Pasta time!

Do you ever have those recipes that you find very daunting? I have always been very hesistant to make bread or homemade pasta. I have witnessed my friend Debbie making homemade pasta, and even assisted a bit, but had never done it myself....until this weekend.

My great friend Erin & I were watching Eat, Pray, Love and during the Italy section of the movie we started craving pasta and decided we would have to make it that night as a homecoming meal for Paul who had been out of town for work all week. And of course we couldn't make just one dish, we had to make multiple dishes of pasta. What else are you going to do on a rainy day???

We decided on three pasta dishes: pasta with pesto, linguine with shrimp, garlic & lemon and butternut squash chicken ravioli. Rather ambitious but we are both pretty competant in the kitchen and decided we could do it! After drinking a glass of red wine (for courage of course) we got on our way with our 5 little sous chefs. I just did a very simple recipe for the pasta of 6 cups of flour, 6 eggs and a bit of olive oil. In hindsight some salt would have been good as well. You mix that together and then add water until it gets until the right consistency. After kneading it and letting it set for 30 minutes it was ready to get rolled out. My friend Debbie let me borrow her Kitchen Aid pasta maker attachment and it is amazing! It makes rolling out pasta so easy! The kids were fascinated at what Erin & I were doing and quickly got on in the action. After rolling it out we cut it into strips and let it dry. This is so it doesn't all stick together when you throw it into boiling water. For the ravioli we just put the filling in, folded the pasta over and cut it with a pasta cutter that makes the wiggly edges we all think of with ravioli. Very easy and we were happy how professional they looked! With fresh pasta you only have to boil it for a few minutes and for extra flavor I boiled it in 1/2 chicken stock and 1/2 water with some olive oil. As my friend Melissa would say 'Yummers!' By the time Paul arrived home from the airport (at 10:30pm, we were very European eating so late that night) we had 3 amazing pasta dishes waiting for him, along with his wife and friends who had missed him so much! I discovered this weekend that with a great friend (love you my sister wife!), some wine and a leap of faith you can tackle those 'scarier' recipes you've been avoiding. Take a deep breath and just cook it, the results are worth it!

Busy bees

We've been a busy bunch in our household, which is a small reason for my slacking. Alex is plugging along in school, bringing home a great report card. He also has his first tooth loose! Very excited to have a visit from the Tooth Fairy! Amelia is doing great too and in fact I am getting ready to enroll her in preschool for next year! Where does the time go???!!!

We have been spending a lot of time out at our friend's, The Ramos Family, new home. They live on several acres and the kids LOVE to be out in the country. Our kids are the same age so it has been instant close friendship across the board.



Paul and I also enjoyed an amazing getaway to Pebble Beach in February. The coast was beautiful that weekend and Paul had a great time golfing the course. My cousin joined us out there and golfed with Paul. I met them on the 18th hold and got a few great photos.



We have lots to look forward to this month! Paul & I are going to Vegas and then the whole family is taking a trip up to Chico to visit family for spring break. I'm hoping for more sunny days. The kids are already anxious to get in the swimming pool! I'm trying to explain that sunny skies don't equal pool weather necessarily!

I will keep on cooking my way through the Pioneer Woman cookbook, although it isn't helping my waistline. I've yet to find a recipe I don't totally love. If you haven't checked her out yet be sure to do so! Click here for her blog.

Snow day!!!!

Alex has been begging us to visit the snow since the first day of fall. Today we took advantage of the holiday and took the kids up to the snow with some friends. It was a great time, and the kids were exhausted when we got home!

Before we went to the snow though I started off the morning with some homemade cinnamon rolls (thank you Pioneer Woman!) They turned out awesome and yes, my kids started off the day with a little bit of a sugar high.

Here in the valley we haven't seen a lot of sun, but as soon as we got up into the mountains we could see the cloud cover that has been over us this past month. What a cool shot this was!

The kids were so cute up in the snow! Amelia had never been up to the snow before and had a blast. The kids were so cute. Alex's little girlfriend Makayla was so sweet sledding with him. Miley and Amelia were little snow buddies as well.

