Four Favorites August

August flew by and you won’t hear me complaining. I try not to make a habit out of wishing time away, but we’ve finally entered into my FAVORITE part of the year, September – December. 

Before I jump in with both feet, though, I need to share my Four Favorites for August. This month I’m back to my regular pattern for this post featuring a Book, Blog, Brand and Break. We spent the past two weeks on and off with travel so I’ve had little time in the kitchen, but lots of time to read some new favorites and do some sightseeing. 

This month, I want to share a book that redefines happiness, a blog with a splash of inspiration from Polish cuisine, a goat cheese we enjoyed all summer and a short trip in the heart of cheese and cherry country. 

Book:

The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau has been sitting on my Kindle for a while now. I finally finished up Wild a few days before August passed me by and I was happy to finally dive straight into it. Inspiration, motivation, action plan. Check, check, check. The one thing I love about this book is how it presents happiness. I am the number one fan of believing that happiness is a choice. Sometimes life puts us in situations that we can’t control and we must choose to be happy. Other times, and much more often, we have the power to go out and find our happiness.

I started reading Chris’ blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, when we were living in Brazil. He inspired me then and he inspires me now. If you don’t know much about him, he set a goal to visit every country in the world and he did so over 10 years. This book is about the stories of people he met along his journey, or what he considers a quest. And these stories are not all about travel.

Our quests take many different forms and the book is quick to point this out. I don’t know a person in my life who at one point or another hasn’t wanted to find their passion, their happiness, their quest. If this is you, grab a copy of this book and get inspired. 

Blog:

Right now I am loving the blog Bea’s Cookbook. As you know photography is the main hook for me with all of the blogs I read. Bea’s photography has the perfect balance of moodiness, brightness and color. Not to mention that recipes keep landing on my to-make list. You must check out the Late Summer Tart she posted this week.

Bea was raised in Poland and now lives in England and I love the refreshing twist that her culinary background has on the recipes and stories she shares. Add this blog to your reading list!

Brand:

Back when we took our road trip to NorCal in May, we made a stop in the Anderson Valley. It is a small spot in California that is brimming with cozy culture, good wine and beer and the kind of farm fresh products that you’d likely associate with such a picturesque place. In this case, goat cheese. 

Our friends took us to Penny Royal Farmstead during our visit. I still can’t decide what was more appealing – the wine, the goats, the cheese or the gorgeous views from their seating area in the back. A sister farm to Navarro Vineyards, Penny Royal Farmstead has both their own goat cheeses and wine. 

We brought home their Laychee, a soft fresh goat cheese, and the Boonters Corners, a raw goat milk cheese aged for 2 months. Both have been a highlight for our summer. We also rarely buy Rose, but their Rose of Pinot Noir changed that. I completely agree with their description that it is a wine for all seasons. Its equally as good with a light salmon as it would be with a salty holiday ham. 

Break:

Since moving to California, we still travel quite a bit, but we’ve done fewer trips to visit new places around the U.S. There just always seems to be too much we have left to see on the West Coast and if not that, we want to be abroad. But August presented an opportunity to see a place that I had no idea was envy-producing until I had several people tell me that they were so jealous that I was going. 

Door County, Wisconsin. 

Of course, I’d heard all about the cherries, but what I hadn’t seen or heard much about were the gorgeous bay views, the farm-to-table restaurants, locally source cider and goat farms. I’ll have a complete post up on my travel blog soon, but if you are planning your own trip a few things on my short list include the cider tasting at Island Orchard Cider, dinner at the Wickman House and the Door County Creamery Farm Tour.