8 Years & counting

Well, if you think about the fact that we started dating back in 1995, really it's been FIFTEEN years that we've "been together" (as of fall of this year). I love you more every day sweetheart. I am thankful every day for you.

PSU 2010

Congratulations to my litte, I mean, OLDER sister who graduated from Portland State University with a degree in Geology last weekend. There were SOOOO many people there, literally thousands of graduates. She's been working toward this for a long time and it is quite an accomplishment to have kept up with studying when she lives over an hour from the school and has three tweens to take care of.Despite a miserably socialist, liberal and well, for lack of better word, poisonous keynote speaker, it was a nice ceremony. Plus we got to go to CPK afterward and spend time with family so I suppose it wasn't all in all a bad afternoon. Here's a pic of two of my beautiful nieces while we were waiting for the ceremony to begin:

What to Make

Here's a TOTALLY easy meat rub that I got from some magazine a few months back. This works on beef, pork & chicken:

1/4 cup Brown sugar
1/2 T Chile powder
2 t onion powder
2 t garlic powder
1 T paprika
1 t cumin
1 T salt
1 t oregano

Put it all in a Ziploc bag, drop in your meat and seal the bag. Press the rub into the meat by squishing the bag around in your hands for a little bit. Let sit for an hour or so then grill. Delish!

Congratulations

My eldest niece up in Oregon finished her confirmation in the Lutheran Church last weekend. I couldn't be more proud of my goddaughter.Isn't she beautiful? Congratulations Sweetheart~

What to Make

This recipe is SO easy that there's really only four steps. Just be sure you do them right.

It's mini meringues. They're fat free, only 11 calories a piece, require just three ingredients, and taste like the outside of a toasted marshmallow. Here's what you do:

Ratios: 1 egg white to 1/16 teaspoon tartar to 1/3cup sugar (increase as needed)

Easy Instructions
1 - Beat egg whites on high until frothy.
2 - Beat in cream of tartar and continue to mix until soft peaks form.
3 - Slowly beat in sugar and continue to mix until glossy and stiff peaks form.
4 - Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets for an hour at 225 degrees.

Detailed Instructions
Do this on a cool, dry day. Too much heat or humidity wreck havoc on the results. Take some fresh, room temperature egg whites. By that I mean no yolk, AT ALL and let them sit on the counter for half an hour before using, and don't use the ones in the carton - ask me how I know this. Put the egg whites into a large, clean, dry metal mixing bowl. Remember I said not to do this when it's humid? Meringues do not like water. Water = bad results.

Mix the egg whites on high until they just start to look frothy, maybe a minute or so on high. Then add in the cream of tartar as it continues to mix. Cream of tartar is an acid. It will make your meringues hold their shape and stay stiff in the end, which is a good thing.

Continue mixing on high (by that I mean do not ever ever ever stop the beaters from going through this whole process). Test the mixture when it approximately triples in size, that's right, I said TRIPLES, by dipping a teaspoon into the meringue. When you pull out the spoon, the meringue should make a peak on the spoon that folds over but does not run off of the spoon. At this point, begin SLOWLY adding sugar. If you add it to quickly your meringues will be gritty, which is no bueno. Once you have (did I mention gradually?) added all of the sugar, continue mixing until the meringue on a teaspoon makes a stiff peak that doesn't fold over. The meringue will appear glossy.

At this point you have two options, either cook as is, or GENTLY fold in any extract for flavor. Keep in mind that these meringues are mostly air (due to all of that high-speed mixing) so the rougher you are with the meringue, the more it is going to fall flat and ruin your results. I made mine recently with cocoa powder and banana extract and they tasted like chocolate covered bananas. If you don't like things that are delicious, then don't try this.

Put the meringue into a ziplock bag and seal it then cut off a tip and pipe the meringue onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Cook them for about an hour at 225 degrees. When they're done, either eat them all and sit around in a sugar induced coma or store them in a cool, dry place inside a air-sealed container. Really, at 11 calories a piece, you can eat several of these and still not feel too guilty about it.

More Fun At the Zoo

Recently, my darling children and I took their Nana on a morning trip to the zoo. Having annual passes is awesome for short day trips and lower stress levels. We heard that the polar bear exhibit had been updated and wanted to check it out for ourselves. The place was packed but we got to see zookeepers feed fist-sized meatballs to the tigers and watch the hippos party in the waterfalls and be more active than we'd ever seen them. Who knew Hippos went nuts like that for a little water massage? It was pretty cool. Note to self though: the zoo is pretty busy on weekends, it's best to go during the week when there are much smaller crowds.

Real Life Tonka Trucks

While we were visiting Bellingham, Washington, to drop Daddy off at his boat for his Alaska trip we spent some time at the harbor. My little man happened upon this green monster. He couldn't help but go climb up and get a closer look. Isn't this every boy's dream?

Within Reach

Hubby just returned from Alaska and I was delighted to see him and hear of his adventure with his friends. They took a fishing boat from Bellingham, Washington to Sitka, Alaska over a week long drive that ended in a couple days of fun ATV riding through the wilderness looking at all the neat wildlife. I have to say though, this might be my favorite picture. That's my hubby leaning off of the front of the boat, about an arm's length from one of the many porpoises that were swimming near the boat on their trip. What a neat thing for him to get to experience.

The Trench in My Driveway

Don't blame me.

Okay, DO blame me but it's not my fault.

Okay, it IS my fault, but my husband made me do it.

