Category Archive for ‘Food’ at eastowners

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Pseudo-Thai food

Published

dead headphonist

on September 5, 2007

in Food and Recipes

. 0 Comments

Tonight I made a faux (vegetarian) Thai Satay-like sauce over tofu, steamed broccoli, bean sprouts, and white rice. Here’s a quick run-down…

1 package extra firm tofu, cubed
3 stalks fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups white rice (we like Calrose)
2/3 can coconut milk
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
bean sprouts
1/4 tsp garlic powder (not garlic salt)
3/4 tsp Thai chili sauce (will probably use more next time)
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon
olive oil

Prepare the rice, preferably steamed, as you normally would. Fry the tofu (I will marinate the tofu next time in soy sauce, pineapple juice and ginger… this time I simply dressed the tofu with sashimi sauce and sesame seeds after frying). You want the tofu to be golden brown before you hit it with the soy. I generally use sashimi sauce or you could use sweet soy.

Steam your broccoli. Use whatever method you prefer. Do not over-steam. You don’t want it to be soggy.

In a sauce pan, gently heat the coconut milk (medium-low). Do not allow to bubble. Slowly add the peanut butter and stir until it is completely dissolved. Add the chili sauce and do the same. If you want it spicier, add another 1/3-1/2 tsp of chili sauce. Be careful and only add a little at a time. Generally, Thai chili sauce is quite potent.

Add the other spices and stir until completely dissolved. Reduce the heat and allow sauce to thicken.

Plate the rice, add the tofu and broccoli, cover in sauce, garnish with crushed peanuts and beans sprouts.

Vegetarian Biscuits ‘n’ Gravy

Published

dead headphonist

on September 2, 2007

in Food and Recipes

. 1 Comment

Current Mood: Happy emoticon Happy

UPDATE: I’ve added a recipe for a Vegetarian Breakfast Skillet that utilizes the same veggie sausage. I still have not had the motivation to try making my own biscuits, but I have now made this a half-dozen times and I’ve found that browning the roux a little longer makes for a more tasty gravy, but it can go south very quickly, so watch it carefully. I’ve also played with the spices and found that adding them to the sausage before it goes in the pan works better (see the link above).

————-
I was able to pull off making some delicious vegetarian biscuits and gravy this morning. It turned out very very well for a first try and I figured I’d share. Here’s my recipe (more or less):

1/2 tube of GoLean veggie sausage
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup water
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4-3/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp marjoram

Over medium-high heat, fry the veggie sausage in the olive oil. I used a slotted spatula and mushed the sausage as it cooked and then broke it up even further; basically make the pieces as small as possible. Don’t over-cook them. When they are just starting to get brown, transfer them to a bowl and put aside. Don’t worry about cleaning the pan. Anything left over will help to season the gravy.

Over medium-low heat (in the same pan after you’ve removed the sausage) melt 1/2 stick of butter. Do not allow to bubble and sizzle. Add the flour, slowly, mix well to a roux and increase the heat slightly. Add the spices and salt and pepper. Allow the roux to brown slightly; pay attention. It will burn quickly if you don’t pay attention to it.

Mix the milk and water into the bowel of sausage (remember the sausage?). Mix this concoction into the pan with the roux and stir. If you are careful, you can increase the heat slightly. Keep stirring and checking it for thickness. Add a mixture of 2 parts water to 1 part flour if you need to thicken it up a bit. Don’t add too much or you’ll have paste. If it’s too thick, add more water. I found that I needed to add about a teaspoon of flour/water mix and it was good. It takes a good long time to thicken up. Once it starts, reduce the heat. Do not allow the gravy to boil.

For biscuits, we just used the Pilsbury out of the can and I split them in half with a bread knife after baking. Next time, I’m going to try my hand at totally home-made, but this time, it was most excellent. I’m also going to play with the spice ratios a bit; probably increasing them by 25% or so.

I’ll post results next time, and any revisions I come up with.

If you’re looking for the original, non-veggie version, it can be found here. Thanks to Anthony St Clair for providing a great starting point to my adaptation.

