A little meltdown
Time alone and some treats
I baked some stuff
I had a meltdown during a walk that lead me to take a 5 day solo roadtrip to the Mendocino Coast and Gualala
I feel better…FOR NOW!!
In the “I baked some stuff” category:
Dived a bit further into David Lebovitz. I realized that someone cut out 10 pages from the library book I have of Read for Dessert which is making me more impatient for the re-issue coming in September. From this I made the key lime pie with marshmallow top which was pretty good. I wish I had refrigerated more before serving because it was pretty gloopy. I also wasn’t CRAZY about the marshmallow meringue on top. My mom and I were watching Baking With Julia on PBS from 1996 that was released in unison with the cookbook and we got inspired to make the puff pastry featured on the show.
This was a really fun project that makes you feel high from the payoff. I think the cost of 1lb of French butter ended up being slightly cheaper than buying nice puff pastry from the store (plus 3 hours of labor). Overall not too hard, just time consuming. The apricot cake base was from the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book which I thought was great. I may double the recipe in the future for one cake because it is a pretty lean as is, but a great fruit high-lighter.
In “I had a meltdown during a walk that lead me to take a 5 day solo roadtrip to the Mendocino Coast and Big Sur”:
When I got to the campsite in Gualala a skinny cat immediately shouldered up to me and didn’t really leave my side for the 3 days I stayed. He was desperate for food and I identified myself as a target for his begging when I gave him a little piece of Parmesan from my dinner. I would have to lock myself in my cabin because he was so insistent on getting at my food. It was pretty heartbreaking leaving him, but I hope he makes some other lady who’s spiraling about her career path as happy as he made me.
I mostly drove up and down the coast, beaded some garlands, and collaged while listening to Ina Garten’s autobiography. Sincerely inspiring to me even as someone who has never identified as an Ina-head! I also visited with my Airbnb host who lived up the road on a small farm where she also bakes sourdough and sells locally. She was very cool - formerly lived at a nearby Buddhist monastery which she left when she had her first daughter.
Part of the vegetable garden at the Mendocino Botanical Garden and pastries the next day from Pelican Bakery in Point Arena (Wednesdays and Saturdays only) .
After three days in Gualala I drove down to Big Sur. I’m sure countless people have waxed poetic about this area of the coast and I’m not going to be able to add much BUT the beauty was kind of hard to take in. It’s so pretty it feels illegal to be there. When I was getting closer to Deetjen’s, right before entering the redwoods and really high up on the 1, I was listening to Alice Coltrane’s album “Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana” and was like…whoa….sun breaking through the fog at the top illuminating the ocean?? This felt like how you’re supposed to do the drive and I’m not gonna apologize for it!! I’m sure a lot of gals have taken the same photo from Nepenthe as the above but I DON’T care it was really gorgeous and I didn’t even BLINK when I saw that my shot of fernet was $19…
The scruffy grey cat was outside my bedroom window in Big Sur at Deetjen’s. One of many, I liked how annoyed he looked that I woke him up from his snooze. Deetjen’s lived up to any and all hype about it - I can’t even get into it! I was just there for one night which was enough time to finish my book and have an oatmeal breakfast with a side of bacon in their restaurant.
Next stop was an evening in Cambria. I was ready to be home at this point and Cambria is normally I place I go with my husband so it was a little lonely being there by myself. The beautiful garden above is at a place I had previously been avoiding called Robin’s Restaurant. It was really delightful and I was seated in front of their gorg flowers that everyone leaving the restaurant took formal photos in front of. A nice gloomy walk finished the trip before driving back to LA on Saturday. Big thanks and positive energy to my rented Kia Soul for getting me around and another thank you to The Breakfast Show with Flo for my background music. Highly recommend going on a cliché solo roadtrip up the coast if you’re feeling out of sorts and panicking about impending motherhood and career and purpose.
And “I feel better…FOR NOW!!”:
I’m lovin these combos, I’m not above taking an aesthetic photo of produce. I’m excited to snatch up a lot of in season passion fruits and freeze them to use throughout the year.
I love the rubber band on these shiso leaves. Chamomile in milk for some pastry cream. My mom said it was “medicinal” tasting which I don’t totally disagree with but I think it tasted good.
Had a little dinner party and I liked the photo of my (sparse) backyard ready for people. I love figs on a plate but I only ended up eating half of them. I have a hard time with figs even though they’re arguably the chicest fruit. Made some roasted tomato compound butter, green goddess dip with crudité, bread, nice sausages, and the aforementioned apricot almond cake. A nice weekday dinner menu.
Ending with a side view of some puff pastry scraps 💛
-JK