Round Lake

Nas and I took Remy for a walk around Round Lake this morning. It was really beautiful. We saw lots of people walking their dogs and also a few kayakers on the water.

Lily fields (minus the lillies)

Cute Christmas tree with a Mrs. Butterworth Angel on the top.

I may steal this idea.

Remy trying his darndest to get the Mrs. Butterworth Angel. He tried to climb the tree and when that failed, he barked for several minutes. I finally managed to get him away and back on our walk.

The water was so calm it was like glass.

**Katie B. = I told Nas that the first time I met you was at Round Lake. Do you remember?!

We are back from Thanksgiving in Olympia. Turkey, Scotch dressing, yams, roasted brussel sprouts (which were surprisingly good) and cranberry rice. We ate too much and it was all delicious. Omid and my dad always have a friendly competition when it comes to food. Omid made a delicious smoked salmon, sea scallop & prawn plate for an appetizer. It was simply scrumptious! Omid's appetizer

On our way home from Olympia, we stopped at the Centralia Outlet Mall and bought a few things. Then it was on to Matty's basketball game. Unfortunately, the boys lost both their games. Afterwards, we stopped at Staccato Gelato for some dessert. I had chai tea and a nummy cardamon donut, Omid had a maple donut & coffe and the kids has the gelato. Try this place, it's cute and delicous.

Resident cat at Staccato Gelato

Cookies!

Thank you Heidi Rinkel for the cookie info! I ran to Target this morning and bought a cookie kit. Naseem & her friend Rachel decorated all the cookies for me today. Thanks girls - they were yummy.

Apple Cup

Go Cougs! If there is one game you need to win this year, it's this one!

My Dog the model....again!

Lara Blair was recently featured on PDXDogs.com. Guess who was on her video? REMY! Watch it here! You will see Remy at about 1:30.

Camas Select Basketball

Matty & his basketball team played their first two games today. Unfortunately they lost both games. The boys worked really hard. Hopefully they will win next week!

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Oh Yummers!

It's no secret that I love butternut squash ravioli. I was so sad when Trader Joes stopped carrying it. While shopping at Costco today, I found some! The back of the package had a delicious sounding recipe and I made it for dinner tonight. This is a keeper!

Butternut Squash Raviolis with Brown Sugar Walnut Sage Butter

1 package Butternut Squash Ravioli
1/2 c walnut pieces
2 T butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 t salt
pinch cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage/1 T fresh sage
2 T cream

While the pasta cooks, prepare sauce. In a large, wide saucepan or skillet, toast walnuts on medium heat until just fragrant and beginning to color. Reduce heat to low, add butter and stir. Add brown sugar, salt, cayenne and sage. Stir until butter is completely melted. Whisk in cream, add cooked ravioli and enjoy.

Images from Asia

Enjoy these photos from Omid's recent business trip to China, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.

Yo!

China

The last row, far right: see that man (with the arrows around his head)? Omid found out that he graduated from WSU too. Funny!
On the subway. That woman was really asleep.

Caramel Corn Puffs

Found this recipe at Grocery Cart Challenge. Make it - it's good!

Caramel Corn Puffs

1 box Kix or Corn Pops (smaller size box)
1 c brown sugar
1 c corn syrup
1/2 c butter
1 t baking soda

Melt butter. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, add baking soda. Add cereal. Stir to coat. Place cereal on a greased cookie sheet. Place in a 250* oven for 45 mins. Stir every 10 minutes to break up the clumps.

I made it with Corn Pops. Next time I will try Kix. This stuff is gooooood!

Make This!!

White chicken enchiladas. This is Pioneer Woman's recipe. It does NOT disappoint! So easy to make, yet it tastes & looks like it took hours. Thank you Pioneer Woman! I love you!

**NOTE: I used flour tortillas as we are not fans of corn tortillas. This saved me a lot of time by skipping the 'fry the tortillas' step.

Make This!

My sisters Cynthia & Brenda made this dip on Saturday night for an appetizer. Oh my goodness it was good. It was all I could do NOT to like the dish clean. Sorry there are no photos.

Artichoke Dip
1 can unmarinated artichoke hearts - drained
1 cup mayo
1 cup parmesan cheese
2 T Jalapeno peppers - diced (canned is okay to use if you don't have fresh)

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in a 350* oven for 25 minutes. Serve warm.
Enjoy!

Holly Days Bazaar

Today Sarah and I had our big debut at the Holly Days Bazaar. Co-workers Cyndy & Teresa selling their "night lights."

Sarah looking sad because the girl next to her had chronic flatulence!!! NO JOKE!!! I am such a bad friend...I did NOT change places with her. Sorry Sarah!

Look who came to visit!

Dog Freaks and proud of it!
Look at our posters!!! So cool.


Woman with a mullet?