Lazy Day Haze

Published

charmaspice

on August 28, 2007

in Food and Movies

. 1 Comment

Current Mood: Bored emoticon Bored & Tired or Sleepy

In lieu of my usual Tackle it Tuesday post I am Offically calling it Lazy Tuesday today. Clare is still with my in-laws, and I was able to sleep in until oh about 8:45am or so. I went downstairs to muster up some breakfast, which was a YUMMY bran muffin I bought from Nantucket Baking Co. last night. They are located at 208 Union NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 right next to the other YUMMY store Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s has a fabulous beer cooler, and some absolutely delish desserts in their dessert case. So, after heating up my muffin I decided that I was going to start watching my The Thornbirds dvd’s I had checked out from Netflix. I spent literally the entire day watching this epic mini series…..and it was almost as good as I remembered it from my younger days. I’ll admit there were some slow parts I started dozing through, but my all time favorite part is when Meggie tells Father Ralph that she’s dieing because she bleeds all the time for days, but then some how it stops and she just knows that her days are numbered. It’s so silly, yet I’m sure almost reminesent to every woman that reads this of when their time began. I did get a few loads of laundry done during the course of the day, so I feel some what accomplished. Tonight Brad & I are off to the elementary school for parent orientation. We get to meet Clare’s teacher and learn about how they will be teaching our fine new Kindergartner. I can’t believe she’s off to Kindergarten in one week…..I can remember just yesterday they thrust her into my arms and said here’s your baby girl. I swear I won’t cry……although I think I’ll do a jig, I can’t wait for school to start!

Minty Goodness

Published

dead headphonist

on August 23, 2007

in Food

. 0 Comments

I like mints. No… you don’t understand… I -really- like mints. It’s a bit of a problem area for me and lately, it seems there are a lot of great little bits of herbal goodness on the market. Here’s my list of favourites and links on where to get them.

By far, my favourite are the Oral Fixation Night Light mints. They very much like a good Indian chai, buried in a mint. They are lightly caffeinated, so you can eat a lot of them without getting loopy (if you can afford to). They are a bit on the expensive side, so I eat them sparingly.

Altoids Spearmint are my favourite of the Altoids line. I have a particular liking for spearmint over peppermint and the strong Altoids flavor makes these a total winner in my book. They are a little difficult to find sometimes, but worth the wait to get them in the mail if no one locally is carrying them.

The Vojo Citrus are different than just about any other mint out there. They have a strong Citrus flavor that is strong on oranges. Vojo also makes a peppermint that is not bad, but tastes a little too much like medicine. The Vojo mints are pretty highly caffeinated, so they have some bite. Just a few will do ya.

Altoids Wintergreen is my second choice in the Altoids line. What? No classic peppermint? We’ll get to that, but no… they are not my favourite… maybe it’s just from eating too many of them in previous times. The Wintergreen are clean and tasty and arguably just as strong as peppermint (the Spearmint aren’t as strong).

Oral Fixation Mojito mint is one tasty little mint. The OF line isn’t as crazy over-the-top in flavor as the Altoids, but they do make some seriously tasty combinations (and I’m a sucker for packaging). This particular flavor is sugar free and manages to not taste all chemically by using sorbitol as it’s sweetener. It doesn’t exactly taste like a Mojito (they are missing the rum it seems), but they are good nonetheless.

Next on our list is the Altoids Chocolate Dipped Peppermint. What’s to say about this? It’s the Altoids classic mint dipped in dark chocolate. It’s tasty. It’s not terrible for you. It’s that tiny bit of chocolate to get you through whatever is ailing you mentally. There’s nothing bad here.

Last but not least is the Altoids Liquorice. Unfortunately, these guys have a bit of liquorice root in them and I can tell you from experience that I’m one of those people who is affected negatively by liquorice; it raises my blood pressure. The problem is that I love liquorice. Now I just can’t have as much. I’ve rationed to only eating a couple of these a week because if I eat 3-4 in one sitting I can feel it affect me. The same thing applies for anything else with liquorice in it.

