roasted rosemary onion potatoes

this is one of my favorite sides, from none other than betty crocker :)  it's both easy and delicious which means it's always at the top of my list :)

4 medium potatoes (1 1/3 lbs) - I use red
1 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh or 2 tsp dried rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oven to 450, grease bottom of a jelly roll pan with olive oil
2. Dice potatoes into 1 inch pieces
3. Toss all the ingredients in a bowl
4. Spread in a single layer and bake uncovered 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally

i dropped some rosemary while i was chopping, cleo was unimpressed.  

probably because i usually drop something she's never had before, not something she can find in the yard :)

but i digress.  here they are, ready for the oven!

i forgot to take an after picture, i was too excited to eat them :)  

i can't believe it's the last day of june!

starting in july, i'm going to try and complete this photo a day list -- i found doing things like this encourages me to carry my camera around and keeps me more creative with photography -- so i'm aiming to get all 31 come the end of july although i may not complete them each day :)  i'll post them here as i knock them off!

can i stream it?

if you haven't seen this website, i've been finding it handy lately - www.canistreamit.com - you enter whatever movie you're looking for and it will show you whether or not it's available via different streaming services to watch instantly, rent etc.  i'm hoping eventually they'll add tv shows too :)  way better than entering a search with the roku remote!

addie's review of the magic kingdom

we took addie to disney for the first time last weekend.  it wasn't at the top of our list until the weather cooled off, but nate's cousin matt was in town with his girlfriend and their daughter so we went with them to magic kingdom.  the weather actually wasn't too bad!  we've had a tropical storm in the area for about a week so it was overcast but not too hot.

addie took a nap, and seemed to enjoy the overall ambiance of the place :)  here she is for her first visit:

Addie's first trip to the Magic Kingdom

afterwards, nate interviewed addie on her experience, here's what she thought:

addie & daddy

so i knew parenting with nate would be entertaining, and so far he's lived up to my expectations :)  here are a few conversations we've had lately:

on children's songs:
nate: old macdonald had a farm.. e-i-e-i-o.  and on that farm he had a rooster.  e-i-e-i-o...... what does the rooster say again?
bri: cock-a-doodle-doo!
nate: well a cock a doodle here and a cock a doodle there, here a c.... wait.  that's not right...


on cold remedies
bri: it's all natural, it's eucalyptus.
nate: well that one guy died from that didn't he?
bri: what guy?
nate: socrates.  no wait, that was hemlock.  but also all natural.


on instilling a love of citrus

more to come on this topic i'm sure :)

i want to learn to sew!

i'm adding sewing to my list of hobbies- who wants to teach me?? :)

radical homemaker... domestic engineer... stay at home mom

well whatever you want to call it!  as of july, i will be staying at home with miss addie!  i'll still be working from home part time so i didn't completely dive into the deep end of stay at home mothering, but i'm super excited to be spending more time with addie and keeping things organized around the house for our family.  i'm hoping to also use the time to pursue photography a bit more, but we'll see how much time is left in the week after addie, work, and home stuff.

it was a big decision for nate and i, but a relatively quick one.  once i'd been back at work a week, we started talking about it and realized it was both something we could do, and something i wanted to do- both key to the decision!  so here we are, embarking on a new phase :)

back from pennsylvania!

we're back from addie's first trip to pa and we had a wonderful time!  it was a quick trip but everyone came to see us on saturday so we were able to get a lot of visiting in :)  addie did great with the flights and had fun meeting everyone.

nate and i even took a few hours to do a canoe trip on the yough which was great :)  we left addie in the wonderful hands of nina, linda and granny so we knew she'd be well cared for ;)

we also celebrated father's day (nate's first!)

back into the blogosphere!

well in the longest break i think i've ever taken from my blog:  we had a baby!  and we cannot get enough of her.  and although everyone says, "you won't know what you did without her," that's entirely untrue.  i know exactly what we did without her!  we went out to long relaxed dinners, we sat on the porch and drank wine uninterrupted, we paid more attention to cleo, and we spent less money on diapers.

but it is so worth it.

