Let's confess

It's time for a short confessional...

I usually get around to my blog in the evening while I'm a couch potato watching some quality programming on Bravo OR while I'm in my PJ's, lying in bed, fighting off the urge to go to sleep. In either of these scenarios there is inherent risk of making some kind of err or other brain fart within my post. I would like to solicit the help of my loyal readers to let me know if you find an err. For all the English guru's, I really don't need to know if I made a grammatical error- I'm talking about  mixing up the facts. Facts are important.

So there we have it. Now onto some cheese...

I made these Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas last week. Kaity made these for a girls night a couple months ago and I wanted to try them. It's a Tyler Florence recipe, which I made with flour tortillas rather than corn. Overall. I think this a great, quick, easy meal, however you can tell that it's made using lots of canned goods rather than the fresh stuff. I definitely recommend using less of the chipotle chili in adobo sauce than the recipe calls for.. it is SPICY!

Ross made some Rick Bayless cilantro lime rice to go with the Enchiladas.

It's FRIDAY!!!!

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4175

We're back in Anchorage after a whirlwind trip to Texas for Paw Paw's funeral.

Here's a fun trivia fact: it's 4175 miles from Houston, TX to Anchorage, AK. It's hard to believe that there's a group that bikes almost that same distance!

We survived the layovers, crying babies, stuffy planes, passengers who don't understand the "1 carry on Rule", the toddler that kicks the seat, and the long jetway lines because no one wants to pay to check bags.  Whew. Good thing I had a new iPad to keep me patient and occupied :) The earplugs also helped.

Despite the typical traveling woes, it was all worth it and we'd do it over again. We were definitely in the right place the last couple days.

And we arrived home to this:

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Paw Paw

We made a VERY last minute trip to Texas because Ross's Paw Paw passed away over the weekend. The funeral was bittersweet: Lots if sadness about his death, but such happiness in celebration of his life.. It was so nice to see all the family, even if for a short period of time. Mr. Fred MacDonald you will be missed!

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Many Birthdays

I like to stretch my Birthday out across multiple days. Who doesn't right??

Birthday #1: Mom makes me my perfect cake before she leaves Alaska. Sprinkles, Sprinkles Everywhere. Yellow cake + Vanilla Buttercream + Strawberry Jam in between layers.

Birthday #2: Dinner/Drinks/Shopping with Brittany... Alaska King Crab takes me to a happy place.

Birthday #3: Dinner cooked by Ross. Grapefruit salad for appetizer, filet mignon smeared with goat cheese and a roasted red pepper sauce, Parmesan roasted garlic mashed potatoes and Dorie's chocolate lava cakes for dessert.

Thank you Everyone!

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Minus 10 inches!

Welp, I did it...

I got 10 inches cut off my hair!!

The salon sent my "ponytail" to the organization "Locks for Love" to help out kiddos who are in need of a wig and can't otherwise afford it.

I feel like I just lost 5 lbs. I love it :)

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Termination Dust

We have heard a couple folks talk about "Termination Dust" on the mountains recently. Being naive new Alaskans we had to inquire about this odd phrase, which refers to the first light dusting of snow on the peaks of the mountains. It's a signal that summer has ended and winter is on it's way. You can actually see the snow marching it's way down the mountains now. In a couple of weeks I'm guessing we'll have our first snow of the season. I can't say I'm ready for winter to be over just yet.

I found THIS funky website about Alaska slang words, worth a look if you plan on visiting! When I was looking through the words a couple of them gave me a good laugh, the first time I heard them I had no idea what they meant. Oh my. We've come so far (literally) in 10 months!

We won't be able to hike for too much longer this season... it's been my favorite Alaska pastime too. Bums :(

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Flattop Views

This evening seemed to fly by! We watched part of a horribly, awful movie called "The Next 3 Days" featuring Russell Crowe. Not good, marginal at best.  (You know it's bad when you choose to fold laundry over watching a movie). In other milestones for the evening, I mended a shirt. Err, you WHAT? Yep, I MENDED a shirt, complete with needle and thread. Be impressed- it doesn't happen often.

I have to wake up for boot camp early in the morning and I'm tuckered out, so this is a short post. I'll leave you with a beautiful picture from our hike up Flat Top... more pictures to come!

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Crafts and Football

Football has a way of dominating weekends. Between the Saturday college games and the Sunday/Monday NFL games, it can be difficult for a girl to watch her Bravo TV staples- such as Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Sheesh, good thing we got a DVR!

Jolin and I decided to have do some crafting while the boys were watching football and tallying whose Fantasy Football team might be ahead.

Enter Fumpkins!

Are you scared yet? :)

We each got to decorate 2 Fumpkins, which are made of some kind of super strong styrofoam and never rot!

The Fumpkin says "Huebel" and even has a battery powered light that flickers inside.

Ross smoked a brisket all day long. It paid off. Delish!

