Baking Bread

Mike and I have started to make our own bread. We don't do it all the time, though we have been doing it a little more often lately. It is so yummy to have fresh baked french bread with an italian dinner, or a pot of soup.

This was one of our first batches we ever made. It got a little bit burnt but such is trial and error. It still tasted yummy. We had this with a big pot of spaghetti. One of them we even sliced and rubbed olive oil and garlic to make some toasted garlic bread, yum!!

Once we got comfortable with the really easy, really simple white loaves (all it is is flour, yeast, water, and salt...that's it!!) we started to experiment a bit. I made a honey whole wheat loaf. It was a first attempt. It turned out very pretty, though I don't think the taste was quite right. But we did use it for a few days as sandwich bread and then once it started to get a little stale I made french toast with it.

These were all the ingredients that went into the whole wheat bread, quite a bit more then just 4!

Here it is after it all mixed and kneaded, setting for it's first rise.

This is after it has risen once. You then mold it into whatever shape you are going to use, in this case a load into a loaf pan, and let it rise one more time while the oven is preheating.

And when it is all done this is what you get:

Pretty huh??

I have also made homemade cinnamon roles a few times. This is an old Melde family recipe, and they are quite the commodity at gift exchanges!!

I didn't get any pictures of them after they were baked. But the girls I made them for loved them! I think there were only a few left after our breakfast meet up to watch the Bachelor! (BTW: I still think Jake made the wrong decision!)

As we do the basics more we have started to experiment more. I will try to remember to take pics as we continue to expand. I need to try the whole wheat bread again...

7 wineries in 5 hours...or...My Parent's Come to Visit

Yep. My mom, my dad and aunt came to visit for President's Weekend. We went to Paso on that Saturday and went to 7 wineries in 5 hours. It was a marathon tasting! We had a great time though. Got to go to a lot of new wineries, but of course we went to Justin as well.

Stop 1: Whalebone Winery
Tasting Fee: $5 (but they did have free tri-tip sliders on Saturday...amazing!!)

They had this great sign in a few different places on their property! So cute. The place was tiny, but we were the only people there so it was nice. The wines were pretty good. I would probably go back again at some point, especially if their "free bbq" sign is down by the road!!


Stop 2: Justin Vineyard
Tasting Fee: $10, keep the glass

Of course we had to go to Justin. We are Wine Society Members, plus their wine is just amazing. We go here every time we go to Paso. This is a must if you go wine tasting in Paso!!

Stop 3: Halter Ranch Vineyard

Tasting Fee: $5

This was a great atmosphere. They had wine tastings outside at a makeshift bar as well as inside at the regular tasting bar. Their reds were pretty good, even just the red table wine was decent. This could be a return stop at one point. Their hold farmhouse and ranch house were neat to look at too.

At this point in our trip we were getting a little hungry, but way out here there are not restaurants. Luckily we had brought cheese and crackers to munch on. So being the classy people we are what did we do?? We opened the tailgate and spread out the good and did a little "tailgating" at the winery parking lot. 

Stop 4: Oso Libre Winery

Tasting Fee: $8

The atmosphere here was great too. They had a few tables set up outside where you could get a glass of wine and sit and look out over the vineyard with the sheep grazing and enjoy the beautiful sunny weather we were having that day. Their wines were also great. The owner was pouring wine for us that day and she was so friendly and nice. She told us all about the history of their winery and how they got started. This would be a place where I would enjoy one glass outside, don't know if I would do the tasting but overall great place. 

Stop 5: Four Vines Winery

Tasting Fee: $7, keep the glass

No thanks. Not up to par with some of the other amazing wines you can get in Paso Robles. It was a fun atmosphere, but it was very crowded the staff was not very friendly, it was just overall not a great experience compared to everywhere else we'd been. Their red glass chandeliers were pretty awesome though!!

Stop 6: L'Aventure

Tasting Fee: $10, keep the glass

Way out on a dirt road that ends at their property, this winery would be worth checking out. They have a very small selection, only about 4 or 5 wines I think. But they are all very good. This place though is tasting only, unless you have money to burn, all of their bottles are at $45 with the most expensive being $80. And while the wines are all very good I can't justify spending that much money when there are so many other great wines for a lot less. It was a small place, the staff was friendly, and the wines were great. If you're looking for a new one to try it could be worth it!

Stop 7: Bella Luna Estate Winery

Tasting Fee: $0

This was a great place. The owner is a retired navy pilot, who also has flown in a lot of air races. He was really nice and loved to talk about his wines. This is the home of Fighter Pilot Red, which is a good red wine. He had numerous other red wines that are also very good. If you are with someone in the military this is a great one to go visit, or even if you're not it is still worth it!!

