Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Buttery Carrots and Green Beans with Dill and Parsley

While we were away on holidays our garden just exploded with yumminess......


What a treat to come home to!

This dish came about as a result of a craving for butter and garlic, that coincided with dinner time ;)  We've loved it so much that we have made it over and over again nearly every day since then!  You can switch it up a little - I've since made it with leeks instead of garlic.  Sometimes left out the carrots, or alternately the beans.   It's pretty basic and simple, but not really a combination I'd made before, and I figure that if we love it so much then some of you might too :)



Gather up the freshest green beans and carrots you can find - as much as you need.

A whole head of garlic - less if you don't love garlic like I do ;)

a good handful of fresh parsley

another handful of dill.

butter.

Chicken stock if you have it - otherwise water is fine.



Chop your garlic.  Heat up a frying pan, on medium heat,  and add a nice big blob of butter - more or less depending on how much you love butter ;)  I love butter - it was a good sized blob - maybe 2 tablespoons for a whole fry pan full.  Add the garlic and cook just a little.

Toss in all the carrots, and pour in a little chicken stock, or water.  Put on a lid and cook until they are about half done.

Then add the beans, and cook until tender.

Now all you have to do is stir in the dill and parsley, add salt to taste, and Voila!  You're done.

Prepare to be delighted :)









Tuesday, August 30, 2011


We stopped at many skate parks on our trip - this one was my favorite - Burnside Park in Portland Oregon.  It was my favorite for the lovely light ;)  It wasn't my husband's favorite, but guess where I took the most pictures?


Light like this makes me giddy.  Really.


That would be the scientist slash climber ;)  Right before I made him come down - he was just about to go higher!



The girls had mucho fun sliding down the not busy parts of the park :)


And well it was just so cool - Little Miss A was chillin ;)


OMG they are adorable!


I figure you can judge how much fun a kid has had by how dirty they end up ;)



My husband is such a dude.



                                                                              Peek!



Saturday, August 27, 2011

Liquid Gold

I didn't just chase sunsets ;)  I also chased the lovely warm golden glowy light that comes before ;)  We just don't get quite the same kind of light in the mountains I find.

These were taken in Morro Bay California.  *LOVED* this beach!  It was big and beautiful and hardly anyone was there most of the times we went!  Heavenly.








Oh just wait until you see how many shots I've got of my kids mid-air!  Oh my!  Jumping off of sand dunes was a fave of all except the more cautious Big Miss A ;)  I wouldn't call little miss A cautious tho ;)  On the contrary - she had a close call when she hurled herself off a rock into the water, expecting that I would read her mind and catch her from 10 feet away!  That was one very scary moment for all involved!  A reminder of just how quickly a fun activity like swimming can turn tragedy.  Needless to say there is a firm eye glued to this little adventurer ;)

Friday, August 26, 2011

We're back!

We just got back from our first family vacation in 5 years :)  We drove to San Luis Obispo to take my scientist to the Super Charged Science Camp.  It was amazing and I highly recommend taking a peek at their site - they offer some pretty amazing science offerings for kids of all ages.  I'm pretty sure there is nothing like it anywhere.

I have several thousand photos to sort through and edit, and several grandparents that I know are dying to see photos, since I've been a terrible blogger lately and haven't put anything up!  I'm going to ignore my urge to finish with all the sorting and editing and just start posting!

Today you get to see some sunset shots!  I'm pretty sure that sunsets on the beach were the part I was most looking forward to, and my favorite part of the trip!  We just don't get that kind of sunset where we live - too many mountains in the way.  I definitely made the most of it, and being on the beach at sunset was high priority!  I can't promise this is all of them either ;)