Chasing Storms At Ocean Shores

 

Every winter Tim and I like to pack up for a weekend and head out to the coast to take in the beach, storms, and delectable seafood that Ocean Shores, WA has to offer. We both have jobs that hit peak stress during Christmas time and the coast offers us a way to relax and get away from it all.

 

Our pup Molly, a double rainbow, and the best razor clams in town at Home Port.

 

One of the great things about going to Ocean Shores during the winter is that the town, normally over flowing with people during the summer, is empty.  We have the beach mostly to ourselves (except when the clam diggers come to do their thing).  We can chase double rainbows without getting honked at and sit down at a restaurant without waiting in line.  It's so nice.



Our favorite restaurant to eat at is Galway Bay!  They serve tasty Irish dishes and have a nice selection of beer, wine, and cider.  Every time we have come here there is live music.  On this visit a local stopped by and was playing The Beatles; he had us humming along. 

 

We like to go for a drive along the coast and this year we went to Westport (a sleepy, less touristy fishing town south of Ocean Shores) and discovered the Tinderbox on the edge of town!  Both Tim and I love coffee and we practically slammed on our brakes when we saw this place.  It looks like an old auto shop that has been converted into a cozy coffee house.  The coffee was delicious and the service friendly.  The decor begs you to take a closer look at the books, artwork, and coffee brewing methods that they have on display.  We will definitely be going back!

All to soon our trip was over but it was exactly what we needed; a wonderful place to relax and recharge!

~xoxo J.M.Riley

Super Game = Super Food!!

Super Bowl is usually the one day a year I allow myself KFC. Yes, I know it's absolutely disgusting and not really food but for that 10 minutes a year, I enjoy the cripsy goodness, chase it with about 5 or 6 biscuits dripping in honey....oooh, so yummy, right? Well, I always immediately regret this decision as my tummy hurts for the next 12 hours. 
This year, I decided to go for something different.
So, you've heard of tat-chos, right? Nachos with tater tots?
Well, I decided to take the idea one step further and Super Bowl Sunday was just the day to unveil the creation!

Grocery list

Tater Tots
Can of olives
Chili
Hot Dogs
Tortilla Chips
Jalapeno
Cheese, cheese and more cheese

Ok - now for fun part - pulling these ingredients together

1. cook the hot dogs and cut into pieces
2. bake the tater tots
3. cut up jalapeno
4. heat up the chili
5. shred the cheese if you need to but you may want to buy pre-shredded
6. pre-heat oven 350 degrees but it's probably already at this temp if you baked the tater tots

Grab your biggest baking pan and layer as follows

1. coat the bottom of your baking pan with chips
2. layer cheese
3. layer tater tots
4. layer hot dog pieces
5. layer cheese
6. layer chili
7. layer cheese (as in, coat the entire thing with cheese)
8. layer olives, jalapenos and any other toppings

Bake in your oven for 6 minutes
Broil for a minute if you need the top to brown

And:

Behold - the monstrocity now known as Hotcho Chachos!








Play ball! JCoy

What news from England?

Curl up with The Sunne In
Spendour and a hot toddy cider!

 I've always been fascinated by history.  Particularly medieval European history.  I get all giddy and geeky when I'm reading about it.  I think I like it so much because it is amazing to learn about all the audacious, stupid, incredible, lucky, devestating stories from the past that really happened!   That's why I was so psyched to read this past week that remains buried beneath a car park in Leicester, England have been confirmed as those of Richard III (the king of England that Shakespeare vilified in his play by the same name).  The man has been buried there for over 500 years, under a car park!  Incredible!  To see the full story click, here. 

 

One of the first things I did after learning that dear Richard III had been unearthed was pull out my dog eared copy of The Sunne In Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.  This is her tome to Richard III, the House of York, and the War of the Roses.  I came across Ms. Penman's books when I was a teenager and have scarcely been able to find an author to match her style, research, and sheer historical story telling ability.  

 

One of the things I like about Ms. Penman's books is that she starts you off right by including a map...

...and family trees. With everyone being named Edward and Richard, it can get confusing. This family tree is a life saver at keeping the characters straight.





If you have even the slightest interest in European medieval history, or enjoy incredible battle scenes, richly woven characters, and a plot that sees you through to the bitter end (pst, in historical literature, all the characters die), no author could come more highly recommended to deliver!

 

If you are interested in seeing the facial reconstruction from the skull of Richard III, click here. 

 

Check out Ms. Penman's website here.  Check her out on Facebook too!  She has some really cool historical posts and is awesome at answering questions from readers.

 

~xoxo J.M.Riley

 

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair...

Or the art of letting go and actually cutting into your fabric!

A funny thing happens when you start to sew - you start to accumulate fabric! And then you start looking for inspiration which leads you to blogs, which leads to pinterest and instagram. Lucky for me, I haven't been sucked into the last two but I do love me some blogs!

