Good Night 2012

2013, we'll see you in the morning! 
Now, bring on the Ben & Breanna entertainment for the evening!!  Taco salads, junk food, Mario, movies and craziness to beging in 3.....2......1.......

Have a wonderful evening everyone!  Thanks for 2012!!

Double Date Night

I'm a complete slacker and didn't take a single picture while we were hanging out with Mike and Tammy.  They drove through numerous states to get here and not one picture.  I'm lame.  I did take one picture during our afternoon out:

No thank you.  I prefer a different beverage, thank you!!  Doug said, "Can I have this??!!"  UHHHH, NOOOO!!!!  You don't know where those "Hor's" licks have been!!      HAHAHAHAH

I'm glad we were able to hang out with Mike and Tammy!  Too bad we only see them about once a year though!  Hopefully we'll have time to drive/fly out and see them soon!

Date Night

Doug and I went to a King's/Nick's game on Friday night - thanks to a Christmas gift from Doug's parents.  I was a watery eye, snotty nosed mess, but we still had a good time.  It was a really good game.  The score was 101 King's to Nick's 105 with 33 seconds left on the clock.  We looked at each other and said, "Ready??"  Then we got up and headed for the door super fast!  We made it from our seats, to the car and out on the main road within minutes!!  That has NEVER happened from any sporting event we've ever been to.  I looked up the score as we got into the car and the King's won by one point at the buzzer!!  Great game!!  Here are a few highlights from the game:

 Jump ball:

These guys were bouncing off trampolines and doing trick shots.  They were very rude and wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a decent picture!

We missed our off ramp to get off the freeway so we went exploring up the freeway to see if we could find a new way home.  It's harder to find a new way home when your smart phone is stupid because it doesn't have service being out of the area that far, but we found a new way and make record time getting home.  This is the extent of the visual entertainment on the way home - those are blinking towers so airplanes don't run into things:

Holiday Weekend

My weekend started with free lunch at work.  Becky and I picked up 13 lunches for everyone in the office; we were quite organized and could do lunch pick up and delivery for a living!  haha

Doug and I didn't see each other as much as we would have liked over the holiday weekend because he was out working hard like normal.  Tis the season.  I'm glad he was able to get some rest and take a long nap on Sunday.  December can be a long, lonely month for me and crazy, long hours for Doug.  We took advantage of a free birthday meal on Saturday night.  On the way home we drove around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. 

I'm bummed the pictures are blurry, but that's what I get for using my outdated cell phone at night.

We didn't get a picture of Kevin & Debbie's yard, but they placed 4th in the holiday decorating contest in our neighborhood.

After we drove around for a while, we went home to watch the movie Gladiator.  I really like it, but Doug had never seen it before.  I ordered it on Amazon and waited all week for Doug to have time to watch it.  I put the DVD in and it said it couldn't play due to area restrictions.  I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I spent some time online researching it.  I started to wonder if the DVD was a burned copy and the company was passing it off as a regular DVD.  While I was looking at the case, I noticed it said it was from the UK.  I checked Amazon and it said it shipped from South Carolina, so I was super annoyed.  I spent more time online and I downloaded programs into the laptop to see if I could get it to work somehow.  Still no luck.  I gave up for the night and then tried again while Doug was watching a football game.  I finally found the right programs to decode the DVD so it would play.  Then I had to spend more time getting the HDMI cable to work from the laptop to the TV.  We were finally able to watch the movie, but we had to use little speakers to hear it.  I contacted the company about returning it and they've been very helpful so far.

We had another storm blow through the area and it knocked over our aloe plant and broke a fence board:

I didn't take a single picture on Christmas day.  I got a cold for Christmas (pretty crappy gift huh!!??), so I wasn't feeling up to doing much.  I played with the nieces and nephews for a little while, but then I sat on my butt the rest of the afternoon.  I had a crappy night sleep because of this cold and I still went to work this morning - I figured no one would believe I was actually sick after a long, holiday weekend.  I left early, came home and slept for a few hours and I still feel icky.  I've tried a sinus rinse, lemon tea with honey, cold pills, chicken soup, Vapo Rub, etc. but I still have so much pressure in my sinuses that my teeth and ears hurt.  I'm too impatient and this cold needs to go away already!  I'm laying around in my new footie pajamas that Doug bought me for Christmas:

The sinus pressure, sinus headache, sneezing, runny nose and everything sucks, but I really hate having a stuffy nose.  I'm not a good mouth breather and have a hard time getting any rest.  I'm done whining about it now :)

We hope you all had a great holiday weekend and Christmas!

End of the World

I think I missed the end of the world this morning.  I came into work anyways.  Shoot.

