summer is not dead

Although I am really excited for Halloween that just around the corner (... and especially this year when I will be in San Fransisco celebrating Shanna's birthday) I still can't help but be a little sad summer is coming to an end. Well, officially, it has already come to an end, but in so cal, we like to push the summer envelope.. and this is just what Jill, Shanna, and Carly and I did a few weekends ago!

There is nothing like spending time with some of your best friends for a weekend of sunning at the beach with bud light 40s (who knew?!), shameless I-don't-care-what-anyone-watching-thinks beach hula hoping, indulging in beer battered fried avocados and award winning guacamole at the Carpenteria Avocado Festival to hold onto summer!

Carly re-packing the cooler after we had a tip over cooler incident on the PCH

stopping traffic to take make sure our 40s are okay and cool

perfect day at the beach

Shanna was so happy with that corn!

beer battered fried avocado with sweet and spicy corn relish

Wagamama's yasai chilli men (stir fried chilli vegetables with tofu and soba noodles)

Wagamama's got me through (I should say around) British cuisine when Tim and I were living in the UK.. and recently I found this gem again (a going away gift from my friends at Waterstone's bookstore where I worked). A few weeks ago, I bought a package of Soba noodles after Martha did a show about this healthy noodle made from buckwheat. With my Soba noodles and a little encouragement, Tim played Japanese chef making one of the most flavorful and delicious Asian meals I have ever had.. now I just need a Wagamama fresh raw juice to go with it (or a trip to Boston or DC to visit their new US locations)!!

sweet red sauce spiked with chilli and ginger

tomatoes from our "garden"

stir fried vegetables (and tofu)

California Beer Festival

This weekend was the California Beer Festival.. in Ventura!! Tim, Kathy, Susan and I had such a fun time tasting all the local brews.. and some "secret" brews of some of the larger breweries. In all there were over 60 brews to try!. I got inspired again, to get Tim set up to brew for the annual Amgen Brew-B-Q where Amgen holds its own beer tasting festival for its employee's home brews! Just need a secret ingredient, winning composition... and this brew kit.

first rock band I have seen with a harp!

passed out at noon

brew brain

how did all our festival mugs end up at my house this morning?

30 hand wrapped Thai Spring Rolls, no problem

Sometimes I get this crazy idea to cook (usually when Tim is "unavailable" and what I like to call "unwilling"), so when I do, why am I never inspired for a simple pasta dish or a creative salad.. why do I choose complicated recipes and complex foreign cuisine... for example my latest attempt to, oh you know, make 30 fresh Thai spring rolls for a cocktail party later that night. Of course, not realizing that half the battle would be to find rice paper.. I was pretty confident that other crazies as myself (and/or local Thailander's) demand for rice paper would be enough to at least supply one pack in normal big box grocery stores. Nope and unfortunately I wasted quite a bit of time walking around the grocery store(s) isles with unhelpful sales people trying to locate (non existent) rice paper. After hitting up TWO Asian market stores, that were sold out of rice paper (???), my iphone gave me the bad news that there was one more local Asian specialty shop in the heart of the Oxnard ghetto. Was it worth my life and my new passenger side window to venture to this random hole in the wall market for rice paper? It's hard to know if you are just being dramatic (usually the case with me) or if really, it is unsafe.. I ended up taking the risk (and living to type about it). I got the goods and ended up buying a lifetime supply of rice paper (preventative measures). In the end the rolls didn't take to long to make, tasted so good (!!!), and got snatched up quick at the party ... now I just need a good peanut sauce recipe to accompany.