House of Hartman

Hijacked!

2012-02-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

The only way I get flowers is when I hijack a delivery to an office that's closed for lunch! I'll enjoy them while I ransom them to the real recipient.

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Another week down

2012-02-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

After a long hiatus (since before my Christmas work break) I finally made Sunday treats to bring into work on Monday. I was just minding my own business, perusing gluten free cooking blogs when I came across a recipe that I had everything for and look really simple to make. Let me introduce you to toffee granola bars;

The base layer was an oatmeal, a little bit of gf (gluten free) flour, brown sugar, melted margarine, and chopped walnut mix baked for about 15 minutes. While it baked, I heated a can of sweetened condensed milk with a little bit of margarine on the stove until it slightly thickened.When the oatmeal base came out of the oven I covered it with the milk mixture and then stuck it back in the oven for about another 10 minutes (if memory serves me right).

Next was to sprinkle some mini chocolate chips (so they melt faster) on top of the hot, baked toffee and wait a few minutes for the chips to start to melt before spreading them out into a smooth chocolate top layer.

Once it had cooled, I stuck it in the fridge to really harden the chocolate before cutting it into bars. Huge hit at work, and I could have some too!

Tuesday night we spend getting ready for bible study here on Wednesday. Clean, clean, clean, make dessert, and prep as much of the dinner as possible.

One of my favorite sights - a man doing chores.

For dessert I made a turtle cheesecake.A crustless, low-fat cheesecake made with non-fat cream cheese and non-fat Greek yogurt, topped with crushed gf chocolate cookies (in place of chocolate graham crackers), chopped pecans and light caramel dip (the kind you buy in a tub to dip apples in). Though I may have slightly overcooked the cheesecake (I'm always scared when any of it still jiggles), it was still wonderfully tasty - even for the next couple of days' worth of leftovers.

It was my Friday to work so I made the most of my time in P-town by also getting my mullet trimmed and having lunch with C. to finally exchange Christmas presents. Yeah, I'm that bad. They're still shooting to be leaving for Papua New Guinea (PNG) in April, they just have to finish all the work visa paperwork and get that last bit of funding support in place (they're at about 86% right now and have to be at 95% to get the tickets to go). She was telling me about all of the legal paperwork they're having to complete with a lawyer before they go - designating power of attorney (her mom and myself for everything except medical decisions), guardianship for their children should something happen to them while in PNG (definitely NOT us), and medical power of attorney (two of her family members). It's quite a daunting task when you have to sit down and actually make these decisions.

No big plans for the weekend other than to sit down and run church reports (ugh) and finish planning for S.F. next weekend (yay). I'm in charge of figuring out where we're eating since I'm the hardest to accommodate. So far we've decided on a Turkish restaurant by Golden Gate park for lunch on Saturday and an Italian restaurant for lunch on Friday when we arrive that is doing an all day food and beer pairing as part of S.F. Beer Week. I've still got two dinners and two breakfasts to figure out, though I did find a gf bakery on the Embarcadero that I want to stop at on our way out and stock up at. They've got buns, bagels, and some sweet treats I've got my eyes on. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds until we get there.

Super Bowl(s of food)

2012-02-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

The only thing more important than the Super Bowl game is what we planned to eat during it. After weeks of searching for the perfect recipes I settled on baked mozzarella sticks, buffalo chicken dip, and artichoke spinach dip. I prepped everything earlier in the day so that when game time came I could toss it all in the oven for a quick 30 minute bake.

Grub is served...

15 minutes later..

Yeah, we ate all that - we're that good. I did hold back 1/2 of the spinach dip for bible study on Wednesday night here. I'm going to use it to stuff mushrooms with. The other 1/2 of the buffalo chicken dip is going with the Canadian tomorrow for his lunch. Trust me, nothing's going to waste!

Vacation destination

2012-02-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm on an every-other-Friday off schedule at work (to whittle down excess vacation accruals) I've got some nice 4-day weekends in the coming months because of holidays. This month, with President's Day weekend, is one of them. On a last minute whim we decided to make plans to go to San Fran for that weekend, staying at the cheap hotel right off of Fisherman's Wharf we stayed at last time. It includes free, gated parking which is why we like it. If you've ever been to San Fran you know what a challenge parking can be - especially with our F-250 beast. We'll either walk as is our style, or take a cab, to where ever we're going. Since this last minute trip is happening in two weeks we swung over to B&N this afternoon to do a little destination research.

We're big on pre-planning, so this book will help us find the best attractions close to us as well as dining and shopping. I'm a huge fan of the Frommer's travel books and have one for all the big cities we've visited - Victoria, Seattle, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Plus I've already got my eyes on the Las Vegas, Boston, and New York books for our future trips. Anyway, we'll be spending some quality time this coming week putting together our travel plans.

Tonight I'm heading off to Oroville, with my friend Kari, for a Christian concert at one of the churches there. We're seeing Brandon Heath who I think is so dreamy. We've both seen him at Spirit West Coast (big, annual Christian Woodstock at Laguna Seca) and love his music. We're meeting at the bottom of the hill (Skyway) at 5:00 to get there about an hour before the doors open. It's general seating so you don't want to be last in line. We're bringing something to eat while waiting in line so I made sure to keep a few slices of our gluten free pizza from Left Coast Pizza we got last night. This time I ordered the Emerald Isle pizza which has a pesto sauce, spinach, provolone, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and olives.

Not the Canadian's favorite, probably due to the lack of meat, but good enough. I loved it up until the point I insisted on a third piece that Chris warned me against and instantly got a horrible stomach ache. I've had a bad tummy all week (I think I've been snacking on too much fresh fruit) and this was literally just too much food for my stomach to process. Ugh. Tonight will be two small pieces eaten very slowly. I don't want to spend my evening in so much pain I can't even stand up straight like I have this whole week. There are days I hate my broken stomach so much I'd rather just have the stupid feeding tube. And then I think about how much I'd miss nachos and I knock that thought right out of my head!

Angel food for an angel like me!

2012-01-29T17:50:00.000-08:00

This week I received the new King Arthur Flour catalog in the mail and immediately checked out the gluten free section of the catalog for any new products I couldn't live without. Instead, what I found was a sidebar recipe for gluten free angel food cake using their gf all-purpose flour. Angel food cake turns out to be a pretty easy recipe, basically just sugar and egg whites with a little bit of flour. And since I had everything on hand I had to give it a try. I'm not one of those people who likes to experiment on guests before confirming the recipe's any good.

The base recipe was very easy - a bowl of sifted cornstarch, flour, and sugar slowly folded into a bowl of whipped egg whites, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and cream of tartar.

Then the whole mess is scooped into a angel food cake pan, or, if like me, you don't have one you just use your bundt cake pan (and a couple of baby bundts for the extra filling).

I baked the baby bundts for 25 minutes while the big boy stayed in for 45 minutes.

After their requisite two hour cooling time I turned out the big one and cut into it to survey the majesty.

Absolute perfection! It had the exact taste and texture of store bought angel food cake. We're eating the two baby bundts for our dessert tonight topped with heated, sweetened berries. Yum!

My favorite view

2012-01-26T12:00:00.001-08:00

I love me some afternoon Dutch Bros. coffee. It keeps me awake until 5:00 pm.

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Doesn't get much easier than this

2012-01-22T18:38:00.000-08:00

What better day than a cold, rainy Sunday to fire up the crock pot for a low and slow meal of Mexican pulled pork. With nothing more than a pork tenderloin (mine was a Safeway pre-marinated mesquite bbq one), some tomato sauce and seasonings...

you end up with this about 8 hours later...

The intention was to make tacos with it.

But the Canadian despises corn tortillas and their 99% breakage rate so he chose to serve his pork over toasted bread kind of like Chicken a la King. Whatever makes his little heart happy.

We just finished watching the last movie on our latest Netflix 4-week free trial last night. "The Fighter" with Marky Mark and Christian Bale. Since it was based on a true story and about sports it violated two of my movie trifecta rules (I don't willingly watch movies about sports, true stories, and in or about Africa) so I paid very little attention to it, but the Canadian enjoyed it. I much preferred Bridesmaids. That's as close to real life as I want to watch!

Guess what I made...