It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it.
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

Here is a rainbow from our area this morning.  My coworker, Sunnie, shared the picture with me.  It was a beautiful sunrise too.  I guess someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that the end of the world came and went. 

Happy Friday and Apocalypse Day!!

Eye See You!!

I always find it entertaining when my pupils are huge after going to the eye doctor.  I still go to the doctor’s office that I used to work for and it’s always wonderful to see everyone.  I can still see you!!!

Having blond hair and blue eyes makes the dilation last longer than most other people.  Lovely huh.  Grocery shopping with dilated eyes wasn't very fun.  I walked through the store with sunglasses on and the sun was almost down outside; I looked like a total weirdo.  heehee

Krispie Brownies

Last but not least, I ended the baking evening with these delicious, gooey brownies.  When I worked as a Front Office Director of an ophthalmology practice a patient would bring these brownies in as a thank you and I could not get enough of them.  We are having a cookie exchange at work and while these aren’t cookies, they will be scrumptious anyways!

Krispie Brownies:

Ingredients

1 large box of brownie mix

1 (7 oz) jar of marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
3 cups Rice Krispies

Directions

Make brownies according to the direction on the box for a 13x9 pan.  Let them cool completely.

Spread the marshmallow cream on top of the brownies.

In a large saucepan, over low heat, combine peanut butter, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips and melt together.  Remove from heat and blend in Rice Krispies.

Spread the mixture over the marshmallow cream.  Then refrigerate.

** Over the years of making these I’ve learned a few tricks.  I use a double boiler to melt the peanut butter and chips.  I put a metal bowl on a pot of water and boil the water.  The chips melt faster and I don’t have to worry about burning anything.

**Spreading the marshmallow cream can be a bit tricky.  Don’t try to rush it.  The cream will spread, but you have to be a little patient with it or it will rip the top of the brownies off – doesn’t matter too much if it does since you’re covering it with more goo.  I scoop the marshmallow cream out into different areas of the brownie pan, then spread it a little and let it settle a little – you’ll notice the marshmallow cream will spread out a little and become shiny.

**I melt the chips and peanut butter over a medium to medium/high heat – I’m not waiting around for low heat. HAHA  But since the heat is higher, the mixture gets pretty hot.  When it’s done melting, I’ll remove it from the heat and let it sit for a few minutes.  Then I’ll pour the mixture onto the Rice Krispies and mix it up.

**The Rice Krispie mixture will get very hard in the refrigerator, so remove it for a while before trying to cut into it.  The brownies and cream will be soft, so they might smash if you try to cut them while the topping is too hard.  These will get very gooey if they get too warm.

Ready for the cookie exchange!!

 

Blueberry Scones

I was a little nervous attempting to make scones, but a coworker – who can cook and bake very well – put my mind at ease when he said they are fairly easy and very forgiving.  He was right!  They weren’t as flavorful as I would have hoped, but I’ll try a different brown sugar or something next time.  My coworkers seemed to enjoy them because they weren’t dry and flaky like some you can buy.

Blueberry Scones  (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 cup butter, chilled

1 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup half-and-half cream

1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Cut butter into mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add blueberries and toss to mix.

In separate bowl beat together cream and egg, and slowly pour into dry ingredients, stirring with rubber scraper until dough forms. Knead just until it comes together, 3 or 4 times. Don't overhandle.

Divide dough in half. On lightly floured board, shape each half into a 6-inch round. Cut into 6 wedges.

Bake on ungreased sheet about 20 minutes at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Serve warm!!

** I overworked the dough a little and didn’t know what “cut butter into mixture” meant.  I cut the butter into small chunks and tried to smash them around with a fork.  I looked it up and next time I’ll just mix it with my hand and mash the butter up in the flour mix until the pieces are smaller than what I did.  That’s probably where I lost some of the flavor.  Overworking the dough made my scones more of a muffin consistency.

Chicken Pot Pie with Ham

I spent quite a bit of time cooking and baking on Wednesday evening.  This is the first recipe I tried:

Chicken Pot Pie with Ham (Martha Stewart recipe)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

1 carrot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 fennel bulb, cored and chopped

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup whole milk

1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin and bones removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)

1 ham steak (8 ounces), cubed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Coarse salt and ground pepper

9-inch-round store-bought pie dough (from a 15-ounce package)

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack in the middle. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add carrot, onion, fennel, and fennel seed. Cook until carrot is crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk and broth, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens, 5 to 8 minutes.

2.    Remove from heat; stir in chicken, ham, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Divide filling among eight 8-ounce ramekins or ovenproof bowls; set aside.

