Our Bread and Butter

My Fuschia

2011-07-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's only been 10 months since I last blogged--terrible, I know! I guess I haven't been taking very many pictures. I've left that up to the people in the family that enjoy it so much.

I did take a picture yesterday of my Fuschia--I love it! I had always wanted to grow Fuschias because I just adore the hot pink color. Around these parts, the Fred Meyer stores have what they call "Fuschia Saturday." That's a day where you can go and buy little Fuschia and Geranium plants for cheap and then the store will plant them for free (in your containers). Actually the store will plant any plants you buy that day for free--and it doesn't matter what size of container/planter you have. I've seen people bring in huge cement planters!

Anyway, I've gone to Fuschia Saturday the last two years and done hanging baskets. It's so fun and inexpensive. The best part is, though, seeing the little teeny seedlings slowly grow and then start having these gorgeous flowers. This plant did a lot better this year than last. I hope it lasts a long time this summer.

(And hopefully I'll post a little more this summer, too!)

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-30T10:08:00.001-07:00

A Junior in High School.

First Day of Middle School.

First Day of Kindergarten!

Hare Krishna Bread

2010-07-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

This year Calista was in the Boise Fourth of July parade with her drill team. It was a lot of fun and just the right length. It was also fun because friends and family got to "march" along with the girls. It was neat to be able to walk down the street past the Capitol building.

There were lots of interesting entries in the parade, and one of the best were the Hare Krishnas. Of course, they had a very colorful "float" and beautiful costumes. As they walked down the street, they passed out little packages of sunflower seeds and raisins to everyone. Our family ended up with several little packages.

I was interested to know if the little packages had any significance, so I tried to research it. I didn't do a very good job, but I think I found out that these little "gifts" are called prasadam. Supposedly, worshippers give a treat to the gods at their temple, and then the worshippers are given a treat back. This treat is then shared with everyone. Many times the treats are made with some kind of nuts and fruits. (This may be entirely wrong, but that's the closest thing I could figure out.)

Anyway, we ended up with these little bags and, while they were OK to eat plain, nobody was that enthusiastic about eating them. I wondered if I could come up with a way to use all the little packets. They were interesting because the raisins and seeds were flavored with some sort of spice and some salt. I remembered a recipe I had made a long time ago from Bon Appetit for some pumpkin/sunflower seed bread and thought maybe that would work.

I found the recipe and realized that the recipe already called for some spices, so the already-flavored seeds and raisins just might work. I think the family was a little skeptical of my "Hare Krishna" bread until they tasted it. It was DELICIOUS!!! The bread was very moist and flavorful, and the sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds added just the right amount of texture and crunch. Guess we'll have to catch the parade next year, too.

For those of you who don't have Hare Krishna packets, I'll post the recipe and you can just use sunflower seeds. OK? OK!!

Pumpkin Sunflower Seed Bread (Makes 2 loaves)

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 loaf pans. Combine all the ingredients (batter will be thick). Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for about 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes then turn out on to a rack to cool completely.

Buttermilk Syrup

2010-05-29T12:08:00.001-07:00

I recently saw a recipe for buttermilk syrup on a website. I had never heard of anything like it. The person posting the recipe raved and raved about it, and other commenters said it was incredible. I decided we might as well try, especially since it's such an easy recipe.

Oh, my goodness!!! You cannot believe how yummy this is!!! Seriously!!!!! It is so rich and delicious. You all must try it right now!!!! Go--get the ingredients right now!! It's worth it!!! We had it over French toast, and it was heavenly! OK--here's the recipe....

Buttermilk Syrup

Melt one stick of butter (not margarine) and 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1 cup sugar in a LARGE saucepan over medium low heat (Yes, large!). When butter is melted, bring the syrup to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add 1 teaspoon vanilla and whisk in 1 teaspoon baking soda. The syrup will foam up when you add the baking soda. Whisk the syrup for a second or two and the foam will go down a little, but not very much. Serve immediately over french toast, waffles, pancakes, etc. As the syrup cools down, the foam goes away and the syrup gets thicker, but it's still super yummy!!!

Have fun!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

2010-05-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! I thought it would be fun to have a big old fiesta, but it ended up being a crazy day. We did manage to pull of a couple fun things for dinner...like strawberry margaritas (virgin, of course)

Crab ceviche with tortilla chips.

Fish tacos with a yummy lime cilantro sauce

And for dessert, mexican brownies with vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche drizzled over the top.

It was so crazy, we had to have all the parts of the meal at different times for different people, but it was still fun. I was also going to serve jicama with lime and red pepper but couldn't quite get it all done. Maybe next time....

Doin' Our Best For Charity

2010-04-24T21:17:00.001-07:00

For the 5th year in a row, Dale's band played at the Children's Archery Challenge. This is an archery tournament/shoot where all the proceeds go to help fight children's cancer. The band plays for free at the Challenge but, as you can see, the family gets a lot more entertainment out than we put in. It's a fun thing to participate in each year, and it makes me happy that Dale and his band are willing to play for free for such a good cause.

