Fun Kids Summer 2016

Summer at Our House

Too much entertaining lately, but the off-shoot is that I'm deep into cooking again. 

There were leftovers to work through after our big vegan meal. With oven-roasted sweet potatoes on-hand, I was inspired to make a big late-morning breakfast for CA and me. 

Also, utilized the leftover steak from a very recent dinner at Outback. With a correctly-prepared "medium" steak, you can briefly reheat in the microwave without over-cooking. 

We still had great amounts of leftover vegetables and the clock was ticking toward our trip to Colorado. CA and I worked together and prepped the peppers and Vidalias for fajitas (JE's family were due to arrive soon.)

After the peppers and onions cooled a bit, we divided them into Ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. We had pork tenderloin fajitas on Saturday night, and having the veggies pre-made was huge. 

One of our favorite "pantry" meals is a marinara with tarragon, garlic, and finely-diced red onion. We enjoyed this batch with some Dececco linguine, crunchy bacon pieces, and great dollops of creamy goat cheese. 

On Sunday, 7/10, it was our turn to host Small Group, and I'd decided on a peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake with hot fudge and whipped cream. But, I wasn't sure that everyone coming liked peanut butter, so I also made a simple lemon tart. Used a prepared (Pillsbury) pie crust for convenience and 2 jars of Dickenson's Lemon Curd, because it's very tart and very good. 

The first photo is just after I removed the pie weights. The tart crust still needed a few more minutes in the oven to be fully browned. 

I wanted a deep cheesecake, so I used 4 packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese and a cup of peanut butter for a 9"x3" outcome. Actually, I used 5 packages of cream cheese and 1-1/4 cups of PB as I planned to additionally make 4 small 4" cheesecakes to deliver to our elderly parents. 

The crusts were NutterButter cookies and a bit of melted butter. I learned the hard way that pre-baking the crust, as you sometimes do with a graham cracker crust, is not a good idea. Must be the high sugar-fat content of those NutterButters. 

I also added about 1 cup of Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips to the filling mix. 

At serving, I warmed some Mrs. Richardson's Hot Fudge Sauce to drizzle over. And then, topped both the cheesecake slices and the lemon tart slices with freshly-whipped cream. 

On Tuesday we drove to Central Illinois for a quick visit with our parents. Not sure my almost 95-year old dad realized I'd made him cheesecakes as both his sight and hearing have deteriorated greatly this year. But, CA's 88-year old mom was very pleased and happy to share with some of her caregivers. 

By Friday, 7/15 our daughter's family had arrived. LC was turning 5-years on 7/20 so we had fun celebrating his birthday a bit early on Saturday. 

Who doesn't love a donut cake?!

I'm now ready to buckle-down and begin eating "right" again. Love the My Fitness Pal app for calorie counting, excersize recording, and nutrition monitoring. 

Breakfast at Silver Grill in Fort Collins, CO. 

A simple lunch. 

Last night we adapted a favorite salad. The beauty of using the My Fitness Pal app is that I can plan my daily food intake to accommodate a more caloric dinner, or a restaurant meal. 

For example, CA and I had a late breakfast today at The Farmhouse at Jessup Farms. I didn't even miss the potatoes or bacon, as green chiles and fresh fruit were available substitutes. 

My leftover green chiles prompted us to make chicken quesadillas and guacamole for dinner. Turns out carrots taste wonderful with guac--The Two Hot Tamales recipe. 

I warmed the green chiles and, just at serving time, stirred-in some sour cream. 

So... While we are in Colorado, our daughter and family are staying at our very unofficial Airbnb with friends from Cincinnati. Only right, as CA and I stayed at JE's home on our way to CO.

Unfortunately for them, an Opposum somehow made it into one of our covered window wells, then died. Thanks MA for doing the clean-up.

Family Updates

DM had a birthday last Sunday.

LG was in her school production.

My brother is now a grandfather. Natalie Ann, born late Saturday, 4/16 to my sweet niece JM and her husband MW.

We celebrated my mother-in-law's 88th birthday (4/28) a bit early. CA, GP, and LFW at Metamora Fields.

Our Fun Kids got together in Fort Collins for Easter.

I celebrated RvH's birthday with her by going along for her cataract surgery!

Since both RvH's (4/1) and CA's (4/2) birthdays were just after Easter, I baked them each a coconut-lemon cake.

Our Cincinnati Fun Kids are now our Omaha Fun Kids. Out-and-about exploring their new territories.

Eew-w-w...

I told CA that this will be us in a few years!

Traveling and Birthdays

After almost four years of travel to/from Cincinnati, we're in the middle of our last visit. In the beginning of February, our Cincinnati Fun Kids are moving back to Omaha--where all three of these grandchildren were born. They barely remember their lives there--JA is concerned that there are no NFL or MLB teams in Omaha.

We make sure that we get one more Tenderloin from Sahm's, in Fishers, IN. That's been our lunch stop many times as we've traveled toward Cincinnati. This version is the closest to the one we loved for decades at Hunt's in Peoria.

We're here to celebrate JE's birthday and to stay with these Fun Kids while MA and JE explore the Bourbon Trail near Louisville. What the Napa Valley is to wine, Kentucky is to whiskey.

In Colorado, it's also KF's birthday, and because it's a school day, her family makes an early morning visit to Silver Grill for cinnamon rolls. Kika is 8 today! So hard to believe. She's beautiful, artistic, musical, smart, and sensitive. Her smile lights up the room.

I remember so well visiting in Slovakia when she was just three weeks old; cuddling her on my chest for hours while LG danced and spun around us. Mary Poppins was LG's favorite at the time, and she'd enlist grandpa's help to fly her and her umbrella across the room.

NJ was born just two weeks before KF's second birthday; their family was staying at our home in Woodstock. We celebrated both KF and JE's birthday together that year. Kika had fallen in love with a stuffed bear who could sing the ABC song; so, she soon had those memorized.

Today she's in second grade at a top charter school. She takes life seriously, works hard, and is good at just about everything. We love you Kristina Faith.

Here in Cincinnati, we spend our Fun Kids time on Friday at Newport on the Levy seeing Norm of the North and enjoying our last Dewey's Pizza, which we're really going to miss. Great pizza!

Saturday is a laid-back morning, then some shopping and errands. The Fun Kids play well together, and there's plenty of time for crafts, a big puzzle, and Star Wars Monopoly. We're all happy with the pace of today. For a treat (?!), the Fun Kids get playtime and dinner at the nearby McDonald's.
We decide to stay for Sunday, and get a chance for more chocolate cake, CA's spaghetti sauce, and a bit of time with JE and MA. As retired people, we can be flexible about our travel schedule.