Labor Day

 I don't know about you,

 but I am kind of obsessed with the beach.

Maybe it's because I grew up in a desert.

Maybe it's just because it's amazing.

The first thing I knew I wanted to do when I moved to Portland was to go to the coast!

I got to spend Labor Day camping on the coast!

The fog was amazing the first day.

The second day was clear, sunny, and the perfect temperature to hang out on the beach.

I could have spent the entire time just laying on the beach.

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend,

 I had so much fun!

This post is going to be a lot of pictures, per request of my lovely mother, but not nearly the amount that I actually took. 

I am in love with the ocean.

Here are some of the pictures I took camping.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day!

Potato Salad Attempt One

Potato salad is one of my favorite summer sides. 

Seriously. I eat it as a main dish, not a side.

I have been craving my mom's potato salad all summer!!! 

I finally got her "recipe" from her.

(I write "recipe" because all it is, is a list of ingredients.
 No measurements.)

I tried to make it, and admittedly ignored a couple of things she mentioned mainly because I didn't have them and didn't feel like buying them.

It turned out good, but no AS good as my mothers.

So... Here.

You can try too.

Ingredients:

Red potatoes boiled- skin if u want

Onion (hate onions)

Celery

Hard boiled eggs

Mayo

Mustard

Celery seed (don't have...)

Celery salt (don't want to buy...)

Pepper

Dash lemon juice

Parsley

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Sweet Dill pickle relish (not a fan of sweet pickles)

Directions:

? 

Cook potatos.

Combine ingredients.

 

I hope you enjoy your version of this potato salad recipe!

Avacado Salad

I love, love, love avocados! But don't always remember to eat them. Mainly because when I get them I usually forget about them till they are bad. 

I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Trader Joes lately and have found that the bundles are cheaper than buying them individually.  So, I've started to just eat them as the main component in a dish.

My favorite go to dish is what I like to call an avocado salad. It's so simple and takes just minutes to throw together but is so delicious and full of flavor!

Ingredients:

One avocado

One hand full of spinach (or so)

One hand full of cherry tomatoes (or so)

Lemon pepper

Lemon or lime juice

Parmesan cheese (or a blend)

Directions: 

Add spinach to a salad bowl.

Slice up avocado and cherry tomatoes and add to bowl.

Drizzle a small amount of lemon or lime juice over. 

(to taste, but a little goes a long way)

Sprinkle with lemon pepper.

Top with a small handful of cheese.

Enjoy!

Summer Spaghetti

I may have found my new favorite go to pasta recipe!!!

This was SO delicious! 

A must try!

I mean you don't have to take my word for it... but you should.

I saw some recipe on Pinterest (of course) that had some ingredients I hadn't thought of using in pasta (namely the lemon), and thought it sounded yummy.

I also bought a basil plant a few weeks ago from Trader Joe's, because I love basil, and hadn't even used it yet. It seemed like a good time to finally use it. 

Any who, it seems I may be beginning a ramble here so I'll just get to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Garlic- about 3 cloves

Cherry Tomatoes

Salt

Pepper

Fresh Basil

Bread Crumbs

Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Lemon

Parm. Asigo. cheese blend (I got mine at Trader Joe's)

Directions:

Coat bottom of sauce pan with olive oil.

Dice up garlic and add to oil.

Add desired amount of salt and pepper 

(remember you can always add more later if needed, I'm still learning this)

Cut tomatoes in half and add to pan.

Cook on medium heat for about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package.

After cooking oil for 6 minutes, add about 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs.

Add pasta to oil, mix together.

Put pasta in a bowl.

Squeeze 1/2 lemon over pasta (keep the seeds out).

Sprinkle with cheese.

Enjoy!

  

Please feel free to leave me any opinions, changes, likes/dislikes... anything!

Father's Day 2013

Hello All!

I don't know about you, but my father is probably one of the most difficult people I have ever tired shopping for.

He doesn't like any of the "normal" Father's Day type stuff like fishing or golfing or any of that cliche stuff. And if he finds something he likes he doesn't stop and think "hey, I'll tell people about this so they can get it for me as a gift", he just buys it. No second thought. He also does not appreciate useless or sentimental gifts. I have tried many of these over the years.

