Beergaritas.....

I know.....sounds disgusting, right? Let me tell you... they are NOT! I always learn something new from my northern cousin. Here's the recipe:

Beergaritas

Mix together:

4 beers...any beer...yucky kinds, good kinds, whateva' ya got layin' around.

1 can of limeade

1/2 the can of empty limeade container filled w/ tequila

It is surprisingly tasty.

My hubby's smokin'

Ribs, that is. Hubby got an Orion smoker for Father's Day and we thought it would be fun to try it out while his brother & s-n-law were in town. Hubby's brother is a smoke meister so he helped a little bit too.

It looks like it's ready for take off!

Prepping the smoker to insert the ribs.

We seasoned with a prepackaged rub, but I think next time we'll try our own stuff.

Checking to make sure the ribs are done. Took only 1 hr. 15mins for 3 racks. Next time might try cooking a little longer but they still were fine.
Finished product. Can't wait to try something new...hmmm...maybe brisket.

Manhappiness

A couple of weeks ago we went to Manhattan to visit some friends. 1st up on the schedule was to head to State Farm for my annual insurance check-up to make sure our coverage was where it needed to be. Of course, my main reason for going was to catch up with all my old co-workers. It had been a long time since I had seen these people face to face.

Next, I met my girl friend & her kids for lunch & then it was off to the pool. Unfortunatly, my friends' daughter had volleyball camp so she couldn't join us but her son went w/ us. Bear was crazy. Here he is jumping off the high dive, no reservations. He just climbed up the stairs, walked to the end of the board & jumped. He definatly is my little risk taker(to a point).

C and Bear

Julie....one of my besties!

We ended the day at Dairy Queen. Above L to R...Bear, Jon, Katy (C's future wife, if I had my way), & C. Lots of fun today. Bear slept all the way home. Great day!

Cookie Dough & Corn...try again

Ok, that was weird. I'm still getting the hang of "blogger" blog & it's workings. So below are pictures of the Cookie Dough brownies I made last week. 1st you make brownies, then the cookie dough. When the brownies are cool, top w/ the the cookie dough. Cover & stick in the freezer to harden. Then melt chocolate chips & drizzle on top of the brownies.

I brought "samples" to my mom & her co-workers. They thought the pieces needed to be more bite size because they were so rich. I agree. I serve them in 1" bites w/ a glass of milk or coffee.

I used the recipe from Recipegirl.com Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies


Grilled Corn on the Cob with BACON

I've heard/seen lots of places about grilled corn on the cob in the shucks. I've really been in the grilling mood, so I thought I would tackle the corn this time. 1st, you need to soak the corn in the shuck in icy water for 15-30 mins. 2nd clean the silks out of the corn, wrap a slice or 2 of bacon around the corn, gently pull the shucks back up to cover the bacon corn. Place the corn on the grill. We made sure the burner wasn't too high as it may catch fire. We cooked it for approx. 20 minutes.

Ok, let's just say, this was one of the messiest things I've ever made. I suppose it doesn't help that we did catch the corn on fire so there was a lot of ash. The corn itself was delicious, but to me, not worth the mess. Next time we'll, not sure why I keep saying we since it was I who will be doing this, I will clean the corn, foil it & cook on grill.

Cookie dough & Corn

Something new....

Every once in a while, the boys like to pick out a new fruit or veggie to try. So while at our local grocery store the other day, they pleaded with me to try this. It was sort of strange as they usually run screaming when I try to get them to eat cantaloupe or any other melon, but I wasn't going to argue when they approached me w/ this one.

Here is the Lemondrop Melon. I was surprised when I cut it open to find it was more like a Honeydew melon rather than a cantaloupe. The melon is pretty tasty. Nice lemony flavor on top of a melon flavor. The boys were not fans. I didn't really think they would be but I was happy they wanted to try it anyhow.

Tennis Tourney

For the last 2 weeks, C's been taking tennis lessons. They ended the 2 weeks with a tournament between the 3 different classes. Overall C did really good. He took what he learned and applied them to the game.

He wouldn't let me take a picture ('cause it's embarrassing), so I had to get this one on the sly.

Another good swing.

This is Bear not watching his brother play. He enjoyed reading the Guiness 2011 World Record book.

ZOO

Bear & I enjoyed a day at the zoo. Here are some pictures from the day.

Bear imitating a gorilla

Penguins-Bear's favorite animal

Tomato Frog
Grizzley Bear

Koi fish...they were circling thinking we were going to feed them.

STORMS...

Thursday night we spent time in & out of our storm shelter. Kind of experienced it all. Green skies, big clouds, wind, hail, flooding. Here's some pix of our night.

Bear was watching me out the window.

Week 2 continued...

Wednesday was a lazy day. 8 mile bike ride for me, chores for the boys, tennis for C & Bear & I went to the pool later in the day. In the evening, C & I went to Verve (youth group). While some of us were sitting around, Leah mentioned a recipe I thought I'd like to try the next day.

Thursday the boys slept in, while I went for another ride. I got home to them lunch & C to tennis. In the afternoon, I made the recipe that Leah told me about. My boys like to call them "EPIC" brownines.