2012-01-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

Gluten free French bread! I used a recipe from the company that I special order my gluten free flour from that looked easy enough for even a yeasted bread novice such as myself. But first I needed to find a French bread pan so I headed straight for The Galley this morning and picked up a 3-loaf baguette pan.

The recipe was pretty easy - line, grease, and sprinkle cornmeal on the pan.

Mix the flour and salt in the KitchenAid while proofing the yeast in some hot water with sugar. After 5 minutes add the liquids to the flour and beat the heck out of it.

Then the wet dough is scooped into a Ziploc bag and squeezed out into the baguette pan.

After letting it rise for 20 minutes I slashed the tops and baked them for about 40 minutes in a 410 degree oven.

I know they look a little rough on the outside, but on the inside they look exactly like French bread. And taste like it! The outside is crunchy and the inside soft and chewy. Even the Canadian was a fan.

So good and so easy! I left one loaf out for our snacking enjoyment and sliced and froze the second loaf for later. And by later I mean by tomorrow afternoon at the rate we're gobbling it down!

Homemade Baileys

2012-01-21T16:28:00.001-08:00

Chris was over at our neighbor's, Doug's, house doing a winter beer sampling this afternoon and brought me back some of Doug's homemade Baileys liqueur. OMG - delicious!

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Party like it's your birthday

2012-01-20T20:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight was a get together up in P-town for a retired co-worker's 65th birthday. We all got together at the lounge of a local steakhouse for a light dinner and cake. It was hell getting there though through the torrential rain and windstorm. I think I would have made better time in a Sea-Doo.

It was a wonderful party full of great people. Since I just got over two days of a horrible tummy I didn't eat anything, but enjoyed a couple sips of champagne. Our party favors were large print word find puzzle books! By 7:30 pm we had to start packing it up since there was a karaoke contest starting at 8:00 pm. The karaoke crowd, and their 1980s fashions, frighten me so I took that as my cue to float myself back down the hill.

You can't win 'em all

2012-01-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my last night of new recipes for this week, a Mexican rice casserole. Seasoned hamburger mixed with cooked rice, tomato sauce, black beans and cilantro then topped with sliced of tomatoes and cheese.

After baking for about 30 minutes I cut us each a slice to accompany our salad and green beans and had the following reaction - meh. Not bad, just not a panty dropping recipe. I should have topped it with guacamole and sour cream, but the Canadian thinks guacamole is the devil's food so it's never in the house. We'll eat the leftovers, but definitely don't need to spend my oh so precious time making it again.

Tastes like pizza

2012-01-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Tonight the hubs and I took a quick break from watching football (way to go Niners!!) to whip up a new chicken recipe out of the current Cooking Light issue - chicken with pepperoni-marinara sauce. Ridiculous I tell you, ridiculously good that is. Skillet cooked chicken covered in a marinara sauce that's been simmered with chopped pepperoni, garlic, oregano and basil, and then topped with mozzarella cheese before being stuck under the broiler for a few minutes.

The sauce literally tasted like you were eating a really saucy pepperoni pizza. I'm glad the Canadian liked it because he'll be eating it for lunch most of next week. I didn't realize that when you saute pepperoni it releases a bunch of it's oil which is what really flavors the marinara sauce. Now to figure out what to do with almost a whole pack of pepperoni since I only needed 16 slices for the recipe.

Time to get beautiful

2012-01-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

For the second time in 2011 I ordered Today's Special Value from QVC and it just arrived on Monday.

A Laura Geller makeup kit. Eyelid and makeup primers, a dual eye shadow powder, a foundation powder, and a blush powder. They're great colors and I've been wearing them all week.

Tuesday night we went to the movies and saw Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I really wanted to see it, but I found it to be kind of boring. Lots and lots of talking and not one bit of action. I prefer car chases, shoot outs, gratuitous nudity, and explosions. You know, the American dream on the big screen.

Tonight I tried another new recipe - Asian dumplings. They're basically homemade potstickers. I filled won ton wrappers with a cream cheese shrimp mixture (with water chestnuts, green onion, red bell pepper, teriyaki sauce, and soy sauce) and seared them in a non stick skillet before steaming them for a few minutes.

A little time consuming for a regular work night dinner, but really tasty and fairly easy. I made sure to take drugs so that the wheat laden won ton wrappers don't kick my ass tomorrow like earlier in the week when we ate the buffalo chicken cup leftovers. That was brutal. We've been really lucky this last week with some really good recipes. Tomorrow is another new meal out of my latest Cooking Light magazine. Chicken breasts covered in a cheesy, pepperoni marinara sauce - how can that not be a winner?

Salvation Army

2012-01-08T21:58:00.000-08:00

Tonight was my turn to serve dinner at the Salvation Army. I serve with some other people from church who actually do all the cooking. However, tonight, a new Hispanic gal I'd never met before made pots and pots of Posole (Mexican stew with pork and hominy) for us to serve. Each of the bowls were topped with shredded cabbage, minced onions, and a wedge a lemon. On the side we served chips and homemade salsa.

Although I never eat dinner there with the rest of the workers, for the first time in over a year I did ask to bring some leftovers home. How could I pass up pork stew for the boy?

I saved them for Chris' lunches since I already had dinner plans at home. Tonight I made buffalo chicken muffins. Layers of won ton wrappers, shredded rotisserie chicken mixed with blue cheese and Frank's hot sauce, diced celery, and shredded cheese. An absolute hit!

I made them in my spanking new muffin tin which I greased up like nobody's business with cooking spray. By God, nothing's going to stick to that thing!

New and old recipes

2012-01-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

I've been using my awesome new meal planner book to write down recipes I find to try since by the time I sit down to write my shopping list I've usually long since forgotten all the recipes I wanted to make. One "new" recipe was mini taco salads. We've made them before, and I even have a taco salad shell form to bake the tortillas in, but this recipe called for corn tortillas instead of flour (which is necessary for me) and showed how to tuck them in between the groves of an upside down muffin tin to bake them into shape.

Super easy and practically finger food. I definitely like these smaller corn shells over the larger flour shells we usually make.

This morning I made a new breakfast recipe that were sausage, egg and hash brown muffins. Although the "hash browns" I bought at Grocery Outlet turned out to be square shaped like southern style potatoes. Anyway, you mix the thawed potatoes with oil, salt and pepper and scoop them in 12 muffin cups and then use a pestle-style implement to make a well in the center of the muffin cups while pushing the potatoes along the sides of the cup to form the sides of the muffins. While the potatoes bake for about 20 minutes you cook up some turkey or chicken breakfast sausage and then chop it up. After you pull out the potatoes you add a sprinkle of low-fat cheese in each muffin cup topped with a few chunks of sausage and then you fill each one up with beaten egg and it all goes back in the oven for about another 15 minutes. After all of that, you end up with this;

Suck ass. When they say to spray the pan with non-stick spray they don't mean a light, half-hearted spritzing. They mean douse every freaking square inch. The pan is a total loss. After 6 hours of soaking in two different refills of boiling water I still can't get the potato debris out. If I ever make these again I will definitely use cup liners. Besides all the devastation left behind, they were really good and the leftovers will make the next few breakfasts' a breeze. Live and learn, right?

Tonight for dinner we did an old favorite, Eggplant Parmesan.

The recipe was out of one of my Healthy Cooking magazines my mom got me a subscription to last year. I half the recipe and it fits perfectly in an 8x8 and makes four, 3-layered stacks of eggplant parmesans.

I bread the eggplant in gluten free bread crumbs and that little tweak makes them perfect for me. It's layers of baked, breaded eggplant slices, marinara sauce, jarred mushrooms mixed with oregano and basil, and low-fat mozzarella cheese. Yum, yum, yum.

I've got two more new recipes to try this week. Buffalo chicken "cupcakes" and then a chicken sausage and spinach risotto. They sound delicious and I have high hopes for their tasty success. That should be a 2012 resolution - no bad recipes. Ha, I wish!

Dusting off the craft room

2012-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Apparently the last page I scrapbooked was the trip to the monk's winery in Vina that we took my mom on in November 2010. Oye! My two weeks off from work ended up getting spent on random this and that's and I never sat down and did any crafting as previously planned...until yesterday. I found an envelope with a couple of pictures I'd printed in anticipation of scrapbooking the last few pages of 2010 so I dug through my supplies and put together a page about my friend Alicia's 40th birthday in December 2010.

