Weekend Eats

We ate our way through the weekend so I thought I'd share some of the tasty treats we had...

• Rustic Tart by Lindsay on Friday night with sides of yummy goat cheese, aged cheddar and crackers (It didn't look quite like this as she had potatoes & leeks, with a whole wheat crust, but this is similar)
• Nick's and my new favorite breakfast food - veggie scramble!

• For Saturday night we tried a new recipe and it was pretty successful. Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash and ricotta (I would like to make this again and either use a different cheese or seasonings).
• Sunday was homemade corn chowder, veggie chicken empanadas and glazed pear muffins

Definitely a good eats weekend!!

Best of Weekending

**Wight's Nursery Christmas Extravaganza benefiting Seattle Children's Hospital. "Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree..." - voted 1st place for best home and garden in Western Washington.

**Clay Pit - best Indian food in the state!! Voted 1st place for best of Indian food in Western Washington.

**Spotted Cow - I am forever spoiled from drinking any other brand of coffee! Cannot believe they didn't win for best coffee; however, they did get a nomination.

**Pinkalicious - our new favorite dessert store! Cupcakes - yum!

**Lucy - my new favorite girl's workout clothing store! The cutest clothes that will make you want to work out.

**Borders - I'm obsessed with books and Borders feeds my appetite. I finally purchased our Christmas book for this year (A Charlie Brown Christmas); Mitch Albom's new book Have a Little Faith; Biggest Loser Simple Swaps; and Elie Wiesel's The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, Day. Can't wait to dig in!

**Garlic Jim's Gourmet Pizza - so happy this place is just minutes from our house and their pizza is divine!

**Playing Guitar Hero on the Wii with new people - hilarious good fun!

**Good friends to hang out with and spend a fantastic weekend with - the best part!

The last of October

We've had a pretty festive last two weekends in October, so I thought I would lump it all together in one big post!

We spent the weekend of October 23-25 hanging out with Tim & Lindsay, playing games and watching a movie. On Sunday I did a bunch of cooking (lentil soup, blueberry streusel muffins and tofu stir-fry) and errands. Earlier in the week I had done some mass cleaning getting ready for my Silpada Jewelry Party. Nick was a gem and put in our brand new over-the-range microwave to replace the hideous fan that the original owners had put in. Slowly, but surely we are progressing towards finishing the remodel on our house. On Monday, I held my first hostess party for Silpada Jewelry and we had a grand time! The jewelry was beautiful, the food yummy and the company wonderful. I'm so excited for my order to come in - thank you to everyone who came!

This last weekend was Halloween and while we don't usually do anything particularly spectacular, we do have our silly little traditions of fun. A big bowlful of candy, fun costumes, good friends & family, silly movies, kettle corn and games make for one night of great fun. Nick and I dressed as an electrical socket and plug and Tim and Lindsay dressed as the Corpse Bride and Rorschach. My mom was in town and we had a wonderful visit with her! We stayed up late playing games, eating too much sweet stuff, "performing" with our Wii band, watching a movie (Lindsay & I) and playing computer games (the guys). We didn't have as many kids this year as in the past due to rain and cold, but we still had quite a few. Nick and I ended the weekend with a lovely homemade breakfast (veggie scramble) and a 20 mile bike ride. My longest ride yet!

Two wonderful weekends to end the month of October. Now we're gearing up for the holiday rush and trying to keep our sanity during it. Happy holidays to you all!!

Rainy Fall Weekend

Best things about this rainy fall weekend:

*The rain clearing up and going to the market

*Watching the kids play in the mud puddles at the market

*Hunkering down on the couch and watching CSI:NY with Lindsay

*Playing table games and eating Moose Munch

*Getting the Tramps together (our Wii band) to play with all 4 of us; for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS!!

*Sleeping in on Sunday morning and eating a yummy home made brunch all from the market

*Going for a bike ride with Nick on the trail and out of the garage, off the trainer!

