A Very Long Sunday

This last Sunday we basically attempted to conquer the world. We wanted to see just how much fun stuff we could get into a day. And it was great!
Although I am not sure I want to do it all the time...
First we went for a hike up to Devil's Head at the westernmost border of Douglas County. When I told Audry we were hiking, she got really excited. Last week we went up Mt Evans and she thought that was just the greatest.

She insisted that she "yalk" by herself.

We were fully equipped to carry her in her "rider" but when Audry was tired of "yalk", she wanted to ride up daddies head. (note the empty baby carrier I am wearing)

Pretty much the whole way up. And the hike is mainly up. But Willy was a good sport.

The views are pretty awesome from up there.

At the top of the mountain is a meadow with this something like 200 stair staircase going UP UP UP again

To a fire lookout tower. Here's me and Audry at the top!

When we got finished admiring the view,

we enjoyed a quick picnic before heading back down.

Fun day for Audry.... and it's only just begun!

So then, we got back to the house, packed up a picnic, and headed up to Denver for Jazz in the Park!
Audry loved it.

I forgot her shoes, completely by accident, I swear! When I realized, I thought maybe it would help keep her on our blanket, but... Nope.

She ran all over the place and visited everyone (with me chasing her)

Will enjoyed some stimulating conversation with our friends and Charlotte napped and was attacked by dogs.

Then Audry discovered the stage and danced the rest of the evening away to the Latin Jazz band.

When we left, she was exhausted and conked out as soon as her head rested. (I wish I would have gotten a picture!)
But here's a shot at the video I took of her dancing! (AK! It didn't work. I don't have all night to wait for the upload. ... errr. )

What a great day!

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

There are few things that are as easy and delicious and healthy as a quick beef & broccoli stir fry dinner, which is just one of the many dishes I've prepared recently.

First thing I did earlier in the day (and this could be done even 24 hours before), I marinated the beef. Mostly the marinade is soy sauce, but there's also a good helping of molasses, some sesame oil, garlic, green onion, and a dash of seasoned rice vinegar.

And the secret with the beef is slicing it while it is still mostly frozen. Slicing it against the grain will yield nice tender bites, but it's hard to get really thin when it is thawed.

Ok. So when it was time to cook, I chopped up the broccoli and red pepper. I love sweet peppers. I am apparently the only person in my household who likes them. Ah, well, more for me!

Some minced garlic in the pan with oil until it gets fragrant. I also threw in some ginger powder. Fresh is better, but you make what you got.

Add the beef & juices and cook on high heat until the beef is nearly done. Too bad I don't have a wok so I could do this the right way.

Add the veggies and cook until they're just crisp. By then the meat will be done. Again, too bad I don't have a wok.

Ta Da! Dinner in 10 minutes or less. What you don't see is me asking my guest, Charlotte, to cook the rice. Charlotte is from France, learning English and experiencing American culture at my house. She did a great job with the rice. I always burn it or make it crunchy in the middle. She said she hadn't ever had anything like this... but she liked it. Yay! Simple and delicious!

Watermelon Sorbet with lemon & mint

It's hot. Like I've been happy when I can get the house to cool off to a mere 80F at night!
IN THE HOUSE.
Yucky.
At least it is this fabulous dry Colorado heat.
Anyway, I had some watermelon. I thought it would be good from the fridge but better frozen. So I made a sorbet.
MMMM. Watermelon sorbet.
Why had I never made this before?
First, I chopped up the watermelon.

Then I blended it to a puree in my handy dandy magical blender.

Mmmm. So foamy and pink. Whirr!

I put that in a measuring thingy, I think I made about 2 cups of watermelon. I had a LOT of watermelon left over. It all went in the freezer for next time.... oh yes, there will be a next time.
OK. Next I added a cup of simple syrup (basically dissolved sugar water).
And the juice of 2 lemons. Next time I would use only one lemon, but everyone said it was great how it was. So if you love lemons, go with 2.

Then I said, "Hey Charlotte," (Charlotte is visiting from France this summer) "do you think that mint would be good with watermelon?" and she said, "Yes." So I picked a bunch of mint leaves.

