I’d posted a few months ago about Mitch having a job lined up, but we didn’t want to count our chickens before they hatched. I’m happy to report the chick has left the egg, he’s working in maintenance at an elderly assisted living apartment complex. He’s been there for a week now and has taken to it like a duck to water.
Mitch on his way to work with a homemade iced coffee in hand
He’s much happier than when he was a Corrections Officer and I’m so grateful he’s happy and has a day job, no more dreaded graveyard or swing shift.
One of the best things about Medical Lake is Medical Lake!
I hope to kayak on this someday soon
It has a 3-mile trail that encircles the entire lake, going through part of the town, into the woods and pass Waterfront Park where picnics and baseball games frequently occur.
View of Medical Lake from the trail
Wild sweet pea fills the air and consumes my senses as I ride my bike in the warm summer days.
It’s BEEutiful around the lake
The kindness of passers by, with a hello and a smile brings great joy to my heart, and reaffirms my love of this town.
Snap shot of a deer as I ride past on my bike
A variety of wildlife can be encountered on any given day, and Sunday the 20th of July I was on a bike ride with my friend Felicity when we saw a turtle digging a whole to lay her eggs.
Can you dig it?
We were so excited to see the egg laying process we’ve decided to return around the timeframe they are due to hatch. Hopefully I’ll be able to share baby turtle pictures around the end of September.
I’m working here, don’t aske me to smile
Last week we took papa to get his eyes examined and out for his favorite meal of the day; breakfast.
Daddy Doolittle (he decided not to get these frames, thankfully)
Best breakfast hot chocolate ever!
The sectional sofa we got from Furniture Row was not the quality we’re used to getting from them, so they worked with us to exchange it. We now love all our Furniture Row purchases. Now that we’ve settled in I’m happy to share some photos of the house.
Exact sofa we had before we sold everything, just a darker color!
View from living room into kitchen
Kitchen little, yet totally awesomeRolling cart from Furniture Row
Papa has been metal detecting in the yard recently and he has found a 50 cent piece and a marble, boy did that make his day! I hope everyone’s enjoying the abundant colors and smells of summer as much as we are.
Project everything we can think of has been underway. Our first renters, did a great job of laying brick and creating a patio along with a cute path mixed with rock. We found that it was still a bit muddy because over the years the rocks sunk into the dirt and it just wasn’t our best option when it came to shoveling in the winter to papa’s place. We decided to use what they had and add onto it. Note the rocks are gone but will be used in our next project.
Little patio on the left and you can see the first four rows are the old bricks
This area was once a florishing vegetable garden created by none other than our first renters, but we love flowers so much we decided to create a flower garden.
There’s those rocks!
It may not seem as if there is much happening even though we’ve planted quite a bit, we’ll have to wait for next year to really enjoy all the creaping phlox and other perennials we’ve planted. The house came with piles of wood when we bought it years ago, and we’ve found plenty of uses for it off and on through they years. Mitch decided to sort through it again and deemed some of it trash. I just couldn’t let that happen. I told him I’d use it and make something. I started the day off with a hand saw and nails… hours later and little bench I just wished we still had our old tools back. Oh all the things we’ve sold, ugh. After my second attempt at a bench and the last nail split the wood I was pooped and was ready to burn the pile myself.
Wood pile full of potential
Walking into the shop looking for wood glue, there it is, the one saw I’ve used and felt comfortable with, the chop saw. After the whole day, trying 4 different hand saws, there was a power tool I wasn’t afraid of. Thankfully Mitch make it home just in time to help me create our first ever bird house.
Homemade home for the birds
Next time we’ll use plans instead of winging it. haha, get it, it’s for the birds, winging it. Our first renters, yes they were that awesome, also planted raspberries and we’re now enjoying the fruits of their labor. I decided to create some yummy desserts with the bounty that being produced. Our first attempt was a Raspberry Cream Tart, the crust is made of sugar cookie dough and i loved the taste, but it didn’t cook the whole way so it was a bit doughy in the middle and too much crust for my liking.
Mitch’s masterpiece
I plan to make it again, but will probably only use half of what is calls for in the crust. Mitch and I both made one, we gave one to our friends across the street. She’s always bringing us over food, especially for Papa, and has inspired me to be more adventurous when it comes to baking and it’s an awesome feeling to share food that you’d prepared with others.
