Route 66

Every year, Jeff takes off for two or three weeks to head to the Santa Rosa area for a private men’s camp. He is the camp’s caterer, bartender, fire-starter, etc. and gets the privilege of spending a few weeks of each summer in the beautiful coastal mountain air (it is also a lot of hard work and long hours—but he loves it).

This year, with COVID canceling most of our summer caterings, Jeff encouraged me to take a vacation while he was away, perhaps with my travel-obsessed dad. I sat down and did what I always do when planning anything: I did hours and hours of research to figure out what the perfect vacation for us to take would be.

My dad and I have always traveled well together. He was the one who took me to look at colleges and then later flew with me to look at law schools. We have gone on countless tours, stopped for countless ice cream sundaes, and bought countless postcards all over the country. Unfortunately, at the end of 2019, he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer. As such, we all had to be extraordinarily careful during the COVID-19 pandemic; he was dealing with a depleted immune system and contracting COVID would have likely been devastating for him. Thankfully, he is doing well with his diagnosis and we have both received our COVID vaccinations, so I knew this was the time to really plan a special vacation. And then it hit me:

My dad has been wanting to drive Route 66 for years. He has collected books and maps on the subject and even bought a “perfect road trip car” (his words) right before the beginning of the pandemic. We both agreed that now was the right time to get some miles put on the car.

At first, we talked about only doing half of the Route, perhaps stretching a few stops so that we could venture to National Parks along the way. But, the more and more research we did, the more we realized that we had to just go for it: we were going to drive the whole Route.

So, I sat down to do what I do best: plan. It was a challenge for me to plan enough stops to where we saw everything that we wanted to see along the way, but also allow for stops to take longer than I expected, or for us to find an unexpected stop we wanted to check out.

And guess what? It didn’t always work out the way I had planned it to. Rainstorms and road construction delayed our travels. We missed stops because we were tired and ran out of time. We had to cancel AirBnB reservations and scrambled to find hotel rooms. But it all ended up working out.

We were able to see some of my dear friends from Cal Poly who have moved all over the country. We were able to catch three baseball games, including one at historic Wrigley Field. We were able to experience Midwestern thunderstorms, Southern BBQ and Southwestern landscapes. We met so many different and wonderful people and saw so many amazing and quirky sights. And, most importantly, we were able to spend time together as father and daughter.

I don’t know how many more road trips I will get to do with my dad, but I know that we are both so grateful that we were afforded the opportunity to do this one. He is already talking about doing the Route again on his motorcycle. I think that I will skip that adventure!

Follow along with our pictures from the trip on Instagram by clicking “see photos” at the bottom of the page.

-Kathy

Camp 55 Recipes

Hello Camp 55 (and other visitors)! Below are some recipes for the Zoom cooking demonstration on Friday. Enjoy!

Ramaki:

2 strips of bacon (uncooked)

6 dates stuffed with almonds

6 toothpicks (optional)

Directions:

1) Cut bacon strips into thirds

2) Roll the date around the date. You can use the toothpicks to hold the bacon in place.

3) Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup:

1 large head of cauliflower

1 cup diced yellow onion

1 Russet potato, peeled and diced

3.5 tablespoons flour

3 cups milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

sharp white cheddar cheese (optional)

1 carton (32 ounces) of vegetable or chicken broth

1 clove garlic, minced (1 teaspoon of jarred minced garlic)

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 425.

2) Cut cauliflower into medium pieces and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and toss evenly.

3) Bake for 25 minutes, or until tender.

4) While the cauliflower is roasting, in a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and sauteè until tender (4-5 minutes).

5) Add flour to pot. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Then add garlic and cook 30 more seconds.

6) Slowly add milk, then add 2 cups chicken broth, whisking while pouring both into the pot.

7) Add thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Then add the potato.

8) Bring the pot to a boil and reduce the heat to low once it has boiled. Cook for about 15-20 minutes to soften the potato.

9) Once the cauliflower is done roasting, put that into the pot. Cook for 5 more minutes over low heat.

10) Put everything in the pot into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. If the soup is too thick, add some chicken broth to thin it out.

11) Return the soup back to the pot and add the heavy cream.

12) Add salt and pepper to taste.

13) Optional: top the soup with sharp white cheddar or cheese of your choice.

