Monthly Archives: June 2009

Kayaking Lake Champlain

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Ben and Annie, our awesome friends who live down the street from us, invited us to join them for some kayaking.

Seriously, it’s been pouring rain here the month of June, so anytime it’s sunny, you have to take advantage of it RIGHT AWAY!

rick and vanna

Ben and Rick were the first out on the water.  Lake Champlain is so beautiful.

rick and ben on the water

Then the women had a turn!  Can you believe Annie gave birth less than 2 weeks ago!?

She really knows how to push it to the limit!

annie and vanessa

This is pretty much what happened when Rick and I hit the water! Typical!

how things turned out

While we were out on the water, Rick said, “Wow, Burlington is really a very pretty town,”  as we could see churches poke their white steeples skywards, through the blankets of green trees.

It’s so charming here. I will be sad to leave. Sort of.

Not really.

(You can only handle -18 degree temps in the winter for so long before you go into a depression.)

From the lake, Burlington looks so beautiful and incredible.

Ben and Annie, thanks for the great time!  You guys are a blast.

kayaking.June-30,-2009.6

So, I took my cutting sheers to my head last week.  Like, not only one day, but 4 days in a row.

I kept cutting.

And cutting.

And cutting.

Rick would come home and see a pile of cut hair in the bathroom trash.  “Babe, seriously, you cut MORE today?!”

“Dood, FREE HAIRCUT!”

It’s a crap shoot to get your hair done in Vermont. They charge you to blow dry your hair.

So, you can’t really avoid getting your hair dried, because there is some dry cutting that happens too.

So frustrating!  Whose idea was it to charge to blow dry your clients hair?!

I was going for an 80’s Shag. A little rocker do.

Any thoughts?

(I’ve always adored Farrah Fawcett, to say the least…what a hair inspiration she was!  No, seriously.)

WORD!

the new do

This is how it WAS:

before

ACK!

26 Hours in Boston

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Make Way for ducklingsMeet Missy!  Because her husband and son, Enoch, went camping with the other fathers and sons in our ward, she wanted to get away for a day!

I was all on board for that!  We agreed to Boston.

Maybe I talked her into it, but she sure didn’t pump the breaks on my idea, so we left Friday afternoon and arrived around 7 p.m.

We drove to the North End for some incredible Italian. I don’t recommend parking in the North End.  Like EVER!  It’s all residential parking after 6 p.m. and the parking lots cost 8 bucks for the first half hour.

(I don’t know about you, but I think that’s how long it takes to get water, some bread and place your order!  Nonetheless, the $12 parking fee was worth the awesome food we ate.)

On Saturday, we headed straight for the Swan Boats, which was two blocks from our hotel.  I gotta tell ya, after days of searching for a bed and breakfast, we thought we were screwed..that maybe we wouldn’t be able to go.

Until we tried PRICELINE.  Rick and I have used it before and saved loads of mula.  Well, short story even shorter, we got a $250.00 hotel room from for $65 bucks, in downtown Boston. We didn’t have to drive our car that day.

I love you, Priceline!

swan boats

On to our trip: First stop, the Public Gardens for a ride in the Swan boats. Cheap fare. Nice peaceful ride around the pond, you know, a relaxing little way to start our day.

Except when you’re on the same boat with 25 prepubesent teens, screaming and barking at others on the other boat, saying, “Our boat is better than yours!  NEENER NEENER ne ner!”

Missy and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

the swan boat

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Jane’s Same Day Rolls

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“This recipe comes from a friend in our ward, Jane Dees.

It’s a great recipe if you want rolls in 2-2.5 hours instead of waiting much longer, and it’s a nice size—

one batch makes about 2 dozen big rolls or 3 dozen smaller rolls.

A little on the sweet side, these are a great recipe for cinnamon roll dough as well.”

I don’t know who Jane is, but I love her and her roll recipe.

These remind me of my grandmother’s rolls; the addicting kind.

The kind your kids will LOVE!

No whole wheat, bran or flax seed, just pure warms puffs of artery cloggin’ goodness!

Once you realize how easy these are, you’ll wonder why you even bother with overnight rolls.

Ingredients
2 c. warm water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 T. yeast
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. oil
1 egg
2 t. salt
6 c. all purpose flour

(I used all King Arthur’s white wheat flour…turned out just a fabulous!)

In your upright mixer, combine water, yeast, and sugar

step one

Let stand for 5 minutes.  It should look like this after 5 minutes: frothy and bubbly.

step two

Add oil, egg, salt, and 3 c. flour. Beat with dough hook until smooth and elastic.

It should fall from the hook, slowly, and it will be slightly sticky.

dough

Add 3-4 c. more flour and mix for 3 minutes, until well combined.

dough before

Rise in a greased bowl, covered, on your counter, for about an hour or until double.

dough after

Punch down and shape as desired.

I find it best to do this with my thumb and pointer fingers:a OK! Griping the dough with your right hand, place the dough right against that hole.

Use your left hand to push the dough through your two fingers, to create a round shape.

This way the dough isn’t overworked, but the tops are smooth.

(I am anal. I like all my rolls the same size.

I use 2.4 oz of dough per roll, to get exactly 24 rolls and there are no scraps left.)

dough on pan

Cover, and let rise until double, about 30 minutes, on your counter.

My house is about 73-75 degrees right now, so it’s a great temperature for letting the dough rise.

risen dough
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until tops are browned.

finished rolls

That’s it. Awesome rolls. The only thing you need to pay attention to is the temp of your water.

Don’t force them to rise by placing them in a warm oven.

Don’t bake them if they haven’t risen enough.  Be patient, it will be worth it!

Oat Crusted Quiche with Chicken Sausage, Spinach and Carmelized Onions

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What do you make when you have loads of onions, eggs, spinach, cottage cheese and milk on hand???

I am glad you asked!

my quiche

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Waterloo, NY

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On Memorial Day, we headed to the Peter Whitmer Farm, located in Fayette, NY.  To get there, we had to pass through a town called Waterloo, NY.

Little did we know that we were also entering the BIRTHPLACE of Memorial Day, ON Memorial day!  WOOT!

“Rick, did you see that sign?!”

“Yes!”

I screamed, “TURN AROUND!”

The homes were adorned with American flags.

And LOTS of them!  Everywhere!

The town is home to only 8,000 people…so if you blink, you’ll miss it!

waterloo NY

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Rick is Famous….

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…Sort of!

Rick made the cover of the University Of Vermont College of Medicine web page, highlighting his research and presentation at the ACP.

(Rick, sorry to embarrass you, but you’re my husband, and it’s my job!)

website

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Niagara Falls, NY

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On Memorial day, we drove back to Niagara Falls for a few hours…

parking at the falls

It was a site to behold!  I had never seen the falls and it was simply breath taking.

It didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect.

I felt so giddy being there.

You hear about Niagara Falls and wonder if it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

It is.

It’s truly remarkable.  I would make the drive back to see it again.

American Falls

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