Well, to be honest, he didn't MAKE me do it - per say - but he wouldn't do it himself and he had the diamond blade power saw...at the least he's an enabler.

Our 20+ new cedar trees will thank me though and in 10 years there will be a wall of trees giving the house privacy from the road so all's well that ends well, right?

That's what happens when you tell your wife you aren't going to do it, presuming that it won't get done. He should have known I'd take matters into my own hands. He had it coming.

Our Local "Beach"

Sure, it's not the ocean, but it's a lake. Really, how much water do kids need? They're happy to play in our dog's water bowl. So it was a big treat to go down to the local beach club with some friends yesterday and spend some time in the sun.

A Beautiful View

What a darling snapshot, huh? Last weekend while my darling princess was off having lunch with the Disney ladies, hubby and I took our little man out into the forest one evening for some ATV riding. My son was exstatic to have us all to himself and relishes the ride between us through the national forest. Plus our pup got some much needed exercise. Here they are at one of our pit stops along the drive.

A Day Fit for a Princess

Recently, my little darling girl turned four years old. For her birthday, her Nana & Grandpa invited her to join them at California Adventure for a lunch with the Disney princesses and day of fun. She had a great time and on her way out of the park that afternoon, made a wish in the fountain to get to do it all again some day. She is so very sweet.

Kids are Great

I know that many of our guy friends (Brendan) are intimidated by our kids but really, kids are great. They offer many awesome opportunities and enrich your life more than most people know. Why, just last weekend at Stagecoach, they proved it to all of the guys who went with us.

This is for all of you who didn't want to go to Stagecoach because you thought it was just a bunch of boring 'ol country music....

Stagecoach 2010

Last weekend we went out to Indio and enjoyed the Stagecoach country music festival. We got to see Jason Aldean (my daughter's favorite), Billy Currington, Phil Vassar, Toby Keith, Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland (Hubby's favorite) and Keith Urban. We had a fab time and can't wait to go again next year.

Not Quite "High" Enough

This year is the first year that my little darling is participating in the youth track & field program. She is LOVING it. I have to say, I was a little choked up to see her run with the other kids and be able to keep up and even beat some of them (who are all at least a year older). It turned into a bit of comedy of errors though to see her barrel though the hurdles, without even attempting to jump over then and then, well, let's just say she's not quite big enough for high jump...

Breakfast on the Boat

Yesterday we had a great morning. We headed out first thing on the boat and there was no one else on the water but us. It was so warm that we slathered on sunscreen to keep from burning even! Since it was so early, we hadn't even had breakfast yet. Thus, we made a quick stop at Mc-D's and ate on the boat. By 10 AM it started to get a little windy but we had already been on the lake for a couple hours so were ready to move on to other things and we took off for other adventures. What a great way to start our day.

What's So Great About the Ponies?

We are often asked that very question from people who hear that we spent the day at Santa Anita Park with the kids. They no doubt picture a bunch of over-age male spectators, smoking, drinking and cussing at their losing fillies. Well, in our experience, a day at the races is quite far from that image. Although there is a playground on the infield, we have never taken the kids there. Why would we? They already have a spectacular time. The things that they like the best are going to watch the horses line up before their races, cheering on "their" horses (chosen, no doubt, based on the number or color of the jersey), eating snacks, enjoying the sunshine, and getting a full day of undivided attention from Mommy and Daddy. By far, their favorite part is playing on the grass with us around the fountain outside the stadium between races. Here's some shots from our last trip...

Mayday

Uh oh.

The summer squash didn't like being put back outside. Neither did the basil. I guess it's a bit cold out there at night still. Do you think my little man will notice if I get new seeds and replant them? Rats.

On a brighter note, today we have about 10 bean sprouts and at least 10 pea sprouts popping up. I may need to get a bigger pot.

What to Make

YES. I made this.

Yes, the queen of setting the smoke alarm off to let me know that dinner is ready MADE THIS!
Okay, to be fair, I still set off the smoke alarm but that's because the ooey gooey goodness overflowed the pan and dripped on the bottom of the oven (silly me for not putting in a cookie sheet to catch drippings). It was totally - TOTALLY worth the 2 minute clean up.

This recipe was pretty easy (if you have a bread machine) and SO SO SO delicious. I'm talkin' "I made my hubby take over half of it to work just so I wouldn't eat it all" delicious. It's not exactly her recipe but I got the idea from the Pioneer Woman, she's amazing. Here's what to do:

Mix water, milk, egg, flour, sugar, salt, butter, cinnamon & yeast in your bread machine on the dough setting. "That sounds like a recipe for doughnuts" you say? Yep, it was. I did this part last night and just covered it and kept it in the fridge to make this morning.

Then this morning I woke up and rolled the dough out, spread out some butter on it then sprinkled it with a mix of cinnamon sugar. Then I rolled the dough and cut it to make cinnamon rolls. Next I melted a stick of butter (I never said it was GOOD for you), 1.5c brown sugar, 1T corn syrup and 2T of cream then poured it into a cake pan. I sprinkled some diced green apple on the syrup and topped it off with the rolls of cinnamon dough. After about 20 minutes in the oven I took it out, inverted it onto a plate and voila!

Here's hoping that today your ooey gooey goodness runs over like mine has~

Garden Update

We currently have 10 peas sprouts, five bean sprouts and three summer squash sprouts. All of those pots are starting to show green! Now if I could just coerce up the carrots and flowers....