He's Crafty

My friend Rob or as you may know him, the brain behind Cockeyed, is a pretty crafty fella. I'll reserve the Beastie Boys song reference here, but only because it's about a she and Rob is in fact a "he."

At a recent visit to his house, I asked him about anything new he'd created. Somewhat dangerous territory, after all, Rob is up to cleverness with definitive frequency. After my innocent inquisition and not being prepared for what came next, he came out with an extraordinary homemade creation.

Without a pattern, and a relative novice on the sewing machine, he delineated the greatest laptop bag full of bells and whistles. He has a laptop with a 17 in. screen and as we are all generally aware of, it can be tricky to find a bag that suits a laptop of substance.

It has a front pocket for laptop accoutrements and the main pocket for the computer itself is lined with faux fur. It has a handy measured cross body nylon strap and the bag is made of eco-chic naugahyde complete with a velcro closure.

For more information, measurements and general directions, contact Rob at Cockeyed. This thing is so impressive that I think I might've shrieked with glee when he came out with it. Check it out.

Summer Sailstice

I was recently contacted by a representative for the Summer Sailstice to blog about this extraordinary event. It was started in San Francisco by John Arndt and has now grown into something magnificent.

Photo Credit: Abner Kingman

I agreed to write about the event having grown up in a very small town next to Mystic Seaport called Groton Long Point where I learned to sail on an 8 foot Seashell. Her name was Misty and she had the tiniest Jib you've ever seen. I raced her and had great success at the Conrad Sailing Camp. I learned to swim in the Atlantic and leaned to sail on the same sea.

My father single handedly restored the great Charles W. Morgan, an impressive old New England whaling ship. He spent the mornings in restoration and the afternoons sailing his own 22 foot Hobie Cat - the original Catamaran. He sailed "Fwoty" along the entire East Coast eventually anchoring in Florida where the boat capsized...my mother, 8 months pregnant with my baby brother, swam ashore for more hands to realign the boat properly in the water. Meanwhile my dad was stung to near paralysis by a Portuguese Man O' War...but that's another story....

We moved to California and I retired my sea legs to focus on my equestrian skills. But every summer I still went back to sail in Mystic Cove on bigger boats. My next vessel was a 15 foot Bluebird. It was twice the size and twice as fast. I had to recruit a first mate. Voila! My sister had a job next to me as I was skipper!

The event this year is on the 22nd of June, 2013 and had I not already committed to going to a wedding, I would be in the City by the Bay to hitch a ride on somebody's keel. I am pretty handy with a sail.

"Summer Sailstice is the global sailing holiday celebrated on the weekend closest to the summer solstice. This international event was founded in 2001 to connect the global sailing community in a fun, creative, multifaceted, multi-location sailing holiday.  Every year, Summer Sailstice connects over 19,000 sailors all over the world—cruisers, racers and recreational—to celebrate and showcase life under sail.  It has expanded to include participants from Asia, across the Americas and Europe."

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Seriously. Easy. Delicious. Fatless!

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
• 1 box cake mix (chocolate, vanilla, white - I used butter) 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix cake mix and pumpkin together.
3. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins. 
4. Bake for roughly 30 minutes.

Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte

Here it is!

As you all know by now, I am addicted to Cookie Chips! I absolutely love them, so much so that I wrote the company and brazenly asked for a job (no one can say I don't have Chutzpah!). Alas, Joanne (the owner and CEO!!!!!) called me and said she would give a personal reference to her food broker who sells the Cookie Chips for Hannah Max Baking Company. As of now, you can get Cookie Chips at Safeway. If you have not tried the Cookie Chips yet, I highly recommend this recipe to get started or just go get a bag and take them on a picnic. I assure you they won't last the afternoon!

I made a Lemon Bread Pudding with the Original Cookie Chips and have now created this magnificent, ridiculous, character of delish which I call "Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte." It sounds fancy and looks lovely and sophisticated but is very easy to make. Trust me, it's going to knock people's socks off!

Salted Peanut Butter Cocoa Torte

By: Gwen Akacin

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

1 3/4 Cup Graham Cracker crumbs

1/2 Cup Organic butter (melted)

1/4 Cup bakers sugar

Pie Filling:

1 1/2 Cups Organic Heavy Whipping Cream, Separated

1/4 Cup sugar

1/2 Cup Organic Milk

2 Cups all natural Peanut Butter

3 Envelopes unflavored gelatin

1 Can sweetened condensed milk

Pie Topping:

1 1/2 Cups  Organic Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1 Bag Sea Salted Peanut Butter Cookie Chips

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350.

