food pics – Page 4 – Darais Days

Sleep and steps on Saturday

Abe and I both slept in while Lydia watched the iPad this morning. By the time we got moving and fed the girls breakfast, it was almost 10am. But boy, did we get moving! I put my Fitbit on at 10am, and in the ensuing two hours got in 10,000 steps. We walked by Anique’s house and visited with Andrew and Fleur, and while we were visiting, our neighbor Ruth Ann joined us. She joined us on our walk up the canyon, and we got to know her story a bit more.

She is a remarkable woman. After starting a business with President Henry B. Eyring, she moved on to become one of the very first female managers AT&T ever hired, and the only one of the first female hires to last more than two months. She worked with them for 26 years, moving all around the country in a variety of roles until she took early retirement. After taking early retirement, she worked for the Church in its Philanthropy department. Recently she served a PR mission in Hong Kong and is about to embark on another mission in September.

I loved chatting with her so much that I kept talking and walking long after I realized I had a female emergency and needed to go back home. Finally, I admitted I had a problem, and Abe, the girls and I turned back and ran home. It was a great morning, aside from that. We look forward to walking more with Ruth Ann in the future.

After that, we ate lunch and took a two-hour nap.

Moqueca (Brazilian Fish Stew) I made in class. We ate the leftovers today for lunch. This is my new favorite dish.

When we finally got going again after that, we fed the girls and went to the library. At the library we ran into our friends Fallon, Audrey, and Eli. I got distracted talking to Fallon long after Abe had to take Mary back to the car (she was pulling all the books off the shelves). I felt bad for taking so long, but Abe used that time to work on the lesson he’s teaching tomorrow, and just as I reached the car, who should appear but Ed and Isabella (Abe’s uncle and cousin).

Lydia loooooooves Isabella, and they played together a bit.

Then we went on our errands: approximately one million grocery stores and Barnes & Noble. By the time we finished at Smith’s, Lydia was fast asleep in the car.

But the good news is, tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Happy Mother’s Day to the best mother and grandmother I know! Mom and Grandma, I couldn’t imagine better mothers and better examples than both of you. You are my heroes. I love you!!

Field trip

Misty scheduled a tour of the fire department today for our preschool group (the one I dropped out of). We joined in for the fun and then had a picnic in the park with everyone afterward. The firemen were so nice and let the kids sit in the fire truck, tour the fire house, and taught them about fighting fires. Lydia now wants to be a fireman when she grows up.

Then I went to school and made: vada pav (an Indian sandwich), a Southwestern turkey wrap, lamb pita, blackberry yogurt soup, chilled tomato soup, and fried veggie chips. There were a lot of dishes to wash…

The other fantastic thing that happened today centered around the new book I’m reading. It’s entitled, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education. It’s basically the Bible for many homeschoolers, and everything I read made me want to home school. I just don’t know if I have the energy to do a good job of it. Also, I worry my kids won’t have friends. On the other hand, school can be a vicious place, and I still feel like I’m dealing with the aftermath of social trauma that happened at school. Maybe sparing my children the pains of that wouldn’t be a terrible thing. I’ll have to think a lot more about this, but this is the very first time I’ve ever remotely considered home school. There’s a lot to think about!

Happy Easter!

I have a ton of cute pictures from Easter, so we’ll just get to the good stuff right away:

Then after church and naps, we headed to the Miners’ for dinner and their Easter egg hunt. That was egg hunt #5 of the season for the girls.

The girls posed with a bunny and had a little scuffle about who got to hold the bunny.... — The girls posed with a bunny and had a little scuffle about who got to hold the bunny….

...Mary won that fight. — …Mary won that fight.

I made rolls again to bring to the dinner. (This was the small pan.)

Egg hunt:

Frankie, the dog, wasn’t interested in the eraser Mary repeatedly offered. But he didn’t mind being petted. That was great, since Mary spent a lot of time chasing him down to pet. Lydia prefers to keep a very healthy distance from dogs.

Then we came home, Skyped with Clark and Swathi, talked with my mom, picked up the house, and now will hopefully get a jump start on early bed time for the week. Happy Easter!

