The Blondes:: A Love Affair

The first time I laid eyes on Molly with my camera, the camera ate her up and she highly enjoyed having her photo taken. Those big brown smiling eyes just begged to be photographed. Things have changed drastically. She will not sit still long enough for me to get a proper photo of her. As soon as I have her seated ready for her moment she gets up to follow me the couple steps back. I've got many photos of her smiley tail wagging bum. The brown eyed photos are hard to catch. So far our recent shots have been when she is sleeping on my bed. Which I must admit is the cutest thing ever!

When Molly first showed up in Boise we had an interesting situation at the house. You see Brewster already had a girlfriend. Her name was Yaz. They would play occasionally if Yaz was in the mood. The day Molly came into the picture everything changed. Molly and Brewster must be soul mates. They are best friends and they are lovers. Yaz is now considered the third wheel, but they love her just the same. I have named Molly and Brewster "The Blondes". The Blondes go everywhere together. Its unusual for them not to be side by side. Hours upon hours a day they play with one another. Molly has that Energizer Bunny attitude about her. She is referred to as the shameless hussy from Kentucky in this household. She'll take whatever she can get. I must admit I have never seen a dog like her before. She would hump Brewster all day long if she could. But she doesn't hump any thing else besides dogs. She was spayed over a month ago. Does anyone know a cure for my cute street walker? 

For the Love of Bloody Mary's:: Becoming Domestic, Sort Of

This weekend the strangest thing happened, I had a domestic moment. You know those moments where you decide you want to hone your grandmother's upbringing and buy a pressure cooker because you want to can something. That happened to me this weekend. I actually found it a little disturbing because it sparked a cooking frenzy. Never, ever would I have imagined myself owning a pressure cooker, now I do. Its the big daddy of all pressure cookers too. Massive in every way. On my way home with my new purchase my Mom called and I told her of my new purchase, in which she responded, "Rachel, be careful, read all the directions, pressure cookers can be really dangerous". Her scare tactics worked because I read the booklet three times and still felt like I needed a chaperone "just in case".

As a consolation my motive behind this canning/pickle frenzy was due to a 16 lb purchase of aspargus from Bountiful Basket. By the way, if you are not signed up, DO IT NOW! Every Tuesday you place your order for a basket. This basket includes fruits and veggies, but the best part is you have no idea what you will get, its a surprise!!! Saturday rolls around where you head to the pickup location. It's really reasonable and the loot lasts all week for a few people. On this particular occasion my roommate decided to order a side of asparagus. The side was 16lbs for a fraction of the cost. You can only eat asparagus for so long before you can no longer think of new dishes to try and tire of your old standbys. This is when Plan B went into effect. You see bloody Mary's are quite delicious especially when accompanied by a garnish of veggies. That is where my pickling/canning idea came about. All because of my love for bloody Mary's.

Pickling is actually very simple. I washed my asparagus and then snapped off the ends until they were tender. I picked up a mix of pickling spices from the local Winco.

Asparagus Pickling Recipe

3 tbspn pickling spice 

2 cups white wine vinegar

1 1/4 cup water

3 tspn koesher salt

1 large onion chopped

Bring to a boil, let simmer for 10 minutes.

While your pickling juice is brewing you have to immerse your jars into a hot water bath to cleanse them and also do the same with your lids and tops. I used pint & a half jars to accommodate lengthwise. I found the easiest way to fill my jars was to hold them sideways and fill as full as possible. Then I poured in my pickling mix, leaving a 1 inch space from the top. Taking tongs I placed the warm lid and screwed the lid on until the lid was secure but not too firm. I finished all jars and then moved onto my pressurizer. Each pressurizer is completely different. Mine doesn't have a gauge so it works a bit different. I placed my jars in the pressurizer, tightened the lid, vented out the air for 10 minutes and then processed my jars at 35 minutes at 15 psi. Be careful to let the pressurizer cool down slowly so you don't burn your self and you also run into problems with your jars breaking if they cool too quickly.

After my pickling affair I was starving. I had picked up some handmade dough from the grocery for pizza. I rolled it out and topped it with whatever I had laying around in the refrigerator. Recently I have been obsessed with ricotta. It is so delicious and has found its way into many recipes recently. Topped my pizza with tomato sauce, ricotta, sharp cheddar, red peppers, fresh basil, tomato slices, onion and minced garlic. Super easy and delicious.

