Ripcord

I happen to have a husband who loves to skydive, and has flung himself out of an airplane thousands of feet above the earth, not once, not twice, but three times. My husband is brave, it's true. Unfortunately for him, he happens to have a wife who will never - and I repeat NEVER - join him in such an activity. I will hold pythons and sit on alligators and ride rollercoasters that zip around at 120 miles per hour, but I will not voluntarily strap myself into a parachute and leisurely step out the door of a vessel that is hurtling around above the clouds; I have limits. And so, all our married life, skydiving has been absent from the list of acceptable Saturday afternoon dates. But then we took our happy birthday trip to Cedar Point back in May and discovered Ripcord, which allowed us to experience, in a very small (and for my sake, very secure) measure, what it would be like to fly through the air together. And since any adventure is made 1000 times better when we're together, it was perfect.... and worth every heart palpitation I had while we waited, 15 stories high, for the go-ahead to pull that cord :)

My new favorite

My new favorite song, that is. And actually, I have another new favorite, but I'm too embarrassed to talk about it. I've discovered that once one turns 34, certain things one is drawn to are better left undiscussed, as sometimes one is really too old for said things. Anyway, this song is lovely, and I know from experience that it's perfectly appropriate for singing to your sister, or playing as you look at old family pictures, or even as you flit around the living room, setting out fall decorations.

Awesomeness, revisited

I don't expect anyone outside of our family to love these as much as I do, but every time I look at them - and I've lost count at this point - they make me happy. They're plastered all over our house - stuck to the fridge, hanging on the wall, framed on the bookshelf - and since it's been almost a year since they made their debut, I'm posting them again. And besides, I always like to shamelessly plug Derek Pearson Photography, which is, of course, the very best photography business on the planet. If you need family pictures, you know where to go! :)

More and more Mt. Rainier

The older I grow, the happier I am to be in the middle of what God has created; it's all so much more awesome than anything we, in our limited human abilities, could ever dream up.


Handsome husband sighting! [I apologize for the mush; Jan Michael will not appreciate it, either :)]

Mt. Rainier

The photo in the previous post of our disaster of a kitchen is true to life, yes, but also very ugly. And I can't stand to look at it anymore. Here is something far, far lovelier - a quick glimpse into our recent day at Mt. Rainier with our friend Angela. A very thorough look is coming, but until then:

Chicken Littles

So our big breakfast Saturdays are sailing merrily along, and the star this morning was a delightfully large batch of cinnamon rolls. We've not yet managed to devour all 12, but they'll be gone before the night is over. At that point I'll do a few sit-ups because I like to try and pretend that 5 minutes of exercise is the answer to a Chicken Little binge :)

Chicken Little Cinnamon Rolls
1 loaf (1 pound) frozen bread dough, thawed
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1/3 c sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 c raisins

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Brush with butter. Combine the sugar - lemon peel; sprinkle evenly over butter. Sprinkle with raisins. Starting from a long side, roll dough up tightly. Seal the seams. Slice into 12 rolls; place in greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes. Combine 1/2 c powdered sugar and 2 Tbsp milk (or lemon juice) and brush over the rolls.

A couple of years ago, Sara had a raw food blog, and Derek, of course, was in charge of taking the pictures. The photos were beautiful, and I'm certain that her recipes combined with his work inspired lots of raw food creations in kitchens across the land. Now, what you see here is the best we could come up with. We're all about keeping it real in this joint :)

Franklin Falls

We took a quick trip to our favorite little waterfall yesterday. It's hard to beat togetherness and sun and green and water all rolled into one. A shot of happiness straight to my heart, that's what it is.

Saturday morning pancake parade

This will be a parade without pictures, I'm afraid, and for that, I apologize. It always makes me cranky to flip through a cookbook without pictures, and here I am, on the verge of sharing a picture-less recipe. We'll do better next time!

We've begun a new tradition in our little family, and it involves making an enormous production out of breakfast on Saturday mornings. Or the Saturday mornings that find us at home, at least, and in the spring and summer months, that is certainly not every weekend. But two Saturdays ago we decided to slow down for half a second and loll around at home, and so the pancake parade commenced.

This recipe was a smashing success, and we share it with only one caveat: Unless you are planning to actually feed the amount of men you might find at a very busy truckstop, you might like to cut the recipe in half. Even then, you'll be eating pancakes all the live long day; for two people, using only a quarter of the ingredients would have been plenty.

Truckstop Buttermilk Pancakes
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
5 cups buttermilk
5 cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt (optional)
5 tablespoons sugar

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter and buttermilk. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar; stir into the wet ingredients just until blended. Adjust the thickness of the batter to your liking by adding more flour or buttermilk if necessary.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side. Continue with remaining batter.

4th of July P.S.

How did I forget to mention this earlier? I must have temporarily lost my marbles, probably because there's only so much fun a gal can recount at any given time. Anyway, we discovered this year that the very best way to pay homage to the independence of our great country is this: riding around town dressed up as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty with our bro and sis on cruisers that are lit up like fireworks themselves. It's rumored that George and Martha Washington may make an appearance next year...

4th of July

Another 4th of July come and gone, and it was a great, big breath of fresh air. Eric's parents very generously opened their lovely home to us again (for the upteenth year in a row), and we spent the weekend lazing around on the deck, taking long naps, wandering through the farmer's market, strolling down the beach to the marina, watching oooh-and-awe-inducing fireworks, and thoroughly enjoying the company of one of our very favorite families. If we lived on the harbour, I would get nothing accomplished, ever, ever, ever; how Eric's parents manage to pull themselves away from the water and sand is beyond me. In past years, the scenery has been the star of our pictures; this time, the spotlight turned to something (someone!) else... :)

Summer Saturday

An afternoon with my love and my brother + an oasis in the middle of the city + flip flop weather + vanilla ice cream and piles of cherries = a happy me.

Eliana

This is my week for spending time with adorable little misses, it seems! Yesterday I had a date with Eliana, and we spent all afternoon reading books, building with blocks, chasing after Oliver the kitty cat, and inspecting rocks in the backyard. Eric and Tessa graciously allow us to claim her as our niece, and if she didn't already have us wrapped tightly around her finger (and she most certainly does!), the fact that she's started saying Uncle and Auntie whenever we visit has sealed the deal.

Strawberries in the sunshine

....with my dear friend Tonya and her two darling munchkins make for a very happy June morning. I see lots of freezer jam in our future!