Holiday Baking

As stated previously, I did quite a bit of holiday cooking this week. My favorites are the simplest ones. I'm always a bit skeptical of recipes that have 5 ingredients or less, as some cookbooks like to promote, because I usually end up adding all the seasonings they have apparently deleted, or something else along this line. However, with the following two recipes, simplicity makes these the best ever. The first thing, shortbread, is something I began making several years ago because I often heard of it around Christmas but hadn't had it, so I found a recipe and tried it. Turns out, they're amazing! Not necessarily super-attractive (I had to jazz them up with cookie cutters and sprinkles), but it makes a beautiful dough (you'll understand if you make it) and they are SO good, SO simple (3 ingredients!) and a little unhealthy. :-) But hey, it's the holidays! (By the way, these are way, way, better than sugar cookies.)

Scottish Shortbread

2 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar, packed

4 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar together. Add 3 3/4 c. flour and mix well. Sprinkle board with remaining flour, and knead dough for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3x1 inch strips or cut out shapes. Prick several times with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Yield: 3-4 dozen

The second simple sensation (man, I love alliteration!) is toffee. For some reason, the image that remains in my mind is from when I made this at home a few years ago. We broke it up and put it into a big Grinch mug (yeah, that's how we roll), and ate it up while we played Settlers of Catan, a family favorite :-) While candy might seem complicated, it only assumes you can do one thing: boil stuff. And that is really all there is to this: boil 3 things together until it gets to 285 degrees (use a candy thermometer), spread it in a pan, put chocolate chips on top, sprinkle nuts on top, and done! Give it a shot! It's definitely a Christmas classic in my house now!

Super Easy Toffee

2 c. butter

2 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 c. chocolate chips

1 c. finely chopped nuts

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Combine butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Heat until butter has melted, bring mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally while mixture boils, until it turns a dark amber color, and reaches 285 degrees on a candy thermometer. [Watch carefully.] Immediately pour into prepared pan. Spread into pan with spatula. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and allow to warm 2-3 minutes. Spread melted chocolate over toffee with spatula. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of chocolate and press down so they don't fall off. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Remove foil, break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Christmas Food!

It has been WAY too long since I last wrote, mainly because the past 3 weeks found me coming home at 6 or 7 most nights (or later) then making dinner, and then flopping down, exhausted on the couch. There were so many things that didn't happen in the last couple weeks, not the least of which are blogging and sleeping. So, when school was finally over Friday, I was thrilled to have time to myself, in which I slowly checked off things on a giant list. And slept. And now, Thursday night has come, and I'm finally able to sit and relax. [And this, folks, is why teachers need two week breaks during the school year. But that's another whole blog post...]

One of the few things I allowed myself to do this week that was just for fun, was to make my favorite Christmas foods. I love to make the classics, like Chex Mix which I adore, and Peanut Butter Blossoms with the Hershey's kisses in the middle. However, I also like to make some ethnic foods and family recipes (peppernuts, caramels, etc.). I was inspired to make one of these after my Grandma Schmidt made these seasoned oyster crackers over the Thanksgiving holiday (and we ate the entire batch during the weekend). They have a tangy lemon-pepper seasoning and are then baked for a nice toasted flavor. It turns out, they are also perfect for teaching the dog to balance food on his nose and eat it before it hits the floor. (This didn't happen too many times though, since Ben and I ate most of them!)

Savory Oyster Crackers

1 (1 oz.) pkg ranch dressing mix

1/2 t. dried dill

3/4 t. oil

5 c. plain oyster crackers

1/4 t. lemon pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250. Combine all ingredients but oyster crackers. Pour over oyster crackers and stir. Spread on cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Stir once during baking. Store in airtight container.

Chocolate & mint in the air!

Last week, I was reading the events section of the newspaper and came across this article which talked about the Chocolate Walk in Cottonwood, AZ, one of the many tiny, old, mining towns in rural Arizona. This quote from a shop owner in the Old Town area of Cottonwood made me decide that we MUST do this:

"It is by far my favorite night of the year in Cottonwood, with everybody strolling and the lights on and the smell of mint and chocolate. You just meander in and out of the shops, which are all decorated, and pick up your chocolate."

So, on Saturday afternoon, I sat down to buy tickets online, about an hour before Ben, Marilyn and I left. I was crushed to discover that, according to the town website, it sold out quite early. However, I kept reading and saw that a few local shop owners still had tickets, so I started calling them. The 3rd one answered, and the woman said she had 3 tickets left. I said we were from Phoenix and would she possibly hold them for us? Thank goodness for small town kindness, because she said she would :-)

As per usual, it took us forever to get out of the house and on the road, but when we finally got there, I was more than a little concerned that the shop would be closed up tight, and we'd be stuck. However, by asking a few people, we found our way to her shop and were good to go.

The event itself was fantastic, and totally worth the one hour/40 minute drive. Essentially, it was trick-or-treating for adults, minus the costume. At the Civic Center, we received a map of Old Town, and a decorated paper bag (decorated by the local glitter merchant!) From there, we walked up and down the Old Town area, where each merchant checked off their name on the map, and then we each received a hand-decorated something or other from the merchant (none of whom were actually chocolate shops). The treats included everything from chocolate-dipped pretzels, to many variations of brownies, to fudge, to truffles, to brittle, to rum-soaked chocolate cake balls.

As we meandered through town, many merchants had hot chocolate or cider, some had live music, and many were decorated marvelously. We were highly impressed with the quality of stores, including a gelato store, a cute coffee shop, a fantastic retro diner in an old gas station (Bing's Burger Station - see photo) where we had supper after we'd collected our bags of treats. For an added bonus, it was a beautiful night, as we're in the middle of a warm snap, with highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 40s. One of my favorite stops was an olive oil and vinegar store, where I bought an AMAZING fresh peach white balsamic vinegar :-) Finally, in a chocolate-glazed fog, we headed for home, down the mountain. What a lovely time!

