Tag Archives: cherry

Family, Food, Friends, Fun

Summer So Far…

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Hi Friends!

Summer’s in full-swing and we’re trying to keep busy, stay cool and check those items off our Summer ’14 Bucket List.

Since school got out 3 weeks ago, here’s a little of what we’ve been up to…

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{Updated our chalkboard for Summer}

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{Elliott’s dance recital ~ she performed two numbers this time…hip hop/jazz & lyrical}

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{Daddy was out of town and Holden was at a birthday party, so it was just Gramma and me in the audience cheering for our little dancer}

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{Early morning swim and donuts by the pool}

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{A day at Magic Mountain…Ninja made this mama woozy!!!}

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{My Dad, Popsi, came to visit and the kids HAD to introduce him to MOD Pizza}

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{A visit to the Ronald Reagan Library}

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{Sunday Brunch at Grand Central Market in Downtown LA}

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{Carnitas Burrito from Roast To Go}

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{Bacon, Egg & Cheese [added avo] from Eggslut}

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{Almond Macadamia Iced Latte from G&B Coffee}

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{Cherry Picking at Villa del Sol}

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We thoroughly enjoyed our maiden voyage to GCM. Jay and I couldn’t decide between Mexican food or a breakfast egg sandwich, so we split. Both were incredible! Jay waited in line for about 40 minutes at Eggslut, but it was well worth it.

This was our first time cherry picking, too. We tried to go a couple summers ago, but waited until too late in the season. This orchard is only about 45-60 minutes from us so it made for a nice little afternoon outing. However, it was HOT and we decided to stop at the local Sonic for happy hour since Popsi had never been. We sat in our air conditioned car and sipped on blended root beer floats and cherry & watermelon slushies. I then proceeded to bake a cherry cobbler for dessert that night. Of course I did.

I just returned from 4 days in Chicago and Detroit to celebrate the upcoming wedding of my BIL, Rodney and his fiancé, Anuja. There was a traditional Grashanti {Hindu ceremony} on Friday and a beautiful joint bridal shower {Anuja’s sister is getting married in August!} on Sunday. I’ll write about that tomorrow. The trip was absolutely perfect and made me even MORE excited for their big day which is coming up in a couple short weeks!

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Hope your summer has been happy so far!

XOXO

Food, Frugal Finds

Kids Eat Free

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Tonight Holden ate FREE at Casa Aspiras.

Our Target recently underwent the {fresh food upgrade} and we’ve gotten a couple free coupons to come and check it out. I’m in there at LEAST once a week so why not grab some free eggs and a free box of Kraft mac n cheese, right? Those two are staples in our house.

Holden chose the Perry The Platypus mac n cheese and that was his dinner ~ almost the whole box. Done.

Elliott had leftover Thai food and leftover jasmine rice. Done.

Jay and I sampled some Pasta Fagioli {recipe coming soon} that I made and polished off the baby backs from last night!

For our anniversary dinner I made Mel’s slow cooker baby back ribs.

The best baby backs I ever had were in OKC while there on business about 8 or 9 years ago. I’ll never forget them. Because of those ribs I have to ask at every restaurant, “Do your baby backs fall off the bone? I mean really, literally FALL off the bone? If not, I will send them back!” If I sense any hesitation from the waiter, I will order something else. That is how serious I am about my ribs. I have never made them in a slow cooker, but figured if I did them on low for 8 hours they couldn’t help but separate from the bone….and that is exactly what they did! The sauce is a cherry dijon BBQ sauce and it couldn’t be easier to prepare. We will be making these LOTS more ~ thanks, Mel!

We paired these up with some blue cheese mashed potatoes {3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed and boiled until fork tender. Melt some butter [4 tsp] and a small carton of whipping cream [1 cup? the teeny tiny one] in a sauce pan and add that to the potatoes after draining. Pour in about half to 3/4 container blue cheese with some salt & pepper and mix with a hand mixer or low on your Kitchenaid until blended and creamy} and some boring steamed broccoli.

For dessert, I made one of Jay’s and my all-time favorites, tiramisu. This was a first for me to actually make and I was petrified because there are all kinds of raw eggs going on in this dish, but we lived to tell about it.

I followed this recipe.

It was magnificent. Don’t let the raw eggs scare you…I would not feed it to the kiddos or anyone that has an compromised immune system just to be on the safe side.

We may have had some tonight, too, and it is better the longer it sits….so I’ve heard. 😉

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This is a fancy dinner {the ribs not the Perry the Platypus mac n cheese} that you can literally enjoy on a weeknight. Stick the ribs in the crock pot in the morning and they’ll be ready by din din. The mashed potatoes can be made a day ahead or over the weekend and keep well in the ‘fridge for a couple days. They reheat really well. And the broccoli, that’s just there so you don’t feel too guilty about the tiramisu, but you could substitute any veggie or a green salad for that if you’re not a fan.

Happy Monday, friends. I hope your weekend was fabulous.

Tomorrow I will be announcing a little giveaway which is a bundle of some of my favorite things…stay tuned!

Nighty night.