Chris took advantage of another day of unseasonably warm January weather (63 yesterday, 59 today) and spent some time outside today at the bbq wood smoking grains for a new beer he's brewing this afternoon.

Thankfully my cookie sheet made it through the process unharmed. It looked a little iffy there for a while. Now he's commandeered the kitchen for his diabolical brewing purposes so be prepared for a beer update from him.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

We actually made it until midnight! Unfortunately, by then I'd reached my second wind and then couldn't go to sleep. I started off 2012 with a bang - I apparently wasn't listening (surprise, surprise) or didn't get the memo that there was only one church service today at 10:00 a.m. instead of one at 9:00 and at 11:00. So, after waking up early, off I roar out of the driveway at 8:55 a.m. only to pull up to a completely empty church. I just looped around the corner, came back home, and checked my January church newsletter for any hint of a special, single new year's service. Nothing mentioned, but I doubt Jesus takes a Sunday off so I'll swing back by at 10:00 and see if there's any action then. Doh!

Dinner and a movie

2011-12-29T22:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a movie and dinner date with my youngest sister, Wilson. We went and saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which was excellent and disturbing all at the same time. Afterwards we killed a little time at our house before heading over to the Pour House which is a new restaurant in the old La Salsa building at the corner of East and Cohasset.

I ordered the Drunken Chicken sandwich which was a grilled chicken breast with avocado, cheese, and a chipotle aioli sauce on grilled sourdough. I brought two slices of the special sourdough Wilson brought me for Christmas and swapped it out for restaurant bread so I could enjoy my sandwich without the morning after consequences. The Canadian ordered the beef au jus sandwich and Wilson got the pulled pork sandwich. Servings were generous and tasty and they even served their own house beers that Chris really enjoyed. Having only tried one of the five house beers I'm sure we'll be going back!

No coal for me!

2011-12-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Since the weather was good and the Canadian and I both had the last week of the year off we were able to spend Christmas at the 'rents. We drove up on Friday because that night we were going to have a little mead-fest with neighbors of the 'rents, Buck and Patty, that we'd met in October because they're fellow dancers of the 'rents.

Look who's excited to see me! Chase!

Chris and Buck going over the fine intricacies of mead brewing. We brought three flavors to sample and Buck brought some of his own to share - all delicious.

Mum had put together a delicious spread of food for us all to munch on that evening. Dips, deviled eggs and meatballs - yum!

See, on rare occasion we can be presentable.

On Saturday we just kicked around the house, Mum and I went to Macy's for any last minute sales I couldn't live without. Found myself the new Clarks I blogged about and some lipstick from Clinique. It surprisingly wasn't that busy for the last shopping day before Christmas. In the afternoon Mum and I got the salads for Christmas dinner started. She made a potato salad and I was in charge of the gluten free pasta salad.

That night, following family tradition, Mum made us a seafood Christmas Eve dinner. Crab salad heated up on sourdough bread (I ate mine with gluten free crackers), sauteed shrimp, and green salad.

After a Christmas breakfast of grits and poached eggs, we got busy ripping into the gifts that Santa left us.

Santa was very good to both of us - tools, books, jewelry, what more could you want? Afterwards we had a late afternoon Christmas meal that Mark came over for.

We left Monday morning and headed back for the homestead. Wilson and Mom came over that evening to open presents with us and have dinner.

NorCal Flat Stanley even got to meet SoCal Flat Stanley to share a little holiday cheer. I scored with lots of gluten free baking mixes and cookbooks while the Canadian got lots of beer, sweaters, and edible treats. For dinner I made Wilson run over to Left Coast Pizza and pick up one of their gluten free pizzas.

We had quite a wonderful Christmas weekend spending lots of time with family and that's what it's all about, right?!

New kicks!

2011-12-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

Mum and I braved the crowds for our traditional trek to Macy's where I found some nice, neutral walk around shoes by Clark that were on sale with the benefit of no sales tax in this glorious state. Bless you Oregon, bless you.

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Doing our duty

2011-12-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

Even though tonight's football game is less than stellar - Texans vs Colts, we're doing our part by cheering on local P-town boy, Jeff Maehl #15, of the Texans as he finally got called up from the practice squad.

You like Flat Stanley's new beanie? He got it after we visited Chico State yesterday for an early morning photo shoot. Yes, I too am impressed with my craftiness.

Day 2 of vacation

2011-12-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

After a busy day of shopping, lunch dates, and blood donating I talked the Canadian into going to the movies tonight to see Sherlock Holmes since I can't workout the same day I give blood.

We enjoyed it just as much as the first Sherlock Holmes. Afterwards we cruised over to Wendy's for a little late night frosty action.

Then back home to gorge ourselves on cookies I got from Kari and Lulu today.We always do a bible study cookie exchange this time of year, but since we weren't able to meet the last two weeks we called it off....or so I thought. Now I'm the loser without any cookies to give.

Oh well, I won't let guilt keep me from gobbling up their deliciousness!

Saving Lives

2011-12-20T16:27:00.001-08:00

Flat Stanley went to give blood today and got a fancy band-aid from the nurse that says "give".

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Lunch date

2011-12-20T14:33:00.001-08:00

Mmmm, Flat Stanley loves T-Bar!

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Bidwell Mansion

2011-12-20T09:53:00.001-08:00

Who's enjoying a chilly morning at Bidwell Mansion?

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Foiled again!

2011-12-20T09:32:00.001-08:00

Flat Stanley and I were going to do a little shopping downtown, but apparently none of the shops open until 10:00 a.m. so we're cooling our heels at Starbucks in the meantime. Epic downtown fail.

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Flourless chocolate cookies

2011-12-19T21:40:00.000-08:00

I follow a food blog who's author makes a lot of delicious gluten free goodies even though she doesn't have to follow a gluten free diet. A couple of days ago she posted a Chewy Chocolate Peppermint Cookie recipe that, much to my delight, doesn't use flour. Instead, the base is made of powdered sugar, cocoa and baking powder which is mixed with egg whites and a tiny bit of milk. She tops her cookies with peppermint chips, but you could choose any flavor - peppermint, toffee bits, peanut butter chips, etc. Since I didn't have the mini Andes peppermint crunch chips the recipe called for I substituted some chopped up Nestle mint chips.

These are so ridiculously good! Chris ate four right off the bat and I've got three more packed up in his lunch box for tomorrow. It's the perfect size recipe since it just makes 12 cookies which is completely manageable for two people. You wouldn't even know these were flourless, they're chewy on the inside with a slight crusty outer shell. In case you're not catching my subtle hints, you should really make these cookies!

Nighty-night

2011-12-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

Guess Flat Stanley is out for the night since apparently Chris didn't lock up his drugs.

House rules

2011-12-19T19:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry Flat Stanley, you're going to have to take that outside.

Come and get it

2011-12-19T12:56:00.000-08:00

Really Flat Stanley, really?

Flat Stanley's introduction to football

2011-12-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Since Flat Stanley arrived at our house naked the first order of business was to get him hooked up with some clothes. Since Chico is Aaron Rodgers' hometown, Flat Stanley really didn't have any other choice but to wear a Green Bay jersey like everybody else around town. Flat Stanley was so excited to root for a winning team instead of those less than stellar Seahawks so he put on his jersey, and settled in for a little Sunday football.

Then the devastating news was reported - the Packers lost their first game of the season to Kansas City. It was more than Flat Stanley could bear and the next thing we knew we could hear rattling around in the booze shelf in the kitchen.

I know he's got a smile on his face, but inside he was crying. Understanding his hurt, I made him a Malibu and orange juice to help ease the pain. Chris even shared some of his home brew with Flat Stanley.

Flat Stanley is currently passed out on the couch, but will hopefully wake up refreshed for a little meatloaf dinner.

The saga of Flat Stanley

2011-12-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Chris and I are hosting "Flat Stanley" for two weeks as part of my nephew Tyler's class project where they are reading the Flat Stanley book about a boy who is squished "as flat as a pancake" when a bulletin board falls on him. Because Flat Stanley is so flat he's able to fit in an envelope as be mailed to different places for exciting adventures.

Our job is to dress Flat Stanley to reflect where he visited and to take him on adventures (while taking photos) to write about and send back to Tyler's class. So prepare yourself for recaps of Flat Stanley's time here in Chico.

