Mini-Challenge #2: COOK

Posted on July 18th, 2009 by Jean

Cooking hasn’t come easy for me. As teens, my best friend taught me two recipes: scrambled eggs and chili dogs.

I can’t cook fried chicken, and haven’t a clue how to grill a steak. I’m not the girl who shows up at a party with a fancy, homemade dessert. My mashed potatoes have been mistaken for potato salad. My omelets have been downright inedible.

Keeping all of this in mind, I’ve decided to challenge myself to recreate Bobby Flay’s Green Pea & Green Chile Soup. Did I really say that? Yes, I did.

In May, the same bff and I dined at Bobby’s Mesa Grill in Vegas. His soup was the tastiest food item to ever cross my taste buds!

I found the recipe at CBS’s The Early Show website. I googled poblano chiles, quizically reached for cream hoping it was the same as crème fraiche, and bought bacon as a replacement for Serrano Ham. Look, even the deli clerk was confused by my request for Serrano Ham, and suggested ::: ahem ::: bacon bits.

My eyes are watering as the chiles are roasting. Is that a good sign?

If all goes well, there will be a photo of the completed dish at the end of this blog.

Mini-Challenge #2: Cook something that strains your brain but delights your senses!

I’ll link the blogs on Sunday, July 26th.


I did it!


Look at these pretty chiles!

Note to self and to you: OMGosh, do not add too much cumin! Just a pinch. Phewy! Also, although the recipe calls for honey, it never suggests when you should add it. Even the video version doesn’t include honey.

Thanks for reading, and GOOD LUCK!

Create a Baby Mobile

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Jean

Our wonderful employee is returning to work today! She will be bringing her 2 week old son with her. We are all so excited!

The better part of the weekend was spent converting part of the office into a nursery, moving equipment out, baby essentials in.

Needing a mobile for above baby’s bouncy chair, I scanned the internet and found an amazing Bird Mobile at Spool.

Spool Sewing

Spool Sewing

Click banner for pattern & directions.

Although their model called for 11 birds and 4 twigs, we opted for 4 birds on one twig. My girls were happy to choose the fabrics and stuff the birds.

Voila! Here are our results!

• Do you like to create gifts?
• What is your hobby?
• What’s for dinner?

Thanks for reading!

Mini-Challenge #1: Geocaching

Posted on July 10th, 2009 by Jean

iPhone has a new Geocaching application. I installed it late last night, and was surprised to discover the Scarecrow Lady (from last month’s Picture of the Day blogs) had hidden treasure!

This morning, as soon the kids were awake, we searched their room for trinkets that we could exchange for the booty. Pearl didn’t want to part with anything, but Natalie chose two Build-A-Bear bows (elastic bows meant to slide over bear ears).

We piled into the car and made our way to the local landmark. Per instructions, we were not to disturb the scarecrow, her clothing, or her rocks. The small cache could be found “touching the base of her rock pile”. Could, but wasn’t. We failed.

At home, I signed in to Geocaching.com to log our unsuccessful visit to the Valencia Lady. Noticing the prior two visitors were also unsuccessful, I emailed the last “hunter” who had found the cache. Let’s call him Buffalo Chip. Mr. Chip explained that I should contact the cache owner if I thought the site had been disturbed. I hadn’t realized caches had owners! This is a fascinating group.

I’d be willing to try this again. Coincidentally, there is a cache hidden at the exit of the Glider Rides, scene of my 44th birthday!

1st Mini-Challenge: Visit Geocaching.com, enter your zip code, discover an easily identifiable location (notice I have not used GPS yet), and attempt to find a cache.

Share your adventure, and I will link all of the blogs into one post on Friday, July 17th.

Have you GeoCaught?
Will you try treasure hunting?
Do you have a trinket to exchange for booty?
 

Special thanks to Jim for inspiring me to try geocaching.

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