Mupu Christmas Tree Farm

My Dad is a volunteer at the Ventura Police Department.  His boss, Karen, along with her husband Mike own the Mupu Christmas Tree Farm in Santa Paula.  So on Sunday we decided to visit the farm and pick out a tree.  They have chickens, a couple of goats, a giant vegetable garden and beautiful Christmas trees.
We had a great time! Karen, Mike and their dads were so hospitable and we really enjoyed meeting them.

Karen & Dad

 

Dad & John searching for the perfect tree

Me being skewered by a tree stand

And here's our find, cut down to size and decorated:

If you live in the Ventura County area and haven't bought your tree yet - stop by Mupu Farms and say hi to Karen & Mike:

A note to Dina & Darrin - Even Santa is wearing shorts!

A Beautiful Fall Weekend Anchored at Yellowbanks

With a marine weather forecast of light & variable winds and 2 to 3 foot seas (my dream forecast!) we headed out to Santa Cruz Island on Friday afternoon.  Mike and Linda aboard their new boat Cazadora made the same decision and we arrived at the island at the same time. We anchored at Yellowbanks and they chose to stay at the adjoining anchorage, Smugglers. No need to crowd ourselves!

Later in the afternoon Staff & Jane aboard Significant Other and Peter aboard Paladin also pulled into the anchorage:

We brought our lobster traps out with us and set them near the commercial traps, thinking the lobster fishermen must know the best spots.

Well ..... all I have to say about our lobster fishing is it's a good thing I had these King Crab legs in the freezer:

  

On Saturday night Mike & Linda invited us over for Happy Hour, just like the good old days:

 Sunday morning started with this beautiful sunrise over Anacapa Island:

And Mimosas:

Our trip home was one of the most glassy smooth we have experienced in a long time:

In fact it was so smooth that these cute little balsa wood ghosts were still standing when we arrived back in the marina:

Happy Halloween!

Lobster Pasta

We had just sat down to dinner when we heard a knock on the cockpit door.  It was our neighbor Jimmy, aka Son of Scallop Guy, and he handed us a live lobster he had caught off of Anacapa Island earlier in the day.  Ten minutes earlier and that lobster would have joined our steak on the BBQ.  But I'm glad we waited because the next day I decided to make a Lobster Pasta, a fun alternative to grilled lobster.

First I made a half batch of homemade pasta (1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 1/4 cups 00 flour):

I removed the lobster meat from this beautiful tail, cut it into small chunks and sauteed for a couple of minutes in olive oil and chopped garlic:

I removed the lobster from the pan and added 1/2 cup of white wine.  When the wine was almost evaporated I added these beautiful heirloom tomatoes that I had peeled and chopped and seasoned with salt:

I simmered the tomatoes for about 20 minutes while I put a large pan of salted water on to boil.  I cooked the fresh pasta for about 3 minutes and stirred into the tomato sauce with a little of the pasta water.  Plated the pasta and topped with the lobster pieces and chopped parsley:

I know I've said this before, but ... I love my neighborhood!!! Thanks Jim & Jimmy for one of the sweetest and most delicious lobster we have ever tasted.

Prisoner's Harbor

Prisoner's is usually not one of our favorite anchorages because it can get very rolly at night.  But this weekend was beautiful:

Peter & Lynne pulled in a few hours later aboard Nshila:

The next morning the ocean was so calm that we took a long dinghy ride up the island towards Fry's Anchorage.  Here are some beautiful sights we saw on our mini-cruise:

The highlight of our trip was kayaking (in shallow water close to the beach) with some really big bat rays and leopard sharks - it was awesome! We couldn't see the rays buried in the sand until our kayaks glided over them and spooked them.  Then they would flap their wings, stirring up big clouds of sand, and swim right under our kayaks.  The commotion the rays made got the sharks excited and they schooled together and swam underneath us too!!  Lynne was brave and jumped in and swam with them.  The view from my kayak was close enough for me!

Also brought along some clams and oysters from The Jolly Oyster.  John's getting pretty darn good at shucking oysters.

Delicious with our Mango Margarita topping (pureed mango with tequila, triple sec and lime)



The Jolly Oyster

The Jolly Oyster sells oysters and clams at Ventura State Beach.  They just opened a few weeks ago and John, Peter, Dad and I decided to check them out:

I met Mark, the owner, at the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago and he greeted me with a warm hug like we had been friends for years.  Like John and Peter, he also grew up in Africa - how strange is that?

The oysters and clams are farmed in Baja - see their website http://www.thejollyoyster.com/ for more info and a video of the farming.  Mark sells a couple sizes of Pacific Oysters, Kumamotos and Manila Clams.

Mark giving us a lesson in oysters and shucking:

John was a pro and we kept him busy, slurping the delicious oysters as fast as he could shuck them:

Peter giving John a break:

Trying to light the BBQ for steamed clams:

I didn't come prepared to cook clams but Mark was kind enough to give us some red onion and garlic that we sauteed before adding some Sauvignon Blanc and tossing in the clams:

They were absolutely the most delicious clams I have ever eaten:

We topped some of the oysters with a bit of  mango margarita and some with a bloody mary mix & vodka, but our favorites were slurped straight from the shell with nothing added to interfere with the natural briny taste- incredibly good:

We were at the park for hours, eating oyster after oyster, after clam after clam, soaking up the clam juice with french bread and washing it all down with a beautiful Sauvignon Blanc. What a fun afternoon.  We can't wait to go back.

Labor Day Vacation 2011

We had a particularly foggy & dreary summer in Ventura, so we were looking forward to our annual vacation at Catalina with Sarah, Jeff & Marco.  We left the harbor early Thursday morning (9/1) in search of sunshine:

And we found it!!

Bobby & Cynthia followed us down aboard Amore Mio. When we arrived at White's Anchorage we were happy to see Bonnie & Curtis aboard Once Upon A Tide and Linda & Mike aboard their new boat Cazadora already at anchor.

Early Saturday morning John took the dinghy to Avalon to pick up Sarah, Jeff & Marco who had come across on the early ferry.  I had fresh baked biscotti waiting for them.  Later in the day Jeff's brother Mike and his friend Lindsay also came across for a few days:

We were hoping for fresh-caught sushi for lunch, but the only fish pulled in were undersized Calico that were thrown back into the ocean to grow bigger for next year:

Luckily I had stopped at the fish market before we left Ventura and had some beautiful ahi tuna in the freezer.  Jeff made steamed dumplings and I made spicy tuna rolls.  Marco loved the sushi!

We had a few raindrops and this beautiful double rainbow one afternoon:

But for the most part the weather cooperated and we were able to enjoy being out in the cockpit in the evenings:

Jeff & I made homemade croissants for lunch one afternoon - added ham and cheese to some - delicious!!

We cruised up to Avalon and stayed on a mooring for a couple of days so we could spend a little time in town:

We had a great time with the kids. Marco is now 3 1/2 and so much fun.  He kept very busy this vacation -

Fishing:

Check out his casting:

Kayaking:

Kite flying (gift from Bonnie & Curtis):

Dinghy Rides:

Helping out at our cocktail party:

Spotting sea creatures:

Soaking anyone who got withing range:

Sunbathing:

Sharing Scooby Doo videos with Papa:

Getting ice cream at Big Olaf's:

And just being so adorable that he kept smiles on our faces the entire week:

We're already looking forward to next year's trip.