Needless to say, this is something I'll definitely try to attend next year! What a great way to get in the Christmas spirit!

Grand prize winner!

I wish it was me who won the grand prize, but I'm glad the lady in Taste of Home won a grand prize for this recipe, because it was fantastic. However, the hassle it caused me was less than fantastic.

I had a busy week this week and so I found some recipes that would use the slow-cooker, or could be started the night before. This was one. So, one night after cleaning up supper, I started this soup, basically thinking I just had to boil some beans to get it started. Contrary to my expectations, it ended up that I basically made the whole soup, which then simmered on the stove for 2 hours, before going into the fridge until supper the next day.

Since I wanted to go to bed and was worn out from making two meals in a row, I had Ben put it in the fridge before he went to bed an hour later. I was just about asleep when I hear cursing and things crashing to the floor. I go out to the kitchen, preparing to be furious that my whole evening's worth of work (and next day's supper) were now ruined. Luckily, it was just a container of liquid that had spilled while he was trying to adjust shelves to make the soup pot fit, though still not fun to clean up at 11:30 at night. Thankfully, the soup was fine, (my beauty sleep was less than fine) and the next day, it was hot and ready to go for supper, when I got home late. And, I don't know about you, but I think ham (I used chopped ham, not a ham bone) is an excellent addition to pretty much anything :-)

Click HERE for the recipe to Ham & Bean Chowder.

Civic Duty

This morning, I spent my Sunday School hour doing my civic duty, by filling out my early ballot. It was SO long!! It literally took me 2 hours to fill it out, though there was some thinking/researching involved (which is TOTALLY why early ballots are the way to go). I knew that I was planning on using the description of all the propositions on the ballot from the newspaper, but I couldn't find it.

After some work, I eventually tracked them all down, and compiled them below. These were quite helpful, because they have a brief description of each proposition, give a short pro and con argument for each, as well as describing who is paying for/supporting each one. Additionally, to complete the vote for retention for a BILLION judges, I found a website that gives approval ratings of judges by attorneys, jurors, and defendants, which was super helpful. Since it took me so much time to find all this info, I thought I'd share it. Hope you can use it to make educated decisions!

Prop 106-Health Care

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/24/20100924arizona-proposition-106-health-care.html

Prop 107-Affirmative Action

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/28/20100928arizona-proposition-107-affirmative-action.html

Prop 109-Hunting and Fishing

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/26/20100926arizona-proposition-109-hunting-rights.html

Prop 110-State Trust Land

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/25/20100925arizona-prop-110-state-trust-land.html

Prop 111-Lieutenant Governor

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/29/20100929arizona-prop-111-deputy-governor-office.html

Prop 112-Petition Deadline

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/30/20100930arizona-prop-112-ballot-petitions.html

Prop 113-Secret Ballot

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/10/01/20101001arizona-prop-113-union-vote.html

Prop 203-Medical Marijuana

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/26/20100926arizona-medical-marijuana-prop-203.html

Prop 301-Land Conservation

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/10/02/20101002arizona-prop-301-conservation-money.html

Prop 302-First Things First Funding

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/10/03/20101003arizona-prop-302.html

JUDGE RECOMMENDATIONS from http://www.azjudges.info/home/index.cfm

Perfectly Pleasing Potluck

Last week we had potluck day and parent-teacher conferences at school. On the same day. Which happened to be the day before I had 850 grades due. Needless to say, it was a busy week. I love potlucks, not only because they give me a tasty meal, but I get to try a new recipe without having to eat the entire thing if it isn't fantastic :-) However, like I said, it was a busy week, and I wasn't sure where I was going to find time to bring something.

Since I'd been doing grades in every spare moment I had all week long, I hadn't had time to plan in advance what I'd bring. So, it came down to me warily eyeing my row of cookbooks at 8:15 the night before. As always, I was looking for a dessert, but it had to be quick and easy, and ideally use the crockpot, since that was the kind of time crunch I was under. Additionally, I have a co-worker who has celiac's disease, so I wanted it to be gluten-free for his sake.

Needless to say, I wasn't terribly hopeful I was going to find anything to fit all these categories, but I knew the best place to start would be the old Fix It and Forget It crockpot cookbook. Generally, this cookbook has not been my friend because the bulk of the recipes center around large (read: expensive) hunks of meat, which is just not the way I cook. Knowing this, I knew there was not a lot of hope that a gluten-free dessert would appear in the pages of this meat-laden book, but surprise, surprise, in the 12 page dessert section, there were two whole pages of something that fit the bill: rice pudding.

I couldn't believe my good luck. Not only was it a dessert that was gluten-free and made in the crockpot, it served 10 and was made in approximately 3 hours, which fit right into my time frame. I do know that some people do not have a taste for rice pudding, but this was just too perfect not to try.

Due to the order of things that needed to be combined, I just took the few ingredients with me to school. First, the milk, sugar, and rice boil together on high for several hours. (Every time I walked by that morning, it smelled wonderful :-) Then during the last half hour (when I had a prep), I added in the last cup of milk with the eggs, vanilla, and salt. It was just right by the time we were ready to eat, and since people had parent-teacher conferences, they wandered in and out the rest of the day. Every time I walked through the hall, there was someone else with a cup of rice pudding in they're hand :-) Lucky for me, I work with a group of teachers who actually do like rice pudding. Even my gluten-free friend said it was one of his favorite things :-) Give it a shot! It's just right for a cool fall day!

Crockpot Rice Pudding

1 c. white rice, uncooked

1 c. sugar

8 c. milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

cinnamon or nutmeg

1. In slow cooker, combine rice, sugar, and 8 c. milk. Cook on High for 3 hours.

2. Beat together eggs, 1 1/2 c. milk, vanilla, and salt. Add to slow cooker and stir. Cook on high for 30-40 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg. Serve warm.