A Great Contest

Published

charmaspice

on August 21, 2007

in Contests and Food

. 0 Comments

As some of you might of read in a previous post I am trying a new menu planning service to help us eat healthier, try new things, and to have less stress in knowing what I am making for dinner. I was really excited to hear about this contest where you can win 1 full years worth of a menu planning service (a $240 value). Sound great? Head over to Casual Friday Everday to enter.

Booger Wheat…..What’s That Mom?

Published

charmaspice

on August 14, 2007

in Family, Food and Kid-friendly

. 2 Comments

Current Mood: Playful emoticon Playful

Bulger Wheat I know, I’m supposed to be cleaning the bathrooms…..but I just had the funniest conversation with Clare. In order to save time, maybe a little bit of money, and the headache of “What’s for dinner?” I’ve started subscribing to a menu planning service. I ~~stole~~ borrowed the idea from my pal The Diaper Diaries after reading one of her blog posts a month ago or so. After some reading, looking at their sample menu, and mulling it over I decided to try it out for 3 months, for the price of only $10. 3 months worth of recipies for that price, how can I go wrong…..I get the recipes even if I don’t like the service. So, I signed on with Saving Dinner with the Dinner Diva, Leanne. As we are mainly vegetarian I signed up for their vegetarian menu mailer, they have others to look at based on what you are looking for at dinner time. Every Wednesday I get an e-mail with 6 days worth of meals, the recipies, and what I like best….the shopping list. I print it, staple it, go through the list cross off the things I already have, and I am all set to go to the store. I’ve been printing these menu’s for over a month now and haven’t used them because either A.) we were out of town, B.) I never went grocery shopping & we were eating out….(I know it’s aweful, but it’s what happens around here a lot - not as much any more because we are on a frugal diet), or C.) I didn’t have the time to sit down and actually try it…..it’s a new thing and trying new things like this is always a challenge for me.

So, on Sunday I sat down with the weeks list and set off to the store. I have to admit it’s REALLY forcing us to try new things. Last night we had a yummy salad with some whole grain bread and stuffed mushrooms. Some of you wonder….what did Clare eat, why yes she was forced to eat the salad. She liked some of it, some of it she didn’t. I wasn’t about to go make her some Easy Mac when in fact I knew that she liked salads and will eat it if it’s got stuff in it she likes. I mainly buy field greens, and that was new to her…..the salads she’d had were mainly iceburg lettuce which of course has no taste. Also, if I’m going to eat healthier….by George she’s going to eat healthy right along with us. Besides, I wouldn’t be setting a good example if I changed the rules.

So, I digress, onto the Booger Wheat. We were sitting down to lunch, and Clare asked what are we having for dinner tonight? The conversation goes:

Clare: ”Are we having more salad?”

Me: “Well, no it’s different tonight, it’s a Bulger Wheat salad.”

Clare: “Booger Wheat, what’s Booger Wheat?”

Me: Laughing a little, because she has this giggly look on her face. “No, it’s Bulger Wheat. It’s kinda like a rice sorta”.

Clare: “What are we eating with the Booger Wheat?”

Me: “Well, it’s kinda like the black bean & rice taco you get at Q-doba. ”

She was slightly confused, but accepted my answers. So, tonight we will be dining on Booger Wheat!

Up in this place….

Published

charmaspice

on July 15, 2007

in Family, Food, Kid-friendly and Local

. 0 Comments

So, it’s been a while…..a long time actually since I’ve last blogged here. I’ve been mostly blogging on Myspace……to keep up with my friends from high school, college, and some that I’ve met later in life. It’s hard keeping 2 blogs…..this one I try to write so the family can keep up with our whereabouts, as to which this summer has been everywhere, and all of the great new things Clare has been doing in life.

