Back From the Vet

I was so happy to bring Kosmo home from the vet yesterday. He picked a fight with Moose the other night, & was bit in the shoulder. Yikes. I missed my little sleeping buddy...

Henry was happy to have his 'mini-me' back, too! Love our wonderful vet, San Joaquin in Bako...

This is what the front yard looked like when I left for the vet. Sadly, most of the snow is gone (mud chunks in the house soon to come). In my version of 'Where's Waldo,' can you spot Moose & Henry??

By the afternoon, most of the snow in the yard was gone, but there was plenty on the deck for the monkey and his friends to play in!

Hope the monkey didn't eat any yellow snow...hee hee

Yesterday ended with another mountain 'Maxfield Parrish' sunset...

March Snow!!

   Well, I finally got my snow! Just enough for sledding. This is the monkey going down our 'advanced' sled run...Hopefully we will get more!

   The hub right after he slipped (the mud under the snow is really wet!). Too bad I didn't get a photo of him down...

   Get mama!!

  Had to try out the front yard...

Cub Scout Blue & Gold

   Wow, I am behind! This is from the weekend of Feb. 25...This year's Blue & Gold (a celebration of Scouting's birthday) had a camping theme. We had a great time feasting on hot dogs and yummy sides. Three of the boys, including the monkey, decorated cakes for the cake auction. This is the monkey's cake. There is a teddy graham trying to catch a yellow 'fish,' a bear in a cave, a man sleeping in the tent, and a man with his head on a pretzel pillow. I thing the pretzel pieces in the 'stream' are supposed to be sticks in the water.

   These are the other two cakes. With the auction and donations, the boys raised $80 for the pack. Excellent fundraising, considering are pack is so small, and no tiger cubs came.

   This is the monkey working on his cake. The night before, the hub & I had a rare night out with our great friends, K & T. Sushi in Bako, then karaoke at our local dive bar. I actually got up and sang to Hole, just because it's something no one would expect me to do (and fortified by sake & gimlets). LOL

Crazy Hair Day

   Yesterday was 'Crazy Hair Day' at the monkey's school. I used egg whites & hairspray to get his hair to stick up. I ran out of time, or I would have slicked the sides back. Too funny!

   I got to sub yesterday with the class I had the 100 day assignment with, so I was extremely happy! They are such great kids! Miss them terribly...

A Bon Mardi Gras!

   I hosted a Zatarain's Mardi Gras House Party on Friday, February 17. It was a fun food-fest, with my friends bringing some wonderful cheeses, pie, salad & adult beverages, inc. a fantastic 'thunderstorm' (a faux hurricane, get it?). I made red beans/rice, yellow rice, salmon cakes, gumbo, & mardi gras cupcakes. I used Zatarain's mixes for all the entrees/sides. For the gumbo, I sauteed celery, pepper & onion, and also added chicken, hot sausage and shrimp. YUM!

Dang! I ran out of time to put on makeup!

   Even Moose dressed up for Mardi Gras!

My friends...I had some cute decorations, but of course I didn't snap enough photos!

The food table; you can see the brie & cupcakes, but not the gumbo & buffet!!

A Lovely Valentine's Day...but Woops!

   We spent the late afternoon sipping sparkling wine and watching "The Help." Probably a mistake, since I put way too much lemon in the drawn butter for the lobster tails (we did a 'surf & turf' dinner), AND I OVER-flamed the chocolate creme brulees. The sugar is supposed to be caramelized, not scorched. It was a delicious dinner, anyway. Typical 'Lucy' moments on my part...

   The hub gave me some lovely tulips (one of my favorite cut flowers) from Dragonfly's Garden (our awesome florist & gift shop). They have moved to a new location on Mt. Pinos Way, (the old health food store location),  across from Ace Hardware. Hopefully that will bring them more business. I loooove that shop! The wreath over my bed is from there, plus some other pretty items in my house.

    The night before, I made a lovely dinner of ahi tuna (incredibly, I found a bag of frozen steaks at our local market). I defrosted them, soaked them in a marinade of ginger, soy, a little citrus olive oil & garlic. Rolled in black sesame seeds, pan seared, then finished off in the oven.

   For dessert, I made banana bread with a recipe that calls for smashed Wheat Chex cereal, but I used Special K berries, so it was kind of strawberry banana bread. I served it warm, with strawberry ice cream. Mmmm...For high altitude, I omitted the baking soda, & used only a tsp. or so of baking powder.

Banana Nut Bread

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup of Special K berries cereal, crushed
• 1/2 cup of smashed walnuts
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I use olive)
• 2 tbs water
• 4 large bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla (I always use more)\

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ceral & nuts. Combine egg, oil, water, mashed banana & vanilla. Add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened. Spread evenly into pan. Bake 50-55 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool 15 minutes before removing from pan.

   I think it would be fun to add some fresh strawberries into the mix...Well, gotta go, monkey is home sick!



Finally, Some Snow??

   This is the view from our dining room around 4:15 this afternoon. It's really coming down now! Let's hope it doesn't peter out like every other hint of snow we've had since November. I washed my car the other day, went for two rides on my bike, and went out to pick up poop when it started snowing. Hopefully, that is a trifecta the fates can't bear to answer with some more snow...lol

  The snow isn't sticking to the street yet...

   Last night, I made the chile relleno casserole recipe I posted the other day...yum! The only mistake I made, was I mixed the salsa into the eggs, instead of pouring it on top. It came out a little too mushy. The hub liked it so much, he actually ate a completely meatless dinner; we had the casserole & asparagus...

   Not the best photo of the incredibly adorable monkey last night. What a life: his dog buddy on the couch next to him, a warm fire, and sour candy from the Sweet Galley! Monkey is so cute, two people thought he was a girl today, & he was complimented on his good looks at the market...

   Tonight, I'm going to bake banana bread (big hit at the last chamber of commerce meeting), and we'll have ahi tuna steaks, roasted yam/multi-colored fingerling potatoes & broccoli for dinner. I'll post the banana bread recipe & photos tomorrow...Hmmm...snow is slowing down, maybe I should go for a bike ride, or clean some exterior windows on the house...