Content

I only have a couple pictures today. This one I took this morning while I was doing homework. The girls were angelic today and let me do hours of homework while they entertained themselves:

During Mary’s nap, Ron and Shirl replaced a window in the house. Lydia was curious and at one point left the house to watch. I was upstairs reading when I heard the front door bang, and I knew Lydia had just let herself out to watch them. So I hurried downstairs and ended up reading to Lydia on the lawn. She was really excited because Puss got to come, although she was a little worried he’d blow away in the wind…

Then I went to cooking school and made a bunch of stuff for my Latin class.

a turkey with two special salsas, fresh cheese (I made it for the first time and couldn't believe how easy it was!), pickled onions, and a bunch of other stuff — a turkey with two special salsas, fresh cheese (I made it for the first time and couldn’t believe how easy it was!), pickled onions, and a bunch of other stuff

Abe had another great day at work. The girls were wonderfully behaved today, and now it’s time for bed. Good night!

Easter egg hunt round two

It was a packed day. First, I took the girls to the store to buy some eggs to stuff for their second Easter egg hunt of the season. Misty arranged a wonderful hunt with her play group at Ensign Peak Park. The day was sunny and clear, and the bright eggs hidden green field nestled right underneath the mountain made for a picture perfect hunt. The only down side was that the sun was so bright, I couldn’t see my phone’s screen at all, so I had to take pictures completely blindly and hope that something would come out.

Then we came home and ate lunch. After lunch, I put Mary down for a nap and then dyed Easter eggs with Lydia.

Then Mary woke up and had a snack.

Then I went to school and cooked some salads. They looked a total mess because we were in such a rush to plate them.

Pear salad with so many steps it made my head spin. Roasted pears, fanned out. Sliced raw pears. Blue cheese tart. rehydrated cherries. Port wine reduction. Bacon bits. Pear vinaigrette. Aghhhh! And that is why I ended up just throwing it all haphazardly on the plate and saying: Done.

Salads should have a liner and a garnish. My liner made my salad look like a butterfly... — Salads should have a liner and a garnish. My liner made my salad look like a butterfly…

Abe had a great day at work and we feel God’s hand operating in that arena of life. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him at all so I’m going to end this post, shower, and go to bed. Maybe if he’s still awake I can actually talk to him for more than thirty seconds!

Lots of eating [out]

We had so much fun with David, Karin and Jay at dinner that we accidentally stayed until 11 pm. We were the last ones at the restaurant, and now it’s almost midnight. In light of our desperate need to go to bed, I really just want to throw up pictures with captions and then go to bed.

Except! Except that I forgot to take pictures of my lunch with Misty, and that was a huge highlight of the day. Abe took a long lunch from work and took the girls to nearby IKEA for free food (kids eat free on Tuesdays) while Misty and I had our lunch date.

Misty and I went to my school’s restaurant, and the theme today was “Spring.” I forgot to take pictures of the food or the menu, but it was all very yummy. The starter was ahi tuna with rhubarb salsa…except that we couldn’t discern where the rhubarb was, even though we searched, searched, and searched some more. The second dish was a salad with bagna cauda (again, couldn’t quite figure out where that was) with a salad and bread stick. It looked pretty fancy. We ordered different entrees, and then had molten chocolate cakes with white mocha ice cream for dessert. The menu was set, and I am now really looking forward to my restaurant class where we get to put together these menus, plate them, and serve them to actual people. In my present class, we throw out most of the food we make because there’s never enough time to wrap it up to take home.

Strangely, the rest of the day felt fun and productive too, although I’m not sure how that happened because I’m still sick, queasy, and easily tired. I think the girls were just more self-sufficient than usual, so I got to get more done with less effort. Plus, Mary napped from 2 pm until 6 pm, and Lydia napped from 2 pm until almost 4 pm. That probably helped.

Then Abe came home and I frantically folded laundry until the last minute, when we picked up David and headed up Mill Creek Canyon to meet Karin and Jay at Log Haven. There’s a gorgeous waterfall right across from the restaurant, and the ambiance of the restaurant felt really…nice. The best part was just the conversation, but the food was amazing too. I should have taken a picture of my entree, but alas, I started eating before that could happen. We did, however, take a shot of Abe’s beet soup starter.

Happy (belated) birthday, David!

Happy third birthday, Lydia!!!

Happy birthday, Lydia!! We tried to make this the happiest, most fun day for Lydia we could think of. We started off by watching videos of when she was a baby while we cuddled and I told her how exciting it was to meet her this day three years ago. Abe headed downstairs to make pancakes with pureed strawberry syrup, which both girls had fun dipping their pancakes in.

My mom went to the church to fulfill our cleaning assignment so we could have the morning with Lydia together. She is the most selfless person I know. We are so happy to have her here!

Then Lydia and I baked the other half of Lydia’s cake while Abe played with Mary.

