Florence and Tuscany Trip

 For the last couple of weeks Matt and I have been in Italy. Some of you may have known this given my constant updating of my Instagram feed with all things Italian, food and fun. If you have a bad time in this little place in the world you might be crazy. We spent about two weeks in Italia, splitting up our time in Florence and Tuscany. We were inspired by the oldness of buildings, masterpieces of art, cobblestone streets, Fiats, food, and long conversations on our balcony about everything and nothing. Italy you inspire me to slow down, relax and smile. Thank you.

 The Duomo in Florence. Seriously large. Serious business. Seriously amazing. 

The marble statues are just jaw dropping. (I think that is what I am doing in this pic?) We did see the David however no photos allowed. He is a bit shy.

Dancing in Boboli Gardens...yes like the pizza crust. The view from the top of the garden is amazing and you can find cool little groves and secret mazes to discover. This was just before a I was pooped on by a bird... well Italy you were almost perfect.

You make up for your birds with your clouds.

The central market in Florence. It has it all. Get there early and watch the butchers. They mean business. 

Montalcino Italy. Our home away from home for a week. We rented an apartment and basically ate up this view the whole time.

 Tuscany has the best light I have ever seen. 

There may have been an international dance party started. I may or may not have started it. Although, I point my fingers towards the Polish girls in the corner. Just saying. 

Siena. The town is like a medival maze. Lots of little streets to wander up and down and hills to climb. We called it urban hiking and our feet agreed. 

Flags or the different districts in Siena. They are getting ready for II Palio and they take this very seriously. I was voting for the snail district, but their horse did not make the final race this year.

 View from our ten year anniversary dinner at Boccon di Vino. A family run restaurant that was amazing. The view did not suck either. I would have taken pictures of the food, but I really wanted to just enjoy the meal with my love.

 Open air market in Montalcino. Candy and colors all around.

 I could not stop taking pictures of the flowers all around Tuscany. 

 Speaking of colors. The Aperol Spritz may be my new drink of the summer. Refreshing

 Flower baskets and shutter windows. Pienza. This town smells like cheese, but in a good way.

Our little Fiat 500. Thank you for letting us explore Tuscany with you and thank you for keeping the crazy Italian drivers at bay. 

Our last night in Florence. View from the Piazzale Micheangelo. A little hike up over the hill and you can sit and watch the city and the sunset. 

Speaking of sunsets. Italy, you are simple, complex and beautiful, and I can't wait to visit you again soon. 

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

Things around here are a bit crazy. You know wack-a-do- busy. So why not make something that fits right in. These bars are salty and sweet. A cookie with a little crazy bite.  Big chunks of pretzels along with a soft cookie bar. Eat these, make these, sell these... Matt just said, "those where so good."

Broken up pretzel sticks.. Crack them up and add melted butter.... Please do!!!

Mix the cookie dough and add it to the pretzel "crust." Kind of a mess, but so worth it. 

Finished!!! Chunky  bars filled with chocolate and with a salty bite. 

Enjoy these with some chocolate milk, or after a long bike ride. Either way, these bad boys deserve some sort of celebration when eating. Party hat and all.

Broccoli Cheese & Avocado Bites

We decided to go on adventure this weekend. An adventure by hopefully, making something "fun" and "green." Guess what? It worked! We took left over broccoli and bok choy added avocado, breadcrumbs, cheese and of course Calvin's favorite food....honey mustard. Made some fancy shapes and ate it up. This is a great way to use up extras and the kiddos loved them. The adult kiddos too. 

Steamed broccoli, toasted  healthy grain bread, grated cheese, an egg and honey mustard to bind the patties together. I added some avocado for extra goodness. You really can't go wrong with any veggies your kids will eat or what you have on hand. 

 Mix together. I pressed mine through cookie cutters for fun shapes. You could just make patties, but we were on a baking adventure. 

 Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and baked until golden brown. 

 Dipped in extra honey mustard for a healthy dinner. Kid approved. 

