Continuing to Cook

Me and Codes have made some delicious things in these past couple weeks. Those things include homemade rolls and fajittas. I wish I would have taken pictures to post. But I didn't.

In celebration of Easter and super cheap hams we chose Emril's Sugarcane Baked Ham with spiced Apples and Pears. The ham is extra sugary with the sugarcane swizzles stuck throughout the ham and the glaze that is made out of sugarcane syrup. It was SO good, despite the fact that I couldn't find the stupid kitchen twine that I needed to wrap the ham up with. - My friends in the Safeway meat department hooked me up though:) Anyway It was delicious and easy.

Me and Cody had originally planned to make this one together but then he needed to stay at school late to finish a paper. So I made my family come over and eat with me. Thanks guys.

Follow up Story

Oh what a beautiful mooorning,

Oh what a beautiful day.

I've got a wonderful feeeliiiing,

12 doughnuts are coming my waaaay.

(from the musical Oklahoma of course.. minus a few words)

I have the best friends EVER!

Mrs. Lissa Walker supplied my Krispy Kremes needs.

And also gifted me with these fantastic suckers ... that I gave her like a month ago trying to get rid of.

Hey Dad, maybe next time you should pretend to give me a car!? Lissa?
AND THERE WAS ACTUALLY DOUGHNUTS INSIDE!!!!

What. The. Heck.

What a horrible thing Monday morning is. Pure torture. Knowing I have piles of work to do and no Cody to help me. - Yesterday morning was just like any other. After changing a particularly shnasty diaper that Mack granted me with I opened my door to throw it away.. AND BEHOLD!! Krispy Kremes!!!! It is no secret that me and Mr. K Kreme have had a long standing love affair. But who would be kind enough to produce such a magnificent surprise!?!?

W.T.H Dad, .... W.T.H.

I stared at the box for much longer than I should have, clearly in shock and utter disbelief. Then my sorrow and agony turned to rage. An Alicia Silverstone's 'As If' truly left my lips..

This. Means. War. .

Happy Easter From Mack

Here is the latest and greatest from my little man at the Superstition Mountains!
I love that this picture makes Mack's neck look even more non-existent. Love him.

#4 and #5

We made #4 for Mack's birthday party. A chocolate ice cream cake with a ganache frosting. I am still dreaming of this cake. Thank you Sandra Lee... Here is the recipe..

Line 1 (9-inch) cake pan with plastic wrap, with 3 inches overhanging. Spread softened ice cream into lined pan in a smooth, even layer. Freeze for 3 hours, or until frozen solid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour 2 (10-inch) round cake pans and set aside. In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until well blended. Using a spatula, divide batter between the 2 prepared cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of each pan to loosen cakes and remove from pans.

While cakes are cooling, heat heavy cream (1 cup)in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbling around the edges. Remove pan from heat, add chocolate morsels (12 ounce bag of semi sweet), and stir with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, until cool and slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spread ganache on top of and around sides of both cake layers, keeping layers separate and not fitting together yet. Refrigerate entire cake for 1 hour, or until ganache is set.

Place 1 cake layer, ganache side up, on a serving platter. Remove ice cream from pan, peel off plastic wrap, and place on top of cake layer. Place second cake layer on top of ice cream, ganache side up. Freeze until ready to serve, but let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before serving.

For #5 we decided to make ribs. I have never made them before so I was intrigued. We made our own BBQ sauce and it turned out ...fine. Nothing to write home about, therefor I am not adding the recipe. And if anyone out there has a good rib recipe, send it my way.

One More Round

We went to Disneyland a couple weeks ago and I thought I would document to occasion. This is our little family. Yay for Disneyland! Mack loves the Carousel. It is his favorite ride. Yes he still loves the gold pole. We could have a rocky future on our hands. On a side note, Mack puked in my hand after this ride. Fantastic.

I love this kiddo. I wish I would have gotten a picture of him walking to the Disney characters, he LOVED them.

I had to take a picture in this Johnny Depp Madd Hatter Hat. (the movie was excellent by the way. -other than the semi dissapointing music... did anyone else think it was just a lame mixture of Charley and the Chocolate factory and Edward Scissorhands?)
In the Indiana Jones tunnel. ...of love.
This was fun guys! Want to do it again in, oh... 3 months or so? Done.

The First of Two

Mack has two wonderful sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles that love him. This year those two families had conflicting schedules which led to .... TWO BIRTHDAYS PARTIES FOR MACK!! ..lucky kid.

I am feeling guilty for not having a big friends included party. But what the heck, a one year old isn't going to know the difference right? And there is always next year for those anyway.

This is party number 1 with the Theriot family. Woo, those Theriots know how to party:) Mack loved the cake I made him - A cookies and cream ice cream cake covered in delicious ganache! ..k, maybe I loved that more than he did.

I still can't believe my little boy is one.

I call for a recount

I was complaining to the gals at young womens about Mack loving to poop in the bath. If it was one big poop that would be one thing, but Mack puts out lots of little gems for me. Gross.

I told them his max number of poop was 15... but i think this picture holds 16.
A NEW RECORD!!!

..Dreaming..

Today I am tired.

I am tired of school.

I am tired of my teething child.

I am tired of cleaning my forever dirty house.

I am tired.

I have been day dreaming of going back to Coronado Island where me and Cody spent our honeymoon. We stayed at the Del Coronado Hotel, which I am in love with. I love it's old glamor. Everything is so beautiful and romantic. I am missing the cute ice cream parlor moo time creamery. I miss eating the delicious breakfast outside on a patio that overlooks the beach. I miss relaxing on the beach without anything to do.

Is it too early to go on a second honeymoon?

Dinner #3

Last week for the meal that me and Cody decided to make together was fresh corn and avocado salad!!! This was fantastic!! The salad dressing was light and delicious! I especially loved the fresh sweet corn. oh, and we decided to add cubed grilled chicken- it was so good. If anyone would like the recipe I will include. Fresh Corn and Avocado Salad

6 ears corn

2 cups halved cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (we omitted this because we don't love raw onion)

1 large avocado cut into 1/2 in. cubes (I added 2 avocados.. extra delicious)

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp. champagne vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 cup extra - virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp. each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook corn until warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes. Rinse with cold water until cool.

2 Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, onion, avocado, and basil in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients to make the vinaigrette, whisking until blended.

3. Cut kernels off cobs and add to salad: pour in vinaigrette and toss gently.