Add some chopped up beef to the beans and whellla, best baked beans ever!

No mayo, spicy coleslaw from the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated.

Followed up with some cookie decorating. Jolin and I frosted footballs, pumpkins, Texas's, longhorns, and hearts.  Jolin wrote a couple surprise messages on the cookies, not all blog appropriate- but definitely made me laugh!

So much fun, when's the next football game??! :)

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Squeaky Toys

It was a nice, relaxing weekend for us... I really love waking up withOUT an alarm :)

Ross was busy tending to smoking a brisket (basting every 30 minutes), so Roma and I went to run some errands.  One of our stops was Petco, where Roma picked out 2 new toys. It just so happens that one of these toys was a squeaky toy. HA. When we got home Roma wanted to show Ross her new toy, but Ross was trying to take a nap. SOO, Ross took away the squeaky toy and Roma thought it was the beginning of a new game. Fun ensued. The worst part about noisy toy ownership BY FAR, is when you step on it in the middle of the night. adlkfjalsfkl! It will scare the bejesus out of you every time, never fail.

On a separate note, Kirsty made biscuits for her dogs bday and brought some for the Roma pup too.

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Taste of India

We have an upcoming trip to Seattle and Vancouver with friends Kaity and Hunter. Seeing that we hadn't done any planning, we decided to do some brainstorming over dinner and drinks. Genius right? We started our discussions on the right foot with some INDIAN food. We had Beef Curry over rice, a Zucchini Salad, homemade naan and raita followed up with apple crisp.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Lime Juice, Red Chile, and Peanuts

Homemade Naan. The oven method worked surprisingly well.

Beef Vindaloo

White rice soaked up the beef vindaloo gravy quite nicely. The fresh, HOT Naan was excellent when dipped into the cool, refreshing Raita (a cucumber yogurt salad). Traditionally, Naan is cooked on a hot skillet or on the inside of a tagine, however the oven method worked surprisingly well. I recommend heating your cookie sheet up to temperature before putting the dough on it.   If you like zucchini and some spice, I definitely suggest trying the zucchini salad.

Kaity has recently discovered her green thumb. She bought a new house and decided to breathe life into the empty gardens in the backyard. A couple months later and YOU SHOULD SEE HER GARDENS NOW! They're fully stocked with lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, etc. I'm so jealous. This is a stark personal reminder that I couldn't even keep my two beautiful potted plants alive. Some people have just the right amount of TLC to produce a backyard farmers market and Kaity happens to be one of those people.  I'm grateful that I live right down the street because sometimes there's just an overflow...

Kaity and HER carrots!

 

Kaity planted seeds for the pumpkin-shaped carrots and ended up with a mix. Gardening is full of surprises.

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Blueberry Hill Views

We took a spur of the moment, after dinner trip to Blueberry Hill so a) Mom could check out the best Anchorage city views and b) we could all digest our Moose's Tooth pizza. Have I mentioned that Roma loves hiking?

Woof!

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Exposure Trick

Proper exposure can be really tricky when shooting outdoor pictures. When I'm quickly trying to get an action shot, I often don't have time to think about the "optimum balance" between a dark subject and I bright sky. Rather, I select a shutter speed and take two pictures, one focused on the subject and the other focused on the background. Then, I import into Photoshop and try to play around with the original. However, it is really really difficult to do any post-editing to an over-exposed picture. Under-exposed is workable. So, sometimes I have to merge photographs. Take a look...

Over-exposed sky, good looking pup.

Good looking sky, blurry/dark pup.

So, I decided to combine the 2 pictures and boost the colors. Viola!

Beautiful overcast sky AND a clear, properly exposed pup.

Sometimes I get a slight halo effect around the subject when after merging photos, so I like to add a photo effect to even things out. Which is your favorite?

Colorized.

Sunny Pop.

B&W.

It's so easy to lose track of time when editing pictures! Sometimes I just can't decide on a favorite, so Roma helps me pick... :)

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Parents in Alaska

Mom and Dad's summer trip to Alaska has come to an end, but we had a great time over the past week. Here's a quick re-cap...

Date Night: We got dressed up and went out for a night on the town, which included a trip to the museum, fancy drinks at a trendy bar, and dinner at Muse.

Roasted Duck with Risotto.

Filet Mignon and mashed potatoes.

Denali: We stopped at the North-side Denali overlook on our drive back from the cabin, but Denali didn't want to come out from behind the clouds. So it goes. Oh well, it was still beautiful

Hike: We took the parents to Alyeska Ski Resort thinking they would take the ski lift to the top of the mountain and meet us up there. Nope. They hiked the whole way to the top!!

Mom & Dad making their way up the switch backs.

Top of the mountain hooray-- it was cloudy but still had nice views. It's always odd when you see an airplane flying BELOW you!

Our post-hike treat. The BEST sweet potato fries (with cilantro jalapeno aoli) I've ever had.

Love the parents!

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