[NOTE: Non-crockpot rice pudding requires a good amount of stirring during cooking, like risotto, but this recipe does not, which makes it easier. However, this recipe is not as smooth and creamy as the recipe I usually make, while I'm standing by the stove cooking something else. Two different recipes for two different purposes...]

Chili Weather!

This week has FINALLY heralded the arrival of fall in Arizona. A week ago,the temperature was hovering around 108 degrees for a high. Now, highs average in the low to mid 90s, with nights in the 60s. We can finally keep our doors and windows open at night! What brought this sudden change of temperature? A gigantic storm, that the Valley is still recovering from.

On Tuesday, the first big cell hit around noon, when the power went out at my school for the rest of the afternoon. I left school at 3, when it was sunny and starting to clear a bit. I was psyched for cooler temps and so I decided to take the dogs for a walk. By the time I got all of their leashes and whatnot ready to go, it had started to rain. However, at this point, there was no turning back, so we went around the block and got rained on. Unfortunately, the last third of

the block, we got drenched. So, upon return, I just decided to give Nimbus a bath since we were both soaking already anyway.

When I finally put on warm clothes and dried off, I was psyched to get my chili on. One of my FAVORITE things is to be inside and warm and cozy while the weather outside is wet and nasty (needless to say this doesn't happen all that often in Phoenix, so I enjoy it when I can). Hence, while I was making this chili, I put on some John Coltrane and enjoyed myself. Admittedly, the valley was getting pounded with hail at this point, (including our garden! see pic) and I knew many people weren't happy, but I was enjoying myself for the time being, at least.

I adore this chili though because it's got a great almost smoky flavor from the bacon and the beans. It is not a mild chili, but not burn-your-mouth chili. You might call it medium :-) But

you can adjust that with the amount of chili powder you put in. It's great served with cornbread. Hope you like it!

Black Bean Salsa Chili

2 cans black beans, drained, rinsed, and divided

2/3 c. water

1 T. brown sugar

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1 c. sweet onion, chopped

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1/2 c. chopped red pepper

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 1/2 T. chili powder

1 T. cumin

1 t. dried oregano

1/8 t. crushed red pepper

1 1/2 c. mild salsa

3 T. tomato paste

1 14 oz. can beef broth

1/2 c sour cream

1/4 c. cilantro, chopped

1 t. lime juice

1. Combine 1 1/2 c. beans, 2/3 c. water, and sugar in a food processor and process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove turkey from pa.

3. Add onion, bell peppers, and bacon to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until bacon and onion are lightly browned. Return turkey to pan. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pan; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

4. Combine sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl. Serve chili with sour cream mixture.

Yield: 5-6 servings.

Breakfast for Supper

As a kid, the only time I ever saw my dad cook anything was when he made pancakes for breakfast (or dinner or supper). In fact, he made them so often, that I couldn't eat pancakes until I was 17 or 18. The issue was not their syrupy sweetness, the issue was the frequency. Syrup is, in fact, one of my favorites, especially on French Toast, just not multiple times a week.

As luck would have it, my husband loves breakfast food (for any meal), and last week was time for some comforting breakfast-for-supper food, so I busted out a pancake recipe from the first couple I lived with when I moved to Phoenix. They hit the spot that night, and hopefully they will for you too. If you need to call it healthy, there's even some fruit mixed in :-)

Puff Pancakes

(serves 2-3)

3 eggs

3/4 c. milk

3/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat eggs, milk, flour and salt till smooth. In a heavy 12-inch skillet or 9 inch pie plate, melt 1-2 T. butter, then pour batter over skillet. Bake 15 minutes, lower temperature to 350 degrees. Bake 10 more minutes.

Filling:

1 lb apples or peaches, peeled and diced

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

cinnamon

nutmeg

While pancake is baking, saute apples or peaches in butter, sugar, and cinnamon/nutmeg to taste. Place pancake on serving dish, add apples to 1/2 of pancake. Fold over and serve.

Fiesta de Fotos (y Tapas)!

When we returned from Europe, there was about a dozen people who were very interested in seeing our pictures. (Really, they honestly said so.) Since many of them had already been to these places, we figured they were serious :-) And, since Darla and I had been looking for an excuse to make our favorite food in Europe, tapas, we added that into the festivities for the evening.

We knew they didn't want to see all 1500 pictures that the four of us took, so we narrowed it down to a manageable 100 (20 per country). While this was difficult, it worked really well to give an overview of our most interesting/beautiful/funny experiences in each place, which led to great conversations :-) All of our blog readers have seen many of these pictures here already. (For the record, I used Skype's "Share Screen" feature to share the same slideshow with my family, and it worked like a charm.)

While I love showing my pictures to people, my favorite part of the evening was making tapas. Tapas are basically little appetizers, which we had at tapas bars in Spain. Everything has a giant toothpick in it and are all priced the same. You take everything you want, and when you're finished, they count your toothpicks and charge you accordingly. My main souvenir from Spain was a tapas cookbook, which Darla and I used as we picked which things we wanted to make. We also used our pictures to remember our favorite tapas that we had in Spain, and then attempted to recreate them. (The first photo is from Spain. The other 2 are our attempts :-))

Darla made an egg and potato omelette cut into small pieces and served on a baguette, crab salad and an olive on a baguette, and marinated tomatoes and fried quail eggs on a baguette(yes, we used lots of bread :-)). I made baguettes, a garlic, potato and red pepper dip, toasted bread with 3 cheeses (square of semi-hard cheese on bottom, triangle of brie in the middle, and shaved hard cheese on top), mini-cream puffs with sweetened cream and drizzled caramel, andbreadcrumb fritters in honey syrup. While it basically took me the entire day to get everything ready, it was a lot of fun :-) I don't usually fuss over little things, especially little fussy things meant to look pretty, but this was a bunch of fun! :-) Give it a try sometime!

