The Grotto

The kids & I decided to visit The Grotto today. We hadn't been for several years and thought it would be fun to walk the 62 acre park.

The beautiful Grotto.

Elevator: 110 feet to the park above.

If you go, take $4.00 to ride the elevator.

The money is used for

maintenance of the Grotto & the surrounding park.

Meditation Room

Grotto Monastery

New last year: The Grotto Labyrinth

Fun Fact: I found out today that my friend Sarah got engaged at The Grotto.

I love that!

Spotted in the park: a monk!

St. Thaddeus

Not being Catholic, I wasn't sure who St. Thaddeus was.

According to Wikipedia, he was one of the 12 Apostles.

Spotted near the elevator: a nun!

Prayer candles

Our prayer candle

No words needed.

Close up.

It was good day to reflect on what we're thankful for & for remembering the people/things on our prayer list.

Razor Clamming

On Saturday, we headed over to Long Beach, WA to dig some razor clams. We hadn't been clamming since May. The low tide wasn't until later, so we explored the town for a bit. The world's largest frying pan. Check out http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ for quirky stops all over the USA. I typed in Long Beach, WA. The site said Long Beach had TWO interesting sites. After we visited the frying pan, we headed across the street to Marsh's Free Museum. This store is home to Jake - The Alligator Man. A must see according to Roadside America.

Nas with the two headed calf.

Jake

After spending a lot of time (over one hour!) in Marsh's Free Museum, we finally headed to the beach to start clamming.

It took a while to get into our gear. Clamming is a wet & dirty activity. I am always surprised when I see clammers wearing only jeans. Jeans are so uncomfortable when wet!

It was a gorgeous day!

We got our limit & had a great time. Thanks to Nas for taking all the great photos!!

Our haul: 60 delicious clams!

God is Good!

After a particularly stressful January, I was looking forward to some good news this month. Last week's fortune cookie.

Another prayer at the top of my list ANSWERED!!!! WSU & Naseem.

Nas received the good news today!

Thank you Jesus!!!

Look out Pullman, here she comes!

I Heart Trader Joe's!

Such a great store! Check out this blog, What's Good at Trader Joe's. The site is dedicated to TJ product reviews. I saw several new things I need to try. :)

Make This!!

I made broccoli cheese soup for the first time tonight. It was good! I substituted whipping cream for the half & half, 1/2 cup mozzarella instead of 2 cups cheddar cheese, one can of diced green chiles and added two handfuls of rotisserie chicken (chopped).

Make this! You won't be disappointed! After the soup had simmered for a while, I tested the broccoli & carrots to make sure they were tender. I removed 3/4 of the broccoli-carrot mix & pureed them in the food processor.
Pureed broccoli & carrots. I put them back in the soup & simmered the mix for about 10 minutes more.

Finished soup with green onions & homemade croutons. Yummy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1/2 onion, chopped

1 T butter (for sauteeing onions)

1/4 c flour

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 pint half & half

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 pound fresh broccoli, chopped

1 cup carrots, shredded

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Sautee onion in 1 Tbs butter over medium heat until onions turn translucent. Set aside.

In another pan, cook the 1/4 cup melted butter and flour, whisking over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Slowly add half & half while continuing to whisk. Add chicken stock while continuing to whisk. Let simmer 20 minutes.

Add broccoli, carrots & onions. Cook over low heat unti veggies are tender. Add salt & pepper.

Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth. Return to the pot over low heat. Add cheese. Stir in nutmeg & serve. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Omid!

Omid's birthday was on Saturday. Happy belated birthday post, Omid! Omid with Sacajawea

There was only thing Omid wanted for his birthday: freshly ironed sheets. Why, you ask? When Omid was young and living in Iran, he was used to sleeping on ironed sheets.

You may be surprised (or not!) to learn that I have never ironed our bedsheets. I buy Vera Wang 800 thread count, wrinkle-free sheets from Kohl's. They are absolutely perfect just as they are & I see no reason to iron them. I usually take them out of a hot dryer & immediately place them on the beds (in my mind, eliminating any need for an iron). Since I was busy all day on Saturday, I post-poned the sheet ironing for today when I had nothing else planned.

Fresh from the dryer - waiting for the hot iron.

Pillow case #1

Can you tell the difference? The sheet on the left is freshly pressed.
The sheet on the right is waiting it's turn.

It took me 20 minutes to iron 2 pillowcases & 1 flat sheet.

The dreaded fitted sheet. This baby took an astounding 40 minutes to iron. I finally gave up after wrenching my back TRYING to make this sheet perfect. It was less than.

Fun fact: You will be happy to know that I can't fold fitted sheets either. Many people have tried to teach me, but I just cannot do it. I even tried the Martha Stewart tutorial on how to fold a fitted sheet. Major fail! Now, I just roll them up in a big ball & place them in the linen closet. It's just a fitted sheet - who cares!? I certainly don't.

Happy birthday Omid! I love you and hope you enjoy your ironed sheets. :)

PS: I prefer to spend my time perusing the internet looking for recipes for my family. I feel that is time well-spent. Otherwise...I'd recycle the same boring menu again & again. THAT to me is a fail!

Power of Prayer

The power of prayer. Do you believe in it? It's a truly amazing thing. I had a conversation two weeks ago with my friend Sarah about life's troubles & prayer lists. Sarah told me about an interesting way to set up a prayer list. Here's her idea:

"Write a list of huge requests you have for God - things so large that if they came to fruition, you would know they did so only because God intervened. Spend time praying through the list."