 Chopped 'em up and threw 'em in there with the rest of it.

Pretty! This made about 3 cups of liquid. I guessed that was about the capacity of my little ice cream machine, which is where I poured the whole shebang.

20 minutes later- kapow! Perfect way to beat the heat.

Audry couldn't get enough. Seriously. Why had I never made this before?

Ten Days flies by!

I can't believe I haven't updated this blog in 10 days. That is pure craziness.
Of course, I have been living life and cooking this whole time.
Not to mention the slew of monsoon rainstorms that struck last week and flooded everything.
Including my back yard.

Oh, and my front yard too.

It only flooded for a few minutes, and the house is on high ground.
Still, it was pretty exciting.
In the last 10 days, Audry has eaten watermelon...

And shared it with Omar.

And the chickens.

And had a complete meltdown because her blanket didn't want to play nice with her (I think).

And helped daddy sharpen mommy's knives (yay daddy!)

And I did some cooking...
Marinated & grilled beef with caprese spirals.

Shrimp Pad Thai.

Chicken Enchiladas (some to take to a friend and some for me for the fridge to cook the next day)

Pork & Peaches (a variation on a latest summer favorite)

Shrimp Tacos.

And a bunch of stuff I didn't photograph.
And I also painted a room that will (hopefully soon be Willy's office) twice. Twice! Because I didn't like it the first time. (No pictures- sorry. When it is done...)
And we picked up Charlotte who is visiting from Paris for a month.
Whew!

I will try to be better about this!

July 4th week

This has been a little bit of a crazy week, what with the 4th being a holiday on Monday and Wednesday being my birthday. So I haven't been really cooking exactly. Mainly we've been eating leftover cobbled bits from the BBQ we had on Monday. Here are some highlights of the week:

Here are Audry and her friend Jack playing on 4th of July

And here's some good friends getting ready for our driveway fireworks show: 

I didn't really take too many other pictures that day, in spite of all the food and fun. Mainly it was too hot, and the fireworks were too exciting to photograph. Too bad I didn't take pictures of the mojitos!

But here's a picture of Will playing with Audry before bed. Aww. Mommy's favorite. 

Here is Omar The Dog listening to a story too. 

Oscar the Cat is settling in nicely. He's been here for a couple weeks now. Sleeping on my bedding, the last place I want him. Just like a cat. 

On my birthday it rained so Will and I had a romantic dinner out on the porch he covered last summer. A dinner of leftovers. 

Here is a close up of the tri tip that Willy marinated. Wow. Delicious. I think it is equal parts soy sauce and olive oil probably with some pepper and garlic in there too. Anyway, cut into little steaks and grilled in the toaster oven since the grill is out of gas... superb. 

This is the wine we were drinking. After breathing a little, fabulous. We drank the whole thing. This winery produces amazing wines. Worth every penny of the membership. 

And for dessert.... leftover brownies with ice cream. 

And a gun. That is how you can tell that we finished off a bottle of wine. Don't worry, we weren't firing it. Then I got all chatty and sentimental in the rain and started taking pictures like this:

Anyway, but we recovered and it is back to normal life! Here's Audry checking on our chicks. 

The little chicks have taken over the roost and the big hens are not sure of what to do about it. Mostly they wait for me to let them out so they can roam around under the bushes. 

The little chicks seem to be coming along OK and so far we have had no hen wars, which I expect any day. 

This summer I am not making any major attempts at gardening. I have decided that gardening in Colorado is not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. Firstly, here's the hollyhocks that I planted in the spring a YEAR ago, finally producing gorgeous blooms. 

I am afraid to cut them and bring them in the house. Will that be the end of them? Will they neglect to make more for next year? And here's Audry telling me Pretty!

At our wedding anniversary this spring (also Mother's Day) Will put in this little planter box for me. It has worked out GREAT!

There are perennials at either end and peas & a tomato in the middle.

With a few pots of happy herbs on one side. Audry likes to help me garden my "babies."

And for the finale, here is Omar doing what he does best. Run FAST.

I think I will probably be back to doing regular cooking tonight. It really has been a great week.