Peach Blackberry Crisp

We used fresh blackberries from our garden and peaches from a friend. This recipe was really good!


PEACH BLACKBERRY CRISP
2-3 cups blackberries
3 peaches, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
2/3 cups oats
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Toss fruit with 1 Tbsp sugar and 1 Tbsp flour and pour into greased 8×8 baking dish. In separate bowl, mix the oats, flour, sugar, oil, salt, and cinnamon together until combined. Spread crisp topping over the fruit. Bake 35-45 minutes or until the topping is browned and fruit is bubbling around the edges.

First Day of College

Audrey started her college career today. She was a little excited last night, so we headed over to the campus to check out where the classes were. She is taking English, Algebra, Stress Management and a computer class. She will do well!

CDA & Grille from Ipanema

We decided to try out a Brazilian barbecue restaurant that opened recently in Couer d'Alene. It is called Grille From Ipanema and waiters move from table to table bringing different types of meats on skewers, and they slice off portions onto your plate. The meat included 4 types of beef (like top sirloin, garlic steak), 2 types of pork (pork with brown sugar and Brazilian sausage) and 2 types of poultry (marinated chicken and chicken wrapped bacon). There were also grilled vegetables and the best... grilled pineapple! In addition, they have a salad bar that included various cold salads, fresh fruit, warm dishes (like potatoes or pasta) and desserts. Finally, there was this beverage that we ordered, "Brazilian Lemonade". Very tasty & enjoyable time. Below is a recipe I found, but have not tried it yet:

BRAZILIAN LEMONADE
4 juicy limes
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk
Put ingredients in blender, using 3 & 1/2 of the limes (save the rest for garnish). Blend well. Strain through a fine strainer. Serve immediately over ice.

After lunch we definitely needed to walk off our meal!! We headed toward downtown CDA and checked out a fun game store with retro games, fun selections, and old-style ambiance (had a tin ceiling). Then we went to the candy store we had visited in August to show Audrey what she missed : ) She was able to make up for any lost time by selecting a wide assortment of candy. Had to keep to non-chocolate choices as we were afraid it would melt on the car ride home. Fun Day!!

Violin and It's a Small World

Since Audrey stopped playing her violin in Middle school, we decided it was probably time to sell it. We posted it on Craigslist and got one person interested for the price we were selling it for. The buyer suggested we meet in a neutral location and I suggested bringing cash. On the day of the meet, the big suburban shows up with loads of kids and I recognized the driver as someone who is in the ward that meets at our building. I told her if I had realized it was her, I would not have needed cash and of course we could have met at one of our houses. I gave her a discount on the original price and I think we both left happy. What a small world!

A Day at the Fair

We headed to the fair on a week-day morning. Wow you can get some great parking slots when you go near opening time! And checking out the commercial booths is not crowded at all at 10 in the morning. After browsing the main building and the craft building, we headed to the food court area and picked up a lemonade and quesadilla to share.

You can see that it was a fabulous day - nice and sunny. But the lemonade did hit the spot as it was a warmer than normal fall day.

We were in the food seating area and realized the show for the comedian and juggler started soon, so we found some seating in the back area. Well...not far enough back! The comedian pulled John up on the stage and tried to get him to ride a unicycle. Of course, he kept pushing his feet down to ensure he actually did not get up. Not sure John would have really wanted to ride it anyway. The comedian had a good time teasing John during the show....

...but was great afterwards during picture time.

Some years we enter items in the fair, but not this year. So after finding Jessie's scrapbook page in the craft area, we headed to the veggies and noticed Donna's name all over the place. She received many ribbons - here is best in show for the largest beet!

And no day at the fair is complete without a total sugar fest! Even sharing this three ways, it was too much food.

GNO Movie: The Help

Went on a Girls Night Out with Angela H, Rachelle S and Nicole S. We met up at the valley theater to see The Help. I had already read the book, so knew the "ending", but still found the movie very interesting. After the movie we headed over to Applebee's for late night appetizers. Got to know these ladies much better and had a great time. Thanks Nicole for inviting me!

