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.

Paint Service Project

John helped in a Stake service project at East Farms Elementary school. It took about 2/3 of the day to paint the entire school. There were teams that masked the windows and doors ahead of the 4 individuals with sprayers who rotated clockwise around the building applying the undercoat and by the time they got around, it was ready for the top coat. John spent much of his time on a lift with Leon Stevens masking the upper portions.

From the East Farms September Newsletter: Our building is bright and shiny thanks to our local LDS Church who used East Farms as the Community Day of Service in honor of 9/11. It was an amazing sight to see young and old scrape, tape, clean, paint and repaint. We will never forget this gift of time and energy!

From Spokesman-Review Article - 8/27/2011 - Mormon Church Devotes Month to Community: If you drive by East Farms Elementary School today in Newman Lake and see 300 men, women and children wielding paintbrushes, feel free to jump in and help. Organizers will be delighted. The school-painting project is the kick-off event for an upcoming September filled with service projects throughout the Inland Northwest, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon church.

“We encourage anyone who wants to come,” said Alicia Mattoon, the church’s director of media relations. “You don’t stand around wondering what to do. There is something for everything.”

The East Farms Elementary painting initiative was inspired, in part, by the failure of the East Valley School District bond in April. The school is in need of some tender loving care. In time for the first day of school Sept. 7, the elementary school will have a fresh coat of beige paint, with brown trim. “I’ll be here and others (from the school) will too,” said Tammy Fuller, principal of East Farms. “This is what the community is about.”

Did you know?
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has about 50,000 members in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.
• More than 10 percent of the Spokane Valley population is made up of Mormons.
• Spokane County has five LDS “stakes,” each with about 3,500 members. The stakes are made up of wards; each ward has about 350 members.
• The church in Eastern Washington has 22 church buildings, the Temple in the Spokane Valley, the Spokane Mission with 190 missionaries, four genealogy family centers and LDS Family Services, which provides social services for LDS members.
• September’s service projects are open to all community members.

Riverfront Park & BBQ

John's work hosted a barbecue event at Riverfront Park. It included dinner (hot dog, burger or chicken) and dessert (ice cream bars). It was a very warm day! After (or before) dinner they also provided the employees with a day-pass to the park. We were able to ride the 100+ year-old Looff carousel and enjoy walking around the park after our meal.

Audrey Day at Lake

Diane and Rich Collins took Audrey and Cindy K, Tycie D and Sarah T to their lake place to spend the day boating and tubing. Audrey came home with totally wind-blown, play-in-the-sun hair. She had a great time! When I asked Diane if they had taken any pictures, she said:

I think that we were so busy just having fun that we totally forgot about the camera. Glad she had fun. Think your daughter is special. Diane

CDA with Marcie

We headed to Coeur d'Alene with Marcie and her kids (Derek, Lindsay, Gracie) with plans to see the boat show. We were pleasantly surprised to find there was a car show being held that weekend too. We had a fun time checking out cars and they even let us sit inside. We then made our way to the dock to check out the wooden boats on display - one of John's favorite summer activities.

Had to check out the candy store in the shops across from the CDA Resort. What do you think about this tub of bubble gum!? The store had all types of candy that you could buy by the pound. Audrey would have loved it, but since she had to be to work mid-afternoon, she did not want to risk being late.


We made our way to Hudson's Hamburgers, a local restaurant that has been open since 1907. They serve burgers (no sides, no fries), soda pop and pie. That's it. We ordered our burgers and luckily some room opened up at the counter about the time our order was ready. There are only 18 stools. It was fascinating watching them slice the pickles and onions, thin and quick.

An excerpt from Get Out North Idaho article on Hudson's: A Huddy burger is uncomplicated, iconic, handed down like a symbol of local pride from generation to generation since 1907. It comes in four varieties; single, double, single with cheese and double with cheese. Onion and pickles are the only garnish options, sliced fresh per order right there at the grill. Hudson’s trademark spicy ketchup and mustard should be applied in generous doses, and a fountain Pepsi in a tiny glass is the only way to chase it down.

We checked out some shops along Sherman Avenue as we had to make room for our final destination, cupcakes! We went to Sweet B Cupcakes and tried some small cupcakes (lemon, peanut butter chocolate, red velvet) and because they did not have a small cupcake size, we had to get the regular Oreo cupcake to try. They were very tasty. Loved that there was an Oreo as the base of the Oreo cupcake. The kids enjoyed using the provided chalk to draw pictures on the tables.

Marcie & Family: Thanks for taking the day to play with us!!