recipe reviews

Before our trip I tried two new recipes. I'm finally getting around to reviewing them and posting photos.

The recipe: I like potatoes. I really, really like potatoes, so when I stumbled on this easy recipe for Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes, I just knew I had to bookmark it and make it someday.

The mods: I made several very small changes to this recipe: 1. I one-quartered the recipe, and the potatoes I used were a little large, I think. 2. I did not use parchment paper on top of the aluminum foil when I baked the potatoes, I simple put the potatoes on top of the aluminum foil layer. 3. I didn't cool the boiled potatoes completely before popping them into the oven. 4. My potatoes didn't seem to hold together when smashed quite as well as theirs did (perhaps because they were too large), so I didn't turn them over part of the way through cooking. 5. I finished them with a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese just after they came out of the oven.

My impression: I loved them just as much as I thought I would! I ate up more than my fair share and could have eaten more if I hadn't been too full. I'm definitely keeping this recipe in my archives for future use.

The recipe: This recipe for Ginger-Lime Stir Fry looked intriguing, so I thought I'd give it a try.

The mods: Honestly, I tweaked this recipe so much, and so many things have happened between when I made it and now that I couldn't tell you all that I did to change it. The main changes, though, are that I used rice instead of noodles and lemon instead of lime. I think it is one of those good, recipes that are perfect for being played with and changed around every time it is made.

My impression: I used two tablespoons of fresh ginger when I made this, and it was very, very gingery. While we liked it very much (there were no leftovers), I think that next time I make it I will try decreasing the ginger a bit. We really enjoyed the flavor combination in this meal, and the number of vegetables it induces us to eat is excellent. I'm sure I'll be making it again.

our trip: the in-laws'

Have I ever mentioned on here that I have terrific in-laws? Pretty much the best a girl could ask for. : ) When I hear people bewailing the sad state of their relationship with their in-laws, I am sympathetic but can't really identify. I am so thankful to be friends with my husband's family!

On the way to Colorado, we stopped at Benjamin's parents house late at night, slept hard, and took off in the morning. Thankfully we were able to stop at their house on the way home too. We were able to spend Sunday evening and 3/4 of Monday with them.

The bulk of my nasty flu hit my while we were at their house, so I spent most of the time there sleeping, moaning, and generally out of it. I did manage to muster enough energy to go to a thrift store on Monday morning where I was able to get a couple of nice things for myself as well as a stack of stuff for the boys all at half price (they had a special Memorial Day sale). After that I returned to their house and crashed again. They were oh, so gracious and understanding.

My sister-in-law did get some good photos with my camera for me for which I am thankful. Here are a few of the best.

I love this shot of Brother with his Grandpa.

Benjamin's parents have a duck couple who has taken up residence in their yard. Little Man loved watching them and throwing pieces of bread to them.

He also thoroughly enjoyed chasing them. They fled the premises quacking, though they did return later when he wasn't around.

But perhaps the highlight of the trip (other than seeing his grandparents and auntie--he had been eagerly talking about and anticipating seeing them for days) was the new-to-him "bike" that Little Man's Auntie found for him. Now he is looking forward to the next visit, and so are we.

our trip: the wedding

[our little family all dressed up and ready for the wedding]

The whole reason for our trip to Colorado last weekend was to share in the wedding celebration of two long-time friends. The bride has been my friend for longer than I can remember, and the groom is in some ways like a younger brother to me (he actually played music for our wedding reception, so it's extra-special that we got to do music for his wedding).

We were honored to help by playing music for the prelude and ceremony. Some of the music we played was flute and guitar, and some of it was flute and piano. We were pleased that it was about 98% perfect which is especially good for wedding music where finishing and starting all the pieces at all the right times is difficult. We becoming a better and better team the longer we do music together.
It was an exquisitely joyful, lovely wedding. Not so much because it progressed flawlessly in lovely surroundings, but because the couple was radiantly happy. They are perfect for each other!

As I listened to them exchange vows, and watched the love shining in their eyes, I couldn't help but be reminded of my own wedding day. The good though normal and everyday life we have forged in nearly four years of marriage was pulled aside. As I remembered, I tasted again of the new joy of being just married. Perhaps that's the best part of going to weddings after all. : )

The wedding was a perfect mixture of seriousness and fun. I enjoyed seeing how their personalities complement each other and are already melding into one unified expression.

At the end of the day they rode off in a horse-drawn carriage. I'm so glad we were able to go to Colorado do help in their celebration and to witness their joy.

[Thanks to my dad to taking care of my camera and getting lots of good photos for me while I was busy doing music!]

Coming Soon! Our Trip: At the in-laws'

our trip: the hotel

On our trip, we stayed in a new, nicer hotel for our two nights in Colorado. I know that hotel staying isn't all that exciting to many people, but to us it's a pretty big deal. We rarely stay in hotels when we travel, preferring the more economical approach of staying with friends and family. And the rare times we do need to stay in hotels, we usually go the more budget approach, so this was a real treat.

We enjoyed the clean, new rooms and hot breakfasts, the comfy beds and feather pillows, the nice decor and artistic touches (like fan-folded tissues and towels). We also enjoyed the hot tub and pool; it was the first time either of the boys had gone swimming.

Little Man was very hesitant. I think he would have stayed outside of the pool just watching if I hadn't insisted that he try going in the pool with Grandpa just once. He did try it and wasn't very impressed. We finally convinced him to stand in the water on the top step into the pool, which he liked much better.

Brother, however, enjoyed being in the water quite a bit and happily went in with Grandpa a couple of times.

