sunburns and fruit: two different "crisps"

Okay. It was sunny for a grand total of 40 minutes while I was outside today, and of course, I got sunburned. How does that even happen? If someone invents an injection I can get that will deliver sunscreen directly into my veins, I will gladly overcome my fear of needles to get it.

I made a dessert the other night that is quite possibly one of my favorite new things to make. I loved it so much that I made it again three nights later when we had our friend Bob come over. Bob liked it to, so it must have been a hit. It was based on a recipe found at Good Things Catered, but I couldn't find any cranberries so I used raspberries instead. It was amazing! I also cut down on the amount of sugar listed in the recipe, since raspberries are not as tart as cranberries and I didn't need so much to balance them out. Three tablespoons is a LOT of sugar. I don't like things that sweet, anyway. Oh man, I want to make it again RIGHT NOW.

Yum.

Here's the recipe, with my adjustments.

Apple Raspberry Crunch

Ingredients:

2 c. raspberries (I didn't measure, I just used the whole little container from the grocery store.)

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced

1 Tbsp granulated sugar (You could use more if you really wanted it sweeter)

1 c. oats

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

8 tbsp butter (1 stick), chilled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with baking spray

2. In medium bowl, combine raspberries, apples, and sugar, and (gently) toss to combine. Spread in baking dish.

3. In another bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.

4. Cut butter into small pieces and add to dry ingredients. With pastry blender (I just used a fork and knife. It worked.), cut butter into dry ingredients until all of the butter is in chunks about the size of a small pea. I wasn't super precise with this and it still turned out fine.

5. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the fruit.

6. Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until apples are tender. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes, then eat!

july, july, julyyyyy

That Decemberists song is running through my head now...

Anyway, I have been taking a lot of pictures lately and have several things I would love to post about. Unfortunately, the heat, our lack of air conditioning, and running after children for eight hours a day has left me too lazy to do much other than watch episodes of The West Wing on dvd. And by the way, C.J. Cregg is possibly the coolest character EVER. I wish I was her. I wish I was related to her. I wish I worked for her. I wish she was somehow a REAL person who played some part in MY life. That's how cool I think she is. 

Anyway again.

Last weekend, Ryan and I took a great hike up to Lake 22.

It was a slightly more difficult hike than I expected-- 2.7 miles might not sound like much, but when it is all uphill, it gets old fast. But it was more than worth it for getting to see the lake itself.

The picture above is one of my favorite pictures I have taken in a while, I think. Mountain lakes are incredible. The water is so green, and so clear you can see right to the bottom. I tried to stick my feet in, but it was so cold I thought my bones were going to freeze. I don't know how people managed to swim in that thing. All in all, I really enjoyed the hike-- once we got to the top, that is!

In other news, our cucumber is growing! I think I even spotted our first little cucumber growing away beneath all the leaves.

See? There it is, just waiting to get bigger and be eaten. At least I think that is the beginnings of a cucumber. Hopefully? We will see...

jimmy.

This is Jimmy.

Jimmy was the first feltster I ever made, I think. My kids were making felt creatures at work, and I decided to make Ryan a dino friend. So, Jimmy was born.

Jimmy is a busy guy with many interests. He enjoys watching episodes of The West Wing because he thinks it is one of the most intelligent shows he has ever seen.

He also likes playing wii, especially Mario Kart-- he has to work on his steering skills, however. 

Those turns get him every time.

He also loves to cook. Here he is looking at a delicious recipe from Curtis Stone's cookbook.

To cook, Jimmy needs to make sure he has all the right tools, and that they match. 

Check and check.

Of course, like everyone, lately Jimmy has also spent time mourning the loss of one of his heros. If only he could dance that well... 

Alas, yellow polka-dotted dinos are not known for their keen sense of rhythm.

He shares his feelings of loss, and frustration over his inability to dance, with Sumo-- who is not only a great guard of the house, but also a great listener.

Others in the house are not quite as good at listening (or, as it turns out, at brushing their teeth). Here, Jimmy discusses hygiene with the bathroom dinos. 

After a busy day, Jimmy likes to fall asleep in his very comfortable bed.

Unfortunately, he is prone to stealing all of the blankets in the middle of the night.

Oh, wait... I'm the one that does that...

up

I love this picture. 

I don't quite know why. It is calming to me-- the deep blue of the sky (which, in that exact shade, has always been my favorite color), the masts of the resting boats reaching upward, the colors, the lines. I look at it and feel at peace. 

So tonight, in the midst of what has been a hectic and confusing week for me, I am leaving this here, so that my mind can leave at peace.

"choup".

Ryan hates tomatoes. HATES them, in the way that I hate mushrooms and highwater pants. So I know a recipe is good if it contains not one, but two whole cans of diced tomatoes... and he still eats it. Two bowls even. 

One of the things I want to do on this blog is share recipes with you that we have had success with. I like blogs about cooking because I feel better about picking a recipe if someone else has made it first, providing that recipe with the "tried and true" status, instead of the "picked at random" one. I thought the dinner I made tonight would be a good one to start with-- and I even remembered to take pictures! Though, they aren't any good.

So, said tomato-filled dinner was supposed to be a sort of chili, but it turned out much more like a vegetable soup than a chili-- thus, I have dubbed it "Choup!"

Okay, so it doesn't look the prettiest. Basically, what we have here is a giant pot full of beans, veggies, spices, and tomatoes. What's not to like?

Here is my tomato-hating husband, demonstrating how much he liked it. It has chili powder in it, and I don't cook with chili powder often, but I really liked the subtle heat and flavor it added to the "chili". I am not going to spend all the time recopying the recipe for you, but here is a link so you can find it yourself, in its original home!

"Choup", or Black Bean and Chickpea Chili

I did do a few things differently than the recipe called for. To start with, I didn't have any cumin, but I did have lots of cilantro left in the fridge. I took a small handful, chopped it up, and added it in place of the cumin (okay, so Ryan chopped it up). We loved cilantro, so we were happy with the addition. I also skipped the whole food processor part. Had I done that, the consistency might have been more chili-like. All in all, I think this is a good, simple recipe that incorporates a lot of good stuff. You should try it sometime!

(Oh, and do you notice the half-eaten slice of homemade bread sitting next to Ryan's plate in the picture? If you're lucky, I'll blog about that bread sometime!)

last, but not least.

Yesterday, I left something important out of my blog about my new garden. Without him, my little plants would wither and die. Here he is: my faithful watering can-- er, watering elephant.

You can tell by the smile on his face that he really likes his job.

Thanks, Heather and Ashlee and Jenny, for the awesome engagement present! I'm glad I can finally put it to use!

green friends

ryan and I have a new addition to our family. we really wanted a dog, but our schedules are a little too hectic right now for that. so, we went a step down.

hamster? fish? bird?

I said "a" step down, not thirty.

we have a basil plant! she smells lovely, and adds a nice bit of green to our tiny little concrete patio. since our "deck" gets full-on sun from the time it rises until the early afternoon, I think it should have enough of the stuff to be nice and healthy. hellooooo, fresh basil!

but then, I became a little afraid that our sweet little plant would get lonely and sad out there all alone. so we welcomed two more green friends to the patiofarm.

this is our lovely cucumber. his name is Seabiscuit, because I am fairly certain that it will fail. I told my mom this, and her reply was, "well don't tell him that, and treat him like a champ anyway!" hopefully our champ wins out this time.

and this is our little oregano. notice my great recycling? 

awww. family photo!