Whew.

I made it back from Oregon tonight.  How is it that driving for 8 hours is so exhausting?!  But let's rewind to a few more highlights of the trip... ...this might get lengthy.

Look how hunter is holding his toy.


Mom and I did a little bit of shopping...


and had lunch at a cute little coffee shop/deli.  My mom got a mocha and I got an iced herbal tea.


We both half a chicken pesto garlic panini and put together salads at the salad bar.


Sorry for the iPhone pictures, I forgot my camera!

Hunter and I took lots of walks despite the drizzle.


It actually even got sunny for a little bit!

It looked more like spring than it does back home.  Everything was blooming...











Yesterday we went to a great Thai place in Portland for lunch with my mom's good friend, Greta.

We all started with a brothy soup with cabbage, green beans, tomato, chicken and onions.


I got the pad thai.  Yummm.

Afterwards, we peeked into a bakery...




Resisted ordering one of everything...

But did leave with a few treats.  I got something called a Danish crispy.

It was like a flattened cinnamon roll and a croissant had a baby.

And baby, it was goood.  Yum.

We shopped at Crate and Barrel.


I forgot my camera again and took some dim iPhone pictures anyways.

I saw lots of green things and thought of Christina.

And stopped on the way home for some gelato.

Mom got a scoop of mocha and a scoop of sweet cream.


I got a scoop of chocolate hazelnut (it was EXACTLY like Nutella in gelato form) and a scoop of banana.


Needless to say it's been a whirlwind of a few days!  Now back to life and homework... ;)

Food For Thought

Thank you to everyone who expressed their condolences about my grandparents.  And thank you to those of you who just stopped by to read about their memories.  I was touched by all your kind words.

So I am spending a couple of days visiting my mom and dad and brother in Oregon.  There's nothing like going home to mom's cooking.  Hunter and I made the 7 hour drive on Saturday and except for a little rain on and off it was a smooth drive.  Here's some of my favorite pictures so far.


Hunter is so happy to have so much attention.

Dinner Saturday night:


White bean chili with chicken, cannelloni beans, green chili, carrots, celery, onion and fresh parsley from mom's garden.



Tamale pie made with ground beef, red pepper, corn, green chili with a cornbread "crust.

Tonight:

We had rib roast, mashed (by me!) potatoes with gravy, ginger glazed carrots, and salad (made by me!) with spinach, romaine, red pepper, celery, cucumber and radishes.


Geez, my brother sure takes stunning photos.  I have had a lingering headache and was hoping a Dr. Pepper would ease it.

For dessert, we had an Italian ricotta cheesecake.


With raspberry and chocolate sauce.  Yummm.



This was much lighter and less dense than a traditional cheesecake, but pretty simple to make.  Mom and I made ours the night before.

Italian Cream Cheese Cake
(from foodnetwork.com)

1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. crushed biscotti crumbs
1 stick butter melted
2 c. ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
5 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 *F.  Wrap a 9 inch springform pan with aluminum foil (the outside to prevent water from leaking in).  In a medium bowl, mix biscotti and graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together.  Press into bottom of pan and refrigerate until firm.

2. In a large bowl, beat ricotta and cream cheese together until smooth.  Add eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla.  Mix well.  Allow to sit for a few minutes so the bubbles can surface.  Mix again until smooth.  Pour the filling into the springform pan. Tap pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles in cake mixture.  Place pan into large roasting pan (we used a large stainless steel frying pan) with 1 inch of water.

3. Place in oven and bake until filling is set and top is golden, about 1 hour 20 minutes.  Remove and let cook.  Refrigerate a few hours before serving.

Ok, it's time for night night!


Hunter says so.  :)

In Remembrance

This took me some time and courage to write.  I hope you'll bear with me.  I wasn't sure I wanted to "go there" with something close to my heart.  I've lost two of the most wonderful people in this world.  They lived in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.  Now they live in heaven.  I truly believe that.


My Grandpa and Gammy.  This is with my brother and I when we were quite little.

My Gammy's name was Catherine.  She had the most beautiful singing voice and played the piano as well as sewed many of her own clothes.  She called me her little songbird because I would always sing to and with her.  She was gentle and sweet and had an infectious laugh.  Growing up, she was my "favorite" grandparent.  She sewed dresses for me when I was little.  One year for Christmas, she gave me two dolls and sewed a whole wardrobe for them.  I loved all the tiny clothes she had painstakingly made especially for me.  That is something I will always treasure.  Gammy passed away January 24, 2011.  I know she is watching over me today, her little songbird.