What? Quiche?!

On Wednesday night, I got home from work later than usual and Ben said his stomach was feeling funny and that he wasn't really hungry. However, I WAS hungry, so I proceeded to make what I'd planned to make for supper. It was not the quickest thing, so by the time it was done (and given that I'd started late in the first place) it was closing in on 8:00 (which for the record, would be a super early meal in Spain, in case you're wondering). As it's just about ready to come out of the oven, Ben asks when it will be done because he thinks he'll try to eat something.

I pull it out and he goes to get some, walks into the kitchen and sees my beautiful supper, and cries out "Quiche??!!??" in an utterly crestfallen voice. (This is one of the few foods he generally voices any actual opposition to. But I didn't even think about it being a quiche because the recipe called it a "torta." ) He eats it anyway, because Ben does not eat because food is good (though that's an added bonus if it's true), he eats because the food is in front of him. Ten minutes later, as he munches in front of the TV, he grudgingly mumbles, "Sorry I made fun of your quiche...It's actually pretty good."

So now, I share with you the recipe for "Pretty Good Quiche" in Ben's book or "Spinach and Herb Torta in a Potato Crust" in my Vegetarian Cooking cookbook :-)

Spinach & Herb Torta in a Potato Crust

3 large potatoes

2 T. olive oil

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1 T. fresh dill, chopped

1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper

2 bunches spinach leaves, coarsely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. cottage cheese

1/3 to 1/2 c. feta cheese

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1. Peel potatoes. Slice two potatoes into 1/8 in. thick rounds. Slice the other potato length-wise into 1/8 inch slices. Brush some olive oil in a skillet, and fry potatoes until golden brown on both sides, in as many batches as necessary. Remove them to a paper towel as they finish cooking.

2. Add 1 T. oil to the pan and cook green onions, dill, parsley, and cilantro over medium heat until the green onions are bright green (about 4 minutes). Season with salt and remove to a bowl. Add the spinach to the same pan with water still clinging to its leaves (or add 1/4 c. water if it's dry). Cook over high heat until leaves are tender and wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a sieve and press out any water, then add to green onion mixture. Add the eggs, cheeses, lemon zest and stir. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan and set it on a sheet pan. Cover the bottom with the potato rounds, overlapping as necessary so there are no empty spaces. Place the long pieces overlapping around the sides. Pour in the spinach mixture, then bake immediately until firm and golden in places, about 40 minutes. Gently run a knife between the pan sides and the potatoes. Release the pan and lift off the side. Set on a serving plate.

[Note: the only things I did differently from what was listed is I substituted about half the dill for chives, used dried parsley, and used goat cheese instead of feta, which was awesome. :-)]

Enjoy the "quiche!"

Balsamic Ben

After more than six years of cooking for my husband, I found a flavor that he really likes (as opposed to something he eats because it's in front of him). I made the dish below last week, and he immediately said, "Wow, this is good! It has great flavor!" As I pondered what this flavor could be, the only major flavor-izer (like my new word?) in the dish was balsamic vinegar.

I started thinking back and realized that whenever there was balsamic vinegar and oil on the table in Europe (particularly Italy) he used it every time with his bread and other things. On top of that, as I filed the recipe away with the rest, I noticed a number of other recipes that also featured balsamic vinegar, which had the note "Ben likes!" scrawled across the top, in my horrid, un-teacherly handwriting. (One of these recipes is my favorite sauce for asparagus) So, now I know. Use balsamic vinegar as much as possible to make my hubby happy :-)

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic, and Thyme

[Note: This is the original recipe. I adapted it to about 2/3 of the original amount so it'd all fit in a 9x13, and used 8-12 chicken tenders (smaller than breasts), which bake quicker. Either way, it's super easy!]

1 whole chicken (approx. 3 lb), cut into 8 pieces and breasts halved lengthwise

1 pound potatoes, cut in eighths

1 large red onion, cut in eighths

1 head garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled

6 sprigs thyme

1 lemon, quartered

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemon in a 12x16 roasting pan. Whisk together oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Turn chicken skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

By the way, if you're interested in the recent revival of our garden, check out Ben's blog!

Disastrous!

I had an amazingly disastrous weekend last weekend, and I have to share it with you all, because it is so ridiculous, it's funny.

As a preface to the story, Ben was out of town all weekend with the PSMC board retreat, so I took in all this disaster on my own. Literal misfortune struck first when I got home from work on Friday, and there was a message from Visa saying that someone had helped themselves to my debit card number and went on a shopping spree at a Wal-mart in South Carolina, to the tune of over 500 dollars. So, they told me all the steps to take to fix that situation and I went on my merry way.

Come Saturday, my plans for the day were totally skewed for a variety of reasons, but this was no big deal and no big surprise. As I was grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that Hatch chiles were on sale at the store, and they are supposed to be a big, once-a-year kind of produce, so I figured I'd give them a try. Upon returning home, I read up on these chiles online, and it said that they are fantastic when roasted, (but that you should wear gloves when handling them and keep your hands away from your face). Needless to say, I did not wear the gloves, trusting myself to be "careful" and wash my hands a lot, which I did. Unfortunately, it turns out that the capsaicin in the chiles is more resilient than that. For the rest of the evening, I had burning sensations all over my hands and face.

I had gone out for supper for the evening (at a fantastic Brazilian steakhouse for a friend's birthday), and when I returned, things started to go swiftly south. When I got back at 9:45 PM and greeted the dogs who were thrilled to see me, there was a message on my answering machine from a member of my worship team saying she was sick and wouldn't be able to sing the next morning. This wouldn't be an issue, except that we had already only had 3 people on the team altogether for the week, one of whom has only been at the church for a month. So, after this person was out, it left me and the new guy. On top of that, it was Communion Sunday, and so we were doing a LOT of music! After calling a few people who I didn't feel terrible about calling so late on a Saturday night (and getting turned down by all of them), I figured I should just check my email, call it a night, and deal with it in the morning.

