Life can move too fast. So when it was time for the family summer beach vacation, my mind immediately went to all the things I needed to do at work and how would I fit in a vacation around my schedule.
I know I need to sit back and appreciate my family and my life. I hope you can take a second to do the same thing.
Garden gate in my parents back yard.
Orange Canna Lily
Texas Pink Crate Myrtle
Purple Wisteria
14. What’s more fun than being around a 16 year old? Mixing in a few 14 year olds. I have two cousins who are 14. They’re freshmen.
My mom is a high school history teacher. She’s been teaching the subject for the last 25 years. Let’s just say she knows the whole Texas curriculum for each grade, what should be taught each year and what you should leave each grade knowing. This is important information for the dinner conversation my mom had with cousin Chris.
Scene: Cajun seafood restaurant in Galveston.
Chris- What are they saying in this song? I don’t understand it?
Mom- It’s in French.
Chris- Why in the world is there a French song on in a Cajun restaurant?
Mom- (looks wide-eyed at Chris)
Chris- What? I don’t understand.
Mom- Who did we purchase Louisiana from?
Chris- Ummmmm.
Mom- You’re a freshman, right? You had to have learned this.
Chris- I don’t know, my teacher is Canadian.
16. Do you remember that? I have a 16 year old sister. So, I’m getting regular installments of 16 year old logic.
Today’s conversation started off like this-
Liz- Where are we going to eat tonight.
Mom- I don’t know, what are you hungry for?
Liz- I’ve got this cute plaid top from A&F, the one with a bow. I’m going to wear that with my khaki shorts.
Mom- What does that have to do with what you’re hungry for?
Liz- It doesn’t, I just want to eat somewhere where I can wear that outfit.
I walked in the door from a fun weekend to my electric bill (not fun) and to find out that I got ROTD from Yelp.com! *blush*
Do you yelp? The mission of the site is:
Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what’s great (and not so great) in your world. You already know that asking friends is the best way to find restaurants, dentists, hairstylists, and anything local. Yelp makes it fast and easy by collecting and organizing your friends’ recommendations in one convenient place.
I’ve found lots of local independent bloggers from Phoenix on Yelp, it’s been a great way to stay connected. I’ve looked up my old spots in Dallas, reviewed hole in the walls in Phoenix and planned for my trips to Vegas and Los Angeles using this site.
When someone said to me that in the summer in Phoenix it can go days without going below 100, I finally got it. It’s not the dry heat that can get you here, it’s the fact that there is no relief from the heat. There are times that you can go out at midnight and it’s still 100.
Since it is so hot, it makes the fact that I need coffee in the morning, pretty unfortunate. I read an article in the NY Times Online that caught my interest.
Do you know the difference between hot brewed coffee on ice and ice brewed iced coffee? I didn’t. I had to try.
I found another use for those POM Juice jars, handy suckers aren’t they.
These two jars were way over kill, plan on using almost 3x the coffee you would in traditional brewing. I could taste a subtle difference, but I’m not a coffee brewing expert either.
Cheers!
Lazy bum. That’s a good way to describe my Sunday activities. Up at 9AM, breakfast at Chase’s Diner, back home and on the couch all afternoon. I mean all afternoon. I took small breaks from my napping to switch positions on the couch, but other than that- nothin. It’s been awesome. I caught up on TiVo and Food Network shows.
This recipe really caught my eye. Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar are two main components of these muffins. I know crazy, that’s usually how I start a salad dressing, so I was tempted to try it out.
You’ve got to try them. Amazingly good. All the flavors really come through, you can really taste all the flavors.
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons whole milk
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Powdered sugar, for sifting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper liners in a 12-cup muffin tin.
Blend together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, eggs, and zests in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vinegar and milk. Gradually beat in the oil. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Crush the almonds with your hands as you add them to the batter and stir until mixed. Fill the muffin tin almost to the top of the paper liners. Bake until golden on top and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins onto a platter and let cool for 5 more minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the muffins and serve.
One of my most favorite blogs to troll is Andrea’s Recipe Box. Her writing style, page navigation and descriptions are all very easy. Also, she has two three small boys, so how she finds time in the kitchen is a mystery to me!
I had two parties yesterday. I needed a dish that was quick and could withstand the heat. You can find the recipe here
The variations I used were almonds, mint and corn. I got a lot of great compliments.
I also took fixings to make the white wine spritzer I’ve posted before, a little white wine, seltzer and tonight I put blueberries in the mix. It was very refreshing and delicious.
Thank you Andrea!