Brew club Christmas party

2011-12-17T21:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our brew club Christmas party out in Durham at the house of one of the members.It was a potluck so we brought some chicken caesar pasta salad I bought from Safeway and then repackaged into one of my own bowls so that nobody was the wiser. It was also a gift exchange so we each brought a gift bag with a 22 oz beer, a bag of chocolate crunch beer brittle made with Sierra Nevada pale ale, and a beer magazine.

After dinner we started out gift exchange. The Canadian's number was called first and his chosen gift turned out to be a beer bread mix.

When it was my turn I stole our neighbor, Cathy's, gift of three He'Brew ales, a bag of chocolate grain, and a large jar of malt extract.

But about three turns later somebody stole it from me! So I stole somebody else's magnum of Anchor Steam 2010 holiday ale.

We got out of there around 9:00 p.m. which is much better than we feared. Our group gets really rowdy and disorganized after about the second drink, but everyone must have been on their best behavior tonight. Good grub and good prizes - can't ask for much more than that!

A different kind of pizza

2011-12-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite foods I've had to ease up on because of the wheat is pizza. I've found some decent frozen gluten free pizzas on a rice crust, but decided to a try something new tonight. I found a polenta pizza recipe in one of my Weight Watcher cookbooks that has you overlap slices of a tube of refrigerated polenta in a circle and bake it under the broiler to firm it up before topping it with ricotta, mozzarella and tomatoes.

It was really good and even the Canadian liked it. I mean it's not the same as a bread crust, but it's very tasty for what it is.

Girls' Christmas Party

2011-12-16T18:53:00.000-08:00

In all of her newly discovered time as a recent retiree, Kari planned a Christmas party for all the ladies at work both past and present. All we were asked to do was bring a present not over $10. It could be funny, white elephant, naughty, anything you wanted. Kari supplied the grub which turned out to be chips and dip and chimichangas with some margaritas and sangria to wash it all down. For entertainment we played bingo on old style wood boards.

First to get bingo got to pick a gift from under the Christmas tree and open it in front of everyone since the next person to win could steal the gift or pick a new one.

When I finally won I choose a gift wrapped in what looked like a Chinese takeout box and found this little cutie inside.

A ceramic kitchen pig with a scrubber in his mouth. Cute and useful! As exciting as winning was, it was nothing compared to the anticipation of somebody choosing my gift from under the tree. I didn't have to wait long until somebody was tempted by my cute gift bag and was greeted to....

Edible pasties!! Hahahaha!! And just my luck that the exact person I wanted to win it, did. She was laughing hysterically while turning bright red in embarrassment. Then of course it had to get passed around for everybody to get a good laugh out of. The best part was that somebody else got the blame for buying them. Nobody suspected sweet, innocent me. :)

To wind up the evening Kari treated us to homemade margarita ice cream (made without an ice cream maker!) and brownies. I had a blast and brought home lots of loot (I also won the last game and more prizes) to commemorate my crushing victories!

Feliz Cumpleanos a mi madre!

2011-12-11T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today my mom became part of an elite group in our society - those old enough to be eligible for a senior discount. To celebrate such a monumental occasion Chris and I took her out to lunch at Hula's, where I failed to cash in on her elderly savings, and then whisked her off to Corning to Lucero Olive Oil where we sampled oils and vinegars and had a personal mill tour.

Mom and I getting ready to dig into our steaming bowls of meat and veggies.

Yesterday was the Winter Crush at Lucero where they did a special Meyer lemon and mandarin orange oil press hosting over 1500 people, so in contrast, we had the whole place to ourselves today.

Mom and the Canadian sampling different flavors of olive oil. There were mini dispensers for every flavor oil and vinegar to sample as well as wheat thins with which to dip in the samples.

I went straight to the tapanade samples. Lemon artichoke, roasted tomato, black olive, and green olive tapanades. Lemon artichoke was the clear favorite with all of us and both mom and I ended up with a jar. We're taking our jar with us up to the 'rents for our little Christmas festivities.

They had some times listed for mill tours, but the gal in the tasting room said those were for yesterday when they had so many people and that she would take us on a little tour whenever we wanted. The tour basically consisted of going in the neighboring building and listening to her tell us about their operations while looking at some photos on the wall. But it was still interesting to hear how their olive oil is made. And the special Meyer lemon and mandarin orange oils they'd just made smelled wonderful! They throw the fruits in whole during the press so all of the essential oils from the rinds put off the most amazing aroma and flavor. Mom picked up small bottles of each for home.

Back at home we ended our afternoon with some generous slices of lemon meringue pie which is mom's favorite even though I think meringue is the devil. Then I pointed at the door and told the old lady to get out, but sung like Jesus in the Jesus Christ Superstar when he's kicking all the vendors out of the temple square. Or at least that's how I wish I'd done it. That would have been so much cooler.

Lemon cheesecake

2011-12-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

I haven't been making baked goods on Sunday for work for a couple of weeks now. Mainly because there aren't enough people left at work to eat them all, but also because I really shouldn't be eating them with all their sinister wheat flour. Instead I've been experimenting with gluten-free baked goods for Chris and I. This weekend I took a regular mini lemon cheesecake recipe from the Baking Bites website and easily converted the gingersnap crust to a gluten-free gingersnap crust with cookies from Trader Joe's.

They're made in a regular size muffin tin and are the perfect single serving portion. We've already talked about trying the recipe with a chocolate cookie crust and mixing coffee in the cheesecake batter for a mocha cheesecake. Mmmmm.....

Besides enjoying cute little cheesecakes, I've been busy wrapping, wrapping, wrapping. We apparently did all our online Christmas shopping at once because we just received a plethora of delivery boxes at our front door. Family will have no problem spotting our gifts because I realized I'm still using the same wrapping paper I've been using for at least the last 6 years! Apparently they're never-ending rolls!

When bad ideas happen to good people

2011-12-03T21:04:00.001-08:00

This house has been puked on with lights. Too much of a good thing.

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Decking the halls

2011-11-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving is officially over, we wasted no time in dragging out the Christmas swag.
No presents to put under the tree yet, but based on the Canadian's online shopping spree last night, that'll soon be changing.

Thankful for tissue

2011-11-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

I am battling my 5th day of a progressively worsening head cold. What started off as a horrible sore throat, to the point I thought I had strep again, has turned into full blown scurvy. I've got a head full of snot, blown my way through three boxes of kleenex, and have been on a steady diet of dayquil and nyquil. Thank you to co-workers who come into work sick, share their cooties, and then leave me stuck in a situation where I'm already covering for two other people who are out and can't call in sick. Awesome.

As it just so happened, we weren't having anybody over for turkey day today, so I was free to continue to wallow in my misery while Chris baked up some Thanksgiving ham. For sides we made green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and gluten-free cornbread.
Dessert was pumpkin fluff which a new Weight Watchers recipe I learned. It's a 15 oz can of pumpkin mixed with a small box of sugar-free butterscotch pudding mix and a small box of sugar-free cheesecake pudding mix (or vanilla), 1 3/4 cup of mix, and pumpkin pie spice. You blend it all together and let it sit overnight and it turns out to be the most wonderful, low-fat pumpkin pie filling ever. We eat it scooped in a bowl with some crumbled gluten-free gingersnaps on top and whipped cream.

Now to let all that yummy food digest through three back-to-back football games. What more could you ask for?

Epic baking success!

2011-11-19T17:07:00.000-08:00

Today I tried a bread recipe out of a new gluten-free cookbook. They're called "bread slabs" because they're denser, like focaccia bread. I used my gluten free all-purpose flour mix, water, yeast, egg whites, salt and sugar in the base mix and then added chopped kalamata olives and rosemary seasoning. Once everything is stirred together you plop the dough onto floured parchment paper, shape it into a rectangle and let it rest for 30 minutes.
I'd used the oven for a pizza at lunch so I let it hang out for a little bit in there before the oven completely cooled off. After 30 minutes it was beautifully risen so I cut it into four rectangles, like the recipe called for, and brushed the tops with olive oil and salt before putting them in a preheated oven at 450 for 13 minutes.
Oh my goodness they were so good! The olives and sprinkling of salt on top give them the perfect saltiness and the garlic olive oil I used in the dough gives them such a delicious aroma.
I was trying to save a piece for our stew dinner, but I couldn't stop myself from already eating a piece as soon as it came out of the oven. This will definitely be a go-to bread recipe!

