Life is sooo good...: November 2010

Rawr!

November 30, 2010

Tuna Salad sandwiches shaped like dinosaurs on a bed of lettuce, carrots and tomatoes. Black olives and pickles and some Sun Chips.

Can you tell they are dinosaurs? Probably not...anyway Penelope could tell and she loved them. In fact she almost didn't want to eat them she said "dinosaur nice mommy, i don't eat, I play with him". In the end the dinosaur lost out and is now in the sleeping belly of a little girl.

Day Trip to Kenai

November 28, 2010

Today we took a road trip to Kenai to do some shopping. It is about an hour and thirty minute drive and very pretty. I saw several moose on the side of the road but didn't get a chance to pull over and snap some photos. Oh well I am sure I will get plenty more chances. Chris took us out to lunch at a restaurant called Louie's Steak and Seafood that is connected to the Uptown Motel. The whole way there he kept insisting they had the best prime rib in Alaska. Oh man...he was not kidding. That stuff was delicious! It was blackened and cooked perfectly and boy was it tender, I could cut it with a butter knife! The stuff just melts in your mouth. If you are ever in or near Kenai you have to eat at Louie's and order blackened prime rib. My mouth is watering just thinking about it...

Recipe

Post Thanksgiving Dinner Wrap Up

November 26, 2010

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was delicious! Made way to much food for my family of three and will be having leftovers for several days.

I made a turkey breast and thanks to the Barefoot Contessa Chris said it was the best turkey he has ever had. It had really food flavor and came out moist and tender. Here is the recipe for Ina Garten's Herb Roasted Turkey Breast. *FYI-I didn't have dried mustard so I used regular yellow mustard from a bottle.* I also made the Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes. Sooo good! Unfortunately I couldn't get Yukon Gold potatoes up here so I used red potatoes with the skin on. Yummy! My stuffing was a Sourdough Bread Stuffing courtesy of Dave Lieberman of Food Network. We also had Green Bean Casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls and of course Pumpkin Pie for dessert. I am feeling sleepy just thinking about all the food.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

November 24, 2010

"Gobble Gobble"

Just Around the Corner

November 23, 2010

Today Penelope and I went to Safeway to buy food for Thursdays meal, I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving and Christmas is just around the corner! I am so not in the mood to be making or eating turkey I would much rather have ham. I guess it's just one of those things I will have to deal with in order to be a good wife. ;) Actually we kinda compromised because I am making a turkey breast rather then a whole turkey.

Well, I'm all ready pretty close to finishing my Christmas shopping too. Since there are not very many stores close by I made sure to get a head start ordering online so that everything arrives on time. We are hoping road conditions are good this weekend so that we can make the 1 hour and 20 minute drive to Fred Meyer in Soldotna and do some shopping. Chris said something about going on Friday but there is no way I am going to go out and deal with those crowds on Black Friday. Hmmm...I wonder if Alaska gets as bad on the busiest shopping day of the season as in the lower 48. Anyone know? Anyone going to be brave and go shopping on Friday?

So the last few days have been pretty warm here, in the 40's and after almost 2 weeks of sunshine it rained today. It's a good thing the temperatures have been high and all the snow and ice melted on the roads otherwise the roads could ice over and get pretty bad. It's suppose to snow on Thursday so I guess we are having a white Thanksgiving...hopefully.

My Thanksgiving Highlight

November 19, 2010

Uprinting is sponsoring a photo contest via Giveaway Blogs titled My Thanksgiving Highlight Photo Contest. I decided to enter so here is my photo entry...

This picture was taken last Thanksgiving. Penelope was not yet two and it was her very first Thanksgiving dinner. I love this picture and as you can see she loved this turkey leg.

The winner of My Thanksgiving Highlight Photo Contest will win an 18x24 Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print and $100 Target Gift Card. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Bento

First Bento in Alaska

November 16, 2010

Penelope loved her lunch today. She was very excited about making her own "sandwiches". She would say "cracker first, then pepperoni, then cheese. Look mommy I did it! I made a sandwich! Now I put sandwich in my belly" after each little cracker sandwich she ate. It's so fun to watch her get excited over the smallest of things.

Crackers, cheddar and colby jack squares and pepperoni and salami slices to make little cracker sandwiches. She also had two big green olives (she loves olives like her mom and dad), and I put some raisins in there to fill up the empty spaces. She just recently discovered raisins while we were staying with the grandparents. She asks for them all the time now.

Muffin Tin Monday

November 16, 2010

I am going to try and start posting more bento's and keeping up with MTM's now that we are settled in our new home. So here is our first muffin tin in Alaska, this weeks theme was the food pyramid.

Top Row: French Bread w/ Butter (Grain), Strawberries n Raspberries (Fruit), Colby Jack and Cheddar Cheese Squares (Dairy)

Bottom Row: Green Salad w/ Cucumber, Carrots and Tomato (Vegetable), Chicken Strip (Meat), Ranch for dipping

Check out other muffin tins here.

Hidden Picture...Where Am I?

