Daylight Savings - 10 Tips to Reset Your Time Clock

Spring is coming and setting your clocks ahead for daylight savings is a great reminder of warm weather and sunny days to come - right around the corner, I promise! (FINALLY here in Northern California this weekend...)

Dive Girl Custom Coastal Clock - from our new Custom Clock Collection!

Not sure about all of you, but I really, really struggle the next week after resetting the time to adjust my own internal clock. Darker mornings for our beach bike rides and walks along our coastside trail are pretty tough around our house. We will just have to adjust our walks to sunset, rather than sunrise. I am okay with that!

Here are Ten Tips to make the sleep deprivation just a little bit easier*:

1. Go to bed an hour earlier Saturday night, and enjoy your seven to eight hours of sleep in your cozy bed.
2. Kids pay more attention to their internal time clock than timepieces, so make sure that your kiddoes get to bed early on Saturday night too. That way they will be bright eyed and bushy-tailed for Monday morning school routines. (at least you hope so!)
3. Don't give into the urge for a long nap, it will really mess up your sleep schedule. Darn it, that's our fave thing to do on a lazy Sunday...
4. Limit your caffeine intake in the late afternoon. Maybe try a new decaf tea?
5. Watch your cocktail and wine consumption before bedtime - not always a great sleep inducer, even though you might think so!
6. Don't eat a big dinner too close to bedtime. (not a great idea any time!)
7. If you usually work out at night, maybe mix it up this week to make sure that your exercise routine ends 3 hours before bedtime to give your body (and mind) a chance to relax before climbing into your sheets.
8. Wind down with a relaxing activity; stretching, yoga, listening to music or reading a good book. (you know, the one that you've been meaning to read for months....)
9. GET OFF of your electronic devices at least 2 hours before snuggling in bed. This means everything; ipads, computers, cell phones, and step away from the tv. Seriously, this is a great habit for good sleep all of the time. Your brain and your eyes need a break.
10. Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary.  Dark, (no electronic lights - leave your cell phone in the other room), quiet and open your windows to let in the sea breeze.  Don't forget great bedding, soft pillows, snuggly throw blankets....

Try Our New Miramar Bedroom Collection!

Or our new Sea Palm Grove Bedding - LOVE

Have a wonderful weekend!

*Adapted from The Los Angeles Times,Health.com, CBS News, Parents.com and SleepLady.com.

Choosing Sustainabilty for Enjoying your Favorite Seafood

One very important component to beach living, is also realizing that we have to become better stewards of our coasts, and of all the incredible life that lives in our oceans. We also need to understand that the sea, and its' gifts are essential to our lives on the shore.

Making smarter choices about sustainable seafood at the grocery store is such a small step towards helping that effort. Ask questions, and educate yourself before deciding what to buy.  Here's just one example:

I love Salmon  - like its' versatility, like its' flavor and texture -you really can't go wrong when deciding to serve Salmon to guests.   (See Melissa's Recipe, June 2009 - http://everythingcoastal.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-salmon-stories-from-northwest.html )

SEAFOOD	RATING	MARKET NAMES	WHERE CAUGHT	HOW CAUGHT
Salmon		Coho, Sockeye, King, Pink, Red, Sake	Alaska	Wild-caught
Salmon		Coho, Silver Salmon	U.S.	Farmed in Tank Systems
Salmon		Coho, Sockeye, King, Pink, Red, Sake	Washington	Wild-caught
Salmon		Farmed Salmon, Atlantic Salmon, Sake	Worldwide	Farmed
Salmon Roe		Ikura, Roe	Alaska	Wild-caught

(Thank you Monterey Bay Aquarium for the above chart)

Seafood Watch - developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of my favorite tools to educate the consumer about what the best seafood choices might be. Simply put your seafood choice in their handy search engine and it will return the best choices for what to buy and why.

Here's the link! http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
*** Please take note that there is also downloadable-printable pocket guide developed specifically for every major seafood region.
***If you have an Iphone - there is also handy FREE application to use.  I highly recommend this easy app, and do use it all of the time, both at the grocery store and when we are dining ou.

Just some more food for thought, and yet such an easy choice to make.

January in the Pacific Northwest

Feel a little bad complaining about our gray and wet winters when there is so much of the country buried deep in snow.  After 45 (almost 46) years, I think maybe I am entitled to whine a little.  REALLY hoping that this will be my last January in Washington. For those of you that know me, also know how much I struggle with the rain and gray, and also how hard I have to work at overcoming the annual onset of the blahs...

When I first opened "Caron's" in Poulsbo, that was one of my goals - not only for myself, but for especially for our customers.  It seemed to have worked. Cannot tell you the number of people that would come into our light-filled store, painted in the colors of a summer sea,  filled to the brim with beach and coastal reminders, to simply walk around, smell the candles, listen to some jazz,  and would always leave feeling better.

Now, that I am creating a new kind of business, (online, not brick and mortar) I am using those lessons to help me make it through another January, February, March, April and possibly part of May...   Always making sure that I work in a light filled space,  taking breaks to look out at the sound and the ever changing water-landscape, and talking to friends to help beat the Northwest Blues.  Many days, the water is so quiet, hardly a ripple is reflected, all the easier to see the surprise of a sea lion trolling for salmon, or the darting of a bald eagle in search of prey.

Walking helps tremendously, even if it is raining! Here's some photos from a very gray morning today, there's very little color, but brilliant color when I could catch it in the dripping rain. There's also something very beautiful about nature hiding, waiting patiently, silently sleeping, storing up energy to wake up with the coming of spring.

