Don’t Have Ugly Children.

Only a few people will truly understand this. But I had to share one of my recent favorite finds. I bought this for Caleb in hopes of relieving his biggest fear. He found it sitting on his side of the bathroom vanity up against the mirror. And yes, he plans on actually chewing it when necessary.

Leo the Labrador

Ok so I know this is a long-awaited blog.  So without further adue, I would like to introduce to you the newest member of our family…

LEO!

We found Leo on the internet through a guy who was trying to find him a good home. He actually was named Charlie, but we thought he looked more like a Leo.  Leo is part chocolate lab part husky.  We got him at 12 weeks old.  He has quickly become part of our family and fits our personalities quite well…except for the peeing on the carpet, running away when he’s in trouble, and gnawing on everything in sight.  Nothing a little house training and “dog whisperer” can’t fix. I now completely understand the idea that a puppy is good practice before babies.   Consider practice officially in progress.

Here are a few more pics.  You know those ridiculous couples who treat their dog like a child? Friends, we are now one of those ridiculous couples. :)

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Oh How He Loves Us

One of my favorite ways to worship God is through song.  I love the poetic lyrics in this song.  And how the deep passion and emotion she conveys resonates within my soul.

And then there were THREE…

Nope, don’t even think it.  I’m not preggers. :) Caleb and I are dog sitting Mark and Sarah’s dog, Cody while they are in Australia and India visiting Jordan, Courtney, and Neil.  Yes, we’re quite envious.  However, someone has to remain here to keep things in order. (I wish we even had a choice).  Nevertheless, it’s been fun having a dog in the house.  The “newness”  of the house is definitely starting to wear off a bit now.  Yet, I think I could get used to a walking partner in the morning and a guard dog at night.  I have an inkling that once we return our guest of three weeks we might be ready for one of our own.  Therefore, we have started researching different breeds to see what best fits us.  We’re open to suggestions as well.  We’ll keep you posted. We’re quite excited about adding another member to our family!

“La cuisine est fini!”

Finally!  I have managed to commit to a wall color and I must say I’m quite satisfied with the results.  I can now enjoy spending time in “la cuisine”. Fini!!

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***A special thanks to Caleb’s parents for all your help and for keeping us sane during this project. We’re truly thankful for you.

Blogging.Ugh.Fine.Hmm.

Soundtrack: the white noise of an air conditioner

The cold chill from the ice down below is making me wish I was wearing underwear, seeing as I am writing my first blog post EVER. I didn’t tell Christie because I wanted it to be a surprise. She will be oh so thrilled.

Fighting my internal reluctance to blog because I feel chastised of whatever creativity is inside of me, here goes nothing. I mean, hopefully something, but nothing…you get the point.

Person 1: ”Caleb, you graduated college last year and are now beginning your second year of work.life.experience.real responsibility.reality.scheduling.etc…, if you could pick only one thing you learned this past year and share it with someone, what would it be?”

Me: Huh, good question make believe person. I learned that I love being outside, but don’t love living inside with raccoons. Stupid animals. I learned that I still love working out, but I don’t love the fact that I now have to stretch, prep, and worry about what damage I might have done to my body. Stupid body deterioration. I learned that I should’ve been less self-centered in high school and college, and more purposeful with my siblings. Stupid siblings with incredible, international opportunities (half serious). I learned that being a positive optimist (doubly important) is so much better than being a pessimist. Stupid lessons in faith (not serious at all).

Person 1: I said one thing…I didn’t think you liked blogging?

Me: Oops, sorry. I learned that you do not have to be perfect to be a leader, but you cannot be timid.

-Christie’s mate

For the record, I am wearing underwear.

Chocolate Puddle Cookies

Now that my kitchen is complete my new goal is to become very comfortable in it.  And since I have a kitchen to call my own I have more of a desire to spend time in it.  So my goal is to try at least 2 new recipes per week.  Thanks to 101cookbooks , one of my favorite blogs, for getting me started.  Here are the recipes I’ve tried so far….and luckily, due to my husband’s approval, have been quite successful.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Puddle Cookies Recipe

Recipe courtesy of Heidi Swanson

I ‘ve used  both 365 organic powdered sugar from Whole Foods, and Hain organic powdered sugar with success. I prefer to use non-alkalized cocoa powder (Scharrfen Berger or Dagoba) but also tested with Droste, which is a Dutch-process cocoa powder. All with success. On the nut front, be mindful of how you toast your walnuts – it’s the single factor that impacts the personality of these cookies most. Using deeply toasted walnuts makes for a much more intense, nutty cookie. Lightly toasted walnuts can sometimes be mistaken for chocolate chips, and make for a much more mild cookie. Both good! Also, cooking time – you don’t want to over or under bake here – over bake, and your cookies will cool too a crisp, under bake, and they are too floppy and crumbly. Also, underbaking makes it more difficult to remove the cookies from the parchment paper after baking – you get the swing of it after a batch or two. Use large eggs, I suspect if you use extra-large, the batter will run, and you’ll have to compensate with more powdered sugar.

