Lemon Artichoke Romaine Salad

I love this salad but Casey isn't a fan.  I can only make it when we have company.  We had the missionaries over and I made this with my lasagna.  The dressing may have too much garlic for some but the salad also tastes great with Italian dressing.

10 cups torn romaine

4 plum tomatoes, sliced (I diced mine)

1 can (14oz) water packed artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and quartered

1 can (2 1/4oz) sliced ripe olives, drained

3 T water

3 T lemon juice

3 T olive oil

1 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp coarsely ground pepper

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large salad bowl, combine the romaine, tomatoes, artichokes and olives.  In a jar  with a tight fitting lid, combine the water, lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper; shake well.  Pour over salad and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Serve immediately.

Corn Salsa

This recipe is courtesy of Michelle Bulloch.  Thank you so much for sharing this Michelle, and my family thanks you too since we have made it for many large functions!  This is so delicious!  It is best served with Tostitos Scoops so you can get it on the chip without it falling all over the place.

1 can black eyed peas, drained

1 can white corn

1/2 bunch cilantro

4 green onions, chopped

1 pkg Good Seasons Italian dressing, prepared as directed on the package

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl, chill for 2 hours.  Then add the following before serving:

3 avocados, chopped

3-4 tomatoes, chopped

The best bed head ever!

  
  

This actually happened early last month but every time I see the pictures I laugh.  So I thought I would share so everyone could get a little laugh as well.  I couldn't believe it when I went to get Chloe that morning!  Her hair definitely rivals some of the bangs that I saw in high school!

Las Vegas' little secret

     
     

Not too many are aware that just 30-40 minutes from our little city is Mt. Charleston where it snows!  There is even a ski lodge up there!  Casey had yesterday off so we took the kids up to the mountain for a little sledding. They had a blast!  

Happy Birthday to Claire!

  
    

Birthday season has officially started in our home.  In the next two months we will celebrate all of our children's birthdays.  We started first with Claire.

My little girl is now four years old.  Where has the time gone?  She was so excited and has been counting down the days.  The night before after she had been put to bed she kept coming out and asking, "What day is it tomorrow?  What are we going to do?"  Even though she knew exactly what the next day was and what we were going to do.  We really didn't do anything too exciting but it was her special day and she enjoyed every minute of it.  We don't have fancy birthday parties in our family but one thing I try to do a special cake for them.  Don't ask me why because it takes forever and I usually get stressed but in the end it is worth it because they love it.  Claire had some friends over to sing Happy Birthday and share her cake with her which she of course loved.  

Claire has been such a wonderful part of our family.  She considers it very special that she shares her birthday with her triplet cousins, Ellie, Paige and Kate.  She was such an easy baby and always catching on to things so quickly.  She walked at 9 months, potty trained herself at 20 months, talked early and just always ahead of the game.  She is so fun, she loves to dance sing, and play with friends every day.  She also loves to help her brother with his homework!  Happy Birthday Claire, we love you!

How many Valentine's did you have?

I was lucky to have 6!  Our ward had a fancy adult dinner with a pretty amazing menu.  You actually had a choice of soup or salad, sides, meats and desserts.  So what is the down side?  Having a husband who can't say no when asked to help.  So, Casey got to go to the church for 3 hours and cook everyone's dinner for them.  Pretty romantic, huh?  I didn't go because I knew that Casey would be cooking the whole time and then cleaning up when he was done and it wasn't all that appealing to me go to and sit by myself with my friends and their husbands.  So instead I volunteered to watch my friends kids while they went.  My kids had fun which is the most important part.  On a positive note, the activities chairman offered to watch our kids on Friday night so that we could celebrate Valentine's Day in exchange for his services.  So it all worked out in the end. 

