Babies!

How's that for a beauty shot?

Courtesy of our African hoofed friends at B. Bryan Preserve down south of us in Pt. Arena. This baby antelope is a honey and by now, I bet they have some baby Hartmann's Zebras running around too. This preserve is dedicated to caring for rare, vanishing African hoof stock, and they are doing a terrific job, from what our cousins there tell us.

Check out a whole album of fresh photos from B. Bryan on Facebook and stop by and visit them on your way up to see us. You have to book ahead for a tour, but it's worth it -- especially at this time of year!

Up here at the Inn, Google has alerted us to enthusiastic blog posts from Inn guests about the baby bunnies who join us for breakfast each morning. Chunk has just about had enough of these little cuties, because he doesn't appreciate having pastry crumbs whisked away just when he was on the verge of enjoying them, but really, that's just sour grapes. It's nice to have happy babies popping around at this time of year.

And no, the bunnies don't come inside at breakfast, but this is what it would look like if they could! They have a few dedicated stumps outside the Farmhouse window where they dine instead, very happily.

Pacific Tapas is fantastic!

At least that's what the chipmunks tell us. Heidi and I were so busy with holiday parties and preparations, we didn't get down there ourselves this weekend -- the official opening weekend of the new place.

Chunk and Punk said a good time was had by all.

Neither of them are going to be sous-chef, as it turns out.

Chunk has decided that chef work is too stressful for him and is training to be a massage therapist now instead and Punk says their techniques aren't experimental enough for him. He wants to continue his work with foams, mousses, and sous vide.

As long as he doesn't expect us to eat much more acorn foam! Let me tell you, a little bit of that stuff goes a long way.

And being that Punk is a major conspiracy theorist (he doesn't believe in either luck or coincidences) we are very relieved that the major contest between the chipmunk cousins has ended so peacefully -- without Punk going too wiggy on us.

Punk's a busy boy these days, and that suits us all just fine. Especially Chunk, who needs to be left alone to meditate!

Pacific Tapas is open on Route 1, just down the road, Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m. No reservations, nothing fussy. Just delectable little plates and modest prices to make them even more delicious!

Chipmunk Fall Madness

Punk contemplates pumpkin sous-vide

 Apparently, the cool, crisp weather makes chipmunks go a little bit nutty -- or at least chipmunk chefs. The chef wars have heated up between Punk and Chunk ever since they found out that a new restaurant was opening up around here.

Do they think about the fact that nobody is going to want what is basically a rodent as their sous-chef?

No, they do not.

What they think about is the best way to prepare some of that fresh pumpkin that is all over the place at this time of year. Punk, of course, is all about sous-viding it -- if that's a verb.

Chunk contemplates a snack

Chunk, as you can see from the photo below, is keeping up his strength while he thinks about a killer recipe to reveal fall's harvest in all of its glories.

I blame La Petite Rive. Ever since that place opened up here and started cooking breakfast for those chipmunks, they have gone plain, cuisine-crazy.

Where will it end?