Leavenworth - Girl's Day Trip

Today was a rare day in that I had to travel for work. Most times my day is 7-4 in front of a computer. We had a cooking contest at each store in the district and then the store winners competed to see who was the district winner. Since our district is a larger territory, the judges went to two mid-way locations to make it easier on the contestants. I was one of the judges so drove to Wenatchee today. My boss said it would be fine if Audrey came too. After the contest was over, Audrey & I went 30 miles up the road to Leavenworth and had a Girl's Afternoon in the Bavarian town. Fun!
We had a late lunch at Andreas Keller and enjoyed a Rindswurst sausage served with German potato salad and Weinkraut. We also ordered a side of sweet & sour red cabbage as we had ordered that on a previous visit and really enjoyed it. The food was delicious.
After lunch we checked out the small shops along the main street including the Thomas Kinkade gallery where we drooled over the latest Disney Dreams collection. Each painting tells the entire story of the film in one image, so Audrey and I spent quite a bit of time staring at the painting and finding a new character that we had missed the first time. Very cool! We had an ice cream treat before heading down the road. We stopped in Cashmere on the way home to pick up some Aplets & Cotlets for John.

Fun day to spend with Audrey!!

Peach Crumb Bars

Donna had given us some peaches from her tree. John ate a number of them but then we decided to try out this recipe with the remaining peaches. It's a keeper!!
PEACH CRUMB BARS
3 cups flour
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one lemon
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 egg
4 cups (about 4 large) peaches, peeled and sliced
4 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder, ground ginger, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter and toss with the flour mixture. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter until the size of peas. Whisk the egg slightly, and stir it into the crumb mixture. Dough will be really crumbly. Press half of the dough into the prepared baking pan. In another bowl, stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch. Add the sliced peaches and gently mix. Spoon the peaches over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach mixture. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Stores really well in the fridge - tastes even better the next day.

Caesar Chicken Wraps

CAESAR CHICKEN WRAPS
1/2 c. creamy Caesar dressing (I used Safeway Fresh Garlic Caesar)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp pepper
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 c. Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 c. red pepper, diced
1 can olives, sliced
Flour tortillas
2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced

Combine Caesar dressing, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic and pepper. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and add a fourth of the dressing mixture; mix well. To serve: Spread a layer of cream cheese mixture on each warm tortilla. Sprinkle with red peppers & olives, add chicken & lettuce, then drizzle with dressing mixture & serve.

Rockin B

With Audrey going to intern at the Rockin' B Ranch every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday - it was about time we went! Especially since they will retire forever on October 1st. John and I met up with my mom and Donna McMackin, neither had gone before. We were to meet my friend Jessie also, but they had a last minute change of plans. It was fun for us to watch Audrey in action. Below you can see her in the "Tech Booth". Just like in past years we were treated to a pre-dinner music show by local talent. This group happened to be from West Valley. Then we made our way outside to the fake western Shoot Out show (or western melodrama). I'm sure being related to Audrey had something to do with them pulling both John and I up as audience participants!
After that we headed in for the pre-dinner prayer and National Anthem. Dinner was tasty: corn bread, ribs, chicken, beef, beans, applesauce, spice cake, coleslaw (new this year) and lemonade from the watering trough. Then the main stage show started. We were seated at the second table to the stage so had a great view of the music performed by Scott & Pamela Brownlee, Sam Mazzola, JayDean Ludiker and Gordon Grove. Great music, a Rindercella show for the kids and then more great Cowboy music. (Side note: I knew all the words to Rindercella as it was my talent show in a Junior Miss competition while I was in high school...)

Having the specific table that we did meant that during a very upbeat version of Ghost Rider, Scott jumps on one table (ours) and Sam jumps on another table across from him. Then they drop the lights and JayDean plays her fiddle with glow-in-the dark bow strings!

What a great night! We're so proud of Audrey and her support of this fun musical venue.