Sauteed Chicken and Chorizo:

1 pound chicken breast or thigh, diced

1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

4 ounces Spanish chorizo, or your favorite cooked sausage

2 cloves garlic, diced (2 teaspoons)

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like dishes spicy)

olive oil

Directions:

1) Mix paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper in a bowl.

2) Coat diced chicken in the spice mix and let rest for 15 minutes.

3) Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then place diced chicken into pan and cook until browned.

4) Place chicken into a baking dish and cook at 350 for 10 minutes.

5) While the chicken is baking, place onions and bell peppers in the sauté pan and cook for 5 minutes, until tender. Add chorizo. Cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.

6) Add the chicken back into the sauté pan once it is finished baking. Sauté on low for 10 minutes.

7) Add the cherry tomatoes.

8) Pair with Elote dip (below), rice or orzo pasta, and a cucumber and tomato salad.

Elote Dip:

1 tablespoon butter

3 ears of fresh corn or 1 can of corn

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 teaspoons)

1 jalepeño, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

juice of 1 lime

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons cotija cheese (optional)

Directions:

1) Boil ears of corn in salted water until tender.

2) Remove kernels from cob.

3) Melt butter in a frying/sauté pan over medium-high heat.

4) Add corn to pan. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden-brown and caramelized.

5) Add garlic to pan and sauté for an additional 2 minutes, until fragrant.

6) Put the corn mixture into a mixing bowl. Add chili powder, red onion, jalepeño. Mix together.

7) Add lime juice and cilantro to the bowl and mix together.

8) Add salt and pepper to taste.

9) Top with cheese, if desired.

10) Enjoy with your favorite chips, or topped on the chicken and chorizo recipe above!

All of these recipes pair well with a nice glass of wine and good company. We hope that you enjoy them.

Ginger

If you are new around here, you might not know that Jeff and I are huge animal lovers. From the time I was around ten, I had begged my parents for a dog. It wasn’t until I was in seventh grade and had an English class assignment to write a persuasive essay on the topic of my choice (guess what I chose) that I finally was able to convince them to let me get a puppy.

That summer, I spent hours scouring the internet, trying to figure out what breed of puppy I wanted. My dad suggested a beagle, and, after doing lots of research on the breed, I agreed that a beagle would be the perfect dog for our family. That August, my family grew by one, when we went to pick up 7 week old Ginger. My little 13 year old heart could not believe how much I could love an animal.

Fast forward a few years and I had moved out of the house to attend college and then graduate school. Ginger stayed behind with my parents, who spoiled her rotten. As my mom and dad would say “well that’s a grandparent’s job—to spoil their grandchildren.”

When I came home after graduating from law school, I went through a period of uncertainty, not knowing what I wanted my next step in the world to be. I had always had a next step, so that time was very difficult for me. The one thing that I could always count on to give me an excuse to get up and get moving each day was my now 12 year old dog. Her unending love, optimism and zest for life is something that I always think about when I am down. As she aged, Ginger developed arthritis in her legs, but that didn’t stop her from sitting in front of the closet where her leash was housed every morning, not-so-subtly reminding me that she still needed her morning walk. What she didn’t know was that I needed and looked forward to that walk and fresh air just as much as she did.

Jeff and I met about nine months after I graduated from law school. One of the reasons I knew that we were a good match was how much he loved Ginger. From the very beginning, she learned to sit by him when we were eating dinner because he was the one who was going to sneak her table scraps. As she got older, her separation anxiety worsened, so we both made the effort to include Ginger in as many of our outings as we could, even though it meant extra potty breaks and choosing restaurants that had outdoor dining. We knew that her time with us was fleeting and we wanted to give her as many adventures as we could. We will both be forever grateful for those memories.

June 11 would have been Ginger’s 16th birthday. At the beginning of this year, we found out that her kidneys were failing and she lived exactly one month from the time that she was diagnosed. Thanks to the care of Dr. Julia Larson and the wonderful team at Woodland Veterinary Hospital, that month was filled with trips to go exploring, plenty of table scraps, and, most importantly, plenty of love.

Ginger was part of our family for over 15 and a half years; she was my best friend for over half of my life. Her pictures still cover our walls and we smile every time we look at them. We look at these pictures and remember how we would buy her expensive bones to chew on and she would immediately take them outside to bury them. We remember how she would take her medicine and then I would tear a treat into little pieces and throw them all over the house, with her spending the rest of the night joyfully using her hound smelling skills to hunt for and eat the pieces. And we remember how she loved us all unconditionally. We miss her everyday, and I have cried multiple times writing this, but they are tears of both sadness and gratitude.

