Our Garden..

We have been working oh so hard in our yard to get it all cleared out and free of weeds for two main reasons; so that it doesn't scare our company away, and so we could grow a garden!

I wish I had some before pictures because the transformation that has been made is just amazing. Our roommates worked for a few weekends in a row clearing out the major weeds and unwanted bushes and waist high grass; thankfully they took the initiative because that was something I was not looking forward to. Since then the group of us have gone in and really cleared out the yard. We completely got rid of all plant life (i.e. grass, weeds) on one large strip of the yard and that is where we decided to plant our garden. We plotted out how much room we would need and from there went to work.

Because we were gone for the whole month of April (a crucial month in the growing season) we bought a majority of our plants a month or so old, as opposed to starting everything from seed which we have done in previous years. In the back we started with a few varieties of corn, then tomatoes (including a few heirloom varieties and your basic reds), peppers, green beans, zucchini, and yellow squash. Depending on the space needed for the plant, we only planted on every other row. The empty row will be used in the next month or so by the same varieties but ones we have just started to grow from seed. This will lengthen your production months by planting in stages. For example, the 4 tomato plants we have planted are close to 2 months old. Just a few weeks ago I planted a few varieties from seed and those will be ready to plant in a few weeks. The first plants will start producing soon but will stop in September or so. The second set of tomatoes will start producing in about 2 months but will produce until possibly November. Make sense??

With some birthday money I got from my favorite mother-in-law :) I bought those two citrus trees; a dwarf lime and lemon. We plan to plant them in larger pots, and hope that they do well in pot life for another year or so. I've always wanted citrus trees. With wedding gift money and gift cards we've been able to get a lot of other things we've always wanted, like strawberries, which I just planted today, no pictures yet. And that weird cactus looking plant is artichoke! Which I am very excited about. I hope you all decide to plant something :) Go to your local hardware store or even target or walmart and just see what they have. Maybe pick one plant, like tomato and see where it takes you.

I'm inspired..

Can you believe that with my love of cooking, and blogs, AND Julia Child that I just now watched the movie Julie and Julia!? Well I just can't believe it, because it was amazing, and heartfelt, and wonderful in just so many ways. In my defense I don't watch a lot of tv, so I had not actually seen a preview of the movie and had close to now idea what it was about. Usually, I do not enjoy movies with a lot of "fluff" and I felt like that's what I would be watching, but I was so wrong. It was a real story of how Julia Child came to be THE Julia Child. I thought it was beautiful and awe inspiring.

Lucky for me, Jennifer picked the movie and I didn't feel as if there were any better choices at the good old red box.

Thank you red box, thank you Julie Powell, and thank you Julia Child

Strawberry Pie

Crust:

1 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/8 c. sugar
1/3 c. shortening
5-6 T. cold water

Mix flour salt and sugar. Add shortening and with a fork mix in the shortening. With the fork you lift from bottom to top, you don't press down to break up the shortening. It will take a little bit of time, and the pieces of shortening should all be pea size or smaller.
Take a few fork fulls of dough crumbles and set aside. Add the water to the flour mixture. If you're adding sugar to the recipe, you may need the extra tablespoon of water. The dough should come together as a ball in your grip, add a few more drops of water if necessary.
On a floured surface roll out dough with a rolling pin. Just roll it out to the edge of your surface or about 1/4 inch thick. It doesn't matter the shape or look of the dough at this point. Sprinkle the dry dough mixture, that had been set aside, on the top of the dough, to the edges. Roll dough up, like a fruit roll up, and close off the edges so the crumbs don't fall out. Cut into fourths, stack on top of each other, and smash down, so you have one large mass of dough.
Again on a floured surface roll out dough. This time you're going to eventually need a close to perfect circle, so when rolling out, try to keep your shape. After you've rolled dough out an few inches wider than pie pan. Place pan in the middle of dough and cut a circle out, use the extra pieces of dough to fill in places that didn't quite keep shape. Using rolling pin, roll dough over and then onto the top of the pie pan. Lift dough into pan, making sure that it's up against the walls and edges. Using your fingers roll the edges of the crust down and in so that it sits just along the edge of the pan. Once you've circled the whole crust, go back around, using your thumb and index finger to shape the crust. You can make the wave as tight or loose, as big or small as you would like.
For more detailed pictures go here.
Your crust is done!
Poke a few holes in the crust with a fork and bake for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees. You should fill your crust with pie weights or an alternative (I use foil, by molding it to the inside of the crust), this is to keep the walls of the crust from caving in.

2 containers of large strawberries (4-6 cups)
1 container of strawberry glaze
vanilla ice cream or whip cream

Cut the tops off the berries and mix with the glaze, fill the crust and keep refrigerated until served.

My new fav

This adorable little sweater!!

The love of my life took me on a little shopping spree for my birthday (I don't normally do a lot of shopping on my own, because I'm trying to cut back on spending) and it was such a treat!!! Normally I'm a bit of a bargain hunter, but we went to my favorite outdoor shopping center in Palo Alto, and he talked me into buying a few items I normally would not. Like this adorable sweater from Banana Republic.

