R.I.P., Chef's Knife

A few months ago, I was craving a piña colada. I like to make them with fresh pineapple and young Thai coconut. Delicious!

Getting into a young Thai coconut is not the easiest task in the world. The last couple times I tried it, I had great success with an oh-so-elegant process that involved removing the white part and then hacking away at the hard brown part on the top until I eventually got into the coconut.

This time, though, it didn't work. Not only that, I managed to destroy my favorite chef's knife in the process.

I felt sick to my stomach when I saw the damage. This was the knife I got during culinary school. It served me so well, helping me prepare not only some of the finest meals I've ever served, but also the casual dinners that no one remembers. Tons of onions, carrots, and potatoes. Countless cloves of garlic. It was a real workhorse of a knife, and it felt good in my hand. It was an extension of my hand!

Sure, I have other knives. Some of them are even sharper than this one, but they're not quite right. They're either too big for my creepy doll fingers, don't have a good weight, or have some other flaw. I can tell you this much: no matter which knife becomes my official replacement, I will take much better care of it.

...

These days, I go a little more primal on my coconuts -- it works great. I remove the white part and 

then smash the top as hard as I can against a cement step we have outside. It's really fun, but sometimes I wonder what the neighbors think....

Totally worth the effort!

R.I.P., chef's knife. You will be missed.

Our New Timbers Jerseys

Thanks to a BOGO sale, we now own matching "away" jerseys. They have our nicknames on the back and everything! So happy. Now I feel like a real athletic supporter. (snicker)

Andy Williams and the Osmonds

I didn't grow up with Andy Williams, and that's a shame. Actually, I didn't even know about his Christmas specials until a few years ago. If you haven't seen them, do yourself a favor and check them out on YouTube. They are really well done. And they often feature...THE OSMOND BROTHERS. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

This is my favorite number. It has Andy and his brothers singing with the Osmond brothers. It gets me totally pumped for the holidays! And Donny is just so cute. It gets really good from 1:47 to the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_XmxWUdIxQ

(Sorry, I know it's not quite in sync.)

Do you need more??? The following clip is just awesome in general, and it's not even from the Christmas special. It's so wholesome, I want to puke. But I LOVE IT! It never fails to make me smile. This was before Donny was old enough to join the act.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1TSLyEc1Iw

Kitty's Holiday Surprise

Someone's been a busy little elf! This morning we woke up to find one of our Christmas stockings in front of the bedroom door.

Maybe Linux is trying to send a message. Here are some possibilities:

• Happy holidays! You guys are the BEST!
• I couldn't find you a bird or a mouse. This fancy sock will have to do.
• Just a reminder, give me kitty presents or I will barf on your favorite things.

 

Impressive, considering he had to remove it from its hook on the wall and drag it from one end of the house to the other. How did he manage to free the stocking from the wall? Um, don't ask me. It must be a special cat secret!

Linux wishes you a happy holiday.

I Want My 85 Minutes Back

I've had a cold the last few days. I always like to make the best of every situation, even a crappy one like being sick. When I'm down with a cold, I try to watch as many movies as I can from my "watch someday" list. Might as well! It's a great way to get caught up on my popular culture AND it offers a great distraction from feeling like shit.

So last night I watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time. I hate to say it, but I didn't think it was very good. I don't think I've ever said that about a Disney movie, but there you go. I want my 85 minutes back.

Mandalay Bay Aquarium

One of the highlights of our Vegas trip was the Mandalay Bay Aquarium. We got to see sharks, jellyfish, and tons of other cool creatures that live under the sea.

Growing up near Edmonds beach, I saw a lot of crabs and clams, and maybe the occasional starfish. This was WAY better (understatement font). Check it out. I usually don't get excited about aquariums, but this one was really neat.

 http://www.mandalaybay.com/shark-reef/aquarium/

Actually, the coolest thing I saw there wasn't even a fish. It was this little critter:

A real dragon!

I was TOTALLY psyched to see the dragon!

Greenie was pretty psyched, too. I think he was just playin' it cool.

Buffet of Buffets

Do you like all-you-can-eat buffets? Of COURSE you do. Everyone does!

Now that we have that cleared up, let's talk about eating in Las Vegas. You'll need this:

Our B.o.B. wristbands

What a great idea. You pay a flat fee and get 24 hours of unlimited access to some of the best buffets in town. As long as you go to the right buffets, the value is insane! In a GOOD way!

Here are the places we went during our B.o.B. experience:

• The Rio. If you can do only one buffet in Vegas, do this one!
• Paris. They have crepes made to order. Awesome.
• Imperial Palace. This one has...food. Just stick to the first two, okay?

Running the Vegas Strip

I finally did it! One more check mark for the old bucket list. My route was just a straight line from Imperial Palace to wherever it was I got tired and turned around. I tried to take a self-portrait in front of the Bellagio fountains, but it didn't work. My phone's in bad shape, but that's a topic for another blog post!

