Working Girl Cooks!

My husband Eddie, my mom, and I went camping at Lake Sonoma this weekend. Since weekends are when I usually bake for Tuesdays with Dorie I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to make this weeks recipe. This weeks recipe, Pumpkin Muffins was chosen by Kelly of My Barbaric Gulp. The pumpkin muffins looked way too good to pass up and I had found a post by cupcake project where she had baked a cupcake in an orange shell and I thought "what a great idea!" So I decided to make the pumpkin batter, stuff it in some orange shells, cover them with foil and bake them in the fire while camping!

So I made the dough at home. I've adapted Dorie greenspans recipe and added rolled oats. I have posted my version of this recipe at the bottom of this post. You can find the original recipe in Dorie Greenspans book Baking: From my home to yours or on Kelly's post.

I hollowed out some oranges...

And stuffed the dough inside.

I wrapped the oranges in foil and threw them in the fire.

I let them cook for twenty minutes or so, until they were nice and roasted and cooked fully through. The outside of the oranges were slightly charred when they were done.

And this is how it turned out. I know....not very appetizing. Actually I was less than pleased with the result. The orange gave it a bitter taste and it wasn't very good. I will probably never bake like this again. But oh well! I had to try! I do have to say they turned out very moist!

Lake Sonoma is a beautiful lake nestled in the heart of wine country, surrounded by beautiful green mountains. To get to this lake you drive through ten miles of windy road surrounded by fields of luscious grape vines and beautiful mansions that make up the hundreds of wineries that surround this lake. We decided to camp at Quicksilver, a hike in or boat in camp site right on the lakes shore. But to get there we had to park at the top of the mountain and hike all of our stuff half a mile in.

Half a mile doesn't seem that bad....but when you are going half a mile down a steep hill carrying 50lbs worth of stuff....it's a trek! Eddie and I had to make two trips to get all the stuff down to the lake, each time carrying about fifty pounds! It was really hot as well so we were not looking...or feeling so pretty when we were done!

But it was so worth it! We were completely secluded, with this gorgeous view all to ourselves!

On Friday we were too exhausted from carrying all the stuff down to the site so we cooked dinner, played some cards, and called it an early night. On Saturday, it was another absolutely beautiful day and we spend it hiking the surrounding mountains. We let the dogs cool down by taking a swim in the lake...

even our little guy got in the water!

I did a lot of cooking on the grill, I had A LOT of fun cooking! I also did a lot of eating. I always eat more when I'm camping. The food always taste soo good and I can never resist the smores! I think I ate a whole chocolate bar all too myself!

And of course we roasted marshmallows over the fire. What is camping without marshmallows? And SMORES! This is my mom, roasting her marshmallow! Overall it was a great trip, and I can't wait to go back!

Here is some info on Lake Sonoma:

http://www.russianrivertravel.com/parks-lakesonoma.htm

http://www.parks.sonoma.net/laktrls.html

http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/lakesonoma/docs/Lake%20Sonoma%20Trail%20Map.pdf

Here is my recipe for pumpkin muffins, adapted from Dorie Grennspans Recipe:

Makes enough to fill five large oranges:

Ingredients: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 1 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 stick unsalted butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Mix together dry ingredients and spices in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Melt butter, using an electric mixer beat in sugars. Add eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla, pumpkin, and milk, and beat until mixed.

3. Slowly add dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated.

5. Hollow out 5 oranges and spoon dough into oranges. Wrap with foil and grill until outside of orange is charred.

Enjoy!

I got a little bored on the car ride to LA. There wasn't much to do since the windows were wide open (we didn't have air conditioning) and we were going at least 80mph so the wind was blowing so hard we couldn't listen to the radio. So I decided to take some pictures of myself, with the wind blowing my hair. I couldn't get the picture perfect, so I took a lot of them. After awhile, I realized that it was kind of fun to take pictures of my hair as it got increasingly more wild from the ferocious wind.

At first it was fairly tame.

Even cute....almost!

Ok I look like I have really broad shoulders there....It's the angle...I promise!

The wind felt really good on my face.

Slowly I started to have that windblown look.

Woah! The wind really picked up there!

Ok it calmed down again....and my hair almost looks normal and tame! Although my face looks very tan, I look like I just got back from tanning all day at the beach!

Then it starts to get a little crazy.

Woah there! My hair is really going wild now!

Help me....I can't see....my hair is starting to take over my face!

Just smile Katie....maybe no one will notice!

This is me trying to look sexy...is it working? No? Darn....

I don't really know what happened here.....but I thought it looked kinda cool!

Look out...it's cousin IT!!!!

Do you have any idea how hard it was to brush out the knots in my hair from this? I had to condition my hair three times! But is was fun....and it felt really good...so it was worth it!

Eddie and I drove down to Camarillo for Labor Day Weekend. Camarillo is a small town on the Coast of California right in between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. It is best known for the huge outlet mall that was built a few years ago. Eddie grew up in Camarillo and his parents still live there. So we decided since we had a three day weekend we would drive down to visit them...and take the whole family!

