buzzville

goodbye and hello

It's been a crazy and surprising few weeks, and I'm still reeling from all the changes that have been taking place! Mariko, the face of Portland superbuzzy, decided she wanted to go her own way. I'll really miss working with Mariko, but I have a feeling she's up to something really fantastic! So, I spent this past weekend up in Portland, packing up all of superbuzzy and moving it down to my home town, Ventura, CA. It's very bittersweet: on the one hand, I'm really excited to have the shop headquarters close to home, but on the other hand, I'm bummed about moving it out of Oregon. I know that superbuzzy has lots of friends in Oregon and nearby, and the support of those friends really helped get us going.

Huge thanks to Oregon and all of our friends there. I'm pretty bummed that my perfect excuse to spend time in Portland has just gone away... Special thanks to Sam, who has got to be the coolest property management guy I have ever met!

The positive side to all of this is that southern California folks can now stop in to say hi and hang out at the new superbuzzy headquarters. We moved into our new location this morning, and we'll start making it a bit more homey and fun in the next week or two. If you are in southern California and would like to stop by, our new location is: 1932 Eastman Avenue, Unit 106, Ventura, CA. (Send a quick email if you'd like to say hi so that we can be sure someone is there.) I'm also really excited to be working with 2 fantastic, crafty women: Nicole and Cathy! We've got lots of great stuff in the works, and we'll keep everyone updated through the superbuzzy newsletter. Once we get all of our pending orders out the door, we'll also be adding a bunch of new product that just arrived... *really* good stuff!

The road trip from Portland was full of ups and downs (Siskiyous and Grapevine anyone?), but our favorite spot was this great motel/diner in Weed, CA, the Hi-Lo. I love stopping at spots like these - so much more fun than the big chains taking over the world! (I guess they ran out of room for the second "c" in construction!)

Lastly, I have to extend a huge thank you to my mom. She enthusiastically volunteered to help me make the move happen, and she even switched to my early-riser schedule to get up each morning, pack heavy boxes, and drive almost 1,000 miles. I couldn't have made it work without her... I feel pretty lucky to have such an amazing mom!

the search for the perfect pumpkin sweet...

It's no secret to people who know us that our family is pretty fond of pumpkin foods - bread, curry, soup, stew, cookies, etc. Since the air is getting a bit crisp, I figured it was time to start in with the pumpkin baking. One of the other mom's from our co-op was raving about a recipe for pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting (*gulp*!). I came home, lickety-split, to see if I could find the recipe online. I found this and decided to give them a shot, with a few small changes: I used golden raisins, added chopped, toasted pecans, and used Splenda in lieu of sugar.

They baked up just perfectly in my jelly roll pan. I think the frosting recipe is a bit scant (it was tough to get even coverage over the whole cake, and definitely not enough for a crumb layer), but it was also quite simple. The bars are nice and cakey, and the golden raisins and pecans add a bit of interest. I think the only thing I might change is to use some brown sugar in place of the white sugar. So, these were really good.

BUT, I think I'm looking for something more chewy, gooey, and cookie-like. Seems as if most pumpkin baked goods are bread- or cake-like - anyone have a recipe for something like a chewy pumpkin cookie?

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin-Raisin Bars

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar (try using 1 cup brown sugar?)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin (or equivalent in drained, fresh pumpkin)
• 4 large eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup toasted, chopped pecans (I added these)

• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup butter, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly roll pan. Sift first 8 ingredients into a large bowl and mix. Add pumpkin, eggs and oil, and beat until blended. Mix in raisins and pecans. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl to blend. Spread frosting over cake in think layer. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated.) Cut cake into bars and serve.

flavors of autumn

I'm a bit freakish about pears... I *love* them. I can't really say the same about apples - they're good, but I don't have the same obsessive cravings for them. Bosc pears and me... we're tight! So, although I'm not usually a big grocery store ice cream consumer, I raced out the door as soon as I heard about Häagen-Dazs new flavor search winner: Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan. If you're like me, reading those words has already gotten your mouth excited about the possibilities... wait, did they say caramelized pear?!?

