Mary, Paul & Jordyn

Drawn by Jordyn 6/18/10

Adventures in Cooking: Cowboy Pancakes

Take a look at what PO cooked for dinner the other night. We're calling them 'Cowboy Pancakes' -  basically it's an entire breakfast wrapped up in one awesome pancake!

You make regular pancakes and throw in some already cooked, diced up sausage and bacon. 

Then you cook a couple eggs, over easy. . .

Then throw the eggs on top of the monstrous pancake. Drizzle some syrup on top of the entire creation and you have a meal hearty enough to feed the hungriest of cowboys! Mmmmmm!

Happy Father's Day PO!

We celebrated father's day two days early and the kids got their dad a new water proof backpack (perfect for taking on the kayak!) as well a light for his barbecue and a few new beer glasses (ok, those were from me ;)

I hope you had a great father's day, PO! 

Roll'in on the river

Last weekend we took the 'ol kayak out again (We named it 'One Love' by the way!) This time we docked at Lodi Lake and cruised up river for a few hours. As usual, we packed the ice chest full of snacks and beer, had the music blaring and enjoyed a fun afternoon getting some sun and spending some time together! Here's some pictures of our fun afternoon, roll'n on the river;

Rio Vista Run

Good times, with good friends!

March, 2010

There's only one thing in this world that I think competes with me for PO's attention. . . 

An open stretch of highway, cool wind in his hair and nowhere to be but in the moment. . . 

Picture taken on our way to Tahoe, August of 2009

Weekend Recap: Kayaking down the American River!

Yesterday PO and I went up to Sacramento to hang out with our newlywed friends Melyssa and Steven (we just attended there wedding last weekend! Read about it here.) We had a day of kayaking planned and I have to admit, I was a little nervous! PO and I have only taken the kayak out once before so my skills are far from advanced. Luckily the river required less work than I thought. I got to kick back and tan while PO did most of the paddling. The river flows pretty good at some points so there isn't too much effort involved (except for a few white water areas, which we made it though without too much trouble.) The excitement for the day came when we saw some crazy kids who got 'stranded' and had to be 'rescued'. We just sat and laughed at the two idiots and took pictures. All in all, we had a awesome time and can't wait to do it again!!

Happy Birthday to Me! 

We celebrated my 28th birthday at BJ's Brewery in Modesto with my parents, Melissa and Spencer, Paul's parents as well as Mike and Carol. We had a great time!

Tuesday, June 8th 2010

Lodi Brewery

Having a beer at our favorite local hangout.

Monday, June 7th 2010

PO and his green thumb

Our bird of paradise in the front yard finally bloomed! Isn't it gorgeous?! 

Weekend Update - Summer is officially here!

Last weekend we headed over to Santa Cruz for the weekend. (Yes, AGAIN! Can you tell we can't get enough of this place?!) We had a wedding to go to for one of PO's long time friends on Saturday, June 5th so we headed west Friday afternoon.

We started off the weekend festivities by having dinner with Shelly (my sister) and her boyfriend John, and his brother James and his girlfriend (not to mention a good friend of John and Shelly's) Robyn. We went to 'I Love Sushi' in downtown Santa Cruz. Between the saki bombs, free drinks and rolls, awesome sushi, not to mention my birthday 'cake', we had a blast!

We woke up Saturday and got ready to take the walk down the beach to the hotel where the wedding was being held. It was a very small, casual affair that included an 11:30 ceremony on the beach followed by a reception on the patio at the Ocean Echo Inn, catered by a local Hawaiian restaurant.The food was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Here's PO in his cool cat hat ;) Man, I love that guy!! 

The ceremony was gorgeous!!! Such a perfect day for a beach wedding!

PO and the bride! 

Me and PO trying to hide in the shade. I got SO sunburned that day!

Sunday was our 'beach day' so we spent the afternoon down on the beach with Shelly before we had to head back to Lodi. 

Another fun weekend!!!

Adventures in Cooking: Downhome Cook'in

The Pioneer Woman rocks when it comes to good 'ol fashioned, down home cook'in. Healthy and nutritious? Absolutely not, but damn, it tastes good! Most of her recipes are packed with butter (the real stuff!) and loads of salt, but we all need to take a break from the healthy stuff and induldge in some comfort food every once in a while! Her cookbook is fantastic, and I have become a huge fan of her blog as well.

 Friday night I made The Pioneer Woman's Mac and Cheese and it turned out AMAZING! It was a little time consuming (especially since I am a cooking amature) but well worth the time and effort! Everyone seemed to enjoy it as well.

Ingredients

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• ¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2-½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. 

Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
 

Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

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Monday was a holiday (Memorial Day) so we stayed home and BBQ'd. PO made some killer BBQ chicken and grilled corn and I contributed to the meal by making The Pioneer Woman's 'Restraunt Style Smashed Potatoes'. They were super simple to make and turned out fantastic!

Ingredients

• 5 whole Large Red Potatoes
• 1 stick Butter, Softened And Cut Into Pieces
• 5 slices Bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 whole Green Onions, Sliced
• ¾ cups Sour Cream
• Salt To Taste (add Plenty!)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper To Taste (ditto!)
• ¾ cups French Fried Onions, More For Topping

Preparation Instructions

Nuke potatoes or bake in the oven until fork-tender. Add to a large bowl and smash with a potato masher. Immediately add softened butter, green onions, bacon, and sour cream and stir with a rubber spatula. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add french fried onions and fold in.

Serve hot, sprinkling on extra french fried onions and green onions.

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To read more about our weekend adventures, click here! 

Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a great weekend spending time with the kids, friends and family. Saturday we drove to Rohnert Park and visited PO's long time best friend, Wade and his family.

Here's PO with his buddy Kanoa.

We headed down to the park to try out their new blow up ball toy.

Even PO and Cristy gave it a whirl!

Here's the whole group as we sat and watched the crazy larpers recreate a midevil battle.

There goes Jake running onto their battlefield with the large blow up ball over him. One of the funniest things I have seen in a long time! We were all dying laughing!!!

Sunday we got in the car again, this time headed South to visit my parents and to attend their 4th annual Memorial Day weekend Fishing Derby. 

Mmmmmm, 100 lbs of smoked ribs!

The goofy couple! :)

Jordyn tried so hard to catch a fish but was unfortunately unsuccessful. She sure looks cute trying though! That girl is growing up too fast!

There was also a chili cook off contest, and there were 13 different chili's we had to try and vote on!

Here's Page and Jordyn with the crawdad one of the fisher's caught.

This year there were over 60 people in attendance at the Fishing Derby!

Dad and Shelly announcing the winners of the fishing contest and the best chili!

Monday we stayed home and recuperated from all the traveling we did this weekend! PO fired up the BBQ and we enjoyed an awesome dinner. We had a great weekend!!!