Muffin, May tulips, monster hat

These are the Ginger Rhubarb Muffins I made a few weeks ago. I thought they were quite addicting and even Sam would have liked them if I would have ground the rhubarb more. He doesn't like "chunks" in his muffins--mom! The ginger isn't too strong and I topped some with macadamia nuts. Here is the recipe. Try them. They really are a yummy Spring treat.

Ginger Rhubarb Muffins

1 1/4 Cup flour

1 Cup wheat flour 

(If using pastry flour (above)cut back on soda and powder slightly)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 (scant) fresh ginger grated

1/2 Cup white sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

1 Cup plain yogurt (I like greek)

1/2 Cup buttermilk

1/3 Cup oil

1 egg

1 1/2 Cups fresh rhubarb (diced) I chopped mine pretty well

1/2 Macadamia nuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In large bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and grated ginger

In separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, yogurt, buttermilk, oil and egg. Stir in the rhubarb and then the flour mixture. Don't over mix.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Top with chopped nuts. Bake about 12-15 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Adapted from the Woods House Bed & Breakfast

So as you know mom came to help me out in May. I had the 8 Stake Priest/Laurel formal dance and the District Boy Scout dinner. I needed mom's help desperately and I'm so very glad she came. She saved the day. Haley was able to come up for the dance and looked lovely. I felt a bit sorry for her. She didn't know really anyone and she braved it out anyways and pained the whole evening with a pretty good attitude. Carrie did her hair and she really did look lovely.

I'd like to read the 400 plus texts (smile) she must have done that night to see her true feelings. Or not. Maybe ignorance is bliss. I will say it certainly wouldn't have been my favorite night. All except the pre pampering of the evening. Nails done, hair done and chauffeured ride in the Taurus! I remember Kole having a similar evening with a boy (can't recall his name at the moment) at a Prom in Lovell. That couldn't have been all that comfortable either. And she couldn't even text to vent her pains. Oh the misery.  The good news is Haley was by far the prettiest girl there and I was proud of some of our YW for including her. Sweet Alexis Springgay, Jessica Weaver and then the gallant YM Jeremy Dance and Austin LeFevre. I think the dance was a success all in all but I hope they don't sign me next year.

The next video is more of Carrie's expertise with hair. Sam's. He claims he didn't like it-- 

but then he got to thinking he looked like Avatar. 

Now the Boy Scout dinner that was something else. Mom and I slow cooked 80 lbs of pork butt and it still wasn't enough to feed the 250 people. We ran at the last minute to buy 15 lbs BBQ from Whole foods and another 20 lbs of pulled pork. The BBQ beef was good the pulled pork (from WF) was gross. So gross I took it back the following day. We served corn on the cob, chips, Joan's baked beans--yum, and coleslaw. For dessert we served tarts. A plethora--and I mean plethora. Bruce was so proud we kept the cost down (we fed them all for about $3.00 per plate--not too shabby). Mom worked hard. She does that. She works hard and long. I know for certain I couldn't have done it without her. Thanks mom!

So after our work week we decided to celebrate. We went up to Skaggit Valley and looked at the last remnants of the tulip festival. So gorgeous.   

While mom was here the Thompson's gave us their season tickets for the Mariners Friday night game. They played the A's. We were 4 rows up from the dug out. Nice. It was a perfect evening. Who knew they now serve chocolate covered strawberries at baseball games. Also, sushi and phad thai. I'm telling you it was quite the gourmet event. I tried to look for hot dogs and beer, but none were to be found. Kidding of course, I found the beer. Kidding Bob--I didn't want to get mom drunk on her last night with us.  Sam was cute. He was so excited about going and sitting so close. He took his baseball mit and wore his batting helmet. Some may laugh or may be even slightly embarrassed but he wore that helmet with pride. 

We didn't catch any foul balls but the guy sitting on the row right behind us got struck with a foul ball in the head and said he wished he had had Sam's helmet. So then "some" of us weren't so embarrassed by the helmet I guess. The game was awesome. Tied score, last inning, 

bases loaded, 2 outs. 5 fouls later (can't remember the players name now darnit) but he hit a double and Mariners win! So fun, so fun, fun, fun for everyone. Sam loved it too. He carried around the tickets for 3 weeks after that. He said he wants to go to a game every night. SO Dave--take us out to the ball game. Take us out to the park. Buy us some peanuts and cracker jacks........

This weeks Menu

Monday........Shrimp and Mango wraps

Tuesday........Crustless buttermilk and cornmeal pie/roasted asparagus, collard greens 

Wednesday..Halibut with black bean salsa

Thursday......BBQ Chicken Pizza

Friday...........Family Picnic at Wade and Linda's

Saturday.......Goat cheese crisps with smoked Salmon

Memorial Day Hike

So I'm working a little backwards right now. I have a lot to catch up on but wanted to get our Memorial Day hike done. We'll talk Germany (tomorrow). We had a great day on Monday. We set out for a 4 mile hike. 2 miles up and 2 miles down. Specifications: No whining. No I can't walk anymore--please carry me and no quitting. IF we all adhered to these, on the drive home we would stop and get a milkshake of our choice. Mine being peanut butter and Dave and Sam's being chocolate, banana. So above is Dave and Sam at the trail head. You're not going to believe it but we quite possibly were the only ones who spoke english. And that's saying a lot as I'm quite certain a vast majority of the Seattle area, I would even venture to say the whole of Western Washington chose to hike Rattlesnake ridge that very Memorial Monday. Yes, there we were right in the midst of the United Nations. Fascinating as it was Wendy claimed the very same argument. She and her family hiked Little Si. 

