Cafe Soleil -

We

are having

some 

major 

fun

at 

Petit Soleil….


so fun
for

us

but

even

MORE

fun

for our guests

starting in July

at 
Cafe Soleil
(our little dining room)
we
will be adding
many
new
additions
to 
our
already
delicious
petit déjeuner

...
certain 
mornings
we will
still
delight you
with
our
delicious stratas

 quiches

egg bakes

and Florentines


      lemon coconut pancakes
Grand Marnier French toast
                   orange pecan waffles
etc.  etc.  etc.  


a n d 

starting

in July

certain
OTHER
mornings
we will
offer
our
 perfectly
simple
yet delicious

Breakfast Tartines

(a tartine is a French open-faced sandwich)

or 

a
hearty

breakfast

"hash"

…sometimes vegetarian

 sometimes with a delicious sausage

or bacon

or even turkey

topped

with

perfectly

cooked 
Cal Poly
eggs

 slow cooked oatmeal
with nuts, dried fruit and honey
or
banana chocolate chip breakfast bread pudding
mmmmmmmmmmm
are you ready?

a
 few mornings

ago

we 
played
with

a 
breakfast

"hash"

with

a spicy red pepper chicken sausage

 sauteed

 with

red potatoes

and onions

a little garlic...

……heaven

spooned

into our
 little skillets

then
 topped

with

fried

organic eggs

and

a

sprinkling

of

fresh

basil chiffonade

from

our garden

rock- star
 reviews

from our

guests

we

are

 so

 looking forward

to
sharing

our

new

recipes 
and

breakfast dishes
with
our guests
in
our little
Cafe Soleil

and especially looking 

forward to hearing

the

quiet

"mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"

from

happy

 tummies

Where Women Create, Cook, Drink, Laugh and Eat

San Luis Obispo

is

really

quite a

s m a l l 

town

months ago

I

heard

through 

the 

rumor mill

that

a woman

that 

I have admired

for 

years

was going

to 

be 

the 

motivational speaker

for

Spring 2012

Remnants of the Past

event

and I set about to meet her
….

Jo Packham

is

the

inspiration

creator

and

editor-in-chief

for

Where Women Create magazines

..

Where Women Cook magazines

..

Where Women Cook - Celebrate!

..

Where Women Create - Book of Inspiration
and 
others

and I have every single copy

of every single magazine

and book
she

ever published

because

simply

They Inspire Me

I had to meet

Jo Packham!

and I did

many
heartfelt

thanks

to

my friend

Judy Watkins

(quite an inspirational woman in her own right)

for giving 

me

not 

only the

opportunity

to meet

Jo

but

for 
me
to 
also

be inspired

by

fifteen

extraordinary

local

women

who 

 followed

their 

passions

and

created

their own

success stories

For this evening

we chose

some delightful

local wines

and 

with the 
so appreciated
help

of
Petit's

Ashley, MC and Stephanie

we

prepared
and
served

a

handful

of 

really

special

hor d'ouveres

and

small bites 

Stephanie, MC and Ashley

that we shared

with

these
amazing
and

celebrated

women

for 
our

amuse bouche

we served:

 Petit Almonds

  Curried crab salad on cucumber

   Brussel's Sprouts with lardons and currants in puff pastry

  a skewer of chèvre, local nectarine and arugula

   and a fresh picked Strawberry

the 

Amuse Bouche

was

enjoyed

while

Jo

inspired

us 

with

stories

of

her 

life journey:

the

ups and downs

and

tribulations

of 

following

one's

passion




 and 
  with it
       creating your own career

      Her story was 
     captivating
and 
I 
so glad
that
our Petit ladies (including my Annie)
had the opportunity
to
hear from
and
about
the importance of 


     quietly listening to your inner voice
                and

following your passion

after
 Jo spoke
   all the invited ladies introduced themselves

and

 we 

 served

"tartines"

French-inspired open faced sandwiches

in

delicious flavors

of:

brie, pear and toasted walnuts

smoked salmon, creme fraiche with capers

and

shaved cantaloupe, chèvre with chopped smoked almonds

I was

truly

honored

to be in the 

company

of

such

extraordinary

women

I was

humbled

to meet

and

be 
inspired

in person

by 

Jo Packham

and

I 

was

so 

proud

of

the

dedication

smiles

and 
passionate help

for

this

amazing evening

from

our

Petit ladies

Ashley

MC (aka Emily)

and Stephanie


Thank you
to
guru 
Jenny Malott,
for your
love,
graphics
and video
of this 
amazing evening
(click the above to see)

I 

count my blessings 

daily
and

am

so

thankful

that

I

too

have been

 able

to

wake up every morning

with

a smile

knowing

that

I will

be


laughing

creating

enjoying

and

persuing

my

passions

and

inspiring others

at

home 

and

at

Petit Soleil

Picking Daisies at Petit

Time

to rid

Petit Soleil

of

those

dastardly

paper napkins

of

yesteryear

and

time

to 

GO GREEN!