Empanadas

2010-04-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, one of our neighbors had the opportunity to go to South America many times. She also had South American friends that would come and stay with her. A few times those friends would make South American food and invite our family over to share. On one of these occasions, a woman made empanadas. I had never had anything quite like them before, and it's one of those flavors that I can still remember from that one, exact time.

I've experimented with making my own empanadas over the years and made some pretty good ones, but never been able to quite duplicate that first one I had as a kid. This last time, I made them, they turned out really well. Instead of using the same filling that I usually do, I improvised a filling using some leftover potatoes and rotisserie chicken. They were very yummy and I even felt like I got the hang of crimping the edges pretty well.

Basically all you're doing with an empanada is making a little meat pie and baking it. The one thing that I always like to do, though, is to include the very traditional hard-boiled eggs and green olives. That really makes them taste like authentic empanadas. Look for the recipe link at the bottom of the page.

Buen Provecho!

Pork Tinga--Say That 5 Times Fast

2010-03-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

WOW! It's been a long time since I posted anything new. I've thought about it, but never got around to it.

I bought some boneless country-style pork ribs for a good deal the other day, but wanted to try a new recipe with them. I searched a couple sites and found this recipe from Rick Bayless.

It was super yummy. It was a tomato-chipotle kind of sauce with falling-apart pork and potatoes and onions in it. We served it taco style on corn tortillas and garnished it with avocado and fresh cheese. Even the kids ate it up.

There was enough left over, too, that I'm going to attempt to make enchiladas out of the remaining meat and sauce. I'll post a picture of that if it works out. Check out the link to the recipe below.

(And I'll try and post a little more in 2010)

Christmas Stollen

2009-12-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

Whenever I've seen "stollen" in stores at Christmastime, I have been infatuated. I always wondered about it--why it's around at Christmas, what it tastes like, where it comes from, etc. So today, when I went onto the King Arthur website and they had an "easy" recipe for stollen, I decided to make it right away.

It turns out that stollen is a German type of fruit cake. It's usually made with a yeast dough, several kinds of dried fruits or nuts, and then covered in powdered sugar or icing. The earliest known mention of a stollen is from Germany in 1474. The shape and look of a stollen is supposed to remind people of the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. (How sweet is that?)

It was very easy to make--and very yummy. This recipe uses baking powder instead of yeast, so it's much faster to make and has a more cake-like texture. The smell of it baking was wonderful, and two little boys I know gobbled down pieces with their hot cocoa in record time.

I guess the Christmas baking season begins....Merry Christmas!!!

Drinking Problem....

2009-10-10T11:21:00.001-07:00

For the past couple years, I have saved the drink canisters we have used. Then at Christmas, I have decorated them and put treats in them for our neighbors. This year, I decided I was tired of doing that and I wouldn't save the drink canisters any more. A few months into 2009, I started saving them again because I couldn't stand to throw them away--it seems like such a waste. The other day I was cleaning out the cupboard where I keep these--I didn't realize I had so many--whoops! I can't believe there's 23 empty canisters! And there's two more that are half empty. That's a lot of drinking by our family. I'm not sure if it's better or worse than Kool-Aid or soda pop.

Anyway...I guess I had better figure out something to do with these canisters again this year for Christmas--I would hate to waste them.

I'll keep you posted...

Chicken Marbella

2009-09-14T14:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday Dinner this week. This recipe is from a cookbook named The Silver Palate Cookbook which celebrated its 25th anniversary a couple years ago. Its a pretty famous cookbook with recipes from a deli/food store back East. Many recipes from this book are well known--this recipe, in fact, is supposedly one of people's favorites. I tried it for the first time this past Sunday. It did turn out pretty yummy and very easy. Another recipe from that book is the tomatoes and pasta recipe that I posted last summer. I LOVE that recipe.

The reason I made this dish is because the woman who co-wrote the cookbook, Sheila Lukins, died of brain cancer a couple weeks ago. Lots of people have written about her or posted comments to different websites about how influential she was to novice cooks everywhere. I thought it would be a fun tribute to her to make one of her most famous dishes and post it here. Thanks, Sheila!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/CHICKEN-MARBELLA-SILVER-PALATE-COOKBOOK-1277030

Because Dale is out of town...

2009-08-01T20:59:00.001-07:00

Three days ago, this is what the kids discovered in the tree in front of our house. It was well hidden in the tree, so we never noticed it until now. You can't really tell from the picture, but it was about the size of a basketball...maybe a little larger.
And this is what was swarming around the nest and crawling in and out....

Very Scary!! And of course this is the week that Dale is out of town backpacking. Every once in a while a job comes along that is just meant for husbands to take care of. This was one of them. (Another one was when a large bird crashed and died in our yard a couple years ago when Dale was backpacking---gross!)

I thought about just calling a pest control service, but my dad told me that could be quite expensive. So we did some research on the internet, got brave, and took care of it ourselves. There was only a little screaming and running. It only took us three days to get rid of it, but it's gone now...unless of course they all come back to life in the garbage bag sealed inside the garbage can. Poor garbage collectors!!!

I think Dale owes me one for taking care of this.

