Happy Spring!!! Thrashers and kilt making

We have has some crazy weather, as most of you all have too! Snow!!! We do get some snow here occasionally, maybe every couple of years... but it was down right comin down... and it was exciting!!
just as we were getting all ready for spring and things we a bloomin... we had a crazy storm... it did not stick at all but it was pretty fun while it lasted.

We just finished our spring break and had some good times... this state is funny, and maybe it is like this in other states to, but what they say here is " if you don't like the weather... wait five minutes". Which I think is so true... because last week we went on a hike in Sedona and it was hot, and i sat out in the sun and got a little sun burnt, and then the next day it was snowing....

So I am not from the east coast, and have only visited New York and Connecticut, but my BFF told me about these fries that they have on the coast,  and they are called Thrashers. Well they must be delicious, and secret... because usually on a search on the Internet i can usually find some sort of recipe of whatever it is that I'm looking for.  But there was nothing except that they use apple cider vinegar and NO ketchup... so I thought I would give it a go and see if they could be made by baking them... well so I just cut up a bunch of potatoes and tossed them in some olive oil and kosher salt and baked at 400 for a long time til they were really crunchy and then doused them with apple cider vinegar and.... They were DELICIOUS!!!! I can't even imagine what the real thing taste like...

We also had a great St. Patricks Day... I love a good corned beef and cabbage and I made some Irish soda bread and of course some mint chip ice cream and Killian's Irish Red beer. Of course, i completely forgot to take any pictures until the end of our good friends, that had just gotten back from living in Peru and Ecuador for 6 months.... so that was really fun hearing there adventures that i forgot to take pics of the actual meal... oh well have to try it again next year...

Oh I almost forgot about my husband, and that he said he would wear a kilt if i could find him one... well of course living in a super small town... there were no kilt stores around, so I had to got down to the ol'e walmart(our only fabric store around) and you know if you have ever been there, that they have a very limited supply, so I got the only plaid that they had and looked on you tube to see if I could make a kilt... well in the short time before my company arrived... this is what i came up with.... so I may have to again try again for next year... or start working on another and maybe it will be done before next year...

have a great day!!! and Happy Spring

We have some new additions to our family

NEW BABY CHICKS!!!! yeah... they are so cute!!! My girls watch the front of the feed store and wait for the sign to go up announcing the baby chicks are in. So yesterday... was the day... they noticed the sign and screamed... THE BABY CHICKS ARE THERE... CAN WE PLEASE GO GET SOME... so of course i said maybe we will just stop and and look at them.. well we ended up getting 4.. and they are SO cute...

We got 2 Ameracanas, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1Buff Orpington .. so we are pretty excited with our new family members, especially my darling daughter, Ruby, she wants to hold them about every 3 seconds...

If anyone knows a way to integrate the new chicks(when they get their feathers of course) into the coop with the older hens... without getting pecked to death????" Please let me know????

Our seed have also started to sprout... yipeee!! I had bought a Cinderella pumpkin last year and saved the seeds... not very well though... because i just put them in a bag and didn't dry them out good enough, and they got moldy... well I was very bummed that I did that, but decided to go ahead and give it a try and plant them... well lo and behold... they grew!!! SO, I will have a Cinderella pumpkin... to go to the ball in...what fun I will have!!!

New bags

So this is what I was doing instead of cleaning my house.....

And then we went to a show and tell day for our home school group( which my kids did not have a  clue what that was about..now they do!) and we brought our chicken... but I didn't have a cage to put it in and so I had to make one... interesting... eehh???
 

Here they are with a bearded dragon.. that another kid brought.
Fun times today at our house....
 
 
Hope you all had a great day!!!

Seed starting

I think I may have some Spring fever. The girls and I got out our saved yogurt containers and Jiffy seed starter greenhouse kit... and started ourselves some fruit and vegetables.  I get so excited starting a garden, in hopes of growing tons of vegetables for my family... and then remember where I live and how hard it is to garden here.... but I am going to stay very optimistic and hope for the best.