Abe did all the dishes while I read to the girls. Then my mom gave the girls matching dresses to wear for Lydia’s birthday. We took Mary’s off so she wouldn’t get it dirty climbing around the movie theater, but they played at home in their matching outfits (my heart pitter-pattering the whole time).

When Abe and I were both finally dressed and ready to go, all of us (including my mom!) headed to the Gateway where we had Dairy Queens before going to Frozen.

Tom joined us for the movie, and he was a great help when Mary escaped near the end and started climbing the stairs at the movie theater.

After the movie, we played outside in the sunshine for a while and let the girls run around. Lydia loved twirling in one of the new dresses Nana gave her for her birthday.

Then we headed to the library and read Lydia a book about birthdays. The protagonist was not only her favorite thing in the world–a cat–but she was wearing a startlingly similar dress to Lydia’s. Then we checked out some pink books in honor of her birthday and headed to the store to pick up some things before going home.

At home, we made frosting and assembled her yellow and strawberry cake. The strawberry turned gray when Lydia dumped in the sprinkles (THE essential ingredient of her cake, in her opinion).

I basically injected pureed strawberries into a regular buttercream icing, and while the result was tasty, the texture left a LOT to be desired. Basically, it fell off of the cake. But Lydia didn’t care since the cake was pink and full of strawberries, and after dinner she enjoyed the whole song-candle-blowing-cake-and-ice-cream-eating process.

Pinterest fail. Maybe I'll learn how to make a successful, fresh, fruit icing when I take my baking and pastry classes. — Pinterest fail. Maybe I’ll learn how to make a successful, fresh, fruit icing when I take my baking and pastry classes.

Then Abe gave the girls baths and changed them into jammies before we opened presents.

Mary was dying to wear a costume, too, so she got to wear this hand-me-down shirt from a family reunion we had years ago. It made her SO happy.

For the last hour the girls have been playing with Lydia’s new presents, and right now Abe is trying to make sure they sleep in tomorrow by playing vigorous games of chase-and-throw-the-children.

Then Clark, Swathi, and Balu called from New York and wished Lydia a happy birthday. She relived her whole day in their conversation and kept repeating that she had a fun birthday. She especially loved telling them repeatedly about how the game of chase made her laugh and giggle.

I am beyond ready for bed, so I’m blogging early and will be retiring as soon as I hit publish (hopefully). Happy birthday, my sweet and beautiful Lydia!!!

competition win and the atom bomb

I won my cooking competition this morning!!! Well, okay, okay. They announced it was a tie, but when I got home and looked at the scores, I realized that the judges forgot to circle/add up one of my scores, so I technically won by one itsy bitsy little point. But still! I got a ticket for two to our school restaurant and a Ninja chopping machine. Abe and the girls came and cheered me on, and it was so fun to see their smiling faces through the glass.

The surprise ingredients weren’t that hard, really. They told us to use orange roughy and apples on our plate, which had to contain a starch, vegetable, sauce and garnish. Here’s what I did:

I made a blue cheese polenta cake, beet/carrot/apple/poppy seed slaw with raspberry vinegar, baked orange roughy and a candied lemon garnish. The blue cheese was rancid; I thought it was tangy, but I didn't realize it was rancid until the judges absolutely tore me apart for it. — I made a blue cheese polenta cake, beet/carrot/apple/poppy seed slaw with raspberry vinegar, baked orange roughy and a candied lemon garnish. The blue cheese was rancid; I thought it was tangy, but I didn’t realize it was rancid until the judges absolutely tore me apart for it. Also, I plated my fish upside down. Oops! Thankfully, the other two competitors in my division made the same mistake. We’re all learning.

Then we came home and ate lunch. Ironically, I had to throw out my food before eating it all because we were in such a rush to clean the kitchen. Also, Abe had to leave early because he forgot to put a diaper on Mary this morning, and there weren’t any in the car. Oops! Mornings are hard for him.

I spent the girls’ hours of quiet time finishing my most recent book, Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, today. It was a total page turner, and now I am scared that we’re all going to get blown up by the crazy people in power around the world. I sneaked to the library just before they close to get some more books to help calm me down.

My relationship with Mary deteriorates by Saturday afternoon because I’m gone all evening Friday and all morning Saturday. She gets so mad at me that when I finally get back, she screams if I touch her and clings to Abe for dear life. The only way we get back on friendly terms is if I play peek-a-boo with her feet and let her step on my face. I’m not kidding:

Also, Lydia found grown-up socks today and wore them the rest of the evening.

Lydia and I had another piano lesson today. I remember how hard it was to sit still when I was little, and I’m so proud of her for enduring. We made it to thirty minutes today. When I told Abe I want to try for an hour on Monday, he asked me to keep it to thirty minutes because he’s a more fun, compassionate parent than I am. Maybe we’ll compromise at forty-five. Our poetry session was truncated by my need for a nap, but we did read “Tiger, tiger, burning bright” and “The Lamb” by William Blake.

Lydia relates Shakespeare to her cat and a ton of pictures

I have a TON of pictures from today, and since I have to get up early tomorrow, I’m just going to post them with captions.

Rose came by this morning and asked if I wanted to go on a walk. Of course! We had a great walk, and Rose gave the girls stickers.

Then I took the girls to the library. — Then I took the girls to the library (and read down some more fines).

Then we headed home for a play date with Misty, Sophia and Max. I love them all so much. Max is starting to army crawl, and he is just the cutest.

After they left, I put Mary down for a nap and gave Lydia another piano lesson. I set a timer for twenty-five minutes. I think she could do longer sessions than that, but I run out of steam. I’m going to try for at least half an hour next time. When her piano lesson was over, I gave her a cookie and cuddled with her on the couch while we did another poetry session. We read “Heaven-Haven: A Nun takes the Veil” by Gerard Manley Hopkins and talked a lot about Aunt Lydia (a nun) and angels (since that’s what Aunt Lydia is now). I love that poem, but I really wanted to work more on “God’s Grandeur,” which is my favorite. Next time.

Oh! And we read Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage of true minds”) and talked about it a bunch. Lydia decided (on her own) that Shakespeare was writing about the relationship between her and her cat. Um…..

Lydia brought her stuffed animals into my room while I was doing homework and she was supposed to be having quiet time. From there on out, we had "quiet time" in the same room. — Speaking of her cat, Lydia brought her stuffed animals into my room while I was doing homework and she was supposed to be having quiet time. From there on out, we had “quiet time” in the same room.

Then I went to school and worked on the following:

Beef au jus. The potatoes Anna could have been less gray, the plate needs fewer broccoli pieces, the beef slices need to be larger, and the gravy drizzle more cohesive.

While I was at school, Abe took the girls to the ward party.

Lydia was actually thrilled, but you wouldn't know unless you knew her... — Lydia was actually thrilled, but you wouldn’t know unless you knew her…

Mary rode Chester tonight (much to the dismay of her terrified older sister).

Abe doing his hair for the crazy hair competition at work. He met his goal for the month today, too! Go Abe!

Midterm part 2 and a love triangle

I spent this morning trying to get homework done. I can’t remember much more that happened today, honestly. I think I fed the kids a bunch, read some in my book, played with the kids, and went to school. That’s about it. I didn’t even get a chance to talk with Abe at all, so I have no idea if he had a good day or not. He sent me a super sweet Valentine’s email, but he didn’t mention how his day went in it, so I’m guessing it was good? I hope it was good.

Here are the pictures I took this morning:

We have a love triangle at our house. That is Lydia's cat, Tabitha. Now, Tabitha isn't THE cat that Lydia's obsessed with, but Tabitha's in second place. Mary, however, has developed a recent fondness for Tabitha and carries her around whenever she gets a chance. — We have a love triangle at our house. That is Lydia’s cat, Tabitha. Now, Tabitha isn’t THE cat that Lydia’s obsessed with, but Tabitha’s in second place. Mary, however, has developed a recent fondness for Tabitha and carries her around whenever she gets a chance.

Mary fell asleep at lunch with a graham cracker in her mouth. I ran for my camera, but by the time I got it, the graham cracker had dropped to her lap. She was a little sleepy today.

Abe's aunt, Christina, sent us some Valentine's cookies. I took a bite of mine before I realized that my camera was literally right in front of me. The cookies deserved a photo, don't you think? — Abe’s aunt, Christina, sent us some Valentine’s cookies. I took a bite of mine before I realized that my camera was literally right in front of me. The cookies deserved a photo, don’t you think?

At school today, we had the second part of our midterms. I made a bechamel sauce, minced parsley, did one tomato concasse, and spent about two and a half hours making mayonnaise by hand. Did you know you can break mayonnaise even after it’s come together? I sure didn’t. After an hour of beating, I got impatient and broke my mayonnaise with a couple big squirts of oil. Drat. I think I gave myself carpal tunnel, but another hour and a half later, I managed to rescue my mayonnaise.

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