A little Brewster behind the scenes blooper. He really wanted that pizza.

So far this fall I really haven't gotten into the spirit by cooking with pumpkin or apples. Since I was on a cooking rampage I thought why not make some pumpkin muffins. Really, really simple and very tasty recipe I made on the fly.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins
1 box white or yellow cake mix

1 large can of pumpkin puree

1 cup chopped walnuts

2 tspn vanilla

3 tbpsn nutmeg (or to taste)

3 tbpsn cinnamon (or to taste)

(The cinnamon and nutmeg were just estimations, as I like my pumpkin very spicy and flavorful)

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool. Eat!

So there you have it, my weekend cooking spree! What new dishes are you cooking?

My First Trip to in the Mountains:: Driggs, Idaho

Last month I traveled to Driggs, Idaho for a weekend in the mountains. I spent the weekend with friends enjoying each others company, eating home cooked meals and some delicious cocktails. The views were absolutely incredible and kept coming! We took the lift up Grand Targhee on the last day it was open for the summer season. Many people take the lift up to mountain bike down. Still something I have yet to try/understand. At least they didn't have to pedal to the top! When we reached the top the views were beautiful but I had no idea what awaited us around the corner, a basin leading up to the Tetons. The view was so unexpected and took your breathe away.

Hope you enjoyed, I'll leave you with the cuddliest teddy bear, Junior!

Who Would Have Thought I'd Ever Live in a Squirrel Den:: The Before's

I wrote a long post this morning, thought I saved it and went to lunch. When I returned my post had completely disappeared, lovely. I've been off the grid the last week or so, a lot has been going on around here. I was in the mountains a couple weekends ago visiting with my roommates family, then the following weekend they came to visit us. Between the road trips, house guests (6 people, 6 dogs in total), there have been interviews, roommates who have moved out, Molly got spayed, and I started a design project on my new room. Life is good, I am really enjoying my time here in Idaho.

The past month I have been holed up in the guest room, in holding waiting for my room to be empty. Tuesday the day finally came and I quickly jumped on making leeway in my new home. The space looked worn and needed a bit of a facelift. I decided I wanted to go with darker grey walls, leave the ceiling white. Have you ever painted a room by yourself? It is a little more difficult than I thought. My new room is fairly large, 24x12 so painting the ceiling was an experience in itself. Once I got into a groove it wasn't too bad. Add in Carl Carlton blaring over Pandora and a beer in hand I made quick progress. I worked well into the morning, finished the entire room, desk, and dresser. When I woke in the morning to check my handy work I was a little disapointed the coverage wasn't as good as I remembered. Fresh eyes and some sunlight make all the difference.  My hope is to be completely moved in by midweek. I'm really excited to get into my new space, its what I would call a mother-in-law suite. It sits on the back of the house, has its own small kitchenette, a walk in closet, and a bathroom.

I couldn't have been more welcoming to that closet. The past month I feel as though I have been living out of my suitcase. I had boxes stacked in the office with a majority of my clothes and it always seemed I needed what was in those boxes rather than what I actually had in my closet. I learned the hard way before an interview. Nice work appropriate clothing does not like being folded in a box for a long period of time. I often feel my life is very on point with my closet. If it is organized and clean so is my life. If it messy and unorganized it reflects my life is hectic and chaotic. So thankful everything is organized and I have enough space to see what is actually in there!

Follow me on my design journey. Here is the canvas I started with last Tuesday. My apologizes for bad photos and boxes shrewn everywhere. Meet your tour guide Brewster:

This room had been lived in by a boy who really didn't care much as to what the place looked like. As long as there was a bed, tv and couch he was set. I, on the other want to make it a relaxing oasis. I wanted the room to feel cozy and put together. I settled on Martha Stewart's "Grey Squirrel" and because of it now refer to my room as "the squirrel den." (Sorry for the quality this one was taken on my cell phone)

I finished the paint all in one evening. I have been working on many small projects in the mean time. I've painted a desk, a dresser, some frames, and my current project is reframing some beautiful equestrian hunting etchings I found over the weekend. They are absolutely stunning and I couldn't pass them up. Such a great score! Since finding them I have had to re-edit my plans for the walls but they will fit in just perfectly. One next to the bed and the other to be determined. If it tells you anything about my plans before, I had a hand stitched tiger ready to go up on the wall in its place. 

