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hello there.

Well, whaddya wanna know?  Here's the plain and simple truth:  My name is Rebekah Tennis and I love design.  I love paper, the way it feels, its weight and texture.  I love extra special touches on little things: homemade tags on gift-wrap, old stamps on an envelope, and twine on nearly everything.

My husband, business partner and all-around solid rock Matt would probably tell you that he likes tools - lots of 'em, finding the perfect way to do something, taking things apart, and precision in everything. 

So you might as well have guessed by now... we are the perfect match for an old letterpress studio. Together we farm rice and have a small but adorable three-year old son, Cameron, and a chubby one year old, Lance.  This keeps us fairly busy, but whenever we have a spare moment, we crank up our 102 year old Chandler and Price platen press and pull some prints. 

There's more, oh yes, there IS more - but that's what this blog is for.  Take a look around, get to know us, our great town of Chico, California and our beautiful presses.


{ a crab feed. }

Friday, January 21, 2011 filed: Food, The Good Life

Did you know that crab season on the West Coast (San Francisco, anyway) is in the middle of the winter? I found that out sort of the hard way this past summer… I was enticed by all the glorious photographs of lobster feeds mid-summer at the beach, and clam bakes in the sand, crab feeds over the 4th of July… it all looked so delicious and fun. We’ve been eating local and therefore seasonal fare, so I can’t tell you my disappointment in realizing that every one of those events was occurring on the East Coast… where summer is the time for crab and other yummy crustaceans.

Our season? For mouth-watering Dungeness Crab? Starts in October. Brr! So, I had to rework my mental imagery of sandy picnic tables or outdoor dining. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a fabulous Crab Feed! We had one over New Year’s at our family cabin in the mountains… it was so simple, so inexpensive and so tasty.

The photos, I admit, leave something to be desired. Chalk it up to wanting to eat right away and low cabin lighting at night. C’est la vie.

Here’s all you need:

Dungeness Crab, 1 per person (Live… or not. Up to you!) We got ours for 1.99 a lb! If you buy it cooked already, have your butcher clean it for you.

Newspaper (Spread it all over the table)

Crab/nutcrackers (a pair of cabin scissors worked in a pinch too)

Butter, melted (I say unsalted, but that’s up to you)

White Wine (Chardonnay really is the best choice here)

Sides (Finger food – you know, crusty bread or french fries. I made our french fries from scratch using the Joy of Cooking method – both regular and sweet potato fries. They were heavenly crispy!! I also served broccolini steamed crisp/tender… but it was ALL finger food. )

Napkins.

That’s it! No plates, no silverware, just dig in.  Bon Apetit!

While we’re on the subject of New Year’s/cabin getaways… thought I share a few sweet photos from the weekend. Things that were awesome and must become a tradition (some of them are traditions already):

“Champagne” (read: sparking cider) toasts in stemware glasses with the kids…

…including a resolution or two. Cameron’s is to obey Mommy and Daddy and go only on the potty, and I think those are excellent choices. =)

Oh, and don’t miss sledding…

…and getting a mouthful of snow.

After which, brrr!…

…warm up with some hot cocoa.

Hope your winter is going well! Happy weekend!

    by rebekah

    2 comments

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    January 21, 2011 - 4:51 pm Colleen Cecil - Rebekah - We are so very lucky to have access to this wonderful crab season. We just came back from Fort Bragg last weekend. Jake (my husband) we out and caught his limit. I must admit while I do love butter, I am a big fan of fresh crab over a crisp green salad with homemade thousand island dressing. Yum!!

    January 22, 2011 - 2:31 am alison - another great way to have it is with a simple garlic dipping sauce! you heat oil and garlic together and add a touch of white vinegar right at the end with some freshly grated ginger. we always did it this way growing up ... might be just a Chinese thing, but it is delicious and a nice spin on just butter!

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