Stinson Beach Sunsets

Had an absolute dream day on Saturday, driving to the Pt. Reyes National Seashore on Hwy 1, in Northern California.   Hard to imagine that another perfect day could be topped off any more beautifully.  

These photos were taken overlooking Stinson Beach, and the Pacific Ocean  from the road that rises up to Mt. Tam, and then back over to San Francisco.  Just had to pull over and drink in this incredible view!

Watch the progression of colors as the sun sinks further into the Pacific..

The sky was absolutely on fire with brilliant pink and orange flaming clouds! Love this view with the curve of Stinson Beach. During the day, when driving down this hill, the view that stretches out with white sand and all the blues of the color wheel is one of my favorites! Some days you get lucky and the surf is whipped with the white caps of the Pacific Ocean.

Tom thought he was so sneaky! Taking a picture of me, while I tried to capture one more image on my Iphone....

Cooking Rock Crab

My dad is a crab cooking expert, claiming that the best way to cook crab is in clean sea water. I will agree with that - just make sure to clean out the stray floating piece of sea kelp! (Salted water can be substituted, just not quite the same flavor)

Needed:

1. very large deep pot for boiling

2. clean seawater

3. long tongs to drop in the crabs

4. a little bravery!

Fill pot with the sea water and place on the stove to boil. Be aware, due to the amount of water in the pot and the salt, it may take a while for the water to come to a boil.

There are two theories about preparing the crab for cooking; the crab can be cracked in half and cleaned before placing in the pot, or the entire crab can be placed into the pot and then cleaned after it's cooked. Either way will work, it's all in your preference for mess. I prefer cooking the whole crab first.

Carefully place the crabs in the pot using your tongs. I like really really long ones to avoid getting pinched - my dad is much braver than me! After filling the pot with the crabs, place the lid on and turn the heat down, but still boiling. Timer should be set for 20 minutes. When the crabs are done, run continuous cool water on them until they cool down.

Cleaning can be a very messy affair! We usually spread old newspaper on the outside

picnic table, it seems to be the easiest way to make clean-up a breeze. Alex and I have determined that effective crab cracking is all in the tools; GOOD crab crackers, and maybe a small hammer as Rock Crab are just a little harder than a dungeness to break open.

Cleaning:

1. Remove the back first, holding the base of the crab and pulling the shell away from the body

2. Remove the triangular-shaped section on the flip-side of the crab and lift away. Should be then easy to gently remove the gills on either side, and wash away the "crab butter" (kind of gross yellow stuff..). Some crab connoisseurs consider this a delicacy, not me.

3. Break off the legs and the front claws

4. Gently wash the remaining body under cool fresh water

5. Dig in! Use your fingers, crab picks, crab-crackers or whatever you find to break out the crab meat - YUM! Wonderful to dip in melted butter with garlic and lemon, or simply eat right out of the shell.

Here's one of our favorite E-Z appetizers to make! So easy, can be whipped together in about 5 minutes - one of my favorites after fun crabbing afternoons in the San Juan Islands.

Ingredients:

8 oz. softened cream cheese

cocktail sauce

cooked, cracked crab

Spread softened cream cheese on a decorative plate, then layer with cocktail sauce and crab. Serve with your favorite crackers. Guaranteed to be the hit of your next party!

Here's the kid, Alex, relaxing after a hard morning hunting crab and cleaning....

The Art of Rock Crabbing

Tools Required:

1. Super low tide (-3.1 or better)

2. Beach Shoes or Rubber Boots

3. Sturdy Rake

4. Big, Deep Bucket

5. Gloves (maybe)

6. ATTITUDE!

Rules:

1. Crabs must be 5 1/2

inches across the top of their shell to be legal

2. Must have shellfish license and can only take 6 per person (must also be Crab Season)

3. Leave the girl crabs on the beach (flip them over before putting them in the bucket to make sure)

4. Don't get your fingers anywhere near their strong front claws - OUCH!

Here's Alex, headed out on the hunt for the mighty Rock Crab! Note the determined stride, to find the wily creatures hiding under big leaf seaweed and in hidden holes under big rocks. Rock Crabs are distinctly different than Dungeness, shells are much tougher, brighter red in color and taste (I think) much sweeter than a Dungeness. They are definitely worth the effort!

I am a great bucket holder and picture taker, and perfectly happy to let Dad and Alex rake for the crabs under the bigger rocks, and wade out into the water to find them scuttling along underneath the layers of kelp. They are both wearing boots... my beat-up Keds won't withstand a rock crab pinch!

One of the best side benefits of rock crabbing is getting the chance to see all kinds of other sea life that we normally don't see because it is all covered up by cold, deep Puget Sound water. I found some of the most gorgeous, colorful sea stars that I have ever seen, and again am always amazed at nature's color palette.

Look closely at the photo on the right, for the girl crab hiding underneath the rock near the light purple sea star on the left.

Anemones galore on my mom and dad's beach!

Brilliant oranges and reds - have to be so careful though when shooting the pictures to not touch them, or they quickly shrink out of sight.

Alex and Dad easily found 11 crabs and I actually found 3 all by myself! Lots of girl crabs and crabs missing front claws that we decide to leave on the beach for next year. As you can probably tell from the photo, it is a little tricky to capture one and make sure that it doesn't pinch you. Here's Alex with one large rock crab on his rake before he deposits him in the bucket. We can put quite a few crabs in each bucket, and they usually fight for a while before settling down. So Critical to have a deep bucket to prevent escaping!

Next blog post: Now that you've caught 14 crabs, what do you do with them?