Tuna Mac 'n Cheese Two Ways

Please do not get your hopes up about this posting. This is definitely NOT a gourmet meal. What this is though is a yummy, easy dinner that makes everyone happy. Well almost everyone happy. I started to make it my way but the Fiancé had other ideas. He though my version was “too fancy”. Seriously? He challenged me to post this on my blog and see which version would be the favorite. So we each made it our own way and then I took pictures of both. You decide which one you like the best!


Ingredients:

- Start with your standard box of Macaroni in Cheese. Use whatever kind you prefer or happen to have on hand.

- Two cans of tuna in water.

- EITHER two small tomatoes or ketchup. (This is where the Fiancé and my tastes diverged.)

Directions:

Prepare the mac ‘n cheese the way it says on the box. Then add the two cans of drained tuna. Mix it up well. Then (this is the part where you get to pick your own ending) you can either quarter the two small tomatoes and add them to the mix a la Me. (See below)

OR

You can add a generous portion of ketchup a la Fiancé. I like to call this version “Little Boy Mac ‘n Cheese”. Little boys of all ages will love it I’m sure. Chef Ramsay will probably not be calling me for my culinary expertise any time soon though.

You should have seen this after he mixed it all together. Bleh.

Eat, Pray, Love, Commit

I just finished reading “Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes, that Elizabeth Gilbert, scribe of “Eat, Pray, Love”. If you are a fan of her now famous book, or if you’re a fan of the movie (which I haven’t seen yet), or even if you’ve never heard of her, you should read this book. If you haven’t heard of Ms. Gilbert or “Eat, Pray, Love” I will assume you’ve been living under a rock and the rest of this post may interest you not at all.



SPOILER ALERT!!!


Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I will tell you that “Committed” takes up a couple of years after “Eat, Pray, Love” ends. Liz has been dating the fantastic Felipe and is super happy but the United States Department of Homeland Security doesn’t give a crap. They kick Felipe out of the U.S. and he and Liz learn that the only way they will be able to stay together in the U.S. is if they get married. To them this is a nightmare. As anyone who has gone through a divorce will know getting into another marriage can be way scary. As Liz and Felipe jump through the hoops of what the government requires for them to legally marry, Liz jumps through the hoops of what marriage itself requires. “What is marriage?” she asks. Good question. Ironically I myself am engaged to be married, so this book and all it entailed really piqued my interest.

The first few pages in and I text a friend:

"OMGyouhavetoreadthisbookitssogoodeveryoneshouldreadit!"

I do still think that though I give you a word of caution: the middle section will make you doubt any desire you have ever had to want to bind yourself to another hopelessly imperfect human being. Grateful I was though that Ms. Gilbert did not leave me in that place of doubt. With her usual frankness, warmth, and good humor, she takes the subject of marriage by the lapels and gives it a good shake. Every little nook and cranny of what it means to be married is looked at. Up, down, and all around Ms. Gilbert looks and asks great questions about this ancient ritual of pledging yourself to another. She finds some equally great explanations. You will say “hmmm” a lot, and “Yeah! That’s just how I feel!” In the end I’m glad to say I was wholly satisfied. I agree with Ms. Gilbert in how she chose to view the institution of marriage and I even find it a more exciting prospect now than I did before.

Married people are rebels! That’s right, you heard me.

More Fun in San Pedro

After visiting the Point Fermin Lighthouse we wandered down the road to the Fort MacArthur Museum. You can still see where parts of the fort were positioned on the hillside. We found some old doors, bolted shut, which lead underground to where ammunition and such was stored. Those doors and the thought of what might lie beneath them were creeeepyyyyy! I told my friend, “You know there’s dead bodies in there right?” She was not amused.

You know there's dead bodies in there right?

The Korean Bell of Friendship

Not really sure what the purpose of these fellas is, but I like 'em.

 We climbed up to the top of the hill where we found an Asian-style pavilion with a huge bell hanging inside of it. This is the Korean Bell of Friendship which was given to the United States from the people of Korea in 1976. There were all kinds of people milling about and even a wedding party taking photos on the steps of the pavilion. From here there are fantastic sweeping views of the ocean, Point Fermin, and the parks and neighborhoods to the north and south.

This one day in San Pedro was really only the tip of the iceberg as far as all that this city has to offer. There is so much to see and do here no matter what your interests. The real history of Los Angeles seems to have begun here. There are many historical houses, museums, and naval related exhibits. And of course, more lighthouses! We can’t have enough lighthouses you know. There is also shopping and dining in Old San Pedro. I will seriously be going back to check out more.

