Weekend in Carmel - Point Lobos

I posted last week about our mini babymoon weekend in Carmel.  

On one of the days Dan spent a few hours with his best friend and old roommate watching college football.  After a rather large breakfast at La Playa Hotel, I decided to skip football and go for a walk.  {The hotel had made-to-order waffle and omelet bars and I tried both!}

Just 10 minutes south of downtown Carmel is Point Lobos.  We spend a lot of time in Carmel but I'd never been there and after seeing a post on Amanda's blog, I knew I had to go. Funny, how sometimes it takes a newbie to the area to show you something new about a place you've been a million times before.

I stuck to some pretty easy trails that led straight out to the water and just spent an hour or so there. 

Hikes like this always make me feel so lucky I live in California.  It's just so pretty here!   

When I have more time, I'll definitely head back to some of the longer trails.

~LMD

Weekend in Carmel - Babymoon

A few weekends ago we attended the wedding of some very close friends in Carmel.  Since I absolutely adore Carmel, we decided to make a long weekend of it and call it our babymoon.  Hopefully, we'll have a couple weekend mini-babymoons :)

We stayed at La Playa Carmel in downtown Carmel which was amazing. It's walking distance to the adorable downtown and beach.  We had an ocean view room so we left the windows open and woke up to the sounds of the ocean. 

The grounds of the hotel were absolutely gorgeous.  

Sunday morning we woke up and took a walk through the neighborhood and to the beach.

The homes in downtown Carmel are some of my favorites.  They look like they could be straight out of a fairytale.

And it helps that they're just a couple blocks from the beach.

{18/19 weeks pregnant and after a very large and very delicious breakfast at La Playa Carmel}

The best part of the weekend was celebrating the marriage of these two at their gorgeous wedding and rehearsal dinner.  

The rehearsal dinner was held at the grooms tasting room Caraccioli Cellars in downtown Carmel.  A place not to be missed! 

~LMD

fall

{image via | words via Jim Bishop}

It's officially fall.

I've always loved this season.  

I loved the start of the new school year - shopping for school supplies and new school clothes. 

Fall was one of my favorite seasons in Paris too. The tree-lined streets were gorgeous.  

And Northern California doesn't disappoint.  I love the colors of the vineyards during this season.  Plus I'm a sweater weather kinda girl.  And this is the month where San Francisco really shines.

But now, even more so, this season, September to be exact, may be my new favorite going forward.  

I marry this guy in five days.

{paris - september 2012}

LMF(D)

tahoe weekend wedding

We drove up to Lake Tahoe this weekend to watch some amazing people become an even more amazing couple.

It was a gorgeous wedding overlooking the beach with a gorgeous mountain backdrop.  Even more gorgeous was how the groom couldn't stop staring at his bride.

This is the one photo I took at the wedding.  I read this a while ago and decided to put my phone away, let the professional photographers document the occasion and just enjoy myself and celebrate.  Congrats E&H!

The morning of the wedding Dan and I walked around the lake.  

I love Tahoe.  It reminds me that I live in such a fantastic place: California. 

Beaches, ocean, mountains, cities, country, vineyards, snow, sun, we've got it all.

Dan skipped rocks.  

I can't.  It's like whistling {another skill I don't possess} the harder I try the worse it looks.

P.S. Did I mention I'm marrying this guy in less than 3 weeks :)

LMF

Weekend in Tahoe

We're back from an amazing weekend in Tahoe.  I don't know how we got so lucky - there was barely any traffic up and back, the weather was perfect on the mountain, and the company was amazing. Oh, and Tahoe was absolutely gorgeous.

I feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends. So much thanks to these two for inviting us up!

It was mine and Dan's first time skiing together, and I managed not to look like a fool. :)  For which I was extremely happy.

Lunch on the mountain.

Snowboarders.

Our snowy street.

Morning walk down to the beach.

Homemade cinnamon rolls for a breakfast appetizer. :)

The Chefs.

Even bears like Tequila :)

Playing in the snow / sand.

Have a great week!