So, if you have a dog (or any pet), please give them an extra hug from us. If you have recently lost a dog or other pet, please know that our hearts are with you. And thanks to Ginger for being the best dog we ever could have asked for! We miss you, Gingy.

-Kathy

Help with a Shelter-in-Place Cooking Rut

We hope that everybody has been staying safe and is staying cool in this California heat.

Like most of us, I had such hopes that I would use this time of quarantine productively, especially when it came to cooking. It may surprise you to know that while Jeff and I plan and create meals for a living (and miss doing so very much!), we have never been the type to meal-plan for our own personal meals. Our clients are often surprised to learn that after we leave a catering event, we are so ready to get home and go to bed that we often will be found in the Wendy’s drive-through on our way home. This is partly because we are tired and don’t want to grocery shop and cook for ourselves, and also partly because we just love Wendy’s chicken nuggets.

So, we took this time to focus on meal-planning for ourselves. We want to limit the amount of trips to the grocery store that we are making, but we also want to use the free time that we have to be more creative in the kitchen and make meals that we might otherwise not have the time to do. Interestingly, both Jeff and I have found this to be challenging.

Jeff is a much more experienced cook than I am, and he is able to look in the refrigerator and pantry and create a meal based on ingredients we already have; however, as we have been going to the grocery store less frequently, we just have fewer groceries on hand. This has made his preferred method of creating a meal more challenging because he has fewer choices to work with.

Anybody who knows me knows that I am a rule-follower. This personality trait carries over to my cooking style—I want to have a recipe that tells me exactly what I am to do. I am comfortable enough in the kitchen to substitute out ingredients that I don’t like or ones to make a recipe healthier, but I still need to have the basic ingredients to feel comfortable making a recipe. This has stifled my cooking abilities, especially for recipes that call for fresh ingredients. I will buy the fresh produce that I need for one meal, but I won’t use it all up. I then have been struggling to find another recipe that will use the produce that I have leftover, but will also not require me to go back to the store to get additional ingredients.

I know some of you are reading this rolling your eyes and have easy solutions for these problems. Please let me know if you do!!

All of this is to say that Jeff and I found ourselves in a cooking rut. Our freezer and pantry were full and disorganized, and our fridge comprised an assortment of random produce and leftover meals. So, Jeff and I decided to tackle both of those problems, while helping our cooking rut: we would clean and organize both the fridge, the freezer and the pantry AND we could only use what we found to make our dinners. That way, we would use up what we already had, saving money and eliminating the need to go to the grocery store.

Although this was much easier for Jeff, who, remember, can look at ingredients and envision a meal, it was also fun for me to experiment and combine some recipes that I had mastered already. Now, when we make our grocery list for the week, we first look at what we already have in the house and plan meals based off of that. I can then step into the kitchen to cook dinner and know that I have everything that I need. I realize that some of you have probably been doing this all along, but, hey, we are learning!

Another thing that we have been doing is looking at the week and choosing who will make dinner which nights and writing that down on a calendar in the kitchen. This helps to share the responsibility of cooking and also creates some structure, which makes creating grocery lists much easier—Jeff knows the days he is responsible for and can plan meals based on that and vice versa. We will then share our meal ideas to make sure there is no overlap (i.e. we each plan to make tacos that week. That’s a bad example though, because you can never have too many tacos). We have also built in leftovers nights, which has been helpful in eliminating food waste and also gives us each a guaranteed day off from cooking.

Hopefully these tips help any of you who are similarly feeling like you are in a cooking rut. Please feel free to reach out with any other hints for meal planning, recipes, etc. I would love to hear them!

Stay safe and hopefully we can get back to catering soon!

-Kathy

Cranberry, Orange and Mint Orzo Pasta Recipe and THANK YOU HEALTHCARE WORKERS!

Like many of us, Jeff and I had been feeling helpless during these unprecedented times, wondering aloud to each other, “how do we help these healthcare workers who are going through so much to keep us all safe?” Both of us have had our lives shaped in one way or another by healthcare workers. Back in the 1980s, my parents, both LVNs, met at Woodland Memorial Hospital, where years later, I was born. As I grew up, I watched both of my parents work tirelessly to give each patient their full heart and attention. I don’t know how healthcare workers do it day in and day out.

