Honey Poppy Seed Dressing

This recipe is from Celebrate the Rain, The Junior League of Seattle cookbook.

2 T honey
1 T plus 2 t. cider vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T minced shallot (or green onion)
1 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
1/2 t. poppy seeds
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together all ingredient and season with the salt and pepper. Whisk well to thoroughly blend and dissolve the honey. Taste the dressing for seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, or lemon juice to taste.

To make the salad: combine mixed greens (or spinach), strawberries (or nectarine slices), toasted slivered almonds, and green onions in a salad bowl. Drizzle dressing over, toss to mix, and serve.

Beer Bread

This recipe is from Celebrate the Rain, The Junior League of Seattle cookbook.

This savory loaf is just the right thing for a weeknight soup dinner. A pilsner or ale works well. Allow the bread to cool at least a bit before serving, or the loaf will be too soft to slice. Because this is not a yeast bread, it doesn't require rising time.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 t. baking powder
2 T whole fennel seeds (optional)
1 1/2 t. salt
1 bottle (12 oz.) beer, such as Northwest pilsner or ale
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted


Preheat the oven to 350*F. Butter a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, fennel seeds, and salt in a large bowl and stir to evenly mix. Add the beer and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Turn the bread out onto a wire rack to cool at least 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

Makes 1 loaf

Minced fresh herbs- such as rosemary, thyme, or oregano- can be used in place of the fennel seed in this recipe.

Petersburg, Alaska

Finally after a long day of traveling and fun we landed in Petersburg. There are two flights a day into this small town. One going north from Seattle and one heading south from Anchorage. They are 737-400 combi's with the front half of the airplane carrying freight.

It's always exciting to walk into the terminal to see family and friends!

I didn't realize that my cousin Katy was on the plane with her daughter Heidi.

Brooke was very tired and unhappy at the airport but as soon as we got home she had new toys to discover. Her Great Grandpa Wally got down on the living room floor and immediately began playing.

Dinner time! Strawberries, watermelon and peas... YUMMY!

Only in Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

On Thursday we headed north on Alaska Airlines. The first plane left at 6am from Wenatchee to Seattle and the second left around 8am from Seattle to Juneau. We had a long break in Juneau to wait for the southbound plane to Petersburg so we got together with Lindsi (my friend from high school and college).

Lindsi brought us up the tram that leaves downtown Juneau and heads up Mt. Roberts.

Lindsi has a sweet little boy named Payton. Both Brooke and Payton got some time on the mountain to explore on foot! Brooke liked the flat surfaces and Payton tried to climb the mountain!

He's on a mission! Every few steps Payton had a great time picking up rocks and sticks to throw. What a big boy!

We LOVE our Ergo's! All the tourists on the trails loved seeing these babies on their mother's backs.

Thousands of tourists from the cruise ships swamp the downtown all summer.

The flowers were starting to come out on the mountain. These chocolate lilies (thanks mom for naming the flower!) were really neat to see.

Payton and Brooke got to face each other in the car. Brooke shared "her" cell phone with Payton.

... and Payton made all the phone calls.
Thanks Lindsi for a fun day!

Fashion

Dresses, jeans, cute shirts, onesies, sleepers, hats, leg warmers, and soft shoes... it's way too much fun dressing little girls! Thanks to Etta for sharing her clothes to keep Brooke in high fashion another few months!

Brooke loves watching the dogs play fetch.



Brooke is practicing walking all the time now. The percentage of walk vs crawl is now 50/50. She loves to walk from room to room exploring the house. Her favorite places to go are the bathroom, outside, and into the guest bedroom to clean out the bookcase. As Gma Britta mentioned while visiting, "She's a BUSY girl!"

June Garden

Everyday there is a great bunch of strawberries, cherries and radishes to pick.

The gold rush zucchini is looking great.


Everyone helped get rid of the veggie garden's weeds.


Kent got the string set up for the peas to climb on.



Thanks for helping!

Bikes, Toys, and Grandparents!

We had a wonderful time the last few days with Gpa and Gma Chalmers! It must have been the warm Cashmere winds that wiped us all out, but we still got out to do a few things.

Today we got on our bikes and rode on the Wenatchee Riverfront Trail. The grass, trees, flowers and river were such a beautiful backdrop. There were people bustling around everywhere with a lineman rodeo, softball game, the mini train running on the track and a few other events happening.

Sadly, we saw the smoke from a historic Wenatchee building that burned down this morning.

Fire crews were still working on this building which had been on fire from 6am (this was taken around noon).

Bing tried out the recumbent bike and really liked it!

Proud grandparents of Brooke Anne!

Goodbye's are only going get harder and harder!

Barefeet Brass Quintet Reunion

Casey joined us so we could have a Barefeet Brass reunion! Barefeet Brass is the quintet we were members of at the University of Idaho. It was the reason Kent first spoke to me! I still remember walking over to put my trumpet away in marching band practice when he asked me if I'd like to join a brass quintet.

We played some old favorites and some new pieces outside on the lawn. Some pieces sounded better than before and others... well, not so good! :)

THEN and NOW!

Who is behind the tuba? It's Casey!

We had a great time playing a few different games on Caitlin's Wii. It is so great that we are all still in contact after the six or seven years that we have been apart. I can't wait for the next time we can all get together for fun, food, music and games!

Farm Fun with Friends

Our friends Bob and Emily and their baby Etta drove over from Lewiston, Idaho to visit us for a few days. All four of us are music teachers so we have a lot in common! Etta and Brooke played us a piano duet!

We stopped by Smallwood's Harvest for some farm fun. Etta (13 months) showed off her cute shades! What a hip girl!


Brooke was a little bashful with the farm animals but still got a good look at them.

Etta was a little more curious and even touched one with the help of her mom!

She's 2 feet tall!

Both girls love swinging so they had a great time in the bumblebee swings.

Click on the collage to see the larger version. Two cuties visit the farm!