Shamrock memories

Tomorrow is St. Patricks Day. My mom always had us go outside to the front yard to pick our teachers a boquet of shamrocks (long stemmed clover). I had my children do the same when we lived there. (FYI They still grow by the wierd tree in front of the basement window in the front of the house.) It was always so fun. We would put on our greenest clothes and hope all the other kids knew we knew it was St. Patty's day. The leprachaun will come to play a few tricks on us too. Maybe he will hide some of his pot of gold for the kids to find. It depends on how much energy he has by 9:00 tonight. Stay tuned, if I can find the camera I'll take pictures.

I made the most delicious Quesadillas today and thought I'd share: You could use these as your green lunch tomorrow:

1- 2 uncooked tortillas
1 handfull of mozarella cheese
1/2 handfull of Cotija mexican cheese grated (crumbled)
1 cup tomatillo salsa
1 (1/2) avacado (you might as well eat the whole thing because it will just turn brown!)

Cook the tortilla on the stove top on a skillet or griddle, add butter if you must... Then sprinkle on the mozzarella and the cotija cheese on one half and let it melt a little. Cotija cheese is a hard Mexican cheese that crumbles like feta but is really mild and buttery to the taste. It is kinda salty too. I LOVE it. You can buy it at the regular grocery store here in Cali, I imagine you could find it in your neck of the woods too. Cotija is the name of the type of cheese, not the brand. Then fold the tortilla in half and let it toast until all the cheese is nice and melty. Cut the avocado and put it in the tomatillo salsa or add the avocado after if you are going to dip the tortilla in the salsa. If you put the avocado in the salsa you should eat it all so you don't waist it because the avocado's will turn brown. Here's a recipe that I nicked off some website. I didn't make my salsa I bought it from the little young women in the Ramona Branch for their girls camp fundraiser. See what a charitable person I am. Yeah I know I'm a paragon of Virtue.

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe

To cook the tomatillos, you can either roast them in the oven, or boil them. Roasting will deliver more flavor; boiling may be faster and use less energy. Either way works, though boiling is a more common way to cook the tomatillos.


Ingredients
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon sugar
2 Jalapeño peppers OR 2 serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
Salt to taste


Method
1 Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.
2a Roasting method Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin.
2b Boiling method Place tomatillos in a saucepan, cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove tomatillos with a slotted spoon.
2 Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, chili peppers, sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.
Serve with chips or as a salsa accompaniment to Mexican dishes.
Makes 3 cups.

Lily

Lily 1 year

Lily 8 months

Lily 3 months

Lily 1 month

Lily 1 hour

Lily 1 minute (ewww slimy)

My baby is 1 year old. I can't believe it! 12 months ago I was laying in a hospital bed thanking my lucky stars that the castor oil worked! She was laying on me and we were happy. My brown eyed baby has been a joyful addition to our family. She is our baby born in the wilderness and the Lord has blessed us. She is up and walking as of today! She stood up and walked across the room to take the phone from Phoenix.

Playdough is my NEMESIS

I know you might all think that play dough is fun and cute... but really it's the bane of any mothers existence. We hate it. It's messy and sticky and mixed with carpet makes you want to stick a fork in your eyeball. Yep that good. But here's the crux of it... in order for your children to grow up semi-normal you have to let them play with it. They need to squish it through their fingers, and take a tiny taste of it's salty bouquet. Children need to make figurines out of it and let them dry. How else are you going to know if they are true genius sculptors? They need to mix the colors until it is one solid clump of grey dough. They need to learn how to ball it up and roll it out into a snake. So what to do? Here's what to do BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES and whatever else. I declare this NATIONAL PLAY DOUGH DAY.

PS if it gets in your carpet, the easiest way to get it out is to let it dry, and then pick it out or cut that string or two out.

Here's a really good recipe that smells yummy (that way we KNOW the kids will want to eat it):

KOOL-AID PLAY DOUGH

Mix:
2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

1 tbsp. alum

2 pkgs. unsweetened Koolaid (that's the little ones ladies)

Add to dry ingredients:
3 tbsp. oil

2 c. boiling water

Knead until well mixed. Let cool. May feel sticky at first, just keep working with it.

Just checking

wouldn't ya know...

Which Disney Priness Are YOU?

click on the cartoon to see it bigger

What with all the gushing about how fab our spouses are... I thought that we could all use a little snicker.

YOu know I love you when....

FYI these are french toasts. I used split top bread and cut the bottom into a point. I am however a pretty good pancake artist. I make perfect "snowballs"!)hardeee har har har.

Okay, so I know where the camera downloader cables are now, but the big computer still doesn't have the Internet (thanks big V for all the super fast service... its only been a month since we moved in!). Hence, NO pictures. I'll describe what I look like just in case you forgot.

• I weigh 122.5 lbs
• my hair is lustrous and thick and down to my waist
• I have unnaturally long legs (like Julia Roberts in Pretty woman)
• my skin is radiant and clear
• my fingers and toes are well manicured with little diamonds stuck on them
• I always have my hair and makeup done, no matter what, rain or shine
• AND I NEVER WEAR SWEATS ALL DAY LONG

Tomorrow I am going to have lunch with some of the ladies in my old 'hood. I miss them all terribly. I am so excited to see them.

Then when we get home we are all going to ride our bikes to the new Rite Aid that just opened near our house and visit the ice cream counter. The kids have already picked out what flavor they will get. They had to keep their rooms clean for a whole week to qualify for the ice cream. Since I put all their toys in bins in the garage in a HEATED moment it wasn't hard to keep the rooms clean. I will have mint and chip. Thrifty mint and chip is undeniably the best in the whole wide world. Dave will make the standard gagging noise and I will smile knowing all the while I will get to eat the whole thing myself without sharing any of it. Sounds like a wonderful day.