Watch Wednesday - Holiday Style

Recipe Testing #6

I tested a mix berry muffin - but Zooey hated them and I thought they were just so-so.  Now this is the recipe to end all muffin recipes.  I think I'll be making these a lot!  Blueberry heaven!

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WOW.  Just ... well wow!!

Sweater Update

I'm trying hard to finish this sweater.  First I ran out if yarn.  Second, it is just taking forever.  Arm one and body are done.  I'm working hard on sleeve two!

Long Time!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever.  Thanksgiving, travels, and the holiday season.  Here are a few photos!

And in other news we got 2 new chickens!!

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For a good laugh!

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This is just incredible!

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Holiday Already

This past weekend I put up the tree and turned on the nutcracker.  Here is what Zoiey thought!

Recipe Testing #5

This weekend I made something I've always wanted to try - gingerbread cookies.  For some reason I have just never tried them.  I read up on different recipes and I wanted the type you cut out - because I got a cookie cutter at a garage sale this summer.  I decided to also test out royal icing (which was a first for me).

Gingerbread in a Royal Icing

For the recipes I picked this icing recipe.  And this gingerbread recipe.  I followed the instructions and did chill the dough for over 2 hours before shaping.  

I'm pretty sure these are the best gingerbread cookies I've ever had!!

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Because I can't believe this is real!

Which one of these eggs

Goes with a hungry man meal??

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Car rides are fun and Zooey really likes to make noises.

Final Halloween Weekend

Zooey getting ready for the craft fair!

We had a busy weekend.  The last of the Halloween parties and trick-or-treating.  We re-worked the chicken coop (photos to come).  We went to craft fairs and spent a lot of time playing at the park!

She wouldn't let go of her candy!

Watch Wednesday - on HALLOWEEN!

Have a great Halloween.

Recipe Testing #4

Here are a couple more from the weekends baking festival!!

Blueberry banana muffins.  Moist and with a little pop of flavor!  I changed the recipe to use 1/2 cup of the flour was whole wheat as well!

Pumpkin dark chocolate cookies.  I followed the recipe except I added 1/2 cup extra flour.  And that was whole wheat flower.  Made the cookies a bit stiffer.  I also used dark instead of milk chocolate.

Rice crispy pumpkins.  Super smile.  Regular rice crispy recipe with orange dye in the marshmallow mixture and then a half tootsie roll on top.  Perfect for all the little kiddos at day care!

Halloween Weekend!

Our little town does a lot of stuff for Halloween.  First on Friday night there is trick or treat.  Then on Saturday there is a carnival at the elementary school.

With all of that you would think Z needed a little down time - but Saturday night we went to the pool for swimming, sushi and then saw a few pumpkins.

Recipe Reviews #3

Another Pinterest item.  Stromboli that is rolled.  I found it baked a lot more even when I covered it.  My recipe was simple pizza dough, peppericini, tomato, pepperoni, and peppers.  I used a basic pizza cheese mix, rolled and baked at 425 for 45 minutes.

Mike bought a new IR roasting machine and with it he made a turkey.

A few interesting things about IR cooking.  First it took 2.5 hours for a 16lb bird (longer than deep frying).  But we rubbed t&e bird and stuffed the bird with a rosemary citrus mix and the meat held the flavor!

For my stock I just tossed in the caucus, added water, vegitables and spices.  I then let it cook for hours.

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Just makes me want to dance!

Melt Downs

Having a toddler I always thought meltdowns were about crying.  In our house - a meltdown is when Zooey melts into the floor!

Recipe Review 2

 

I made some pumpkin cranberry banana muffins.  It sounds like a lot to put into one recipes, but it really is very nice.  The recipe is for banana pumpkin - so I added 1/2 a cup of cranberries.   Overall they are nice and Zooey loves them.  But, they are very very moist. 

 

We made this chicken green chili stew.  It was very spicy and pretty loaded with chicken (which I normally don't like) - but it all worked well.  I replaced the white beans with pinto (since that is what I had in the cupboard), otherwise I just followed the recipe.   We will be making it again.

Watch Wednesday - On Friday

But worth the watch. 

Recipe Testing

We try a lot of new recipes in our house.  Zooey has gotten into baked goods - so there is always some kind of cookie or pastry around.  Here are he two new recipes from this weekend.

Thai Curry Squash Soup

The Thai Curry Squash Soup is really out of this world.  Creamy, hearty and perfect for a fall evening.  We ate it with bread - but I'm currently making rice to eat with it for lunch.  This is a keeper.  I didn't use just butternut squash (because I used squash from the garden).  So, it was half butternut and half acorn.

Saving the seeds from the squash for next year.

S'more Massive Cookies

These giant cookies looked so promising.  But, the marshmallow spread too much and I think because of high altitude the cookies just spread too much too.  If I make these again I might try and smaller version (since I can't use my cookie jar) and I'll add a bit more flour.

In other news I finally got around to cleaning out the garden and here is the last of what I harvested.  Onions!!!

Can You Name These?

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Ah.  Love Queen, love science!

Homecoming.

It was homecoming this weekend.  The temperatures feel like fall is here, the leafs are changing and the town had a parade.  It was pretty fun!

Watch Wednesday - Well Friday!

Weekend!

We celebrated a friends birthday, Zooey gave up pacifiers, we ate amazing Korean food (that Mike made) and Zooey got to play with her new chopsticks.

When More is More - And You Want Less!

Some of you know that I'm an organizational freak.  I spend a lot of time going through things in the house and re-organizing to make stuff easier, cleaner and more manageable.  A few years back I did Project 333 (33 items of clothing for 3 months).  I found this project to be an eye opener.  When I went through my closet and really evaluated stuff for comfort, wear-ability and what fits I was surprised at how many crappy items I had for whatever reason.  I have found that more really is more and what I want in my life is less.  Less stress, less crap, and less stuff to organize.

So here was the list I created of things that I want to work on for the next few months.
1. Less fabric/yarn (it will probably take me 5 lifetimes to use what I have)  I have 142 skeins of sock weight yarn alone.  I can't wear 142 pairs of socks.  So, why do I have so much??
** Goal.  Not buying any more craft stuff for 1 year

2. Less clothing.
** Goal.  Purge more and buy NONE for 1 year

3. Purge outdoor stuff
** Goal. Clean out all the camping/backpacking/climbing gear.  We are one family.  I don't need 4 pairs of climbing shoes.

4. Increase Yoga
** Goal.  Get back to 3 days a week of good practice.

5. Increase Running/Biking  (when winter comes I always let this drop)
** Goal.  Get in 12 miles a week.

6. Increase Local
** Goal.  Increase local fruits/veggies.  Try to buy stuff from NM or in LA.


These are my goals for the next year or so.  How about you?  Do you find more is more?

Watch Wednesday - On Friday

This guy is 89.  I wish to god I'm as cool as him when I'm that age!

Happy Fall

We have had crazy rain and I believe fall might be on its way!

Weekend In Salida

Salida Colorado reminds me a lot of Moab 10 or more years ago.  Funky hippy town where everyone rides bikes and there is a lot to do.  We had a fantastic visit!

Dirty Dash Weekend

We spent Labor Day in Abq and a group of us did a run.  We RVed down and Zooey and Mike had a blast!