End of the Month Updates.

Wanted to get one last post in this month -- it will be quick, I promise. It's already a bit late for me and there are about a zillion other things I should be doing right now.

We saw Brave with my mom last weekend: Loved it. I highly recommend seeing it. I would also recommend having M&Ms and Junior Mints on hand. Most movies are better if you do. Very sweet family bonding film with fantastic animation and an excellent soundtrack.

Steven is finishing up his last couple of hours as a probationary firefighter tonight -- woohoo!! (Yay for job security) It has been a full year now since he was hired by the fire department. He has worked incredibly hard and I am very proud of him. We will be celebrating when he gets home tomorrow morning with one of his favorite breakfasts and then we're headed into Seattle to hang out with Tim and Annika.

Check this out: We noticed a couple of months ago that it looked like the hole on one of Mom's bird houses was sort of blocked from the inside and that there were lots of bees flying around it. After closer inspection (though not too close once we figured out what was going on) we discovered that the bees had turned the bird house into a home of their own! It has been growing and growing. I've been meaning to take pictures of it for weeks and wish that I had documented it's progress. It looked really cook a couple of weeks ago when you could still see the house but I missed that phase. I snapped a few shots while I was over there. (This camera takes WAY better pictures than my old one! No more marks on the lense. It's is the same brand as my old camera but a newer version. Just a compact digital camera that belongs to Amanda but she has never used. Steven and I have commandeered it until such time as we choose to purchase another one of our own. I think mine was done a few years ago. It has certainly served me well.)

I had an interview the other day for a 4th grade teaching position at a Christian school in Bellevue. I am really hoping that I get it!!! I think it is exactly what I'm looking for and would be such a blessing right now. I have decided that this is the last year that I am applying for teaching jobs. It feels as though I've put my life on hold. Like it's waiting to begin until I get a proper teaching job. I just don't want that to be the case. I'm ready to live my life with or without the "dream job" and I'm done sitting around waiting for it. It's going to be a good year either way and I can't wait to see what I will be up to!

I guess those are my updates for now... I haven't even been baking or cooking this past week. It's been a busy one. I'm looking forward to starting July with four full days off with Steven and even a potentially dry (if not sunny) 4th :)

Round Two.

Our produce stand had local strawberries. I couldn't resist.

This is seriously one of the best pie recipies ever.

Comfort Food.

In case you hadn't noticed, our weather hasn't exactly picked up on the fact that it is now, at least according to my calendar, summer. I really don't mind the rain, it's just getting to the point where I'm wondering if I should start feeling guilty about spending my summer days either in the kitchen, eating everything wonderful that comes out of the kitchen, on the couch watching Psych and John Adams with Steven, blogging, or in bed with my book (currently reading Moloka'i). For the time being we will lean towards, no. No, I should not feel guilty. Especially as I am seriously enjoying myself.

My cutie little sister, Tara, left for Germany yesterday morning. She will be back in 2 weeks for a total of 36 hours and then leaves again for a week-long road trip to Montana with Papa and Grammi. I wanted a little time with her before she left so I went over Thursday night to help her clean up her room and do a little packing. We watched Tarzan and played with her new kitty, Chessie, and never actually got around to packing her suitcase but we did clean up her room and collect a large shopping bag full of things to be taken to Goodwill. I'd say overall it was pretty productive.

We had dinner at La Corona with Mom and then made a strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Oh. My. Goodness. I've made this recipe once before but didn't really stick to it. I have a bad habit of overloading pies and crisps with fruit. For some reason I seem to think that you can never have enough fruit and it will turn out better if the apples or berries (or whatever) are piled high. Not always the case as I found when I actually followed each and every direction of this marvelous recipe. We baked it in a deep-dish pie stone, so it actually ended up being a very thin pie but the sugar and tapioca combined with the fruit juices to create a truly phenomenal sticky sweet pie filling. The edges of the pie crust where the filling had bubbled out taste like a fabulously gourmet pop tart. Not that I want to compare this masterpiece to a pop tart but with the crust and the sticky strawberry filling, I was momentarily reminded of that childhood breakfast favorite. I brought home a leftover slice for Steven and his response was equally enthusiastic. I am slowly but surely turning my husband into a dessert fanatic. I couldn't be more proud.