Cinnamon Rolls

2009-07-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

My friend Shelli makes the BEST cinnamon rolls ever. Everyone always wants her to make them. A year or so ago, Shelli taught a class at Church about making cinnamon rolls. I got the recipe but never got around to making them. For one thing, I've never felt very confident about making cinnamon rolls--I haven't had much success in the past. The other thing is that most "good" cinnamon roll recipes use a lot of flour and so you really need a mixer (I mean, like a Kitchen Aid or Bosch) to mix and knead the dough.

Well, Shelli helped me out with that, too. While her son is on a mission, she let me borrow the Kitchen Aid that she lets him use while at school. It's so nice to have a big mixer like that. It's let me do recipes that I normally would avoid.

Anyway...

So I used her recipe for the first time today. And, after only one phone to Shelli for help, I turned out these beauties....my best cinnamon rolls ever!!! Mmmmm--sugary, cinnamony goodness!!!

Thanks, Shelli!!

Before frosting.....
After frosting.....

I bet you all want to come over to my house, huh? (Better hurry--they won't last long)

Happy Fourth of July!!

2009-07-04T22:12:00.001-07:00

We really missed our friends and family this year and being in Provo, but we had a fun time staying home, too. Now if the air will just clear out so we can breathe again--whew!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Love, The Garrards

Lemonade Stand

2009-07-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Calista decided she needed to do a lemonade stand. She also decided she needed something else to bring in cash, too, so we did Rice Krispy treats. Turns out those were the big seller. Her friend Olivia helped out. It was fun to see the nice people in the neighborhood who would stop and purchase some goods.

Calista and Olivia. (Dylan and Olivia's little sister Annie helped out, too.)

You could choose from lemonade or strawberry-kiwi. And, of course, we had Sonic ice to make sure people weren't just getting a glass of tepid Kool-Aid.

The last, lonely Rice Krispy treat. She totally sold out of them a few minutes later. (Sold a dozen altogether.)

Her final profit total was around $6.00. Next time she is adding brownies and cookies to the mix, too. (By the way, it was probably about 95 degrees as she sat out in the hot sun for a couple hours.) But I think she had tons of fun, too!!

BEAR CLAWS!!!!

2009-07-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

When I was about 12 or 13, our Young Women's group from Church decided we needed to do a fund raiser to earn some money for camp. We came up with the idea of making several pastry items: bear claws, pizza pockets, ham and cheese rolls, apple turnovers, etc. The interesting thing was that we used just one recipe of dough to make all the different things. (It was a very lucrative fund raiser.) I was thinking about that recipe the other day and found it in some old papers.

I've had fun with the dough. We made ham and cheese bread and these BEAR CLAWS!!!

They were very yummy and easy. You can't tell in the picture, but I also made a vanilla glaze to go over them that used REAL vanilla beans. Mmmmm!!

I still have a little dough left--not sure what to do with it yet. Strawberry danishes, anyone??

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T13:36:00.001-07:00

Traditionally, Memorial Day was a day to honor those who had lost their life in service to our country. But it seems like today it has evolved to become a day to honor any who have served our country in the armed forces. That's what I would like to do today. Thank you to all who have had the courage to serve our country, both in peaceful times and during war. But an especially big thank you to the members of my family who have served. Thank you for being willing to stand up for what you believe in, to defend your country and its citizens, and to put your life on the line. We are forever in your debt.

Thank you:

My brother, Murray

My father, John

My uncle, Ken

My great uncle, Ned

My great uncle, Laurel

My great uncle, Seldon

Flip Flop Frenzy!!

2009-05-25T09:47:00.001-07:00

OK, so Saturday was Old Navy's $1 Flip Flop Sale. I knew several of us needed new flip flops so I decided I would go. With a good sale like this, I figured I'd better be there right when the store opened up (9:00 AM). My friend Audra went with me. We pulled into the parking lot at 8:55. There was a stinkin' line that stretched down past at least two other stores!!! It was a MAD HOUSE!! Then, once inside, we found there was a limit of 5 pairs per customer. Luckily, we had each brought a kid with us. Audra ended up getting 9 pairs, and Calista and I ended up with 8 pairs. (I mean, we don't need to be greedy, do we?!?!) We stood in line for probably about 45 minutes to be able to check out.

Guess it's the start of summer, right?!?!?

Here's some of our flip flops.

Here's a little picture of a store back East and its line for the flip flop sale. I read online that there was one store where the police had to be called in to settle down the crowd. Crazy!!

Bleeding Hearts

2009-04-28T05:51:00.000-07:00

Bleeding Heart flowers always remind me of my grandma. In both houses that she lived in, while I was alive, she had these flowers. I especially remember them from her house in Utah. I love them and think they are so pretty and also so intriguing with their shape. When we moved into our house, I knew I wanted to have Bleeding Hearts here. I always think of her when I see them. I just wish they lasted throughout the summer. Our plant is still relatively small, but it sure produces some pretty flowers.

Guess Who's.....

2009-04-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

MY MOM!!!! YAY! April 22nd is her birthday and she just turned a young 70. I used to think 70 was old, but when I look at my mom, I realize that it doesn't have to be. She still could work me under a table by a long shot!!

