snap, crackle, and popin' easter eggs...

Since Easter is right around the corner and this morning was raining buckets (plus, we were out of treats) I thought it would be a great idea to decorate some Easter eggs. Not just any Easter eggs but Rice Crispy Easter eggs.

When Jeff had his tonsils out a few weeks ago and was still not able to eat real food we had gone to see The Lorax at the IMAX and I had purchased a rice crispy treat. Jeff's mouth watered yet he was not able to partake in the treat so I told him I would make some when he was back to eating real food again.

Here are the directions to Easter Egg Rice Crispy Treats below... (P.S. Ethan was my assistant decorator on this project.)

What you will need...

-rice crispy's
-mini marshmallows
-butter
-tube of decorating frosting
-sprinkles or candy

Step 1:

• Melt 3tbs of butter in a pot until completely melted. Melt on mid to low heat so that the butter does not burn in the pot.

Step 2:

• Mix 4 cups of mini marshmallows into the butter until they are completely melted on the same heat setting as above. Be sure to constantly stir until all marshmallows are melted.

Step 3:

• Pour 6 cups of rice crispy's into a large bowl and pour the butter/marshmallow mixture into it. Stir until rice crispy's are completely coated. Let the mixture sit for about ten minutes or so in the bowl.

Step 4:

• Spray cooking spray onto your hands. Once they are fully coated, you can grab a handful of the treat and shape it into an egg. Place them on wax paper on a cookie sheet.

Step 5:

• Decorate with whatever items you want. We used a tube of frosting, and lots and lots of sprinkles.

Enjoy!

inn at langley...

As part of my Valentine's present Jeff whisked us away to Whidbey Island to stay at the wonderful Inn at Langley. We only stayed one night but had a great time and a well deserved relaxing getaway. The weather was a little difficult the day we arrived with lots of rain and wind but we made the best of it. We took in the little shops, tasted wine at the local wine shop adding new additions to our collection, and we finished off the evening by eating dinner at the Inn's restaurant.

We were able to partake in the wine paired nine course meal by chef Matt Costello, and boy was it a culinary adventure. Words can't describe all of the things we were able to try so I've included the menu and the pictures from our evening below.

love is in the air...

Valentine's Day came and went but we had a lovely time celebrating it. Ethan's school had a big Valentine's Day party with every food being red or pink. Let me tell you, there was a lot of candy and cookies in the mix since I don't think red radishes would have been a hit. They also made Valentine boxes to collect all of their Valentine's cards and goodies. 

We celebrated at our house after work/school and had a home made dinner by me. Ethan got a giant gummy bear and was so amazed by it. He kept saying it is the most gorgeous thing and it is delicious. I got lovely roses from Jeff and we are celebrating Valentine's day this weekend with a trip out of town for the evening. (I will write a blog post on that later.)

I hope that everyone had as good of a Valentine's Day as we did. 

now it's time for shoot the duck...

On Sunday we were getting a little stir crazy, well Ethan and I were getting a little stir crazy, so Jeff came up with the brilliant idea of going to the Skate King over in Bellevue. I had not been to a roller skating rink since I was in elementary school and it was a complete flashback to those days. They even had the big mushroom shaped seats covered in shag carpet, roller skates - not roller blades, but with new music playing instead of 80's music. 

We were able to get Ethan out on the rink for a few times but he had a little bit of difficulty standing up on them. He did however LOVE the video games. Jeff got me a rose as well even though we had to leave before couples skate. So cute...

 

dog gone days...

Last weekend Seattle finally saw some nice weather so we headed to the dog park at Marymoor in Redmond. It has been awhile since Bindi had been to her favorite place on earth and it was the perfect day. I think all other dog owners had the same idea that we did since the parking lot was completely full. Luckily we were able to find a spot right up front.

Bindi thoroughly enjoyed herself even though she is getting a little too old to play with the young pups. After the dog park we went to dinner at Purple Cafe. We went a little early to avoid the wine tasting crowd and Ethan was able to get their milk flight which includes an assortment of milk, chocolate, strawberry, and caramel milk. I think Ethan has watched his mom and dad drink wine too much since he actually sniffed each of the wine glasses before trying them. We have ourselves a wine connoisseur in the making.

slow cookin' the day away...

After only being back one day from Hawaii I was still missing the pork that accompanied my Hawaiian lunch plate. I love the salty and smoky flavor of the meat but knew that I wasn't going to be burying a whole pig in a fire pit in my backyard. I turned to my trusty crock pot (along with some Internet research) to try to find a great recipe that I could recreate at home. Low and behold I came together with the one below and boy did it turn out tasty.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Recipe

• boneless pork shoulder (about 4 lbs.)
• 1 1/2 tbsp. of kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. of liquid smoke
• 1 tsp. of fresh ground black pepper
• *you can also add 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar if you want a more tangy taste. 
• cook 16hrs on low heat setting 

I tend to serve my pulled pork on hamburger buns with coleslaw and BBQ sauce but this would be great on its own as well. 

(place your pork shoulder in the crock pot on low setting) 

 (after 16 hrs +/- take your pork out of the crock pot and trim any remaining fat off of the meat.)

 (use two forks to pull apart the pork. you know it is done when it pulls apart very easy.)

(enjoy!)

aloha...

We have just returned from ten glorious days on the Big Island (aka Ethan's second home as far as he is concerned.) The day that we were supposed to fly out was the day of the "Seattle Snow Storm from Hell". It was all over the news that Seattle was going to be getting dumped on and the worst of it was supposed to happen right when our flight was supposed to depart.

Luckily, Jeff had the awesome idea to go and stay near the airport the night before so that way if it did snow like they were predicting we would just have to take a short shuttle ride to the airport. On the day of the big snow storm we were thankfully able to fly out, and were only an hour and a half late out of the gate. Let's just say that we have had our fill of Denny's for the year now.

Once we got to Hawaii we were in paradise. We reserved a condo at the Waikoloa Beach Villas and they did not disappoint. Our condo was located on the bottom floor which worked out perfect for us. We got to run outside and play in the morning and even had our very own BBQ right outside the patio. Every day we had sunny beautiful weather which equaled spending our time between the beach and the pool everyday. We got really good at digging holes in the sand and Ethan got really good at knocking down sand castles. We did venture out a couple of times to visit Bubba Gump and Kona Brewery. Plus, I got Ethan and Jeff to join me on a tour of Hula Daddy coffee. *Their tour is free and you get to sample some great Kona coffee to boot!

 (View outside of our condo patio overlooking the golf course. Too bad we don't golf.)

 (After dinner sundae at the Macaroni Grill @ the Queen's Shops.)

 (Walk down to our favorite snorkel beach at the Mauna Lani Resort.)

 (Ethan making his award winning "Fish Soup". He mastered the recipe by the end of the trip.)

 (Ethan's favorite thing to do in Hawaii, besides the pool of course.)

 (Our fill in pet while we were on vacation.)

 (Ethan showing off that he can swim with his floaties all by himself in the pool.)

 (A typical Hawaiian lunch plate.)

(Ginger and Lychee shaved ice with a sno cap from Anuenue Shave Ice. My absolute favorite shaved ice on the Big Island.)