 Broccoli Cheese Bites

Ingredients

1-2 cups of steamed broccoli or any veggie of choice
1 1/2 cup of grated cheese. I used about 1 cup as we ran out of cheese and it worked just fine.
1 egg
1/2 avocado chopped
2 pieces of 9 grain toast / processed into breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons honey mustard (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Make small patties or shapes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 Degrees for about 25 minutes, turning them once during the cooking process. Let cool and watch your kids enjoy!

Coffee, Coffee Cake Muffins

Spring has hit Santa Cruz making me think of all things tank tops, flip flops, BBQ's and beach traffic. This nice weather always inspires me to attempt to get into the best shape possible as upper arms and legs tend to come out when the sun is shining. Alas, this muffin does not help any of this business. This muffin is a tried and true muffin top and if you eat too many that is what can happen. Shhh don't tell. 

 As you can tell I enjoyed every last bit. There are two layers of flavors in this muffin. Espresso flavor mixed into the coffee cake. You know an extra kick of coffee in the cake really make your morning take off.

Extra butter, cinnamon and sugar to make a crunchy top. Now that is a muffin top I can get used to.

Ingredients get going. 

The brown butter adds a nutty flavor and makes your kitchen smell like magic. 

 Save half the batter and add the espresso powder mixture. 

              Mix with the remaining batter and then scoop on top of the first layer of muffins.

 Sprinkle the flour, sugar and cinnamon mixture on top. Serious muffin top madness.

White Chocolate Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

Lady luck has been sitting on my shoulder. We found a twenty dollar bill at the park, and used our new found treasure to enjoy coffee and juice outside with the kids after riding bikes. The people watching and coffee are what one would expect in Santa Cruz...amzaing. I call this one damn good afternoon. Just as good as these Rice Krispie treats. Simple, fast and easy. If you find one in your lunch box then you too have found lady luck. 

    Cereal, mini marshmallows, Oreos and white chocolate. A combination made from the gods.

 Crushed Oreos

 Melt marshmallows with a bit of butter. 

 Add the melted marshmallows to the cereal and Oreo mixture stir to combine and press into a pan. No baking involved.

I made mine fancy by melting white chocolate and drizzling it over the top. Once cooled cut into squares.

Chocolate Brownie Cookies with White Chocolate and Roasted Macadamia Nuts

I can't believe  how fast time passes. The days are getting longer, Valentine's day came and went, my baby girl is soooo not a baby anymore, and my three year old son is using words like "actually" and "appreciation." What the heck happened? Time is flying by way too fast. Before I know it I will be eight-two sitting on my front porch telling my grand-children about the days when we all used to watch these silly TV shows about "reality." Until then, there are brownie cookies, white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Believe me, these cookies will make time stand still, if only for a minute. 

Ingredients are a plenty. A good use for the accidental purchase of macadamia nuts. My husband thought they were Marcona almonds...oops. But I put them too good use in these cookies. The crunchy nuts with the sweet chewy cookie are just about the best ever. 

 Chopped bittersweet chocolate into chunks. Ready to melt

 

 Melted butter and chocolate added to the flour mixture. The white chocolate chunks and nuts are then folded in.

 The cookies are soft and almost like a brownie meets fudge and says hello to some crazy nuts. They last a long time covered at room temperature and will definitely make you stop and enjoy this busy word we all walk around on. Enjoy! 

Pecan Sandies

The theme of this week has been to jump in head first. "Don't be afraid". "Go get it and give it a try." WOW!  I sound like one of those inspirational posters.  

This week I jumped. I took a jump with work, my workout, and setting boundaries. I found I can jump higher than I thought, literally attempting to double jump upstairs. (Warning, I almost fell over. ) I also found out that my experience in my job has helped me to jump forward in starting new projects and learning from experts. I jumped on setting boundaries, and learned that asking for what you want can actually get you what you need... Go figure! 

However, I did not learn anything from these cookies except that they full of butter and pecans and when they bake it smells like maple syrup. Enjoy. 

Ingredient prep.. super easy.

Someone was "helping" and also wanted to touch the butter. Don't worry it was saved. 

I love the light in the morning in my kitchen. Plus I love my husband's grandmother's old kitchen-aide.

Rolled into balls and flattened. Prior to baking. 

Golden and brown out of the oven and dusted, or not, with powdered sugar.