I have always thought it was interesting that her birthday is also Earth Day and Secretary's Day because she LOVES working in the earth and gardening and growing beautiful flowers AND for many years, she worked as an amazing secretary.

A little more about her...she was born in Idaho and loves the state. However, she has no desire to move back here. (Believe me, we've tried to get her to move) She likes where she is now.

She is a super baker. She makes delicious bread and I love her pies better than any other pies out there. My favorite is her cherry pie. I try and make it every once in a while, but it never tastes the same. She is also such a hard worker and can do everything from sewing to canning to gardening to her amazing musical talents. (Wish those had been passed down to me!)

She loves doing things with her family besides all the other industrious things she does. She loves flowers, especially roses. And one of her favorite candies is cinnamon bears.
Right now she is serving a mission in Michigan. We are very proud of her and love her very much! Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

19 Years Later--You're Still The ONE!!!

2009-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio the other day when "You're Still The One" by Orleans came on. I hadn't heard that in a long time. As I listened to the lyrics (and sang them at the top of my lungs) it reminded me so much of Dale. Next week is our 19th anniversary, and he's STILL THE ONE. Neither of us can believe that we've been together for 20 years.

Here are just some of the lyrics from the song that seem to sum up some of my feelings for "my better half."

"You're Still the One"

We've been together since way back when
Sometimes I never want to see you again
But I want you to know, after all these years
You're still the one I want whisperin' in my ear

You're still the one that makes me laugh
Still the one that's my better half
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one that makes me strong
Still the one I want to take along
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new

You're still the one that I love to touch
Still the one and I can't get enough
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one who can scratch my itch
Still the one and I wouldn't switch
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one that makes me shout
Still the one that I dream about
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

Hallelujah

2009-04-13T14:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter 2009

2009-04-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the gang Easter morning. We had a very nice Easter--just our family this time. Both of the boys had new shirts, and Calista had a new dress that she and I made together. It was a lot of fun (except the sewing machine was having issues--grrr!)

Church was wonderful on Sunday. I love being at Church for Easter and having the chance to feel the true meaning of the holiday deep down.

The Easter bunny was very generous with his allotment of candy for everyone. New fun candy item this year: Nerds jelly beans. (jelly beans coated in Nerd candies)

We had a delicious dinner (if I do say so myself) which took two days to prepare and about 20 minutes to eat. Sigh.... We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, brussels sprouts, jello salad and a decadent lemon-coconut dessert with cream cheese frosting. I'll post a link for it below.

One funny thing on Easter....as I was getting dinner ready, I sat the rolls, which were rising in a Pampered Chef stoneware pan, on the stove. I accidentally set them on a burner which I had left on. They were probably sitting there for about 5 minute when, all of a sudden, it sounded like someone had dropped something. I turned around to see that the stoneware pan had kind of just exploded into four or five pieces. It didn't shatter--it just exploded apart. Weird and a little scary! The funny thing was that the rolls basically stayed in their same location and just dropped right onto the burner. (So a couple of our rolls had burnt bottoms.) I would never have expected the pan to burst like that. I guess that's the lesson for the day!

The Best Bread I've Ever Made

2009-04-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

For dinner last night, I was making a new pasta dish (yummy) from a recipe our friend Scott gave us. When he gave us the recipe, he said to serve it with a great bread. For a long time, I've been wanting to make the No-Knead Bread that's been so popular on the internet and TV food shows. It's a type of sourdough bread that doesn't require any kneading--just about 24 hours to make it. Yes, I said 24 hours.

You start the bread the day before you want to eat it by simply mixing flour, water, salt, and a little tiny bit of yeast in a bowl and then letting it sit until the next day.

Here's what mine looked like after about 18 hours. It rises and then forms lots of little bubbles on the surface. (And smelled slightly sour.)

For the next step, you just dump the dough/batter on the counter and, using just a little flour, form it into a ball-kind of shape. You sprinkle it with cornmeal or wheat bran, cover it with a towel and let it sit for another 2 hours.

Then you just dump the ball into a preheated dutch oven, cover it, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes. This is what it looked like in the dutch oven.

Here's the final results. This picture doesn't do it justice--it was gorgeous and big!!! I was so happy with it.

Here's how the interior looked. The outside was very crusty and crackly and the inside had a great texture. It was just a little sour, not as much as I was expecting. It was delicious!!!

And then because I had so much success with this bread and was so happy about the results, I promptly cut a big gash in my finger when I was slicing the bread for dinner. I ate dinner and decided my finger hurt too much to attempt cleaning the kitchen. That's what Friday mornings are for, right??!?! I'll add a link at the bottom for this recipe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-04-01T15:32:00.000-07:00

I love St. Patrick's Day! I love the color green. I love leprechauns. I love Ireland and anything Irish. Maybe this is because I consider myself Irish. (OK, maybe this isn't true, but I can pretend, can't I??!?!) Anyone can be Irish on St. Patrick's Day! I also think that part of the reason I love this holiday is because nothing gives you a little hope better in the dead of winter than to celebrate everything green. It's like a little preview of Spring.

And, truly, Ireland was one of the most beautiful countries I've ever visited.