My raspberry design is kinda like me, a little sporatic
I encourage you to share some food you’ve made with a neighbor, a newcommer to your neigborhood, or someone going through a tough time. It’s beyond rewarding and will make them feel special too. Those renters I’ve been mentioning through this whole post still live here in town, and it just dawned on me how great it’d be to bring them something made with the raspberries they planted years ago. Guess i better get going, I got more baking to do. Before I go, I’ve got one more dessert to share with you. It’s Betty Crocker Extra Moist White Cake with Whipped White Frosting mixed with Cool Whip…. YUM.
White Cake with Fripped Topping and Raspberry filling
I took the entire container of whipped frosting and put in a bowl and used a mixer on medium for about a minute, then took the Cool Whip and gently mixed in about 2/3 of an 8oz container, tasting as I stirred for taste and texture. Online they say not to stir to hard or it’ll go flat. For the center I just used the Cool Whip and Frosting mix (from now on I’m calling it Fripped Topping because it’s a pain to write the whole description, I wonder if I just created a new word…ooh exciting) and stirred in some raspberries. It was DELICIOUS!! For most cakes I usually end up scooping off most of the frosting because it’s too sweet and rich but having it like this was the icing on the cake, and yummy to the last bite with no fripped topping left on the plate. Make sure you keep the cake refridgerated afterwards. The best part was that after 7 years, I finally made a cake that Mitch thought was moist and was so excited about he requested it for his birthday. The fripped topping got papas approval too! If you try it, hope you it like it as much as we do! Unitl next time …whip it, whip it good, fripped topping word creator signing off.
My love for the Medical Lake Parade has many reasons, first and foremost it’s small town USA at it’s best. Where else would you find a little green lawn mower getting just as much fame and waves as the town Mayor or the most recent pageant winner?
Waiting to see the parade
It’s surprising to see all the political signs that were intermingled with the parade this year and quite sad if you ask me. The Polititions would be better off to mingle with the crowds and try to make personal relations, than to cart a sign through town with their name on it. I wouldn’t know who they were if they were standing in front of me.
Now I know that fella
The school bands made up for the annoyance of political signs as they march their way down the street in their crisp ironed uniforms and glistening musical instruments, as the beat of the drums resounded in my ears. Ahhhh. I just love it, the smiling of complete strangers, the sirens of fire trucks and little kids running towards the candy as if they were ducks in a pond.
People lined up both sides of the street to see the parade
Just good ol’ fashioned clean fun. Its also the best time to break out the flowy skirt and a big floopy hat.
Me, Felicity and Stacey soaking up the sun and sights
We decided to use the parade as an excuse to have friends over for a BBQ.
Give me a 5 high for BBQ, anyone? somebody? don’t leave me hangin hereenjoying company and the weather
I hope that if you have an opportunity to go to your local community parade this year, you do and it’s just as much fun for you. Don’t forget to cheer on those unsung heroes that walk behind the horses, keeping it clean for the rest of us to walk around after the parade!
One of our most favorite places we visited during our travels was New Orleans, LA and eating those delicious Beignets at Café Du Monde became a mouth watering memory we wanted to recreate when we got home.
Cafe Du Monde coffee and beignet at the French Quarter in New Orleans
I found a 5 star recipe for beignets, collected all the ingredients a week prior, and even invested in a deep fryer for the event.
The beginning of the Beignet
We didn’t have a set day to make the beignets, and decided one evening to start baking.
My Chef Sweetie posing while baking.
We waited the exact 2 hours for the dough to rise and began frying away.
Our work station ready to gowe used Dollar Tree miniature plastic containers to cut the dough to make the perfect size
They were warm, delicious and just as we’d remembered, and there were so many of them. After an hour of frying we still had dough left and it was midnight.
It makes a lot more than the recipe says!
We did some research and found that the remaining dough would be fine in the fridge overnight, so we both fell into a pastry-induced splendor of sleep. The next morning we tasted the beignets we’d fried the night before… Yuck! Please, please, if ever you make beignets, don’t make them for the next day!
The night before’s batch soaked in all the powdered sugar but definitely isn’t a sweet overnight success! Gotta eat these fellas FRESH!
Luckily the dough kept well in the fridge and Mitch fried up some fresh ones for breakfast. Nothing better than beignet and coffee to begin the day!
Hey hey Beignet
Total cost to re-create such yumminess…$40.42! (including deep fryer) At least we can now make more fried foods to keep that diet plan far away and just burn our calories the yard way. We’re happy with our deep frier from Walmart, the Farberware 2.5 liter deep fryer, it worked well, kept a good constant temp and cooked pretty evenly.
Goin' Road Trippin' 