On repeat

Thanks to a CD that came with a Wendy's kids meal this song is currently on repeat in our house. I am going CRAZY! It was in our car but it HAD to be brought into the house so they could listen to it some more. Enjoy.

I want these.....

....but I'm pretty sure I would start singing the Mario song every time I walked by and that might be torture.

Key Lime Bars

A while ago I saw a bag of key limes at the market for $1.99 so I bought them thinking it would make a diet coke that much better, and I'm sure it would have, but I figured key lime bars sounded sooooo much more interesting. So, I pulled out this book.... and substituted key lime juice for the lemon juice in her recipe for Lemon Bars.



This recipe was different than those I have tried in the past. Normally, I use granulated sugar in the filling recipe but the author listed powerdered sugar instead. She also calls for the eggs to be beaten on high for 2 full minutes which I have never done before. All in all I liked the recipe. Most lemon bars have a gel like filling that is runny if not cooked long enough and can have a slimy texture. This one was airy and soft and just right.

1 c plus 2 T flour

1 3/4 c powdered sugar

2 T grated lime zest

Pinch of salt

1/2 c chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 t baking powder

3 large eggs

1/2 c plus 3 T fresh lime juice

Preheat to 350 degrees. Butter 8" square dish.

Whisk togetehr 1 c of the flour, 1/4 c of the sugar, the zest and the salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry knife/blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Knead the dough in the bowl until it begins to come together.

Transfer dough to the pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool while you make the filling.

Whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 c of sugar, 2 T of flour, and the baking powder. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high for about 2 minutes, or until tripled in volume. Reduce speed, add the sugar mixture and beat just until blended. Add the lime juice and beat just until blended.

Pour mixture over crust and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the filling is just set in the center. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for a while. Dust with powdered sugar when ready to cut and serve.

Not quite a perfect score

June 12th was my 11 year anniversary. Eric likes to tell me that he "knows me better than I know myself", and he says this quite often. Of course, I always have to laugh at that comment because it simply isn't true so I decided I had to have these the moment I saw them in Real Simple Magazine.


I whipped them out on our anniversary and made him take the test. A lot of the questions were no-brainers. Some questions involved friends of mine, like which of my friends does he find most attractive (don't even ask me to tell you - I won't), let's just say I got that one wrong. I missed stupid ones, like who he considers his BFF, but I got the name of his elementary school right. In the end I scored 835/1000 and he scored a 785. I think we did pretty well for ourselves.

Good finds - ala Diane

These fun summer finds came in the mail today. Diane thought the boys would love them and she was right.

Ice Pop Mold Pour whatever you want into the mold, insert the handle and freeze. The domed shape at the bottom collect the drips and they are really easy to remove from the mold.


Silicone Iced Tube Makers It's like a reusable, make your own Gogurt/Otter Pop mold.

Short shorts

Had I remembered this picture existed while in SF I would have tried to recreate it with E&C!

Dennis the Menace Park

Apparently, Eric and Dean played at this park years ago but I couldn't find a picture from it. It is a huge park in the middle of Monterey. There were at least two hundred people there. The boys could have stayed there for hours, I think KC and Eric would have been fine staying as well.

Monterey

Fog city! We took a drive around Pebble Beach and visited Eric's favorite tree, the Lone Cypress. There was also a quick visit to the Aquarium and Cannery Row. Thanks Molly and KC for joining us.

Boat Cruise

Saturday was gorgeous so we decided to take a boat ride around the bay. It left from Fisherman's Wharf and took us out and around the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Cohen was loving it, whereas Ethan wanted to be back on land ASAP. Their personalities are so different it makes me wonder how they could both be mine. There was this crazy seagull that was literally 5 feet from my head for most of the ride. He kept giving me the stink eye with his head cocked to the side.

More San Francisco

There's a great view of the city and of the Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio in San Francisco. We took the kids down to mess around but it was nerve-racking because there were no barricades along the pier. The boys could have fallen over the edge so easily. The weather was amazing the entire weekend, we were really lucky.

"Cohen, look at the camera, Cohen, the camera, smile Cohen, say cheese, Cohen, look at Mommy, COHEN!!!"

My Boys

I was thinking the title needed to be, There is a Green Hill Far Away, but that seemed a little weird to me for some reason.

Exploritorium

Anne had never been to this science museum so we decided she needed to go before she moved. Ethan really wanted to do the static thing where your hair stands up but they only let adults. Lame. It's a science museum.....for kids.....

Cohen was fascinated most by the wind blower. His hair moved a lot more than Ethan's did for sure.

Living Color

Graffiti in San Francisco. I'm not sure about the last one though.

Lazy Afternoon

Cohen's had a rough day... it was work playing with a friend all morning.

Sent from my iPhone