It's a Whale, It's a Whale, It's a Whalefish he cried"

Avila Beach

was

in

the

national news

a 

few mornings ago

a 

pod

of

Humpback Whales

were

hovering

around

Avila bay

in between

and

 around the piers

and causing quite

a

scene

 pelicans

were

everywhere

kind of felt

like

that

eerie

Hitchcock movie

"The Birds"

fish

must

be crazy

there below the

surface

pelicans dive-bombing

seals

dolphins

 and

huge

glorious

Humpback whales

slow dancing

in and out

of

 the water

awesome

magnificent

so

close to

the pier

diving

in and around

fishing boats

putting on

quite

a

 performance

for 

all

who came 

to see

….

…..

and they 

slow-danced

back

out

to sea

..

and were gone

the whales

reminded 

me 

of a song

from

1962

sung by the Limeliters

The Whale

a song

that I played

many years

later

when 

Annie and Andrew

were little

I 

cannot

even imagine

how

anyone could ever

kill

or even harm

those

magnificent

creatures

…just saying

Thank you, John Conner

for 

all the 

wonderful

photographs

A Really REALLY Good Cookie - continued……….

My

Aunt Martha

was

so

right-on

with

her

Pearl of Wisdom

ONLY

yes, only

eat a 

really really good cookie

here

(courtesy of Isabel)

is

a

Really Really Good Cookie

remember

the 

Speculaas

blog?

(it is highlighted for easy referral)

I

baked

these 
Speculaas Nutella Cookies

as

a

birthday treat

for an

old

(not OLD…..  but old)

family 

friend

that was 

born in

the Netherlands

you 
mix up
Speculaas
with
butter sugars flour….
then
s w i r l
in
Nutella

then roll

the

dough

into

balls

make a criss cross

with

the

tine

of a 

fork

bake

and

indulge

crispy

on the outside

and

perfectly 

chewy

in the inside

Here's

the

recipe:

Izzy's Speculaas Nutella Cookies

1/2 c. Speculaas spread

1/2 c. softened butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. Nutella

375 degree oven

In a mixer (or with a mixer, if you like the hand kind better) combine Speculaas

and butter until well combined and pale in color

Beat in sugars, egg and vanilla.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and soda and mix into Speculaas batter until just combined.

Swirl Nutella into dough.

Form into walnut sized balls and criss cross with the tines of a fork

Bake about 12 minutes until a teeny bit brown around edges.
Cool on a baking rack (if you can…  …)

This would be an amazing Christmas Cookie !!

Speculoos

Speculoos

or

Speculaas

is a

Dutch 

or

Flemmish

Cookie Butter

What is a cookie butter?

Isabel,

our 

Petit Soleil

Belgium waffle expert,

tried

desperately

to explain

"cookie butter"

to 

me and Ashley

….."it is really popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.  It looks like peanut butter, but like Nutella, but not chocolate, with cookies in it - like gingerbread"

uh?  what?

        the next day,

             Isabel brought me Speculoos

                      from Trader Joes

                                and she wrote down three recipes 

                                          for me to try

this

is

SPECULOOS

Speculoos

does

look like

peanut butter

and it

does

taste a

bit

like

gingerbread

and

the

recipe

bakes

up

into

a 

beautiful

light

fragrant

banana bread

a bit spicy

and

so

delicious

and

like Nutella,

Speculoos

would be delicious

spread

on toast

or graham cookies

or apple slices

IZZY'S SPECULOOS BANANA BREAD

3 ripe bananas

1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt

1/2 c. Speculoos

3 TBS. melted butter

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

350 degrees - I loaf pan, or 3 mini loaf pans, greased (or Pam'd)

In the bowl if a mixer, combine first 5 ingredients until creamy.  Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon

Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until batter forms.

Bake one hour for large loaf and 45 minutes for mini loaves

Sadly for Petit Soleil

the love for

Belgium

(and her grandpa)

has 

called

Izzy
away

…

we hope she 

will

return

to Petit

when 

she

gets back

to

Cal Poly

Thank you

Izzy

for

introducing

us

to 

Speculoos 


and for all 
the 
extra
little
special
things
you did 
for
 Petit Soleil


we will miss you!