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar in bowl. Shape the crust into the pan using the bottom of a cup. See that it's as even as possible.

3. Bake crust for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside to cool.

4. Beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with a mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar until peaks are stiff.

5. In a medium sauce pan at medium low heat, combine milk, the remaining 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk until liquid in consistency and fully combined.

6. Add gelatin to peanut butter and whisk constantly until dissolved.

7. Fold peanut butter mixture into whipped cream until smooth.

8. Pour filling into crust and refrigerate until set about 1 hour.

9. In a mixer, combine whipping cream, sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa. Beat until stiff. 

10. Top cooled, set pie with cocoa whipped cream "frosting."

11. Crush whole bag Sea Salted Peanut Butter Cookie Chips with a rolling pin and sprinkle evenly on top of pie.

Something New!

I want to start a cosmetics company. I want to call it Moxie Make-Up and Cosmetics. I want to use TOMS one for one business model and give make-up and cosmetics to under served, at risk, low income, inner city ladies, beginning here in the U.S. then branching out to other countries and communities. Beauty should not be unattainable. Alas, where to begin? Where to get the capital? How?

I have a student named Renee. She recently went to the dermatologist for some skin irritations. He said she needed to stop wearing perfume or using lotion with scents and so on. As a teenager, she is pretty horrified at he thought of walking through life without the scents associated with being a girl. I was too when my doctor told me the same thing. So as a little present I made her Rockin' Renee. An Eau de Parfum made strictly of all natural products.

I hope you like it, love!

My Cute Town

I have a few "pet peeves." One of them is when folks who live in my town say bad things about it. It ranks right up there with Americans joining in to slam our country with Europeans. Something is just principally not right about that.

Another one is bad grammar, but I'll save that for another post.

How can someone say, "Sacramento = no culture." We have a beautiful and very cosmopolitan museum.

People say all the time, "What a cow town." Apparently they haven't been to Vacaville - actually named 'cow town.'

And why do natives from here say things like, "I hate it here." I say, "Then get out!"

We have excellent recreational trails for biking, hiking and walking, we have outstanding restaurants, we have a thriving art community, we have good hair salons and we have trees second only to Paris. Plus we are the state capital. A town offering all that is much more than a cow town or any other slanderous label a dimwit can put on it.

Have I mentioned the real estate? Look how sweet this is!

So the next time you find yourself or someone else talking about Sacramento as if it was a less than awesome place, I urge you to think of the charm I am showing you here and also, my mother taught me, "If you haven't anything nice to say, then do not say anything." Or move away!

One Flow Yoga

Last year I posted about my love for Bikram Yoga. It's hot, sure but that is not why I had to stop. The rote repeat of the same 26 poses and my constant anxiety begged me to quit. I soon realized that my life seemed incomplete without real yogic principles in my life.

I am a fidgeter. Always have been. People have names for the kind of person I am; Late Night Linda, Pusher, Spaz...whatever. "There is no shame in my game." It's just me and I need a centering philosophy such as yoga to bring me down so my feet touch the ground. Or else I am...well, picture a fat guy in pants too small...he buttons the pants and...POP! The button snaps away from his bulging belly and ricochets off walls. I am the button in this scenario.

I looked on YELP! and One Flow had a perfect 5 star rating. I was skeptical.

I called my friend Lori (we are 25 year veteran friends) and asked her if she wanted to join me at a Yoga studio I've wanted to try. On our own we had been to several studios in the area but never found a "home." For a few reasons, the need for a companion, a lack of "yoga" in the poses being taught, too far from our houses and so on. Both Lori and I need a workout, that goes without saying, but we were looking for the marriage between strength and spirit in addition to a plain old workout. We found it.

Credit

One Flow Yoga is owned and directed by Kate Saal. Her heart is huge and her aura glows with brilliance in many ways. She is a powerful presence but never overwhelming and when she teaches, her voice is like tropical beach; relaxed and warm. But the most amazing thing about her studio, the practice she imbibes in her students, is that there is no necessity to kill yourself or compete with others, instead she teaches that spirit surrounds us, that we know ourselves and that we must love ourselves in order to fully love others and that a Yogic practice is a personal journey. The other instructors drive the same road and it is this cohesion that has made One Flow our home. So, if YELP! had more than 5 stars that is truly the rating this studio should have and I cannot be more emphatic about it!

More photos to come.