Ikea and a Potluck...two funny words

Shaun and I went to Ikea last weekend (looking for a new rug--no luck) and had a fun visit when Lindsay's dad came up Saturday night to visit. We were able to show off our sweet new pad and chat. He left Sunday...and forgot his pillow. We hope he can have it back soon--but that requires a visit. (You'll see from his picture that he LOVES taking photos.)

Then yesterday, we had a joined in the Booth's Sunday potluck. We brought chili and chocolate chip/walnut cookies. We got great reviews on the chili---and cookies....so, we are providing the recipes. Please note that we made up the chili and the exact measurements are unknown. (But I think it's pretty close.)

TURKEY CHILI

Saute in large pot over medium-high heat:

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 medium green bell pepper

1 small can (4 oz. ?) of mild green chilies

Season with salt and pepper.

After they have cooked a bit (don't over cook--keep a little crisp---it will have PLENTY of time to simmer in the chili), add:

1.5 pounds of lean ground turkey (raw)

1 T cumin

1 t red pepper flakes

1 t oregano

4 shakes of worshtershire

4 shakes of Chalula Hot Sauce (has wooden cap and a woman on front of bottle)

1 T chopped fresh cilantro

More salt and pepper to taste

Break up ground turkey with a spatula. When turkey has finished cooking, add (do not drain canned items, allow juices to go into pot):

1 12 oz. can Black beans

1 12 oz. can White beans

1 12 oz. can Northern beans

1 12 oz can Butter beans

1 12 oz. can Kidney beans

1 12 can diced tomatoes

1 12 oz. can tomato sauce

Mix everything together. Add any additional salt and pepper you would like. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer for about 30-45 minutes. Then turn off heat. Add:

1 cup of chopped cilantro

Allow to sit and cool. If not serving for a while, you will want to refrigerate to avoid any risk of bacteria or germs from growing. (Since the beans are already cooked--too much heating may end up overcooking. By turning off the heat, you allow the flavors to still marry without turning everything to mush.) Reheat on stove before serving. I found that serving it at a warm temperature, that wasn't BOILING hot--allowed for the flavors to be tasted better and didn't burn any tongues.

So, there's the turkey chili!Now, the cookie recipe is from Pam Dickey's cookbook at the Bellingham institute. They are called, "Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie." I have added walnuts to the recipe.

Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a big bowl, cream together:
1 c of softened butter
3/4 c white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla

In a separate smaller bowl, blend:
3 c flour
3/4 t salt
3/4 t baking soda

Add flour mixture slowly to the butter mixture until completely blended. Add:
12 oz bag of chocolate chips (or a little more if you like)
3/4 c walnuts

Mix well. Then drop the batter in small balls onto GREASED cookie sheet. Bake for 13 minutes. (Original recipe says 8-10 minutes.) Allow to cool for about 1 minute on cookie sheet. Then transfer to wire cooling rack. Enjoy. Best if eaten warm.

Note: Do not over cook or will become hard shortly after cooling.

Happy cooking and baking....'til next time!!!

Our Happy Place!!!!!!!!

We moved into the our new pad in the Booth's house. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? We are so happy and feel like we can breath again. It has a sweet spirit here too. We feel joy and peace--and an urge to read our scriptures more. Anyway, I'm sure you'd like to see some more pictures. (Above is the open kitchen, dinning, and living room space. The French glass doors are our front door. There's another door past the refrigerator that connects us into the Booth's living space.)




Please inspect the picture of our new bedroom...


And large closet....



And the bathroom with it's big shower (no tub)....
Our office...turned sideways...(don't ask me why---it's too frustrating to fix.)

So, we love it here and look forward to the time we get to live here.

Best of all, we have the Booths to hang out with and tell all of our stories to!

Come visit!

