Sunday, January 25, 2009

Kauai 2009


Matt and I spent the last week in Kauai...had a very relaxing time. My post got all screwed up...so now I don't have much to say. :)


Waimea Canyon


Whale



Sugar cane plant




Sunrise




sunrise


sunrise



on the catamaran


whale tail



Na pali coast


coast


coast


Rambutan-fruit that we ate at breakfast. It tastes like a big grape with a seed in it.


The view of Poipu beach from our room



A chicken-they were everywhere


A rooster-EVERYWHERE and always crowing



View of the Waimea Canyon and me



Matt and I on the cruise catamaran



Me kicking the Captain's butt



Sunset on our cruise




Sunset



Sunset



Na pali coast



Na pali Coast



Na pali Coast



Sunset


Sunset



Not many pictures of Matt and I...I didn't like any of them :)

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

another post

Man, am I full of posts today. I filled these apothecary jars today after finally figuring out what to put in them. For Christmas, I filled them with water, fresh cranberries, and evergreen branches.





And here is my deviant little boy Whiskey. He sneaks up on the couch and quickly makes himself soooo comfy that I couldn't possible want to kick him off?! As soon as I tell him no and walk over to him, he stiffens up and leans into the back of the couch. This is a 2-3x a day occurrence.



soup

I made some soup last night...because it's clearly soup weather. I went off of a recipe I found recently called Turkey Albondigas soup. Albondigas means meatball, I think. It kind of reminded me of a spanish version of Italian Wedding soup. I tweaked it a bit though, and I will give you the recipe for my version (which is doubled so we have leftovers):

meatballs:
2lbs ground turkey
about 3 TBS each: cumin and oregano
about 2 tsp each: salt and pepper
2 eggs
almost 2 cups of bread crumbs

*mix together, form meatballs, refrigerate for about 20 min. (why? I have no idea...I just follow what they tell me...) This made about 30 med-sized meatballs.

soup:
3 large carrots, chopped
1 lg onion, chopped
1 lg can of diced tomatoes
4 lg pasilla or poblano peppers, chopped (I used pasilla because I couldn't find poblano...and I have no idea what the difference is) they are large and dark green :)
1/2 box acini de pepe noodles (small little tiny balls)
10-12 cups chicken broth...or however much you want :)
salt and pepper to taste
3-5 TBS cumin and oregano each (I used a CRAPLOAD-literally)
fresh cilantro

in a large pot, heat up EVOO, add chopped up carrots and onions. cook until softened. add the peppers, and tomatoes, cumin, oregano, s&p. Add broth. increase heat to high and get up to a boil. add the noodles, and the meatballs. Cook for at least 8 minutes at a simmer to cook the meatballs. Garnish with the cilantro.

The original recipe called for extra jalapenos and brown rice instead of the acini. I will try it next with the rice because this soup was AWESOME!

hair

So, I failed to mention that several weeks ago I dyed my hair. It is now brown...you know, for winter. I needed something different for awhile. I have had mixed reactions to it, but I will most likely go back mostly blonde later on... :)
Here are a couple of pics from Christmas...terrible pics, but you get the idea


Friday, January 2, 2009

New Year's Eve

So I had to work 7am-7pm on New Year's Eve and then again on New Year's Day, so I was at the party a little late. Everyone went on a Scavenger Hunt that Bry and Amanda put together around Seattle. They said it was awesome, and I hope they make it an annual thing so that I can do it next year.


So I realize as I am typing, this is the only pic on this camera worth putting on the blog. I have more on my NEW IPHONE (yay!!) that I will put on later if I can figure out how to do it. I feel really OLD because I feel incompetent with this new phone.





Matt, Luke, Collin, Bry, Amanda, and Marcie.

Christmas Eve

Here are some pics from Christmas Eve. We had my Mom's family over to my place for dinner/gifts this year! I made Beef Tenderloin, Green Beans with Almond Butter and a yummy salad with pears and candied pecans. It was fun, but oh so tiring!


I couldn't put pics up without this one from Whiskey's time in our deep snow.


Whiskey sleeping with his fuzzy bone



My Mom


My Uncle Richard with his dog, River



The family minus Jess and I at dinner.


My tree...fuzzy pic sorry



This was taken on Christmas Day at my house again with Matt's family. Bry is showing off my new Rooster apron.



And here's Whiskey again with his new HUGE bone that he LOVES



We had a great Christmas and my house is still turned upside down because I have been working the past few days. Today is THE day. Hence the reason for blogging now while I enjoy my coffee. Oh, and CONGRATS! to all the people who are pregnant or who just had babies lately (there are SO many!!)! We LOVE hearing the good news and seeing all of the pics!
Pictures of New Year's to come...