Rocking out!

2011-11-18T18:06:00.001-08:00

Kari and I are spending our evening at Arco Arena in Sacramento for Winter Jam, a Christian concert. Rock on!

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Pirate ship

2011-11-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

On our walk last night we discovered a house on a neighboring street had gone all out and built a pirate ship in their front yard for Halloween. That's dedication!

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Case in point

2011-11-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

This is why we are not farmers;
Our blood orange on the left, a store orange on the right. I don't think anybody will confuse the two.

I get today off for Veteran's Day (as well as half of yesterday) so I indulged in a little early morning grocery shopping as well as a skinny peppermint mocha from Starbucks while I enjoyed a special insert in the paper full of pictures and messages to past and present local Vets. Very touching.

Chilly day chili

2011-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

Brrrrr.....this weekend has been cold! By the end of the week we had temps in the low 50s and rain which has continued on throughout the weekend. And while today should be the last day of rain, this coming week still looks cold with highs in the low 60s which translates into 50s for P-town. And what better meal to enjoy on a cold, wet weekend than chili?
The Canadian makes a really tasty chili which is as simple as hamburger, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, and chili seasoning. Unfortunately, since beans are darn near impossible for me to digest because of the gastroparesis, we hardly ever have it. But I drugged myself up on tummy pills and enjoyed a steaming bowlful last night with a side of gluten-free cornbread (an awesome Bob's Red Mill cornbread mix). It was so stinkin' good and I only woke up with a mild stomach ache which was well worth it. I think with a little tweaking, like swapping out the hamburger for soy crumbles, this would make a perfect bible study dinner.

I've enjoyed my weekend which involved doing nothing more than sitting on the couch under a blanket watching tv and surfing the internet. Work has been so incredibly stressful the last couple of weeks that I look forward to absolutely lazy weekends. I'm still spending my work days covering the building dept permit counter until they can hire somebody, which according to the last up date will be about a 4 month process. At least they're advertising the job right now and applications are being accepted through this coming Wednesday. Then we can start moving on to the horrendous task of interviews and background checks. Ugh, I hate that part. Just hurry up and send me somebody awesome that I can start training! (Wilson, you want to come back home and work with me......please??)

Halloween countdown

2011-10-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

Last minute Halloween checklist before the spooky little candy gypsies start showing up:

Candy. Check.

Spooky, yet tasteful, decorations to lure the little children in. Check.

Papa Murphy's jack-o-lantern pizza. Checkity check check.

Okay, I think we're ready - bring 'em on!

Northern wanderings

2011-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

So, unless my last few random photos weren't enough evidence, we went to the 'rents last weekend for a dual birthday/anniversary extravaganza. This is my favorite time of the year to travel up north since all the trees are changing color. For my birthday I got a beautiful beaded tank top from Mum along with some fall themed cupcake kits, a foodie book, gluten-free pancake mix, and boiled cider from KAF. I'll be using the halloween cupcake kit for my weekend baking.

To celebrate the 'rents anniversary they took us with them to the Eagle's Lodge for some dancing with a live band. The best part about the Eagle's Lodge? They make REALLY strong drinks. Bless you Eagles, bless you. This was the first time that we've actually seen the 'rents dance. We've seen photos, but if you believe everything you see in a photo you'd assume that Chris and I were also pirates in our free time. So all dance rumors were confirmed and it turns out the 'rents know a thing or two about cutting a rug.
Towards the end of the evening the rents' dance friends, Buck and Patty, showed up and jazzed up the joint with their cute little matching jitterbug shoes.
Turns out Buck makes mead (fermented honey) which the Canadian has made of few of. So after everyone was done dancing we followed Buck and Patty back to their house, right up the street from the 'rents, and did a little mead sampling. Some black cherry, pomegranate, and I think a sparkling mead....if I recall. All wonderful. We've got a date again at Christmas during which we'll bring some of ours to try too.

The Canadian's 37th birthday was Wednesday night for which I gifted him with a righteous bearded beanie.
Every Canadian needs to stay warm while working in the garage and taking chilly evening walks, right? He obviously comes from a hearty stock of lumberjacks. I'm thinking this would make a perfect DMV or passport photo.

Spooky fingers

2011-10-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

Kari made severed finger cookies for bible study dessert. Deliciously spooky!

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For adults only

2011-10-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

Covering his eyes from the rents' seductive dancing!

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Cover your eyes!

2011-10-22T20:55:00.001-07:00

The Canadian twisting with his mum against all sober advice!

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Hot night at the Eagle's lodge

2011-10-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Watching the rents cut a rug at the Eagle's with one of the strongest Malibu and Orange juices money can buy!

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Out of control!

2011-10-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Uh oh, they let mum and I go shopping unattended...

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Did you know?

2011-10-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently hash browns don't have to come frozen as evidenced by mum's freshly shredded potatoes for breakfast. Who knew?

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Spooktacular

2011-10-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

The neighbors are getting into full Halloween spirit, much to the dismay of the Canadian who hates all things gaudy.
Dear neighbors, you are my heroes.

Birthday bash

2011-10-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Though not as cool as 10-10-10 like last year, it was still a good birthday for me. When I got in to work this morning some of the ladies had decorated up my desk with streamers, flowers and balloons.
However, upon closer inspection I noticed that all my balloons said "baby shower"!
The ladies just laughed and said that's all they had. So all day I had to ward off evil rumors of my pregnancy! For my special day I also had some homemade, lowfat lemon cupcakes.
The secret frosting ingredient was Grand Marnier. Special indeed. After work the Canadian took me to Crush for dinner. It's downtown, upstairs from Burgers & Brews in the old BofA building. We practically had the place to ourselves on a rainy Monday night. We got the perfect table in front of a sliding glass door looking out onto the downtown.
We got an appetizer of garlic cheese bread and shared a Caesar salad while waiting for our entrees.
For our dinners, the boy chose a pork chop while I got the chicken parmigiana.
It was absolutely delicious, but by the time dinner arrived I was pretty full so the boy will be enjoying my leftovers for lunch tomorrow. It was a fabulous ending to a pretty fabulous day!

Lions, tigers, and bears - seriously!

2011-10-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

For our nephew Connor's 4th birthday today, the family had his party at a wildlife refuge down by Butte College. At the mere mention of animals, the Canadian was all ready to go. We got there right when the shindig was supposed to start which of course meant we were first ones there by a long shot, but that just allowed us to wander around a little on our own before all the little ones showed up. All I can say is that we must have showed up right at their nap time, because everyone was laying down snoozing. Except for the Liger (lion/tiger mix) who was ramming against her cage trying to get some teenage girls. But besides that, they were all conked out.
One of the birds said "hello" to Chris when he walked up, but then wouldn't say it again. Performance anxiety, I suppose. The bears were my favorite. There were two brown bear cubs that were wrestling around with each other and chasing each other around their enclosure. And then there was Winston, the "special needs" bear, who suffered head trauma as a baby. When he wasn't busy falling off of the logs in his cage he was sticking he front feet in his water bucket. Bless his little, mentally challenged heart. Here's one of the bear cubs cleaning his foot like nobody's business.

As part of Connor's birthday package staff did a special reptile show for us that involved snakes and lizards.
After the reptile show Connor starting breaking into his presents.
What?! A Cars 2 snuggie from Aunt Susan and Uncle Chris? Yeah, we're that cool. Except for the part where Connor noticed that the little boy on the box was playing a Nintendo DS and starting telling his mom that there was a DS in the box too. So we had to crush his dreams and let him down easy that it was just a snuggie, no DS. After fueling up on some halloween sugar cookies we bid the birthday boy a fond farewell and skedaddled.

And what was awaiting me when we got home? A box full of gluten-free treats from my sister, Jessica, for my birthday.
Within a minute I had the box open and half a snickerdoodle shoved in my face. Soooo good! I've already got plans for the flatbread to use as pizza crust tomorrow for lunch and to make french toast out of the bread. Then the rest will go in the freezer so that I can continue to enjoy it for weeks to come!