*Enjoying a relaxing evening chilling with my handsome, wonderful hubby

The Colors of Fall

I'm sitting on the couch listening to some awesome music from a great movie I watched last night (Facing the Giants - if you haven't seen it, go rent it & watch it!) and decided I should do some blogging.
I think I am enjoying fall this year more then any other. We are in love with the Redmond Farmer's Market and I shall cry great tears of sadness when it ends on October 31st. In the meantime we are spending each Saturday at the market consuming the sights, sounds, tastes and fun. It never ceases to amaze me the wide array of colors that are displayed at the market; through the people, fruit, veggies, crafts and more. I thought I would take my camera and capture some of the colors of the market to share with you! Obviously, Saturday was spent at the market and after the market we went for a pseudo unplanned hike down to Lake Washington through St. Edward's Park. Then in the evening we had a lovely time with Tim, Lindsay, Ashley & Kihana(Lindsay's sister & niece) eating way too much food and playing games.
Sunday was a big day as I finally, FINALLY followed through and bought a bike!! My new beauty is a 2009 Specialized Dolce women's entry level road bike. I'm completely in love and dying to get it out on the trail, Seattle of course is complying and dumping rain on us. I am therefore relegated to the garage and Nick's trainer. I am so excited to break into this new form of exercise and see what results I can get. I must admit that I am burnt out on walking/jogging and would like to try something new to refresh myself and be able to break up the monotony of walking. Don't get me wrong, I'll be back out on the 1/2 marathon circuit next year, with plans of completing the 2011 Disneyworld Marathon; but for now I will be bonding with my new Dolce! It will be a lot of fun to ride with Nick and with this bike I will be able to keep up (hopefully!).

After being all kitted out for the bike Nick and I enjoyed a lovely fall drive out to Carnation, WA, where Jubilee Farms is located. This is the farm that Tim and Lindsay have their CSA through. There were pumpkins everywhere! We weren't able to squeeze onto the horse drawn wagon, but rode in the tractor drawn wagon out to the pumpkin patch where we had fun watching Kihana experience the pumpkins. Nick and I enjoyed some fresh corn on the cob - divine!; watched the trebuchet launch a pumpkin from afar and took some more colorful fall photos.

Sunday evening was topped off by a wonderful, albeit short, visit from my parents on their way back home from my mom completing the Victoria Marathon. She did it in 5:10 - way to go Mama!!
Another perfect fall weekend for the books...

The weekend and my mama

We had another uneventful weekend... Saturday was our regular, weekly trip to the Farmer's Market, where we tried roasted corn on the cob and tamales this week. I think I might have to stray from the crepe booth and hang out at the Tamale lady's booth from now on - so good!! Nick is addicted to the pie lady and bought another of her pies; apple this time. Sunday was spent putting up corn, doing laundry and working in the yard. We are gearing up for fall and I'm slowly getting the yard ready. I don't want to trim my roses or lilies back just yet, because around here we get those crazy temperature surges and the flowers start blooming again. I think I might burlap sack my roses this year and see if it protects them a little bit better.

I'm very much reminded of my mama this fall. I was standing in my kitchen yesterday putting corn up and was reminded of all that Mama has taught me. She's taught me how to cook (great way to teach math if you're homeschooling & also home ec!), how to pick out the best produce, how to can and freeze produce, how to care for flowers and tend a garden, but more then that she taught me how to be the woman I am today (or at least the one I strive to be!). My mama is such a lady - graceful, kind, compassionate and spiritual. However, she's not afraid to get outside and work in the garden, buck hay, work with horses and be a helpmate alongside my daddy. I strive to live up to her example. Thanks Mama for all that you have taught me and showed me throughout my life! I love you tremendously!!

Catch Phrases

Have you ever noticed that as you hang around people more often you pick up on the phrases or words they use regularly to add spice to their vocabulary?

We were talking about this at work this last week and realizing that we have started using each other's words and catch phrases! I decided I had to blog about this topic because it really made me laugh at the things we say.

Aubrey - her two special phrases are "The End" and "Sad". The End is used at the end of a sentence or discussion when things are getting a little snippy or we should think about changing the subject. Sad is used after someone says something that is, ironically, sad or when you look into the face of one of our patients and their little lip is starting to pout out and they just look so funny and cute, but so sad.

Ruth - her special words are different since she is British. She'll say things such as, "Isn't that just delightful?", but in a sarcastic way. She usually says it after we're teasing her about her driving. "I can't be bothered", Ruth actually uses this after we tell her she needs a massage or she should clean out her car; she just can't be bothered. "Shut your face", not sure if this is nicer then telling someone to shut-up or not, but there it is.

Mine - "FABuLous!" Said very similarly to the lady that does the Orbit gum commercials. "SHUT-up", used instead of "are you serious?". Careful in using this one, may be offensive to some. "Wow" - said very blandly and slowly. Can be used in place of "I can't believe you just said or did that".

Kim - when it's time for the discussion to end, rather then saying, "talk to the hand" Kim likes to use, "I say to you good-day".

I couldn't think of any phrases in particular that Nick says, however Nick and I both use movie quotes a lot in our vocabulary if at all possible. Just thought this was a fun experiment I would share!