For purely scientific evaluation purposes, Jerry and I had our first sampling of this ice cream last night after dinner (while watching the My Country My Country documentary - unfortunately, we found it to be a disappointing movie). The verdict? I think that this is quite possibly the *best* ice cream I have ever had. But, I'm willing to admit that this may well be linked to my extreme love of pears. The flavor of pear was clearly identifiable - not some subtle, barely noticeable pear-ness. And, the ice cream was blended with chunks of caramelized pear and those lovely toasted pecans - mmmmm. Jerry thought the ice cream was quite good as well, but I got the sense that he thought I was a bit overly enthusiastic. Well, there's no accounting for taste, right?!?

Today we're trying a new recipe that I hope will be a successful representation of another of our favorite autumn flavors - full report coming tomorrow. In the meantime, run out and get yourself a pint of ice cream - the choice of flavor is yours. Go ahead - you've been good. I know you have.

another person's trash...

I don't think I have to explain exactly how excited I was to find this little treasure over the weekend:

total cost: $1

Now I just have to figure out how to wind it without a key... any suggestions?

the importance of humor

Brynne woke up this morning and called me to her room, which is out of the norm. (Usually she comes into our room and climbs in bed with me for a bit of morning snuggle time.) So - I knew something was up. She had that serious look on her face that means she's just figured something out - something important. She said: "Mom, I can do it...  d... a... d... (making the letter sounds) That spells dad, and dad is a palindrome! And mom is too!" I wish I could claim that my 4-year old is a genius savant, but I think she must remember this from a book we got her a while back. The funny thing is that the book is at her grandma's house, and she hasn't seen it for months. Yet, this morning it somehow came back to her and "clicked" now that she's really trying to learn to read. It's funny how little brains are able to recall these things that we are sure are long forgotten! Certain moments I never want to forget - like Brynne first using the word palindrome; perhaps writing about it will help to emblazon it in my mind forever.

Jerry and I have had a few long and stressful weeks in a row, and we were chatting last night about the use of trashy tv as therapy. I'll admit to watching a few useless shows, and they really do help to clear my brain of pretty much everything. We've especially been enjoying the new season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - such an incredibly crazy show, filled with completely despicable, but hilarious, characters. Ah... a lot cheaper than a psychologist, right?!?

farmer's market, how do I love thee...

I'm trying to get more into a regular habit of visiting our local Ventura Farmer's Market - we're lucky to have 2 each week (Wednesdays and Saturdays). I used to go occasionally, but I've really come to love going, and it's becoming as much a social gathering place as a shopping trip!

Today's bounty included Fuji Apple Butter, local canteloupe and strawberries, tamales (these are *so* incredible!), and some seedless green grapes that were devoured before they could be photographed!

Speaking of delicious, we recently mixed up a batch of sorbet that was incredible. It was a hot day, and I suggested some grapefruit sorbet might be just the thing. Then, I found a recipe for Grapefruit Tarragon Sorbet, and I was intrigued. I made the recipe as below, except I used Splenda instead of sugar and fresh tarragon in lieu of dried. The subtle licorice flavor of the tarragon was wonderful against the sweet-tart of the pink grapfruit. The consistency of ours ended up a bit more like a granita than a sorbet, but that might be related more to our ice cream maker than the recipe. Three thumbs up (Kelly, Jerry and Brynne) from this house!

Grapefruit Tarragon Sorbet

• 4 large red or pink grapefruits
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled

Squeeze enough juice from grapefruits to measure 2‚ cups and pour through a sieve into a large bowl. In a small saucepan bring water, sugar, and tarragon to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and simmer 5 minutes. Whisk syrup into grapefruit juice.

Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Sorbet keeps 1 week.

Makes about 1 quart, serving 6.

local weekend

We spent this past weekend in San Pedro. I know... what's in San Pedro, right? I've always thought of it as just a port town, so I figured we'd wave hello to superbuzzy shipments at the port and that would be it! But, I was pleasantly surprised with the charming Old Town and the kitschy 1950s era streets. There was a surprising lack of Starbucks and chain fast food joints in this area - just lots of cute mom 'n pop places.

