Faith, Family, Food and Fun: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

It’s the Redneck Yacht Club!!!

Fun with Longtime Friends!

There’s nothing like a week of vacation with friends! We spent the week with Erik and Kelly and their boys Aaron, Aidan and Adam. We had such a great time! Relaxing, eating, drinking, and oh my goodness the laughing we did! It’s what every vacation should be!

Adam enjoyed his time on the raft!

And with his “Rach”

Ethan, Adam, Aaron and Rachel. We’re missing Aidan in this picture because he was busy.

Fishing.

So were Erik and Ron

GREAT looking bluegill, Aidan!

Rachel fished a bit, too!

Hmmm…I think the guys are on vacation here…what do you think?

Ethan and Kelly watch the person on the tube in case they fall off.

Pure JOY!

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE summer???

Aaron’s turn

Isn’t she lovely????

One of our BIGGEST (notice I said ONE) laughs of the week came when Erik hit a wake and Rachel went SOARING into the air and out of the tube. We call her “Grace”. Of course…she takes after her father who got THE biggest laugh of the week when he stepped onto the “raft” and just slid right off (VERY ungracefully) the other side and into the water!

back to fishing…

and relaxing…

and fishing…

and noodle fights!

Ahhhh…..vacation…

Thanks, Erik and Kelly, for a great week! Can’t wait til next time!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

A new family favorite! I had a few people ask for the recipe…it was pretty easy, and everyone LOVED it!

First, I made the crust. You can use any kind of crust you want..homemade, store purchased…frozen bread dough…

This was a new crust recipe for us and it got rave reviews and everyone asked for me to make it again.

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-2 t. garlic powder for flavor if desired

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Stir the salt and oil (and garlic powder) into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.
Turn dough out onto a clean, well floured surface, and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Allow the dough to relax for a minute before rolling out. Use for your favorite pizza recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). If you are baking the dough on a pizza stone, you may place your toppings on the dough, and bake immediately. If you are baking your pizza in a pan, lightly oil the pan, and let the dough rise for 15 or 20 minutes before topping and baking it.
Bake pizza in preheated oven, until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the dough was rising for that hour, I grilled (but you can cook them any way you want) 3 chicken breasts, and then chopped them up. (Some shred the chicken, but I like it chopped, better) I poured in a bottle of Hot Wing sauce (or you can use tobasco sauce and a bit of melted butter) until it was nice and wet and saucy.

I rolled out the dough and baked it for 5-7 minutes first.

Then topped it with a generous few squirts of ranch dressing. (Some use bleu cheese dressing, but I knew my family would prefer the ranch…it was GREAT!)

spread it around, getting as close to the edges as you can.

Next, I topped it with the chicken/buffalo sauce mixture (thanks, Ethan, for taking the picture…my hands were kinda yucky to be messing with my camera!)

Top with a handful or two of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses and bake for another 10-12 minutes.

mmmmm….mmmmmm…..YUM!

I made three of these…and we didn’t have much left over!

In the Good Ole Summertime

Here are some things that have happened around our house this summer…

Rachel spent LOTS of time like this…with an open book…she is devouring them!

she’s “babysitting” the guinea pigs in the shade outside…waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver their bedding. She started changing them and realized too late that we were out. A quick check online told us that it was on the way! Whew…

my lovely impatients!

and Cameron made brownies…mmmmmm….

Friday, July 24, 2009

Meeting Old Friends

It sounds a little weird to say “meeting” and “old friends” together, but it is really what has happened a couple of times this summer. I got to meet two friends that I’ve only “met” online. Both were in the area for a day, and I was able to have lunch and face to face conversation with them. We’ve been email friends for 5-7 years. It was just like sitting down with an old friend that I’ve known forever. The visits were way too short and I can’t wait to see them again! Now it is my turn to travel to Oregon and Colorado!

Terry and I (and Rachel and some of Terry’s family) met for lunch at a YUMMY Mexican restaurant in New Hampton. What a great few hours we shared!

Just a week or so later, I (and Rachel and Ethan) drove to Iowa City to meet Jan (And Anthony and Angie) at Hu Hot…one of my favorite restaurants. What a GREAT visit we had!

our kids didn’t hit it off at all…(HA!) Angie is the daughter of Jan’s best friend and another of my online friends, Lyn. Lyn couldn’t make this trip, but we were sure glad to meet Angie!