Just recipes

Well, I was reading some recipes on blogs today and I thought....hey-what a great idea, because I love food! So here's a recipe I tried today that I got online...delicious! It can be vegan, if you like.

Split Pea Soup

1 Tb. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic-pressed or chopped
2 cups dried split peas...I used yellow
1/2 cup barley (you don't have to use..I did though)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
7 1/2 cups water/broth
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 c. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil...or use more of fresh
1/2 tsp dried thyme...or more fresh
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add peas, barley, salt and water. Boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 2 hours, then add veggies and herbs. You may have to add more water or broth. I pureed it with my neighbor's immersion blender (I gotta get one of those!).

Peanut dipping sauce (for lettuce wraps-or combine with Stir fry sauce recipe for my new fave stir fry sauce)

1/2 cup pb
1/3 cup water
2 Tb. vinegar
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. chili oil
1 Tb. brown sugar

Combine and microwave until smooth

Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp. sesame seed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. chili oil
1/2 tsp. minced ginger

Combine in saucepan and heat until thickened

Happy Birthday Johanna!

Johanna and dollys dressed in their new outfits-fantastic job, Jen!

Johanna and friends Hannah and Chantelle breakfasting at the Tea House.

13 candles on a oreo mint cheesecake...a lovely sight!
Johanna once again enjoyed her birthday. I can't believe she's 13!! We had a late night party after soccer practice Thursday. She loved the package from Aunt Jennifer with all her clever sewn doll things. She loved her gifts from grandparents and Aunt Katy too-thank you to all!

Saturday we had her "party". I took Johanna and her friends to the breakfast buffet at "Miss Tami's Tea Cottage". I have to say, it was delicious and a good thing I'd gone for a run that morning-Monte Cristo sandwich anyone? The girls all looked adorably dressed up for the occasion and enjoyed themselves immensely. They returned home to play dolls and try on the gifts Johanna received from them-lots of silly bandz and shirts-Hannah felt bad that Johanna didn't have any brand names-so she remedied that. I can't believe that I used to care so much about brand names. I couldn't give a fig now! As long as it's cute, I'll wear it. Anyway, Johanna was sad when her special day was over.

Last breathings of summer

Logan actually licking the dregs of our LAST raspberry pie........sigh.....and it was delicious.

All Ed watched was the "colorful man" who was selling the cotton candy-he was wearing tie dye wig and shirt.

Amazing! Spirit of Boise Balloon festival

We attempted to finish of the "bucket list" of things we wanted to do this summer. Friday

night we enjoyed ice-cream at "Delsa's", a cute little retro ice-cream parlour. Actually, that was plan B. We originally set off to watch a baseball game, but after arriving, found it was sold out! We exchanged our tickets for Saturday's game and went to ice-cream instead.

Saturday morning we rose at 6:00 a.m. to make it to Boise by 7 for the balloon festival. It was so worth it! It was a perfect morning-beautiful and clear-not too cold. There were 28 hot air balloons in rainbow hues and we arrived just before they were inflated. It was so inspiring to see them grow huge before our eyes and then drift up into the blue sky. An orchestral soundtrack completed the magic of it. The kids loved it...I loved it! Afterwards we took the kids to IHOP, which was VERY crowded, but we all enjoyed our "tutti-frutti-fresh and fruity" pancakes.

Blake worked the remainder of the day, and I had my usual struggle getting the kids to do their puny Saturday chores, but we enjoyed another gorgeous summer evening at the ball park. It was fun and brought to mind pictures of what summers of yesteryear were like. A funny thing-Blake spent 3.25 on special ball park peanuts which were exactly like the Hoody's I brought back from the reunion and that we still have at home!

Sisters...sisters....Oh, and lots of kids too

Kiss the pony! My wild and wacky birthday party was a hit! It all started with the (extremely flattering) ensemble that I had to wear-lovely lei, crown and tacky plastic hula skirt. It just got more fun from there, complete with pinata, loads of gifts for all the sisters, chocolate cake and ice-cream...yum! I'll admit, I did act a bit crazy, but if there's one thing good about getting older-you just start not to care what anyone thinks! You get a bit more comfy with yourself...is this a good thing?

oh, I don't know!!!! Just good stuff!

Logan's new bike..finally! He and Cam have been looking kind of funny on their old-too small bikes. Blake took Logan out last weekend and got him a new one. Logan didn't know they were going to do that-so he was quite excited. I just had to snap a pic in front of our beautiful flowers-the hummingbirds love them!

Johanna and cousin Lindsay. She's been here the last week and will stay another week. They've been having a wonderful time together and I've been acting as "cruise activity director" keeping everyone busy.

Johanna looked funny mowing our lawn last night with her tall socks, ipod, swimsuit and my shoes. She just LOVES this job.

This week

Johanna had an art class every day this week from 9-12, so we would bring a picnic lunch and go on small outings after we picked her up. We fed ducks, played in the city hall fountain, visited a chocolate shop, went to the library... it was fun!

We dressed in the spirit of the day on the 4th of July for church. We enjoyed friends for dinner and the kids had a great time watching the huge fireworks going on around our neighborhood.

My pisachio/raspberry meringue torte we had tonight-layers of airy meringue, fresh raspberries from Blake's garden, rich whipped cream , rasberry puree and delicious pasty cream. Heavenly!

Happy 10th birthday Logan!

Logan turned 10 last week. He had a great birthday party with four friends (a big improvement over last time-only 1 came!). We did a survivor party that included an obstacle course, puzzle challenge, disgusting food challenge and scavenger hunt. I made a very cute volcano cake with hard sugar candy "lava" and whip cream foam. Logan loved all the gifts and cards he got from everyone. Mostly He loved the attention. Blake and I gave him a watch and he's been timing everything ever since.

What, you don't want to try watermelon and hot sauce oatmeal?

Johanna's tiki's...they were very cute. We would have saved them, but the wind tore them up the next day-oh well, at least we have photographic evedence.

A happy birthday boy with his lava cake.