Johnny's Harborside Restaurant

Despite all of the drama surrounding Santa Cruz as of late, my husband and I had brunch at a lovely little place called Johnny's Harborside Restaurant and Cafe.

From inside you gaze at a Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor and Monterey Bay.  Made me feel like we were back in Marina Del Rey.  How I miss those boats.

Brunch was delicious.  The Harbor Benedict was so decadent...crab cakes were involved.  :)  The trio of seafood tacos were huge, fresh and delicious as well...enough for sharing in my opinion.  Just FYI.

After a brunch like that we needed a stroll, so we meandered down to the lighthouse at the end of the harbor.  It was spectacular.  Once we passed by Seabright Beach, we were suddenly flanked by countless colossal jack-like concrete structures lining the jetty.  Those buggars will be there 'til the end of time.  Let's hope Santa Cruz reinvents itself.  It's too beautiful to just let itself go.

  

Villa Montalvo

It's hard to do this beautiful place justice in words or in photographs.  Situated just outside Saratoga in the foothills is a villa that once was the home of one of California's US Senators.  Now it is known as the Montalvo Arts Center.  It's an artist sanctuary.  Go see a concert, a play, an art exhibit, host a party, or just enjoy a picnic in the green space in front of the villa.  Very Euro of them I must say--  park space for just, well, being.  Thus far, I have been enjoying the hiking trails.  Below are some pics of this magnificent place.  

Chocolate Cream Pie

This is one of my favorite pies to make, and my wonderful hubby claims it as his favorite dessert.  :)  It's relatively simple as well.  This particular recipe is from Epicurious with a few modifications from moi.  See my changes below.  Would love to know how you like it!  Link to the recipe.

If you checked out the recipe, you will see that it calls for chocolate wafers for the crust.  I subbed one package of graham crackers for the wafers.  I am a huge fan of a good graham cracker crust.  Sugar and butter amounts remained the same.  I also used 2 cups 1% milk and a cup of heavy whipping cream to sub for the whole milk.

A note on straining the pudding through a sieve: I am not the owner of a fine mesh sieve...so I skipped this step.  Sacre bleu!  Yes, I did, and I did not find it to affect the flavor or to leave too many lumps in the chocolate creme when all was said and done.  So, just saying, if this same issue comes up for you, don't despair...just improvise!  If you disagree, I would love to hear your feedback!

You can use cellophane instead of wax paper. 

For the whipped cream:  I used 1 cup heavy whipping cream, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, and 1 tsp. of Trader Joe's vanilla bourbon flavoring.  Delish!

The final flourish: after you cut a piece o' pie, sprinkle a bit of sea salt on the top!  

Bon Appetit!  

Heath Ceramics in San Francisco!

I first learned about Heath Ceramics in LA from the blog LA in Bloom.  Thank you, Heather!

I learned about this location in the Mission, however, all by my lonesome.  They arrived a little less than a year ago and took over an old linen factory that had been boarded up for years...or so I am told by one of their lovely employees.  The original Heath was started by Edith Heath in 1948.  She had a passion for her craft, making it accessible to everyone as well as efficient in design and production.  Her designs are simple and classic.

In addition the marvelous ceramics, check out their other artisanal products like Big Dipper Candles and sustainably raised cherry wood cutting boards, a mini newsstand with gorgeous magazines like Kinfolk  and Handful of Salt (It's their premier issue!  Congratulations!  Beautiful work!), a cookbook nook, and a tile showroom.

Blue Bottle Coffee is at the other end of the building.  If you order a latte to stay and admire the handleless mugs they serve them in, just FYI, they don't sell them in Heath...yet!  Don't despair!  Heath will be bringing in the mug with a blue color scheme very soon!

What a marvelous place!  Which line would you buy?

Woodworking Class

So I missed wood shop in school, and confession, as a kid, I dreamt about building furniture.  I am also the sort of person to walk into CB2 (which I totally love, by the way) and say, "Wow, how beautiful.  I could totally make that."  I do this with clothing as well.  Though, as of yet, I have no proof I could actually make a table or dress that I saw in a store somewhere.  I simply make vision boards of the furniture, clothing, and decor I would like to make and buy fabric and a dressform and...well, you get the idea... and then, nothing.  Until now.    

Which brings me to my decision to take woodworking and furniture design at Santa Clara University.

First, if you haven't read Ariele Alasko's blog Brooklyn to West, you must! She is a woodworker, designer, artist extraordinaire who uses wood from old, abandoned places in Brooklyn to construct beautiful tables and artwork.  She also designed and built the restaurant Il Vecchio with flea market finds and reclaimed wood.  Extraordinary work!  

Second, Ariele's blog reignited for me the latent construction ideas I had percolating as a kid.

Third, I recently moved to the Bay area with my beautiful husband and decided to take classes to investigate this new neighborhood.  How else am I going to get to know this new world I live in?

Oh, and finally, there's one more tiny detail that spurred this decision.  I gave up the career I have been pursuing for the last 10 years or so...my acting career.  So, to say the least, there's a rather large hole where acting used to be.  So, here I am blogging, woodworking (among many other things), and finding so much beauty here.

I Heart Fabric

I am obsessed with fabric.  I have been collecting fabric, saving old clothes, and trolling around fabric stores for years.  I don't know what it is.  All the colors, patterns, and possibilities, really, just make me happy.  So what have I been doing with this fabric for all these years?  Nothing really.  The occasional attempt at constructing a new piece of clothing out of an old one, but usually, I just keep it...until recently.

I have decided that it is high time I get on with it and, well, for today and the last week or so, I have been making pillows out of said fabric.  Here are a few of my creations.  Each has story. 

The pink print is from an old jumper I no longer fit into.  The yellow is from JoAnn Fabrics.

The dragonfly print is from a trip to Sew LA.  They have a wonderful fabric selection, offer classes, and are ridiculously nice and helpful people.

Also from Sew LA.  I mean seriously, its gorgeous, right!  Makes me smile.

These two are from old shirts that my husband recently retired that I couldn't resist keeping.

This Indonesian batik print was a wedding favor.   What a brilliant idea!  

Thank you to Maranda and Timo!

Would love to hear if you like them!