LMF

tahoe bound!

via

Gone to Lake Tahoe for a weekend of skiing, snowboarding, sledding, hot tubbing, hot chocolate, great friends, good food, good wine and any other shenanigans we can get ourselves into!

Hope your weekend's lovely!

LMF

P.S. One of my very first posts was about our weekend in Tahoe. This year there will be snow though! :)

Chocolate & Friday

I woke up yesterday thinking it was Friday.  In case you didn't know, it wasn't.  Yesterday was Thursday.  Today is Friday.  I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about that.  I mean, I did just gain an extra day in my life.  How often does that happen?

I've been really busy with work this week.  The new fall line is coming out in a few weeks and it gets everyone a bit crazy.

{I am definitely in need of this on my second Friday this week.}

I'm kind of a stress baker.  There's something about being stressed at work or personally and getting home and baking something delicious. It takes my mind off whatever I was worried about because I have to concentrate on putting together everything correctly.

And if I'm having a bad day it's nice to pull something delicious out of the oven and have something I did work out right that day.  Plus I love how wonderful my house smells when something's in the oven. 

This is one of the last recipes from our Italian cooking class at La Rusticana D'Orsa. Read more about it here and here.

For dessert we made individual chocolate lava cakes.  This is one of my favorite desserts to order in a restaurant.  And it's such a crowd pleaser, I was surprised to see how easy it is to make.

I would suggest using an electric mixer to beat the egg yolks {I love my kitchen aid!}.  You could use a hand mixer but you'll have to mix it for quite a while.  If you try to beat them by hand I'm fairly certain your arm will fall off.

Chocolate Lava Cake with Orange Mascarpone Cream

Cake

 - 8 oz bittersweet chocolate

 - 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

 - cocoa powder for the ramekins

 - 3 large eggs, at room temperature

 - 3 large egg yolks, at room temperature

 - 1/2 cup sugar

 - 1/2 cup cake flour

Orange Cream

 - 1/2 heavy cream

 - 1 tbls vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

 - 2 tbls light brown sugar

 - 1/2 tsp orange zest

 - 1 cup mascarpone

 - 1 tsp fresh orange juice

 - 1 oz semisweet chocolate, shaved for topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Coat six 6 oz ramekins with butter, and dust lightly with cocoa powder.  

CAKE:

Over a double boiler, melt bittersweet chocolate with the butter stirring often. If you don't have a double boiler, you can use a large pot and heavy heat-proof bowl.  A stainless steel bowl will work as well, but glass distributes the heat better. Let chocolate cool.  Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk (or hand mixer, if you have a lot of time) beat the eggs yolks and sugar on high until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the chocolate into the egg mixture, then fold in the cake flour just until mixed in.  Don't over mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins and bake for 15 minutes, until the cakes have risen, the tops are dry and the centers are slightly jiggly.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  You can prepare the batter and ramekins ahead of time and refrigerate.  Just pull out of the fridge 15-20 minutes before you're going to bake them.  Then part way through dinner put them in the oven and you'll have warm chocolate lava cake ready at the end of dinner.

TOPPING:

In a bowl, beat the cream with the vanilla, brown sugar, orange zest, until soft peaks form.  Add the mascarpone and orange juice and beat until just blended.  Keep chilled until needed.

Run the tip of a knife around each cake to loosen it, then unmold onto a plate.  Spoon the mascarpone cream on the cake and top with chocolate shavings Serve at once.  You can also serve by placing the ramekins on a pretty dessert plate which makes for a pretty presentation without worrying whether the cake will easily come out of the ramekin.

I'm not a huge fan of orange with chocolate but I've included the recipe for the orange mascarpone cream because it's so easy and such a great foundation recipe.   It would be delicious for brunch served over waffles or pancakes with fresh berries, or on top of hot chocolate.  If you're not a fan of orange and chocolate, you can just leave out the orange zest and juice.  

I prefer serving these instead with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries on top.  I love the combination of warm chocolate over bright red berries.  

See more recipes from Rusticana D'Orsa here and here.

Happy Friday!

LMF