The ice cream maker arrived last weekend, hooray! We made our first batch the same day it arrived - kept it simple and started with vanilla (with our good Mexican vanilla). We have some learning to do because it didn't freeze up too well and was kind of icy - but the taste was great, and it just means we have to practice. We think it was not enough ice, so we'll make smaller ice and really pack it in this time.
Last night we started up a batch of PEANUT BUTTER ice cream. We'll have to finish making it tonight since it needed to chill for 2-4 hours and I'm not one to be working in the kitchen at 1am if I can avoid it. I am so excited for this ice cream, I love PB -- I had to make a breakfast with PB today after smelling it for so long last night....
We plan to serve it with chocolate cake at the party for Kevin's birthday! PB + chocolate = heaven
I hope to have a full party re-cap soon. Kevin is smoking meat today and a bunch of our friends and family are coming over tomorrow. Wishing an early Happy birthday to my sweet Kevin!!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
ice cream maker
We ordered an ice cream maker back in mid April. We found the one place that said they had it in stock only to find out after we ordered that nope it was backordered from them too...back to the drawing board. We ordered it from trusty amazon (still back-ordered) but they now swear it has shipped. We'd been half joking that we'd have it by Kevin's birthday, but looks like we'll be lucky to get it by then. Note to self - order things everyone wants for the summer in the dead of winter before everyone else thinks about it
So, I decided to google ice cream maker recipes and realized that I am going to have to spend a LOT more time at the gym to work off all the frozen goodness I'll be eating.
just look at this - nutella gelato, I <3 you
and some of our blueberries may find their way into something like this
cannot wait....where are you ice cream maker??
So, I decided to google ice cream maker recipes and realized that I am going to have to spend a LOT more time at the gym to work off all the frozen goodness I'll be eating.
just look at this - nutella gelato, I <3 you
and some of our blueberries may find their way into something like this
cannot wait....where are you ice cream maker??
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Texas Exhibit and more
Its been a VERY busy weekend! My side of the family came over to visit and stayed with us the whole weekend. We love having the space to have my entire family stay - my parents get the guest bedroom, my brother and his wife take over the media room and sleep on our queen size air mattress, and my sister takes over the library on her smaller air mattress. Its a lot of people for the house, but makes it possible for us to see each other for a longer period of time.
Friday was a work day for most of us, so we didn't do a lot, just went out to eat (and waited for my brother to get there...making the trip from Austin he got in pretty late).
The real fun was on Saturday. We went to see the Texas exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It was a great exhibit - we saw the actual cannon that started the "Come and Take it" slogan. There were a few places where I'd go into the room and not be sure which sign I should start reading first to follow the chronology. After I read a few I'd realize I'd started in the wrong place (further ahead in the history of Texas then other information in that room was) and have to backtrack. I learned quite a bit - and saw some names I recognize from street signs and buildings around town (Travis, Lamar, Beck to name a few). It was amazing to see how many places the items are on loan from and I have to wonder how (and how long) this exhibit was organized. I also could've done without the random costumes from the 20th century, but must admit a dress made with turkey feathers and tape was quite a sight to see! Thank you Groupon for the HALF-PRICE tickets!!
There is a new dinosaur set up in the lobby which was impressive to see, a flying one with a 30' wingspan....good thing for us they are extinct. This is the musuem that we'll have a membership to soon (won at the casino night), cannot wait!! I'm also excited for a NEW wing to open in Summer 2012!!
Later in the day, we introduced my mom to Thai food. She and Kevin stuck with peanut chicken, but did enjoy it and the rest of us had various curry dishes...yummy! Thai and Indian food are what my brother and his wife crave after their extended time in Nicaragua, unfortunately for us we haven't found Indian food near us, but do have some good restaurants of other kinds near us.