We met family at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which was also new to us. Wow! What an amazing place! Aquarium of the Pacific generally gets all the attention for SoCal aquariums, and it is indeed a wonderful aquarium. But, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium certainly deserves praise of its own. It is funded wholly by the City of Los Angeles (thank you tax dollars!), so admission is a donation. The exhibits are focused on Southern California sea life, and these are *usually* my least favorite exhibits at other aquariums - there are only so many Garibaldi and starfish one can look at, right? The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium goes far beyond the typical exhibits, featuring incredible nudibranchs, urchins like you've never seen, every bizarre type of crab, and of course, lots of fish. They also have a hands-on lab, nursery, and tide pool touch tank - all were very popular with Brynne. And, as if this wasn't enough, the aquarium is located on a huge stretch of beach, rich in tidepools at low tide. We were there during high tide, but next trip we'll make a point of arriving at low tide, bringing a picnic lunch, and doing some tide pooling. If you like aquariums and live in SoCal, this is a must see!

We did some other touristy things - rode the historic Red Line trolley car, toured the Point Fermin Lighthouse, saw the Korean Friendship Bell, and visited the Marine Mammal Care Center. We finished the day with a feast (and I mean feast!) at Papadakis Taverna Greek restaurant in Old Town, complete with belly dancing and lots of broken glassware!

I've recently realized how important these quick, local getaways are for us... we're together as a family so seldom, and when we stay at home, it tends to be a lot of tedium (laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.). When we leave the house and spend the day elsewhere, we have such a fantastic time, and we're learning about all the hidden gems within 2 hours of our house. I know it's not practical to getaway every weekend (at least, not unless I can hire some house-help!), but I'm going to make an effort to plan something like this at least once a month.

into fall

It seems as if it was just yesterday that we were getting ready to leave on our *second* trip to Hawai'i's Big Island, but in fact it has already been almost a month. I tell you, I must have had some extremely good karma coming my way that made 2 (free) trips to Hawai'i in one summer possible. I'm gearing up for the not-so-good karma that must be on it's way. Since we returned, superbuzzy madness began (have you seen that crazy sale?!?), school started up, and the beginning of the rotten karma set in. Well, can't say that I'm surprised!

But, the Big Island is a fantastic place, and I must go back. We've certainly never had such easy and outstanding snorkeling. Since it's been a while since we returned, I won't give the full report like I did last time, but I do want to record some of the highlights - lest I forget them!

We took Brynne to the Ocean Rider Seahorse Farm (just north of Kona - on the way to the airport), and it was incredible. They gave us a 1-hour tour of their facility - from feeding tiny seahorses hatched that very morning, to the mature brood pairs, to tanks displaying each species raised at the farm. Each of us also got to make a "coral reef" with our hands, thereby allowing a little seahorse to hold onto our fingers with its tail. The conservation work they are doing there is incredible, and perhaps they will help save some of these incredibly endangered species from extinction. This is well worth doing!

Probably the most awesome experience we had was our night snorkel with the manta rays. We took a boat with Big Island Divers to a spot where they've been going for some time. We each had flashlights to shine in the water, which then attracted plankton - a manta ray's dinner. We were incredibly lucky to have 13 manta rays with us that night. We stayed in the water for about 45 minutes while these giant creatures (wingspans of about 16 feet!) did giant barrel rolls in the water, inches from us. I could have stayed out there for hours watching this awe-inspiring water ballet.

The house we stayed in was perfectly located on the water at Kealakekua Bay. We couldn't have dreamt up a better location for our interests, and we woke up each morning eager to get our morning snorkel before breakfast. One morning, we decided to kayak out to Captain Cook's monument on the other side of the bay, where the coral was said to be fantastic. On the way out, we ran into a pod of about 20-24 spinner dolphins cavorting in the bay. Not ones to miss an opportunity like this, we took turns snorkeling with the dolphins in the middle of the bay, coming within one foot of them. It was so cool to be in the water with them, occasionally hearing them "talk" to each other, and watching them leap out of the water and performing their characteristic spin. The snorkeling out by the monument was also stellar, with a beautiful reef at just the right depth for snorkeling - not so shallow that the fear of getting sliced by coral sets in, but still close enough for visibility of the smaller critters hiding in and around the reef. The diversity of fish was fantastic! The only downside to snorkeling here is that tour boats loaded with novice snorkelers come to the area daily, dumping dozens of people into the water. We were lucky to have some quiet time toward the beginning, but then the boat came in and the water became far too crowded and chaotic. I recommend going early in the morning to beat the tours. (The snorkeling at Pu'uhonua O Honaunau is, in my opinion, a close second to Captain Cook's monument, and the entry is very simple - no kayaking required.)