This year I am defiantly going to put a automatic timer thingy on my hose, so I wont forget to water. I usually just do container gardening because if I plant anything in the back yard, it gets burned up. Way to hot back there, and in the front courtyard I do have a great place to garden, but some Bermuda grass has gotten in there and I have wrestled with that for the last couple of years and cannot get it out of the garden bed. and it chokes everything out. I was doing some research on how to get Bermuda grass out of your garden and someone said " the only way to get rid of Bermuda grass is to move"... because its so hard to get rid of, without using chemicals, of course.

So if anyone has a way to get rid of it... Please please please let me know!!

 Do you like how my daughter spelled dill and watermelon??

And look at my apricot tree.. its a bloomin!!! hopefully we don't get another freeze... i would really like to try one of my apricots... since this tree has never produced any...I am trying to be hopeful!!!

Happy March!!!

get yourself a Falafel

I have been craving a Falafel.. which is really weird because I think I have only had them once in my life. So I was off to find myself a recipe and make myself a falafel. I had already soaked and cooked a bunch of chickpeas(or garbanzo beans, whichever you like, but when I say garbanzo, I immediately think of Gonzo from the Muppets) anywho... so I found a good video on how to make them...

I ended up not having parsley, and I baked some of them and then fried some. Mine were pretty tasty but I think next time I will use more oil and fry them like the video.

And of course, I liked the little falafel maker like she had. Mine were all over the place!!!

NOW GO MAKE A FALAFEL!!! I really just like saying falafel... I have been saying it all day!! My kids think i have gone nutso!!

More bananas and some crochet

I have another banana treat for you!!! this was one of my favorites when i was a wee one, and I wanted to see if my kids liked it as much as I did.... I am sure its not as healthy as the banana ice cream, but it is good.

Chocolate covered bananas

My kids LOVED it..(well the 3 that will touch a banana, 1 would get near them). hope you all had a nice weekend.. we had a fun and relaxing one.. didn't do any rock climbing but did take the kiddos out to a park and my husband was having the boys run through some soccer drills.. while i tried to show the girls how i could do kart wheels(well i mean how i used to be able to do them)... well let me tell you that i am pretty sore today..( I only did 4 of them). WOW I need to get in shape.

My friend and I are CRAZY!!! we signed up to do a 5K... well she is actually doing a 10K(my husband talked her into it) and I am doing the 5K... be neither of us even like to run. who know what we were thinking. So its called Run for the Mountain.. and its in Flagstaff, which is sitting at about 6000 ft in elevation.. and we are at 3200 ft.. so I think we have some training to do!!!!

I have also been working on some crocheted washcloths to put in my etsy shop... i really need to get some things in there..

Have a great Monday!!!

So I LOVE pizza

I just love pizza... its pretty much my favorite meal.. I mean not just domino's or your local chain... I mean really good gourmet pizza... I recently went to the Mellow Mushroom.. and I learned that it is a chain from the east coast  but it was new to me and I just loved their crust... I asked the waiter if it was a secret recipe or something and if he could let me know what was up?? all he told me was that they put molasses in the dough...OMG... I would have never guessed!!!

Now I DO make my own dough... but I would have never imagined  putting molasses in it... I always put honey!!! well I had to try it out for myself to see if I could get the same results.

My recipe I will share because its not a secret..

For 2 Pizzas( I often double it)

1c. warm water
2 1/4 t yeast
2 or 3T molasses(I don't really measure)

Let sit for 5 min. to proof

then add(I use my Kitchen Aid, but you could do it by hand)
3c. unbleached flour
1t salt
2or 3 T olive oil
 let mix for a couple of minutes

I pour about 1-2 T olive oil over it after mixing. and then let it rise for 1 hour in a warm place.( if its hot outside, like it is here in the summer, I just cover it with a towel and set it outside, otherwise I set my oven to 100 and then turn it off and put it in there)

Then punch it down and separate into 2 pieces and roll one piece out with my rolling pin, cover with tomato sauce or pesto.. and all your favorite toppings and cheese.

I like to set my oven to 425 with my pizza stone already in there and then have my pizza dough on a pizza peel.. with corn meal under the pizza and slide it right on in onto the stone... then cook for about 10-12 min. and enjoy!!! best with some red wine or a beer and some ceasar salad.



Well I will have to tell you that IT Was Good...i just made cheese(boring) because that is all my children like. But it was de-lish. have a great weekend.