Thursday, February 21, 2008

Photo shoot time

We had the photo equipment out this weekend so we thought we might as well get some new pictures of the girls. Here is how DQ's photos turned out.



At first look, we thought this one was OK, however that is not oily skin under her nose. Gross.

The Fairy Tale

What do you want to be when you grow up? The dance teacher asked Princess.

The princess responded without a pause "Cinderella".

Wouldn't it be great to be 4 again and think life is a fairy tale? Your dad is the king. All headbands are crowns. And of course if you eat all your vegetables, you will become a real princess.

I am sure I should be directing her more towards careers like doctor, lawyer or techer, but what is the fun in that? At some point she will relize life is not a fairy tale. I am not going to be the one that breaks the news to her.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

What DQ wants...

DQ gets.

So this is how she went to school today.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Awesome Potato Skins

Here is the recipe for the potato skins I made Sunday afternoon. I found the recipe here.

Potato Skins
6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes
Olive oil
Cooking Spray
salt
Freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions

1. Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave. If using an oven, rub with olive oil and bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour until the potatoes are cooked through and give a little when pressed. If using a microwave, rub all over with olive oil and cook on the high setting for about 5 minutes per potato. (obviously I should have microwaved mine...)

2. While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.

3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.

4. Increase the heat of the oven to 450°F. Spray cooking spray all over the potato skins, outside and in. Sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking rack in a roasting pan (don't use a cookie sheet, it will warp, use a roasting pan or broiler pan that can take the heat). Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the skins over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.


5. Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on the roasting pan or rack. Sprinkle the insides with freshly ground black pepper, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. Return to the oven. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Use tongs to place skins on a serving plate. Add a dollop of sour cream to each skin, sprinkle with green onions.

Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6

More smoke

Sunday we decided to have our own little Super Bowl party and have junk food for dinner at the castle. I could really care less about the game, but I wanted the party snacks. The menu consisted of nachos, potato skins and whatever the girls wanted to eat.

I found a recipe for potato skins (I will post later - they were awesome!) and started to make them Sunday afternoon. The recipe stated to rub the potatoes with olive oil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Obviously I was supposed to put the potatoes on a pan first, not just throw them in. The oil started dripping off the potatoes and the next thing I knew, the smoke detectors were going off.

Ugh. You would think I would learn...


Kitchen update:
The new kitchen cabinets are MOSTLY installed. We are using cardboard for a counter top, but that should be installed Wednesday. Once the counters are in we can get the dishwasher and sink installed. I can't wait to stop doing all our dishes by hand!
We had a small problem with measurements when buiding one of the new walls. Now we have to move a load bearing wall to fit the final cabinet and refridgerator in. They keep reassuring me it can be done, but it makes me a little nervous.