Dear Day-cation: A Quaint Fall Baby Shower

Happy Veteran's Day, folks!

Since my days off are usually one at a time, I've decided to create a recurring theme for the posts I write about those days' happenings: Dear Day-cation.

Saturday was filled with sweet treats, hot spiced tea, and happy toddlers frolicking about. It was my sister Jennifer's baby shower so I went up to LA to spend the day with her, some lovely ladies, and their babies. Jenn is having a baby girl in a few weeks (maybe less!) and we were all excited to get a head start on welcoming the new baby girl into the world.
It was a delicious little get together and there were only about 10 of us this time, so it made for a really intimate and quaint afternoon. Jenn's first baby shower about 2 years ago had about 30 people and I catered all the food for it. It was mainly just salad, hors d'oeuvres, and canapes and I enjoyed it, but it was definitely a lot of work! This time, I decided to only make cupcakes for dessert to share with the ladies and Joan's on Third catered a lovely lunch. Jenn's boyfriend's talented and crafty sister, Edie, did all the decorating.
The cupcakes were a hit and I was so happy to see everyone enjoying them. I made two flavors: Vanilla Bean (that I garnished with edible flowers to go with the floral theme Edie had goin' on) and Pink Lemonade. They were really fun to decorate, especially the Vanilla Bean ones. I sprinkled sanding sugar on them and then added some marigold petals and dried lavender florets. I bought cute little paper cups to bake them in at Sur La Table and I think they really added a special touch. We also had some other talent add in their touch to the dessert table - there was a chocolatey Marble Bundt cake made by my mom and really delicious and chewy cookies that Edie's mom made.

It was one of the first real fall days here in So Cal. It was a beautifully clear and brisk and only about 61 degrees or so...a temperature I am all too excited to welcome -with warm boots on my feet and a scarf around my neck!

Speaking of babies, I can't get this song out of my head since I heard it on the radio while driving home from work the other night. I love early 60's music like this and hope you enjoy it too!

Greetings from Autumnal Vacation-Land

It's so nice here in vacation-land and I never want to leave. But alas, vacation ends this week and in a couple weeks it will be holiday madness in the retail world. So let's reflect on the past week and a half, since it has been so wonderful, shall we?

My hubby Eek and I drove all the way from our little apartment in Irvine to
Ashland, Oregon in a day. It was about a 12 hour drive and not a very exciting one, since we took the I-5. We stayed the night in this quaint little town, famous for its annual Shakespeare festival. The following morning I had the most delicious mocha at a coffeehouse called Noble Coffee Roaster. It even looked beautiful too.

Noble Coffee in Ashland, OR

We had a cozy little breakfast of coffee and pastries and then decided to take another 4 hour drive up to Bend, which is a little mountain town in central Oregon. Bend is a outdoor enthusiast's dream town - there is plenty to do for the mountain biker, fisher, hiker, rock-climber, white-water rafter, and skier. Since I am basically none of these things besides a hiker, what I enjoyed most about this little town were all the trees. Here in Orange County and LA, you really don't see a lot of them. It was so nice to get away to another part of the country to really appreciate the simple things. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn beautiful colors, too. I'm sure in another week or two they will be just gorgeous.

I loved the way the sun shined through the woods

We hiked up to Tumalo Falls in Bend, OR

Beautiful Homes on the pond in Bend

 On the way home, we stayed the night and camped in Redwood National Forest, aka the Ewok Forest....they filmed one of the Star Wars films here. Enter this forest and you literally feel like you are in a different time or world. Everything is so incredibly green and lush. Ferns and moss grow all over the place and the trees are prehistorically breathtaking.

Even leaves in the Redwood Forest change colors

Eek and a Redwood tree from my Instagram

Wild mushrooms growing on a moss-covered stump

We saw a few banana slugs

"Trees of Mystery" stop off of the 101 highway

Cheers! Sampler at Russian River

Happy Autumn.

We also had the opportunity to visit a few breweries on our trip. Deschutes in Bend, named after the river that runs through the city, and Russian River in Santa Rosa, CA, were the most note-worthy. Delicious craft beers and beautiful scenery, sounds like a pretty good time, don't you think?

Iced Pumpkin Scones

According to my calendar (and the rest of the country), summer is ending and Autumn is beginning. Here in Southern California however, it's still at least 80 degrees everyday. This past weekend we hit record high temperatures, in the 90's and even 100 degrees in some areas! I felt like I was in Palm Springs.
Luckily, that fluke only lasted a couple days, and so far this week has been cooler, especially in the evenings and mornings. I can't help but long for a true Autumn but know I will have to wait another month for those very warm days to go away.
My October issue of Martha Stewart Living just arrived and on the cover, fall was screaming with its harvest of delights. I was inspired alright, and even though it's still warm, I was determined to bake some fall-ish treats. It is, of course, my favorite time to cook and bake!
First up on my list of delicious things to make: Iced Pumpkin Scones. I made these last year and they were so incredibly easy and yummy. So I found the recipe I used (found on Pinterest) and dove right in this afternoon.

Butter, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices go to work

I cannot even begin to tell you how much of a difference in aroma and taste using whole nutmeg and grating it yourself makes compared to using the pre-ground stuff. The spicy sweet smell of the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove filled my kitchen when I started to work the butter into the flour-spice mixture!
It's interesting how certain smells can trigger memories. Since I really only cook or bake with pumpkin this time of year, I was taken away to Thanksgivings of the past as soon as these puppies started baking away in the oven.
Of course, these scones wouldn't be the same without a sweet spicy icing on top. Powdered sugar mixed with milk and all the aforementioned spices really made these scones. So delicious!

Autumn may be right around the corner according to my calendar, but we all know it really still is summer here in So Cal...Indian summer. But you know, it doesn't mean I can't enjoy a sip of a chai latte, take a bite of these pumpkin delights, and go to a crisper, cozier place in my mind.