Let’s see…..so far since April she’s completed Preschool, which was a sad day. Now I no longer get 3 days a week of 2.5 hours quiet time! I know, I’m such a princess…..however I know it and have accepted it a long time ago. Clare was also accepted into Excel Charter Academy, and tested into Kindergarten. They were so excited to see she knew how to read….yes she can read. I was a little blaze` about it in the beginning…..but in fact she can read. She is very excited to go to school there, and come to find out she will actually know a few kids that go there….don’t know if they’ll be in the same class or not, but at least she’ll see them on the playground or at drop-off/pick-up. The Charter academy for those that don’t know is a publicly funded school that anyone can attend, however you have to fill out applications and be accepted as they only take in a certain # of kids per grade level to keep the class room numbers down. About a year and a half ago Brad had decided he’d finally listen to me and look into charter schools. GR Public isn’t that great, and I worry that she’d be bored and not challenged enough in school there. She’s a very bright kid…..and I don’t say that because she’s my kid and every parent thinks their kid is bright, but in fact I hear it over and over again daily by other parents & sometimes strangers even stop me and tell me how smart she is. The charter school is extremely diverse, the kids are their because their parents chose to put them there and are involved in their lives (not just looking for a place to drop them off 7 hours a day), and the teachers are there because the principal thinks they are good ( I have a friend that teaches in a charter school in Kzoo, and she has seen people loose their jobs because they have lost their edge in teaching). I have heard time & time again from people about GR Public’s gang problems (even Yale had supposed Gang problems and it was way the hell out in a corn field), how they are underfunded ( they are, and most do the best with what they have), and how kids fall through the cracks (kids fall through the cracks everywhere)…..the main difference with the charter school is that the parents WANT to be involved with their children and see them suceed in life and I don’t feel that every parent does that in public schools. I am greatful we are given this choice to send Clare to charter school, especially since it’s free and the only other privatesc schools we have here are of religious beliefs…..and we won’t send Clare to anything like that. I will step off my soap box now…..

In May Brad & I celebrated our 6th anniversary by heading down to K-zoo to relive the memories and eat at our favorite restaurant Food Dance. Their food, and the dessert Cat’s Meow (the chocolate is FABULOUS!) is to die for. I’d eat it as a last meal if I were in that spot. For most of the month of May and early June we traveled between my parents & Brad’s parent’s house for baby showers, bridal showers, & weekends without Clare so we could throw an awesome party for Memorial weekend. For those that don’t know Dan & Karyn are expecting their 1st baby due to arrive August 27th via C-section, and Frank & his girlfriend Cari are expecting their 1st baby due to arrive the end of this month (July). They are both girls (Frank’s baby is Olivia, and Dan’s baby is Danielle), and Clare is super excited…..as she somehow thinks she’s becoming a big sister. No matter how much we explain it…..she’s convinced, and the funny thing is she knows that they are her new baby cousins. I think she’s just excited to have 2 new baby girls to oogle over……however I don’t know how she’s going to feel about that when Christmas comes! She really got into helping me pick out shower gifts though, and every time we go shopping she finds new things for her new baby cousin’s Olivia & Danielle.