3 cups / 11 oz / 310 g walnut halves, toasted & cooled
4 cups / 1 lb / 453 g confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons / 2 oz / 60 g unsweetened cocoa powder

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 tablespoon real, good-quality vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 320F / 160C degrees and position racks in the top and bottom third. Line three (preferably rimmed) baking sheets with parchment paper. Or you can bake in batches with fewer pans.

Make sure your walnuts have cooled a bit, then chop coarsely and set aside. Sift together the confectioner’s sugar, cocoa powder, and sea salt. Stir in the walnuts, then add the egg whites and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

Spoon the batter onto the prepared sheets in mounds of about 2 tablespoons each, allowing for PLENTY of room between cookies. These cookies are like reverse Shrinky Dinks – they really expand. Don’t try to get more than 6 cookies on each sheet, and try to avoid placing the batter too close to the edge of the pan.

Bake until they puff up. The tops should get glossy, and then crack a bit – about 12 -15 minutes. Have faith, they look sad at first, then really blossom. You may want to rotate the pans top/bottom/back/front.

Slide the cookies still on parchment onto a cooling rack, and let them cool completely. They will keep in an airtight for a couple days.

Makes 18 large cookies.

Red Pesto Ravioli Recipe

by: Heidi Swanson

Sometimes sun-dried tomatoes have hard parts near stem – trim those. I used goat cheese raviolis here – goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes are a classic pairing, but I imaging you could substitute any number of other stuffed or un-stuffed pasta. Vegans, try this with penne, and skip the cheese – the pesto will get caught in the middle of all the tubes and be delicious. Lastly, fresh raviolis seem to be sold by the pound or in 12-ounce containers – because you are saucing ‘to taste’ either will work.

1 pound fresh cheese raviolis
12 plump, chewy sun-dried tomatoes (about 2 ounces)
2 medium cloves garlic
a couple big pinches of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts, lightly toasted

3 handfuls of baby spinach tossed with a glug of olive oil and a big pinch of salt.
2/3 cup oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (optional)*
a bit of crumbled goat cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the raviolis per package instructions. Drain, but reserve about one cup of the hot pasta water (important!).

In the meantime, make the sun-dried tomato pesto by pulsing the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper flakes, olive oil, thyme, and salt in a food processor until it comes together into a textured crumble. Add the walnuts, and pulse a few more times – see photo. Set aside.

Combine 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water in a large mixing bowl along with two-thirds of the sun-dried tomato pesto. Add the cooked raviolis and gently toss. Add more of the hot pasta water if needed to thin the pesto out – it should make a nice chunky sauce. Taste and add more of the pesto if you like – it’s really a matter of personal preference at this point.

Arrange the baby spinach on a large platter and top with everything from the ravioli mixing bowl. Top with the cherry tomatoes and a bit of crumbled goat cheese.

Serves 2 – 4.

*To oven-roast cherry tomatoes: Heat oven to 350F degrees. Cut each tomato in half and arrange in a large oven-proof baking dish. Mix together a big splash of olive oil, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a few pinches of salt. Pour this over the tomatoes. Gently toss them a bit, making sure they all get coated. Arrange tomatoes cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 mintutes or so, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.

“Curb Appeal”

One of the first areas we wanted to improve on the house was its “curb appeal”. If you are an avid viewer of HGTV you understand how important this is.  So far so good. We have already parted ways with two unwelcoming bushes thanks to my muscleman.  However, landscaping is still in progress so bear with us.

Curb Appeal BEFORE

Curb Appeal AFTER

Welcoming Entrance

Craigslist Find

Here’s to those who can appreciate a great craigslist find. I was on craigslist a while back randomly searching for good deals on furniture. I came across the perfect chair for our family room.  At least for now.  One day I’m sure it will become too fragile when little kids are running around attempting to jump on furniture and we’ll have to move it elsewhere. Eventually it could be the perfect reading chair in our bedroom or maybe one day the perfect chair for a nursery.  But for now, it will remain unharmed in the family room.  Thank you, Craigslist. (Happy Clap)

Two weeks in

We’ve had the house for exactly two weeks and have already made many changes!

Caleb has shown himself to be quite the handy man.

Christie finally finished painting the front door!