Hello World!

she's such a fun smiley baby, our little bird.  and we're starting to get a few more laughs and giggles out of her too which is really fun :)

so i decided to start blogging again.  there are at least several sets of adoring grandparents so i'm guaranteed at least a few readers ;)  i'm also planning on getting back to cooking dinner at home and a few photography projects as well, so i plan on sharing all that here too :)

turkey day (a bit early)!

while my family was in town for the cruise, i took advantage of having them around close to the holidays and we had thanksgiving (we won't be in AZ this year at all for the holidays)- it was fun! :)  it was also my first hosting of thanksgiving all by myself!  of course, i had plenty of kitchen help from mom and cassie :)  here is my menu and planning with links to everything i made -- i pasted in notes as i found them from either the recipes or reviews of the recipes for easy access :)  we liked pretty much everything so i got lucky with the recipes i picked :) nate carved the turkey (i forgot to take a picture before it was carved!).  our turkey's name was 'hurkey.'  hurkey the turkey :)  mom made the pie- it had maple syrup in it and it was really tasty!  i need to get the recipe from her so i can make it next year :)  it even had little pie crust groundhogs on top (in lieu of any more autumn type cookie cutters which we don't own) :) 

• Turkey & Gravy 
• The best way to thaw a frozen turkey is in the refrigerator. A 12-pound turkey takes 2 1/2 to 3 days to thaw. If you run out of time, thaw the bird, wrapped in its original packaging, in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Figure 30 minutes per pound, or 6 hours for a 12-pound bird. 
• It is best to squeeze the oranges as you place them in the cavity Add extra chicken stock to pan as needed 
• Herb & Onion Stuffing 
• Serves 8-10 – probably ½ recipe... 
• Cut the bread into smaller pieces, use 1.5-2 cups more stock than it calls for 
• Double herbs, double egg 
• Noodles (Nate, family recipe) 
• Mashed Potatoes (by Pioneer Woman of course) :) 
• Bread
• From our local bakery 
• Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes 
• Cranberry Sauce
• Cassie was in charge here and I think she left out some things that weren't to her liking- whatever she did, it turned out great! 
• Citrus Green Beans with Pine Nuts 
• These were good, but I wouldn't make them again with Thanksgiving dinner- the flavors weren't quite right with all of the other yumminess :) 

The day before plan!: 

• Prepare brine, brine turkey for 24 hours in advance 
• Shock green beans and chill
• Buy bread
• Take cranberries out of freezer (it's hard to find fresh cranberries in October!) :)
• Chop everything for the stuffing

The results:

 our groundhog pumpkin pie....                                      sweet potatoes (extra marshmallows!)

sonoma salad

so i've been seriously slacking in the kitchen ever since getting pregnant.  big time.  the whole first trimester and a good part of the second, i didn't want to eat anything and the narcolepsy also didn't help!  but i am slowly getting back on the wagon :)  this is a recipe i've been meaning to post for quite a while -- i had a salad (from the airport of all places) and loved it, so i recreated it at home!  the dressing is... tangy.. but you can easily adjust by adding more honey :)  according to mom & cassie (who had the dressing on a completely different salad), it tastes like chinese hot mustard :)  but in this particular combination, the mandarin oranges and gorgonzola work pretty well with that mustard taste :)

Salad:
Baby spinach
Mandarin oranges (drained)
Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled
Cucumber, diced
Tomatoes, diced
Diced ham or turkey (not pictured above)

Dressing:
1/4 cup (ish) dijon mustard
2 tbl (ish) honey
White wine vingear

Whisk the dijon and honey together until smoothly combined -- I kind of guesstimate and make the dressing to taste.  Add the white wine vinegar until the dressing is thin enough to pour, mixing as you go.

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

ah vacation- especially the cruise variety!

we recently returned from a cruise with my family and it was wonderful :) it was a first cruise for most of us- i've been on 3 but was always working, nate's been on i think the same number +1 where he was relaxing and i was working but for everyone else, this was a new experience!

i exist!

 nate, cassie, cadiem and i shared and a room that adjoined with mom and marty's room so we had plenty of togetherness :) i really enjoyed the ship, it had lots of beautiful places even from inside the ship where you could see the water. notes for next time: even if the kid isn't old enough to be in the kids' clubs, it still matters whether or not the cruise is family oriented! when mom and i were looking at cruises, i knew celebrity wasn't really for the family crowd but i wish there had a been more for cadiem to enjoy! regardless, he had a great time just being 2 and silly and playing with his trucks/trains :)  i think this is my favorite picture of cadiem from the trip (hanging down from cassie's bunk eeaaarrllly in the morning) :)

 i posted a ton of pictures on our smugmug (in November 2011), the cruise was a 5-night and stopped in both roatan, honduras and cozumel, mexico.  cassie and marty did some snorkeling in roatan while the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful beach but other than that, we didn't get into too much :)

in cozumel, we took a ferry over to the mainland near playa del carmen which was rough!!  i've never actually gotten seasick but i did on the way over to playa!  cadiem also didn't feel great but luckily he never got sick, just nauseous- he slept it off though, and marty carried him through playa :)

the reason we ferried over was totally worth it :)  we toured the mayan ruins at tulum.  it's a gorgeous setting right on beautiful cliffs and beach.  i wish we'd had more time to explore but it was such a neat thing to see!  next time i'm bringing my swimsuit :)

once we were back in cozumel, mom & marty headed back to the ship with cadiem and cassie, nate and i stayed to explore with the couple of hours we had left until all aboard.  nate asked around for a great taco place and we were directed several blocks away from the main tourist area to a great place!