Jeff’s healthcare appreciation journey is more recent: last May, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Lymphoma. Thanks to the wonderful healthcare providers at Sutter Davis, and surrounding Sutter campuses, he completed his last rounds of chemotherapy and radiation right before Christmas. Through every part of his cancer journey, the healthcare providers we interacted with were gracious and comforting. If you or a loved one has been through a similar journey, you can appreciate just how much that meant to us. I am a control freak, which can come in handy in my job, but is not a recommended trait when a loved one is facing a health crisis. Thanks to the wonderful Sutter staff, though, I always knew that everything was going to be okay. We are both forever grateful for the care and treatment in saving Jeff’s life.

In the middle of our feeling helpless, we were contacted by a local financial advisor, Nicole Davis, with whom we had worked before. Nicole was also trying to think up ideas of how to help our local healthcare workers. She generously offered to foot the bill for some meals to be donated to our local hospitals and asked if we wanted to be involved. Through her generous donation, we were able to feed over 750 meals to Sutter Davis and Woodland Healthcare combined. Seeing these hardworking healthcare workers, all with great attitudes and smiles on their faces really was a magical experience for us. One of the dishes we made was one of Jeff’s favorite to make, a Cranberry, Orange and Mint Orzo Pasta. It is a great addition to any Summer BBQ, as it is light and delicious.

Please enjoy the recipe below:

Cranberry, Orange and Mint Orzo Pasta:

Ingredients:

1 package of orzo pasta (Jeff insists that Trader Joe’s is the best)

2 cans of Mandarin oranges

1 cup of Crasins (or any dried fruit that you like)

1 bunch of mint leaves

1/2 red onion

1/2 cup White Balsamic vinegar (from Trader Joe’s if available)

1 cup canola or vegetable oil

1 teaspoon olive oil

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1) Boil the orzo pasta according to the package

2) While the pasta is cooking, dice the red onion

3) Sautee the onion in one teaspoon of olive oil until translucent

4) Chop the mint leaves

5) Mix the canola/vegetable oil with the vinegar to make a light vinaigrette.

6) When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and rinse it

7) Add 1 can of oranges, with the juice not drained and 1 can of oranges with the juice drained

8) Add the sauteed red onions

9) Add half of the vinaigrette and set the other half aside

10) Add the crasins and mint and stir until mixed

11) Salt and pepper to taste

Notes:

This dish is best if prepared at least 1 hour ahead of time so that the flavors can soak into the pasta.

Refrigerate any leftovers, and use the leftover vinaigrette to moisten the pasta if necessary.

Enjoy!

Wedding Recipes

Jeff and I recently had the pleasure of catering the wedding of some dear friends our ours (hi Levi and Stephanie!). Months ago, when we first sat down with them to discuss what they wanted their wedding menu to look like, they asked for a simple meal with comfort foods. We thought that was great--we always want our clients to have the meal that they want, whether that means filet mignon and prawns, or that means BBQ and macaroni and cheese or something in between. 

The meal that Levi and Stephanie settled on was: Pot Roast with Herb Mushroom Gravy, Panko Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Vegetables and Rolls. We were delighted to hear from Stephanie recently that she and Levi had enjoyed their meal and that some of their guests had requested the recipes from their meal.  Below are the recipes to some of their dishes. Jeff doesn't really follow recipes per-se, so these do not have exact measurements, but the recipes should be pretty easy to follow (we hope!). 

In talking with Levi and Stephanie, we have learned how much their church (Calvary Church in Woodland) means to them. If anybody reading this contacts us for any catering needs and mentions the Hicks wedding, we are happy to make a 5% donation off of the total price of the meal to the church. This is our small way of saying thank you to Levi and Stephanie and the Wright family. 

Skin-on Mashed Potatoes: 

Boil potatoes until soft.

Drain.

Mash together with butter (be generous) and milk. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Old-Fashioned Pot Roast: 

Get a Chuck Roast and add diced carrots, celery and onions into a baking pan. Season the roast with salt, pepper and Montreal Steak seasoning.

Fill the pan a quarter of the way full with water. 

Bake at 425 for 30 minutes to get a crisp outside.

Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 2-3 hours until fork tender. 