When I got to my laptop, which was sitting on the floor in the dark living room, I noticed that it felt funny, but I figured I must have gotten it greasy when I was using it in the kitchen, which I often do (I know, I know, totally not kosher). However, then I got suspicious, and turned on the lights, and discovered that one of the dogs had PEED on my laptop!!!!!!!! I was absolutely beside myself. When I calmed down, (and cleaned it off) it occurred to me that I probably shouldn't even try it until it had dried out altogether, so I just went to bed in hopes that the morning would treat me better. (But not before I had literally bleached and then soaped my hands, in hopes of finally ridding myself of all the spice on my hands.)

I got up Sunday morning and took the dogs for a walk (they were jerks to every other dog they met) ate breakfast, and then decided to try and fire up the old laptop (hoping it wouldn't literally fire up!) I pushed the power button with fear and trepidation and.....nothing happened. Tried again. Nothing. ANGUISH!!!! I could not believe that my laptop had gotten fried by dog pee!!! (I was mostly distraught at the thought of losing all my pictures and school files.) However, then I calmed myself, and thought that maybe, if I was "lucky", it had only ruined my (brand new!) battery. So I got my old battery (which only holds a charge for an hour or so), and tried it out, and sure enough, we were good to go. However, it was still frustrating that this was a $70 emptying of the bladder by the dogs.

Before church, I decided to try out my contacts which had been bothering my eyes the previous week, but I had let my eyes rest for a couple days, and figured I'd be good to go. I put in the first contact, and my eye nearly exploded into a bright red mess, as I realized that bleach is not enough to kill the spiciness of a pepper!!! So, not only did I have a blazing red eye with a contact searing in it, I had to stick my finger in my eye again to get it out! After quickly doing that, and putting in every eye drop in my cabinet, I headed off to church to do a duet for the entire service.

After this, things started to perk up a little. My eye didn't stay a burning mess all morning, our duets actually sounded pretty darn good, Ben showed me that my battery was not fried, but just really, really, really, dead and only needed to be charged a good, long while, and eventually the chile spiciness must have worn off :-) But for a while, I couldn't help but be amazed at how so many things were thwarting my plans for a calm, refreshing, relaxing weekend :-) Hope you all have a much better weekend!

Laughter and Tears

You may have noticed that I'm tired of the heat and hoping for fall, with my new background :-)

I have to post this video because I was literally crying, I was laughing so hard at this clip of Will Ferrell on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. (The fact that Jimmy cannot keep a straight face for the life of him is fantastic :-)) I know, I know, it takes a certain kind of humor to find this entertaining, but as it turns out, I am just such a person. :-) Hope you like it!

Would you like some salad with your protein?

Tonight, I made one of my favorite salads, which is particularly refreshing in Phoenix in the summer. As I was making it, I realized that it's really more protein than it is salad, (Ben's favorite kind of salad). I love to make it in the most effective method for consuming all salad ingredients: on a large platter. This way, you just layer everything on the platter, and since it's not deep, the heavy things don't sink to the bottom, so every bite has all the ingredients. See what you think!



Southwest Cobb Salad

1 bunch of salad greens
2 c. chicken, cubed
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 c. black beans, drained
1 c. shredded cheese
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 avocados, peeled and diced
2 c. tomatoes, diced
2/3 c. ranch dressing
1/3 c. salsa

On a large platter, spread lettuce as the bottom layer. Layer chicken, eggs, beans, cheese, bacon, avocados, and tomatoes on the salad. Mix ranch and salsa and drizzle over the salad.

What goes up, must come down

After a CRAZY, busy 2 weeks traveling in Europe, we have returned, safe and sound. However, after forcibly altering our internal clocks to skip 9 hours of our lives, we are now painfully yanking those hours back to where they belong. While the trip was completely worth it, jet lag sucks. The first day back I was fine, but in the last day or two I've definitely been getting sleepy at seemingly random times.

So, to wrap up an excellent trip, here are some of the things we did and did not miss :-)

Fantastic things that we miss already:
-the food! (though there was junky food to be had, by and large we ate quite well)
-the sub-100 degree temperatures
-cool nights
-eating somewhere new every night
-lovely hotel owners-people who didn't guess that we were American (one French vendor thought we looked French!!)
-simple, cheap trains to get you to where you wanted to be, instead of flying everywhere-a walking culture, where sidewalks are often more full than streets
-Alps
-street food (crepes, calzones, falafel, etc.)
-"secret" tiny, friendly, towns in the Swiss Alps :-)
-not being on a schedule
-simple airline security (no shoe removal necessary!)
-meals that literally only involve bread, cheese, wine and fruit
-greenery!
-water!
-meals that consist solely of dessert-cow bells-stumbling upon seemingly random parades of tall puppet-like items (we dubbed this la plaza de las personas grandes)
Things we were happy to come home to: -our own dogs (lots of dogs in Europe, but not ours!)
-the same bed every night
-cooking
-free toilets (this should be a fundamental human right, people!)
-all the water we want at restaurants for FREE
-consistent internet connections
-understanding what people are saying (the French grandma serving continental breakfast scared me!)-using more than 5 sets of clothes
-dryness (as opposed to humidity)
-driving
-air conditioning (not an assumption in many places in Europe)
-spending a WHOLE lot less money!

[Steve/Darla/Ben, if I missed anything, please add it via the comments section.]