Oh yeah!

Choices, choices.

I came away with a Thanksgiving themed bandana for Remy and a plaid for Hammish.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and purchased our products!

TLC.....?!

I have the perfect life for a reality show. Teenagers, gourmet chef hubby, fun domestic & international family members, interesting job, new business start -up (sort of), training for a half marathon, Remy & lively friends. My show would be a LOT more entertaining than Jon + Kate = Hate. AND...there are several people who I am sure would get their own spinoff shows. 1) Naseem: The College Years. 2) My sister-in-law. Making it BIG in the corporate world! 3) Omid. Food Network needs him. Seriously. 4) Remy = No explanation needed.

Vizsla on the brain

Always Vizsla on the brain. Vizsla's don't let you forget about them for one minute (seriously!). While Remy was getting attention from other family members this morning, I went surfing for new Vizsla things. Here are some of my favorites:

My favorites are from http://www.obeythepurebreed.com/. You can get your specific dog or cat breed in the same products above (if you don't want Vizsla in them...but why would you want any other breed?).

Brenda click here.

Arezou click here.

Cynthia & Denise click here.

Grammy & Papa click here.

Arnita click here.

Katie B. click here.

Sarah click here. (This was the closest I could find to Golly).

Laurel click here.

Heidi click here.

C U T E !

Everything about these bookends are sweet except for the price: $138. Way too steep for me. Plus....they would end up in Nas' room (that's where all the books are). Though they are very cute to look at.

Want them? Get there here: Hazelnut New Orleans.

Unhappy Employee

Remy was quite vocal this evening while I was packing up the treats for Saturday's bazaar.

He usually gets the 'duds' and was not happy that all the delicious treats were being taken away from him." I WANT THESE! THEY ARE MINE!"

Sniff-sniff-whuffle-whuffle.
He has a great nose for yummy things!


Still sniffing away.

Dear Remy: I have a 1/2 cup of perfectly good treats (no duds!) just for you!

2,842

2,842 = the number of bits & bones mixed, baked & bagged for this weekend's Holly Days Bazaar.

Don't miss the fun! Come & visit Sarah and I at our Barky Table. You can't miss us: just look for the giant posters and the two dog fanatics!

Holly Days Bazaar
Saturday Nov. 14
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Liberty Middle School
1612 NE Garfield St
Camas, WA 98607

Have you seen the movie The Benchwarmers? Funny and gross. The best part of the movie: This scene with Howie.

Fun Find!

Yesterday the kids and I stopped by La Reve in downtown Camas (go there soon - it's going out of business). I found a fun stocking stuffer for my brother-in-law Tom at the store (& 20% off too!).
What did I find? A mustache comb! AND...it's a switchblade! I can just imagine Tom whipping out this comb during our spirited battles of Apples to Apples & brushing his mustache & goatee.

Is it just me or does the man on the package look like Sean Connery?

Make This: Chili

Nas came home from her friend Rachel's house a few weeks ago and raved about the chili dinner she had. I asked Rachel's mom for the recipe and we had it for dinner tonight. It was really yummy.

Kris said she uses Carroll Shelby's chili mix. I had never heard of it before. I found it at Fred Meyer. The chili was really delicious and just perfect on this cold, rainy, blustery day.

Kris C.'s Yummy Chili

1 box Carroll Shelby Chili Mix
1 med onion

1 garlic clove

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage

1 can kidney beans - drained

1 can black beans - drained

2 cans diced tomatoes (15 oz)

Brown garlic & onion. Add hamburger and sausage. Transfer to a crock pot. Add tomatoes, beans and chili mix. Add the cayenne pepper in the mix if you like it spicy.

**I did not add the masa or the salt packet included in the Chili Mix.

Make This!

I found a great recipe on Tasty Kitchen for butternut squash soup. It was so good, I recycled my other recipes. No joke! This soup was simply delicious! In the past, I have just cut up my squash and sauteed it. This recipe called for roasting the squash. I will never go back to just plain sauteeing butternut squash again! I almost ate half the roasted squash before it went into the soup it was that good. Butternut Squash Soup with a kick! Try it!

Get it Remy, get it!!

Run! Run! Run!

Last night Matty, Omid and I watched a documentary about the Ironman. It was so amazing and inspiring. After that, Omid showed us a video on YouTube about Rick Hoyt, a young man with cerebal palsy who wanted to compete in the Ironman. He and his dad have completed almost 1000 marathons & triathalons in 27 years. Amazing!

This inspired Matty and I to do the Capitol City Marathon this spring. Unfortunately, Matty isn't old enough to enter the marathon portion, so we will be competing in the half marathon. Nas decided to join us, along with my sister, Cynthia. Omid said if we did this, he would take photos and write the blog post. We have six months to get ready & train for our first ever half marathon. So exciting!