Screen shot

wow, thanks.

Seagull Photoshoot

Fashion Friday

I went to work on my birthday and since I was still pretty new to this company, I decided not to wear my tiara, although I totally wanted to. Instead, I opted for a little more subdued way to say "It's my Birthday, Look at me!!!" by rocking the RED! tights (repurposed from here). I've featured this skirt before, and I really do love it. I had forgotten about this ruffled shirt until I ran across it in my closet looking for something else. I love being able to rock something girly. The red heart earrings get a lot of wear, and I scored the red bracelet one day for 50 cents at Goodwill. The scarf is an old one of my mom's, circa the mid-70s (just like me!)

After work I had to wait downtown for my mom to arrive on the Max and it was super sunny out, so I purchased these little red babies to rock until sundown.

Thinking outside of the (bread) box...

I am totally inspired by the 3KMtD blog, or as I refer to it, the MIL blog. The recipes all look delicious and to know that other girls, just like me (read: non-cooks who are busy and cute :)) can do it, makes me feel empowered and challenged to keep up, at least a little. I currently have a little stack of their recipes printed out, waiting to be tried.

This week, my mom came to visit and something different than the past few years when I worked from home and then didn't work at all is that this time I was going to have to take off every morning and instead of us driving to our favorite coffee shop, she'd be on her own for breakfast. I didn't want her to have to depend on our standard staples (Luna Bars, almonds, and chocolate soy milk) and she loves all thing bread, so I decided to give her something unexpected. I bought a nice loaf of bread (I didn't have quite enough time to commit to that one) and decided to make MIL's Apple Butter.

I have a spot near and dear to my heart where my apple butter memories live. JJ and I went back for his Grandpa's funeral in Ohio and spent a week cleaning and doing what you need to do at the end of an era for a family home. We all met there each morning and had breakfast in the kitchen. It was the first time I'd ever tasted apple butter and I couldn't wait each morning to toast my english muffin and cover it in apple butter (I might have used some real butter on there too). I also had it for more than one afternoon snack during my time there. I remember sitting at the kitchen of a grandma I didn't even know and feeling as comfortable as if I was at my own grandma's home as I looked at her kitschy decor and nibbled my buttery muffin.

I was looking forward to chefing up this treat. I was going make a smaller batch and I didn't have all the spices so I knew that I'd be doing a little winging it. I used three apples that we already had (Fuji) and added Cardamom to the spice list and there was some Chinese All Spice in the spice cupboard (where did THAT come from?) so I threw some of that in too.
I used 60% of the apple quantity in the recipe and about 80% of the spice quantity, so I knew it would be a spicy batch. It was already yummy looking as I put the lid on the Crockpot. I chose to cook it on low overnight and I woke up a couple times during the night and as I walked downstairs, I was greeted with a wonderful aroma and I'd go lift the lid and give it a stir.
In the morning I smashed it all together with a potato smasher and put it in the fridge. I tried some that night on an english muffin (yum) and then had a brilliant realization. It was like squished apple pie. So instead of it's next taste being as a breakfasty treat, I heated some up and poured it over ice cream. OMG. It was amazing.
*Not my ice cream picture, but the pics I took of the apple butter over ice cream don't do justice to it's spicy, creamy deliciousness.

♥PLATE IT, ATE IT, GRADED IT.♥

scale: 0 (not at all) to 5 (very)

Cupboard to table time: 11 hours

Difficulty: 1

Deliciousness: 5

Impressed Husband factor: 5 "Shannon, that apple butter is really delicious" (you know he's serious when he starts the sentence with my name!)

Impressed Mom factor: 5 "This is really, really good. I'm going to have to get the recipe from you"

Leftover-friendly: 5

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday to me!!

Today I am 35! I am happily married and happily employed and a healthy and fit 5'4" 120 pounder. I couldn't have hoped for more. Well, actually, when I was 10 and calculated that in the futuristic world of 2010 that I would be 35, I did envision myself having some sort of space car. Oh well, the Hyundai will have to do :)

Also, in this wonderful life of mine, I got flowers at work last week. Delivered by the receptionist, sent by husband for no reason.
and today, my friend Joi had this waiting in my inbox..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
YOU LOOK LIKE A REALLY FANCY MONKEY
AND YOU DANCE LIKE ONE TOO
XOXOXOXOXOXO

Perfect.

We knew Saturday had the potential to be motorcycle weather and woke up happy to see the sun. We walked over to Mt. Tabor and then down Hawthorne to Common Grounds for breakfast and then back home. It was gorgeous and we admired all the flowers and cool houses and kitties we encountered on the way. Once home, and certain that the weather would stick, we got everything ready for our day of adventure. Our first stop was downtown at Pazzo. We love to sit there and drink a beer and split a pizza and watch the people go by. It's also one of those places where we walk in and they know what we want, which is cool :) After lunch, we headed up to Prost, where we sat at the bar and drank some delicious German beers for dessert. John had some sauerkraut and I took a bite, which I immediately regretted. He says it's an acquired taste, and I'm just not sure I even want to acquire it. ick.and because Prost is so conveniently located to another of our haunts, Saraveza, we stopped to enjoy the coldest Hamm's in town since we were in the neighborhood. After that, we grabbed a mocha down the street and then hit the road out to Sauvie Island.
It was gorgeous out there and we stopped for a restroom break and happened to encounter seemingly all of the birds on the island in the same place. It was amazing...
The sound as well as the motion of them all flying was simply breathtaking.
We headed back towards town and got stopped at one of the bridges and took full advantage of the time delay from the passing barge to have a super fun little photoshoot...
After one more stop to see our friends at Hawthorne Theatre, we made our way to a recommended new bar in the neighborhood, The Observatory. When I texted the recommenders (none other than the lovely Jens), we discovered they were on their way as well and we got to enjoy a lovely dinner with two of our favorite gals. We maximized every minute the sun was out and can't for the summer to start.