Please play Sam's video next. We think we have the next Ken Burns living right under our roof.  

This is his first documentary:

As you can see we had a beautiful day. We've had beautiful days the last couple weeks. But it's near June and Seattle has something against the sun shining in the gemini month. Or as I like to regard it as the month that homes the most celebrated of all holiday's---Flag day. So we bask in the sun's glory in May and must wait until nearly August for us to see the brightest star shine. This is why we vacation July at the ranch or Maryland. We need our vitamin D. 

The hike in and of itself was really a lot of fun. Sam was fabulous (most of the time). We had one mishap and I'm not sure if anyone knows this but if you get an injury (scratch) like this: 

one must scream like you are lying at deaths door. Can you just imagine the blood? No?

Well if you did you have a very good imagination because there was none. However, Sam's screaming was not imaginary. From his agonizingly loud whaling we were thinking we would have to amputate. Fortunately for all parties involved a boy of about 6-7 years of age walked by and the injured one (Sam) had to put on a brave face. He was then back to challenging his poor osteoarthritic mother to race---uphill to dad. BECAUSE Dave, when he hikes has 2 points in mind. That's it. That being point A (point of departure) point B (point of destination) and how fast will it take to get to each point. I should have remembered this from our honeymoon. There is no journey, no stopping to smell the roses, no tip toeing through the tulips. And believe me it is no easy task keeping up with those legs of his. I think next time I'll weigh his pack down with bricks. Hopefully that will slow him down. But we persevered and it payed off. 

We had a great lunch up at the top and Dave and Sam crawled down in some of the crevices. I'm not going to lie. The Viola Davis blood runs thick in my body. It doesn't look daunting from the picture of Sam and I but it was a bit scary for me. Not only because well my balance is not the greatest but there are tons of cliffs up there and scraggly rocks. Sam is a wild man he could have easily fallen to his death. I was a nervous wreck. I had to close my eyes so Dave and Sam could explore. I just sat, didn't move and waited upon their return. 

We enjoyed coming down even better--though I'm not sure my shins did. 

Sam however was anxious to touch sea level again because he was a goal oriented boy that day. He was going to fish. We had bought a cheap fishing pole at Target. Well I had. Unfortunately in my eagerness to make a quick purchase I didn't see that that certain Transformer fishing pole didn't have a hook. Luckily for us as we were down at the lake we found a hook tangled with some old fishing twine and Sam set out to catch dinner for us. But alas once again it was not meant to be. I WILL make sure that boy catches a fish this summer if it's the last thing I do. Here he is casting. I think he'll give Jason a run for his money on his "form".

This is Rattlesnake ridge from the bottom. We climbed to the peak shown. It took us about 2 hours to get to the top--that included the journey, smelling the roses and tip toeing through the tulips. About an hour to get down. There was no whaling or nashing of teeth (except of course for the incidental trip--but Dave and I were forgiving of that) so we stopped in Falls City and bought us a $4 dollar milkshake. It went down pretty good.

Wrapping up the Turks

It's been so long since I've last written but wanted to get something here soon as I don't want to forget things of not so long ago. It seems my memory is getting shorter and shorter. I will need to do the crossword puzzles of dad and Deidra's I guess. 

The above picture is of Sam on the boogy board. As he has virtually no fat on him, Sam always seems to shiver and freeze long before me a woman with considerably more fat than necessary for one, anyone, to survive. Needless to say Sam stayed out for about 20 minutes and then came in to bask in the warmth of the sun along side Val. 

We had one day where it was overcast so rather than go to the cool, breezy beach we stayed at the pool where Sam could alternate between hot tub and pool. While in the hot tub he met Abby. She is the most adorable 6 year old girl. We didn't get her last name but found out she is from Michigan. Sam and Abby were inseparable for the entire day. Below is the picture where it is typical Sam and his powers of authority in play. Notice he carries only one noodle and a drink while little Abbly is struggling to carry 3 and her load is too full for her to even consider having a drink herself. And still when both Sam and Abby arrived at their destination of play Sam I believe ended up with 3 noodles and Abby 1. Fair play is still not in his vocabulary. But as his vocabulary is still limited it (I believe by choice) it doesn't surprise me.

Throughout the day Dave and I stayed planted reading and napping while Sam and Abby went about their play date. As it would seem it was more like a date for they ordered pizza  and drinks for themselves and built a grand raft and didn't argue at all. As Abby left at the end of the day she yelled to Sam, "I don't think we'll ever see each other again Sam" and Sam replies "No I don't think we will--goodbye." And with those closing words we will never see Abby again. I thought about getting her address but the day was so perfect as was Abby it is best to leave that memory alone. Wonderful. 

I love this picture of Sam. He loves to snorkel but I think Dave and I will need to invest in a wet suit for him so he can stay in the water a little longer without suffering from hypothermia. 

We had a wonderful stay at the Turks and Caicos Beaches resort. It's a wonderful place to vacation. I would certainly go again and would do so any time soon. Here we are taking a self portrait on our way home in the airplane. Notice Sam's sharks tooth necklace--he loved it for a day.

 This is a video of Sam and I playing race for the torpedo--it's not too long. One thing me in a bathing suit (the one I'm wearing here) is argument enough for women to consider breast enhancements :-)