Thanks for a great day sweetheart :)

Tomorrow is my day :)

My honey and I have been trying to plan out our week and it has just not gone to plan. We originally planned to go camping Monday through Wednesday and then a trip to Utah for a wedding Friday through the following Wednesday, but due to family issues (on both sides) we had to drop both of those plans! Our back up plan didn't work out either, but we came up with a plan! A spa day for me and my honey in the afternoon, then a little shopping, hopefully a new addition to my camera (all thanks to the love of my life), and then dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Papillion, with just a few of my favorites (Martin of course, my parents and Jen).

Martin I love you so much. I never thought I would be looking forward to my 25th birthday, but I am. My last two birthdays have been the best so far, and all thanks to you. Here's to my first birthday as a married woman :)

Berry Wonderful Cheesecake

Yes I am home from vacation and found myself back in the kitchen, one of my favorite places to be. For mother's day, my nephew Jack and I collaborated on the most important part of the day, dessert. We decided to go with my favorite, cheesecake. And to make it mother's day marvel, I went with a berry swirl topped with even more berry goodness. Cheesecake, although feared by most, is a very easy and simple dessert to make. Prep time for me, ends up being under 30 minutes, which is pretty amazing for such a decadent dessert.

Kristin's Berry Swirl Cheesecake

For a 10 inch spring form pan

Shortbread cookie crust:

1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 c. flour

Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until completely combined, make sure to scrap the bottom of the bowl. Add flour, and mix until combined. In a buttered spring form pan, press dough on edges and about 3/4 up the edges. It should have no more than ¼ inch depth, so you may have extra dough. Make sure the crease of the pan (in between bottom and sides) doesn’t have a build-up of dough. You will want a consistent depth all around.
Take a piece of heavy duty foil (or two sheets of regular) and shinny side down, place your pan on top, and fold the foil up the outside of the pan. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Edges should be golden brown, if you notice the edges are browning before center is cooked through, turn the temperature down.

Cheesecake filling:

24 ounces of cream cheese (3 boxes)
¾ c. sugar
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
¼ t. salt
1 ½ c. sour cream

1/3 c. - 1/2 c. berry preserves (any flavor or make, I prefer my Mom's homemade boysenberry)

Cream the sugar and cream cheese in a mixer or with beaters. Add one egg at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl after every egg. When completely combined (it is very important that you have no lumps, so the first few steps are crucial) add vanilla salt and sour cream. Mix until smooth. Pour filling into crust, smooth out top.

You may want to water down the preserves just a bit, it should drizzle off the spoon, not drop. Take the preserves and spoon onto the top of the uncooked cheesecake in a swirl pattern. Using a butter knife, not cutting into the crust swirl around the batter a few times, allowing the preserves to sink down into the batter a bit. Be sure not to over mix, you want the preserves still intact, not mixed in (it loses the effect).

Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes at 330 degrees. It can be tricky to know when the cheesecake is done. The top should lose it's wet luster and have a dull look to it and it should be set. Check at the 1 hour mark first. Turn the oven off, open the door, and leave the cake in for about 20 more minutes. Mare sure you place on a rack for an hour or so before placing in the fridge. You should keep the cheesecake refrigerated for at least 48 hours before serving. I actually prefer 3 days, if you are thinking that much ahead of time.

Decorate with fresh berries and watered down berry preserves. You can make your own berry drizzle with frozen fruit, sugar and a little bit of water, cook down until the sauce is the desired consistency.

Oh how I love spring!!

Over at the Murray and friends home we have all been working very hard towards our goal of having a clean and functional yard. We have a lot of space but unfortunately a lot of work needs to be done. Weeds, grass, and wild fruitless berry bushes have taken over the yard in the last year or two, but we're taking control. So far we have cleared out enough space for a decent size vegetable garden and brought everything else down to ground level. In the next few days we are going to purchase a truckload of top soil, incorporate that along with mulch from my dad's garden and put into place some order for our garden. We already have plants about 1 1/2 months old, and I just planted seedlings. (I like to plant in 1 1/2 month increments to keep the harvesting even throughout summer and early fall). Our plant list is as follows...

• corn (sweet and yellow)
• tomatoes (basic red, heirloom, cherry, and golden)
• peppers (sweet, anaheim, jalapeno)
• yellow squash and zucchini
• melons (water melon and cantaloupe)
• beans (green, and yellow bush)
• lettuce
• basil
• chives
• onions (yellow, white, and green)
• pumpkin (jack-o-lantern and sweet sugar pie)
• strawberries
• Mandarin orange tree

Yes, we are very ambitious this growing season. As a helpful hint, if you have a small garden space, but love to eat vegetables; zucchini, tomatoes and green beans are the best to plant. One zucchini plant last year kept us more than satisfied, and the maintenance is a breeze. Keep in mind that one plant can have up to a 3-4 foot diameter. With green beans, you can have a few bush varieties in the same area, they're a much smaller plant, but if fed well and given lots of sunshine, will also produce very well and with little maintenance. Tomato plants are amazing, you buy one plant or even one seed and you will be amazed how many tomatoes you can get in one growing season.