The first weekend we drove to my parent’s, dropped Clare off, had my dad take us to the air port….and we jet setted off to Phoenix for a 4 day weekend. We went with the intentions of Meghan, her sister, & I going dress shopping as her sister & I are brides maids in the wedding. Friday we flew out, Meghan picked us up, we waited for Larry to get home, and headed out for dinner. We were excited to hear they had a Thai Basil, however it’s not the same as the one we’ve been to in Denver. IT was good, but nothing to write home about. We then wen and checked out a Hookah Lounge. They had the BEST iced chai I’ve ever had. Maybe it was the flavorful fruity briquettes we were smoking (it’s all legal mom I swear!), but it was good. I’ve never smoked out of a hookah before, but it was nice. Nothing gross about it until we smoked all the flavor out of the briquettes. Larry even tried it, and that says a lot. We have a hookah lounge around the corner from us here in Eastown, I think we may try it out. On Saturday Meghan and I went to meet Jackie for dress shopping. We really didn’t find anything…..but we did find a direction to go it, and then we went to a spa for the afternoon! It was the BEST spa I’ve ever been to, it’s at http://http://www.wildhorsepassresort.com/spa-wild-horse-pass.html and called the Aji spa. We all had 1 hour massages……I wished it had lasted longer……sat in the steam room, sat in a hot tub with cold towels and cucumbers, and then had lunch by the pool….swimming before lunch of course. We then showered (using their fabulous products), and headed back to Larry & Meghan’s. Larry, Meghan, Brad, & I went out down in Tempe to a fabulous dinner at Much Gusto……it was the BEST fish burrito I’ve every had….namefully called The Big Ass Burrito. Check out this article if you ever go to AZ http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dining/articles/0223mucho23.html. Then we went down to cruise the strip and find a bar to have a bachelor/bachelorette fun time at. We didn’t find much, had some strong ass slurpies with liquor in them, and purused the shops on the strip. I think I may of successfully embarassed my little brother, as some of their shops were rather interesting…..we’ll leave it at that. Oh, earlier that night we also drove us South Mountain. It’s a mountain that looks down on Phoenix and the surrounding cities. We took some pics, they’ll be up eventually…..we have yet to get our picture gallery fixed, so I’m waiting on that. On Sunday we got up early and enjoyed the pool in the back yard. The water was warm and nice. I think we need a pool in our back yard! We had breakfast, got dressed, and then Larry drove us up to Sedona to look at the beautiful red rocks. We went up into this church that looks down out the side of a mountain…..I’m not one for churches, but this was beautiful. We also, in true Brad & Char style when gallery hopping. Their are some awesome galleries on your way into town. Downtown Sedona was a little touristy for us…..but the galleries were worth the trip. Larry even found some new places he hadn’t been to. On Monday it was back to Detroit for my dad to pick us up, back to my parents to load the car & get Clare and drive the trek home. It was a short trip, but I had fun anyway. Brad was a little bored, but we mainly went for me. I did find a dress at home, so those worried about the wedding in a few weeks have no worries!

Most of June was Cari’s baby shower, and weekends home trying to recoup from our month long weekends away from home. Clare & I spent most of our days at the parks, or doing other things around town. I also enrolled her in swim lessons, as to which she LOVES! She is such a dare devil now, as she has no fear if she can touch bottom. She even went down the slide last weekend into the pool at Brad’s aunt’s house. She’s becoming less and less afraid to try new things, which is good for me….as half the time I have to drag her into new situations a little as trying out a bouncy castle. We finally all got bikes, and a ride along for Clare to follow behind my bike…..so we’ve been on a few bike rides around town this summer.

July’s been pretty layed back so far. Last weekend we had Karyn’s babyshower, spent 6 hours in Brad’s aunt’s pool with 5-6 kids, watched fireworks, Clare had her first sleep over (we shared our sitter with our friends around the corner so 4 of us adults could go see G Love & Special Sauce…..it was an awesome show), and currently Clare is spending a week and a half with my parents. This year with all the family stuff going on we decided to not go out to CO, but my mom still wanted her for a week…..so away she went. They have a ton of stuff planned for her…..the zoo, the country fair, swimming at Uncle Frank & Aunt Cari’s, Chuck E Cheese, and God knows what else. She’ll be so tired when she gets home, but in the meantime I get to enjoy some peace. Brad is taking a few days off for his birthday, so maybe we’ll go do something. Last night we went out for dinner/drinks, and then to see Harry Potter. It was good, not great, but good. I’m a completest in just about every sense. I have to complete things I’ve started once I get into them. I can’t stop cleaning unless the entire room or floor of the house is done, I can’t stop writing a blog if I’m not done, I can’t stop doing bills if that’s what I’ve started. I think it’s part of my OCD that seems to take me over sometimes. I’ve become more laxed in the past few years, as I can’t CONTROL everything I want to. It sucks, but I have to let go.

Next month we have Larry & Meghan’s wedding. Clare is super excited as she gets to be a flower girl, and I will be a bridesmaid….so we get to get dressed up. I just can’t wait to be there to see them get married…..it’s about time! I’m also excited to have Meghan as my official sister-in-law. I wished we lived closer, as I know we’d hang out all the time. I wish we lived closer to Brad’s brother Dan and his wife Karyn too…..we used to hang out all the time, but as with the beginning of having kids…..having older kids involved in everything….and trying to take care of the houses we’ve started it doesn’t work so well. Anyway, I think I will finally bring this blog to a close. It’s long enough, and those that read it hopefully enjoy it. I think today Brad & I are off to see Pirates of the Carribean…..I know it’s been out for like a month, it’s hard to go out to the movies with all the family stuff going on and not being able to get a babysitter. In some ways I can’t wait for after Labor day…..maybe I’ll be able to stay home for a month!