After that (told you we were busy!) we went to pick blueberries. Laura and I had been earlier in the season. Our first trip was a scouting trip to see how the crop was, its been so dry we weren't sure if they'd have a good crop this year. It was slimmer pickings this weekend - more moving from tree to tree to find ripe ones. The person who updates their website (owner?) had said he thought NEXT weekend would be better but we were committed to this weekend. We still had a good time and picked over 18 lbs of blueberries in about an hour and a half. I needed to replenish my supply (about half of the ones I picked two weeks ago have already been eaten, and made great muffins!), but I think Mache was on a missions, she filled her bucket completely! We brought some towels this time to put between our neck and rope for the bucket, it was more comfortable and came in handy to wipe our faces. I do think twice in one season is my limit for blueberry picking, but had a great time - and it was my dad's first time to go.
Today's plans changed when we realized that bugs Kevin had been seeing around the house were coming from our pantry. They'd gotten into some of our food - even Smokey's! - and so today was taken over by that project. We tossed some of our food and took EVERYTHING out of the pantry, sprayed it down with bug spray (after putting both of our creatures outside) and then re-organized it as we put it back. This was something I'd wanted to do, but not today.....
Friday was a work day for most of us, so we didn't do a lot, just went out to eat (and waited for my brother to get there...making the trip from Austin he got in pretty late).
The real fun was on Saturday. We went to see the Texas exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It was a great exhibit - we saw the actual cannon that started the "Come and Take it" slogan. There were a few places where I'd go into the room and not be sure which sign I should start reading first to follow the chronology. After I read a few I'd realize I'd started in the wrong place (further ahead in the history of Texas then other information in that room was) and have to backtrack. I learned quite a bit - and saw some names I recognize from street signs and buildings around town (Travis, Lamar, Beck to name a few). It was amazing to see how many places the items are on loan from and I have to wonder how (and how long) this exhibit was organized. I also could've done without the random costumes from the 20th century, but must admit a dress made with turkey feathers and tape was quite a sight to see! Thank you Groupon for the HALF-PRICE tickets!!
There is a new dinosaur set up in the lobby which was impressive to see, a flying one with a 30' wingspan....good thing for us they are extinct. This is the musuem that we'll have a membership to soon (won at the casino night), cannot wait!! I'm also excited for a NEW wing to open in Summer 2012!!
Later in the day, we introduced my mom to Thai food. She and Kevin stuck with peanut chicken, but did enjoy it and the rest of us had various curry dishes...yummy! Thai and Indian food are what my brother and his wife crave after their extended time in Nicaragua, unfortunately for us we haven't found Indian food near us, but do have some good restaurants of other kinds near us.
After that (told you we were busy!) we went to pick blueberries. Laura and I had been earlier in the season. Our first trip was a scouting trip to see how the crop was, its been so dry we weren't sure if they'd have a good crop this year. It was slimmer pickings this weekend - more moving from tree to tree to find ripe ones. The person who updates their website (owner?) had said he thought NEXT weekend would be better but we were committed to this weekend. We still had a good time and picked over 18 lbs of blueberries in about an hour and a half. I needed to replenish my supply (about half of the ones I picked two weeks ago have already been eaten, and made great muffins!), but I think Mache was on a missions, she filled her bucket completely! We brought some towels this time to put between our neck and rope for the bucket, it was more comfortable and came in handy to wipe our faces. I do think twice in one season is my limit for blueberry picking, but had a great time - and it was my dad's first time to go.
Today's plans changed when we realized that bugs Kevin had been seeing around the house were coming from our pantry. They'd gotten into some of our food - even Smokey's! - and so today was taken over by that project. We tossed some of our food and took EVERYTHING out of the pantry, sprayed it down with bug spray (after putting both of our creatures outside) and then re-organized it as we put it back. This was something I'd wanted to do, but not today.....
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Casino Night
Our neighborhood Casino Night was this past weekend. We went and had a great time! We'd both been looking forward to it for MONTHS. Most of the neighborhood events are geared towards kids, and they can be fun - especially when we invited our niece and nephew, but not having kids I feel like we don't get as much out of the events as we could - and some we just skip.