while at dinner, cassie realized both her seapass and passport were in the diaper bag... which mom had taken with her.... on the ship.  it was then we got a bit nervous :)  we quickly finished dinner, hopped in a taxi, and made it back to the port!  but... getting on the pier was a no go without ID (there was quite a bit of discussion over the walkie talkie about the fact that we were sisters to try convince whoever was on the other end, but still to no avail).  we decided nate would be the fastest and sent him off to the ship while we waited at the entrance to the pier (which at this point was looking relatively deserted)!  despite the mild panic, we actually had a really nice conversation with the security guards while waiting for nate to return.  then, word came through on the radio: we were clear to go (nate had talked to security on the ship and had us cleared)!  we headed off to the ship (by this time i think there was maybe 15 minutes until sailing) and had to stop at each security point to re-explain and ask them to radio back to the original guards that had let us pass.  finally we got back to the ship, and nate was there, seapass card in hand!  whew!  thanks to nate, we didn't have to leave cassie in mexico, i think cadiem might have missed her :)

after all that adventure, we had one more relaxing day at sea:

and then arrived back home :)  all in all, it was a wonderful vacation and all of us got to spend so much great time together!!  i was sad to see everyone head back but luckily i'll at least get to see cassie and mom relatively soon :)

back from the dead?

wow... i think i've sunk to a new low in the history of this blog when it comes to post frequency!  i'm going to indulge in a brief explanation of why and then get on with it :)  at first, i was just slacking.  then, at the end of june we found out we were expecting a baby (!) and i didn't blog because it was such a big thing and i couldn't even tell people yet!  then, i fell asleep for roughly two months so there wasn't any blogging then either.  then i ran out of excuses and now it's almost november :)  but oh my goodness, there's been a lot going on!  mainly two things:

1. we're expecting a baby (after a looooooonnnnnnggggg few years, more on that later) and could NOT be more excited!  we found out today she's a girl :)  i cannot wait for march 4th!!
2. nate had a dirtbike accident while we in arizona and broke his back, his arm, and his finger.  he was out of work for a month and still isn't back to 100%!  he's pretty much recovered but has a whole lot of exercises to do at home and still needs to be very careful not to reinjure anything.  we also learned nate has a high tolerance for pain ;)  while in the ER, he pegged his pain tolerance at a 2-3 on a scale of 1-10.  imagine our surprise when the doctor came sprinting back in with the x-ray results to tell us that he broke his back!

the good news is, he'll be good as new by the time the baby shows up so that's fantastic :)

the hot days of summer

well it's officially hot!  and after a bit of a random start to the weekend, we've had a great lazy weekend.  good food, plenty of time with friends and with each other, and plenty of time in the a/c which is totally key right now :)  we're planning out several trips for the rest of the summer to cooler locales which always helps keep us sane :)  hope your summer is about to kickoff with a great start! :)  wishing you plenty of watermelon, ice cold beer, a/c, swimming pools, margaritas and the beach :)

(delicious) Roast Chicken!

This was a new one for me- and I had NO idea how easy it was!  I think the idea of the prep scared me, but it wasn't bad at all.  And I realized that I rarely cook a dinner that just cooks away in the oven, giving me time to prepare everything else :)  I also made a few equipment substitutions... no twine?  Cut a strip from a rag!  No roasting pan?  Put an (all metal) cooling rack on top of a 9x13 casserole dish! :)  No meat thermometer?  Hope you get lucky (and err on the long side of the cooking times)! :)  It is of course, another great recipe from Cooking Light :)

Ingredients

1 (4-pound) whole roasting chicken
2 teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 shallots, peeled and halved
3 fresh thyme sprigs
1 lemon, quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Discard giblets and neck from chicken. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breasts and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat.
3. Combine butter and next 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl. Rub mixture under loosened skin, over flesh; rub over top of skin. Tie ends of legs together with twine (or... cut a strip off a rag ;). Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack; place rack in roasting pan. Place shallots, thyme sprigs, and lemon in cavity of chicken.
4. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 450° (do not remove chicken); bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in meaty part of leg registers 165°. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Discard skin. Carve chicken.

the seasons, they're a changin'

sure, official summer doesn't start until june 21, but summer has arrived!  a quick survey showed phoenix above 100 this week, florida's in the 90s, and pennsylvania is supposed to get awful close to 90 this weekend!

we've been busy with our usual influx of spring visitors, and spring travel.  we've had a wondeful time with all :)  my mom's visit was filled with flowers, birds, wine, and great food :)  we even found a gator or two :)  can you spot the one in this picture?