That was the end of our wine tour. And if you noticed other than our little tailgate party and tri-tip slider we did no eating. And as we were there on the Saturday of Valentine's Day Weekend there wasn't a whole to choose from if you didn't have reservations. We did end up at this little italian restaurant in downtown Paso Robles for dinner. It was ok, but not great, and seeing as I can't even remember the name it was obviously not that memorable.

We had a great day though!!

Justin Vineyard

This is by far our favorite winery in Paso Robles. We go here every time. They are always nice and give you time. It is also dog friendly, which of course I love!! They have three winery dogs that just wander around the property. It is so fun.


This time instead of just wine tasting we actually did their "winery and cave" tour. It was neat. We got to wander through where the keep the barrels of wine to rest and ferment. We also got to go see the library, where the keep bottle wines to mature. It was really neat.

While we were waiting for our tour to begin. We got to enjoy a little put put green, none of us were very good, but it was fun none the less.

The owners of Justin Vineyard actually live on the estate as well. This is their house up on the hill...

Our First Visitors!!

We moved in in November, and we have now had our first out of town guests come to stay with us. Mike's high school friend Kelly stayed one night and then Mike's aunt and uncle stayed with us for a weekend.

Mike and Kelly reminisce about their high school days by playing Smuggler's Run and other PS2 games. Mike took the PS2 down from the shelf along with all his old games and they plugged it in and played for a couple hours. Their conclusion was that this game system didn't stand up to today's tech and how did they ever think that those games were so cool. Kelly was only with us for a night so we stayed in and just hung out at the house. We had a good time though .

The day Kelly left Mike's Uncle Dan and Aunt Ginger came to stay with us for the weekend. Friday night we showed them all the Lemoore had to offer, dinner and a movie. But Saturday we drove to Paso Robles and did some wine tasting. Our first stop was Tobin James.

Tobin James was a neat place. It looked really cool. The mosaic to the right is the Tobin James starburst. This outdoor fireplace was really neat. Their wines on the other hand were non too impressive. Although we didn't have to pay for the tasting so that was plus. The place was packed, there were so many people there that Ginger and Mike couldn't even stand at the bar... they had to stand behind us. The pourer was more a bartender then a wino. Don't know that this will be on any future wine tasting stops.

The next stop on our journey was to a place called Falcon Nest. We had asked a "wine line" driver where there was good place to get some lunch and taste wine at the same time and he recommended this place. And it was awesome! We were the only four people in the place. To pull up to it was nothing special, to be honest I wasn't even sure if they were open. It was all run down and shabby looking. 

We walked in and sat at stools to taste the 4 wines that they offered. This tasting was $5 but well worth it. These wines were so good. No whites, only reds. Their merlot was probably the best the I've ever had, and I don't usually like merlot. Carol, her and her husband own the winery, was behind the counter pouring our wines. She was friendly and knowledgeable, and answered any questions we had. She treated us like we were old friends stopping by for lunch and some drinks. Her husband is the chef that cooks. He had his training in Italy, Spain, and France. The food was awesome! We had four different things from the menu and they were all really good. I would highly recommend this place to anyone who wants an off the beaten path winery where you get some one on one.

Life in Lemoore

So we have been for a bit now...and nothing too exciting is happening.

Mike has started the last part of his training before he is "fleet ready." He is a member of VFA-125, the Rough Raiders. All this means is that he is actually flying the F/A-18C for a few months being observed by instructors to make sure that he is safe. He will spend a few weeks learning how to drop bombs and missiles, a few weeks learn how to dog fight and manuever, and he will have a week of carrier landing at the end of all of it. In between he will fly formations, and at night, and just get comfortable and knowledgeable about Hornet.

Two pictures of the plane Mike will fly. The one a little to the right is the single seat hornet he will fly in the fleet. The one a little to the left (sorry it's so far away) was the first hornet Mike flew here at Lemoore. It is actually a two seater, meaning there is an instructor in the back.


I have met lots of wonderful ladies since I've been here. The job market is not too great, so up until recently none of us had jobs. Two have now gotten jobs, and no I am not one of them yet. I am hoping to find some openings that interest me soon.

New toys!!

AH, Christmas! Mike and I made out this year. We got a Tom-Tom GPS and Wii Fit from his parents....and a DSLR camera from mine. Along with lots of movies and other little gadgets. We've been using the Wii Fit and took the camera for a test run to Paso Robles Wine Country the other day. Here's a little selection of pics. (The camera is still on Auto setting as I have yet to learn all the fancy doohicky buttons yet!!)

These two are using the "close-ups" setting on the camera.

Pics of Sunset.

These three are from different points on the drive through Paso Robles.

This is one of the wineries we stopped at the day. Apparently the owners have a thing for castles, cause they built their own!