We also did more volcano hiking, made it down into Waipi'o Valley for some hiking, and took our weak 4WD vehicle on the extremely questionable "road" to the green sand beach (now there's an adventure!). Lots of good family time was had, and I think we've fallen in love with the Big Island. It will be tough to convince ourselves to explore the other islands, for fear they won't live up to what we found there.

Busy Bees

Well, I returned from Hawaii to a veritable onslaught of work. It's been a crazy 2 weeks! But, for anyone interested, I uploaded our Hawaii photos. It was such a great trip, even though we only had 3 days of sightseeing. Still, since we're going back again in August, we were able to scout out some of the spots we definitely want to go back to. I can't wait!

Weekend before last I went down to Felt Club XL to somehow help Teresa of Sewing Stars fame. Of course, she needs no help at all because her incredible stuff just flies. But, it was great to hang out and catch up. Despite the fact that there were 3 of us behind the table (Teresa was sharing the table with sweet Maria of moo's toys), we still had loads of room compared to the shoppers. The show was a huge success, with lines out the door long before it opened!

Amidst the crazy work schedule, we fit in more fun this past weekend. My in-laws flew in for a quick weekend in Pasadena to see Brynne. We made a quick stop in Beverly Hills on the way down on Saturday to get my father-in-law a birthday gift at Le Palais des Thes (so glad there is one in the US!). And, you can't be that close to Sprinkles without making a quick stop, right?!? The chocolate peanut butter cupcake that Brynne ordered is my favorite of their flavors thus far - gooey and chocolatey! We had a fantastic lunch at El Portal (Yucatecan food - yum!) before heading to the Huntington Library. Wow! If any of you SoCal folks haven't been there yet, it's a must-see. The gardens are incredible, and there is a really fun Children's Garden full of opportunities for splashing, getting misted, tunnels and playhouses. The Chinese Garden is currently under construction, but it looks like it will be a true gem. We spent a lot of time in the Japanese Garden, which was quite spectacular.

We feasted for dinner at Sushi Roku. The non-sushi menu was quite interesting and innovative, but Jerry thinks the sushi menu is not necessarily better than what we can get at much less expensive spots right here in Ventura or Santa Barbara. But, we're pretty lucky in that regard, I suppose! But, the ambience was fun, and they had some cool Japanese inspired cocktails that I've never seen before (Calpico mojito?!? Yum!). We had a leisurely morning on Sunday, including a very nice brunch at the Ritz Carlton. I wasn't expecting much more than standard fare when I looked at the online menu, but we were all pleasantly surprised to find the actual brunch to be much more unusual and fun than what was listed on the menu. I'd say that their brunch is right up there with the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.

After stuffing ourselves at brunch, we drove to the Gamble House for a quick tour before my in-laws had to get to the airport. I had been wanting to do this tour for so long, but it's just one of those things we were never able to fit in. I'm so glad we finally made it! It's an incredible example of California Arts & Crafts architecture by the Greene brothers, and now I'm looking forward to going back to walk through some of the incredible Craftsman neighborhoods and seeing the Blacker House. All in all, a perfect weekend with family, good food, and beautiful sites! It's amazing when I remind myself how much there is to see and do within an hour or two of our home - we are so lucky!

land of diversity

Here's the latest in my Big Island travelogue... I write all the details in the hopes that it might be useful to someone in the future.

After dinner on Tuesday, we walked to the Malama Petroglyph Trail in Puako, which just happens to be next to our hotel. The trail begins with a decorative display of some nice examples of petroglyphs like these:

and then winds through an incredibly bizarre landscape of kiawe forest:

A short 15-20 minute walk ends at an expansive pahoehoe lava (smooth and ripply - looks like cake batter) field, that is completely covered with hundreds of petroglyphs. It's a really fascinating spot, and super easy to get to.