Picking Daisies

napkins

are

made with 

love

they

are

F U n

happy

colorful

easy to care for

and

now

Picking Daisies

napkins

are

a

beautiful

new

addition

to

the 

sun filled

dining room

and 

breakfast

tables

at

Petit Soleil

Come by

Petit

and see

how

the

colorful

mismatched

fabric napkins

have

created

such

whimsy

and

cheer

or

go by

Picking Daisies

and

choose

your

own

whimsical

and cheery

napkins

to share

with

family

and friends

Adventures of Huck, Phinn and Nottie - an update

Many

guests

have

been

 inquiring

about

our

irreverent trio

of dogs
Nottie   Huckleberry and Phinn

…

it really

wasn't

THAT

long 

ago

that

we brought
puppies

Huck and Phinn

to 

Petit

because
we
feared
a
coyote
or
vulture
would eat them
(and Nottie's maternal instincts were a bit lacking)

Fast forward
two plus years..




they watch for critters

sleep
on
my favorite pillows



peek
around corners
and make
sure
they always know where we are


Nottie
keeps
watch
from the red couch

..a good view of deer and turkeys from there


they dig holes to China



and run back and forth
along the
fence


they
chase
lizards
and find
lots of irrigation tubes


they
detach irrigation tubes
from the garden
and
 drag them
inside



and
under the coffee table





and
that's
your
update

Day Tripping

A

while ago

I

shared

a

day trip

up the coast

from 

SLO

for a visit

with

the 

gargantuan

Sea Elephants

On that

gorgeous

day

we

had

a 

late lunch

on 

Moonstone Beach

On

this day,

Barbara

and I

day tripped

to

Cambria,

a

"hobbit-like"

village

just south

of the

Sea Elephants

and

about

one hour

north

of SLO

we 

hadn't

been 

to 

Robin's

in 

years..

and it

was

as

delicious

as we both 

remembered

Robin's

is

the 

first

of the

brilliant

restaurant

trilogy

of 

Robin and Shanney

(of 2. Novo and  3. Luna Red fame in SLO)

they

know

really good

food

really good service

and they know

how to 

run 

a

really good restaurant

 

We

decided to 

lunch

in

the

covered back patio

on

the 

fabulous

mosaic tables

Robin's

menu

is

so

diverse

…

curries

 interesting burgers and sandwiches

salmon bisque soup

exotic salads

and

fish tacos

although

I

usually

don't love

battered and fried fish

this

batter

was

light

and

slightly crispy

and

the halibut was moist and delicious

inside a 

soft corn tortilla

with

fresh mango salsa

and

a piquant

and

tasty

 jicama slaw

mmmmmmmm

after

lunch

we

strolled

around

the back

of 

Robin's

to

a 

magical

garden

dressed

with

hollyhocks

and honeysuckle

lavender

nasturtiums

and

roses

ready

for a 

garden party

bridal shower

or 

a

wedding

Across

the street

from

Robin's

is 

Heart's Ease

I used to take

 Annie 

there

when she was

about 3

(20 years ago…)

and Barbara took Nattie there

for

their

annual

Fairie Festival

Heart's Ease

is

fragrant

with

fresh and dried herbs

home-dried potpourri

and

infused oils

charming 

little cards

and gifts

scented soaps

and 

lotions

and 

back

behind the store

the

garden

is 

glorious

and

filled

with

fairie

villages

and

and

even

tiny

fairies

I

made

a few 

wishes

I 

do believe!

next-door

is

a

gallery

filled

with

amazing

art creations

colorful

whimSical

and

fanciful

creations

for

 home and garden

which

pretty

much

sums up

Cambria

...

ColorFuL 

whimsical

fanciful

oh!

and

delicious

Cambria by the Sea

Hwy 1

1 hour north

of San Luis Obispo