by Sharlene

It’s Monday and the kids are back in school

Happy Monday! The kids are back in school this week and I couldn’t be happier (bwahahaha).

Really though, we had a lovely long Thanksgiving week. We took off for Pismo Beach on Sunday and spent three nights at the pretty Shore Cliff Hotel.

Sunrise on the last morning we were there

The first sunset we caught

I booked us a two-bedroom suite and each room had a balcony with an ocean view. It was just incredible waking up each morning to this breathtaking view. The kids had a wonderful time swimming in the pool – it was such a warm week we got to wear short sleeves and shorts!

And we took a guided tour of the Piedras Blancas light station at San Simeon. It was about a two-hour tour with some history and plenty of nature thrown in. We got to see sealions, seals, cormorants and pelicans, walk into the ground floor of the lighthouse and the grounds itself. Everyone had a good time.

Just a few minutes down the highway is the Elephant Seal Rookery and you can get a good view of the elephant seals sunning themselves on the sand.

Oh and when one is by the beach (albeit a beach with lots of sandflies) one must eat seafood, so we made sure to get to the Cracked Crab really early (yup we were there at 5!) and grab a crab boil.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had our usual hotpot. And I made an apple tart using a Smitten Kitchen recipe. It was pretty simple especially the filling – place the apple slices in pate brisee, brush with melted butter and sprinkle some sugar on top. No need to cook the apples beforehand or anything like that. I was a bit skeptical to be honest but it came out great. It wasn’t too sweet and it didn’t have that starchy texture that I don’t really like about some pie fillings. Definitely a keeper.
How was your week?  I can’t believe it’s almost December. Ok then again, we did just put up our (artificial) tree yesterday so we are already in that frame of mind!

Currently…

Reading:

Voyager – Diana Gabaldon

Listening:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets read by Stephen Fry (listening with the kids in the car as we go to and fro from school and after school activities – first thing they say when I start the car is, “can we listen to Harry Potter?”)

Eating:

A brown sugar lime bar we made over the weekend from a Bill Granger recipe (note to self, reduce the amount of sugar next time. It was a bit too sweet for me, but tasty)

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold with milk

Cooking:

Braised slow cooker pork

Browsing:

Last week:

I read:

Victory of Eagles – Naomi Novik
Baking with Kafka – Tom Gauld
The Book of Dust Vol One La Belle Sauvage – Philip Pullman

badgeIt’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 

3 Comments

  1. Beautiful pictures! I’m so jealous of your beach day(s). Also, those lime bars look delicious even though I’m not a huge lime fan.

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