We always like to have a fun dinner on St. Patrick's Day. A couple times we tried having corned beef and cabbage, but it never went over too well. We switched several years ago to having "Pot of Gold" potato soup. Everyone likes that a lot better. We also have Irish soda bread, which I love!! I finally found a great recipe for it, and it's so delicious. (There's a link at the bottom of the page for the recipe.) This year we also had shamrock cookies and green punch. Very fun!!

Calista's Cake

2009-02-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

At Calista's Activity Day group, they had a woman come and teach the girls about cake decorating. She brought a little cake for each of the girls and they got to experiment with whatever they wanted to do. This is Calista's cake. I thought she did a very good job. She got mad when we decided it was time to eat it--a cake only lasts so long, you know!

Chocolate Fountain

2009-02-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

We borrowed my friend Raquel's little chocolate fountain. The kids loved it!!! I loved it too, until I had to clean it up. No, it really wasn't that bad. We enjoyed it enough that we took it to Burley and did it with Dale's mom. She loved it, too.

World's Best Pork Chops--Not so much

2009-02-24T18:46:00.000-08:00

OK, so I saw a recipe for pork chops on America's Test Kitchen. They were supposed to be the World's Best Pork Chops--the crunchiest, juiciest, tastiest. The recipe looked like quite a bit of work, but I thought if they were the best, it would be worth it. Well, here's the end product. They were good, but not really worth all the effort. I think the recipe was supposed to be a more "gourmet" way to do the same kind of thing that "Shake 'n Bake" does. One thing the TV show forgot about was that people use "Shake 'n Bake" because it's so easy. If you're going to do their recipe, you'd better have a day to do it. Oh, well

Here's some of the mess I made.....

Looks good, huh??!?!?!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-09T12:42:00.001-08:00

Well, I didn't have any new real pictures to post, so I thought I'd do a mushy, romantic Valentine's post about me and my sweetie.

We were first formally introduced at a little bar/nightclub/greasy spoon place called Broderick's on Center Street in Provo. We were introduced by a former roomate of mine who was dating Dale. He was trying to get rid of her. (That's his story, at least)

The first time we really did anything together was one night when I ran into him and his friend George at Denny's. I sat down and talked with them only to learn that their priorities in life were, in order: Music, Motorcycles, and Chocolate. When I inquired about girlfriends, they were way, way, way down on the list.

Our first date was to see the movie Pet Sematary. That is why the Ramones' song "Pet Sematary" is "our song." We love it!! Isn't it special?!?!?

We went on our very fun honeymoon in Sun Valley, Idaho. We love it there. Of course, we had to wait for Dale to recover from the food poisoning he got on our wedding night when we romantically returned to Denny's for a midnight snack.

I'm so happy to have been married to Dale for almost 19 years now. I love him to pieces!! One of my favorite things about Dale?

Of course, that he's a ROCKSTAR!!!!!

Biscotti

2009-01-06T11:20:00.000-08:00

Some how I've kind of forgotten that this is supposed to be a food blog. So here's a fun recipe for biscotti. I tried it a few years ago, and now we love to make it every once in a while. The fun thing about this recipe is that you can change it to whatever flavors and "add-ins" that you want--dried cranberries, raisins, chocolate chips, orange zest, cinnamon, whatever. We made some a week ago for a party and they were devoured so I had to make some more for us last night. Jesse especially loves biscotti--I think that's because it's almost a combination of his favorite food groups: dessert, bread, crackers. Here's a link for a great recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Low-Fat-Almond-Cinnamon-Biscotti-2255

Christmas Eve Traditions

2009-01-06T11:07:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Our family did. It was fun this year to just be our family in our house for a change. It was very calm and peaceful. Yay!! We have several family traditions that we love at Christmastime. One of them is our Christmas Eve dinner. When I was growing up, we used to always have Cheese Soup and homemade bagels for Christmas Eve. I loved it, but apparently I was the only one. Dale doesn't really love cheese soup that much and none of the kids did either. So we went through a few years trying to figure out a fun and special meal for Christmas Eve. The year we made our own Tempura was fun and delicious but so much work. By the time we got everything cleaned up, I was exhausted. I decided we needed something simple, but still fun.

About three years ago, we tried something new. We did "make it yourself" sushi. It was fun and special and SO EASY!!!! All I have to do is chop up a few things and then lay everything out. Everybody then makes their own "sushi" however they want it. And the best part is that everyone loves it, including myself since preparation and clean-up are a snap. Now, of course, I wouldn't recommend this to too many people because not everyone loves sushi, but for our family, it's one of our favorite traditions.

That's us ready to eat our sushi. We had crab, shrimp, and a little salmon. Oh, and we also had our favorite new soda pop--7-Up Pomegranate--yummy!!!

After dinner, we had to put out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Then Dale snapped a shot a shot of the kids in front of the tree. Kind of cute, aren't they?!?!?!

Calista and the Tree

2009-01-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Dale and Calista have a tradition each year (for the past four years) of going and finding our Christmas tree and then cutting it down themselves. It's actually quite inexpensive to do it this way (unless you're counting gas) and so much fun for them. They were a little later than they usually are, but they still had lots of fun together and got a beautiful tree.

