Florida, part 1

I'm resisting the urge to carry on and on about Discovery Cove; I could, you know. Of the dozen or so parks we've visited in Florida, it's our very favorite. It even trumps Gatorland, and that's saying something! Please, if you are planning a trip anywhere near Orlando, consider spending the day there. And when you do, say hello to Capricorn, that 700-lb love of a dolphin, for us :)

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, anyone?

One of reasons we stole away to the beach last weekend was to celebrate our dear Mom's birthday. When I asked what sort of dessert the birthday lady might like, she answered with an emphatic 'Cheesecake!' and so I was off and running to find a recipe worthy of a 61st-year celebration.

I hit the jack-pot, folks, and so I share it with you. The original recipe (which I found on allrecipes.com; thank you allrecipes!!) called for chocolate cookie crumbs, but I'm an abstainer of chocolate, and also selfish, so I used vanilla cookies instead. Actually, I used Golden Oreos, filling and all; this was, in the end, far too rich, and the recipe below reflects what I'll do the next time I make it. And you'd better believe I'll make it again; how can a girl resist when her husband tells her it's the best she's ever made, and so delicious she could sell it? It's enough to give me a big head :)

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (or graham cracker crumbs)
1/3 - 1/2 cup butter, melted
3 Tbsp sugar
1 (10 ounce) package frozen raspberries
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup half & half
3 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, mix crumbs, melted butter & 3 Tbsp sugar. Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8-10 minutes; cool. In medium saucepan, combine raspberries, 2 Tbsp sugar, cornstarch & water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes or until sauce is thick. Strain sauce through a mesh strainer to remove seeds. Melt white chocolate with half & half over a double boiler, stirring ocassionally until smooth. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese & 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in white chocolate and vanilla. Pour half of the batter over crust. Spoon 3 Tbsp raspberry sauce over batter. Pour remaining batter into pan; spoon 3 Tbsp sauce over the top. Swirl batter with a knife to create a marbled effect. Bake 55-60 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate 8 hours before removing from springform. Serve with remaining raspberry sauce.

And now, a few more pictures of Seabrook. Really, if you're yearning for a picturesque, restful place to loll around with the ones you love, Seabrook is it.

Seabrook

We've just returned home from a weekend at the coast, in the coziest little house in the middle of a charming little village. It was lovely, every single bit. Now, enough with the words. On with the pictures!

Whose seriously handsome husband is this?!

Oh, that's right. He's mine :)
This is just one in a long list of favorites from our we-take-Florida-by-storm adventure. More and more and more coming...

Snow!

I've shared pictures like this a dozen times, but I never, ever get tired of sunny, snowy walks, tromping around in our snow boots and mittens, just the two of us.

Gus and the birthday bone

It's no secret that we're great, big birthday celebrators around here, and when your very favorite puppy turns 2, what else is there to do but find the biggest bone on earth and let him go to town? I'm convinced it must have come from a triceratops or something, but my parents, buyers of the bone, assure me it did not :)

Sugar for your sugar

It's 4 days after Valentine's Day, the sun is shining, and I'm trying like crazy to avoid the mountain-sized pile of laundry that needs folding - all fantastic reasons to bake some muffins, don't you think?

Vanilla Muffins

4 c flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 c milk
2 lg eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400. Coat several mini muffins tins with nonstick cooking spray. Sift flour - salt into a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, whisk milk - vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes or until brown on top.

These are more like cupcakes than muffins, which increases their value 10 fold, at least for me. Since these were baked for our sis and bros, I made them a little more fancy-pants by dumping in chocolate chips. And, because I didn't want to mess with a gazillion mini muffins, I used a standard-sized tin and baked them at the same temperature for 16 minutes; they were perfect.

Up

Just when I was beginning to be a little too big for my britches, thinking that our Washington winter skies have cornered the market on impossibly stunning, we hopped on a plane and spent a week in Florida under this:

So good to be reminded again that there's beauty everywhere we are and everywhere we look. More coming on our Florida adventure, just as soon as we shake the sand out of our shoes and put our snorkels and swimsuits away :)

Team Living the Dream

"So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, run the rivers and breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air. Sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space."
- Edward Abbey

January love, part deux

The hits just keep coming! Again, in no particular order:

- The little Main Street of our little town, twinkly and bright from gold lights strung along awnings and wrapped around light poles
- A re-introduction to Spin at the gym. I cannot tell you how exhilirating it is to feel my heart, almost pounding out of my chest, and to see ponytails flying to the speed of and old Haddaway remix, and to hear the instructor screaming, "Attack it!" and "Finish it!!" It is absolutely worth the sore bottom I have had since the 18th.
- A last minute over-night visit from our older bro, which included a walk to the park for tossing around the football and swinging on the swings:
- A fun Friday night with two very fun friends, including Snickerdoodles and Chai Tea lattes, a fierce game of Taboo and a serious Rock Band jam session
- A Saturday morning date with the precious Miss E, who picked out her own pair of polka-dotted 'cozy pants' to wear, chose "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" because it's her Papa's favorite book, blew bubbles in her milk and allowed her auntie to bundle her to the hilt in order to take a walk down the street to see chickens and roosters
- Being surrounded by this:
- Living under this:
- January 28th, which marked our 17th year of becoming lovebirds. Words can't do this one justice, so I'll quit while I'm ahead, and end with an oldie-but-goodie, circa 1994 :)

My friend January

Poor January. It really is at a disadvantage, following Thanksgiving and Christmas, with just one day at the very beginning of the month that causes a stir. It's usually gray, and most often raining; nothing is blooming, and the only things the produce department at Safeway has to offer in January are boring, old apples and oranges.

In the past, I've behaved badly toward January, wishing it would just hurry up and go away already. But then last year I made a New Year's resolution - which, as it turns out, is a life-long resolution - to love January. I decided to love it for what it is, and to find the things in it that make me thankful and glad for what is happening right now, instead of stomping around all month in a temper because the sun sets early and I'm not able to wear flip-flops. A stupid waste of time, really, to refuse to see the wonderful things in the present, because there are always wonderful things.

And so, in no particular order, the things I've been enjoying this January:
- Tea. Lots and lots of tea. Earl Gray, raspberry, Mint Medley, strawberry, Orange Spice, and on and on and on..
- A big, beautiful collage made from the the Christmas pictures that came sailing through the mail last month
- The quiet and rest that comes with a calendar that is not packed to the hilt with holiday hooplas
- Reading old Donald Duck comics in bed with you-know-who:
- Time enough for working lazily on Valentines
- The first weeks of a reading schedule which is guiding me through the whole Bible in a year
- The hope of sparkly, new life to old picture frames, with sand paper and metallic spray paint and a little bit of elbow grease
- Our valley, always lovely no matter the month or season
- My snow boots, which I kick around in all the month long, even when there isn't a snowflake in sight
- Skies like this:

Earn. Everything.

Last minute (free!!) surprise tickets from very thoughtful friends + racing to Qwest in layers and layers + the 12th man bringing it + total strangers leaping around, giving high-5s and hugs + Marshawn Lynch in crazy beast mode + an amazing Seattle sunset + a final score of 41 to 36 = one super fun, super memorable Saturday. Not a bad beginning to 2011, not bad at all :)