Weekend Breakfast: Pumpkin Pancakes

Happy Saturday!

I highly recommend you start your morning off like we did last weekend.  While shopping in Trader Joe's, I discovered Pumpkin Pancake and Waffle mix on the shelf.  I forced myself to look away, because Will doesn't like to acknowledge seasonal flavors too early (i.e. no egg nog until December 20th).

However he noticed my awkward head movements (or side glances?), and I was in disbelief a few seconds later when he happily agreed to allow the box in the cart.  "It's like fall weather year-round in San Francisco, so why not?"

Uh...these pancakes taste like cake.  They are amazing.

We served our pancakes with some pumpkin-spiced caramelized pecans on top.  A bit of maple syrup, and our morning was off to a good start.

Maybe tomorrow morning we'll make waffles.

Enjoy the weekend!

Half Moon Bay

A few weekends ago, we had a free afternoon and an urge for a bit of adventure.

Though it was sunny at home, there was a familiar layer of fog over the Golden Gate, so Point Bonita was out.  (I WILL get there on a clear day before the year is over, though!)  So instead of North, we headed South, down the Great Highway.

The Cliff House and Ocean Beach 

The next thing we knew, we were driving down towards Half Moon Bay.

Perhaps a frustrated cyclist left this?

The sun returned right as we pulled off the road to visit a road-side farm stand.

Half Moon Bay:

The seaweed was particularly colorful.

We hiked out along the Bay towards the famous Mavericks surf spot, where we found a comfortable perch for a picnic lunch.  We like to live on the wild side.

Just like the last time we visited, the waves were small, so there weren't any surfers in the water.  We checked out the tide pools instead.

Hi!

It was a relaxing afternoon by the Pacific.

Until next time, Mavericks.

Wacky Wednesday

In keeping with the Wacky Wednesday theme, today I want to share something I pass by everyday on my walk to work.

This is a doorbell outside one of the fancy houses I pass. 

Separate buttons for if you are summoning "the kids" or "the parents."

Now that is wacky.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Presidio Hiking Trails

Saturday we had beautiful weather in the Bay Area, so we headed out for a run in the Presidio.  

Our turn-around point was Immigrant Point Overlook, where we have admired views before, and once again we noticed the bunker down the cliff from the overlook.  

We decided to come back the next day and explore the trails and bunkers along the Presidio cliffs.  There are numerous hiking trails in the Presidio (as seen below), so we spent a bit of time on the park website and chose a couple of trails with plenty of overlooks of the Pacific.

Unfortunately, our weather wasn't as sunny yesterday, so much of our hike was a bit fogged in.

We had a picnic on Baker Beach.  I love how the colorful houses are built right into the cliffs.

On Lobos Creek Valley Trail:

At one point we came upon this sign and seriously pondered our options.  Mexico is cool and all, but we didn't have 775 miles in us yesterday...

The bunkers and batteries built into the cliffs were from the 1870s, surprisingly, not either of the World Wars, as we expected.  They were fun to explore, and this one, Battery Chamberlain, is still in operation, with demonstrations the first weekend of every month.

The Coastal Trail climbed steeply up the cliffs:



And down:

We turned around at Battery Godfrey, which normally has a perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  But this was the extent to which we could see the bridge yesterday:

As we made our way back to the car, we saw this view of Mount Sutro towering over the UCSF hospital.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Endeavour

Today, the Endeavour space shuttle was retired, and part of its retirement party involved flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.

This morning outside my building, I could see this:

A closer view from the web:

via

And another:

via

Happy Friday!

 

Wacky Wednesday

When the greyhound heard me say last week that summer was almost over, she was quick to retort there's still 1 week remaining for summer swims.  Then she donned her pink swim cap.

Happy Wacky Wednesday!

*For anyone new: this greyhound poses in the window of a vintage clothing store that I pass on the way to work each morning.  Click here to see my documentation of her eclectic hat collection.

Zucchini Ribbon Pasta

As we straddle the line between Summer and Fall, I have been trying to get out of the cooking rut I've been in lately.  It's still not quite time for hearty and warm Fall-inspired dishes, but it also seems past patio grilling season (at least here in San Francisco!).



To compromise, I came up with a nice alternative that is still reminiscent of summer's caprese salad and summer squash, but one that is served hot and takes advantage of my indoor grill pan.

Last night I made chicken caprese "pasta" with zucchini ribbons.

I skinned two zucchinis with a vegetable peeler and boiled them for just one minute, while some seasoned chicken breasts grilled away on my stove top grill pan.

Onto my zucchini noodles I layered the grilled chicken, sliced tomatoes, basil chiffonade, goat cheese, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  A drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette over the top pulled this light dinner together.

I hope your weather is beginning to cool off, and that you are enjoying the last few days of summer!

Friday Finds

Happy Friday, everyone!

As I have done a few times in the past, I'm going to share some of my favorite finds from around the internet lately.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

~~~

If I ever have a pool in my backyard, I would like it to look like this!

It's like swimming in the wilderness

And in my special pool, I would use this, of course.  

Why didn't they have these when my Mermaid-sisters and I were little??

I am trying to decide if these Nutella Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies will get baked and eaten tonight or tomorrow morning.  They WILL happen soon!

This is one of the most stunning ocean photos I've seen:

Incredible Shot

Some finger-lickin' football-watching food:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

The sweetest face this week:

Definition of Puppy Eyes

We have a little trip coming up, and I am collecting photography inspiration.  Love this shot.

Quaint

Now this is the definition of multitasking!

Multitasking

I'd bring this to Bradway Oktoberfest if only I could get it past TSA:

My kind of poem!

Awesome

What was your favorite find?

Have a wonderful weekend!

One Year

One year ago today, we pulled into San Francisco--the last stop on our cross-country trip.  Our end destination.

None of our stuff had arrived (the moving truck driver was a flake), and we didn't move into our apartment for another month, but we were here.

It has been quite a year!