ISLAGIATT (pronounced is-lah-gee-aht)

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time, my dad came up with the acronym (or whatever you want to call it). And it did seem like a good idea at the time, create a blog & write updates regularly-no big deal, easy. WRONG. Exactly where in my life am I supposed to find time to write a creative & well edited post about my family & life? For instance, right now I'm sitting at the table while my two year old eats her cereal which consists of a milky fistful of cheerios stuffed in her mouth while she draws with the spoon on the table. She actually does quite well using a spoon, fork & knife but sometimes nothing will get her to use them, instead opting to shovel food by the fistful in to her mouth (she has wonderful manners when she chooses to use them). So after the half hour to an hour it takes to consume breakfast then its time to get dressed. Me, I can throw on any old shirt & a pair of jeans, five minutes. Emma, half a dozen dresses & 20 minutes later we might actually have made a choice (it will take that long anyway to get her dressed so why not let her pick out what she wants to wear & avoid the screaming). Somewhere in all of this Liam will wake up & he will be hungry, very hungry. So we might actually walk out the door by 10 am to do all the errands that need accomplishing now that we fixed the car (trying to repair your own car & keep an eye on 2 kids requires ingenuity, take the car seats out of the car & strap the kids in them on the lawn. More on that later). So once we're actually in the car its off to the grocery store(s), library, to find shoes for Liam, a stop by the church bookstore to look at temple dresses (soon, very soon we will be going to the temple to have our family sealed), probably grab lunch on the run somewhere along the way, & the kids may or may not get a nap (that always makes for a more interesting day). Once we get back home its time to make banana & zucchini bread (separate loafs, that would be an odd combination), fix dinner, family home evening, get the kids in bed absolutely no later than 8 pm, & then finally relax. Of course at some point during the day something will probably go awry.

And that's all I have time for folks, Emma's done eating breakfast, Liam is still sleeping :) *correction: Liam just woke up, I didn't get enough sleep last night (my own fault) & we're off to attack our day. Wish me luck, its already starting to get a little crazy.

Don't drink, don't smoke, What do ya do? (sorry, I've been singing that for 2 days & its stuck in my head)

Home canning, this year I have made my first foray in to home canning with relative success. Armies of apricots marched on to the chopping block to the beat of my domestic drum, pitted, halved, packed with juice they were canned in to 13 quarts of golden, delicious, summer.

Chopped & simmered, lightly flavor with a tiny dash of spice, they were jammed (only it came out more like syrup but it is still absolutely heavenly).

Pureed & boiled, then poured on to baking sheets & dried making a scrumptious fruit leather. Yet more halves, in to the dehydrator they went, resulting in luscious dried apricots good for snacking on.



I tried my hand at pressure canning meat, only 2 quarts just in case I didn't get it right. One sealed beautifully & now the chicken is sitting on my shelf awaiting whatever recipe it may become, the other didn't seal & was soon made in to a lovely enchilada pie.

I'm converted to the joys of home canning, I shall never buy canned goods again (well, not quite, but a girl can dream).

Its beautiful

If I do say so myself. I found a handy dandy little tutorial with some HTML script to copy & paste so I could make the background of my blog be this lovely cherry blossom pic that I photoshopped with paint.NET (a lovely FREE :) photoshop copycat).

Monkey Mama

I am in the process of making another monkey, this time a boy monkey. I found the original pattern at mmmcrafts which I used to make Emma's monkey.




So now its back to the sewing machine :-)

FAA Fridays...

of the food addicted variety, not airplanes.

Disclaimer: this is in no way intended to treat food addictions, as a matter of fact anyone with a food addiction should stop reading right now because I don't want to to be responsible for enabling you in your addiction.

I am not a food addict, at least I don't think so...hmm, denial? Anyway, I love food & love cooking but with 2 under two (mommies know what that means) I don't often do gourmet. I really can't justify blogging about PB&J or tuna sandwiches (unless I create a stupendous new sandwich that out does any sandwich heretofore created) so instead I will tempt you with a tasty snack.

Guac...hee hee, it sounds so funny when you just say guac instead of guacamole. I LOVE avocados, therefore I love guacamole & have decided the only guacamole worth eating is of the homemade variety. First off, picking the right avocados is key. When I go to the farmer's market I always buy 5 avocados because they give you a deal if you buy 5 but I that usually leaves me with avocados getting soft faster than I can eat them. Solution, 2 avocados & a tomato plus a little garlic & some onion turns in to a gorgeous guacamole with very little prep & a few minutes in the food processor.

Basic Guacamole

2 ripe, soft avocados (skin color is not an indication of ripeness. squeeze gently to see if the whole avocado is soft, squishy spots on an otherwise firm avocado are bruises & usually indicate brown blemishes under the skin.)

1 medium tomato (tomatoes have the best flavor if they are not refrigerated, pick them fresh or buy them on the vine & store on your counter if you can)

onion (one small onion or 1/2 of a medium onion)

1 or 2 cloves of garlic depending on how much you like

salt to taste

3 tsp lime juice (keeps the guac green & pretty while adding a hint of flavor)

Quarter the tomato & onion, coarsely chop the garlic, and pulse together in the food processor until you have something that resembles pico de gallo (in other words well diced but not pureed). Set the tomato, garlic & onion aside in a bowl for a moment. Cut the avocados in half & remove the pit. Peel the avocado halves and then cut in to chunks (cutting in to chunks isn't necessary but it speeds up the blending in the food processor). Puree the avocado chunks & lime juice in the food processor. Then add the salt to taste. Finally mix in some of the tomato, garlic & onion that was set aside. Depending on your personal preferences, you might only use a tablespoon or two of the tomatoes, garlic & onions or you might mix it all in (that's what I do). If you have tomatoes, garlic & onion left chop a bit of cilantro, toss it in & you have pico de gallo salsa to go with the gauc. Voila, from "hmm, some guacamole & chips sounds tasty" to eating it in 5-10 minutes flat (10 minutes accounts for the various interruptions by kids).


not, the best picture but you get the idea :-)

Happy munching.

Cold Chocolate

As much as we love hot chocolate, we also love cold chocolate...ice cold chocolate...the best ever chocolate ice cream...mmm...Haagen Daz 5 chocolate ice cream. To live for, die for, be resurrected for :-) Irreverence aside, it really is the best chocolate ice cream I've ever had & I'm generally not a big fan of chocolate ice cream. It only has five ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, eggs, chocolate. Which results in a gorgeous creamy rich chocolaty flavor & a wonderful smooth texture. Its my new addiction :-P and now I really want some...guess I better get the kids in the stroller & walk over to the store.



















Do you want one? Get one, you'll love it...it's the perfect medicine for a chocoholic ;-)

World's Worst Blogger...Ever...

That's me, or at least I think it should be me. For as good a writer as I consider myself to be, I am a terrible blogger. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm also terrible at keeping a journal.

BUT... I have a game plan now :-) So the next couple weeks should show some improvement in the frequency & quality of posts.