Friday was a particularly dreary day. Steven and I had planned to go camping at Mount Rainier but we were having a hard enough time convincing ourselves to leave the house for a five minute trip to the neighborhood grocery store in the 55 degree rainstorm, so there really wasn't any chance we'd be braving the weather to go pitch a tent. We spent the day all nice and cozy inside with tea and cookies. We made chicken noodle soup for lunch while sharing a rather large bottle of Redhook's No Equal amber lager and watching Moneyball (excellent film by the way - you should check it out) and after hours of listening to the rain I decided that we would be needing some serious comfort food for dinner. Meatballs and mashed potatoes. I know, right? You feel comforted already don't you? I was a little nervous because Steven practically cringes the mention of meatballs or meatloaf, but something I've learned over the last few years is that most foods that Steven doesn't like, he just think he doesn't like them until I make them for him. Like the dessert thing. He didn't think he was a dessert guy until he started eating dessert with my family. We are all about homemade everything and you would be hard pressed to find anything that compares to one of Uncle Scott's cakes or one of Grammi's pies. I grew up baking with Mom, Grammi, and even Uncle Scott, and find that Steven is more than happy to eat almost anything that we put in front of him. Anyhow, I got the meatball recipe out of the Pioneer Woman cookbook (thank you Hilde -- what a wonderful birthday present that has been!!) and made Grammi's mashed potatoes (sour cream and butter? yes please!) and served them with steamed green beans. Wow. Steven was pleasantly surprised and went back for both seconds and thirds. It was an incredibly satisfying meal.

We spent yesterday afternoon playing (and losing!) Castle Panic with Brad and Emily, which was a total blast, and took advantage of the brief sun break to walk over to Gorditos for dinner. I love eating, don't you? Food is just so much fun.

I made lemon scones this morning (recipe from my Alice's Tea Cup cookbook). The recipe called for poppy seeds but I skipped that part. I dipped the freshly baked scones in freshly squeezed lemon juice and then granulated sugar. Delish!

I haven't started my journal yet -- better make time for that this week...

The Flavors of Summer.

French Coconut Pie

Rhubarb coffee cake, macaroni and cheese, French coconut pie, fish tacos with mango salsa, black bean and corn salsa, guacamole, rum slush, and French toast. The best part -- all of it was homemade. I would say that summer is off to a great start. I have been busy busy busy, my kitchen is in constant need of a clean-up, and for some reason, I've had to run the dishwasher each of the last three days, but it has been so worth it! It's amazing how much happier I am in the kitchen with cookbooks scattered around me.

Mango Salsa (for the fish tacos)

Steven told me the other day that someone asked him what I like to do. He said that I like to cook. When asked what my favorite thing to cook is his response was, "Probably something she's never made before." I laughed when he told me and was surprised at the realization that that assessment is probably spot on. I get so much satisfaction out of trying a new recipe and having it be a success. One of my favorite things to do is to read 5 to 10 different recipes for the same thing and then create my own version of it combining my favorite aspects of each recipe. This, of course, makes it rather difficult to recreate many of my favorite dishes.

I think I may have finally found a solution. I'm going to start keeping a recipe journal. I'll write down all of the recipes that I use and which books they came from, just in case I need to look them up in he future, and then write down whatever random variations I happen to have come up with during the process. This way I can keep track of different ingredients or quantities or cooking times/temperatures and make note of what took longer than expected or what tricks I used to help make things a little easier.

I took a quick inventory this morning of my blank journals and settled on this one. Nothing foodie about it but I've had it for ages and I think this is the perfect use for it. Don't you think so? Recipes and cooking can certainly be mysterious and full of secrets that I can choose whether or not to share. Then there's Miss Nancy herself. She's outgoing, independent, talented, sweet, attractive, fearless... a good feminine role model I think. AND there's a horse on the cover. It looks like I'm pretty well set here. I can't wait to get started! I'll have to put the fish tacos in first -- that's a recipe I don't want to forget.

It feels so good to be done with school! Summer is here and I am excited to spend more time not only in the kitchen but also with friends and with my handsome husband. We're being a bit better about being social and seeing people. Last weekend we hung out with Sarah and Haydn and did the Mac & Jack's Brewery tour/tasting as well as the one at Chateau St. Michelle winery. It was something we've wanted to do for a while and it was so nice to have friends to go with! The other day my friend Melissa came over and we celebrated the end of the school year with macaroni & cheese, sparkling lemonade, Psych, and French coconut pie. Tim & Annika spent the night on Friday -- we had such a fantastic time with them! Fish tacos with mango salsa for dinner, and then chips with salsa and guacamole while watching Cowboys & Aliens (ridiculously terrible movie -- but funny in it's own bizarre way). Followed by chocolate and wine tasting. They brought 4 different kinds of chocolate from Theo's and a bottle of wine and we had a lovely bottle of pink port. It was a deliciously silly experience as we tried to use all of the fancy tasting terms to describe the flavors and textures. Saturday morning Annika went with me to zumba (so fun to have a friend with me!!) and then we all shared a fantastic French toast breakfast. Fabulous. The whole weekend was just fabulous. I made Lone Ranger cookies this morning and am now off to spend the rest of the day with my family.

And yes, in case you were wondering, you can expect nothing but food related posts from me, at least for the next couple of weeks, as that seems to be the current source of my joy and general passion for life.

Back in the Kitchen.

Things are finally starting to slow down at school and I am definitely shifting into summer mode. The mode in which I make time to do things I love. First on the list: spend more time in the kitchen. I managed to try three new recipes in the past week -- woohoo! Always brings me such great satisfaction. And I would say that all three were successes.

