First day of school!

August 17, 2009...Liam Arron, age eleven and Abigail Rose, age six. Sixth grade and first grade.

Snow white cake

I seem to have become the birthday cake baker for all our friends. This cake was requested by Liam's friend Kelsey for her early b-day party. It is a white chocolate cake with seven minute frosting.The cake was good and the frosting set up correctly this time, but together they were very sweet! I think chocolate frosting with this cake next time. We also had dinner with our friends, a big thanksgiving spread! I couldn't resist this pic of one of their puppies. This is Daisy, a St. Bernard, she is about 3 times the size of our dog and about 100 times more mellow!!

Pets

I like my little dog, but this is my kind of pet! Sourdough culture needs occasional feeding and regular use. A not too hot environment and clean utensils. The best part is, this pets by-products taste great! DeDolle Export culture 2.1

Fair time

I took the kids to the fair yesterday, where a good time was had by all! We didn't get rained on and it was a cool day so there was not a huge crowd. Had time for a few rides and some yummy junk food. Liam climbed the rock wall all the way to the top and really enjoyed the repel down. Abbie got to ride the ponies, her favorite! We listened to the 215th Army Band (the rock section) and admired some exhibits, especially the dolls and legos. It was a good day.

Big oven baking

We had pizza last night for dinner in the outside oven. After all the pizzas were done, I put in a marinated beef roast, bread and sweet potatoes. The oven was a little cool with all that stuff in there but everything got done eventually. The roast was about 4 pounds and took about an hour and a half to bake, the bread and potatoes about 45 minutes. There was lots of family still around so we had to try the fresh bread and roast for a late night snack. The smell of roast and toasty bread was a little too exciting for Liam and we had to hold him back!

Kids fishing

We had our last camping trip of the season last weekend :( We just went up to 40 mile Chena Hot Springs Rd., there is a nice spot where you can camp right on the rock beach. The weather was a little cool and smoky but we only had rain one night/morning so it was a nice trip. The fishing was great!! Liam pulled in the biggest Grayling anybody has seen in a long time and Abbie got to reel in a fish on her pole (with Mom's help). Definitely a successful last trip!

Blue food

Well maybe closer to purple? Had to make something with all those lovely blueberries! It is too hot and smoky to start the jam and syrup then canning process, so I made blueberry pound cake with this recipe. It is good but a little gummy-er than I would like. I think it is closer to a muffin than a cake. It still tastes like ripe Alaska blueberries so I am counting it as a success. (and the berries didn't sink!)