Start w/ a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. (I used homemade dough, but I'm sure you could use store bought "break & bake" cookies.)*

Next, cover the top of the dough with Oreo cookies.

C made the brownie batter while Bear worked on the oreo layer.

Pour batter over the top of the oreos.

Ok...So then you bake this. I didn't really know for sure how long or the temp. My recipe for the cookie dough was 375 degrees. I used this temp for 30 minutes. It was too hot, so I lowered it to 350 & cooked another 15-20 minutes. Always checking w/ a toothpick for doneness.


Here's the final product. The only thing that would make this better is to nuke it for 20-25 seconds & top w/ vanilla ice cream.

*My friend Rachel likes to stuff her cookies w/ everything. So following her lead, I took some of my leftover cookie dough from this recipe & stuffed chunks of caramel into them. They were delicious warm. My suggestion is if they last long enough to cool, to reheat in the microwave, otherwise the caramel gets a little hard and sticks to your dental work.

Shake Shake Shake

Summer-Week 2



Monday-Work day. The boys did some of their chores today. Bear sorted my mass of coupons & C folded laundry, stripped sheets & made beds when they were clean & dry.

Tuesday-(today) Started out with a trip to Grandma's office to get my coupons as well as drop off some info for her.





Next we went to The Donut Whole. If you have not been there, you need to go! 1720 E Douglas in Wichita. They feature over 25 different flavors of donuts. Today's breakfast consisted of 2 Cherry Bombs, 1 Cherry Cordial, 1 Lemon Cooler, 1 Rainbow sprinkle, & wait for it...wait for it...Maple Bacon. Oh yeah, baby, I said BACON! Ok, the 1st time I heard about this, I was thinkin' bacon? on a donut? but it was delicious. I think next time I'll try the Fluffernutter(peanutbutter & marshmallow).

After that we made a trip to Sam's for our fresh & frozen fruit for fruit smoothies & fresh juice from my Jack Lalaine juicer. We were still pretty full from breakfast so we had a late lunch after tennis lessons.


For a midafternoon snack, we made Ice Cream in a Bag from Family Fun Magazine. It really works AND it's a great arm workout! Of course, we can't always go by the recipe. We tried some "mix-ins". C thought of mini choco chips & Bear used Andes mint pieces. Chocolate was my choice. Recipe follows.





















Combine 2T sugar, 1c Half & Half & 1/2 t. vanilla extract in a sandwich ziploc bag & seal tightly.

Place 1/2 c. coarse salt (ice cream salt or table salt will work) in a gallon size ziploc bag, then fill 1/2 way with ICE CUBES. Place the sealed smaller bag inside as well, & seal the larger bag. Shake the bags until the ice cream mixture hardens, about 5 minutes. (Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.) Take the smaller bag out of the larger one and eat the ice cream right our of the bag. Serves 1.

Side note: You can also add 1-2 T mini chocolate chips or chocolate syrup to the mix b/4 freezing. Be creative...make it your own.
* I found it easier for the kids to add their own ingredients by putting the sandwich bag in a cup big enough to hold everything w/o it tipping & spilling all over the counter.

Summer 2011...Week 1

Great start to the week. Got home safely from a crazy windy ride hauling the camper on Monday. Unpacking & laundry were 1st on the list. So thankful the boys can help w/ that!

Bear started basketball camp Tuesday. I was able to get out & do some errands & buy a couple of b-day presents for upcoming birthday parties. I think he enjoyed it & learned lots.

We had lots of hot dog buns leftover from our weekend, so I used those along w/ our leftover meatballs from the night before to make meatball sandwiches. Boy, were those a hit! Bear wolfed it down.

Wednesday was a big day for C. He had 4 baby teeth removed to make room for 2 that were coming in. The orthodonitist suggested the other 2 come out b/4 we have to get braces in 6 months. That should be an interesting time!

Thursday is a great day for garage sales here in Wichita, so while Bear was at basketball, C & I hit about 15 or so sales. We ended up w/ a movie, a puzzle for my nieces, & a couple of glasses of lemonade. Later in the day, I baked a red velvet cake for cake balls and found a recipe for Chocolate Scotcheroos. My mom & I found these at a coffee shop in Kearney, NE & LOVED them. After making a batch, I sent some samples home with here. She said they were perfect. Just like the ones in Kearney. woot woot!
Friday, last day of basketball. Grandma took C to lunch for his birthday. We did some chores & then headed to the pool. Great week.

Chocolate Scotcheroos

1 c. light corn syrup

1 c. sugar

1 c. peanut butter

6 c. rice krispies or 6 c. chocolate rice krispies

1 pkg (6oz or 1 c) semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 c. butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Place corn syrup & sugar into 3 qt. saucepan. Cook over med. heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissoves & mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter. Mix well. Add rice krispies cereal. Stir until well coated. Press mixture into 9x13 pan coated w/ cooking spray.

2. Melt chocolate & butterscotch chips together in 1 qt. saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over cereal mixture. Let stand until firm. Cut into 2x1 inch bars when cool.