Tuesday, 11/2/2010

Tonight we had dinner with our PEPS friends.  Sara, Aaron, and Ari hosted.  We had lasagna, caesar salad, and garlic bread with ice cream sundaes and chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  As usual, the food was great!  Sara also put out bowls of crackers for the kids to munch on and a cheese plate for the adults.

Since we weren't able to get together at a pumpkin patch two weekends ago, we decided to take our group Halloween costume photo tonight instead.  And by group, I mean the kids.  It is always entertaining trying to get them to sit still long enough for a group photo.  The easiest one was definitely when they were all still 5-6 months old:)  Here are the kids in all of their Halloween finest. 


Jackson as Thomas the Train.
Ronan as a frog.
Katie as a kitty.
Ari as a giraffe.
Oliver as a vampire.



Monday, 11/1/2010

I stopped by the seafood counter at Fred Meyer this morning, just to see what was available.  I was pleased to see talapia fillets crusted with crushed tortilla chips, chili, and lime.  They looked good enough that I purchased three fillets for tonight's dinner. 

I heated olive oil in the bottom of a "stick" frying pan.  Once the oil was hot, I put the fillets in the pan.  Only one side of each fillet was coated in the tortilla crust.  I put the non-crusted side down in the oil first.  I cooked them for 3-4 minutes on the first side, flipped them, and then waited until the crust started to turn golden brown before I removed them from the pan.  It was an excellent preparation for talapia, which is a pretty bland fish in my opinion. 

We had sauted bell peppers as a side dish.  Ben got me a mandolin for my birthday, and I used it to slice the peppers.  It wasn't the best application for the mandolin, but it was fun to try it out.  I can't wait to make potatoes au gratin with it!  Anyway, I used a non-stick pan for the peppers.  I heated olive oil with a touch of sesame oil in the pan until it was hot.  I then added the sliced peppers and a teaspoon of minced garlic.  They cooked in the oil until the peppers started to char a bit.  

Katie wouldn't eat the fish, but she did eat several slices of pepper.

Sunday, 10/31/2010

Happy Halloween!  Katie wore her pink kitty costume to church this morning.  All of the kids, big and small, were encouraged to wear their costumes.  During the children's moment, they marched around the sanctuary while our music director played "Thriller" on the piano.  Katie was adorable walking around the church with her daddy:)

Our parents left this afternoon after lunch.  Katie cried when they left.  What a sensitive little girl:)  After her nap, we made up some penne pasta and finished off the roasted red pepper and bacon sauce left over from last night.  Instead of pasta, Katie ate a little beef taco meat.  We were all full and happy when the meal was over. 

We decided to end our Halloween festivities with church today.  Katie still doesn't get what the holiday is all about; so, we didn't push it.  We kept our porch light off, put her to bed on time, and enjoyed some quality time in front of the TV with some chocolate candy.  It was a great day and a wonderful weekend. 

Saturday, 10/30/2010

My parents, our friend Gail, and Ben's brother stayed at our house last night following my concert.  Ben's mom drove up from Portland, Oregon, this morning to spend the weekend with us too.  After she arrived and we had lunch, we drove up to The Farm at Swan's Train in Snohomish, Washington, to check out a pumpkin patch.  It was raining, but we didn't have many other options since Halloween is tomorrow:)  We had a great time despite the rain.  Katie tromped in the field, tried to pick up large pumpkins, and looked adorable in her raincoat and mittens.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from our pumpkin patch outing.

Today I got to celebrate my birthday for a second time. Lucky me!  We went with an Italian meal for our dinner.  I made bucatini pasta with my KitchenAid pasta attachment.  Bucatini is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through it.  Ben was in charge of making the roasted red pepper and bacon sauce.  We had a caesar salad and soft breadsticks on the side. 

For dessert, my dad brought his blue ribbon winning whole wheat chocolate cake.  It was delicious and definitely deserving of a blue ribbon.  We had mint chocolate ice cream to go with the cake.  Katie wasn't very interested in cake, but she could have eaten twice as much "hih-cream" as we let her have. 

Friday, 10/29/2010

I perform in a quarterly concert series, called Sweet, Sweet, Music, with my friends from church.  Tonight, our theme was "Stage and Screen".  Ben and I needed to get to the church around 6pm; so, we ordered pizza for ourselves and Katie's babysitter.  We got a large pepperoni and sausage pizza from Garlic Jim's.  We all sat at the table and ate together while we gave our sitter the scoop on Katie for the night. 

We had a great crowd at the concert.  There were close to 150 people in the audience.  My CD release was very successful.  I sold more CDs than I expected to.   After the show, the performers and their families went over to Endolyne Joe's for some food and drinks.  Ben and I shared a plate of Mob Boss Mama's Mozzarella and a plate of Marco's Torta della Salsiccia. The fresh mozzarella was pan fried with herb breading and marinara sauce. The torta was a pastry stuffed with house made Italian sausage and ricotta salata with an herb cheese sauce. Both were outstanding dishes. 

Katie, bless her soul, was busy and excited "talking" to her sitter during dinner.  She didn't eat much, which resulted in her being wide awake and hungry at 3:00am.  We had a house full of guests, so she was sleeping in our room.  There was no avoiding her:)  She washed down a half a banana and crackers with milk for her midnight snack.  Thankfully, she was willing to go back to sleep after her snack.  Ben and I didn't go to sleep until almost 1am; so, Katie's 3am wake up was quite rude.  We were disoriented, cranky, and almost sick from it. 

Thursday, 10/28/2010

They are here!!!  My first album, Favorite Things, arrived this morning.  Whoo Hoo!!!  Katie and I went to Ben's office during the lunch hour so that she could show off her pink kitty Halloween costume, and so that I could sell some of my CDs.  It was surreal to see my photo on a professional CD and to be asked to sign it.

After leaving Ben's office, Katie and I ran errands until 3pm.  That is when the Halloween party at my office began.  I was very thankful for Judy and Danielle who provided non-candy treats for the little kids.  Katie picked up a toy ring, jelly bracelets, bubbles, and play-dough.  After the party, we picked up Ben from work and headed home.  Katie did not nap today until we were .25 miles away from home.  It was not a quality nap:)  After a day with no break from Katie, I was exhausted.  Ben took on Katie and dinner duties while I took a quick nap.  Thanks Ben!

We had beef burritos for dinner, and they were goo-ood.  We used non-lean beef, which always improves the overall flavor.  Ben made one burrito a little thicker so that we could cut off the end and give it to Katie.  She did a great job eating it, but the hot sauce did a number on her little lips.  They got all swollen and red:(  She didn't seem to mind it too much and just licked them a lot.  I was thrilled that she was willing to eat something with a lot of flavor. 

Wednesday, 10/27/2010

Tonight we grilled the pork chops that I didn't defrost in time for last night's meal.  The pork chops were part of the bulk meat purchase I made at the beginning of the month.  They were beautiful, bone-in chops that were full of flavor.  We dredged them in Char Crust's roasted garlic and peppercorn dry-rub.  I've been very pleased with how long the dry-rub has lasted us.  It was definitely worth the purchase price.  The pork chops came off the grill moist and delicious.  

We each made an iceberg lettuce wedge salad to go with our chops.  Ben used blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles.  I used Italian dressing on mine.

Note: It's been a busy week since I updated the blog.  I remember what Ben and I ate each day, but can't remember what Katie ate each day.  Forgive me for leaving her off of a couple posts while I catch up:)