Want to see miracles happen? Try it! Two people I put at the top of my list: Patrick & Christina. My friend Laurel's husband, Patrick, was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Christina has a particulary aggressive form of breast cancer. Both have been touched by the power of prayer. So many people praying for Patrick & Christina. Good outcomes so far for both of these fighters.

God is good!

Make These!!

Two dessert ideas to share with you today. They are both super easy and tasty! This is chocolate fire cake. I am not a big chocolate fan, but this was superb! Just the right amount of chocolate - with a bite of cayenne. Delicious! I found the recipe on Shelterrific.

This is cranberry-pistachio biscotti. The recipe I have calls for almonds, but I substituted pistachios instead. The next time I make these, I will use less white chocolate drizzle. It should be much thinner (it was too thick for me, I took it off - but my kids loved it!). Recipe below:

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 nutmeg
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 Tbs vanilla or almond flavoring
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325*.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together eggs, egg whites & extract in a separate bowl. Add to dry ingredients, mixing until just moist (using an electric mixer on medium speed). Add cranberries & almonds; mix thoroughly.

On a floured surface, divide batter in half & pat each half into a log approximately 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Reduce oven to 300*. Cut biscotti into 1/2 inch slices. Stand upright on cookie sheet and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool & drizzle with chocolate or white chocolate.

Neglected

I cannot believe I have neglected this blog for two weeks. I have to point the finger at Direct TV. We finally subscribed to 'real' tv again after a two & a half year break. The savings were lovely, but we were definitely the ones left out at the water cooler. We had no idea what was going on in tvland. PLUS - we missed out on the bowl games. That is actually what sent us over the edge. Refreshing ESPN.com every few seconds to check the UO/Auburn score is not fun.

My favorite channels so far: A&E.: Heavy & Beyond Scared Straight. OWN: Enough Already with Peter Walsh, TLC: Duggar's 19 Kids & Counting, IFC: Portlandia, & FSN for the Coug games.
Omid's favorites: anything sports/automotive
Nas/Matty: MTV - specifically Jersey Shore (I could barely watch one episode. That is hands down, THE stupidest show on cable!).

Make This!!

Omid is making this for dinner tonight. The entire house smells so delicious! We are serving this with mashed potatoes, green beans & homemade rolls. Comfort food at it's finest!

Rosemary Braised Lamb Shanks

6 lamb shanks
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 large carrots, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
10 cloves garlic, minced
1 (750 milliliter) bottle red wine
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
5 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Directions
1.Sprinkle shanks with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer shanks to plate.
2.Add onions, carrots and garlic to pot and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and beef broth. Season with rosemary and thyme. Return shanks to pot, pressing down to submerge. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
3.Remove cover from pot. Simmer about 20 minutes longer. Transfer shanks to platter, place in a warm oven. Boil juices in pot until thickened, about 15 minutes. Spoon over shanks.

Make This!!

Omid requested a cake roll of some type for dessert tonight. I knew just the one! My mom used to make this mocha cake roll for us when we were kids. It's easy AND delicious!!

Mocha Cake Roll

Cake:
4 egg yolks
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbs cocoa
2 tbs instant coffee powder
1/4 t salt
powdered sugar (enough to cover a kitchen towel - approx. 1 cup)

Beat egg yolks until thick & lemon colored. Gradually add the first 1/2 cup of sugar, beating until light. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.
In a new bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Fold yolk mix into whites. Fold rest of the ingredients into egg mix.
Spread in a greased/parchment lined jelly roll pan. Bake at 375* for 12-13 minutes. Immediately turn into a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up from the narrow side.
Let cool.

Coffee Custard:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
2 tsp instant coffee powder
1 1/4 c milk
1 beaten egg
1 tbs butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 HEATH or SKOR candy bars*
Stir sugar, flour & coffee together. Add milk. Cook on low heat until it comes to a slow boil (STIR CONSTANTLY). Stir 1/2 the mix into the beaten egg. Return to saucepan. Cook & stir for 1-2 minutes more. Stir in butter & vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap & cool for several hours.

Unroll the cake the spread the filling to within 1/2" of the ends. Sprinkle with the candy bits. Reroll and chill. Serve with whipped cream and more candy.
**Freeze the candy bars, then break them (the chocolate coating melts fast).

Make This!!

I made Matty a delicious chocolate cake for his bday. The icing on the cake (literally!) was the dark chocolate ganache. Super yummy! Tired of being stuck in a cake decorating rut, I copied the Farm Chicks idea of adding cake flags instead of the usual sprinkles.

Here is the recipe for dark chocolate ganache frosting. Make it!!! Click on this link if you want the dark chocolate cake recipe too (I just used a cake mix). :)

10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Place the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, warm the cream over medium heat until it boils. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it stand for 1 minute, then stir together well using a rubber spatula, whisk, or immersion blender until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract and mix in completely.

Cover the ganache mixture tightly with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator until the mixture is firm but pliable. A good test is to press a finger into the mixture. If it takes the indentation of your finger easily, it’s at the right point. If the ganache is too soft, it will feel runny; if it is too firm, it will be hard to press your finger in it. If the ganache is too firm, let it stand at room temperature until it is soft enough to use.
Place the butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl. Using the flat beater attachment or a hand-held mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it is fluffy. Add the ganache in two or three stages and beat until the mixture holds soft peaks, 1 to 2 minutes. As the ganache beats, it becomes lighter in color. Don’t beat the ganache too long or it may separate and curdle.
Use a small offset spatula, a rubber spatula, or a spoon to spread the top of each cupcake with ganache frosting.

Happy Birthday Matty!!

Happy 15th birthday Matty! We love you!!!