(hint, he's in the water and he's only showing his eyes!)

we also had a great time with my gram and aunt peggy - we took them pretty much straight to the beach and enjoyed every moment of it :)  it was fun to spend mother's day with the two of them :) 

we've also been to portland, or and fayetteville, ar for two beautiful weddings :)  it was fun to explore new towns with old friends :)  i'm still getting all of the pics on smugmug, but they'll all be there eventually :) 

hope the 'summer' is kicking off well for all of you :)  now that porch weather is dwindling, i'm aiming to spend some of this great indoor time blogging (among other things) :)

spring! has sprung!

although we don't experience as dramatic of a spring as other colder places do, i'm still excited to see everything in bloom and looking gorgeous!  the trees seem to appear on the trees overnight :)  and easter is late this year, but we've had plenty to keep us busy!  we just got back from a trip to vegas/portland (the portland part was for a wedding) and tomorrow, my mom arrives!  we have plenty of fun planned around town and lots of good food on the menu (both in and out!).

my little easter chicks :)  (anita's handiwork in the background!)

a tasty day: from brunch to burgers!

we had a lovely lazy sunday today.  but i did try two new recipes and both were hits!  for brunch, sarah was over and we had these tasty little frittatas.  i always thought a frittata had to involve bread, but turns out it's true definition is this:

A frittata is a type of italian omelette, either simple or enriched with additional ingredients, such as meats, cheeses, vegetables and even pasta. It may be compared to a crust-less quiche or, in America, "scrambled eggs."

this particular recipe has you bake them in a muffin tin so you get great little individual size breakfasts :)  definitely making them the next time we have company!  and i'm excited to play around with the fillings.


for dinner, i wasn't sure what to make so nate suggested we try to recreate our favorite arizona hamburger from four peaks brewery, the jalapeño popper burger.  we loved them!  recipes for both are below :)


Mini Ham & Cheese Frittatas

Ingredients

• 1  cup  finely chopped onion
• 1 1/3  cup  chopped ham (about 4 ounces)
• 2/3  cup  (about 3 ounces) shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
• 4  tablespoons  chopped fresh chives
• 1/4  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 7  large egg whites
• 3  large eggs
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add ham; sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat; cool 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Add ham mixture, stirring with a whisk.
3. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until set.

Nate & Bri's Jalapeño Popper Burgers

Ingredients

4 Hamburger Buns

Butter

Garlic Powder

Ground beef

Worcestershire

Cream Cheese

Jalapeño, thinly sliced

Alexia frozen onion rings (next time, I want to try Pioneer Woman's recipe for onion straws here- yum!) 

Directions

1. Get some willing to grill the burgers that's good at it and will get them perfectly medium (in this case, Nate) :) send them on their way :)
2. Cook onion rings according to package - throw in a few extra for on the side :)  we used 2 per burger.
3. Melt butter, brush on to hamburger buns, sprinkle with a little garlic powder.  Broil until golden brown.
4. Assemble cooked burger on bun, top with cream cheese, fresh jalapeno slices, and hot onion rings- smush it down so it all melds together into one delicious burger.
5. Enjoy :)  preferably with a good beer!

in like a lamb...

i cannot believe it's almost march!  we've had an action packed couple of months and are looking forward to several more that are just as action packed!  we've had a wonderful time with john & nina in florida as well as everyone that came to join them :)  this weekend, we decided to keep it local, and even managed to get them to a few places they haven't been yet.  last night, we played a great round of hearts - i've never played with a group of people that shoots the moon EVERY hand.  highly entertaining and keeps you on your toes :)

now we are relaxing on the porch, enjoying the weather (and the visual fruits of our saturday morning labor cleaning gutters, pulling weeds, and mowing the lawn) :)  the guys are playing guitar and nina and i are paging through magazines.  lovely lovely lovely.

wasting away again in margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt....

confession

i finally bought the katy perry album.  and i'm kind of excited about it :)  but i also bought the new old 97s album to balance it out :)