Wednesday morning we got up at dawn for some snorkeling before Jerry had to get to work. We found lots of great fish (pufferfish, triggers, pipefish, butterfly fish, etc.), and two fantastic honu let us stare at them as they had their breakfast. In my ideal world, I would be able to wake up each morning and get in some snorkeling - the perfect start to the day. The visibility at the hotel beach wasn't fantastic, but we managed to see plenty anyway.

We were lucky that Jerry had Wednesday afternoon off, so we set off to explore Waimea and the northeastern part of the island. We arrived in Waimea in time for a nice lunch at Merriman's, where I had a barbecue pork sandwich and Jerry had a braised lamb sandwich with arugula and goat cheese - yum! From Waimea we headed to Honoka'a and the Waipi'o Valley. My plan was to hike down to the Valley, see the sites, and hike back up. I had read that the hike down was at a 25% grade, but I tend to think I can handle just about anything. By the time we got about 2/3 (I think?) of the way down, our legs were trembling and the calves were doing a little dance. Both of us feared our ability to get to the bottom, so we decided to cut our losses and hike back up. (In retrospect, we should have walked down doing switchbacks to save our legs... I think we could have made it that way.) Now we understand why most folks do the tours in a 4WD vehicle that takes them down into the Valley. Despite the fact that we didn't make it to the bottom, we did get to see the view from the top:

An odd set of circumstances is allowing me to be on the Big Island again in August, so I'm placing the Waipi'o Valley on my list of things that we'll do then. But, let this be a fair warning to anyone who attempts the hike - it's a nasty downhill grade. I tend to handle strenuous hikes without much trouble, but this one had me fearing that my legs were going to spontaneously combust!

From Waipi'o we headed east to Akaka Falls. It's a pretty crazy scene: we're walking along a paved path (complete with hand rails!) in a gorgeous, tropical forest, admiring the incredible plant life (who knew these "houseplants" grew 150 feet tall?!?), and then we start to hear a crashing, thundering sound. Around the bend we turn to see this:

There's no way I can describe this incredible waterfall, other than to say that this photo in no way does it justice. You have to see it for yourself, hear the thundering water, feel the spray on your skin, and see how this water has carved a chasm in the side of this cliff. It's so incredibly easy to get to (and free!) - definitely a must see.

From Akaka Falls we continued south to the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, we arrived there at 4:15pm to learn that they let the last people into the garden at 4pm since they close at 5. The man must have sensed how genuinely disappointed we were, so he let us in but reminded us that we had to leave by 5. So began our jog through the garden in an attempt to see as much as we could in the short time. It's amazing - bizarre, alien plants, orchids galore, a view of the ocean and rocky cliffs, and lots more. We certainly didn't see it all (allow at least 1.5 hours to see the garden), but we loved it nonetheless. This too is going on my list for August - to see the garden at a more leisurely pace. We saw incredible plants and flowers, but we both agreed that this was the most bizarre:

white bat plant - if this isn't alien, I don't know what is!

It was getting close to dinner time, so we decided to grab some dinner in Hilo, which was just a few more miles south on the highway. We had been eating at plenty of fancy places, so we decided to go local, and go local we did! We ate at Cafe 100 - where the Loco Moco may have been invented over 50 years ago. Jerry got the Super Moco (bed of rice topped with a hamburger patty, slice of spam, Portuguese sausage, 2 fried eggs, and gravy with a side of potato-mac salad):

I go the combination (katsu, meatloaf with gravy, miso soup, pork and bamboo shoots, and a side of potato-mac salad):

Needless to say, this is probably not the healthiest eatery on the island!

With our bellies full, we drove to Banyan Drive on the waterfront and had a nice stroll through Lili'uokalani Gardens. In addition to the astounding banyan trees, the garden is unusual because of the manicured Japanese Garden elements interspersed with lava beds. Here is one of the banyan trees:

click on the photo to see the tiny person with white legs (that's me!) for scale. Remind me not to plant one of these in my back yard!

By this time, our feet were aching, so we headed back to our hotel in Kohala for some much needed rest. It was interesting to get a view of the other side of the island where rain and plant life are plentiful. It's incredible to see how quickly the landscape can change on this island!

Today is a quiet day of work for Jerry, followed by a lua'u tonight. Tomorrow we head to the northwest part of the island, up the Kohala Mountain Road to Hawi and back down the Akoni Pule Highway. So much to see and do! Here is today's picture postcard: