Hooters!

Omid, Matty & I were out and about running errands this afternoon. We were hungry and decided to stop somewhere for lunch. Guess where we stopped? This is such a "bloggable" restaurant! Let's stop!

Wings. They tasted better than they looked.

Deep fried pickles. I saw those on the menu and was determined to try them. They were so tasty! That was a surprise.

Hey! These pickles aren't bad.



Leftovers.

Matty & the Hooters' Gals.

We are such tourists. We had to get a tshirt for Matty. My only rule: He just can't wear it to school.

Rowan Playdate

The last time we had a playdate with Rowan, she looked like this: You can read all about that last visit here.

We saw Rowan again today and this is what she looks like now! 16 months old!

Remy was still very interested in showing Rowan his toys, giving her kisses & whacking her with his tail.

Kissy Kiss!

Future veterinarian? Rowan loved Nas' Betta fish.

She also read about choosing a good college. Very important.
*Note to Aunt Heidi: Rowan was encouraged to attend WSU and not TESC!

Rowan loved going "wheeeee!" in the spinny chair with Nas.

The best for last....Rowan has some super dance moves!

Thanks Laurel & Rowan for the visit and the YUMMY treats!! Nas said the scones were BETTER than Starbucks!

The Book Seer

Looking for a good read? Ask the book seer!
http://bookseer.com/

Perspectacles

I love this video! Matty watched it at school today. I am so glad he shared it with us.

FAIL!

I hate failure. We are not strangers. I've failed at lots of things. Baking is usually not one of them. Well, today was the day.

I made a delicious cherry filled coffee cake last week. Today I had the brilliant idea to make the cake in a muffin tin, so everyone could have their own little cake. I blame myself for chatting on the phone and not really paying attention. Lesson learned!

My muffin tins were filled too full and spread out over the tops of tin. I had to do some delicate surgery to remove the tops with the cakes.

Failed cakes. - they don't even look delicious to me.

I had just enough batter left over to make a batch of mini-cakes. They turned out much better.

Make This!!

Potatoes Supreme: ready for the oven.


Need an extra side dish for Easter? This dish is delicious and is a nice change from au gratin potatoes. The recipe doesn't call for bacon or any other meat - but Omid and I decided to add some sopresatta sausage. We also used a variety of cheeses (gorgonzola, chevre & parmesan).


The ingredients. Check out Remy in the top right corner. He was begging for some cheese.

If you can't boil the potatoes the night before, than do it at least an hour before making the dish. These babies are HOT and take a long time to cool.

Potatoes Supreme
6 large russet potatoes or 12 yukon gold - boiled & salted
If possible, boil the potatoes the day before. Grate the cooked potatoes & place in a large bowl.
Add:
1/2 c butter
2 c shredded cheese
1/2 c chopped green onions
one pint sour cream
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t salt
Mix all ingredients and place in a Pyrex. Bake at 350* for 35 minutes.

Korean BBQ!

Tonight we had Korean BBQ for dinner. It was sooooo tasty! Toji's on Hawthorne. I highly recommend it! Fari, Matty & Mansour
Omid did all the cooking and just a little eating.

I tried the Shoju but liked the Kirin much better!

Earl & Pak

Matty: I loved the fried tofu but the kimchee smelled bad!

Shoju = danger!

Meat!

Three hours to finish dinner and it wasn't enough time!

Make This!!

Deviled Eggs from Hell

6 hard cooked eggs
1/4 c mayo
1.5 - 2 t. adobo sauce from can of chipotle chiles
salt & pepper
2 T fresh cilantro (chopped)
1/4 c finely chopped green onion
2 t freshly squeezed lime juice
paprika

Peel & halve the cooked eggs lengthwise. Combine the cooked egg yolks with mayo, adobo sauce, salt & pepper to taste, 2 T cilantro and the green onions. Mash with a fork until creamy. Stir in lime juice. Spoon mixture back into egg whites and arrange on a platter. Enjoy!

Evergreen!

*Dedicated to Heidi R!

Why I love TESC:

*Rollerskating on Red Square during summer evenings singing songs from Xanadu with all the kids from our neighborhood.

*Eating my way through Super Saturday & purchasing flower crowns (year after year). In fact, my first spring roll was from a SS vendor.

*Watching Nas & Matty ride their bikes all over when they were smaller.

*You can be whomever you want to be and no one cares!

*My sisters and I learned how to drive on the campus.

*Great memories from 1986/87 with wonderful TESC friends!

What I don't subscribe to: the anarchy ideal lots of students do...plus I like to wear shoes & deodorant. :)

**NOTE: B, Nas and I went to shop at the campus bookstore while Matty rode his longboard around campus. After about an hour, we met up with Matty. The first thing out of Matty's mouth was, "I have seen so many freaky people here!" Hilarious!

Spring Break - Part Deux

On Wednesday, B, the kids and I started our morning at Wagner's German Bakery for breakfast. Cream cheese danishes & cream horns. Simply yummy!

Breakfast!

We decided to walk off our pastries & stop by the Capitol.

Christine wasn't in. I checked.

Fun fact: B noticed that all the doorknobs have George Washington on them.

The ginormous chandelier. Fun Fact: a VW Beetle could fit inside.
Random Fun Fact: B remembered from a previous Capitol tour, that all the draperies inside were from Frederick & Nelson (remember that store?).

After the Capitol, we headed over to Lacey to visit Saint Martin's University.

SMU = $$$$$

It's also way too small of a school for Nas.

Fun Fact: There is an Abbey on campus and we saw several monks in long robes walking around Old Main.

After SMU, we headed back to the westside and visited my old stomping grounds: Evergreen! It's a good thing I ended up at WSU. First, I wouldn't have met Omid, and second: I would probably have dreads & call myself "Walnut."

TESC

After spending a lot of time visiting TESC and buying 'Greener' tshirts, we needed a snack.

Eagan's on Harrison for fries & goop. Delicious!

We picked Cayden up for Kindergarten and went downtown to Percival Landing. We were in the mood for something sweet so then drove to the San Francisco Street Bakery for cookies.

San Francisco Street Bakery (visit their stand in the Farmer's Market for yummy almond chewies!).

The kids and I came back home today. It's naptime for Remy & laundry for me. But first, I managed to stick my fun Doxies on the wall. I couldn't wait & decided not to paint my laundry room after all.

Remy checking out the Dachshunds.

Spring Break - Part 1

For the first part of our spring break, the kids, Remy and I headed up north to Olympia. We picked up my parents and ventured up to Seattle. Our first stop was UW, so Nas could visit the campus & see what it was like. Suzzalo Library on the UW campus. It reminded me of a cathedral; but our tour guide thought it looked more like Hogwarts - right out of Harry Potter. Give me a break! Btw...I am not a Harry Potter fan. In fact, I was waiting for our guide to say 'something' about Harry Potter ever since I read this article about Colleges/Universities comparing themselves to Hogwarts. The second reference to Harry & Co. was that UW has it's own Harry Potter club. We even saw the HPC president walking on campus with her Hogwarts scarf. I knew there was a reason WSU was better than UW!

Naseem & Papa inside the Suzzalo Library (fun fact: UW has 17 libraries on campus).

More Suzzalo (& shady looking guy who made it into the photo)

The cherry trees were all in bloom & were beautiful.

After we finished touring UW, we headed over to Fremont to find the troll.

The troll's eye is a hubcap from the VW Beetle down below. Fun fact: When the troll sculpture was finished, the VW held a time capsule full of Elvis memorabilia. Soon after, thieves broke into the VW and stole everything. So now the Beetle sits empty. Scary Fact: Matty climbed up to the top of the troll, turned around and saw several homeless people sleeping.

Matty & the Troll.

After hitting Fremont, I made everyone come with me to Lake View Cemetery. Lake View is the final resting place of many famous people. Bruce is the most famous. For some reason, I thought Jimi Hendrix was buried here too. My mom popped into the cemetery's office to get a map & that is when we found out JH wasn't at this cemetery. The receptionist gave us a map to the Renton cemetery, but we didn't want to drive all the way over there.
Bruce Lee's Gravestone

After we found Bruce Lee, we looked for Princess Angeline's gravestone. Princess Angeline is the daughter of Chief Sealth. Freaky Fact: After Matty & my mom got out to find the gravestone, it started pouring like crazy. Right when I started to take a photo, there was a bright flash and a gigantic clap of thunder. Scary! That was our cue to leave the cemetery!

Naseem's friend Gerald was also visiting UW. He met us at the cemetary and asked Naseem: What kind of people go to a cemetery for fun?! She answered: My mom! Fun Fact: My cousin's 5th grade class went to this cemetery for a field trip. I am not the only one who thought it would be interesting!