Here is Penelope's lunch for today, in one of my new bento boxes! Until my camera decides to reveal itself I am going to be attempting to take pictures with my phone so I apologize if they are not the best quality.

Chris lost my camera! Well he misplaced it and can't remember where he put it. I have searched everywhere with no luck. It's driving me nuts that I can't find it and I am missing out on some good photos. I guess I can take photos with my phone but it's not the same. I want my camera back! I am hoping it will turn up somewhere in the least obvious place like the kitchen pantry or medicine cabinet. I know I would do something silly like that.

On another note yesterday Penelope went to a princess party. She was so cute all dressed up in her costume, but alas I have no pictures to share... Her school hosted a Dragons, Knights, and Damsels party as part of the summer reading program going on at the Homer Public Library. She had a great time making crafts and eating yummy snacks with all her little friends. Today was the Homer Street Fair and I volunteered to help out at Penelope's school's booth for a couple of hours. So while I passed out fliers and watched little ones get their faces painted, play with bubbles, and draw with sidewalk chalk Regan and Penelope explored the fair. From what I hear there were craft booths, balloon animals, a couple of food booths and live music. The Homer Fire Department even came out and let the kids tour their truck and try on their gear. I couldn't pass up this photo op so I took this photo with my phone, sigh.

When I was a little girl I loved reading the Amelia Bedelia books, remember those? At the library the other day Penelope found a new Amelia Bedelia book called Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie and we decided to check it out. That night we read the book and she loved it and was very excited to find a recipe for Amelia's apple pie at the end of the story. Last night Penelope and I made our very first apple pie from scratch with the help of Amelia Bedelia...but first Penelope had to dress for the occasion.






It was delicious! Chris said it was the best pie crust he has ever had and he has eaten many a pie in his life. :)

Summit Lake Moose Pass, AK

Tonight I made some beef enchiladas for dinner along with some Pina Colada cupcakes for dessert. Yummy!


Beef Enchiladas

1 lb Ground beef
1 Small can of sliced olives
Half a chopped tomato
1/4 Minced onion
2 Cloves minced Garlic
Season salt
Corn tortillas
Can of enchilada sauce ( I used Las Palmas brand)
Shredded cheddar and jack cheese
Corn oil for frying

Brown the ground beef and add the onion, garlic, tomatoes and season salt. Drain and then add the olives and set aside. Pour your sauce into a pie pan and have it close  by. In a shallow skillet heat a small amount of oil and fry a corn tortilla on both sides just enough to soften. Place the tortilla directly into the sauce and make sure both sides are covered. Then remove the tortilla and place in a baking pan (it helps to have the baking pan close by when transferring to avoid a huge mess). Once the tortilla is in the baking pan you fill with the meat mixture and roll up placing them in a row seam side down. Continue to do this until your baking pan is completely filled. This can be quite a process so just do what works for you. I usually fry and sauce 5 tortillas in a row before I start to fill and roll. Once all the enchiladas are snug in the pan cover with a little more sauce and then the cheese depending on how saucy and cheesy you like them. If your family loves enchiladas you can do what I do and make a double layer. Once you have covered the first layer with sauce and cheese just repeat the process placing the second layer of enchiladas on top of the first. Bake at 375 for about 20 to 25 minutes and top with shredded lettuce and sour cream.


The Pina Colada cupcakes I got from an idea from Skinny Taste you just mix a box of yellow cake mix with a large can of crushed pineapple and bake! I made a frosting of cream cheese, sugar and shredded coconut and topped each with a cherry.

Our neighbor gave us some fresh halibut and since it has been awhile since I made fish tacos I decided to make some with the halibut. Usually I make these with red snapper but these were sooo good I will forever be making them with halibut from now on. Not a problem since we live in the halibut capital of the world!

I cut the halibut into strips and dipped in a fish in chip batter. I substituted the water that the batter called for with beer, a Corona to be exact. :) Then fried it up to perfection. Put in some warm corn tortillas and topped with fresh avocado salsa and crema. These were so delicious and I am still absolutely stuffed from eating four of these suckers!

Avocado Salsa

3 Tomatoes chopped
2 Green onion stalks
2 Serrano peppers
A handful of chopped cilantro
1 Avocado chopped
Half a lime
Salt

Mix everything together and enjoy the extra salsa with some chips!

For the crema you can buy it at the store, it's a Mexican cream that is basically a thin downed version of sour cream. If you can't find it just take regular sour cream and thin it down with some milk until it is pourable but not too runny.

We headed out to the Wynn Center today for their summer program. The theme this week was Rabbits! The kiddos made Snowshoe Hare puppets and then dressed up like the furry critters.

Followed by a short walk to look for some furry friends and practice their bunny hops.