Long story short, I usually just ask him and he already knows what he's getting.

For Father's Day this year I sort of came up with a genius idea! (well I think it's genius) 

The idea started with from one of my super crafty friends who had made those bottle caps at Hobby Lobby into magnets and the other half came from wondering around Michael's trying to find those bottle caps (which I couldn't).

I made him Gear Magnets.

I used little plastic gears I found, glue, and magnets. 

So easy! And I really like how they turned out!

 

 Love you Daddy, Happy Father's Day!

Hope everyone has a great Father's Day weekend!

Canoeing

 I don't have a whole lot to say about this adventure.

Not to say that it wasn't great, just that there isn't much to explain and you can see the beauty in the pictures. 

The University of Washington does canoe rentals on Lake Union for a decent price.

Both of which are awesome in my book!

A friend and I decided to go while she was in town visiting.

The weather was amazingly warm and everything so green!

 

If you'd like to go, here is the link with information.

Have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Grand Ridge Park

I love to go hiking, but unfortunately my favorite hiking buddy still lives in New Mexico. 

Her coming to visit was the perfect opportunity to go explore a trail up here. 

I saw Grand Ridge Park in a local magazine, raving about the beautiful trails. 

Sounded good enough.

The park isn't all that close (it was probably about 45 minutes away from us), but great none the less. 

We hiked for about an hour then decided to turn back around.

The weather was great, sunny without being hot. 

The hike was beautiful and there were dandelions EVERYWHERE!  

I love dandelions. 

There were also a lot of slugs, which do not exist in New Mexico, for us to poke at and play with.

If you get the itch to go hiking and can go here, I would recommend it!

Have a great week all!

Chihuly Garden & Glass

I have been hearing about Chihuly for a little while now.

My Grandma is obsessed with it. 

My Mother loved it when she went.

My Aunt and Uncle take all their visitors there.

I didn't have a huge desire to go knowing that it was a glass museum, I was uncertain how interesting that could be, and admission is about $20.

While my grandma was visiting New Mexico she got to my best friend also, and convinced here that it was amazing and totally worth the $20 admission price. So, while my friend was visiting we decided to go see what all the hype was about. 

It was indeed beautiful.

The museum was a little short for us. We tend to be those people who make it through museums pretty quickly and don't generally stop to look at each piece that long, so it didn't take us long to make it through the whole thing. 

However, yes grandma, we did enjoy it.

I am glad that we went and got to experience what everyone was talking about. 

They are truly works of art. 

Wine Tasting

Hello All!

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting anything lately. 

I've been a little preoccupied with visitors.

But, thanks to those visitors I have also been out doing and seeing things to post about! 

Yay! 

So, be prepared for a number of post coming all at once. 

A couple weeks ago my wonderful, beautiful, amazing Mother was in town and we went wine tasting for Mother's Day. 

We drove out to Woodinville, had a nice lunch, and visited some wineries.

We also, of course, had to visit Redhook Brewery. Wine is wonderful and all, but both my mom and I like us some good beer. I say us giving my mom some credit because recently she has branched out into the world of GOOD beer. She still drinks some terrible ones, but she's slowly working her way out of the darkness and into the amazing world of good beer. 

(love you mom!)

The Redhook tour was only $1. Yes, I wrote ONE DOLLAR. AMAZING. It was also so much fun! The tour guide was great. He was exciting and funny. After every couple facts, you get a tasting (a good size tasting) and by the time you finish you've had at least an entire pint. I had a little more because my mother is just now branching out into the good beer world and hasn't aquired the taste for all of them (mostly IPAs and darker ales). 

Over all the day was so much fun! I have missed my Mom so much since I moved. We are very close and I was so glad she came for a weekend.

I can't wait to see her this next weekend again in Denver!

Here are some of the wines my Mom and I tasted, as well as some new ones that I have liked.

 You're Welcome!

Hope you like these as well, and I'm making your wine choices a little easier.