With all the craziness in our life lately, it was nice to take a little time and just enjoy mother nature today. :)

My new obsession.....

One of my big resolutions for 2011 was to cook more. I love to cook and bake, and with 2010 being such a busy year between moves, my business & the kid's busy schedules I found us eating take out or prepared food more and more. So I resolved that this year I would be a better wife and mommy and provide more home cooking.

In my journey to cook more and discussing this resolution I was turned on to the Pioneer Woman's blog. If you haven't read her blog or checked out her cookbook, finish this blog and GO, you can thank me later. I bought her cookbook earlier this week and have looked at it daily since. I have promised myself that I will make it through every single recipe in her cookbook. Then you can read all about my diet after that....geesh.

To kick things off I made her Linguine with Clam Sauce last night while we were entertaining friends. To say it was amazing doesn't do it justice. And if you shudder at the thought of clams don't worry, it isn't an overly powerful seafood taste. Just the right balance.

Tomorrow morning we are taking the kids on a snow day, but before we take off for the day I'm making Pioneer Woman's famous cinnamon rolls. I don't think they will disappoint either...!

As for baking, I am on class #2 for cake decorating and learning to make some amazing looking flowers. I can't wait for someone to have a birthday or celebration so I can make them a cake! Alex has been helping me in the kitchen too, such a great baker in training.

Hello 2011!

I was a little behind at the end of 2010 to post all our Christmas fun and pre-New Year celebrations, but better late than never! Maybe one of my new year resolutions should be to do more prompt blogging!

This past Christmas season I was reminded more than ever how blessed we are to have such wonderful family and friends that surround us. We traveled many miles to see everyone, but had such a wonderful time. Many special memories were made and I tried to catch as many as possible on film.

We started the trip with a visit to see my childhood care provider and her husband who are amazing people. We had a fabulous lunch with them and then it was off to see my grandmother, the kid's great grandmother, and my aunt and cousins. It was great to see my kids interacting so well with my grandmother.

We also saw my cousin Kim and Livy, the girls were so darling together as usual!

We headed up to Chico to see the rest of my family. Our Chico family is always so welcoming and show us a great time. Alex LOVES his big cousins and played non stop the entire time we were there. We got some great new family photos and had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.





Christmas morning the kids were so excited to see what Santa brought them. This was the first year Amelia was really into Christmas and she was ecstatic that Santa brought her a princess bike. Alex got a wand and Easy Bake oven he wanted, as well as a sweet Spiderman costume.

Christmas day we went on to Paul's parents house and enjoyed more good cheer, food and yes, our kids got even more presents. We had just enough time to come home and relax for a day before we went onto our annual trip to Cambria! But those photos to come soon....we'll see how I do with my new year's resolution!

It's a sweet, sweet Christmas

This past weekend it was as though the Sugar Plum Fairy visited our house, and left all of her sugar. My mom and I were the amazing baking duo this weekend baking toffee, fudge, cookies and cake. My kitchen is covered in sugar and flour, as am I, but we have so much to show for all our hard work. We made some old favorites as well as some new recipes that turned out quite well if I do say so myself!

Every year it isn't Christmas until the gingerbread cookies are made so that is what we started out with. My cake decorating classes really helped in decorating the gingerbread and sugar cookies this year!

Next we tried out a new recipe by Martha Stewart (if interested in it please click here). They are Peppermint Meringues with a chocolate ganache filling. The secret to getting the striped look is to paint the inside of the piping bag with red food coloring. They turned out great!

We also made Russian tea cake cookies that are another favorite childhood cookies of mine.

I am hosting my Christmas bunko group this week so in my final cake class this week I made a cake for bunko that turned out pretty cute. I was proud of learning how to make simple roses!


As though all of this sugar load wasn't enough, I also decided to make cake pops for the first time. My mom had bought me Bakerella's cake pops recipe book and I just had to try out the Santa hat cake pops, they turned out so cute, especially for my first time trying them!
Besides cleaning and getting to the gym this week post sugar high, I will be working to finish up the last touches to the house for our Christmas party! The holiday season is in full swing...I love it!