Pictures from Jason's Birthday Today

First off, for those of you who came, thank you. I'm completely exhausted. The party was a success but it took everything out of me. I baked two Tres Leches cakes as per Jason's request, last night while our house was still around 80 degrees. Then I stayed up well past midnight cleaning and getting ready for today. We have a ferocious ant problem which is why I had to meticulously clean every single surface in our home. Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the party and magic show. I've also included a picture of my garden taken at 6:00 p.m. this evening. For those of you who saw it when it was 85 degrees this afternoon, you'll notice that it's almost completely recovered a mere 3 hours worth of shade later. This is a hallmark of heat tolerant plant varieties. They may wilt but will rebound and keep on chugging even after the most dire of heat waves.

WOO HOO!

As of today, I've officially lost 22 pounds! I'm well on the road to losing the 80+ pounds I gained in two back to back pregnancies. I am so flippin' happy and feel healthier than I have in a long time. Belly dance costume, here I come!

Chicken Reincarnated

Last night I took leftovers from the roasted chicken we had two nights ago and reincarnated it in the form of a chicken pot pie. I gathered vegetables from my garden including carrots, peas, onions and squash - everything except for the potatoes (mine) aren't quite ready yet. Then I headed over to the herb garden and picked thyme, rosemary, sage, parsley and lovage.

I started off by sauteing onions, carrots and finely diced potatoes in butter. I added flour to the butter and vegetable mixture to make a roux. I added milk to the roux which turned it in to a creamy bechamel. I flavored the bechamel and vegetable mixture with the finely chopped herbs from my garden. I allowed the mixture to cook for a few minutes to thicken and tenderize the vegetables. I then added in the diced chicken, peas and seasoned it with salt and pepper. I buttered a casserole and dumped the pot pie filling inside and proceeded to preheat the oven and make the cheddar biscuit crust.

Rae's Pot Pie Filling

1 pound cooked diced chicken
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 cup peas - fresh or frozen
1/2 cup diced carrots
two waxy skin potatoes diced fine
4 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons butter
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 tsp. chopped fresh lovage
1 tsp. chopped fresh sage
2 tsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
salt & pepper

For the biscuits, blend all the dry ingredients together including the cheese and then cut the butter in to the flour mix. Add the wet ingredients and mix until cohesive but not pasty. Flour a board and roll the dough to 1/2" thickness. Re-roll scraps and make enough biscuits to cover the top of the casserole. Brush the tops of the biscuits with little milk and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the casserole is bubbly and the biscuits are golden and risen.

Rae's Golden Cheddar Biscuit Crust

2 cups flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Flowers At Dusk

Just some shots of blooms in the yard.

Garden Pictures & Miscellaneous Tid Bits

We're really getting inundated with everything from squash to carrots and lettuce. Our schedules are also becoming more inundated. I took these pictures last weekend and meant to post them here on Saturday but could find no time to do so. We attended THREE kid's parties last weekend and one last night!!! Holy cow!!! sometimes I don't know whether I'm coming or going. Furthermore, we have a number of invitations still hanging on the fridge for parties that we have yet to attend. The kids have only been out of school for a week but are already showing signs of boredom. It's a good thing they both start day camp next week.

Coming up soon there will be soccer and I'll probably end up coaching. We're also in the midst of planning a vacation up the coast to Mendocino in August. I'm currently looking for a beach front house to rent. We'll go kayaking, rock fishing, riding on the Skunk Train, tripping through the redwoods and swimming in the myriad of rivers in that area. I absolutely love that part of Northern California and think it has one of the most beautiful coast lines in the state.

Jason's 6th birthday party is next weekend. Mauricio intends to B-B-Q and I hired a really good magician that will supposedly saw a kid in half. I'm really looking forward to volunteering one of my kids for that trick, ha-ha! Contrary Colleen and Seamstrix, you guys are invited. It's from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. this Saturday. I apologize for forgetting to mention it before now.

And finally, I now know for a fact that I am going to be heading to Australia for business before Fall. It's been written in stone that I must go. I'm just not sure when but I'll need to somehow squeeze that in to the ever growing list of things I must do this Summer.

A Cornucopia From The Yard

We stopped buying vegetables months ago, with the exception of onions and potatoes, although we're about to stop buying those as well. We do still buy some organic fruit from the farmers market once a week but I figure on average, we are saving around $40.00/week on the produce which we used to buy but now grow ourselves. That's an savings of $160-$180 per month for our family of four. With the skyrocketing price of everything these days especially with regard to food and produce, I imagine that the dollar amount we'll be saving will increase over time. Which brings me to my next point. We cannot possibly eat the amount we currently grow and are looking to further expand our garden beds by another 150 sq. ft. or so. With the existing 350 sq. ft. of beds that we're currently cultivating, we can supply enough produce for at least 8-9 people year round. Once four new beds go in where the lawn used to be, I'd estimate that we'll produce enough for 10-12 people per year. A while ago the kids came up with the idea to set up a weekend produce stand in our neighborhood. I absolutely love this idea for many reasons. First off it will allow us to sell all of the excess organic produce to our neighbors for pennies on the dollar, well below what they could buy it for at any market. It will give the kids a chance to learn firsthand about how commerce can work and I will feel good about giving them a allowance from a portion of the proceeds. My neighbors constantly comment on how nice it would be to have home grown produce on demand like we do, so I think this concept will be a hit.

Introducing Lexi Brown

She came from the Fairmont Animal Shelter as all of our animals have, sans our two doggies. She's extremely sweet, affectionate and outgoing. The boys are gentle with her and taking full responsibility for giving her trips to the litter box, feeding her and making sure her whereabouts are known at all times.

I'm Elated To Report

that Michael, who has been in special education since entering preschool because of learning disorders including Auditory Processing Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder & Dyslexia, has now been placed in to regular education for 3rd grade and beyond!!!!! His father and I are so proud of him and amazed at the resilience he's shone as well as the adversity he's had to endure. His situation is an example of overcoming extreme odds as many children with just one learning disability are for one reason or another, left in the "academic dust". We also must give credit to our amazing new school district that is proving to be everything we had hoped it would be.

Mauricio and I met with his teacher and principal this morning, the last day of school and as a group decided that he is ready for and will excel in a main stream education setting. They also let us know that they see Michael as an extremely bright child who's overall academic performance is blossoming despite a myriad of learning disorders. They also made it a point to mention that his math skills and grasp of scientific principals are well beyond his years. Michael has always wanted to be a scientist who works on problems relating to the environment and animals. I'd like to think that his hard work and will to succeed has put him on the path to realizing this dream.