While in Branson, MO, this weekend we went to Silver Dollar City. We had so much fun. If you haven’t been to Silver Dollar City in a while, you need to go back soon. They just opened up a Culinary Craft School. It is amazing but you have to pay $10 extra to book a spot. It is basically a cooking show where everyone gets to taste the final product. Despite the fact that I only went home with two new recipes, I will definitely take another class at the Culinary Craft School. It was fun to sit in a brand new gourmet kitchen and watch food be made.
One of the recipes that was demonstrated while we were there was this Apple Salad. I have made it TWICE since getting back.
Ingredients:
7-8 apples (I used Gala)
1 can crushed pineapple
1/3 bag small marshmallows
Nuts (I like Walnuts)
*optional* cut up orange slices
1 cup fat free half and half, give or take
small container of light cool whip
Directions:
Drain can of pineapple into large bowl and fill the bowl up half way with water.
Cut up all the apples in to small pieces and place in bowl with pineapple juice.
In another large bowl, whip up cool whip, crushed pineapple, and half and half.
Stir in nuts and orange slices.
Add apple pieces, stir, and store in fridge for up to a week.
Notes:
The orange slices make this salad really sweet. I would prefer the salad without them, but my husband likes them added. The teacher at the culinary craft school said that she adds different types of candy depending on the holiday. Orange slices are good for Halloween, etc…
Filed under: Food, Holiday, Travel on October 2nd, 2008 | 1 Comment »
I love looking through my pictures of the places I have been. Looking at old trip photos is like taking a trip through memory lane. I love it. Here is a church in Tulfus, Austria that was right behind our hotel. The fog is beautiful but it is covering up the Austrian Alps. Tulfus is much like Oberammergau with flowers in every windowsill, firewood stacked everywhere, and country charm. Our hotel, Gasthof Neuwirt, was so beautiful. It was complete with murals and flowers gracing the windows on the outside and Bavarian hospitality on the inside. There was a picturesque church next to the hotel complete with a bell tower. It was so romantic. There were two dairy farms situated on either side of the hotel. We got to tour one of these two dairy operations. It was so interesting. Tulfus is about 15mins from Innsbruck.
Here is another picture from Austria. This is Salzburg, Austria. The amazing part….do you see it? No tourists in my picture… We went in October and it was a good time to go if you don’t want to fight with a whole lot of tourist traffic. In the top right of the picture is the castle of Salzburg, Hohensalzburg Fortress. My mom and I didn’t tour it. I think we missed out to shop. How sad is that? We both ended up getting scarves. Now I wish I would have toured it with the group.
Filed under: Travel on October 1st, 2008 | No Comments »
Every once in a while I get a hankering for Thai food. Why? Who knows…considering I am a farm girl from Kansas. Anyway, when this rare craving gets the best of me, I make my husband take me to Lanna Thai on Memorial and 71st. It doesn’t look like much on the outside, but the inside is large and nice. It is cleaner than most Asia eateries and boasts live music on weekends. We have never been for the music, but I have heard that it is good. Usually I order fried rice but this time I ordered Pad Thai. It was wonderful. The portions are huge, the food is great, the service is good, and the bathrooms are always clean (at least when I have been there). What more could one want??
Filed under: Food on September 29th, 2008 | No Comments »
Our friends have the most adorable new little Pomeranian puppy named Lea. We get to puppysit on weekends while they go to the OSU games. She got tired while she was here last time and walked into Sophie’s kennel and laid down for a nap. Sophie, in turn, climbed into Lea’s bed. How cute is that??
Filed under: Animals, Friends, Sophie on September 29th, 2008 | No Comments »
Last night at Walmart I was picking up a few items including cantaloupe and honeydew when I spotted something I had never seen before. It was beside the cantaloupe and honeydew melons and was labeled as a Juan Canary Melon. It was a bright yellow melon that was larger than both the honeydew melons and the cantaloupe that surrounded it.
forums.gardenweb.com
Always ready to try something new, I plopped it in my cart. At home I cut the melon open exactly like a honeydew. To my delight the melon smelled amazing. It smelled very sweet like a ripe cantaloupe but the coloring looked more like a honeydew. I cut it up and tasted it…I must have gotten one that was the perfect ripeness because it smelled delicious and was very very tasty.
What have you tried recently that you have never tried before??
Filed under: Uncategorized on August 7th, 2008 | No Comments »
After going through our finances two too many times and finding our “Snack” category in excess of $200/month on Quicken, I set out to do something about it. Any type of coffee drink, soda type drink, or food snacks are categorized as “Snacks” in our budget. The majority of our “snacks” were non-fat mochas and Frappuccinos at Starbucks. I am not proud of this at all!! Anyway, I talked to my husband about it and he agreed that this was not an acceptable way to spend our money so we needed to make some adjustments. I said I could do without Starbucks, but the hubby said he didn’t want to give it up completely. SO ~ I started researching espresso machines. After my research we decided to buy at Starbucks Sirena Espresso Machine.
As you can see this is a very nice looking machine. That is probably due to the fact that it was designed by BMW. A whole website is devoted to the consumer use of the machine. After getting the machine home, taking it out of the package, and setting it up, I realized that the dang thing didn’t work. So, I had to take it back to Starbucks. By this time, I didn’t know if I even wanted another espresso machine. But then I thought about my husband and decided I better go ahead and get another one. So, I traded the Sirena for a Via Venezia (below) both made by Saeco. After using my new Via Venezia with ease for the past couple of months, I can honestly say that it has already paid for itself. Our “Snack” category is almost a ghost category now and the lattes we are making at home are better than those from Starbucks. AND best of all, we don’t have to drive anywhere to get one.
Here is how I make a shot of espresso:
- Plug in machine and make sure the water tank is full
- Turn the espresso machine on and wait until the shot button is illuminated
- When the button is illuminated, press the shot button and let a small amount of hot water flow out to prime the portafilter. Press the shot button again to stop the flow of water.
- Remove the portafilter. Insert 7 grams of finely ground coffee for each shot of espresso you would like to make. So, for two shots use 14 grams of finely ground coffee. Coffee pods can be used instead of ground coffee.
- Tap the espresso to compact it in the portafilter and place portafilter back on the machine.
- Press the shot button until the shot glasses are 3/4 full and press the shot button again.
- Voila - fresh espresso made at home
To Make a Latte simply follow the instructions above, steam your milk with the steam wand, and add the syrups you like to sweeten. We like to dink plain lattes with no sweetener.
Cleaning the Via Venezia is a snap once you have done it 5-10 times! 
**I wrote this blog before we had some friends over for supper the other night. My husband decided to make some espresso and asked our guests if they would like to taste it. They said sure. Everything that could possible go wrong went wrong for us as we tried to make espresso that night. Our friends probably think we are crazy espresso makers! hahaha….By the time we were down the trash was FULL of paper towels used to wipe of coffee and milk, there was mocha powder all over the floor and counter top, we had dirtied 4+ glasses, and I had espresso spilled on my shirt….on my chest if you know what I mean. Still, don’t be alarmed. If you drink a lot of espresso drinks and find yourself driving to Starbucks 3-4 times per week defintely consider buying an espresso machine for your home.
Filed under: Food on August 6th, 2008 | 5 Comments »
I don’t typically write reviews on large franchise eateries, BUT I have to share Firehouse Subs with you. It is my second favorite place to eat in Tulsa. The Tulsa location is at 66th and Memorial Drive in the same building as the new Gold’s Gym. I have heard that the franchise owner of this location plans on opening 3-4 more stores in the Tulsa area. Some friends of ours wanted to take us to Firehouse during their grand opening. Before that, I had never eaten at or even heard of Firehouse Subs.
First off, the sandwiches are amazing. The Engine Company Sub is my favorite. On the rare occasions that I am watching my calories, I order it without mayo or cheese. Usually, I just order it without mayo, but it is great with the mayo as well. Firehousesubs.com is easy to navigate and find nutritional information if you are curious. My husband always orders the steak sub.
We have been in the store 6-7 times and the place is always very clean. I have been in the bathroom several times and it has always been very clean and well stocked. When we have been there, the employees looked clean and well groomed. Also, the employees are always super friendly and efficient.
If you are a condiment fanatic then listen up. Firehouse Subs has a ton of different hot sauces to put on your sandwich. There are probably 20 different sauces to try. They have everything from super super hot to their own signature sauce which is not hot just tangy.
The next time you are headed to your dirty, unfriendly, neighborhood Subway, turn your vehicle around and head to 71st and Memorial for a truly tasty sub in a clean and friendly environment.
Filed under: Food on August 5th, 2008 | No Comments »
This past week, my mom came to visit and we rode our bikes a lot. One day we rode all the way to the Jenks pedestrian bridge. Another day we rode all the way past Broken Arrow on the Creek. Anway, we wanted to know exactly how far we had ridden. I found this site called MapMyRide.com that allows one to map the exact distance of a bike ride. If you ride bikes, check out this site. It is very helpful in earning bragging rights…. :) A word of advice: if you plan to take a 20+ mile ride, do not ride in the middle of the afternoon. That is what my mom and I did and I got Heat Exhaustions which is not fun at all.
Here is the Jenks Pedestrian Bridge that we rode across.
This sign has some graffiti on it now.
This part of the trail is nice as it is shaded!!
Oh….memories
Filed under: Exercise, Nature on July 22nd, 2008 | No Comments »
If you will remember I made spelt bread not very long ago. Well I found out that Great Harvest sells spelt bread so I went in with my mom this week to try it. The verdict: mine is way better. Mine is probably not as good for you as I use sugar and they don’t, but mine is way better.
Filed under: Food on July 21st, 2008 | No Comments »
I finally got my camera back. Here are some of the pictures I took while on the farm.
Here is Brian, Ryan, me, and my Mimi and Pappy.
You can’t beat this. This is what I grew up on. I made hamburgers this week for my mom and it tasted so bad to her that she threw it in the garbage disposal when she thought I wasn’t looking… My parents cook their meat on a Traeger grill. They are amazing. Add some home grown beef to it and you are sure to want more.
Ryan and Brian helping to band some bulls.
Okay - That is gross. I think I am going to call your bluff.
Up close and personal now….
Brian is having second thoughts about trying them. Is he all talk?
And he decided to just try one or two…
Sophie is very concerned….okay, no she just wants to play ball…
Filed under: Family, Travel on July 20th, 2008 | 1 Comment »