The Booth's Happy Place

Friday, August 15, at about 9pm, Shaun and I hitched a ride with Maren Booth (daughter of Teri and Steve Booth--who's house we are moving into). Of course, Maren had to fill-up the car with gas. Shaun and I sat in the car with Cody (the dog) and enjoyed the ride. (Maren is a great driver!)

We took the ferry and enjoyed a 20 minute ride on the 11:30pm ferry. Unfortunately, Ivars was closed and we couldn't get any fish and chips while we were waiting in the ferry line.

Then...magically, we arrived at the Booth's happy place (aka the Booth's Whidbey Island Cabin).

We parked in a dark sandy parking lot--on the water's edge. We walked over to a cabin and were escorted to the 2nd floor bedroom. In the morning, we awoke to the most beautiful sight! Ocean and sunshine a few steps away.

Then we went went to catch some crabs. I learned the trade. Fill up small baskets, which are inside a big cage, with meat (like hot dogs and freezer burned chicken and ham) then throw the whole thing into the water with a rope attached and boo-e at the end so you can find it. Check on it later, take out the legal male crabs to keep--throw back the females and undersized males. Take home to your happy place, and prepare for eating.

We also went on a walk, a boat ride (and saw seals), and I lounged around. It was a nice mini- vacation. The Booths were wonderful hosts and it was nice getting to know them more.

Shaun got burned. Ouch!

We came home Saturday night on the 9:30pm ferry. I saw a funny sign in the bathroom stall.

Everyone got home safely--and was tired the next day at church. Shaun and I can't wait to move in with the Booths. We really like them!

Camping with Our Ward (aka Church Folks--ya'll)

Friday we left Bellingham and headed over to Cascade Park in Arlington for the "Summer's Quarters" Ward Camp out. It was our first time camping together and even though we only spent one night--we left with many memories!

We showed up at 3:30pm--and not many people were there...so, we entertained ourselves down by the river throwing(me) and skipping (Shaun) rocks. Then we found a sweet rope/plastic barrel seat swing. I tried it out first to test if it was safe.

Afterwards, Shaun tried it too and I nearly lost my balance and fell on my face trying to push him. (His ride was a little short---not as much "Weee" as mine.)

We also made pita bread pizzas for dinner. We brought Canadian bacon, onions, green bell peppers, pizza sauce, cheese, mushrooms, olives...and stuffed them into the pocket of the pita. Then we wrapped them in foil and put them in the fire. We lost one in our first try. We found out the foil wasn't as strong as we expected and as the foil burned up on one side--it effectively saved us the trouble of burning those pizza calories. For desert we continued to wrap things in foil...a banana stuffed with mini chocolate chips and marshmallows. Success! They turned out so good...um...we made a third.

While we were finishing dinner, our camp neighbors (and real life neighbors) arrived, the Mumfords (minus wife Julia). Nigel, the youngest, showed off his "guns" (I mean strong arms)--as he received 5 immunization shots that day in preparation for starting Kindergarten in the fall Tom and Tim are seen posing for the camera by the fire-bowl, later to be the site for a rousing song circle under Tom's command!

After all the songs, Shaun and I went back to out tent and laid down on the picnic table outside and looked at the stars (very romantic). After the clouds moved in, we moved into our tent. At about 1am...we were awakened--by who we guessed was Tim. He un-zipped the tent and without speaking stood at the bottom of our sleeping bag and seemed to be staring at us. We said, "I think you're in the wrong tent......Is that Tim?" No answer. After a moment, the slender figure started to leave the tent. We said, I think your over one tent." He left. We think we heard him getting into another tent (not his--but at least the next tent was empty). We both fell to sleep again. At about 5:45am it started to rain....and then it stopped after 5 minutes. And then, it started again...but did not stop.

We had breakfast with the ward and went home. It was a fun trip. Both of us were exhausted after we got home. (We really didn't sleep to well.) So, we chilled for the rest of the day.

Fun Fun!

Did I mention i have had a lot of alone time in our temp. apartment....? Well, I have and here are some semi-boring videos of squirrels off our deck.