One of my goals during the trip was to learn 5 new words a day in the local language, so here is a sampling:

London:
peckish=hungry
jug of water=pitcher (I knew the meaning, it's just now how we use the word "jug" to refer to something on the table)
peg=clothespin
armill=bracelet
trolley=cart (a la grocery cart)

Paris:
soldes=sale
gratuite=free
tour=tower
vous ete ici=you are here
ou est Steve=where is Steve (he tended to wander off)

Gimmelwald, Switzerland:
bach=river or creek
bio=organic
suppe=soup
see=lake
feure=fire

Venice:
saldi=sale
ingresso=entrance
casino=small house
d'ove il Steve=where is Steve
panna montata=whipped cream (rhymes with Hannah Montana, and is super fun to say with an Italian accent)

Barcelona (Catalonian Spanish):
benvenguts=welcome
rebaixes=sale
donde esta Steve=where is Steve
sortida=exit
gofres=waffles

(By the way, we honestly didn't do that much actual shopping, it's just that the word "sale" was on every single store window we passed.)

Having completed our European Sampler Platter (which was definitely what it felt like), I would say that 3 nights was about an ideal amount of time for us to get a good feel for a place. When we were only in a place 2 nights, it definitely felt like we were barely running through the place. However, now, we can all say where we might want to spend more time, and/or see next time. Personally, I'd love to go back and spend a week in Paris, and I'd like to spend more time in Italy (though I think I've seen most of what I want to see in Venice). I loved the food and the sights in Paris, and would love to see more of the surrounding area. If I went back for any length of time, I'd probably take a cooking class there. In Italy, I LOVED the language! I'd love to learn it. It sounds so cool :-) And now, good bye, in all 5 languages we took a dip in:

Cheers!
Bon voyage!
Auf wiedersehen!
Arrivaderci!
Adios!

Great Gaudi!

[Note: Sorry for the delay on this post! We're home and now I finally have time to think and wrap up some loose ends.]

As we flew into Barcelona from Venice, there were many architectural landmarks pocking the cityscape. Over the course of the next several days, we had a fantastic time discovering them. We also had a spectacular time enjoying the food of Barcelona, including excellent seafood and tapas bars.During our first evening in Barcelona, we rambled Las Ramblas, a wide street with a large market-type area in the center with everything from tacky tourist things to pet birds for sale to flowers. Off to one side is the famous Boqueria meat and produce market, where we saw lots of fresh seafood and meat, gorgeous fruit stands, and fantastic arrays of olives (see Ben trying to decide?), nuts and dried fruits as well. However, since both of these places are so famous, they are also QUITE crowded. (Our hotel was just a block or two from the Boqueria, but it was far enough away to be quiet.) Once we got to the end of the Ramblas, we were basically at Barcelona's harbor and we spent a bit of time examining the boats in slips, including the racing sailboats in town for a regatta.

The next two days were mainly spent taking in one of Barcelona's main draws, the Modernista architecture that Antoni Gaudi (among others) made famous in the early 1900's. Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how Gaudi apparently designed nary a straight line in his life, and took the majority of his inspiration from the waves and swirls of nature in things like the nautilus, bones, honeycombs, etc. Additionally, he was excellent at using new designs to serve a purpose that was what we would now call green or repurposing or recycling, etc. This was clear in his use of recycled glass for mosaics, and creating items that collected and reused rain water. Some of his creations that we saw included Casa Mila (La Pedrera), Casa Batllo, Park Guell (next pic), and the very famous (and very unfinished after 100 years of work) La Sagrada Familia cathedral. (Since we were in Barcelona and some of us are Olympics fiends, we did have to check out the site of the 1992 Olympics, which was pretty cool, though somewhat unused now.)Finally, we had an excellent time in Barcelona discovering the true meaning of tapas bars :-) On Sunday afternoon (when apparently nothing is open in Barcelona-seems to be true most afternoons, actually), we stumbled upon a small bar/restaurant that was open. We (and when I saw we, I mean Darla with her excellent Spanish) asked for a few plates of typical Spanish tapas. (Tapas are basically small portions of food on toothpicks, appetizer-style.) She brought us a plate of small toasted bread rounds with a bit of tomato sauce and a small square of egg/potato bake toothpicked on top, plus a plate of meat, a plate of cheese, a plate of sausages, a plate of fried fish pieces, a plate of baked sweet potatoes, and continued on until we'd told her at least 2 or 3 times we had plenty (see below). We were thrilled to discover that it was very inexpensive (1.67 euro per plate!) and that she essentially gave us a few on the house. She definitely seemed to be enjoying bringing us all kinds of new food :-) (We were all the only ones there in the middle of the afternoon :-)) One other evening we hopped back and forth between a couple of excellent tapas bars (in which you sit at/near the bar and pick however many tapas you like, and at the end they just count the toothpicks). We decided that we'd definitely have to try a tapas party when we got home :-)

Watery (and sticky) Venice

While Switzerland was a cool 17 degrees during most days, Venice is a hot, humid, sticky 25 degrees. That's in Celsius for all of you across the pond :-) I actually don't know the actual temperature that it's been in Venice, but I do know that yesterday my knee caps were sweating. I often exaggerate, but in this case, I truly am not. The front. of my knees. were. sweating. Disgusting!!! Definitely 3 shower a day weather, which I know some of you are familiar with :-)

Anyway, while the weather has been less than comfortable, we've had a great time checking out all the ins and outs of Venice. While Ben was initially disgusted with the scores and scores of tourists and Steve was initially taken aback at the amount of graffiti that plaster's Venice's walls, it has since become quite the enjoyable haunt. Particularly enjoyable when one has multiple gelato/ice cream stops per day :-) (You gotta do something to beat the heat!)