This is how supermodels pose when cutting down a tree.

This is how supermodels drag a tree out of the forest. Don't mess with her!!!

Thanks, Dale and Calista, for a great tree this year!

I've Gone Country For Christmas

2008-12-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

Yeee-hawww!

OK, no I haven't really gone country for Christmas. But I did want to make sure all my country-lovin' pals (that's you, Julie) noticed I included Vince Gill's version of "Let There Be Peace on Earth" in my music playlist. Can you believe it? Actually, his version was the best one I could find. Merry Christmas, ya'll!

Christmas Countdown

2008-12-07T18:58:00.001-08:00

Well, it's December, so I guess we'd better start getting ready for Christmas. One family tradition that we have is to buy the kids these cheap advent calendars. There's a door for each day leading up to Christmas. Behind the doors are little chocolates with pictures impressed on them. I usually find these calendars at local grocery stores. The kids can hardly stand it until it's time to each their little chocolates. Last year, Dylan got a hold of his calendar and went through about four days at once. We're trying to keep a better eye on him this year. My favorite thing is when the kids accidentally forget their calendars for a couple days--then they're so excited to "catch up" on being behind.

I love little Christmas traditions, and I've noticed the kids like them, too, and enjoy talking about them and reminiscing. Hopefully, once I finally get the house all decorated, I'll be able to post more Christmas stuff.

Have a great December!

Erin

Have a great Thanksgiving!

2008-11-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Oooh, I hope everyone's Thanksgiving goes a little smoother than that!

I have come to love Thanksgiving. When I grew up it didn't seem like Thanksgiving was that big of a deal, but Dale's family LOVES it. They love the tradition of it; they love being with family; and they love the food, especially turkey. Dale's mom makes some of the best turkey I've ever had. She not only made me really appreciate turkey, but inspired me to do it myself, too. It is so fun to be with Dale's family at Thanksgiving. It's amazing how we all get along so well. Being from a small family, I love to have nieces and nephews and cousins, etc. all around. I think my kids really enjoy it, too.

One thing Dale's family does not enjoy is the shopping afterward. That I have to do by myself (although I've talked Jesse into going the last couple years.) The funny thing, though, is that I'll go out, hit all the sales, and make it back home before any of them even wake up. A lot of times they don't even know I've gone and come back. Guess what they don't know won't hurt them. And then isn't Thanksgiving vacation the perfect time for a couple naps?!?!?!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and know how truly thankful I am for such wonderful friends and family like you!!!

Happy Birthday Cookie Monster!!!!

2008-11-03T06:47:00.001-08:00

Well, good ol' Cookie Monster turned 39 on Sunday, November 2, 2008. (He's almost as old as I am.) Happy Birthday, Cookie! You've made better cookie eaters out of all us. I, for one, am profoundly grateful.
And in honor of your birthday.....

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES for everyone!!! Yay!!!! (And in honor of Jesse, we made "puffy" chocolate chip cookies, not "flat" ones.)

MUTANT cake

2008-10-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

OK, so it's Dylan's birthday and he wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake (because I already had the pan). I bought all the ingredients and carefully prepared the cake pan to be SURE that the cake would come out flawlessly. Uh--no, that's not what happened. Not only did half the cake stick in the pan....

but the cake also broke in half. Dale said if it was him making the cake, he would have pitched it out the window. Luckily, I started first thing in the morning so I still had a little patience left. I figured I might as well see how much I could cover up with frosting.....so....

....this is how it turned out. Pretty good for being all broken and crumbly. We figured a four-year-old would like it anyway. Dylan doesn't like the "4" at the bottom of the cake. He says they don't have numbers on the real Ninja Turtles. We'll cut that piece out first, OK?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!!!!

Fall Brunch

2008-10-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of some fall decorations and favors that I did for a brunch the other day.

The party favors were ghost mint "sammiches," little bat notepads that I got for a dollar at Target, and the napkins were tied with a leaf and packages of hot apple cider mix and hot chocolate.

I also scattered some green and orange truffles in and around the leaves on the table. For the menu we had strawberry cream cheese-stuffed french toast, bacon, apples and carmel dip, and then hot chocolate and whipped cream to drink. Yummy!!!

How long until the election?

2008-10-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

WOW! This election season seems never-ending. Good thing there's only 19 days left. At that point, I think that anyone running for 2012 better get going. They better start running their ads now because they will have just under four years to bombard us with their platforms, agendas, and sound bytes. I don't sound cynical, do I?!?!?!

Having said that, no matter who you support, make sure you get out and vote. Then, in 20 days, you can complain all you want because at least you participated.

Thank you. (The preceding statement was paid for by the Committee to end Eternal Campaigning.)

Operation Baking GALS--Round Three

2008-10-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

OK, just finished my second round of baking with Operation Baking GALS. This round we sent goodies to a soldier serving with the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq. This is a really fun and easy way to do a little to support the soldiers in Iraq. This time I made Macadamia coconut bars. They also have white chocolate chips and dried cranberries in them. They're delicious--I just got the recipe from a party Dale had for the kids that went to Japan this summer. We then filled the rest of the box up with Halloween popcorn balls. (They're nice and light.) I hope it makes it safely to Iraq. This has been so much fun, I think I'll have to sign up for round four. If anyone else is interested in this, you can click on the Baking GALS logo at the bottom of my blog.