I hope that you all consider at least one little plant, especially if you have kids. My nieces and nephews love gardening and I think it serves as a great educational tool. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions, if I can't help I'll ask my dad, he knows everything :)

My biggest gardening influences...

• My Grandma Beck (who I've been missing very much lately)
• My Dad
• Martha Stewart :)

Martha Stewart has gardener, Jodi Capobianco, seen in the two pictures on the left, and she must just love her job. If I could garden and cook for a living, what a relaxing and wonderful life that would be. I commend the two for their work and the educational tools they have available to the public. Isn't their garden just beautiful!??! I love all these pictures. There will be pictures of our garden once we get everything settled.

Yes, we are home!!

I have taken a few weeks to get this post up, but I wanted to let you know that yes, we are home! We are happy to be back and getting back to regular life, which we love so much. So here's what we've been doing for the last few weeks, and a few pictures to give you an idea of what we got to see and experience.

• April 4th - left the wonderful bay area of California and flew into Sydney Australia..stayed at The Menzies, right in the heart of the downtown harbour ..visited the Sydney Opera House, the Botanical Gardens, Sydney Wildlife World, the Sydney Aquarium, several restaurants in the Harbour, and several ferries around the area..took a ferry over to Manly (about 30 minutes from Sydney) where an old friend of Martin's lives (Katie) spent a few days at her place and visiting the amazing beaches in the area
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  April 11th - flew into Brisbane where my fabulous friend Patty and her man picked us up from the airport and let us stay at their place for a few days..enjoyed some amazing bbq (including Kangaroo) that they prepared for us, and enjoyed the company of their close friends which was ideal, we felt at home again..thanks to Patty, we were able to ride bikes around the city and get a feel for the area, went to a few street markets and took the ferry around their city
  
  
• April 13th - flew up to Cairns, where we met up with Daniel (Martin's brother) and Jeremy (our roommate and Martin's bandmate), dove the Great Barrier Reef and so lots of amazing things, took a tour through the Australia Rainforest, swam through the Milla Milla waterfall, jumped into a few lakes
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 16th - flew back to sydney, stayed in the Manly area again, because we loved their beaches so much, visited Katie at her restaurant to say bye
• April 18th - flew to New Zealand, drove on the opposite side of the rode, found somewhat affordable food for the first time in weeks, and had to wear a jacket for the first time in weeks.. drove all around the South Island of New Zealand, saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Josep Glacier, the Milford Sound, the Fiordland National Park, Mt. Cook, the Moeraki Boulders, hundreds of waterfalls and lakes, probably millions of sheep, gorgeous country side, New Zealand wine country (so pretty to drive through).. ate at Fleur's Place, an amazing and fresh seafood restaurant
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• April 25th - flew home to San Francisco, and so ready to be home

To be honest, we didn't feel that far from home. The food, the people, the landscape, even the beaches, all felt like different parts of California. Sydney was almost identical to San Francisco, with a lot of asian culture and food mixed in with port/harbour culture here and there. A few things that were new to us...

• beets on hamburgers (and egg and pineapple also)
• 3 dollar cans of soda, crazy.. and no refills anywhere, fast food and restaurants
• not big into ranch or bbq; they use a lot of chili sauce (hot or sweet)
• fries are called chips
• pancakes are always served with icecream
• icecreams shops everywhere
• tipping is not as standard as here, also, tax is included in everything already, which is one reason why things seem much more expensive.. minimum wage is around 15 or 16 $.. so servers don't make as much in tips, but they get paid more, have covered health insurance, get vacation time, which no servers get here in the states, get time and a half for working sundays, and you get 4-6 weeks paid vacation a year at almost any job, as opposed to 1 in the states, and that's only if you have a fulltime office type job
• driving on the other side of the road
• not pronouncing things the way they are spelled (Cairns is Cans, Brisbane is Brisbin, Melbourne is Melbin.. just to name a few)
• a few words different here or there, nothing we couldn't figure out
• no toilet seat covers anywhere (I hated that)
• no dollar menus at fast food (everything was a little pricier than we're used to)
• no free wifi anywhere, everywhere charged a lot, anywhere from 5-10 an hour
• lots of travelling students all over.. it seems as though in other countries travelling is a huge part of life and education, which I think is wonderful.. a more travelled and experienced person is a more knowledgeable and less ignorant person.. learning about how other's communicate and cooperate and live and think is a great thing, I think.. We met people from all over, working or just travelling, as either part of their actual college education or a start to
• universal health care (or just about) most people approve of it and have close to no complaints, definitely not as many as I have with my insurance
• recycling and being green is HUGE in Australia and New Zealand.. almost everywhere you go there are separate recycling bins and even food waste bins.. it seems as though most people there are very aware that you need to be more responsible with your waste.. you have to know that everything you throw away goes somewhere, and doesn't just disappear, which probably is why everything was so clean and well kept and nowhere smelled like our Milpitas (which just smells like you're standing in a garbage)

We missed our friends and family so much and want you to know how much we love and appreciate all the time we get to spend with you... we love being home!!