It's a love/hate relationship

 

Time to talk about Chloe.  And no, my love/hate relationship is not with my daughter, it is with her blankies.  For those of you who don't know, my mother in law makes the best little cuddly blankets that are small enough for little babies to carry around with them.  Unfortunately, Cade was born before she started making them and Claire liked hers but grew out of them.  Chloe is the only one that has become completely attached, to the point that I'm a little worried about getting rid of them.  I love that she calls them her "night nights".  She must have gotten that because whenever we always say, "It's time to go night night, go find your blankies."  Whenever she sees them she gets so excited and screams, "Night, night!"  They also soothe her.  Sometimes when she gets hurt, she doesn't want anyone and makes a beeline for her blanket.  

Now the hate part.  She sucks on her blankets!  It is so disgusting because all of the corners are stained.  I wash them multiple times a week.  One time we tried to put her down without them, mostly because I couldn't find them, she had hidden them in the play kitchen's refridgerator.  It took me an hour to find them and she cried the entire hour.  We have some other blankies that Betsy had made for her to replace them but they quickly got shot down.  Casey always threatens to throw them away and all of the kids say, "No!"  The funniest thing is that she likes to sleep with her babies too and one time when I put her down for a nap she took her baby and tried to put her blankie in the baby's mouth.  She'll try to share her blankies with Casey and I but it is too gross to fathom putting in our mouths. 

So...what to do, we shall see... 

Sugar Cookies

This is it!  If you are looking for a REALLY good sugar cookie then you have come to the right place.  I can't count how many sugar cookie recipes I have tried and I don't think I will be trying a new one soon thanks to Jill Dorrough, our husbands are cousins.  I have always gotten rave reviews when I have made these so I am now passing it along to you!  This recipe makes a lot!! 

1 1/2 c butter

2 c sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

5 1/4 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Cream cold butter and sugar in Kitchenaid with paddle attachment.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Soft dry ingredients add to butter mixture.  Chill dough.  Roll out 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes.  Bake at 400 for 8  minutes or until barely set.

Frosting

Beat one cube of butter until soft.  Add 1 tsp vanilla, a pinch of salt, and 6 cups of powdered sugar.  Add milk one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency.  

Mother Lode Pretzels

These are very good and hard to eat just one!  They are easy to do and look very impressive.

1 pkg (10oz) pretzel rods

1 pkg (14oz) caramels

1 T evaporated milk

1 1/4 miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup plus 2 T butterscotch chips

2/3 cup milk chocolate toffee bits

1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

With a sharp knife, cut pretzel rods in half; set aside.  In a large saucepan over low heat, melt caramels with milk.  In a large shallow bowl, combine the chips, toffee bits and walnuts

 

Pour caramel mixture into a 2 cup glass measuring cup.  Dip the cut end of each pretzel piece two thirds of the way into the caramel mixture (reheat in microwave if mixture becomes too think for dripping).  Allow excess caramel to drip off, then roll pretzels in the chip mixture.  Place on waxed paper until set.  Store in an airtight container.

Yield 4 1/2 dozen

Rolo Cookies

These cookies are SO good.  When my friend made these for me the first time I didn't try them right away because I'm not really a fan of a chocolate cookie but when I saw my kids eating them and noticed that they had carmel in the middle I soon claimed the rest as my own.  I am a sucker for carmel.  Be careful not to eat too many at once because with these there is too much of a good thing.  These cookies also are only good for a few days and then they get crumbly.  

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

48 rolos

2 T sugar

Combine flour, cocoa and soda and set aside.  Beat sugars and ubtter until well blended; add eggs and vanilla.  Add dry mixture and blend well.  Shape cookies into small balls around the rolos (don't use too much dough, enough to cover the rolo but not with too much excess).   Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until tops of cookies are slightly cracked.  Cool on racks.  

Let's be honest...

I like to cook but I love baking.  I'm sure it's because I get to satisfy my sweet tooth but baking always seems to make people happy.  I'm posting some of my tried and true recipes and a new one.  We are having a baby shower for my friend and I tried a new recipe for Mother Lode Pretzels.  I gave her four of the pretzels and she didn't share so that's a good sign that they are really good!