This & That

Scary

We interrupt Spring Break at the cabin to bring you the following annoucement. My baby is turning 16 today. Not only does that mean I'm terribly old, but also it means she can officially drive....and date.

Here she is 7 years ago turning 9.

And she's blossomed into this beautiful young woman.

She loves:

• All things related to clothing and shopping
• Her bedroom decor
• Her nieces and nephews
• Driving
• Her group of friends
• Pasta, especially alfredo with chicken
• Cafe Rio
• Batman
• Her phone

She hates:

• Nylons, or any kind of tights on her legs
• Tomato Soup
• Beans
• Her big brothers telling her what to do
• Cleaning said bedroom
• Fifi (what she calls her math teacher---she says he looks like a poodle)
• Early piano lessons
• Doing her own laudry

Having a girl in the middle of the locker room has certainly been an adventure, but I love this girl more than I can express. Now, Boys, do you have the plane tickets scheduled or the car gas tanks full to be in the front hall cleaning your guns when that hapless first date comes to pick her up? Hmmmm? That was the agreement, right?

 

'Tato Info

No, we didn't grow that specimen. It was given to us. Ironically, even though we live in Idaho, and with all the stuff we do grow in the garden, we have never been very successful with potatoes.

Into the Woods--Spring Break Version

As I've mentioned, last week was our Spring Break. Now, most people who live in a place that's still fairly cold in mid-March might head to somewhere warm. No, not us. We headed into the cabin, where you saw a couple of days ago how deep the snow still is.

We took my mother, who had a birthday while we were there and turned 76, we took a friend for The Girl, and we also took Ollie. It was an interesting set up.

We got a cover for Ollie's box, so hopefully he wouldn't be too cold on the ride in. But the dog jumps into water in January chasing ducks, so really we weren't too worried.

Still, he wasn't really thrilled with the whole idea....not at all.

Here's a shot of DH attaching the sled to the back of a snowmobile. I drove that one, dragging Ollie behind me.

The Girl's friend brought some very fashionable duds for them to wear and I heard words I never, ever thought I'd hear from The Girl's mouth. "Mom! Take a picture of us!"

Wow.

Needless to say, I did as she asked.

 

Now, That's a Tater!

Even more lateral lip movement on the face. :)

And a king-sized Idaho potato.

Happy Birthday

This post marks the beginning of my family's birthday merry-go-round. I have approximately a birthday every 3 weeks until the first part of June, so it's a cake-making extravaganza around here. Of course, now that several of the birthday-ees live outside the nest, it's not quite the same.

So today this man, the love of my life, has a birthday. I took this picture last week during our Spring Break time at the cabin.  Yes, the snow was still that deep. Many more details of that exciting excursion to come....Ollie in a sled, my mother and the yellow jackets, the Rhino at a 45-degree angle stuck in the snow....with my mother inside, the mad dash to Utah ending with Creamery ice cream. The fun just kept on coming!

Happy Birthday to my DH...Mountain Man that he is.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

I had a houseful last weekend. One morning I made them waffles and raspberries for breakfast and topped it with this. It---is----deadly.  You can see that it was inhaled before I could get a nice shot of the full effect on the waffles. The Mommy's Kitchen potluck contribution for the week.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup
Makes about 2 cups

• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine everything except the vanilla in a large saucepan.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low--just make sure it's still bubbling. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until the syrup is a nice, golden brown color. It kind of looks like it's foaming rather than boiling. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Serve warm on pancakes or waffles (or ice cream ). The only thing you have to watch with this is that if you boil it too long....it will turn into actual caramel....like the candy. 

This recipe is also linked up at:

 

Spring Break

It's our Spring Break here and we will be in and out. Posting will not be as regular as it usually is. We're headed to the cabin and then to Utah to check in with SD Boy and his new bride.

Slap That Bass

PB's college audition choir had a concert last week. It was dedicated to jazz...not my favorite music form, but PB got to sing a solo, which was very fun. I find something interesting when I attend these concerts. As his usual accompanist, I play for him almost daily. I also play for his lessons, so I'm very used to hearing him and me together. In this particular concert, I did not play for him. He sang with only a standing bass accompaniment, to go with the song. The title, "Slap That Bass"--George Gershwin song--- refers to a technique of playing the bass. Anyway, when you separate out the very comfortable arrangement of mom and son, something very strange happens. The mother becomes a nervous basket case. I'm sitting in the audience, palms sweaty and that "achy" nervous feeling in my hands, fidgeting until my DH grabs my knee, trying to take a couple of pictures without disturbing anyone around me.

Shaky mom, low light, this is as good as it gets for something like this. He did very well, by the way.

Peanut Butter Brownies

I made these a couple of weeks ago when LS Boy was here. He fully expects something sweet to eat when he comes home, and I often oblige him. If you like peanut butter and/or peanut butter cups, you will like these. I got the recipe from bettycrocker.com and they are today's contribution to the Mommy's Kitchen potluck.

Peanut Butter Brownies

• 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 24 mini peanut butter cups
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a 9x13 pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat together sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs until well blended. Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut 12 of the peanut butter cups into quarters and gently stir into brownie batter along with the chocolate chips. Spread into baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a test comes out fairly clean.

Remove from oven and immediately press remaining peanut butter cups into the top of the brownies in even rows. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

With Apologies to Andrea

Andrea is a blog buddy of mine who lives in the frozen northland of my birth. I'm imagining that there is still snow around Andrea's house, or at least really cold temperatures. Not to nanny-boo or anything, but we are sprouting here.

We have crocuses. Is it crocuses? Or croci?

The snowdrops are in full swing.

And it won't be long until we have some daffodils, with their bright, sunny faces.