 

 

3.    On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 15-inch round. With a 3 1/2-inch floured biscuit cutter, cut out eight rounds; place one on each ramekin. Transfer ramekins to a rimmed baking sheet; bake until filling is bubbling and crusts are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

      4.    To store: Prepare through step 3; let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil; store in freezer, up to 3 months.

5.    To reheat: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Uncover ramekins; bake on a rimmed baking sheet until bubbling and golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

** This recipe is a little bland, but I like bland food.  I think I’ll try to give it a little more flavor next time though.

** I used the ramekin to cut the dough, so no need for a biscuit cutter or trying to figure out what size to cut into the dough.

** What to do with the little bits of extra dough you might have??  I combined the dough and then rolled it flat like pie crust. Cut into strips – whatever shape and size you want.  I spread on butter, sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar and then rolled them up.  Bake them for about 20 minutes or however long the dough requires to brown.  So simple and YUMMY!!!  My mom used to make these when I was little, but hers were way more detailed than just rolling out premade dough. I ate one before I even took the picture:

Christmas Card

Sorry to those who didn't get a Christmas card in the mail.  Here is the card we sent out this year.  Consider it blog-mailed to you!!

Brrrrrr

Brrrrrr! It's cold in here
I said there must be something
in the atmosphere!

Do you remember that cheer??  If so, good luck not singing it in your head!!

It was really cold last night!!  It dipped into the 20's, so we had to cover our plants and trees.  Look at them all snug as a bug in a rug!

I'm a sissy when it comes to really cold weather, but I'm pretty good at bundling up.  I just have to make sure my ears stay warm or they hurt really bad, deep inside, like an earache.  I'm such a wimp, poor Doug has to work in the cold all day long!

Doug's Day!

I know I’ve been out of school for a while, but I thought I could have handled a simple multiplication problem.  6 boxes of cake mix, they make 24 cupcakes each.  That is 10 dozen right??? 6  x 2 = 10?? Heck yes it doesn’t!!  I thought I made 120 cupcakes, but I make 142, just under 12 dozen.  It worked out well because then I extra cupcakes to take to the birthday dinner.  I frosted all the cupcakes and Doug took them to work in the morning.  I had this image of a piranha feeding frenzy, but since there were so many people, many of them didn’t know there were cupcakes.  Doug and his coworker walked the cupcakes around so everyone could have one.  Next time I’ll do muffins.  They are much easier since I don’t have to frost them and they will be easier for Doug to transport.

Doug had a relaxing birthday.  He slept in until about 9:30 – 10:00, we had breakfast and I made him hot cocoa with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  MMMMMMM.  We spent the day watching a movie and being lazy.  Sunday wasn’t much different!  Doug is usually way too busy and tired to celebrate his birthday, so it was a treat to spend time with him and celebrate his special day.

Doug’s birthday dinner went well too.  It’s difficult when we have a party of possibly 20 people coming and a response is, “Yes, maybe we’ll be there.”  Ummm, yeah, that doesn’t help me get a table.  An additional group of people that show up could make the wait for a table twice as long.  Dan and Lisa had a super good excuse; she is 9 months pregnant and can go into labor at any moment. :) 

We left our house to wait for the table – Doug thought we were having dinner with 2 other couples – I told him we needed to get there early to get our name in because the wait on a Saturday evening could be really long.  Traffic on the freeway was bad, so I suggested we get off the freeway.  What a mistake!!!  It took us an extra 20 minutes to go a couple miles.  I hate traffic and malls around Christmas!

It was fun to see Doug’s family and friends start filing in.  I kept asking him if he had any idea and he said he thought it might be an extra couple people besides the few I mentioned, but he didn’t expect 20 family and friends there.  I’m so grateful everyone was able to come!  In my mind I would have loved to fill the restaurant with all of Doug’s friend and family, but just having 20 was stressful enough. 

I wasn't a great photographer, but here are a few pictures:

A big happy birthday to my wonderful hubby – I love you!!

 

Ornery Friday!

This is what happens when people (okay one person!!) get a little punchy on a Friday - Mel loved LOVED her car!:

At the end of the day, Becky and I walked the toys our office gathered for our holiday charity down to the drop off location.  She said, "Do you want a ride back?!"  Of course!!  Who wouldn't want a ride on a dolly!  I said, "OOO, let me take a picture!!" So I held my phone backwards, attempted to aim, hoping we were both in the shot and too this picture - apparently I didn't remember to smile while attempting the picture - HAHAHAH - Becky said I look drunk:

Attempt #2 much better with smiles, but it's dark. Oh well:

Although it was cold outside, we were both sweating by the time we made it back to the office.  It was so fun!  I kept yelling WEEEEEEEEEEEEE and princess waving to the passing cars.