Since my parents wound up their week-long vacation by going to the same wedding we did, it seemed sensible to get adjoining hotel rooms. We were all happy to see each other again, and the boys enjoyed the new blocks they bought. It was so nice to have some extra space for the boys to play, not to mention the free and loving babysitting the boys got while Benjamin and I took care of our wedding music responsibilities and went on a couple of mini-dates. : )

Coming soon! Our trip: The Wedding

our trip: the drive

"On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again, like a band of gypsies we roll down the highway. We're the best of friends..."

On our Memorial Day trip we spent a grand total of about twenty-four hours in the car driving through parts of Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, the boys were (for the most part) as good as gold, the music was good, and my conversation partner was (as always) brilliant, so it went as quickly as that long of a trip can.

I spent the hours taking photos (lots, and lots of photos), keeping the boys calm, talking with Benjamin, listening to music, and feasting my eyes on the gorgeous colors all around me. Here are some of my favorite shots.

I took an immoderate number of cloud photos from the windows.

[Clockwise from top left: The rain comes down, just after sunset, puffy low clouds, and sunbeams through clouds]

I also took an immoderate number of mountain photos, documenting the changes in scenery as we traveled along.
[Clockwise from top left: Mountains and clouds less than an hour south of our town, red rock and blue sky after Vernal, Utah, Utah, mountains and valley in Idaho, and breathtaking peaks outside of Heber City.]

Little Man was also a charming subject for photography. He spent the hours sleeping, making cheesy grins for mom, singing and talking, snacking, reading books, and looking for birds, excavators, and other equipment.
I also experimented with slow shutter speeds and highway lights. It was fun to make light-scribble hearts and squiggles.
Of course I also had to snap a few photos of the handsome guy beside me. ; ) Benjamin spent his long hours in the car driving, driving, and driving. He gets motion sick if he isn't the one driving. Plus he has good reflexes, good judgement, and good stamina which all combine to make an excellent driver. Plus I would rather take photos out of the windows than focus on the road ahead. All of those factors make him the logical choice for being the driver on the long road trips we so love to take.
Coming soon! Our trip: the hotel

Monday Menu on Tuesday

[chicken lettuce wrap]

Well, we are home. Our trip was good: the scenery was spectacular, the drive was uneventful, the wedding was gorgeous, family members were happy to see little boys, and thrift shop sales were spectacular. (More on the trip later.) Unfortunately, I also got sick with a rather violent flu. Ugh. It is good to be home. Today I'm working on recovering, planning meals for the week, and going grocery shopping. I would love to tackle the laundry and unpacking today too, but I don't think that will happen since I'm still a bit under the weather.

My menu this week is plain and simple since I'm recovering from a trip and a flu. Here's what I'm planning on making:

M-travelling home

T-Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit

W-Pasta with fresh tomato sauce

Th-Frozen pizza and salad

F-Rice-a-roni, chicken, and corn

What are you making this week?

seedling update

remember when we planted seedlings?

careful watering and days of watching

the seedlings began bearing fruit

the fruit isn't large

or even very shapely

but to us it is beautiful

and Little Man assures me

that it is delicious too

today

Today I am packing and doing laundry. That's quite self-explanatory, I think. However, I will comment that as much as I love my couch pillows, they do sometimes get in the way. I can't help but smile when I see them all stacked up on the back corner of the couch, their spot preempted by the things in the process of being packed.

wedding gifts

I had planned on saving this for another day when I didn't have anything to post, but I just can't help publishing it now. I'm so excited about how these turned out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I needed to make wedding gifts for two sets of friends, and last week I finally got it done. Part of the reason I was dragging my feet was because I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to do calligraphies of I Corinthians 13:4-8a for both couples, but other than that, my ideas for design were very foggy. Finally the perfect idea popped into my head, and I sketched a master design which I used for both final calligraphies. I finished them up on Saturday.

The hardest part of this design was that it's not a simple left-to-right and top-to-bottom pattern. The script faces all directions and wraps around, making it difficult to write some areas without smearing other areas that were already written.

For one of the calligraphies I used a similar pearly patterned paper as I did in my last project. It's a fun paper to work with. The ink glides smoothly onto the surface and the pearly finish is blessedly forgiving of smudges: if I catch a smudge early enough, I can simply wipe it cleanly off. These benefits more than make up for the small inconvenience of needing to work on my improvised light board (a glass table with a lamp underneath) due to the paper's thickness.
I am pleased with how it turned out. The pattern on the paper is almost distracting, but I think the overall effect works. I paired the finished calligraphy with a dark green mat and medium tone wooden frame. The final result is artsy and elegant.

I chose a crisp parchment paper that strikingly contrasts with my black ink for the second calligraphy. Parchment is a quiet backdrop that doesn't compete for attention with the calligraphy showcased on it. While I love experimenting with new papers, there's something about classic parchment that never gets old.

I finished this calligraphy by surrounding it with a black mat in a dark reddish wooden frame. In some ways this simpler version packs more punch than the version on the more ornate paper. However, I think they are equally nice in their own ways, and I enjoyed making both versions tremendously. I hope that the happy couples like them too.

p.s. If you click on the photos, you can get a larger view of the artwork.

Monday Menu

[stuffed mushrooms]

As I mentioned, we're travelling this week, so my menu planing is a little different than usual. Here's what I have planned:

M: ginger-lime stir fry (new recipe)

T: Chipping in for our small group's pizza party

W: Eat up all the leftovers so we have a clean fridge when we travel

Th: Sandwiches on the road

F: Rehearsal dinner

What are you making this week?

P.S. My next post will be my 300th post. I feel pleased with the accomplishment, and Benjamin's compliment that my blogging has come a long way makes me smile and smile.