Squash Bread, Etc.

Our friends who have a garden were super generous and gave us two HUGE zucchini and summer squash. So I thought I would make some bread. The first batch of zucchini bread was pretty good but not something to write home about. The squash bread however was really tasty! Now, I have to admit that before I received this squash I never even knew squash bread existed. Hopefully I'm not the only one?! Maybe I am...all well. Anyways, here is the recipe if you have some squash laying around :)

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 cups shredded summer squash

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 9x13 baking dish. I used a smaller dish and split into 2 loaves.
• In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs until fluffy. Beat in the sugar, oil and vanilla. Gradually mix in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold in the squash. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
• Bake about 45 min in the oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 

In other news, I bought a milk frother!! I understand that this news may not be quite as exciting to others, however I have wanted one for about a year now so the long wait is over. We have been enjoying our coffee a little more fancy these days. 

 We have had quite the rain storm this weekend

Louie has taken up Italian in his spare time

 Squash bread & coffee

Having fun with the duck dynasty app!

 

You guys, yesterday I actually pulled off a prank! It was SO fun. In the late afternoon I went to the local drug store to pick up some essentials and I decided to wander down the halloween isle just to see what kind of decor they had. I came across this hideous looking rat. It had two big teeth coming out and gross long tail. I immediately thought, oh, I wonder if I could get Brian with this. I decided to buy it. When checking out the guy laughed just looking at this rat and I told him my plan to play a prank on my husband and he laughed even harder and told me to put it on Youtube. Well, I'm not that cruel. hehe So I got home and put it strategically in his underwear drawer and actually forgot about it. When he got home and was going through his drawer I heard him yell "AAAHHH!" I came running into the room laughing and still in disbelief that I actually pulled it off. Then I kindly reminded him of when he did the exact same thing to me about 3 years ago :)

 

What's For Dinner

I have started watching The Sopranos from the very beginning last night and since then I have had a craving for what else...pasta of course! Some good, old fashioned bolognese. So I am cracking open this cook book that I have had for a couple years now and knew I would find just what I was looking for. 

Simple Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 1 carrot, minced
• 1 lb ground beef chuck
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium flame. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion is very tender, about 8 minutes. 
• Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. 
• Increase the heat to high, add the ground beef, and saute until the meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil and 1/2 tsp each of the salt and pepper, and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. 
• Stir in the cheese, then season with more salt and pepper to taste. 

 

Somehow over the coarse of living up here in Washington Brian and I have managed to become football fans. More specifically, Seahawks fans. I suppose it's not so much for the football but more about sharing the fun experience and the comraderie. And boy there are a lot of Seahawks fans here in this city! So today we ventured out to a sports bar and watched the game, ate chicken wings and nachos and drank beer. America! :)

Vegas Baby!

This last weekend I went to Vegas for my dear friend Kristy's bachelorette party. I believe there is no place more cliche for such an event and it sure didn't disappoint. But most of all I was just so overjoyed to spend time with some of my best girls! A few things I took away from this trip...

1. I MISS MY FRIENDS

2. I MISS MY FRIENDS :)

3. If I become rich one day I will build a lazy river in my backyard and float in circles for hours

Welcome Big Louie!

On Thursday afternoon I decided it was time to welcome another cat into our house. It has been about a month since we lost Olive and I was finally feeling ready. To be honest I was a tad nervous going through this whole process again thinking about all the what ifs...what if he/she doesn't use the litterbox? What if he/she doesn't like us after all? What if he/she attacks us randomly? That would be my nightmare. But I couldn't let those silly fears stop me. So I headed to the humane society and hoped I would find my match. Once in the building I immediately was overwhelmed with a smell. I guess that's how all shelters smell? Kind of like a mixture of animal and barnyard. I filled out the paperwork and had a small interview with one of the girls and was told I can look around. She said as much as I would like to choose the cat, they mostly choose you and you'll know when you have found your cat. So I headed to the "rooms" where they were housed. Each room was about the size of a small walk in closet that had about 6 cats so it was pretty crowded. I went in the first room with no luck. Second and third room, the same. The fifth room housed all the special needs kitties...special dietary restrictions, kitty aids, etc.. As much as I would love to take home one of those kitties I knew I couldn't because of financial reasons. So I was feeling discouraged but saw I had one last room to look into. There was a volunteer in there and I was just watching from outside at what he was doing. I see him pull out this huge, mangy looking cat from the enclosed litterbox. He was obviously frightened and did not want to be pried out of his safe space. Not to mention I saw he had some poop stuck to his butt. Immediately I was a little turned off just by the looks and energy of him. The volunteer, Justin I think his name was, stuck the cat on the couch next to him and tried to get him to eat something. He then said that this cat was his favorite, all he wanted to do was be loved on and how well tempered he is. I was a little taken aback, like, really?? This cat?? So he said to come in and sit on the couch next to him and see if I like him. Immediately when I sat down he came up to me and rubbed and forced me to pet him. I fell in love. Once again I was forced out of my comfort zone because I went in with the intentions of returning with another small female cat similar to Olive and this cat was completely the opposite! Huge and male. So I asked the volunteer if he has been seen recently by the vet and is he all up to date health wise. The vet came in, mentioned that he hasn't been eating anything since his arrival and that the best thing would be to take him home and get some food in him. The environment was obviously too stressful for him, he is not eating and also being bullied by one of the other cats. So I said, "I'll take him!" Immediately I was thinking, oh crikey, did I make the right decision? Well, I'll just have to find out. It's been two days and he is slowly but surely warming up to us and feeling more comfortable in our house. He has done quite a bit of sleeping and hiding but I can imagine that he's making up for lost time. When he feels comfortable to hang with us all he wants to do is love. I know once he is fully adjusted he will be such a happy kitty and I will have a companion again. On a side note, he originally came with the name Bailey but I felt Louie was more fitting.

Louie Lafferty

17 lbs

7 1/2 years old

All Boy