Moody Blah’s

Published

charmaspice

on December 5, 2006

in Family, Food, Movies and Rants

. 0 Comments

So….it’s been only a short while since the last time I’ve written. Not much on the home front going on, except the god damn snow that needs to just disapear! Thanksgiving was pretty uneventful. We headed SW down to Niles on Turkey Day to have dinner with the Watson’s….Dan & Karyn, Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Caroline, us, and Brad’s parent’s. Brad’s parent’s put on a spread as usual, Clare ate up all the attention she could get, and we just hung out. After dinner we went down to Mishawaka to see Borat….it was pretty funny. Some of the people he ripped on were pieces of work! We came back the Brad’s parents, and relaxed for a bit before hitting the air mattress. Friday afternoon we headed down for some shopping, while Clare played with her Buscia & Pa Pa. We were able to get Brad some nice work clothes for a pretty good price. We also scored and found a Wii! I also did some shopping for Clare, as their were deals on some of the things she had on her list. Then we headed back for dinner, and relaxing. On Saturday we headed over to Dan & Karyn’s and then on home. I had to get Moonshadow from the kennel, as she doesn’t do well with large amounts of people around. Last week not much happened, I did some shopping for an outfit for Brad’s work dinner (it was at a fancy country club, and I didn’t have anything nice to wear). While I was out I noticed a few more things on sale, so I picked them up. I found the Snowman plates Larry & Meghan had gotten me for Christmas a few years ago, so I picked up what they had left for an almost complete set. We also decorated for Christmas, and cleaned some of the house. Upstairs continues to illude me….I have hopes of one day having an entirely clean house! This past weekend we were at my parent’s house. My dad’s fire dept. was having Lunch with Santa, and they invited Clare to come. She ate pizza, and then they sat on Santa’s lap. While my parents had her for that we went into town in hopes of finding more remotes for our Wii. We found 2 of them, but no nun chucks. Yesterday I went to visit a Charter School, for Clare. We have doubts about the Elementary schools in the area, and want to make sure that she is being challenged properly. THis place was great, and had lots to offer the kids that attend. I filled out an application, so with any luck we’ll make it in! Currently today I am inside cursing the snow. I literally HATE this stuff. It’s so cold outside, and the snow only means shoveling, cold feet, and me being angry! God I wish we could move someplace warmer…..anywhere at this point, don’t care, so long as it doesn’t snow and get below 45.

Long time no blog

Published

dead headphonist

on May 7, 2006

in Food

. 0 Comments

Here’s a blow by blow of the past week and a half or so…

The Veedub appears to be somewhat functioning. I drove it to work two or three days this week and it seems fine. On Saturday, we took it out to get coffee and fuel at Costco and it had a little close-call on overheating, but I honestly think that’s because it still has (mostly) water in it and it was low. We bought some coolant at Costco, filled it up, and got it home without any major incident. I still think there’s a problem with some sensor as I’m having intermittent problems with it thinking it’s in gear when it’s in Park. I didn’t have a chance last week to call Auto Sports… I’ll get to it sometime in the next week.

I (finally) got a Media PC setup this weekend. It includes emulators for NES, SNES, and Genesis, so I can play some of my old games directly from a menu. I’ll post some more information about the config once I’ve completed the setup. So far so good… Clare and I watched a movie this morning on the rig.

I tore into the Honda today and got a good amount of the stock garbage stripped off of it. Pictures will be in the “Our Vehicles” gallery very soon. I can now walk to the back of the garage without playing “dodge the old-ass motorcycle”.

On Friday night, Char and I went out to The Melting Pot for a little anniversary celebration. It was excellent, highly recommended, and surprisely, they have a vegetarian selection on the menu. Neat neat place. We had the full course meal; cheese, main course (oil), and chocolate fondues. After dinner, we went and saw “RV”, which by the way is a terrible flick. We had higher hopes… guess we should have checked Rotten Tomatoes first. It was one of those “on a whim” things anyway. $17 down the drain, but at least we were too full from dinner to waste money on popcorn.

