15 years ago today...

our sweet little girl was born.

Today she is a beautiful young lady,
who is smart, funny, creative, ambitious,
full of life and energy,
and a devoted friend.
We are very proud of her.
8
This afternoon she is having a few friends
over to swim. We made chocolate cupcakes
with vanilla frosting, topped with crushed
heath bar - Yum! I have been trying to loose
a few pounds and it's killing me not to
shove one of those in my mouth!
8
Happy Birthday
Chloe Rose!
We love you very much!
xoxoxo

Dinner with Mom

Love this table cloth. Purchased at

Domestic Bliss last summer.

Dinner Menu:
Shrimp scampi over linguine,
Salad with sliced apple, sugared pecans,
and goat cheese (made by Mom) and garlic
bread. No pictures - too busy getting the food
on the table. The shrimp scampi was from Costco, in
the freezer section - really good!
*
Super simple appetizer - block of cream cheese
with raspberry chipotle sauce poured on top,
served with wheat thins.
*
Raspberry tart from Trader Joe's,
with vanilla ice cream on top.
We had the blueberry tart a few weeks ago,
the raspberry one is delicious too.
Perfect for the summer
when you don't want to heat up the
house by baking.

Summer tea

*

I have been making iced tea with these.

Both very tasty!

Indoor games

Pretty quiet around here this weekend.

It's hot - no surprise there. We spent

part of the day in the pool, then

Chloe and I played a few games of

Scrabble.
*

Yummy fruit salad we enjoyed at

lunch. Mixed with a bit of lime juice,

lime zest & honey.

Keep cool....8

This makes me feel cooler just looking at it....

(recipe: www.inthekitchn.com)

*

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca

(serves 4 - fills one blender)
2 pounds seedless watermelon

(1/8th of a good-size watermelon)

1 cup cold water

2 teaspoons lime juice

1 tablespoon simple syrup or agave nectar

**

This one sounds good too...

Honeydew-Basil Agua Fresca

(serves 4)
1 honeydew

2 cups cold water

4 teaspoons lime juice

2 tablespoons basil-infused simple syrup or agave nectar

For the simple syrup: Mix 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar.

Bring to boil over medium-low heat and simmer, without stirring,

until all sugar is dissolved (about three minutes).

Remove from heat, add 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs

Let steep for 15 minutes until flavor has infused the syrup.
Blend all ingredients, adjusting sweetness as needed.

Strain through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth (optional).

Serve over ice.

*

Note to self: this would be good with a splash

of Vodka too!

I am just saying...

Easy and delicious

*

The kids loved this - me too!

Super easy and very affordable.

I served it with steamed sugar snap peas,

and pickled cucumbers - yum!

*

Korean Beef

1 lb. lean ground beef

1/4-1/2 C. brown sugar

1/4 C. soy sauce

1 Tbl. sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced

1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper

1 bunch green onions, diced

*

Heat large skillet over medium heat.

Brown beef with garlic in the sesame oil.

Drain the fat. Add brown sugar, soy, ginger,

red pepper and salt & pepper.

Let simmer for a few min. to

combine the flavors. Serve over steamed

rice and top with green onions.

*

Pickled Cucumbers

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced

3 Tbl. Rice vinegar

3 Tbl. Honey

*
Place cucumber slices into a colander in the sink

and lightly sprinkle with salt, tossing to coat.

Allow cucumber to drain for 30 minutes.

Gently shake the colander to remove any excess liquid

and transfer cucumber to a large bowl.

Stir in rice vinegar and honey, making sure to coat each

cucumber slice evenly. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Toss cucumber and return to the refrigerator

for an additional hour.

Serve chilled.

Dinner last night

Spicy Peanut Noodles

8 oz. whole wheat or whole grain pasta

(I used whole grain spaghetti)

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 Tbl. soy sauce

2-3 tsp. sriracha

2 tsp. honey

Cook noodles. Mix together the rest of the

ingredients. and pour over hot noodles.

Eat hot or cold. Top with cilantro,

green onions, red pepper, seasame seeds,

or even shredded chicken if you like.

Summer cocktails

Lemon & Raspberry Vodka

Let sit in a cool place for about 2 weeks.

Then serve over ice with a splash of soda.

Store in the freezer.

Cool and refreshing!

Play dough and a new friend

We mixed up several batches of Koolaid play dough

yesterday. Fruit punch, orange, lime and grape.

Super easy and they smell good too!

*

While looking for my cookie cutters,

we found a little friend stuck in one of

my tupperware - not sure how he got in there?

We only plan to keep him for a day or so,

then we will set him free.

(Tiny, lost Gecko)

Koolaid Play dough

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
2 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 small pkg. koolaid
1 Tbl. cream of tarter
1/2 cup hot water
*
Mix flour, salt, oil, and cream of tartar in a
mixing bowl. Next add the kool-aid and mix together.
Add hot water and stir with a spoon until dough forms.
Kneed dough with hands. If dough is too sticky
add a little more flour to make it smooth.
Then....have fun!

A sweet thank you

It's official - our solar panels are up

and producing power to run our home - yahoo!

I made a few batches of cookies and some brownies

for D to take into the office today. Just a

small thank you to the guys for all

their hard work. They had to go up in the

incredibly HOT attic (a few times..)

before the job was done - yikes!

I cannot wait for that first small electric

bill - I will enjoy writing out that check.

Since it's sooo hot, and we have to run the

a/c all the time to stay cool, we may not

see a small bill for awhile - but it will

definitely be less and this is good!

Record breaking

heat

again today...

We will try to stay cool.

Happy Hour

Typically I do not care for Rose

wine - but this was affordable and

looked very refreshing.

116 today - ugh!

Time to cool off with a glass of wine

and an evening swim.

Dinner last night

Delicious Turkey Burgers

1 1/2 lb. ground turkey

1/2 C. grated Gruyere

4 sliced scallions

1/4 C. breadcrumbs

1/4 C. Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt & pepper

4-5 buns

Gently mix all of the ingred. together.

Form mixture into 4-5 patties and grill.

Very good!

Getting silly

Self portraits found on Chloe's camera.

*

I think they were a little bored this

day - but it looks like they kept

themselves amused.

Slide Rock

We took a weekend trip up north to Flagstaff.

Stopped at Slide Rock on the way up.

We enjoyed a picnic and the cool creek.

*

We got a few bruises on our booties, but
overall it was fun.