There are incredible numbers of tourists at St. Mark's Square (see Steve in the Doge's Palace), but when we meandered away from the major tourist areas, we got to see a bit of what Venice is like to the remaining locals. (We weren't terribly afraid of being lost because, hey, it's an island. You can't get too lost! :-)) Additionally, since most tourists only come to Venice for a day and don't stay overnight, it is WAY more fun and local at night. One night we sat and listened to the various small musical ensembles playing on the piazza and watched older couples dance :-)

Last night, we decided we'd pay the extra and eat at the ultra-touristy restaurants right on the Grand Canal. It was totally worth it. Not only was the food great and the view spectacular, but since we were right on the water, there was a marvelous breeze blowing off the water that helped dry us out for the rest of the evening (which entailed more gelato :-)) And tonight we celebrated Steve's birthday...by continuing to eat good food and observe/take part in different cultures in Europe :-)

A few more Swiss Alps pix

At the top of the Schilthorn mountain.

Gimmelwald.

A steep descent.

A true mountain lake.

Nothing beats a day in the Alps!

After a LOOONG, crazy day yesterday, we hiked into Gimmelwald, Switzerland, our final destination of the day. It was a crazy journey filled with lots of trains and train stations. We started the day in Paris by walking to the bus stop and miraculously finding our way to the correct train in a gigantic train station that apparently services the entire rest of the continent. We spent a pleasant hour and a half in a nearly silent TGV (high-speed) train, which eventually deposited us in Dijon, France for a 4 hour layover. [This is already 3 modes of transport-walking, bus, train-and 1 leg of the journey.]

This was a beautiful location to have to kill some time! It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day (the previous days were all fairly cloudy, which the pictures probably gave away). So, since we had time, we stopped at the tourist office next door to the train station, grabbed a map (much to Ben's delight) and started exploring Dijon. We found a curious cathedral, beautiful Botanical gardens, and excellent little shops to supplement our lunch, which we'd gathered from local Parisian shops. Ben even found a bottle of local wine (since we were in the region of Burgundy) for us to enjoy. We ate our lunch in a shady park, explored some more, kicked back in another park, and finally got on our next train.

The rest of our trip was a blur of trains and train stations, which went as follows. From Dijon, train to Lausanne, Switzerland; from Lausanne, train to Bern; from Bern, train to Interlacken; from Interlaken, train to Lautebrunnen; from Lautebrunnen, cable car to Stechelberg; from Stechelberg, train to Murren; from Murren, we walked 30 minutes to Gimmelwald. More direct routes DO exist, but because a series of circumstances that we were confused about, this was the route we ended up having to take. But, it worked :-) However, the last several trips were all couched in unbelievable beautiful scenery, in the middle of which we are now residing.

Today, we took a cable car to the top of the Schilthorn, a 10,000 ft peak in the Alps, where one of the Bond movies was actually filmed (the restaurant at the top was the bad guy's evil lair :-)). We had amazing views and pictures. Afterward, we took the cable car down one more town, and then hiked the rest of the way back down to Gimmelwald. This sounds like it might be easy, only going down, but our legs are definitely tired!
For a quick introduction to Gimmelwald, it is a tiny town of a little over a 100, nestled in the Alps. It is almost entirely a farming community, and all the buildings are made completely of wood (walls, ceiling, everything). Everywhere you go, you can hear cows mooing and their cow bells ringing. There are a few B&Bs, but that's about it. Today we bought Alpcheese. We couldn't go till later in the evening when the farmer was home from making hay, and then we rang his home doorbell. He put his boots on, came out, and let us into the cheese hut. It was very cool :-) Anyway, that's just a bit about our time in Switzerland. One more full day here, and then on Wednesday morning, it's on to Venice!

Ah Paris, you had me at pain chocolat

[Sorry, some of you may have read this already, but I had misposted it, so I fixed it now.]

When we got to Paris on Thursday, for some of us, (Darla mainly), this was the first experience having NO understanding of the language, which tends to be rather unnerving. After straightening out some confusion with train tickets for the next leg of the trip, we tracked down our hotel. After a quick scamper up the 6 spiral flights of stairs, (more of a winded, sweaty, stomping up the stairs), we dumped our stuff and prepared for a day in Paris! It was at this point that it became blatantly clear that 2 years of mandatory language study (like Ben's French) are apparently worthless. No idea how to pronounce words, letters, nothing. Oh well.

First and foremost we went to get Paris Museum passes, in order to avoid lines and save money. Since we happened to wander past it first, we checked out Sainte-Chapelle, an AMAZING set of stained glass windows in a small chapel that tell the story of the entire bible up to Jesus death. After grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch, we wandered up to the Champs-Elysses, past the Louvre (I know, I know, we're uncultured. None of us are particularly interested in that era of art) and enjoyed a respite sitting by a fountain in the Tuileries gardens.
As we wandered our way to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysee, it was clear that there had been some large event there, which was being cleaned up (bleachers, streets blocked off, etc.) and then realized that the Tour de France had just ended at that location, days earlier. After window shopping at the high end places (like the flagship Louis Vuitton store), we climbed a never-ending spiral staircase to the top of the Arc, which had beautiful views of the city and the Eiffel Tower. When we came down, we watched in amazement as nobody was killed in the crazy traffic circle around the Arc, in which 12 streets all come into one gigantic, insane traffic circle.

Finally, we decided it was time to examine the Eiffel Tower in detail. When we got there, we decided to eat a lovely French supper overlooking the Eiffel Tower until twlight fell, and watch the tower light up and then climb it. In actuality, the sun doesn't set in Paris until like 10:00 PM, so we had things like goat cheese, quiche, and duck for supper overlooking the tower, and then realized itwas going to be at LEAST another hour and a half before it got dark. Hence, we just decided to start climbing, which ended up being cool, because we were on it right at sunset. We could only climb up to the 2nd floor, but it was amazing, nonetheless, especially lit up at night. The best part was that it lit up and had flashing strobe lights at the top of every hour, which was absolutely breath-taking from outside the tower, as the whole thing basically appeared to be sparkling. Even though it was packed with tourists and people selling crap, it was absolutely, 100% worth it :-) [In case you're wondering about my post title, pain chocolat is literally bread and chocolate but it's actually a layer of chocolate rolled into a fresh croissant- it's amazing!]