What do you think?

Let's Play A Game

Can you guess the purpose of this eye sore? I mean piece of art? This contraption has been a recurring topic for all of us over the last few weeks. Originally when I visited Idaho there was an addition of a second stove pipe where this red contraption is mounted. Funny thing is that stove pipe stirred up a lot of controversy since it really wasn't the most pleasant thing to view when sitting on your back patio with a delicious beverage in hand. To our surprise a few months later, this beauty showed up.

So I am taking guesses as to what this thing really is? Please take a wild guess. Believe me. We have taken many.

For now we admire its awkward beauty and wonder, how the heck can we get this thing to go away without having a neighbor war. Or purchase a really big tree/bush. The later will be the approach we take unless anyone has any wonderful ideas!

Take a guess!
What do you think it is?
The more ridiculous the answer, the better.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Safety First & A Belly Full of Muffins

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I spent mine out at the shooting range taking a rifle and pistol class. When I first visited Boise I had the opportunity to dip my feet in rifle shooting by taking a weekend class. I learned safety and the basics behind shooting. The class I took this weekend was a step up from my first class. We did many of the same drills but added other components in to simulate real life events. Up until this point I really hadn't had much pistol training, just going out to the range with family and friends and learning on my own. I felt a huge confidence boost this weekend, now that I have learned the correct technique. I have been working really hard on keeping both eyes open when shooting and this weekend proved my hard work has been paying off. I never really caught myself with one eye closed and my accuracy is much more on point. I really enjoyed the dynamic of this co-ed class. We were a mixed group when it came to experience levels and I really think this added to the success of the class. Everyone was able to learn from one another and our instructor.  

What exciting plans did you have this weekend?

The last few weeks I have been doing a lot more experimenting when cooking. Mainly trying new recipes that have stacked up over time. Avoiding my sweet tooth and baking obsession has been a little difficult but my waist line has thanked me. I did try these blueberry muffins which I found in blogland on Marshall's Abroad. Amanda recently posted this recipe and I couldn't find a way not to make them! These muffins are full of flavor and will not disappoint. I have this recipe saved in my stash as a keeper!

Photo via Marshalls Abroad

Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

(recipe via Marshalls Aboard)

{makes about 1 dozen}

2 C fresh blueberries
1/2 lemon, squeezed juice + zest
1/2 C whole greek yogurt 
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C olive oil
1 egg
1 C raw sugar (I substituted brown sugar, still completely delicious)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping: 
1 tbs raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk the egg with the olive oil and add in the greek yogurt. Stir in the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and vanilla, until just combined. Be careful not to stir too much or your muffins may collapse once out of the oven! Gently fold in the fresh blueberries with the squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest.  Fill a greased muffin pan with the batter at about 3/4 full for each cup. Be generous as you sprinkle on the topping on each muffin, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until you can place a toothpick in the middle of a muffin and it comes out dry. My muffin pan made 12; a reader said her's made 16. 
Enjoy! These are so delicious!

Be sure to Check out Amanda's Blog, Marshall's Abroad. 

Where Were You? September 11th, 2001?

I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing on the morning of September 11th, 2001 when we recieved the news the Twin Towers had been attacked. I was in Mrs. Yount's 7th grade science class. We were working on homework when the principle came across the PA system to let us know about the planes crashing into the Twin Towers and a field in Pennsylvania. I remember clearly not exactly realizing its enormity and how our lives would change forever. As a 12 year old, I knew it was a devastating event with many lives lost but had no idea it would send life as we knew it into chaos.

Image via google Images

Every channel on the tv was tuned into the coverage, every radio station was recapping the events, public transportation came to a halt, planes were grounded immediately, our world was put on hold as we watched the events take place and search for an answer. Who did this?

At a time when our economy was booming, we hit rock bottom. Everyone panicked. Grocery store shelves were empty. Cars piled up for blocks waiting to fill their tanks with fuel. Prices surged. People were stranded miles and miles from home. We were unsure of the unknown. American flags were seen every where. America pulled together. Thousands rushed to the aid of those in New York. Helping to remove the rubble to search for survivors and the remains of those lost on this horrible day.

