All posts filed under: food

pork with sage and capers

Published by fairfaxhill

We’re finally having some beautiful spring days in Marin, so this weekend we decided to go for a hike around Bon Tempe, one of the nearby lakes. “Back in the day,” as Patrick likes to say, hiking was one of our favorite weekend activities. Especially when we lived in Salt Lake City, we made an effort to hike as often as we could. The views from the top of the Wasatch Mountains were spectacular, but Marin has a lot to offer as well! I have several books with Marin trail information. I am not kidding that we could hike a different trail each weekend until we are too old to hike and never run out of options. Both Patrick and I are ready to tackle the pounds we gained last year, and hiking is the perfect way to ease back into exercising more. And with these views and weather, who can complain!? Plus, it’s fun to hike together like we used to. Today, I am sharing a recipe we cooked this week. This recipe has …

gift & crafting ideas for the holidays Wk. 48/49

Published by fairfaxhill

Thanksgiving week kept us pretty busy. We cooked a lot and did lots of dishes. How was your Thanksgiving? Do you celebrate this holiday? I also worked on my Tawny pullover, which is almost finished. This post was supposed to go up yesterday, so we’ll have to change the format a bit. This works, because now I have more time to prepare next week’s idea roundup. Here are some things that caught my eye this week: 1) I cannot get enough of Anthropologie’s holiday decor. The ornaments of a cute tiger skiing and a poodle wearing glasses jumped out at me as something to collect. I love, love things made of wool and these felted animals are SUPER CUTE! It’s making me want to get this book about felting to give it a try. How fun! 2) A holiday tradition I’ve always loved, but haven’t always practiced at home, is baking and decorating gingerbread houses. This year, however, it is one thing I really want to do with the kids. I found a great tutorial …

muffin and coffee cup

quick strawberry muffins

Published by fairfaxhill

Today, my plan was to drive out to Pt. Reyes to get coffee and pastries at the Bovine Bakery, by far my favorite bakery in Marin. Before heading out, I did something I rarely do. I called to make sure they were open. No luck, closed. This is something I learned from Patrick. When we first moved to Marin, I would often come home after going out shopping and complain about all the different stores I had needed to drive to to finally find the thing I was looking for. To what he always replied, “Why didn’t you call the store before you left?” It had never occurred to me to call a store to ask if they had something I needed before leaving my house, but it really saves so much time. I think that this is something people don’t do in Costa Rica. Do they? It seems so simple. Do you have fresh halibut today? Do you sell turmeric? Easy, right? But, to be honest, I think that my impulse to call the …

Learning to Make Fresco de Tamarindo

Published by fairfaxhill

Today I made fresco de tamarindo for the first time ever. As someone who grew up drinking fruit juices (frescos, as we call them in Costa Rica), this is a bit embarrassing. In Costa Rica, you can find frescos in almost every color of the rainbow: limón, cas, guanábana (white); carambola, maracuyá, piña (yellow); melón, papaya, naranja (orange); fresa, sandía, frutas mixtas (pink); mora (red), and tamarindo (brown). * Almost any fruit can be transformed into a refreshing drink by adding a little water, sugar, and ice. Growing up, I liked frescos that were a little tart, and tamarindo was one of my favorites. Tamarindo is super refreshing and a perfect drink to enjoy in the summertime. It’s finally warm again in Marin, so I decided it was about time I learned how to make this. I was able to find tamarindo pods at the local supermarket in downtown Fairfax. In Costa Rica, tamarindo is sold in little compact blocks, just the fruit without the shells, and I believe you can find it packaged in …