Peaches & Cream

We made this for dessert a few days ago. It was really really good.

Peaches and Cream
with Angel Food Brulee

2 large fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1 T sugar
1 T grand marnier (double oj for the kiddies and pregos)
1 T orange juice
1/2 t vanilla
dash cinnamon
Toss together, cover & refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together:
4 T soft unsalted butter
4 T brown sugar
dash cinnamon

Whip 1 cup heavy whipping cream with 3 T powdered sugar and 1 t vanilla
(or use some low-cal cool whip if that's the way you role) Also, vanilla ice cream is a delightful option.

Slice angel food cake into slices one inch thick. Spread brown sugar butter on one (or both, if that's how you role) side. Cook angel food quickly in a very hot non-stick skillet. The idea is to caramelize the sugar on the bread for the creme brulee "burnt sugar" effect.

Pile cold peaches onto warm bread, top with whipped cream and enjoy!



ps... I totally made up Angel Food Brulee, I don't care what anyone says!

sky

some random pictures of the sky tonight:

He's a Phenom

Turns out...

Joseph is an AMAZING disc golfer!

He hit another HOLE-IN-ONE today. Of course, this one wasn't worth $500 (like they are at TPCC during Sunday League games) but that's okay. Some guys play for years and years and never get a hole in one, and Joseph just hit his second one in 6 weeks.

He's bad ass!!

Here he is with his lucky disc


PS... He is totally confident he'll cash in on at least one $500 hole-in-one this season.

New Wok

Joseph and I talk a lot about what kinds of food we want to cook. We brainstorm and discuss, past dishes I've made, things we've tasted elsewhere and things we've seen on TV. As the weekend approaches we decide what we want to have for dinner. (Not every weekend, some weekends we don't have the time or have other plans, or I make something that I want to try out on him) Anyway, tonight we decided that we wanted to make Chinese Food in our new wok! We had talked about getting a wok for years and finally got one a few weeks ago in Austin, at Joseph's favorite store, Ross, nonetheless. So using it for the first time was exciting. This is what we came up with to christen our wok and break into the art of Chinese cuisine. We did well. Very very well.

Shrimp + BBQ Pork* Fried Rice
*shredded leftover baby back ribs


Beef + Broccoli with Ginger-Sesame-Soy sauce, red pepper, carrots, celery and waterchestnuts

Krause Springs

We had a pretty quiet weekend. It was nice, we were tired.

Monday afternoon we decided to go to a fairly legendary central Texas swimming spot. It's Krause Springs and it is located in Spicewood, about 20 minutes from our house. It is a spring fed natural swimming hole that has been a local summertime hang out forever. Neither of us had been there before, so it was definitely time we check it out.



It's really beautiful. The feeling is very "hippie-mellow", no lifegaurds or rules, except no dogs. There's a waterfall, a cliff to jump off of, a rope-swing and tons of natural shady beach spots to chill out. One guy had some random homemade hammock that he rigged around two huge trees and rocked in the sun by the waterfall all afternoon. There was a line of kids at the rope-swing all day, one after another flipping & splashing. The water is pretty chilly, which is a huge bonus (water tends to be really warm after it's been 90+ degrees for over 2 months) and really takes the edge off the blazing hot sun. We read, swam, drank some beers, looked at turtles, ate a picnic, jumped off the cliff (not that cool, kinda hurt a lot) and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.






After the sun started to go down and all the kids had gone, Joseph and I each went off the rope swing, twice. It was really fun! Had I been 10 years old, I would have been like one of the kids we watched go on the rope-swing continuously for 5 hours. Here are our splashes (we're both slow with the camera, apparently) from jumping off the cliff and Joseph on the rope-swing.

Disc Golf League

After falling in the love with the sport of Disc Golf this spring, Joseph found and joined a Disc Golf Country Club, so that he could play in the Sunday League they hosted.

Today was the first week of a 10 week league. Joseph has been really pleased with his disc golf game recently, so he was feeling fairly confident (not something he usually lacks) heading out there this afternoon.

Turns out, like usual, he had plenty of reason to be confident. Not only was he inches away from hitting a $500 hole-in-one, but he won his division, beat the toughest competitor's best score and was told he should go pro.

I think he made a few friends too. The Dodgers came back from a 5 point deficit in the 9th inning to win by 1! And I made barbequed ribs and bacon macaroni and cheese and "Sizzler Bread"* for dinner. This day ranks up there amongst the top for my Happy Higley.

While Joseph golfed, I slept all afternoon on our huge soft couch.

Happy Sunday!

* Sizzler Bread, another recipe from Chris' restaurant recipe disc, is Joseph's new favorite. It's kind of like crack. It's equal parts soft butter and grated parmesan on Italian bread, cooked cheese side down on a hot griddle. Tastes like giant Cheez-Its!

Amy's Texas Chicken Soup

I needed to use the left-over El Pollo Loco grilled chicken from Sunday night to make dinner tonight. This is what I came up with.