As horrendous and  monumental as this day was/is I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. People came out of the woodworks to help others. As a nation we united to help heal our brothers and sisters who were devastated by this disaster. We were RESILIENT. We stood STRONG.

To those who lost someone that day, we will never forget. We will remember exactly how it felt to have our freedom compromised. To the men and women who risked their lives to save lives and fight for our country, you are hero.

Where were you when your heard the news of the attacks?

Starting Fresh

Photo Via

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend spent with family and friends. It feels as though summer will linger just a bit longer. Back home in Illinois the temps have jumped up into the high 90's, I'm happy to report we have been blessed with middle 80's and it is absolutely perfect. I've been trying to get into a routine as of late, either taking the dogs for long hikes or riding my bike around town I am trying to be as active as possible. I've also immersed myself in practicing yoga as it has really helped strengthen my back and get me into the swing of things. One of the hardest realizations for me has been where my fitness level was to where it is now. Some tasks that used to be easy are now more challenging, thankfully I am making large strides. Slowly but surely I am toning up and getting blood pumping throughout my body. Another huge positive is now that I am back to working out I sleep so much better. Ever since I traveled west I wasn't sleeping well. That might have to do with two to a bed plus a dog or two. I was restless, couldn't get comfortable. That continued on once my mom had departed and I wasn't sure why. As I started becoming active again I could fall right asleep and slept through the entire night.

While I was recovering I wasn't eating like I normally would and was indulging in more ice cream than I would like to admit. Traveling west didn't help my diet either especially when you aren't cooking your own meals. Once I arrived in Boise my diet became a bit healthier but during the time my mom was staying in town I wanted her to experience the different restaurants. We indulged in good food and wine, bread from the farmer's market, local ice cream, homemade muffins and desserts. As my mom would like to say, "she is on vacation" and would like to enjoy her surroundings. I am quite happy that we did, its just my waist line that wishes otherwise. 

Photo Via

The past week my roommates and I decided it was time for us to support one another in creating a healthier lifestyle. We decided we would eat more salads and pack our meals with more vegetables. I also have to admit I am spoiled. We have a vitamix in the house. I have always had a blender crush and finally I have one at my disposal. It has been wonderful waking up in the morning throwing a bunch of veggies and fruits into it and boom, delicious green smoothie. I am trying to limit my dairy, processed grains/sugars and I must admit I feel so much healthier and have more energy. I still haven't been able to lose the coffee BUT I do not drink it everyday and limit myself to two cups. Which has also resulted in better sleeping patterns.

What are you doing to keep healthy?

Mo Molly

As you know a few weeks back when I was in Kentucky I adopted a dog from an unwanted home named Molly. She immediately came home to Illinois with me where she was greeted with lots of love from Jack James and my mom. My dad on the other hand was very upset that I had thought this was a good time to bring home a dog considering I would be moving 2000 miles away in a week. He also did not like the idea I was bringing her home into his house, but more importantly, "Jack James' Home". His first reaction was a little over kill, stating I needed to leave for Idaho once the weekend was over, once the intial shock wore off he was much more open to the situation.

Due to other circumstances I wasn't able to leave for another month. During that time he was definitely frustrated with me and my decision since the timing was off and both dogs were rambunctious. The day before I was set to leave I took Jack out for a run and when I returned my dad said he needed to talk with me. 

At first I had no idea what he wanted to talk to me about but it seemed somewhat serious. Instead he wanted to inform me that Molly was staying in Illinois with him, my mom and Jack. The little stinker had weasled her way into his heart. While my mom was gone Molly went on a little vacation of her own staying with my good friends, Brandon and Jenny until my mom returned.

Over those two weeks I missed my smiley bundle of fur. Next Thursday she makes her way west with my roommate's parents and 3 other pooches. This little girl has won the hearts of so many and enjoys whatever moment she is in. I can't wait to have her back in my arms. 

She'll have two other fur mates in Boise, Brewster, a golden retriever, and Yaz, a black lab who works as a service dog. 

Check out this awesome post my friend Kelly put together documenting the Chronicles of Molly. She was the one who originally found/saved Molly!

Update:: Scroll over Chronicles of Molly and click to get to Kelly's Link

Just a couple cute faces.