Remove from oven and let cool. Shred and enjoy. 

Panko Chicken Breasts: 

Cut chicken breasts into think slices.

Marinate in buttermilk for 6 hours to overnight.

Season Panko breadcrumbs to taste with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning mix.

Dredge chicken pieces in the breadcrumbs.

In a frying pan, fill with an inch or so of oil. Brown chicken pieces. You will need to add more oil as you go. 

Place the chicken on a baking sheet. Finish cooking in oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes. 

Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Dipping sauce is highly recommended with these strips. 

Please let us know if you have any questions on the recipes or the donations. We hope that you enjoy!

-Kathy

Spring Sayings

As the sun shines outside and the March Madness brackets have been revealed, it occurs to me that we are already midway through the month of March. 

There are lots of reasons that spring is my favorite season. For one, my birthday is at the beginning of April and, although I never plan a large celebration for my birthday, it is always a fun excuse to order a cake and treat my family and friends to a nice dinner out. As an avid college basketball fan (and Michigan State alumna), spring also represents the beginning of the NCAA college basketball tournament. This tournament, aptly known as March Madness, is an exciting showcase of the best college basketball teams in the country, full of small schools playing in the tournament for the first time, and larger schools whose trip to the tournament is an expected journey each year. There will inevitably be upsets and heartbreaks until only one school will emerge as the champion for this year. For those of you who are not sports fans, all of this sounds crazy, I'm sure. It is just a game, after all. But for those of us who either have a connection to a certain school or are just fans of college basketball, these next few weeks are some of the most thrilling of the year. 

But enough talk about basketball, right? The real reason that spring is my favorite season is that I always feel renewed in the spring. As the much needed rain is expected to fall this week, I know that it is nourishing the plants that are just starting to blossom. Soon, there will be fresh flowers everywhere you turn. The temperatures will warm up, walks in the park will become more frequent and the fresh fruits and vegetables that California is so famous for will be ripe for the picking. Some of my happiest memories of going to school at Cal Poly are those early spring days walking around the campus and just letting myself soak it all in: the fresh flowers, the newly born baby farm animals, the distinctive ping of a baseball on an aluminum bat and the joy and excitement that everybody I passed seem to be exuding. 

Life can have a way of getting even the most positive of us down, especially after the anticipation and happiness of the holiday season has come and gone. The January and February days and nights are long and cold and we think that sunnier and warmer days will never come again. But, like every year, the sun and warmth do come again. Now, it is our responsibility to go out and enjoy everything that spring has to offer! 

Maybe I'll see you at the Farmer's Market soaking up the sun and fresh air. 

--Kathy

The Holiday Season

The Holiday Season

As I'm sure many of you are, we are working tirelessly to keep up with the fast pace of the holidays. Christmas is both Jeff and my favorite holiday, but we always forget just how much work goes into making the season one to remember. Of course we are busy with work--company holiday parties, charity functions, getting the calendar filled-up for next year, etc.--but we are also busy with life. We have been blessed to have a busy work season, especially this week, but as we look at the calendar, it really hit home that Christmas Eve is next week. Next week! 

As an organized (and worrisome) person, I naturally ran through a mental checklist of everything still left to do in these short ten days until Christmas: is our house decorated for the season? Do we have presents bought and wrapped? Do we have solidified plans for the days leading up to Christmas? Is our house cleaned for family coming from out of town? The answer to most of those questions, I realized, is a definite no. 

Normally, I would be anxious about all of these loose ends, and I would be desperate to tie them up as soon as possible. But, as I examine things more closely, I realize that, while not ideal, it is okay that there are only two wrapped presents under our tree. It is okay that our house, while decorated, has a guest room that has turned into a storage room. And it is okay that we don't quite know what our plans are or if we will be able to see everybody and do everything that we want to. Nothing ever works out perfectly during the holidays--that is just how life is--but that really isn't what the holidays are about. They are about focusing on the good in life: friends and family and health and joy. 

And now more than ever, I am reminding myself of just that. Will we find time to shop and clean and make plans? Almost certainly--we always do. But worrying too much about getting everything crossed off of a checklist really can cut into the enjoyment of the holidays. So, if you feel like you need to, take a breath and a step back today and focus on what the holidays are really about and not on everything that is left to be done. 

I promise that you will be glad that you did. 

--Kathy