Lots of new experiences!

Here we are, taking it all in in Europe. We landed without creating any international incidents in London and then proceeded to see a good portion of the classic landmarks. The first day, we met a cousin of my dad's at a pizza place and had a marvelous time. It turns out that uncoordination runs in the larger family as a whole! Then we headed out on a walk on the south bank of the Thames to see the London Eye, Big Ben, and the houses of Parliament, which are amazingly complex. This was definitely a great, "Pinch me, I'm in Europe!" moment :-)The next day, we were up earlyish to enjoy a full English breakfast at St. Athans Hotel where we were staying. This turned out to include coffea/tea/hot chocolate, toast/jam, beans, bacon, eggs, sausage, and stewed tomatoes. Darla loved it! Next we headed to the Tower of London so the boys could ooh and ahh over the moats, drawbridges, etc. After tracking down a cell phone store for the boys to get European SIM cards so we could avoid roaming charges, we walked (that's the theme of our lives so far) to the Tate Modern where we appreciated lots of 20th century art and sculpture, including Picasso, Warhol, etc.

Since we knew that London had obviously been blitzed during WWII, but essentially knew nothing about that side of history, we went to the Cabinet War Rooms, part of the Imperial War Museum. This was a fascinating underground bunker where the brains of the British war, Winston Churchill mapped, planned, and strategized. Most of it has been recreated to look exactly as it did in August 1945, when the lights were shut off for the first time in five years. (There were also the obligatory somewhat scary mannequins that always scare me.)

Finally, after a quick look at 10 Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister) we met at Trafalgar Square (crowds of people, hordes of pigeons :-)), we checked out the scene at Covent Garden, a quaint shopping/theater section of town. After poking about for a bit, we found a yummy Indian restaurant and enjoyed. To cap the day off, we went to a pub near our hotel and

tried pints on tap. We crashed at the hotel and packed up for our trip to Paris the next day. While it was a crazy busy pace, we saw a good amount, and fully enjoyed the experience :-)

Off on a wing and a prayer!

You may notice the old blog has a spruced up appearance, because very soon, we will be winging our way to Europe! We leave on Tuesday evening and are SO excited. Our travel partners (and guest bloggers, though they don't know it yet ;-)) are Steve and Darla Schrock. [The first picture is us trying to find cheap plane tickets, and the second is Steve and Darla dressed as each other for Halloween :-).]


Half the fun is waiting and planning :-) We decided that even though we'd definitely take a free trip to Europe leaving the next day, it would still be a little disappointing, because you wouldn't have the waiting excitement :-) While this is not an ideal time to be leaving the country (weak dollar, I'm job hunting, Darla and I are/were students, etc.), we had been talking about taking this trip for EVER. So, we decided last summer that now is the time. If we don't do it now, who knows how many other reasons we'll come up with for not going.

So, after much planning (through all things Rick Steves -public radio/TV travel guru), discussion, and homemade ice cream, we are getting the final details ready for our adventure. One of those details includes letting our friends and family know they can follow our journey through Europe with 1) the itinerary below, 2) this blog (where I'm thinking we'll rotate who posts each day), and 3) our pictures on Steve's Picasa album. [You will need to have a free Google OR Gmail account to view them though... Sorry.] We'll likely post 1 or 2 photo highlights from the day on the blog as well.

So here we go!

Schrock-Shetler European Sampler Platter Itinerary

July 13 (Tues) - Depart PHX at 7:25 PM, British Air
July 14 (Wed) - Arrive London 1:10 pm local
July 15 (Thurs) - London
July 16 (Fri) - London-->Paris
July 17 (Sat) - Paris
July 18 (Sun) - Paris-->Interlaken, Switzerland-->Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 19 (Mon) - Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 20 (Tues) - Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 21 (Wed) -Gimmelwald, Switzerland-->Interlaken, Switzerland-->Venice
July 22 (Thurs) - Venice
July 23 (Fri) - Venice
July 24 (Sat) - Venice-->Barcelona
July 25 (Sun) - Barcelona
July 26 (Mon) - Barcelona
July 27 (Tues) - Depart Barcelona 11AM, British Air Flight 479 to London. Depart London 2:35 PM on British Air 289, arrive at PHX 5:10 PM.

Super Summer Salad Dressing

Since it's summer, here in the super-crazy-beastly hot Valley of the Sun, I aim to make cool foods. (Also because my ridiculous gas oven pours heat out as if it were trying to boil me alive in my own house--and this before I even open the oven door.) Tonight, I decided to try a dressing recipe from a Taste of Home cookbook (always fantastic) that I got from my Grandma Harder for Christmas. If you are not familiar with Taste of Home, get familiar. I love these cookbooks.

Pretty much all of the salad dressings I prefer are mayonnaise-based. I have a GIANT ranch tooth and when I want to pretend I'm eating healthy, I have a salad with fruit on it and poppy seed dressing. (I'm not a big oil and vinegar type fan.) However, today, I discovered that there actually are some healthier, yummier salad dressings out there :-) This dressing made me eat more salad for dessert. Try it out!

[I'm writing this recipe as I made it, with other possible options.]

Stawberry Salad Dressing with Spinach Salad

6-8 large frozen strawberries, thawed
1/4 c. water
1 1/2 T. apple cider vinegar (or other sweet/mild vinegar)
1 T. honey
1 t. vegetable oil
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. dried thyme or 1/4 t. fresh thyme
1/8 t. pepper
1 bunch spinach or lettuce, chopped
1/3 c. sunflower seeds (or other chopped/roasted nuts)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (or other dried or fresh fruit)
Blend first 9 ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth. Combine salad ingredients and serve with dressing.

Yield: approx. 1 1/2 c. dressing

(By the way, you should also try this Rhubarb Cake with Vanilla Sauce recipe, that I made with rhubarb Grandma sent me :-))