My Grandpa's name was Frank.  His family had emigrated from Austria before he was born.  He liked to tease and joke a lot.  I remember his laugh and his smile.  He loved my brother and I, his only grandchildren.  He'd leave "loonies" or 1 dollar coins at the table for my brother and I when we would visit.  I remember how much he loved candied papaya.  Anytime I think about papaya I think about him.  My grandpa was tirelessly dedicated to take care of Gammy when she became sick over 10 years ago.  His continuous service to her was an example of his love for Jesus Christ.  I believe he was heartbroken when Gammy died and passed away February 20, 2011.  I know that he is glad to be reuinted with his wife.

There is no way to describe the feeling of no longer having them on earth.  Despite the sadness, I know that they no longer have any pain of old age, that they are happy and comfortable and are nearer to me than I realize.  I'm glad for the lives that they led, the examples that they were and that I was able to know such wonderful people.  It makes me wish I would have appreciated the time we spent together but I have learned to appreciate the time that I have with my own parents.

Hawaii: Day 2

So, I've spend the last 5 days in bed sick as a dog.  I make it without getting sick all winter long and then it knocks me off my feet.  Not fun.  I feel like I'm beginning to get better, which is good because I have two tests this week.  Boo hoo, poor me. ;(  

To contrast my lovely vacation, it's been crazy weather here.  One day it's sunny and springy, the next it's snowing potato sized snowflakes (seriously, no exaggeration!) and today the wind is howling at every corner of the house.

Hello neighbor's tree.

Yeesh... 

You ready for more Hawaii??

2/12

We were smarter and got up early to have breakfast at the hotel brunch.  We ended up eating most of our breakfasts here.  Guess who had waffles with coconut syrup almost every day?  Yum.  I also loaded up on a lot of fruit, especially pineapple.  I swear the pineapple is a hundred times sweeter there.

I'd been wanting to take pictures of this tree since we got there.  Isn't it cool?  They have strings of lights hanging down the branches at night, it reminded me of the tree from Avatar.

This day was spent shopping! all day long...   Surprisingly enough, this was Jeremy's idea.  Though he definitely got shopped out before I did.  He was a great sport though.  We walked to the mall from our hotel, and managed to take the very long way... we were quite lost for a while.  I'm not a good navigator.  More on that later.  ;)

The mall was called Ala Moana Center and it was pretty big.  The biggest I've ever been to, though that's not saying much.  It was an open air mall, only walkways were covered.  The airport is like that too.  What's the need for windows when the weather is always 70-80 *F outside?  It was 4 floors full of everything from Gucci to Nordstroms.  I bet we only went in half of them.   

Check out the tiki torches.  These were everywhere.

For lunch, we stopped at this place called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.  And yes, it was inspired by the movie Forrest Gump.  It was cool.  And really tasty.

This was our table.

I got a big salad with shrimp.  Jeremy gave me his coleslaw so a lot of the shrimp are buried beneath it.

Jeremy got crab legs. 

After lunch, did some more marathon shopping.  

Believe it or not, we were hungry again when we got back to our hotel.  Hey, carrying all those bags will do it to ya!  

We did a little research and found a Japanese steak house at the hotel next to us and decided to check it out.  I'd never been to one!

While we waited to be seated we got ourselves some virgin pina coladas.  

Regular for me.

Mango colada for Jeremy.  Haha, like his hat?  It says "kick me, I dare ya".

Here is our chef.  

The goods cooking.

After dinner, we rolled ourselves back to the hotel for bed.  It sure was good!

*****

So to keep in the Hawaii theme, and because I LOVE coconut, here's a recipe for chewy coconut cookies.  If you like coconut as much as I do, you will love these.

I made them in my brand new mixer.  Yippee!! I love it.

Chewy Coconut Cookies

(from allrecipes.com)

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/3 c. flaked coconut (I used 1 c. unsweetened and 1/3 c. sweetened)

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

2. Cream together the butter, brown and white sugar until smooth, be careful not to over mix.  Beat in egg and vanilla until fluffy.  Gradually add the flour mixture, then add the coconut.

3. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly toasted.

I know coconut is one of those things people really like or really hate.  Which are you?