Amy's Texas Chicken Soup

In 2 T bacon grease, saute 1 chopped white onion, 2 stalks celery diced, 2 carrots sliced, 2 cloves garlic minced, 2 roma tomatoes diced, 2 T diced green chilis (from the can) and 1 minced chipolte. (Omit peppers if you're a Yankee Scaredy-Cat, but that pretty much takes the "Texas" part out and makes it plain chicken soup)

Once veggies are soft, add 4 T butter and 4 T flour. Wisk together until melted and smooth. Add 1 bayleaf & 1 t cumin. Stir in 5 cups chicken stock, bring to boil. Add in 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (in this case, leftover grilled bbq-ish chicken thighs and drumsticks). Simmer for 30 minutes. To serve, scoop a pile of rice into the center of the bowl. (Any leftover rice will do, in this case I used left-over cumin-seed jasmine rice and it was perfect!)

We served with fresh lime, corn & avocado salad and warm corn tortillas.

Bon Appetit!

Nature... in the front yard

There is no shortage of deer in Horseshoe Bay. Sometimes they wander casually about, without regard for people or cars, sometimes they get scared and run away, and sometimes they catch you totally off guard. While cooking dinner tonight (spicy, creamy, chicken & vegetable soup with cumin rice), I opened the front door to move the sprinkler in the grass and saw this:






A family of deer grazing in my front yard. I ran back in to get my camera and they just stared back at me. Young buck on the left.

Kids

Ali used my purses to carry things around while she was here.

I found this today on my way out the door. Darling.

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

My sweet Joseph turned 33 on Sunday. For his actual birthday he chose for us to stay home, relax and cook, without friends or guests. I made spinach & artichoke dip in the afternoon. Joseph had gotten the recipe for El Pollo Loco chicken and beans from Chris, so we made that, as well as some cumin-seed rice and avocado & corn salad for dinner. Joseph made Mexican Martinis and I made key lime pie for dessert. We were in bed by 11:30, which is very early for us.





An interesting bit of baseball info: Joseph's 33rd Birthday, on 7/13, Chad Billingsley, a young Dodgers pitcher from Ohio, pitched 7 innings and struck out 13 men, leading to a Dodger victory!

Having Monday off as well, we carried the birthday celebration out for another whole day. Monday we drove to Austin for beers at Joseph's favorite Brewhouse, a massage, a little shopping and dinner at Gumbo's. This was our third year celebrating Joseph's birthday at Gumbo's. It was awesome, of course.

This is what we had:
Hanna Russian River Sauvignon Blanc
Shrimp Eddy (taragon cream), Baked Brie with Grape Chutney and Blue Crab Gumbo

Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Chardonnay
Almond and Goat Cheese Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette
Iceburg Wedge

Crawfish & Crab Stuffed Rainbow Trout
Filet with Crabcake and bacon-wrapped grilled asparagus

New York Cheesecake with Strawberries
Cappuccino with Bailey's

Happy Birthday to Jojo!

$100 Bet

Over the years I have learned that it is best to leave Joseph at home when I go grocery shopping. He is lovely company and always has very funny commentary about some of the Marble Fallers, but when Joseph's there the grocery bill is at least $50 more than if I go alone. I try to coordinate my shopping with his disc golf or work, because I can never tell him I don't want him to come with me.

Anyway, part of the reason the bill is higher is that Joseph buys way too much of things. I try to reason with him, that we won't eat that many ribeyes and we don't need two gallons of ice cream. We are home a lot but our hours are weird and we don't generally eat at home more than once a day, twice on weekends sometimes.

On our last trip to HEB Joseph saw some yogurt on sale that he wanted. He wheeled the cart over and started loading up. I stopped him at ten. We agreed on eight, assuming I'd throw away at least four.

This is when the $100 bet happened. On the ride home I offered Joseph one hundred dollars, from my business account to his pocket (would be ineffective if I took it from our account, I'm being completely fair), if he ate all eight yogurts before the expiration date. I will totally do it too!

But I am confident I will not being paying him anything.

Little Girls

Two more on the way!

Kate and Elizabeth are both expecting baby girls.

I, personally, am thrilled!!!

I know 4 parents are too.

Baby Sisters for Noelle and Jack, so much fun!

How much pink shit am I going to buy this Christmas?!

Craigs in Horseshoe Bay

Chris, Mandy and their three daughters, Caitlin, 7, Allison, 5, and Lindsay, 17 months, drove all the way from Ohio to spend some time with Joseph and me in Horseshoe Bay!

Needless to say, our quiet, sleep til noon lifestyle was upended this week! We were submerged in pink Princess stuff, play-doh & fruit roll-ups. It's fun, good lessons to be learned when you welcome your littler family members into your home to visit. It was a blast, we had a great time. I know the girls enjoyed everything. Caitlin especially was all about every outdoor, physical activity we did. So athletic, energetic and happy. Allison is like a pessemistic commentator from the sidelines, making everyone laugh. Lindsay just chills, smiles, eats & sleeps (a lot). Chris and Mandy were happy with my cooking, which always makes me happy. I made Lasagna Casserole, pineapple upside down cake, steak sandwiches & pasta salad (thank you deli), spinach & artichoke dip, Joseph's Grilled Ribeyes and corn on the cob and the girls helped me make chocolate chip banana bread.

We took a pontoon boat out on Lake Travis twice. The first time was shortened by a monsoon-like rainstorm, the second was perfect! We played mini-golf (Caitlin & Joseph got a hole in one!), played at the arcade, went to a floating waterpark (awesome, so much fun, huge blow-up obstacles to climb & slides in the lake) baked banana bread & made salads, raced with the dogs, played cards, swam with the dogs (Cooper actually pulled them to while they held onto his tail), and ate ice cream.

Here are some photos: