Trip to Cincinnati

Ryan had planned to do a bike race at Versailles State Park on Sunday, but it was canceled due to rain. So, we decided to head down to Cincinnati early. We got there around noon and got some bbq for lunch at Jim Dandy's BBQ. It was super good. Ryan thought they were the best ribs he's ever had.

We then headed to Kings Island for the day. We were a little worried when we saw how full the parking lot was, but it ended up not being too busy. The kids got to ride a lot of rides. The ride they were most exicted about was the Scooby-Doo Dark Ride. They've seen a few clips of Scooby-Doo on the computer and think it's pretty funny.

Ryan and I got to ride Kings Island's new coaster, Diamondback. It was awesome! Really smooth and lots of airtime, and we only had to wait in line for 25 minutes! We were able to all wait in line together and one of us would ride while the other stayed with the kids and then we swapped places. All in all it was a fun day.

We went for a quick swim in the morning at the hotel (another Priceline steal). We then headed to Ikea for breakfast. The kids ate all of their 99 cent breakfast and we headed out to pick up a few more things for the kitchen.




We had lunch at a really good Indian restaurant, Ambar India. Ryan and I were able to get our fill of spicy lentils. We then headed over to the Cincinnati Museum Center where we were able to get into the Museum of Natural History and Science for free with our local museum membership. The boys liked seeing the dinosaurs and other cool stuff.

Birthday fun

We had a fun time celebrating Brooks's birthday. After a breakfast of pancakes and bacon (haven't had that for awhile!) we headed to the blueberry patch to pick blueberries. Brooks had requested a blueberry pie for his birthday dessert.

We took him to lunch at Taco Rico, and his best friend Maggie came with us. Brooks loves Taco Rico, it's his favorite restaurant in town (Ryan and I love it too). We all chowed down on tacos.

After his nap, he played outside in the beach ball sprinkler. He had requested pasta for dinner. Brooks loves bell peppers, so I made Italian sausage and peppers over penne. After dinner we all watched "Cars" and ate blueberry pie. The boys loved the movie. They had seen part of it before, but not the whole thing. They got out their Lightning McQueen and Hudson Hornet and zoomed them along with the movie. Hudson seemed particularly amused that there was a car with his name.

Here's the recipes from the day. I have a heck of a time making pie crust. I finally found the perfect recipe for me! It doesn't even have to be rolled out, you just mix it all in the pie pan. It tasted great and even looked presentable.

No Roll Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a pie pan.
2. Make a well in the center and add the oil and milk.
3. Mix with a fork til it makes a ball.
4. Flatten and press into the pan in pie crust shape and flute the edge.
5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden.
6. One crust pie, excellent for cream pies and crumb topped baked pies.

I slightly modified the pasta recipe. I only had a half pound of Italian sausage. I used 5 bell peppers and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. We liked it with all the veggies and thought it tasted even better the next day.

Italian Pepper and Sausage Penne

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb Italian sausage, sweet and taken out of the casing (or ask the butcher for the ground sausage meat..it saves time)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 2 1/2 cups stewed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons romano cheese
• grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to sprinkle over finished dish
• top with a few fresh basil leaf
• 1 lb muti-flavored rotini noodles, cooked al dante

Directions

1. In a large,skillet brown the sausage until it is cooked through.
2. Drain the fat and drain the sausage on paper towels.
3. In the same pan heat your olive oil add and sauté the peppers, and onions, until the onion is translucent,then add the garlic and sauté gently but do not brown your garlic.
4. The vegetables should be tender.
5. Stir in the tomatoes, spices, Romano cheese and sausage.
6. Cover the pan and simmer all over a medium-low heat for 8-10 minute.
7. If your mixture seems too thick you can add a little water or red wine.
8. While the meat mixture is cooking, the pasta can be prepared as per directions.
9. The noodles first, then spoon the meat mixture over.
10. Mix slightly.
11. Sprinkle with the Parigiano-Reggiano and place your fresh basil leaves atop.

Happy Birthday Brooks!

Brooks is 4 today! He is such a sweet boy. He is always telling us that he loves us. His favorite things are playing legos, riding his bike, going for hikes, the weather, and trains. We are so blessed to have him as our son.

Woohoo!

Today was a great day. I now have running water in the kitchen! Ryan got everything all plumbed up today. My new dishwasher is currently running it's inaugural load. It is so quiet! Our old dishwasher was really loud and since the kitchen is open to the rest of the house it was bad. I also washed some dishes in the new sink. It is huge! I love it. Now onto the next decision, picking out a backsplash...

We took the boys to the county fair this morning. It was so chilly here that we had to wear jackets. We looked at all the tractors and animals. Brooks liked the roosters the best and Hudson liked the pigs. We ate some "fair food" for lunch. We had an elephant ear, pork burger, and a ribeye sandwich. It was all really yummy. We brought our friend Asa along and she had the first elephant ear of her life. She enjoyed it.

Baking on the grill

I baked a cake on the grill! I got the recipe from Weber's Big Book of Grilling. When I saw the recipe, I knew I had to try it before we got the kitchen back. I've been going through baking withdrawal. It's been a month now since the stove has been sitting in the living room.

The cake turned out good. I baked it in my big cast iron skillet (love that thing!). The edges got a little crispy (not burnt). It was really yummy with some coffee ice cream.

Chocolate Cake on the Grill

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 TB pure vanilla extract
1 TB cider vinegar

Directions
1. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a small bowl whisk together 1 cup water (room temp), eggs, oil, vanilla, and vinegar.
3. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir briskly until the batter is smooth, about 30 seconds.
4. Pour the batter into a greased cast iron skillet.
5. Grill over Indirect Medium, 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Remove from the grill and allow to cool in the pan on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.


These grilled potatoes are awesome. We devoured them. You could add whatever seasonings you want to go with what you're serving them with.

Grilled Potato Packets

Ingredients
4 potatoes, washed and dried
Garlic Powder
Seasoned Salt
Parmesan Cheese
Butter
Heavy-duty foil

Directions
1. Slice the potatoes. Place them on top of the foil.
2. Season with garlic powder and seasoned salt.
3. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dot with butter.
4. Close up the foil.
5. Grill on medium for 30 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

Recipes of the Week

I bought a lovely bunch of basil at Farmer's Market this past Saturday. Unfortunately our basil plant is not doing well. I had hoped to find a replacement plant at the market but no one had one. That huge bunch of basil made 2 batches of pesto and went into a corn salad. I liked this pesto recipe because it had walnuts and not pine nuts. I always have walnuts on hand. I froze most of the pesto. The best way to freeze it is to put it into an ice cube tray and then pop out the cubes into a freezer bag. The rest I've been mixing into mayo and we eat it on sandwiches.

Basil-Walnut Pesto

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed basil leaves (approx. 2 oz)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons softened butter (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Directions

1. Place basil, olive oil, walnuts, garlic and salt (if using) in food processor.
2. Blend until thoroughly combined.
3. Add Parmesan and butter (if using) and blend 5-10 seconds more.
4. Just before serving, add 2 Tbsp of hot pasta water from cooked pasta.
5. Serve over pasta with bread and salad.

This pork loin was excellent. We grilled it (of course!) and have been eating the leftovers all week. Brooks thought the rub was too spicy, so we cut the outside off for him. I'm making pulled pork for a party this weekend, so the leftover rub will be used on that.

Pork Loin with Dry Rub

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt or 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons dry ginger powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion salt
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 1 (3-4 lb) pork loin roast
• 10 fresh garlic cloves (can use more or less)
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. In a bowl stir together brown sugar, white sugar, black pepper, salt, ginger, garlic powder, onion salt, dry mustard, cayenne, cumin, paprika and crushed thyme.
2. Make small slits and stuff a garlic clove in the slit (do this all over the roast).
3. Rub the pork loin all over generously with olive oil then rub the roast all over with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup dry using your hands to rub in the spices (store the remaining rub tightly covered in a glass jar in refrigerator to use for the next time).
4. Cover the roast with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or up to 24 hours.
5. Place roast in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan.
6. Let the roast sit out at room temperature for a couple hours.
7. Roast uncovered at 350 degrees F until the internal temperature is 150°F the cooking time will vary depending on the size of your roast.
8. Remove and cover with foil, let stand for 20 minutes before slicing.
9. *NOTE* Store the remaining half of the spice rub in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 months.

2 Wheels

Brooks started riding the 2 wheeler last night! He did great, he rode all around our cul-de-sac. He is so excited about it.

A lazy Sunday afternoon

Isn't this how a Sunday afternoon should be spent? We met up with our friends after church and took a drive up to Monticello. The guys paddled the river in kayaks and the kids got to play outside. Afterwards we went to their house for a steak dinner (yum!) and the kids played some more. It was nice just to sit back and not have much to do.

On the way out of town, we swung by the house we rented during our first year of marriage. Remember this house? We were surprised to turn the corner and see that it wasn't green anymore! And it's for sale...maybe we should buy it for our weekend house? Ha ha.

Friday evening we all went to the gallery walk downtown. The boys liked walking around, looking at the art, and eating cookies. They also got to ride on the trolley (all Brooks really wanted to do) and hear some live music.

And the mandatory kitchen update...the fridge was delivered Friday afternoon. It's really nice, I love the adjustable bins on the door. Ryan installed cabinet pulls and I've moved some things in there.

Moving along

Things are getting done. The granite guys came this morning to measure for the countertops and they should start fabricating them next week. The faucet showed up when they were here (perfect timing) and the fridge will be delivered tomorrow. I finally settled on "the" granite yesterday morning. I bought the dishwasher, microwave, and garbage disposal last weekend. We sold our old microwave and dishwasher the other day. Phew! There is still a lot of work to be done, but it's lots of little things. Like putting the shelves in the cabinets and installing the knobs, etc... It will be nice to get the fridge out of the dining room though! Then we can try to sell it.

We took a break last night and went blueberry picking. The season just started here. It was perfect last night, cool and cloudy. The boys love to go blueberry picking. Brooks does a great job. Hudson still eats more than what goes into the bucket. We weren't out that long and ended up with 5 lbs. More than I thought! We could have gone longer, except we went before dinner and Ryan and I were hungry.

Wordless Wednesday

Cooking without a kichen

So you might be wondering how we are surviving without a kitchen. It's been interesting! No, we're not eating out all the time. In "normal" times we only eat out once a week. Since the kitchen remodel we've only upped that number to twice a week. We've been eating a lot of salads and sandwiches for lunch. We've been getting a little creative for dinners. Last Sunday I cooked a beef roast in the crockpot. We ate it on tostadas the first night. We made grilled quesadillas with it for 2 more dinners, and I had enough left to freeze for another meal sometime. We've been grilling a lot and the weather has been perfect for it.

Tex-Mex Beef

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs rump roast
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (4 ounce) can green chilies
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small bell pepper, chopped

Directions

1. Place first 6 ingredients in the crock pot.
2. Cook on low for about 8 hours.
3. Remove the roast from the crock pot & shred using 2 forks.
4. Put the shredded roast in a serving bowl and add enough of the remaining crock pot sauce to moisten.

Cabinets!

They are not all installed yet, but Ryan's been busy!

The top holes were the tops of the old cabinets. The new ones are really tall, 39" compared to 30".

Wordless Wednesday