We had Chicken Tetrazzini at the beginning of the week. It's a creamy spaghetti dish with chicken and mushrooms. We added red pepper and broccoli and it was lovely. On Tuesday we made black bean burgers. They were so easy! And tasty too. Wednesday we had leftover pasta. Thursday we went to see The Secret World of Arrietty at 6:20 and by the time we got home didn't feel like doing anything other than throwing a frozen pizza in the toaster oven. Steven worked on Friday, and I went out to dinner with my family to celebrate Amanda's graduation from SPU. Yesterday, we made Cheeseburger Soup. Kind of has a weird name but it was pretty good. Celery, carrots, jalapeno, ground beef, chicken broth, potatoes, cheddar cheese... yum, right? We added Tapatillo for good measure.

The soup we had last night was my second failed attempt at using a crockpot. I've been holding on to my "Slow Cooker" edition of Cuisine for months and had decided that it was time to fall in love with my crockpot. After nearly 4 hours sitting in the crockpot (that was both plugged in and turned on!) the soup was colder than when I had put it in. At 7:30 I transferred it to a pot on the stove to finish cooking it so that we could eat. This situation has been more than a little perplexing for me. I mean, let's be honest, I think we can all agree that I know my way around a kitchen, right? In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the kitchen is the one place where I can count on success almost every single time. So why the heck can't I work a crockpot???

As it turns out, I don't think it actually functions. I plugged it in and turned it on high and touched it every couple of minutes and it stayed cold the whole time. Not a good sign, right? It was a wedding gift and I have no idea where it came from but it has a three year warranty so I might just call the crockpot people this week. Not that I have to have one but everyone else always talks about how much they love their crockpots and how much easier they make life and I might want to be a part of that. I suppose it doesn't matter so much now that I'm almost out of school though.

At this point, I'm looking for recipes that are anything but easy. I was trying to decide what to make when we have company over on Friday and Steven suggested salmon and rice. Always a marvelous meal but it doesn't take a whole lot of effort. I told Steven, "No. That's too easy. I want a production. I want something complicated. I want to make a mess. I want to have fun!" And it's true, I do. I want to try new recipes and wear all of my different aprons and take pictures of the food I make and just enjoy my tiny little kitchen. This is going to be a good summer.

Last day of school is on THURSDAY! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

Day One.

There is something so wonderful about the first day of a new month. I just love it! I decided a little while ago that when we have a bigger home (that's closer to our friends) and a more user friendly kitchen and a proper dining table and a thriving local friend group (not to say we don't have friends, most of them just live out of state), we will have First-Day-of-the-Month dinner parties. It's going to be the best.

I can't believe it's June already and my poor little blog has been severely neglected since I started my new job. I feel like there are so many things missing! Like the fantastic french toast I made for breakfast on Mother's Day. Thank you Macrina for the recipe and Great Harvest Bread for the loaf of cinnamon chip bread that really made it marvellous. The secret to fantastic french toast: brown sugar and heavy cream. God is so good.

I also haven't blogged a single bit about all of the awesome stuff that I do at school! Or all of the hard work and how a lot of the time I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing and worry that I'm a total flop, but I don't honestly know that I would blog about that part. We really do a lot of fun things and I think I've come up with some unique projects. Hopefully I will make time over the summer to write about some of that. I have been trying to take pictures here and there but don't think to do it often enough.

Our last day of school is Thursday June 14th. I can hardly wait! I haven't decided how Steven and I will celebrate yet but I think it will probably involve one of our classy gift cards -- The Triple Door, Teatro ZinZanni, McCormick's, Daniel's... we have options.

'Tis the season for grad parties! We are attending my cousin Demi's party tomorrow afternoon and then my cousin Michael will be having his party in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what Demi's plans are but Michael has been accepted to the business school at UW -- we're so proud! I'm glad to have him close by. We would have really missed having him at family dinners. Amanda is graduating from SPU next weekend but she isn't so keen on the party idea. Guess that's more my scene :) Tara still has another year of high school to go.

June 1, 2012 -- yes, I did purchase liquor from a grocery store today. I thought it was kind of silly because I only purchase liquor once or twice a year but I had just found a bottle of cranberry juice in our cupboard that needed to be used and what better use could cranberry juice be put to than rum slush? I was amazed at how empty the liquor shelves at QFC were. I can't imagine that the store was ill prepared for today but it seems kind of crazy that Enumclaw cleaned out the shelves so quickly... I'm curious about the whole cost thing. I suppose it doesn't matter. If we're going to purchase alcohol we'll pay what it costs, but everyone is making such a fuss over it that it just makes me wonder. I thought it seemed pretty similarly priced to what I had seen before but, as I said, I'm not all too familiar with liquor sales. The thing that got me was that the tax is totally separate and isn't added on until you're at the checkout! It was an additional $6!! I wish taxes were always figured into the number on the price tag. It's nicer to know how much you're paying before you put it in your basket.

Looking forward to spending the rest of the weekend with my wonderful husband! Better get some sleep so I can Zumba it up in the morning :) Goodnight!!