Have a good one!

Erin

Happy Rosh Hashana

2008-10-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, I decided for the very first time to attempt making Challah. I noticed several of the food blogs I visit had recipes posted for this. I've always wanted to make it, but never tried. It wasn't too hard, and the results sure look impressive! The bread tasted good, but not amazing. Of course, put butter and fresh raspberry jam on anything and it's heavenly. The color on this picture isn't the best because I took the picture with my phone. (Dale and Jesse had the camera with them on their hunting trip.) This was also the first time I'd ever done a four-strand braid. A little tricky, but fun. Some people make a six-strand braid for their Challah--maybe next year.

Have a good one!

Erin

Calista's Cabbage

2008-09-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

OK--so almost every 3rd grader in Utah and Idaho received a little cabbage plant and the end of school in May from Bonnie Plants. The kids are encouraged to plant their seedlings and then see what kind of a giant cabbage they can grow. They're supposed to take a picture with their cabbage and then send it in. A random person is picked from each state (?) to win a $1000 scholarship.

Calista took this challenge seriously and, after three different locations, her cabbage ended up in a corner of our garden. It did great!!! It must have been all the love she gave it. She named her cabbage Cory (after one of her best friends) and would spend time talking to it and loving it.

We finally decided it was time to pick it and weigh it. It came in at about 19 pounds. She took some cute pictures with it, and now we face eating 19 pounds of cabbage. Whew!!! So far we've had Chinese cabbage salad, egg rolls, Okonomiyaki (a Japanese food similar to egg foo yung), Yakisoba (Japanese stir fry with cabbage and noodles), and stuffed cabbage leaves. That might sound like a lot of dishes involving cabbage, but we still have over half of the thing left. Any other cabbage suggestions? Compost, maybe?

Perhaps next year we could get a pumpkin plant instead.

Have a good one!!!

Erin

Summer Tomatoes

2008-08-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Woo-hooo!! Finally this year, our tomatoes have been ripening all through the summer--not just the last week of the summer. Tonight, we had to pick a bunch so the plant wouldn't topple over. The plants, themselves, never got very big, but they have produced lots of tomatoes. Yea!!!

This is one of my favorite summer recipes--it's the BEST made with fresh tomatoes from the garden, fresh basil from the herb garden, and a little olive oil and vinegar. And, to top it all off, it's super fast and easy, too.

This recipe came from my friend Tori several years ago. I think she got it from an old Bon Appetit magazine (July '91).

Tomatoes and Pasta

1 lb. tomatoes, diced

4 oz. mozzarella, cut into small cubes

1/2 cup fresh basil, torn or finely chopped

6 TBS. olive oil

2 TBS. Balsamic vinegar

fresh garlic, crushed (one clove is usually plenty)

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

toasted pine nuts (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup)

12 oz. pasta (I usually do a shape rather than a noodle)

Cook pasta. In the meantime, mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. When the pasta is done, drain and immediately toss the hot pasta with the other ingredients in the bowl. The heat from the pasta warms the "sauce" and just slightly melts the cheese. YUMMY!!! Serves about four.

Let me know what you think!!! I think I'll make some on Monday.

2008-08-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

This is my herb garden at the first part of the summer. I love my herb garden. It's one of my favorite things. It's planted where there used to be a pond. We kept the pond when we first moved in, but it was ugly and every kid that came to our house wanted to throw rocks into it. We cleaned it up and filled it in with soil about seven or eight years ago and it has been an herb garden ever since.

The first herb in there was the sage plant, a gift from my mom. It's been there since the beginning. Every spring I trim it down to within an inch of its life, and it beautifully fills back in. The other herbs we have this year are....parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint, oregano, tarragon, basil, and chives. In the black bucket on the left, I planted cilantro, which didn't ever come up and I've never been able to grow. Then I tried planting dill. Several of the dill seeds sprouted, but after each one got to be about 1 inch high, something would eat it. Right now there's one surviving dill plant--guess that's better than nothing. In the foreground, by the flower pots, I tried planting lavendar for the first time. It's growing but very, very slowly.

I love being able to just pop out to the little herb garden and pick whatever I need for a recipe. And several of the herbs will last long through the fall, even after it freezes (sage, rosemary, thyme). If I were to give any advice about planting an herb garden, I would start with the hearty herb, like sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. But be careful with oregano because, really, it's a weed and will take over. I've cut mine back numerous times. And if anyone has any suggestions for growing cilantro, just let me know. Maybe I'll post a couple of my favorite herb recipes over the next couple weeks.

Have a good one!!!

Erin

Happy 18th

2008-05-02T16:27:00.001-07:00

Monday, April 28th was our 18th anniversary. I cannot believe we have been married for almost 20 years. That's crazy! Happy Anniversary to us!!! When I was looking for a picture to post, I realized that we don't have any current pictures of the two of us. I guess we'll have to remedy that situation--when I'm looking good, and the lighting's good, and the stars all align at the same time....anyway. Here's the picture we used for our wedding announcements.