All told, it was a good evening. At least we got out and had a great dinner.

5 Years….and still going

Published

charmaspice

on May 6, 2006

in Food

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So, yesterday was our 5 year anniversary. My morning wasn’t so great, as Clare was being a huge pain and not listening to me. So, we ended up missing playgroup, and after lunch she was sent to her room for some quiet time. I had a huge headache, and needed some time to zone out and not think about her 3 year old attitude! She ended up taking a much needed nap….and I was able to catch up on my Texas Ranch House. It’s a pbs reality/history lesson, with people out in Texas living the life of rancers/cowboys in 1867. It’s a little dramatic at times….but somewhat educational as to what life was like back then. While I was watching the tv, a delivery truck pulled in. Brad sent me some red & pink roses for our anniversary. They are very pretty, and I enjoy smelling them in the dining room….so does Clare. Then I went upstairs to get Clare up, and get ready for our night out of celebration. Allison, the sitter, came around 5:45, and then we were off. Brad had made reservations for us at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. It was the most fun I’ve had out in a long time! We started out with some cheese fondue that had bread, carrots, celery, caulliflower, and apples for dipping. Then we had a salad, followed by our main course of veggies that we deep fried in an oil. They brought us mushrooms, tofu, eggplant, asparagus, artichoke hearts, a gorganzola ravioli, potatoes, portabello mushrooms, and summer squash. It was the most fun sitting there dipping them in batter and frying them up, and then they had like 6 different sauces that you could dip them in on the side. VERY YUMMY! Then for dessert we had chocolate fondue with I think everything that they have in the kitchen that goes into their different dessert fondues. It was so yummy! The plate of stuff to dip in had strawberries, cheese cake, angle food cake, pineapples, marshmallows, and I don’t remember what else. We had a very delish port to drink along with dessert as well. All in all it was AWESOME! Because we had a few margaritta’s with dinner we decided to walk over to the theater to see a movie. The nearest movie to the time we were there was RV…..very very very very bad & disapointing. I think they show all of the funny parts in the movie trailer. Brad was ranting and raving on the way home, but I wasn’t expecting much….I had high hopes with it having Robin Williams in it.

Today we awoke to go get some coffe & a bagle in the VW. We drove down to Costco to get some gas, and the car got a little hot and almost over heated. And then it wouldn’t start after putting gas in it. So, we pushed it over to a parking spot and cruised around Costco for an hour and a half or so. We got a groovey little ice tea brewing machine….so now hopefully we’ll have something else to drink besides water in the house! Especially since we’ve reinstated the ban on pop again, damn you Coke and your Black Cherry Vanilla Coke that you test marketed here…..it’s so addicting! We were back to buying pop by the fridge pack, not anymore though. After we got out of Costco Brad put some coolant in the car and we headed for home, the thermastat finally started kicking in and we were good to go. We are thinking that the thermastat is all gunked up from the sludge that he drained out of it, so it probably needs to be replaced. Clare wanted to play outside, so we hooked Moonshadow up on the tie out and played in the back yard with the bubble machine. I took some pics, and hopefully Brad will put them up in the near future. She has also taken an interest in her tricycle, and is actually riding it. So, I shot some video of her riding in front of the house and down the driveway. I think it’s time to buy a bike! We found a princess bike with training wheels at Dick’s Sporting Goods a few weeks ago, so I think in the near future we’ll go back and get it for her. After playing out in the yard for a bit we decided to go for a walk up to Bombay for some Indian Food for dinner. When we got home we watched Hoodwinked, it was very funny….it’s the story of Little Red Riding Hood from each character’s point of view. Clare really liked it. We also watched a Dora the Explorer DVD that we got today at Costco. They have some really good prices on videos and books, if you can find something you like. So, all in all it has been a great weekend for celebrating, and who knows what tomorrow has in store. These past 5 years have had their trials & tribulations, but so does every great relationship. So….here’s hoping for another 5 to come!