We borrowed my moms 1996 Mazda Protégé. Eddie drove. Eddie always drives. He does not like my driving very much. Now, not having a car ourselves, it is really nice to be able to borrow my moms car when we want to take a road trip so I am going to take what I can get and I am not complaining! Especially since the alternative is spending $300 or more to rent a car. But there is one problem with my moms car...there is no air conditioning. And not only is there no air conditioning... the car has a tendency to overheat when going to fast or up hills. Usually this isn't a problem because we usually drive down to Southern California at night, but we both got off of work at noon on Friday so we decided to leave early. Of course it was like 90 degrees outside...in San Francisco! Yes, it was a hot, sweaty, smelly six hours!

The cat tried to get comfortable on the back ledge. She liked looking outside and she liked the wind blowing on her from the window...as long as it was only open a crack, not fully open...she did not like that much.

Eventually, she got too hot up on the window sill with the sun scorching her thick fur. So she found a much more comfortable and shaded place in the car...underneath the drivers seat. She stayed here pretty much the entire trip.

The dog was hot, and rather uncomfortable.

But he eventually found a cozy place nestled in between the door and my leg. He was very good too and sat still next to me almost the entire trip!

We drove down the 101, the entire way to Camarillo. Driving down the 101 really makes me appreciate living in California, with all of it's beauty and diverse landscapes. There are flat plains and dessert...

There are hills covered in bushes and trees...

There are beautiful mountains!

And then we got to Pismo Beach. I was shocked, I have never seen Pismo so overcast in all the trips I have made down south (and I have made a lot of trips!) It was like a huge cloud had settled on the town of Pismo, it felt like I was in the movie "The Mist!" It was actually pretty disappointed because I really wanted to take pictures of the ocean!

But I still got some pretty cool pictures! There is ocean beyond those palm trees somewhere!

On a nice day, Pismo is a beautiful town! Just South of San Luis Obispo it is full of rich, old, retired people. I have never actually stayed here...but I'm sure it is awesome...especially if you like to golf!

We stopped in Pismo Beach for gas...our only pit stop of the trip. Look at Eddie... doesn't he look like a movie star!

Then back on the road.....back to the beautiful blue sky, the great plains, and the wondrous mountains.

And the vineyards! California is full of vineyards, they line the coast from Napa and Sonoma all the way to Santa Barbara. They are beautiful and are usually surrounding a beautiful castle or mansion on a hilltop.

And right as the sun began to set....

we reached the ocean.

We were at the end of the earth... and it was absolutely beautiful. The stretch of 101 past Santa Barbara through Ventura is the absolute most beautiful drive I have ever experienced. You don not get much closer to the ocean than that. I absolutely love this part of the the drive. The smell, the ocean breeze, the glisten of the sun... there is nothing like it in the world!

I just cannot get over it. I love the ocean...I want my house to look over the ocean someday. I will never leave California because I cannot bare to be too far away from the ocean.

And right as the sun set... we arrived in Camarillo. Our home away from home!

Living in the city, Eddie and I do not have a car. It is more of a hassle than anything to own a car in San Francisco so when we moved here we decided to do our part for the environment and sold our cars. We don't miss having a car at all. Everything we could possibly need is within walking or cabbing distance and all of our friends either live in the city as well or prefer to come to the city to visit us anyway so there is really no need for us to venture out of the city. But sometimes we just get sick of being stuck in one place and feel the need to "just get away." When we start to get claustrophobic, it's nice to know that my mom lives an hour away and always has an extra car that we can borrow at our leisure. So we decided to borrow it this weekend, just to have the option if we needed it. So this morning, we decided to head down to Half Moon Bay to grab some lunch and enjoy the unusually sunny weather. We drove down Hwy 1, which has gorgeous views of the ocean. We drove down Hwy 1 a little farther to check out the Ritz Carlton, although we didn't feel like we were rich or snooty enough to even get out of the car and walk around...

Then we stopped for lunch at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. It's a cute restaurant right on the water, with lots of outdoor seating so we could bring our dog.

There was a twenty five minute wait so while we were waiting I got a Mavericks Amber Ale, the signature beer. It was pretty good, dark and full bodied. Although I am definitely no beer connoisseur so I really have no idea what I am talking about.

The restaurant was your typical brew co. serving burgers and fries. This one of course had a lot of fish and seafood. I absolutely love love love fish and seafood. I was eyeing the fish and chips because I wasn't feeling like being super healthy today and I was starving and craving something salty. The Brew Co. has three types of fish and chips, traditional rock cod, mahi mahi, and salmon. Unfortunately, like all fish and chips, it comes fried and I don't do fried fish. So I asked if they could do mine grilled and they were super nice and did! So here is what I ate.....It was good, but not great. The portions aren't huge but I like that and even with the smaller portion I wasn't able to finish it all.

Eddie is definitely not the fish and seafood kind of guy. So he got himself a big ass burger.

And here he is full and happy! After lunch all we wanted to do was go home and take a nap. So that's what we did. So much for taking full advantage of have a car for the weekend and getting out of the city. Oh well, I guess there is no place like home.