The run itself was very interesting. I slathered on the sunscreen and set out at 8:00 a.m. It was already very warm. I laughed when I noticed that virtually every other person out there at that hour was a runner, too! Guess I'm not the only one who thought it would be cool to run Las Vegas Boulevard. 

One thing I didn't expect was the number of obstacles! Basically, I would start to get into the zone, and then BAM. A random flight of stairs would appear.

I went into this run expecting lots of street crossings (correct assumption, duh -- city run), but the stairs were CRAZY! I felt like Rocky. It was awesome.

Did you know that running around in the desert makes you really thirsty? Glad I remembered to bring some money with me. I stopped in at Walgreen's halfway through and got some "Nice!" water.

Nice!

WTF, Kitty?

Lots of kitties present their owners with "gifts" from time to time. You know? Birds, mice. That sort of thing.

Our cat, however, is not content with the standard fare. He is always bringing us the most random stuff. Okay, that's not entirely true. It's not random. More often than not, he will present us with a gift of clothing. Usually women's clothing.

Case in point. This is what we woke up to a couple days ago:

I need to keep my closet better protected! He stole this from the top shelf.

I appreciate the thought and the suggestion, Linux, but let's face it -- summer is over! What am I supposed to do with a pink sundress this time of year?

Easily Amused

This has kept me entertained all day!

http://bindersfullofwomen.tumblr.com/

All my favorite memes are represented. There is so much creativity out there on the Web. I absolutely love it. Channeled properly, this creativity could do amazing things in the world. But you know... sometimes you just have to make a hilarious meme about binders full of women RIGHT NOW.

Strawberry Poke Cake

This was my birthday cake, people! It was everything I hoped it would be. You take a white cake, poke holes in it, then pour strawberry Jell-O over it. Then you top it with fresh strawberries and cover everything with whipped cream.

But that wasn't enough for us. We took it to the NEXT LEVEL! Money cake is my favorite. You wrap a bunch of loose change in foil and add it to the batter before baking. What can I say? I love finding money in my food! EVERYBODY does!
 
Why is there a big old chunk missing?

One of my nephews is quite sneaky. As all the adults were getting plates and forks ready for dishing up,  he seized the opportunity and helped himself! We were able to stop him as soon as it happened. Could have been a lot worse if I hadn't happened to turn my head right at that second. Ha! 

#WINNING

Obviously, we couldn't get mad. He is just too cute!

This is what remained after we had our fill. The next morning, I had two more pieces.

This was one of my favorite cakes from childhood. I specifically requested it because:

1. It's delicious.
2. I hadn't eaten it in about two decades, and I missed it.
3. I made it to age 35 without getting cancer. Yes! I felt entitled to a little red food dye.

On a related note, did I really eat Jell-O on a daily basis growing up? Did you? I had forgotten about that until I was halfway through my first piece.

Turning 35: Party in Seattle

Last Tuesday I was in Seattle to celebrate my 35th birthday with my family. All my siblings and their kids were there, even the ones who live in Arizona! It was a great night. We had a Southwestern feast that included Lyle's famous chili with all the fixin's, poblano chicken, cornbread, and guacamole. For dessert, my mom made strawberry poke cake (with money in it, of course). So yummy!

My favorite part was when my six-year-old nephew was asked to guess how old I was. He thought about it and said, "Well, she's definitely a teenager, soooo...I'm gonna say 15." I knew I loved that kid. ;)

Here is Aunt Carrie with little miss Kaida Kaida, Sweet Po-tay-tuh:

Aunt Carrie and Aunt Winnie with the Lincoln log:

Aunt Nicky with Kaida:

Uncle Spencer and Aunt Winnie with Lincoln:

Sisters!

Aunt Jenna with Allie and Kaida:

Now THAT is just adorable.

It meant so much to me to have everyone there. I've noticed that the older we all get, the more difficult it is to have a get-together where everyone can make it. This was great. Let's do it again next year!

Tailgating With Greenie's Family

This family knows how to tailgate! We drove up to Seattle for the big match last Sunday, and Greenie's extended family was kind enough to let us party with them beforehand, despite the fact that we were rooting for the "wrong" team. 

TONS of food. Friendly folks. Great weather. It was the perfect day...well, until the game started, anyway. I don't want to talk about it.

The photographer did not approve of Greenie's jersey!

Thanks again, Brian and Becky! We had an awesome time.

That's better

Recipes. Running. Frugality. Kitties.

And so much more!

Welcome to my blog, everyone. I've been wanting to start a personal blog for a long time. Today is my birthday, so I figured this would be as good a time as any to start posting! I don't really have a plan for what I'm going to post about every day. Mostly, I just want to express myself, share what's going on in my life, and post pictures of my cat. Facebook is great, but there are only so many cat pictures my friends will look at before hiding my feed!

This is Linux. He likes to sit in baskets!

This is me. I like looking in mirrors.