Outstanding in the Field

My dear friend Holley surprised me with the most amazing birthday gift this year. She took me to the Outstanding in the Field event at Coleman Farms in the beautiful Carpinteria Foothills.

The event starts out with a tour of the farm which was fascinating to see and learn about. After the tour you walk over to one gigantic long table to attend a dinner party set right in the middle of the field. All the food is made with farm fresh ingredients (literally picked from the fields that day) and prepared by guest chefs who intermingle with the attendees educating them on the dishes ingredients, how it is prepared and most importantly, where it all came from.

We were lucky enough to sit amongst several farmers who gave us the inside scoop on all aspects of the farming culture, one of which was an onion farmer who had to endure my countless questions on the life cycle of an onion....lucky guy! side note: get what you can at your local farmers market in case you didn't know that already :)

The five course meal paired with wines was amazing!! The atmosphere, the food, wine and the great company made for such a wonderful evening.

The experience has encouraged me to be even more conscious about the food I buy and make for our family. I can't wait to attend another one of these events. They just announced a European tour - how cool would that be??!?!?

Click HERE to learn the full story about Outstanding in the Field.

2 and a Half

Our precious first born Sammie turned 2 ½ a couple weeks ago. She is our spunky, smart, sassy, ballerina, dirt eating, late night, blondie, somersaulting, fiery, Daddy's girl, messy faced, sugar monster, knee sock wearing, time out testing toddler who is going to be starting preschool next week! Love you little Sammie Sam!

3 Months Old

Thatcher aka "Thatch" and "Thatchie" is the cutest little guy. He is always smiling and making cute noises. He loves to grab toys, my hair and his toes. He always greets us with the "gummiest" biggest smile each morning. We love Thatchie!

Little Sammie at 3 months :)

Say Cheese!

I plugged my camera in the other day to upload photos and I was shocked when it uploaded over 300 pictures. What is even more shocking is that my husband got caught red-handed letting Samantha play with my camera as evidenced via his mug happily posing for shots. Playing with my camera is a HUGE NO-NO seeing as how Sam has dropped and destroyed not one but TWO laptops in our house! Of course Todd's response was "she was expressing her artistic abilities".

Open-Faced Sandwiches with Ricotta, Arugula, and Fried Egg

I wasn't expecting these to be a "repeat" but I was wrong, the whole family loved them. This would make an excellent dish for a brunch or better yet, breakfast for dinner!

From Cooking Light Magazine

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 (2-ounce) slices whole-wheat country bread
Cooking spray
2 cups arugula
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
4 large eggs
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Coat both sides of bread with cooking spray. Broil 2 minutes on each side or until lightly toasted.

3. Combine arugula, 2 teaspoons oil, juice, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; toss gently.

4. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs into pan; cook 2 minutes. Cover and cook an additional 2 minutes or until whites are set. Remove from heat.

5. Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, ricotta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and thyme; spread over bread slices. Divide salad and eggs evenly over bread. Sprinkle with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Memorial Day Weekend

We had such a fun and exciting Memorial Day Weekend. We celebrated little Margaret Deakyne's 1st birthday party (and Super Mom Jenny Deakyne announced she was expecting Baby #3!), Jack Paskin made an early arrival, we enjoyed a walk at Butterfly Beach, lunch at Brophy's, the Mission to see the chalk paintings at I Madonnari and I turned 30ish. :)

Cutie Mag's about to eat a GIGANTIC cupcake

Getting Ready to Hit the Beach

Samantha and her Lucky Ladybug

Sleeping in the Sling

Brophy's!






Costco Cake followed by a kid-free night out to Opal for drinks and Arigato for sushi

And finally, my friend Holley took me to the most amazing event at Copeland Farms in Carpinteria called Outstanding in the Field . Stay tuned for more pics/details...