I think that Spring has in fact...SPRUNG!!

The snow is not melting, the flowers are not blooming but the SUN IS OUT!! I don't know if anyone who does not live in Alaska can fully appreciate the darkness that we have been shrouded in for 9 MONTHS!! I go to work in the dark...I come home in the dark. I have grown sooooo weary of darkness but now..the sun has come back and life is good again! It is 6:15 and yes, the sun is still high in the sky ( not as high as it is going to be...but in the sky--YEA!!)

Here are a couple of photos that we took while Steph was in town--I MISS HER!!

Here is the diet version of our summer drink-

*crushed ice

*lemon juice

*light tequila (the color is light and Steph thinks that means the calories are less....not sure if this it true or not

***Blend and then add a couple of tablespoons of limeade

Rub a little lime juice on the rim of the glass, turn upside down onto a plate of sugar and a bit of salt...pretty much HEAVEN in a glass!!!

Dinner is in the oven as I speak (or write) and I am pretty excited about this concoction! It is a vegetarian lasagna which includes, eggplant, zucchini, red chard, onions, garlic, cheese and noodles. I think it is going to be AWESOME--I will let you know if it is! Here are some photos of the process-yes, it was a bit of a process but what the heck...it isn't like I have any little kids who need my help with anything, although these puppies...they are keeping me busy.

UPDATE: I was a "tad" confused by the recipe directions--It said DRY lasagna noodles and NO where in the directions did it mention cooking pasta--so...based on MUCH research that says noodles do NOT need to be cooked prior to making the lasagna...I seem to have less than perfect lasagna in the oven! I will need to ply the husband with MUCH wine prior to taking the crunchy lasagna out of the oven. Should be easy.....I will keep you posted !!

Atlanta!!

So, after much agonizing over what to do with the rest of her life my Stephie has a plan! She worried about what this year would bring, whether she should graduate or not, would she go away for the summer to Europe, take classes....there were just so many options!! But--she is moving to ATLANTA!! This has worked out so well that it can only be viewed as a "God Thing" as we could not have planned it nearly this well on our own. She has an apartment lined up and a job. We are so proud of her!!

My only complaint is that I will be living in Fairbanks...not in Atlanta! I love the South...I love the food, the humidity, the flowers--the only thing I don't love is the bugs. But I don't like Moose either and I live in Fairbanks. Seems kinda the same. Can't wait to see her walk in her graduation and see her go to her first day of work...gonna be awesome!!

Now, if I can only get the other daughter convinced that we will need to go down at least one other time this summer to visit. I really must go and visit the WATERPARK!!! Maybe I can convince the whole fam damily to go!!! I just love having the husband and the kids at a waterpark(although we have never been able to convince Jeff that sunscreen IS his friend!)

Cheers to a plan, a purpose and a summer in ATLANTA!!!

Wedding photos and pasta for dinner

We finally got the wedding photos and I must say---they are awesome!! So pleased!! We planned so long and when all is said and done--pretty much a crap shoot. Everything is kind of left up to the gods of circumstance. We got lucky and this wedding was so perfect!! Charlotte had done her homework and she really had everything planned down to the last detail but....being a struggling photographer I do understand that photos can be good...or GREAT!! I do think we got some great photos here. (A beautiful bridal party always helps!!)



Cooking show for tonight: Chopped--The food Channel-GREAT SHOW!! Who would ever want this pressure--EWW!!




The veggies for the pasta-broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, shallots, garlic, green onion, red pepper, and summer squash( this would be zuchinni but I don't know how to spell it so there you go)



Dinner-pasta, veggies with feta and parmesan. The garlic toast with cheese (another kind of cheese I can't spell but starts with m and has some z's in it-think pizza cheese) was really lovely AND fattening!! I think I had three pieces!



And to finish this all off-photos of the couple-Sam and Charlie--Wedded bliss...or at least...ignorance is bliss...or something like that!! We love you guys!

Chopped Salad update

The chopped salad was soooo good! I get a little tired of salad that is just chunks of lettuce with stuff on top but this was really a nice change. The best part was the home made dressing-just the right amount of tangy!

I Hulu'd Ghost Whisperer and started chopping!




I always watch TV when I cook which is odd. When the kids were little I never wanted them watching TV so I was alot better about tuning in so much. But now.....not so good. Maybe I didn't watch much TV because I like creepy stuff (note the screen above) and it always terrified the girls. STeph is especially sensitive to things that are remotely scary. She will never let me forget renting an old Bette Davis movie in which her character is being driven crazy by a friend and they roll a fake head down the stairs. This apparently was quite scaring for my small children-good job MOM!!