November 15, 2010

The Elusive Snow Bunny

Happy Birthday!

November 12, 2010

Look who turned 11 today....

Our handsome cat Mr. Rat. When I told Penelope it was his birthday she wanted to sing Happy Birthday so I decided to give the little furry guy some tuna. He eats nothing but dry food so this was a special treat for him and he ate it all up.

Another Day in Alaska

November 10, 2010

Penelope and I ventured out into the 30 degree weather today to make Storytime at the Homer Public Library. It was so worth it! Their were about 15 kiddos there which gives me hope that we will be able to find some playmates for her. It's an hour long program with singing, stories being read to the kids and a themed craft project. Today the theme was snow so they created a craft in which they used starch to stick rice (the snow) onto a winter themed picture that they colored. Penelope had a great time and is very excited about showing her artwork to daddy. It's waiting on the fridge so hurry home.

On another note I watched the neighborhood dog dig through the snow in our backyard, pull out a snow bunny, and run off with it in his mouth. Poor little snow bunny...

Proof!

November 07, 2010

Look! Chris got a picture of the paw print outside our window. He took a couple of pictures and the other one was bigger but I liked this pic cause you can see the bears claws in it. I guess Penelope and I won't be playing in our backyard anytime soon...

Welcome to Alaska...

November 07, 2010

OK, so you know those berries I mentioned in my last post that are all around our place? A few minutes ago I looked out our office window and right at a bear munching away at them. He was probably having his last meal before the big snooze...hopefully. I am so bummed that I wasn't quick enough to get my camera. I have been fascinated with bears for a few years now and my heart is still racing at seeing one in the wild, errr my backyard. We live in a house with an amazing view so it is set up where the bedrooms are downstairs and the living area is up, I guess it's called reverse living. Anyway our bedroom windows are at ground level and we have a small backyard that extends to forest so one of the first things I imagined when I saw them was waking up one morning to an animal staring in at me. I guess I am not so paranoid afterall...

Snow Fun

November 06, 2010

Well we have gotten about a foot of snow the last couple of days since it has started snowing. The temperature has been in the mid to low 30's, it actually feels really nice outside. Penelope had been asking to play in the snow and today there was finally enough for us to go out and have some fun in it.

Here is Penelope being a good neighbor and cleaning the snow off of our neighbors car.

And her very first snowman.

The face is made with these red berries we have on trees all around our place. They are more like grape tomatoes same texture and everything. I am going to have to figure out what they are. Penelope wanted to eat one because she loves tomatoes but better make sure they are not poisonous first.

My 15 Minutes

November 05, 2010

Anyone happen to check out the October 18th edition of Woman's World magazine? Several weeks ago I was asked by a contributor for my opinion on one of the best pasta sauces out there. You can read my wee opinion on page 40 of the magazine. Apparently I am an influential mom! :) Seriously though, Rinaldi's To Be Healthy Spicy Marinara sauce is sooo good. Trust me...im famous. :p

It's Snowing!

November 03, 2010

It finally started snowing. Penelope was so excited to go out and taste the snowflakes. I will try and get some pics tomorrow and don't forget tomorrow is "Men Make Dinner Day"! :)

Finally HOMEr!

November 03, 2010

Well we made it home and have been trying to get adjusted the last few days. It's hard not to roll over and go back to sleep at 9am when it's still pitch dark outside. It has yet to snow and the last couple of days the weather has been nice out, even sunny. Today it is overcast with a little rain and the temperature is in the mid 30's. We have done a lot of driving around checking out the town and the shops. Homer is known for being artsy and their are several art galleries, shops and boutiques. There are also a lot of restaurants here! The two we have eaten at so far have been yummy. We did some grocery shopping and the prices are definitely higher then in the lower 48. In addition to the Safeway I mentioned in a previous post we also have a Save -U- More store that has some decent prices, you can also purchase items in bulk and they have a great ethnic, gourmet and natural foods section. It's a little cluttered and messy and I have a thing about stores that are unorganized but I am excited at the selection of items there. We have also have a store called Ulmer's which is a True Value store that carries everything from toys, household appliances, toiletries and ammunition. I guess it's kinda like a Walmart but not as big. I will post more about the town as I become more familiar.

Our view is amazing! Every time you look out our front window it's like looking at a painting. The mountains covered with snow that go into the ocean. Every now and then you see a barge or ferry go by and I am excited about seeing the cruise ships in the springtime.

I was so worried that Penelope was going to miss out on Halloween with the move and everything but Chris came through and bought her a Halloween costume and candy to pass out. It's a good thing too because apparently the street we live on is Halloween central. We must have had close to 500 kids come to our door. Penelope had so much fun handing out candy and seeing all the costumes. I got a kick out of seeing the kids walking around in their costumes with no coats on, I guess they are used to the cold weather.

Here are a couple of photos of Penelope's day of flying, she did great by the way, some pics of her in her costume and one at Bishop's Beach.

We are still trying to get everything unpacked and organized so I will be on sporadically but I will try and post as often as I can till things are back to normal.