Steinavinos!

Our dear friends Tom and Diane Cannavino spent the past few days with us here in Salinas.

They came to TNT, our Thursday night middle school youth group.

We watch the surf, followed by a fabulous dinner at the Red House Cafe in Pacific Grove.

We meandered through Old Town Salinas, drove through the local neighborhoods and spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out, relaxing and enjoying each others' company.

What great friends we have!

Garcias

We have been blessed to spend time with family over the past few months.

Hoping to get the Steinbarger crew out here soon...

Leaning Tower of Pesto

I love pesto.

Brings me back to the summer of 2004 - the summer I spent traveling through Italy.

When I realized how easy it is to make, I began making it from scratch. And mom taught me to freeze leftover pesto in an ice tray in case of a pesto related emergency.

Tonight's dinner is Cheese Tortellini in Light Broth, thanks to Giada De Laurentiis, with mom's added twist - a lego of pesto cooked into the broth.

My ice tray makes legos.

Mmm....

Grapefruits Are For Looking At

Once, someone told me that grapefruits were delicious.

I'm not sure what they were talking about.

We tried this morning, but even Charlie refused.

Sir Naughtiness

Maybe he was trying to sort the trash and recycling.

Project: Pelmet

Weird word, cool look.

Our tiny little kitchen needs some help.

I found this pelmet, cornice, whatever you want to call it, at Last Chance Mercantile in Marina for two bucks.

I think it scared Jason. But to me, it screamed of potential.

And what a bargain when you consider all I have to do is find the perfect fabric!

Here's it sloppily covered with a tablecloth I found on clearance last summer.

Now all I have to do is decide whether to leave the shape as is, or cut into the wood a bit to give it some character.

I'm kind of leaning towards #111, but not sure if we'll have enough wood to work with.

Any thoughts?