Snap! Crackle! Pop!

I've been told I make a mean rice crispy treat.  There's really no two ways about it.  Not only are they delicious but they are highly addictive.  

I also make a s'mores version.  The Bell sisters gave me the idea and as I've improved my rice crispy recipe over the years, I've applied those improvements to the s'mores version.  And they are pretty good too.

I made some treats for my Sunday School class last week.  I wrapped individual treats in wax paper and tied them with ribbon.  Way too much effort for 14 year old boys who inhaled them then stuffed their pockets with what they couldn't put in their mouths.  

There's no secret to making delicious rice crispy treats.  1.  Don't skimp on the butter.  2.  Don't skimp on the marshmallows.  3.  Do skimp on the rice crispies.  4.  Melt the marshmallows on very low heat.  5.  Add a teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt to the marshmallows just as they are almost done melting.  

For the s'mores treats substitute golden grahams for the rice crispies and just before you pour out the cereal/marshmallow mix onto the parchment paper to cool, dump all but an inch and a half of frozen chocolate chips (from the regular size bag) into the mix and lightly stir.  The idea is to keep the chocolate chips from melting too much so that you can bite into the the chocolate.  I don't measure the the cereal.  I just eyeball it and stop adding once it looks like all of the cereal has been coated with marshmallows.  

I'm not a measurement specific cook.  Sometimes that doesn't work in my favor.  And then at others, it does.  I love that something as simple as breakfast cereal can make such a tasty treat.  I do suggest that you give all of the treats away.    Keeping them around the house can be dangerous.

New Year's Resolutions

Last year my New Year's resolution was to visit every attraction at Disneyland.  And I accomplished that.  There was only one attraction I was never able to visit because it was never open when I was there and that was Davy Crockett's canoes.  I realize now I should have been posting about my Disney adventures so that I would remember them better.  I'll try to post about Disneyland off and on this year and offer tips to those of you visiting.

This year's New Year's resolution is to visit a new place every month.  And by place I mean city or town that I've never been to.  I don't have any big trips planned this year - the goal is to see some more of Washington and maybe even Portland.  I'll keep you posted.

Snowed In

It's raining now and hopefully my parking lot will be clear by the morning so I can leave the immediate area.  Today I made a yummy soup - it was my first time using dried beans without a pressure cooker (cause I don't own one) so I was a bit nervous that the beans would be hard.  Thank goodness, cause the soup turned out well and I'd have hated to have to dig out all of the beans as I ate the soup.  (Ingredients:  Great Northern beans, spicy Italian sausage, chicken, pancetta, spinach, tomatoes, parmasean cheese, garlic, basil, pepper, parsley in a chicken broth that I served over crusty rosemary bread from Avenue Bread Company).  I don't think I'm afraid of dry beans any longer.

Tausha stayed the night a week ago.  A night.  We got to my place around 11 pm and left at 6:30 am.  Today I was cleaning up a bit and found this on the living room rug.  I thought it was some random piece of paper that I'd dropped.  It happens.

But when I turned it over I found that it was a test strip!  Here less than 8 hours and I've got the tell-tale sign that Tausha has been around.  When I moved from Boise we found test strips in random places in my apartment.  After I'd been here a few years I continued to find test strips in my car.  I remember Tara started keeping jars of test strips to use in an art piece.  I don't know if she ever got around to it, but those things are sure ubiquitous...so she still has time.  Love ya Taush!

Snowmageddon

It's been snowing since Sunday...well, the snow took a break for a while on Tuesday.  I was able to go to work for most of the day on Tuesday.  But Wednesday and today?  Crazy!  If I could get to the main road, I'm sure I'd be fine.  See? The roads are pretty clear.  No real ice, just dry slush.  But to get to the road I would have to leave my parking lot.  Which would be impossible.  All of the cars are frozen in place.  And the parking lot is covered in a foot of ice.

I ventured out to the grocery store today.  Not a lot of people out and about.  And the snow was crunchy.  As we don't tend to get snow here, there's not a lot one can do but wait until it melts.  Especially those of us on hills or on side streets.


The areas to the South and East of me don't have power.  I'm very glad that so far I still do.  When I first moved here I purchased a bunch of flashlights and lights but I've failed to check the batteries recently.  So fingers crossed that the power stays on.

My neighbor has a snowman on top of her bug.  It's super cute.  

Not a fan

Cranes...I don't like cranes.  The mechanical ones.  I see them and I start to get nervous.  I think they are going to fall on me.  They just don't seem stable.  It's not as bad as it used to be.  I used to hyperventilate when I saw them.  I'd ask my companions if we could change our route on the way to wherever we were going so as to avoid walking under or near a crane.

Snow in the Seattle area.  People here can't drive in the rain.  They slow to a crawl.  Can you imagine what they do in the snow?  They are completely inept.  I followed a lady down a hill that had an immediate uphill after the downhill.  She was going 10 miles per hour.  I told her that snow does not change the law of physics.  That she still needed momentum to get up the hill.  She, of course, didn't hear me and slid down the up hill.  Thank goodness I was no longer behind her, but beside her.  It snows an inch and I'm confined to where I can walk because I don't want to die and, more importantly, I don't want my car to get hurt.  I'd really like a change to be made to snow.  I'd like it to only snow on trees and grass and dirt.  I'd like snow to not fall on roads or sidewalks.  Country roads are o.k. I guess, mostly cause I very rarely drive on them.  Can someone get on making that happen?  Thank you ever so.

World Tour

My absolute favorite app on my phone is the World Tour app.  What it does is gives me a screen shot from a webcam somewhere in the world.  That picture changes every hour.  I love checking my phone and seeing a new picture.  Here are a few of my favorites. 

Charles Bridge, Prague

San Francisco, CA

Minack Theatre, Cornwall

La Tour Eiffel, Paris

Positano, Italy

I'd love to go to all of these places.  San Francisco I've been to, but I enjoy.  Positano, I'd give anything to live there for a few months and Minack Theatre...I SO want to see a play there.  It looks to be SO much fun!