no signs of life yet.  I've been having dreams about a little green leaf popping through the dirt, so I know it's on the way.  I'm excited, I think I'm a little inspired by the magic of it all.

Sunset

Sunset while driving home from Yosemite National Park. Gorgeous.