99 Red Balloons

Spent Saturday morning babysitting Nephew Theodore. We hung out, and did a few balloon drops with leftover balloons from his birthday party.

And did lots of singing and dancing to "99 Red Balloons." I happen to think it'd be a fabulous idea for a kid b-day party ... getting 99 red balloons and finding someplace to put them all! Fun all around! :)


Lots going on, photos/stories to share (hopefully soon!).

#81 — Go to the Salt Mines in Hutch.

Erik's parents were in town for a few days this week, and we decided we'd take a trip to the Salt Mines in Hutchinson. It just so happens that it's an item on my bucket list. :)




We were given hardhats and little breathing things to wear/carry with us. Of course, Erik sports it with pride!


This made me giggle. How many times are we at a place where it's all "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!!"


And of course my husband decided he wanted to touch it with his tongue. :(


Lots of info to read (snore).


Lots of stuff to see (yay!).


Hey Baby Paul, I didn't get a good pic, but they have vehicles down there that were electric and run on alternative fuels. You'd enjoy it.


There was a train ride, which was pretty great. It's only been running for a few months. Since I've been wanting to go to this for a LONG time, I'm actually glad we waited and had the opportunity to go a bit more into the mine.


This was pretty sweet.


There are some very recognizable movie props down there. :) Plus some of the canisters.




There was another little tram tour called the "dark tour" (I think) .... it was pretty cool, too.


All dark + shadowy.


They let us grab some salt from a rock pile. Can't eat this stuff; it's mostly used for ice melt and the like. I plan to put mine on the ice the next time I make ice cream. :)


There's an awesome wall with lots of quotes about salt. I am a salt kinda girl. I don't much cook with pepper, but gimme salt all day, every day! Of course, I don't often salt when cooking, because not everyone has my tolerance for salt. Plus, growing up, the fellas would dump salt onto everything, even if you'd already salted it. So it seemed a waste to salt things in preparation.


OH. This is awful. My big goofy smile. Just because I'm a dork. It was VERY bright when we exited the tour .... and with a big expanse of concrete to reflect the sun .... I could barely keep my eyes open. :(


I insisted on getting a little rock candy in the gift store. I know there's no salt in the candy or anything, but c'mon. Don't you remember those from being a little kid? (neither does Erik .... he has yet to eat his; if he doesn't hurry up, I might have to help him out!).

Minty Ice :)

Awhile ago, I read about putting items into your ice cubes.


When we made mint sun tea with mint from our garden, I wanted to give these cubes a try!


They're not too difficult to make. Just put your leaves into the tray and go for it! I did try to put the leaves and a little water, then freeze that. Then add more water and freeze per normal. My intention was that the mint leaf would be at the round part of the cube ... but when I added water, it made some of them float up. So it's not really worth that effort.


I thought it'd be more pretty if the mint leaf were in the middle of the cube, but actually it's nice with it near the edge. It melts and gives a little minty burst to a glass of water. :)

Nephew Theodore turns 1!!! :)

WOW. Has it REALLY been a year since Theodore was born?

Today Erik and I are taking some quality time with his parents, who are our houseguests, so there won't be a big post here. Please, however, feel free to skip over to the Heartland Blog to see some takes from our nephew's first birthday party. :)

I will have more here later though. PROMISE!

Apricot-Sage Cookies

As I said yesterday, I have been organizing my recipes.

Originally when I was pulling recipes, I grabbed things that looked good to me. Now, with my limited allowance of sugar and trying to stay away from yeast, I look a little more closely at things before I pull them.

I pulled THIS is the yummie recipe a few years ago .... and rediscovered it this week. I'd never made it before, but with only 1/3 c. sugar, I figured I'd give it a try.


Y-U-M-M-I-E!!!!!!

Boy are these tasty. I might use a little less dried sage than is called for. It gives an amazing flavor, but is a touch strong for my taste. Still, they're amazing.

I haven't actually added jam between the cookies yet ... just eaten them plain. I actually sprinkled a little more sugar on them before baking. :)

One thing I wonder about ... as I listen to a book relating to cooking, I'm wondering if you could refrigerate the dough for a bit ... then roll it into a log, chill more ... then slice these, as opposed to rolling them out and cutting out the cookies, if that makes sense? Maybe I'll try it next time and report back.

Getting it together

Last night, I was picking through my recipe book. The one where I tear out recipes I like from magazines or online sources.

I realized I have TWO such books, so I've been combining and streamlining!

And with today's amazing cool temps ... I just might be willing to turn on the oven and try something! I have some killer bread and casserole recipes, but when it's north of 90 degress, let's be honest: I have no interest in turning on the oven.

If some of these new recipes are winners, I'll be sure to share 'em here. :)

Shout out to Sarah!

OOOOH, my oldest friend, Sarah, has started a sort-of blog (I say sort of because I'm not young and hip enough to exactly know how to define tumblr).

Anyhow, she has taken to posting weekly menus + recipes. I pay her homage for being disciplined enough to do that (because I am not so disciplined).

Even though I've never before eaten Tabouli or a Falafel, I intend to give her recipes a try :)

Sarah, keep posting so I can ride your coattails!

Crossover — Almost!

I'm about to bust a gut!!!!


I worked on a styled shoot a little over a month ago, and have been doing some submitting to wedding blogs. I want to hold off showing these on the Heartland Blog, but just must share one or two .... because I'm dying to share!


I don't think I submitted either to the blog, so I don't really feel guilty about sharing these here. :)

Grilled Tilapia

Erik has made THIS recipe a few times .... and it's INSANELY good!!!! He grills it instead of cooking it in the oven, though.

It's a party in your mouth. I promise.

Cherry, dark chocolate ice cream

Ok, here's the skinny. I made this ice cream last week, and it ROCKED!

I made the basic vanilla, per instructions from my ice cream maker's manual. I then added the following:

2 c. frozen dark cherries, halved
1.5 bar dark chocolate, chopped in chunks

I would add about 1 c. of the cherries to the mixture as it's being made. Then once the ice cream maker is "done" I'd add in the other cup and chocolate.


When I made it, I added it all in, and the cherries and chocolate chunks got a bit stuck in the paddle/blade. It's still soft enough immediately after it's finished to stir in some extra goodies :)

Crossover — 2011 Fair King & Queen candidates

If you pay any sort of attention to the Heartland Blog, you'll have noticed a boatload of portraits as of late.

I photographed 14 candidates for the fair king/queen. It was a lot of work, but tons of fun because they had such a variety of ideas/locations.

Here are a few quick faves:

BAK videos

I dropped her off early, so took some videos. :)

Mom + Bike Across Kansas

Back in June, I was slammin' busy .... and am just getting the chance to blog this.

Mom beat me to a bucket list item, participating in the Bike Across Kansas.


Arriving in McPherson. She came and stayed with us ... and I dropped her off the next morning.


Sunrise .... argh! Early!


She was, of course, ready to go.


With her friend.


And her whole group.


I like the idea of a 2-person bike. I am trying to convince Dad to do this next year. :)


On the road.


More on the road.

Fr. Jeremy groups :)

The old gang after Fr. Jeremy's First Mass :)


Me + Padre.

Ceasefire?

Looks that way.

2011 Rain barrel update

I think these videos are from April .... but with the busy April/May I had .... blogging just went away.

SO, I know rain has been elusive around here (I'm actually irrigating our garden from the tap!), but thought I'd share. This year it took less than 15 minutes to set the barrels up and they were rolling!