This little roadside breakfast and lunch cafe just off Highway 9 in Felton is like something out of my dreams. The first time we went there I was fairly certain I had stepped onto the set of Fried Green Tomatoes. Rocky’s Cafe, so warm and inviting, feels like an extension of my own little cottage kitchen… and it’s only a short bike ride away!
The outside dining area on their wrap-around porch is dog-friendly! 
And the food is delicious! Just good ol’ home cooking…
The best part? I don’t have to feel guilty about chowing down, since Henry Cowell is on the way home for a good ride 
Chicago with Cheryl
As if I don’t already feel lucky enough to get to work with my best friend every day, we also recently got to take our first business trip together! It was a whirlwind trip to Chicago, but in between the all-day classes we attended we managed to soak up some of the windy city experience 
We stayed in a little hotel just off Michigan Avenue (aka Cheryl’s shopping heaven)
Leave it to Cheryl and I to overindulge on good food Not pictured: our first night there we had a deep dish pizza delivered to our hotel room!
When the weather was clear, we had a chance to take in some sights on foot. And on the second day when a thunderstorm hit, we squeezed in a little shopping to take haven in the stores along Michigan Avenue.
Getting home was a little stressful. I’m so glad I had my best friend there, who I know is only one of few people that will put up with me when I’m freaking out about something like flying up into a thunderstorm. She even offered help by telling me about this movie called Flight, saying we should worry more about whether or not our pilot is sober than worry about the tumultuous weather. What would I do without Cheryl?!
Just checking in…
I would apologize again for letting so much time pass in between posts, but I fear my words will mean less since I clearly am not sorry enough to keep up. I have a handful of post ideas and plenty of pictures to accompany them, it’s simply a matter of time and choice that has me home at 8:30 each night after a workout, and in bed by 9 so I have time to read Game of Thrones. When to blog…?
This morning I thought I would write a quick note while I wait for water to boil for coffee, before I slip on my stretchy pants for yoga class. I’m trying out a new place in Scotts Valley that looks small and loveable… I’m hoping it becomes my home for Saturday mornings.
Life is just as wonderful as ever; I love my job, I love the cottage, and I love having Brent here every day to enjoy it with, even if he is semi-crippled at the moment. Have I written since he broke his arm at Sea Otter two weeks ago? I guess not. I haven’t minded doing house chores and the dishes all on my own, even when he leaves smelly remnants of his bean burritos in the sink, and I still love him even though he buys single-ply toilet paper (I guess that has nothing to do with his broken arm, but I felt it was worth mentioning). I do love alone time but Brent makes me laugh more than I make myself laugh, so I appreciate having him around.
We are headed on a quick day trip up the coast today, stopping to explore Pescadero and to check out a brewery in Half Moon Bay… I must remember to mention to Brent that there is a seaside bowling alley all the way up in Pacifica that I always thought looked like fun. I’ll take pictures but I won’t promise that they will be up here any time soon, since clearly my word means nothing anymore at this little WordPress address.
Well, my tea kettle is whistling and I can hear Boo in the other room choking on what is soon to be a fresh pile of cat vomit for me to clean. I don’t have a picture of Rudy to post at the moment, but we did take this little gem of video footage last weekend in Henry Cowell. Enjoy
Cottage Kitchen | Lettuce Wraps
Last weekend I had a pretty serious craving for lettuce wraps that wouldn’t quit, and when I found big, beautiful heads of butter lettuce at the farmer’s market Saturday morning I took it as a sign.
I adapted my recipe from this one but made a few tweaks of my own, one of which was adding chopped asparagus since I had some leftover in the kitchen and thought it would make a perfect, healthy addition.
The asparagus gave the dish some much needed color. I also omitted the red chile paste, hot mustard, and water from the special sauce. Instead, adding a bit of red pepper flakes did the trick.
Here it is just before we chowed down. I was definitely tooting my own horn on this one because it was goooooooood. I really love it when I’m craving some sort of food and get it exactly right… it’s like relief from scratching a terrible itch!
Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients:
Filling:
3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnut
2/3 cup mushroom
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4 -5 leaves butter lettuce
Special Sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Stir Fry Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Directions:
To make the special sauce, dissolve the sugar in water in a small bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you’re ready to serve.
Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan and saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes.
Wash and dry the butter lettuce leaves, and fill each with the filling, topped with the special sauce. It’s totally worth letting the special sauce dip all the way down your forearms, trust me.
Found | Alissa Bell Press
As I mentioned when I got you all caught up on life here lately, Cheryl and I had the pleasure of visiting Alissa Bell at her studio last week. Alissa runs a letterpress business, printing everything from corporate stationery to wedding invitations on her century-old Chandler & Price Co. letterpress machine. She produced the holiday and business cards for our office, and we are all madly in love with her work. I have an obsession with letterpress cards, so meeting Alissa and seeing her studio was such a dream!
She had kindly set out a spread of cheese and lemonade for us to nibble on while we chatted… I can’t remember what that cheese was called, but it was delish!
I loved seeing pictures and hearing the whole history of how she quit her day job to pursue a passion, learned the trade and art of letterpress by attending workshops at the San Francisco Center for the Book, and finally started her own business after purchasing her letterpress machine from a kind elderly man who collects them in an old barn up in Napa. 
The press is a really gorgeous machine… I would love to learn to operate one someday!
She showed us her collection of antique letters for some manually cast work she occasionally does…
…and also showed us the newer plates that are used nowadays. This little plate is a small part of our business cards 
Hop on over to her online store - she has some really cute stuff for sale! A big thank you to Alissa for opening the studio to us for the afternoon… this won’t be the last you’ll see of her on my blog, I’m sure of it. 