We made an all out date night of it - got dressed up and went to eat at a restaurant near the civic center that it was held. It felt good to put the cellphone away and enjoy the time with my sweet hubby.
Once we got inside we were each given $2000 worth of chips to gamble with - pretty obviously NOT real money since I'd have a panic attack before spending that kind of money in a casino.
We spent most of our time at black jack and craps. Kevin had the good idea of practicing at black jack before we went and I think it helped, especially since the table we went to was playing with one deck so all of our cards were dealt face down....I kept forgetting what my cards were. hadn't realized they deal face up only when playing with the 'shoot' (multiple decks). This is the first time I've ever seen Kevin gamble, and he's pretty good at black jack.
I like craps - I finally understand it. I enjoy the social aspect of it, everyone is rooting for the shooter and every cheers or groans based on the result. Sometimes I'd lose track of my bets, good thing the people working the table know!
I'm not a high roller, even with fake money. I was betting $100 - $200 at a time, and I'd see others throwing down $500 or $1000 chips...I know big risk makes big money, but I'd probably lose. I was really pleased that we were winning or at least breaking even. We'd even set aside our original chips to make sure we had something at the end of the night.
At the end of the night we had about what we started with and got a raffle ticket for every $1000 in chips. We got to put the tickets into raffles for various prizes -- we put 3 in for a gift card bouquet and 1 for a membership to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The most popular item was by far the ipad but we figured we had no chance and put our tickets where our odds were better. That last gamble of the night paid off - we won the museum membership!
We made an all out date night of it - got dressed up and went to eat at a restaurant near the civic center that it was held. It felt good to put the cellphone away and enjoy the time with my sweet hubby.
Once we got inside we were each given $2000 worth of chips to gamble with - pretty obviously NOT real money since I'd have a panic attack before spending that kind of money in a casino.
We spent most of our time at black jack and craps. Kevin had the good idea of practicing at black jack before we went and I think it helped, especially since the table we went to was playing with one deck so all of our cards were dealt face down....I kept forgetting what my cards were. hadn't realized they deal face up only when playing with the 'shoot' (multiple decks). This is the first time I've ever seen Kevin gamble, and he's pretty good at black jack.
I like craps - I finally understand it. I enjoy the social aspect of it, everyone is rooting for the shooter and every cheers or groans based on the result. Sometimes I'd lose track of my bets, good thing the people working the table know!
I'm not a high roller, even with fake money. I was betting $100 - $200 at a time, and I'd see others throwing down $500 or $1000 chips...I know big risk makes big money, but I'd probably lose. I was really pleased that we were winning or at least breaking even. We'd even set aside our original chips to make sure we had something at the end of the night.
At the end of the night we had about what we started with and got a raffle ticket for every $1000 in chips. We got to put the tickets into raffles for various prizes -- we put 3 in for a gift card bouquet and 1 for a membership to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The most popular item was by far the ipad but we figured we had no chance and put our tickets where our odds were better. That last gamble of the night paid off - we won the museum membership!
Friday, June 3, 2011
blueberries
I think I may turn into a blueberry. Kevin keeps teasing me that I'm going to be like Violet from Willy Wonka and turn blue, or was it purple? Why you ask?
Laura and I went to the blueberry farm last weekend and picked about 8 lbs of blueberries! Since then I've been eating handfuls of blueberries and have thoughts of making great things with some of the ones I froze - muffins, cobbler...mmmm They are pretty good by themselves or on cereal too.
I'd wanted to fill up my bucket, but didn't quite make it. We learned some lessons from last year and remembered to bring water and hats...good thing too because it was HOT.
Laura and I went to the blueberry farm last weekend and picked about 8 lbs of blueberries! Since then I've been eating handfuls of blueberries and have thoughts of making great things with some of the ones I froze - muffins, cobbler...mmmm They are pretty good by themselves or on cereal too.
I'd wanted to fill up my bucket, but didn't quite make it. We learned some lessons from last year and remembered to bring water and hats...good thing too because it was HOT.
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