TreasuresInTerraCotta

We saw this Rainbow Checkerboard Cake video several months ago and Calvin was intrigued.  He ended up adding it to our Summer Fun Ideas List and this week we made it happen.  This was not quite a Pinterest Fail, but if you look at the video you will see how far from the original creation our cake actually was.    One cake mix was divided into pink and yellow.  One cake mix we made into blue and green.     Lots of boys.  Lots of help.  Lots of hand washing.    We cut the center out of each one and rearranged the colors.    And stacked them all together.  If we had waited until the cakes were completely cool, or even par-froze the layers they would have stacked more easily without cracking. I was running low on frosting and patience and endurace, so the end product left a lot to be desired. But, remember the boys up there?  They didn't care!  They oohed-and...

Bread and Wine - a love letter to life around the table with recipes by Shauna Niequist I met Shauna at the Global Leadership Summit last month where she was on stage and I was watching by simulcast 1700 miles away.  She was spunky and charming and when I discovered she had written a book entitled Bread & Wine  I reserved a copy at the library while they were still "on order."    In my minds eye, I see the joy and connectedness that occur at the table: the gathering and the sharing and the stories and the laughter.  And yet, I feel a constant lack in this area of my life.  As a result, I have read books devoted to the topic, tried various methods to facilitate conversation and connection, and consciously attempt to relax as a host.  But the desire still lingers and the vision seems elusive.   Before I even finished reading the Introduction to Bread & Wine I felt that familiar lon...

I've mentioned before that Christmas break is one of my favorite times of the year.  Of course, I love Christmas, but I always thoroughly enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year's when extended family is still around and the kids are home and husbands are off and there aren't any appointments and the house doesn't get cleaned and there aren't any other committments.   Of course we spent some time building and assembling.  Calvin compleated a DaVinci style catapult!  Then launched clay balls all around the house.  The day after Christmas we decorated bikes and had a "parade."     And we spent a few hours at the park playing baseball.   And doing lots of snuggling and lots of reading.  Especially of all those new books.   Then one day my sister got very ambitious and decided to make homemade pasta (and homemade sauce and salad dressing and car...

Do you ever shop like this:  it was on sale and I had a coupon. Because corn tortillas were on sale last week...and I had a coupon...I bought the package of 80.  Eighty corn tortillas!!  But really, how could I not, when the package of 80 was $2.99 (and don't forget that I had a coupon), and the package of 40 was something like $2.69.  So I've been cooking new things...with corn tortillas!!  I quizzed a few Cooking Friends for their enchilada recipes.  Finally, I decided to make The Pioneer Woman's White Chicken Enchiladas .  Super yummy.  Not good for you!  But worth it. Give them a try some time, if you're in the mood for a non-traditional chicken enchilada. Then I made an attempt at the humble Tostada.  Note: to cook corn tortillas to a nice wonderful crispyness the oil must be hot, but not too hot.  Right!  The mystery evaded me, too. Last night, spur of the moment, I went to the The Pio...

It's Labor Day weekend and we celebrated in the usual way...a Progressive Dinner.  For five years now we've been choosing a theme, searching for recipes, comparing notes and then traveling to three houses, one for each course of the meal.   This year's theme: Cowboy Grub Oh, it was a fun theme!  I was in charge of appetizers and I served: Corn salad/salsa with chips and quesadillas Grilled Stuffed Jalapenos Henry Weinhard's Root Beer  Corn Salad: In Progress Sometimes our themes lend themselves to dress-up!  Cowboys and Cowgirls playing Wii   Main Course: Cowboy Meatloaf Cowboy Beans served in a Mashed Potato Texas Star Dessert:  Peach Cobbler in a cast iron skillet Served with ice cream Two cow pokes all tuckered out!  The proposed theme for next year is Food On A Stick!  Want to join us?  The more the merrier.

My sister is going to school in Boston. Do you know what Boston is home to? Well, besides the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall, the Red Sox, Boston Common, Make Way for Ducklings , Old North Church, a Tea Party, about a thousand universities, the USS Constitution, Cheer's... Dunkin' Donuts! Anyway We have a new Dunkin' Donuts in the neighborhood so we had to take her there.   She had the Boston Creme He wanted a "white" donut. He'll eat anything with chocolate! I think I had one of each!  Fun day! FYI: If you first stuff your boys full of donuts you shop at Target at your own risk.

There are a number of things of which "Only in Arizona" can be said. -Wearing flip flops in January -The car thermometer reading 112 degrees -Wearing shorts to decorate the Christmas tree -Correctly pronouncing Tucson, Ajo, Calle, San Xavier and Fort Huachuca The list could go on and on, but this week I found something new in the grocery store that may be "Only in Arizona." Pi ñata Apples! Pi ñata Apples? Really? I was compelled to buy a few. I rationalized that I was taking them to my Grandma's house and was hoping to ask my farmer uncle if he had ever heard of them. But he wasn't around, so maybe I'll never know. They didn't seem very promising based on the texture of their skin (kinda rough and wrinkely, like an apple past its prime) and based on the feel of the knife cutting through the apple (kinda soft and spongy, like a potato past it's prime). But I sliced them up and we all gobbled them down. I found them to be crisp with a mild a...