Good eats

2011-10-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Canadian and I tried some new recipes this week with great success. First we started with some homemade turkey meatloaf from a Weight Watchers recipe. I've actually made this before and liked it so much I kept the recipe stuck to the fridge for the last 8 months.
For my work treats I made mini zucchini muffins. They were less than fabulous though so they never made it to work.
They weren't sweet enough and had whole wheat flour in the batter which is never my favorite. I should have known better. The boy liked them though, so it wasn't a total loss. With the dipping temperatures we even dug out the crockpot for some spicy chicken and rice.
The recipe was out of my Healthy Cooking magazine and, as suggested, we ate the chicken and rice in tortillas sprinkled with cheese. Good right out of the crockpot, but even better after a day or two in the fridge. Tonight we had a delicious tuna and artichoke pasta.
Corn pasta (I only eat corn and rice pastas now), canned tuna in olive oil, cherry tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, black olives, and pine nuts mixed with a sauce of the artichoke marinade heated with garlic, basil and oregano. It called for a splash of balsamic, which I added, but I wish I hadn't because it made it too sweet, but I still loved it and would make it again in a heartbeat. We've got some more new stuff scheduled to try this weekend and I hope our good luck continues.

Early gifts

2011-10-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

Red Swarovski crystal earrings from a co-worker for my birthday. Let the gift giving begin!

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What the hail?

2011-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Dear weatherman, what happened to "clearing up this evening and sunny tomorrow"? By "clearing up" did you mean super hailstorm and crazy rain? I was up in p-town after work for bible study tonight watching quite the lightening storm out the window. Driving home down the Skyway, I drove right into a white-out at the bottom of the hill - only tire tracks visible in the hail. Guess what, cars don't like driving on hail. They insist on sliding all over the place. Then, once I made it off the freeway, all the intersections between 99 and home were completely flooded. It looked like the parting of the red sea with all the water flying away from the sides of the car. Somehow, driving ridiculously slow, I made it home in one piece. And funny enough, once I got to the last stop sign before our house, all the hail disappeared off the street. Just like that. And all I had was a little reminder in the front yard that there was any bad weather in the neighborhood at all.
Nasty stuff I tell ya, nasty stuff.

World famous

2011-09-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

Just got the newest issue of Sunset in the mail the other day and look who made the magazine for a weekend getaway destination;
That's right - Chico! But really, please don't come and visit because it's already crowded enough now that those pesky college kids are back. According to the article we should be biking down the Esplanade side streets, visiting the downtown bicycle shops, going to Bidwell Park, shopping at Made in Chico (which we do), and eating lunch at Tin Roof Bakery (only buy their stuff at the farmers market or S&S). Not one mention of Sierra Nevada Brewery or spending a delightful afternoon wandering around Chapmantown which makes me seriously doubt the author has even been here. Too bad they didn't mention the National Yo-Yo championships that Bird in Hand does at City Plaza which is this weekend. Way to go Sunset, make it sound like some kind of dirty, bike riding hippie destination.

Caramel corn

2011-09-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Today was my first attempt at making caramel corn for my Sunday baking extravaganza. I found a delicious recipe that incorporated crushed pretzels and Reese's Pieces with the popcorn and called for the popcorn to be pressed into a 9x13 and cut up into bars.
I didn't measure the popcorn because each bag said it made about 4 cups so I popped all three bags in the box, but I think I ended up with more than 12 cups because not only did the mixture fill a 9x13, but also an 8x8. Unlike other caramels I've made, this recipe called for the addition of mini marshmallows to it which I think will help hold the bars together better once the mixture sets. I've got the 8x8 in the fridge right now to set quicker so that the boy and I can do some quality control before taking the rest to work!

Do you see what I see?

2011-09-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

How do I love today? Let me count the ways;

1. Rain
2. Starbucks non-fat Pumpkin Spice Latte

3. Veins I haven't seen in my right foot for almost a year deciding to finally make an appearance

I'm having the best Sunday ever!

The wonderful world of fleece

2011-09-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the first day off fall and the last day of high 90s temperatures! But I'm going to need the temperatures to drop dramatically before I break out my new fleece sheets that just arrived.
Ridiculously soft fleece sheets I picked up from QVC last week on a Today's Special Value deal. I'm sure once I get those on the bed I'll never want to leave!

Soooo, I don't know if you remember, but I'd mentioned that the Amtrak train we took home from Seattle was the same train used at the end of The Italian Job (it was the trivia question we won a bottle of wine on during the wine and cheese tasting). Well, last night it was on TV and we finally caught the scene they were talking about.
That's Marky Mark walking through the dining parlour that was only for sleeping room passengers. We sat at both the tables to his right and to his left. I touched stuff Marky Mark touched - I'm never washing my hands again!

Beer Pairing Dinner

2011-09-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

Last night the hubby and I went to Feather Falls Casino in Oroville with some other couples from our homebrew club for a beer pairing dinner. 5 courses of awesomeness complimented by the casino's own craft beers. The dinner started at 6:00 pm so we got there a little early to make sure we hooked up with the other couples we were dining with. Since there were two open chairs at our table the head brewmaster, Roland, joined us too. That is, until a couple came in late and there weren't two chairs open at the same table so Roland left so that they could sit with us. Who comes 40 minutes late to a dinner? But enough about them, more about the food...

An appetizer of prosciutto wrapped asparagus served with their Soaring Eagle Pilsner were first up.
The asparagus was served cold and with a delicious spicy mayo. I could see trying to make this at home. Next was a caesar salad with blackjack vinaigrette (made with their blackjack beer) served with their Golden Feather Extra Pale Ale.
Good, but not as good as traditional caeser salad dressing. The first entree served was a honey habanero glazed salmon with black pepper risotto served with the Sticky Bee Honey Wheat Ale.
Loved, loved, loved this! Nice and spicy, flavorful and just plain fabulous. I think it was everyone's favorite. The second entree was stuffed pork loin with apple sausage dressing and roasted golden beets served with a Squirrel Trail Brown Ale.
The brown ale seemed to be the crowd favorite. I didn't finish my pork loin because I'm not a pork fan and I was getting way too full by then, but the Canadian was more than happy to take the rest off my hands. The last course was dessert - an ice cream float made with the Naughty Native IPA.
Blech. Super bitter beer paired with sweet ice cream. No bueno. I dug out the ice cream and then pushed the rest aside. I actually didn't drink any of my beers for the evening. I took an obligatory sip of each one and then passed them to the Canadian to finish. The yeast in beer makes my stomach want to explode with pain so I steer clear of it.
Captain Canada however, was willing to take one for the team and drink double the beer. Poor guy. For our efforts we also got commemorative glasses. And the couple who came late? They turned out to be really nice and I felt bad thinking such bad things about them making Roland move. The best part about the evening? Finding out that they're going to be doing these dinners quarterly to coincide with the solstices. And Roland, the brewmaster, said that he was brewing a cranberry beer for the winter dinner which made Chris very excited. New meals and new beers - we can't wait!

Going gluten-free

2011-09-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

As of August it's been six years since being diagnosed with gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying) and in that time I've learned what foods my body can handle and which I should steer clear of. But as time goes on I'm noticing that certain foods with gluten (a protein from wheat) are upsetting my stomach. Things like pasta, bread, and certain ice creams causes me horrible stomach cramps the following day. To test my worse fear, I went gluten free for two weeks and didn't have a single problem. I don't think I'm allergic to gluten because I think the symptoms would be more severe, but I do believe I have a sensitivity to it and need to eat it sparingly.

Keeping that in mind, I tried three new gluten-free recipes this week with great results. The first was a garlicky shrimp and rice casserole that we both loved. It was seasoned rice mixed with garlic shrimp, spinach, and cheese. It was so good. Last night I made a southwestern enchilada casserole that was a layer of corn tortillas covered with a mix of seasoned shredded chicken, artichoke hearts and cheese, another layer of tortillas and a sauce made of chicken broth, rice flour, hot sauce and mild green chilies. Then the whole thing is topped with more cheese.
It was tasty, other than I wish I'd used a mix of marinated artichokes and frozen to make it more flavorful. Then, for my Sunday baking for work I made gluten-free cranberry and white chocolate rice crisp bars. They're a mix of rice crispies, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, peanut butter, cranberries with a white chocolate drizzle.
They're in the fridge right now setting up. I hope they like them, because you expect the taste of a traditional rice crispy treat and that's not what these are. First of all there's peanut butter in the mix, but secondly the sweetener is brown rice syrup with is sweeter than melted marshmallows. They're different, but still good. They'd better be for all the hunting I had to do for brown rice syrup!