I had assumed that all black and white movies were "safe" viewing. I know better now but of course it is too late--the damage has been done. I guess I can relate to this a bit as I watched a show called "Green Slime" when I was about 8 and never slept again...well, that might be an exaggeration but you get my point.

Onto dinner-chopped salad!


I didn't use as many veggies as I thought I would but I liked the combination:
Avocados, bacon, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, green onion and purple cabbage--I think that is it.




And here is the husbands photo-this is take number 37. Poor man thinks he is a "real" photographer. This fallacy is quite apparent when he takes the SLR camera, sets it on Auto and then proceeds to try and FOCUS the thing. What can I say, at least he is charming and handsome so I guess I will keep him.

Black bean, Sweet Potato and Kale Enchiladas ...sooo good!

Ahhh, another cookbook on the way from Amazon!! Again, the debate--another diet book OR another cookbook. The cookbook WON out- I can't wait for it to arrive on the homefront. Although I have realized that I rarely cook out of cookbooks. I almost always get recipes online, looking for specific items that I have on hand. I sit and LOOK at cookbooks for hours on end though so what the heck-cheap entertainment.



This recipe that I used tonight was from an online source but it is a Moosewood Recipe so.....maybe on some cosmic level this all makes sense....The only change I made to the original recipe was to add the Kale which added color and flavor. What really made this recipe rock was the homemade tortilla shells. I know I have talked about them before but you will NEVER eat another store bought shell again once you make your own. These are the easiest things in the world to make and they are amazing. I made a couple extra and then just fried them with some PAM and a little cheese in the middle. NUMMMO!




Sweet potatoes from Thursday's CSA box





I cubed the potatoes and boiled them until they got soft enough to mash up





Sauteed shallots, garlic with a bit of chicken broth,green chilies, wine and black beans. I threw the kale in a pot of boiling water for a minute or two just to soften it up a bit.



I rolled out the tortilla shells, cooked them, and then filled them. I did top the finished product with a bit of cheese and salsa.



The finished product!! EXCELLENT (even if I do say so myself)




An old guy and his food-not to mention his WINE!! He looks pretty happy-in a simple minded, sort of way!

And so my weekend is winding down. Aside from the HUGE pile of laundry I am supposed to be doing (yes, I am blogging instead of washing) I have a pretty open evening ahead of me. Sam and Charlie should be driving home from Anchorage about now. I BETTER have an ARBY's heading my way or heads are gonna roll!! Charlotte is very good about forgetting these small requests of mine (I think this is because she is not as motivated by food as I am) Steph on the other hand would NEVER forget the Arby's --she would know that my day has been filled with visions of roast beef, topped with horseradish sauce!

But, for now I will make chopped salad for dinner. I have never made it before but it sounds quite intriguing...
The directions are as follows:
All veggies must be the same size, use as many colored veggies as you can find, throw together. There should be plenty of fresh herbs and the dressing must be homemade and use Fancy vinegars such as champagne vinegar (YES--I did make this part up but I do have this vinegar on hand!)

Here is what I will be using:

avocado

bacon

purple cabbage

romaine lettuce

feta cheese

hard boiled eggs

red pepper

celery

peas

cucumber

green onion

and anything else I can find. I will post pictures but now I must go and make some chocolate chip cookies and turn my new Norah Jones CD back on play!! Puppies are snoozing, the fire is crackling and that laundry is just NOT washing itself!!

Beignets!

Ah, the children are in town!! Well, not really children as they are grown up and married BUT...to me they are the children!! Charlotte's husband Sam is playing with his brother's band this weekend opening for Mercy Me. They will play Thursday, Friday and then head to Anchorage and play there one night. Jeff and I thought we


would go down but being the semi lazy poops that we are we decided that there is in fact...no place like home. MAYBE I will start some seeds. We shall see as that would require I actually use the new soil block makers that I bought (no-I have done nothing with them).




BUT...tonight my night is going to be quite extraordinary! Charlotte is making beignets for us!! They are currently dough, rising to perfection in a pan on the back of the stove. At EXACTLY 9:00 she will start cutting them and then..yes, she will start to deep fry them!! Almost like being in New Orleans!!

My week has been spent pondering the reasoning behind living in this frozen, dark stretch of the planet. WHY live here when people all over are thinking about blooming trees, tulips breaking through the ground and grass starting to green up. WHY??
Well, I suppose the fact that we have jobs here, two of our three kids live here and we are in debt up to our eyeballs here. THAT may be the reason but, is it a good reason???? This I am not sure of but the one thing I do know is that we have wonderful friends here. That in itself may be the REAL reason that we stay and fight the cold, the dark and the knowledge that spring is NOT around the corner!

But tonight none of that matters! For tonight WE DINE on Beignets!!!!!!!!!