For more information on San Pedro go here:

http://www.sanpedro.com/

Point Fermin Lighthouse

Last Sunday a friend and I went to visit the Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro, CA. I love lighthouses. It’s on my bucket list to live in one someday. The Point Fermin Lighthouse was built in 1874 and is built in the “Stick Style” of architecture and is very Victorian looking. It is an actual house with the light on top. I love when there is a house because I like to think about the lighthouse keepers and what their lives where like when they lived there. It turns out the Point Fermin Lighthouse had some very interesting keepers. From 1925-27 the light was run by two sisters named Thelma and Juanita Austin. As you can imagine it was not common for women to be running lighthouses in those days. The Austin sisters had some experience though, as they had been living at the Point Fermin Lighthouse since 1917 when their father was the keeper. What interesting women they must have been! Below are some pictures of the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was restored in 2002 and opened to the public in 2003. You can tour the lighthouse, though we were not able to while we were there. I guess I’ll have to go back sometime. Oh darn. Volunteers from the Point Fermin Lighthouse Society give tours and keep the lighthouse open. The gardens there are gorgeous. I went a little crazy taking pictures of all the flowers. Some of the photos I took are below.

I love, love, love this one!

I'm really curious as to what these are. Any ideas? There's a more detailed picture below.

There are a lot of other attractions to see in the Point Fermin area. The lighthouse is close to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Fort MacArthur Museum, and the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

View of the ocean through the wall at Point Fermin.

For more information on the Point Fermin Lighthouse their website is here:

http://www.pointferminlighthouse.org/

As an aside, this was the second time I had to write this post. Note to self: It might be a good idea to write your entries ahead of time and save them somewhere before you write them on Blogger and then accidentally delete them before you get them posted. I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud here.

Gozaic

Gozaic Member Profile: Jennifer C.

A place to connect for travelers and lovers of history and historical preservation.

Happy Birthday Nancy Drew!

Nancy Drew turns 80 years old this year and her sleuthing skills have never been sharper. I just learned that Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena is hosting a "Super Sleuth Scavenger Hunt" on August 21 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Participants will be looking for items all over Pasadena and using a digital camera/camera phone/Polaroid camera to document what they find. There is no age restriction and there will of course be prizes. This sounds like a total blast! For more information go to: http://www.vromansbookstore.com/

Pismo Beach Day 2

Okay, okay so I know it's been almost a week since I said I would post details about our second day in Pismo Beach. Sorry but life happens. Besides no one is really reading this blog yet anyway so what's the big deal? Haha. Without further ado here is the Day 2 installment below.

Pismo Beach Day 2:


Day 2 in Pismo Beach was my birthday. So to celebrate, I wanted to eat the biggest, most sugarrific breakfast I could find. We took ourselves to Old West Cinnamon Rolls where I met the cinnamon roll of my dreams. I was so enamored of my cinnamon roll and its gooey covering of cream cheese frosting that I think my fiancé got a little jealous. He had an equally yummy roll covered in almonds. They were awesome cinnamon rolls but probably would have been even better had they been fresh right out of the oven. As it was we really enjoyed them and sat at the bar looking out on the street and people-watching. Old West Cinnamon Rolls does a booming business in the mornings and I highly recommend you be a customer if and when you visit Pismo. They also have pretty decent coffee and they have French Vanilla creamer to put it in. It is my opinion you cannot have coffee without French Vanilla creamer therefore any place that has it gets a gold star from me.

After all those calories we felt the need to take a walk. So we walked up and down the boardwalk along the beach. After that we drove a couple miles south to check out the dunes near Oceano. Lots of people come out here and rent ATVs and dirt bikes and ride up and down the dunes. We opted to walk on the beach. You can drive your car on the beach here and we saw plenty of people doing that including a few who got stuck. I was pretty sure I would have been one of those people if I had taken my little convertible out on the sand. Next time I want to rent a jeep.

Can I get an “amen” for how awesome the sea air is? I felt more relaxed than I had in years. We found a clam on the beach. It was sticking its tongue thingy out trying to bury itself back in the sand. It was so cool to watch and I don’t think I had ever seen that before. Alas our clam friend was destined to be lunch for some seagulls. At least the seagulls were trying to eat it as we left. Did you know that to try and break open a clam shell seagulls will fly way up into the air then drop the clam from that height so as to try and break the shell? I guess you do what you can when you don’t have any knives or opposable thumbs.

Our time in Pismo was winding down but we were not done with the fun quite yet. We stopped at a winery called Laetitia on our way through Arroyo Grande. It was my birthday after all and I was getting my party on. Laetitia is a beautiful winery where they have a nice selection of wines. I tried their Brut Rose Sparkling Wine and bought a bottle for my birthday party. The fiancé loves sweet dessert wines and he got a bottle of the Harvest Riesling. Yum, yum. Laetitia is known for their Pinot Noirs, which is one of my favorite varietals. All the wines I tasted there I liked and the surrounding vineyards and gardens are lovely and relaxing.

And so our trip to Pismo ended on a good note with big gulps of fresh sea air and slightly smaller sips of delicious wines.

For more info see the websites below:


Laetitia Winery
http://www.laetitiawine.com/