Marc's 45th

Today is Marc's 45th birthday. Since we didn't get snowed in after all, he wanted to go to lunch and a movie.

We went to Pizzeria 712, which is pretty much our favorite local restaurant.


Your meal always starts with this beautiful freshly-made pita bread and hummus.

We had the butternut squash/caramelized onion/gorgonzola/rosemary pizza and the sausage fennel pizza, which I found out is Marc's favorite. (I prefer the squash one. Or the potato one, which wasn't on the menu today.) So good.

We went to see 127 Hours. It wouldn't have been my choice, but the birthday boy got to choose. I actually liked it quite a bit. James Franco did an amazing job of carrying the whole movie. It also gave me things to think about. I just don't know that I have that kind of survival instinct.

After we came home, Marc went to work on his current photography project.

I made the frosting(s) for his cake and started dinner. We had what is possibly my favorite meal (fortunately, he really likes it, too!):

zesty lemon chicken (if you only try one of the recipes on my recipe blog, I think it should be this one)
broccoli with blue cheese (loooove it)
jasmine rice
artisan bread
chocolate peanut butter cake

Gifts received: Paul Smith London cologne, new workout shorts, local Amano chocolate, and a carpet cleaning scheduled for Tuesday.

Eva made a 45 sign for his cake since I told her we couldn't have 45 candles. This cake is so so rich, I don't know if I can have another piece!

While I was putting Eva to bed and doing the dishes, Marc and Max had a Battlestar Galactica marathon.

I hope Marc had a great day. And it's almost like he didn't get a year older, since he thought he was turning 45 last year!

on the menu

I was making my menu plan and grocery list this morning, and thought some of you might be interested in knowing what's on the menu chez moi this week. (I read a post on Neighbor Jane's blog about the law of diminishing returns – she always has good food for thought – and it made me think of recipes. I just get tired of things if I make them too often, so even though we have definite favorites that I return to again and again, I have to mix things up and I love to try new recipes.)

And yes, I realize I use far too many parenthetical asides. I can't help it.


Crockpot sweet & sour chicken (I'll be adding carrots and using sweet & sour sauce instead of the bbq sauce; this looks just like an old recipe of my mom's that I had forgotten about but remember fondly.)

Sourdough pizza with squash, bacon, and caramelized onions (Holy cow, I cannot wait to taste this!)

Homemade chicken noodle soup (because I love homemade noodles. and chicken.)

Pasta ricca al gorgonzola (because we love meat & blue cheese combinations and all I have to buy is the ground beef!)

Carrot, coconut & curry soup (because I have a serious weakness for carrots and coconut milk)

Warm autumn salad (We looooove roasted veggies.)

Homemade flat bread (looks like naan, ooh la la!)

Artisan bread with a twist (The same recipe I make in the Dutch oven, only shaped into baguette-ish loaves and with less wait time. A hit with my family.)

Brown bag microwave popcorn (so clever!)

Cookies of some sort, most likely these.

As you can see, I have been using Tasty Kitchen a lot lately for new recipe ideas. I have several cooking/recipe blogs in my Google Reader and SO many starred items to try... Also, I just really love squash. And carrots.

Monday miscellany

A week ago Saturday, Eva went to a birthday party up in Provo canyon. On our way, we passed a stand for fresh-picked peaches, and I had to buy a box. I am not canning this year, we just really love Lemon Elberta peaches! We have been eating them ever since.

I packaged some up and took them to the sisters that I visit teach. Now they are nearing over-ripeness, so I am cutting them up and freezing them and making more peach sauce. Smoothies today!

I made this granola last week and I am officially in love. It is now gone and I stocked up on oatmeal when it was on sale so I can make it again and again!

After about a year of trying to get Crystal over to make artisan bread, it finally happened last Wednesday! Jill and Amie were interested as well, so we made a day of it.

Crystal brought her little boy Jack with her. While it hasn't been that long since I had a toddler around the house, I had forgotten what a whirlwind they are! No wonder moms are tired.

Jill brought our favorite chicken salad, Amie brought croissants, I provided the peaches (of course), and Crystal brought cannoli for dessert. What a feast!

Crystal with her finished loaf. This bread is truly so easy to make, it's crazy to put it off. If you like bread, you really should try this recipe.

And on a non-food-related note: I have decided that I need to come to terms with my new role as constant chauffeur. Somehow, I have avoided that pretty well up until now, but no more. I have a minimum of 4 trips a day driving kids around, more often it's more like 6. I've been feeling quite grumbly about the whole thing, as it breaks up my day so much that I don't have any big chunks of time to get stuff done. After a few weeks of this, I finally decided that being annoyed about having to do all this running around isn't helping me at all, and I don't want my kids to think that I begrudge helping them out, so... I just have to embrace this new normal. I think I'm doing an okay job of it.

Sunday thoughts

I was home yet again with Eva and Lucas, both of whom had coughs and fevers this morning.

I played monsters and dinosaurs.
I read. (Finally almost finished with The Count of Monte Cristo.)
I took a nap!
I made Tagine d'Agneau aux Poires for dinner. Also Oatmeal Rolls. (These two things do not in any way go together, but I was trying to please the different eating contingents in our family. Plus, they're both delicious.)
I finished watching The Wizard of Oz with Max and Lucas.

But the best thing I did all day was to listen to another session of General Conference on my ipod.

It never fails to make me stop and listen, take out a pen and paper, and write down the things that speak to me. The main thing I felt inspired by today had to do with temperance.

"Being temperate is to use moderation in all things or to exercise self-control."

"Being temperate means to carefully examine our expectations and desires, to be diligent and patient in seeking righteous goals."