My New Thing--Shortbread

2008-05-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

At Easter, my niece Christine brought two different kinds of shortbread to our family get-together. It was delicious--buttery, flaky, rich. She brought a chocolate chip shortbread and an English toffee version. She has recently been bitten by the shortbread bug and has enjoyed experimenting with recipes and buying different shortbread molds. A friend of hers, Janet, had introduced Christine to the joys of shortbread and told her that the best is always made in a shortbread mold. (Janet has over 20 of her own.)

Since Easter, I have been craving the shortbread that Christine made. I decided, of course, I'd better have a mold of my own, so I used my vast Ebay skills to acquire a Brown Bag mold. It should be here any day now. I'm so excited to try different variations. Christine sent me her recipe (really Janet's recipe) and I've researched others that I want to try--rosemary pinenut and five-spice powder shortbread, just to name a few.

I'll be posting pictures as soon as it's made. Meanwhile, here's a picture of my new mold.

Have a great weekend!

Erin

March is Women's History Month

2008-03-05T16:36:00.000-08:00

This month is Women's History Month. There are a lot of amazing women whose shoulders we get to stand on. But one woman who I truly admire was my grandma, Maurine. She was a woman who grew up as the only girl in a family of boys. She was raised in a very conservative home and a very conservative town. But I think it was she who gave me the strength and the thoughts that we didn't have to be the same or always think the same as the people around us. Let me tell you about her.

Grandma loved to read. She would read almost every day. Even when her eyes and her hands couldn't do much else, she would still read. And she didn't read fluff. She was reading deep, insightful, and thought-provoking books. She was always improving her mind and, consequently, could carry on great conversations.

She had some spunk in her. There was always a little twinkle in her eye that let you know a bit of mischief was going on her mind. Don't tell her what to do and how to do it--she could figure out for herself, and have a little fun with it, too.

She was an amazing worker. Unless she was very ill, she worked out her yard almost every day. She loved flowers and plants and would spend endless hours helping things grow. She was always working inside, too. There was no excuse for wasting time.

She was creative. Her hands weren't often very still. She would make bread by hand, crochet, knit, embroider, quilt, and sew. I treasure the quilt she made for me when I got married.

And, best of all, she was independent. She made up her own mind about what to think on religion, politics, and world events--even if she was surrounded by people who thought differently. And, no, she wouldn't be swayed from something she really believed in.

I wish I could be like her, but that's a lot of to live up to. I'm just glad for her example and for her strength that I always keep in the back of my mind. She was a feminist the way I hope I am.

I think it's important to remember and know women's history, both in the world and in your own family.

Here's a fun quiz to see what you know about Women's History. Good luck!

http://encarta.msn.com/quiz_305/famous_feminists_quiz.html?GT1=43001

Ernie

Tonight's Recipe--Tilapia Fish Tacos

2008-03-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

Fish tacos are so easy these days with the packaged, frozen tilapia filets. I got a bag for just under three dollars that had 6 individually-wrapped filets. And they take so little time to thaw. Just fill the bag with warm water and all the filets will be thawed out in minutes.Slice your filets (about 5 or 6) into about 5 strips each. Toss these strips in a small brown paper bag with this mixture: 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup cornmeal, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. chili powder. Fry the strips in a little oil, over medium heat, until golden brown. As the strips are just about done. Squeeze a quarter of a lime over the top. When you're all done frying all the strips, arrange them on a plate and serve with your favorite taco toppings.

We had our fish tacos with corn tortiillas, extra lime, avocado, shredded cabbage, cheese, sour cream, and some pico de gallo salsa. Delicious!!!! (This amount serves about 5 people)

What? Me Blog?

2008-03-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

The other day I was having brunch with some friends when one of them said her sister was trying to talk her into creating her own blog. The responses were along the lines of..."What's a blog," "Why would you want to do that?" "What would you write or post?" As I listened, I thought down (very deep), "I would do a blog." Of course, those weren't the words out of my mouth.

I've thought about creating my own blog as I've become more and more enchanted with what other people have done--fascinating, insightful, thought-provoking and fun blogs that are so exciting to read. You get an insight into a person (who you probably don't know) and what they are thinking that you would never have the chance to in real life. Plus, the comments that other people leave are as varied as people can be. I love blogs dealing with current issues and beliefs. I love blogs dealing with religion and all the associated feelings and thoughts and discussions that go along with that. And, of course, I LOVE blogs about food.

And that's what was the final impetus for this blog.

I have many interests, but have never felt I had enough knowledge or credibility to discuss much until I started reading food blogs. Now, there's an area where I do feel at least I have some experience and some passion. As I perused various food blogs, I thought, "I could do this. I'd love to share thoughts on the food I love (plus various other things)"

So...here goes....

My idea is to post about what I enjoy, what I feel, and what I love (which could be food, religion, family, music, travel), but to always have a smattering of food-related topics to entice the reader and, possibly, to share good ideas about good food.

I hope it goes well and I look forward to the adventure.

And, for the meantime, watch for "BLOG CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION" signs to pervade the sight.

Bon Apettit!!

Ernie