Day at the lake

2011-09-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Some ladies at work, one of which owns the boat we used, spent the afternoon out on Lake Oroville. We each brought appetizers and mixers for vodka. I brought hummus covered in a layer of olive tapenade with slices of soft naan bread and a big ol' jug of orange juice to make screwdrivers with.
It was the perfect day to be out on the lake - sunny, but only in the low 80s. Even with my aversion to swimming in large bodies of water occupied by marine life I still managed to get in and paddle around. There were inner tubes and boogie boards to keep us afloat.
Of course I put on sunscreen seeing as how we were out in the sun for about 6 hours, but it wasn't until I got home that I saw what an awesome job I did in applying my spray sunscreen to my arm. I mean, at least it worked where I actually sprayed it, right?
My whole arm looks like that, like I have some sort of skin disease. Sweet. While I didn't do much more than sit around a boat today, being in the sun makes you tired....zzzzzzz. I was all ready for an early bedtime, but I couldn't leave my dedicated readers hanging in suspense for my next blog so you're welcome. And goodnight.

Fancy cakes

2011-09-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Going away cake for old boss at work.

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Flavors of fall

2011-09-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year when Starbucks starts serving their Pumpkin Spice Latte;
Nothing like drinking some warm pumpkin awesomeness while being held captive to four concurrent football games. And it was the perfect weather for it - only 84 degrees as opposed to the 101 degrees on Friday.

Today's baking adventure revolved around the perfect flavors of Almond Roca with an easy cookie version. Basic cookie dough base of all the usual suspects - flour, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, but with the addition of a generous helping of toffee bits. After chilling in the fridge for about an hour and a half, you roll the dough into balls that are dipped in chopped almonds before baking.
After all the cookies have cooled, you melt some milk chocolate and drizzle it over each one.
I've got all the trays of cookies rotating into the fridge for a short time to harden up the chocolate so I can stack the cookies. The recipe claimed a yield of 36 cookies, but after 5 dozen I still had at least enough dough for another dozen and ended up just throwing the rest of the dough away. With all the layoffs at work we just don't have enough people to eat 6 dozen cookies and Lord knows we don't need the extras hanging out around home. Having sampled each step of the process (quality control!), my favorite was the raw dough. You could really taste the toffee bits, though the finished cookies are still very tasty. If you're willing to make the trek to my house you're welcome to help yourself to a dozen!

Greetings from the hotest place on earth

2011-09-09T15:16:00.001-07:00

101 degrees, I reject you.

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So true...

2011-09-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

Chico is where the nuts come from, that's for sure.

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Too cute to use

2011-09-07T16:22:00.001-07:00

OMG - the cutest postage stamps ever! Thanks mom!

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Luscious lime cookies

2011-09-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Since today was a holiday, my Sunday baking turned into Monday baking instead. This week I went with something easy and soft enough that I could gum it with my wisdom-less teeth - some lime glazed butter cookies. The dough had lime juice and zest in it which I shaped into a rectangle log and let harden in the fridge for about an hour before slicing and baking in the oven.
After coming out of the oven I let them cool on the racks while we went to the movies and saw The Debt (with Helen Mirren). We hadn't been to the movies in ages, and I felt that I could actually stay awake long enough and not have my jaw aching the whole time. We're glad we went because we both really enjoyed it. When we got home I got busy making the lime glaze for the cooled cookies that was literally just powdered sugar, lime zest and lime juice. Each cookie got a nice spread of glaze which set up nice and quick.
And the verdict?
So soft and deliciously tart! The Canadian told me to quit eating them after my second one, party pooper. I'm sure they'll be a hit at work, just like last week's Mexican wedding cookies.
I'm glad I made those last week because I wouldn't be a happy camper with a mouth full of little walnut bits.

I go back to the oral surgeon in the morning for a follow up appointment so he can check out my stitches and listen to me complain about the world's worse pain pills. By day two I had to cold turkey off the pills because I couldn't keep any food down. Now I'm just getting by with ibuprofen which helps dull the ache in my right jaw. I can't wait to eat real food again. I'm bored of pudding and applesauce. I want a steaming hot plate of nachos!

Soothing smells

2011-09-02T17:03:00.001-07:00

I'm having bad times with nausea so I've curled up with a bag of pumpkin spice scented candles from mom to calm my tummy and its working fabulously.

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Chipmunk cheeks

2011-09-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

Just had all four of my wisdom teeth out this morning. Such a fun way to spend my long weekend!

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Best bumper sticker...ever

2011-09-01T14:54:00.001-07:00

Found this in an empty desk in the office. Need one for my car.

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Dinner disaster

2011-08-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when the fish you planned for dinner goes bad - you go to La Hacienda for dinner!

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1970s flashback

2011-08-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

How much for an Aaron Rodgers mustache ride? Gag.

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Balloon animals

2011-08-24T13:30:00.000-07:00

For my co-worker's last day luncheon her boss made her some righteous animal balloons. That makes a forced retirement well worth it, right?

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Caramel peanut butter magic

2011-08-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

I spent this afternoon making some decadent caramel peanut butter cookies. It started with a basic peanut butter cookie dough;
I used the rounded back of my strawberry huller to make indentations in the dough that the caramel would be placed in. After all the cookies were baked and cooled, I started on the caramel sauce;
Water, sugar, corn syrup, salt and heavy cream. Once the caramel was done and had cooled down I mixed in the chopped nuts and started filling the cooled cookies.
Now to wait until the caramel has hardened for mass consumption!

Spanish senorita

2011-08-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Following a quick trip to the farmers market this morning, I spent some time out back, as promised, with the Canadian picking fresh hops for his brew tomorrow.
Doesn't he look handsome in my floral hair clip? He's been wearing it for hours because I think he just plum forgot I stuck it in his hair.

After our hops harvest, I went to the mall to restock on hand soaps. Bath and Body Works has all of their yummy fall scents in stock.
Sweet cinnamon pumpkin is the best!

Paradise pride

2011-08-15T19:47:00.000-07:00

Watching Jeff Maehl (#15) from Paradise play pre-season football for the Houston Texans. Go Jeff!

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KAF cookies

2011-08-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

My Sunday baking extravaganza was based on the King Arthur Flour catalog I received in the mail this week. There was a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cup cookies in it for which I already had everything for.
I whipped up a batch after church that I'll split up between my work and Chris' office. They're a peanut butter cocoa batter with mini peanut butter cups mixed in. You can't lose with that combo, right?

This year we only planted tomatoes in our garden which have just begun ripening in mass quantities.
We've got yellow pear tomatoes, small sweet 100's, and larger cherry tomatoes from plants a co-worker gave me. We cut up our initial bowl of tomatoes and drizzled them with strawberry balsamic and basil and gobbled them right up. I picked another bowlful this afternoon that I'll cut up for dinner. We never get sick of sweet, cherry tomatoes.

Money month

2011-08-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's my month to count offering after church, so I'm making myself comfortable with some chocolate cake and coffee while I wait for second service to finish.

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Art display

2011-08-09T19:10:00.001-07:00

Recently at work we took everything off our hall walls in order to repaint, but haven't put anything back up since. Apparently, we made arrangements with Paradise Art Center to have them display some of their art in halls like they do at other businesses in town. So members of the art center stopped by work today with a couple of dozen watercolors to hang, most of which are available for purchase.
My favorite was a winter landscape scene,
This will the classiest our place has looked. Ever.

My new car

2011-08-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

How cute would I be in that?

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Brew club night

2011-08-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

Picking meads for the club only competition. I voted for the sweet pomegranate mead, of course. Delicious!

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Home again, home again

2011-07-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

I'm glad we left a couple of days free after our vacation before having to go back to work because we needed it. It took a couple of days just to get our laundry and shopping in order. Today we got to relax a little bit and for me that included baking up a batch of cookies to take with me to work tomorrow.
Some lemon ricotta cookies from Giada's recipes on Food Network. The finished, cooled cookies were glazed with a mix of powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. The Canadian's been gobbling them up left and right. Good thing I finally wisened up and made extra.

Trivia winners!