"A temperate soul—one who is humble and full of love—is also a person of increased spiritual strength. With increased spiritual strength, we are able to develop self-mastery and to live with moderation. We learn to control, or temper, our anger, vanity, and pride. With increased spiritual strength, we can protect ourselves from the dangerous excesses and destructive addictions of today’s world."

This excellent talk was just what I needed to hear today. I was instructed that temperance is a gift of the Spirit, one that can be sought after and conferred upon us by the Holy Ghost. I was reassured that temperance is always a good thing, contrary to what the world would tell us. We only have to look to our Savior to know that this is truth. Oh yes, I am seeking after these things.

in case you didn't know

1. Several of you asked about the crockpot recipe I made the other day. I posted it here. It's so dumb, it's almost not a recipe. You asked for it!

2. My home teacher told me about a free app for the iPhone/iTouch: Stanza. It is so cool! You can download ebooks to it, and there are libraries of free ones (mostly classics). You can also purchase new ones if you wish. I have 10 books loaded onto mine that I really want to read and now I have that many more books to take to Paris without taking up any room in my suitcase!

3. I want to win a Blendtec blender! Sure, the odds are slim, but please take a second and go vote for my recipe! You can vote once a day and the contest ends on Monday. Thanks!

That's all, peeps.

six for Saturday

1. I rented a pressure washer last week and cleaned the exterior of the house. I've been wanting to do it ever since I read about it on Kelly's blog, what, last year? Anyway. While I wouldn't necessarily characterize it as fun, it was very satisfying to see all that grime getting washed away.

2. I made meatballs for the very first time this week! I know. Where have I been? (If you must know, I'm not a huge spaghetti fan, due to the many ward dinners I attended as a child where we had mushy spaghetti and jarred sauce. I'm getting over it.) I made Alton's baked meatballs (I think from allrecipes.com), my favorite quick & easy pasta sauce -- but now I have made the very good addition of a dash of crushed red pepper flakes -- and Grandma's French bread. I forgot to make a green vegetable, oops!

3. After the pressure washing, I was ready to paint the front door! Before:

During. I did two coats of Sherwin Williams' Parakeet, but even though I loved the color on the strip, I decided it was a little too bright on the door. I took the paint back and had them add a little more tint. Here, you can see the contrast if you look closely.

After! I finished the last coat last night, and now I officially love it! I am continually amazed by what a fresh coat of paint can do to spruce up my surroundings.

4. We finally got the sprinkler guys back this week to investigate the two big mud puddles we have in the backyard. The city says we have a water leak somewhere, because our meter is constantly running. I'm pretty sure the puddles are related.

Bad news from the sprinkler guys. We already have 4 out of 6 of our sprinkler stations turned off due to major breaks in the system. Now it looks like we will have to have another expensive repair or turn off our sprinklers completely. It bugs me to no end to have a sprinkler system and not be able to use it. Oh, but they did offer to let us save some money by doing some of the labor ourselves -- oh, goody! Hours of digging to look forward to! (did I mention it's 101 degree today??)

5. We had Creative Friday on Wednesday because Jill went on a family campout yesterday. It was a super-productive day! Jill, at least, set a record. I didn't, but I was still pleased with my output. At one point, Jill cracked me up by saying, "It's like a good mail sweatshop!!" Now that's a sweatshop I can get behind.

Do you like the extreme angles that are now required to minimize my chins? Man, I wish I looked like this from straight on...

6. Because of our early Creative Friday, Thursday felt like Saturday, and yesterday and today have felt like bonus days!! I spent some time putting my studio back to rights (everything has been out of the closet and piled up since the flood) -- still more work required, but it's a fun kind of work. I went visiting teaching. I even took a nap, oh so glorious. And now, I'm off to finally touch up the paint in the foyer that's been hanging over my head for, oh about six months...

domesticity

In the last week or so, I've been yearning for domesticity (not really a stretch for me, but still). Yearning. I learned to knit. And now I'm a little bit obsessed. Last night, after putting Eva to bed, I was so anxious to sit down and watch Chuck with my boys and knit that I forgot to eat dinner! Seriously. I'm just not one to forget to eat. I realized it only later when I was on my way to bed.

I'm relearning how to crochet. This will no doubt tickle my mother to no end, as I used to crochet as a girl. When I didn't have anything else to do, I would say, "well, I guess I'll turn to crochet." I certainly can't say that I don't have anything else to do, but what can I say? I can't fight the yearning. I blame blogging, actually. Seeing so many friends making cool things is making me want to dive in.

Eva and I made these yesterday. Oh yeah, baby.

Today I cleaned out the boys' clothes and weeded out a ton of stuff. Max had 6 pairs of jeans in his drawer that were too small -- no wonder he couldn't fit his clothes in there!

And for those of you who asked, here are the recipes for:

overnight rolls

Grandma's French bread

Now, off to (hopefully) finish my book!

I could stay here in domestic bliss forever, leaving just to buy groceries. And possibly more yarn.

(Who knows? Maybe someday I will even learn to like ironing! Probably not, but that's for you, Grandma. And Mom. And Denise.)

recipe blog!

I started a recipe blog yesterday.

I've been thinking about doing it for awhile now -- it just seems so convenient to have all of my recipes in one location. Easy to point others to as well when they want a recipe.

It will be an ongoing process, adding all of my favorite recipes. At this point, most of them don't have photos, but I will make an effort to take more pictures as I am cooking.

I hope you enjoy it!

recipes

Several of you asked for the recipes for Katrina's vegetable lasagna and/or my grandmother's cream pies. On a hunch, I searched my blog, and it turns out, I have posted both of them before! So if you're interested, you can find the lasagna recipe here. Vanilla (or chocolate) cream pie recipe here.

Also, Marc and I went to see Dan in Real Life tonight. Oh my. Loved it.