2011-07-28T17:05:00.001-07:00

Chris answered a trivia question right at the wine and cheese tasting and won us a bottle of syrah. Sweet!

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At the Volunteer Park conservatory

2011-07-27T11:13:00.001-07:00

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More beer and chowder

2011-07-26T13:49:00.001-07:00

A quick lunch break for chowder and a nut brown.

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Back in the States

2011-07-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

We arrived by ferry back to Seattle early this afternoon having apparently just missed a big thunderstorm. We both took motion sickness pills on the ferry ride back and they worked wonders. That, and the fact that we sat by some nice, quiet Korean girls instead of super loud, annoying American family like last time. We already had dinner at a brewery and are relaxing a bit before walking over to Barnes & Noble.

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For the love of schnitzel

2011-07-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Since I've been in charge of meal choices here in Victoria, I surprised the Canadian with a dinner trip to a German restaurant down the street full of sausage, kraut, and beer. I got a sausage platter with a weisswurst (white pork sausage), potato pancakes, and cucumber salad.
The cucumbers were thinly sliced and in a vinegar dressing that was tart and delicious. The potato pancakes were just big latkes, meaning fried shredded potatoes which were served with a side of applesauce. The sausage was mild flavored and thoroughly enjoyable. I had a pick of three different types and I specifically chose one that wasn't on the Canadian's plate of awesomeness so that we could try a little of everything. Chris opted for the sampler plate for a real German food experience.
Wiener schnitzel (thin cut veal or pork coated in breadcrumbs and fried), cordon bleu, jeager schnitzel (thin cut veal or pork covered in mushrooms, bacon and wine sauce), bratwurst, sauerkraut, home fried potatoes, and spatzle (egg noodles). On the side he got a gravy boat for the schnitzel and two crocks of mustard - one sweet, one dijon. And to wash it all down?
Some Octoberfest followed by a German bock. And yes, between the two of us we ate it all!

Tasty cakes

2011-07-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

The morning was our much anticipated afternoon tea at The Fairmont Empress Hotel. Since we had reservations at 11:30 a.m. we were seated right upon arriving at some premium seats next to the front windows looking out over the inner harbor. Our server took our tea orders, orange pineapple for me and berry berry for the boy, and brought us a starting fruit appetizer of strawberries and sweetened cream.
Shortly after pouring our tea, with milk and sugar cubes, our server brought out our fancy treats consisting of salmon rolls, egg salad croissants, mango and curried chicken sandwiches, liver pate toasts, cucumber and horseradish sandwiches, scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, and a dessert tray with lemon meringue, marble cake, cheesecake, chocolate mousse and shortbread cookies. As hard as we tried, we couldn't finish everything so they kindly wrapped our leftovers for us to bring back to our room for midnight munchies.

After lunch we spent some time at the Maritime Museum learning about the boating history of the island before heading over to the Parliament building for a guided tour. Besides the unruly Asian kid who desperately needed a smackdown, the tour was very enjoyable.
After Parliament, the Canadian wanted to make one more stop before heading back to the hotel. So we hiked through the park to find his one true love - stinky, Canadian animals.
Ahhhh....who's the happiest guy around?

Butchart Gardens

2011-07-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our trip out to Butchart Gardens. At the last minute we decided to buy charter bus tickets out there rather than depend on our knowledge of the local transit system. It was well worth the price of admission. The gardens were broken into five different areas - The Sunken Gardens which was the location of the original limestone quarry, the Japanese Gardens, the Mediterranean Gardens, the Rose Garden, and the Italian Garden. The most famous, and recognizable, are the Sunken Gardens;
The Japanese Gardens were very nice, though not as extensive as the ones in Portland.
After viewing all the gardens and having dinner we secured a place on the lawn area for the Saturday night fireworks that were scheduled to start promptly at 9:45 pm. And out of the thousands of people there we happened to sit by a family from Fair Oaks, right outside of Sacramento who are friends with the owners of Burkett's Auto in P-town. I told them I knew that owner, that he was my mom's mechanic, and I'd worked with him in regards to building permits when he was doing an addition to his house. Too funny! The fireworks were the best I'd ever seen and worth sitting around for about 2 hours for them to start.
The fireworks were set in time to music and had different themes. They even had a river dragon that spit fire made out of fireworks. It was so cool. And listening to everyone go 'ooohhh...ahhhh' all together was neat, too. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 11:00 pm, but thankfully we took an afternoon nap. And since we don't have anything planned until 11:30 am tomorrow we can sleep in all we want!

Sips & Seafood

2011-07-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Our seeing eye dog fundraiser dinner at a neighboring hotel started at 6:30 pm tonight for which we arrived right on time. We were each given a glow-in-the-dark bracelet as evidence we were paying guests and a complimentary wine glass. From there we were ushered into the event room which was set up with wine tasting tables and various seafood tables to enjoy samples from.
The event spilled out onto the outdoor patio where more wine and food tables were setup. We managed to grab the only table with chairs and had excellent views of our fellow Canadians as well the bay behind us.
There was soooo much seafood to be gobbled up. Coconut shrimp, smoked salmon, mussels, clams, seafood risotto, crab, oysters, salmon jerky, sushi rolls, smoked albacore, fried lingcod with fries, and fruit crepes for dessert. In addition to the wine, Phillips Brewery from Victoria was there serving an ale and a hefeweizen that Chris thoroughly enjoyed.
We finally figured out the best game plan was to stand in line together eating our score from the previous table, finishing just in time to get new grub. When the crowd started thinning out around 8:00 pm we were really able to go hog wild. I went back twice for fruit crepes because nobody was in line. Mmmmmm!!!

When we had our fill we headed back home, surprised at how chilly the wind off the harbor got at night. Even with frozen toes, we still stopped to admire the Parliament building all lit up at night.
The docent out front said they give tours starting at 9:00 a.m. so we're planning on stopping by tomorrow after checking out the B.C. Royal Museum in the morning.

We're in Canada, eh?

2011-07-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Last night was our last night in Seattle before heading out on the ferry for Victoria. Dinner at the Space Needle was fantastic. I had a stuffed chicken breast with lemon ricotta raviolis and the Canadian got slow cooked beef short ribs which made him groan in culinary delight.
We lucked out with window seats so we got to sit back and watch the world go by as the restaurant made a full revolution every 47 minutes. A trip to the observation deck was included with dinner so when we were done we went back up to the top floor (where they had us wait until our dinner table was ready) and caught some photos at twilight.
We're glad we ended up taking the monorail to the needle because neither of us was interested in walking back to the hotel with full bellies. This morning we got up early, hit a Starbuck's for breakfast (you can't swing a dead cat without seeing one), and were to the ferry by 8:00 a.m. The ride was just under 3 hours which is apparently my limit because by the last half an hour I had to put my book away and focus on a stationary point in the ferry because my stomach was no longer tolerating the undulating waves. Once we got through customs we saddled up our luggage and hit the road on foot to our hotel, about a mile down the road from the pier. By the time we got checked into the hotel, which graciously gave us an early check-in, it was lunch time so we popped in across the street to the Sticky Wicket and had some tasty burgers and salmon chowder. The waiter gave us some good site seeing tips and got us pointed in the direction of a currency exchange kiosk. For $60 American dollars we got $53 (and change) Canadian dollars, so you do the exchange rate math. Unfortunately, their $1 and $2 "bills" are coins which just means I'm going to keep trying to pass them off as quarters. Loonies and Toonies. The gal at the currency exchange rate place pointed out that the toonies are made of two metals, the loonies just one. Next we just walked around Government Street (that fronts the harbor) and familiarized ourselves with the different shops and restaurants.
Tonight's plans are to attend the Sips & Seafood event at a hotel by the ferry pier that we have tickets for. It's a wine/beer tasting and all you can eat seafood event. Does it get much better than that? We're going to leave a little early so that we have time to walk around the parliament buildings on the way. All in all, an excellent first day in the Canadian's motherland.

Observation deck

2011-07-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

Waiting for our dinner reservations at the top of the Space Needle.

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Space Needle

2011-07-21T18:11:00.001-07:00

Arriving early for our dinner reservations.

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Coffee break

2011-07-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Time for a quick coffee break, after some shoe shopping.

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Treating my feet

2011-07-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your feet are suffering from a 9 mile day? Pick up some nice, comfy Dansko's so that the adventure can continue.

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