Finding quilt/craft inspiration blogs inevitably leads you down the path to favorite fabric designers which, of course, leads to hoarding said fabric designers fabrics.
Again, lucky for me, my house and budget are pretty small so I tend to hoard just the things that are just soooo cute that I couldn't possibly live without them...I would just wither and die!
Which leads us to the Rapunzel fabric from Heather Ross.
When the fabric came out, I bought one little tiny yard of miss rapunzel in the sweetest pink color. (I also bought the owl and pussycat, sleeping beauty and the suns - apparently i was flush with funds that day!)
And there she sat, in the little fabric bin I have under my sewing table. Every couple of months or so, I bring out the bin, look through all the "good" fabric and think, oh i should really do something with this...immediately followed by
"no, it is soooo precious, i can't possibly take my scissors to such cuteness!"
Then, I would fold it back up (the other way so as to not have the creases all be in the same spot) and back she would go into the bin.
Until one day, I decided enough was enough! and made my way to the giant fabric store and found some coordinating fabric to make me the cutest rapunzel quilt!
And then...mom saw the photo of miss rapunzel and asked for the smallest bit of it for her birthday - no problem, i thought, i'll just go on etsy and get some!
HA!
Apparently, miss rapunzel and all of her counterparts are going for a gazillion dollars!
Oh no!
I cannot cut into rapunzel now - she is worth too much money - A whole yard!! Why, that's worth like a hundred dollars!
What am I doing, what am I thinking?
And then I saw other heather ross fabrics for sale on etsy and
OH MY GOD!
What was I thinking cutting into those cute matryouskas and the stripes and making a quilt and why, why, why, did I put the VW van material in that window and now it is faded!!  Am I a fool?
A day passed...(no cutting into rapunzel)
And then, I walked by the shelf with the little pile of fabric and I thought, "Why yes, i guess I am a fool!"
A fool for wanting to live with the cutest fabric!
To have a cute quilt of smiling stacking dolls to pull out of the cupboard and put on the couch and make me happy.
And, yes a fool to put the van fabric in the window but it makes me smile every time i walk into the laundry room.
And, what about miss rapunzel?
Well - see for yourself!

She is no longer entombed in the fabric bin but is free to mill about with the other quilts.
Everytime I see this sweet little quilt, I will be happy to know that I was brave enough to cut into the "good" stuff!
Do you dare cut into your favorite fabric? Did it give you heart palpatations? Or are you happy that you can now enjoy it in some way besides sitting all lonely in a bin?
PS - as you can tell from the photo, I didn't get too crazy with the cutting, just the stripes to keep as many little rapunzels intact! Bravery does have its limits, you know!

Get out there! JCoy

Planting Extravaganza 2013!

Around this time every year I tend to go a little crazy.
Seed crazy.  

I tend to go a lot overboard. I buy too many seeds and plant too many of those seeds. So I end up with too many starts and not enough room for them in my raised beds. But I feel bad about getting rid of all those young plants so inevitably I will put them all in the ground, much too close to each other. They all grow into one another and it gets way too complicated to prune like I should. None of my plants give as fruit as they should.
Last fall after I pulled out the spent tomato vines for the compost bin, I sketched the garden. I transferred the sketch onto graph paper and did some serious soul searching as to how many plants the garden can actually bear.
I decided to only plant 7 tomato plants. This leaves room to plant borage in between the tomatoes. It also leaves room to get in and prune for maximum fruit. Borage deters Tomato Hornworm, and it tends to flower the same time the tomatoes do so it attracts bees right when you want them. BONUS!
I’m only planting two types of tomatoes this year. Brandywine has been a great producer for me and is so delicious and versatile I probably don’t need another tomato.

But I do need another tomato so I’ll be planting Italian Oxheart tomatoes as well. These are the best sauce tomatoes I’ve ever grown. I’m going to plant 7 of each. This lets me toss the weaker plants and either give away whatever is left or just grow them in the greenhouse.

Speaking of the greenhouse, I’ll be starting peppers, cucumbers and basil to be grown in there. I’ve got seeds for English and Lemon cucumbers. As for peppers I’ll be growing Italian Bullhorn, Sweet Cherry and Jalapenos. I had great success with peppers last year with the greenhouse staying over 100 degrees most of July and August.
Even with Coco eating half of the peas and beans last year’s harvest was great. Snap peas, sugar peas and shelling peas will be planted right into the ground late April/early May. I’ll be planting two kinds of watermelon in May as well.

Whatever space is left over will be for various greens, cabbages, chard, bok choy etc.
OMG! I can’t wait to get started! It’s time to plant some tomatoes!

~Alex

From the Chalkboard!

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

 

~xoxo J.M.Riley

Super Easy Super Bowl Taco Dip

This recipe is my Mom's recipe with the exception of the seasoning*.  Every once in a while she would make this in a pie dish and serve it for dinner when I was a kid and it was a huge treat!  When Tim and I got together and I introduced him to this dish, he asked that I make it every New Year's Day and every Super Bowl Sunday!

 What you will need:
1 lb of lean ground beef (the leaner, the better)
1 packet of taco seasoning
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/2 stalk of green onion, thinly sliced
2 cups of cheese (I like Tillamook Mexican 2 Cheese Blend Pepper Jack & Medium Cheddar Cheese)
1 - 3.8 oz. can of sliced olives
8 oz. of sour cream
1 - 12 oz. can of refried beans (I use Old El Paso Vegetarian)
2 liter/2.2 quart glass dish
Non stick spray

Things to keep in mind:
How spicy?
Spiciness is so individual.  I like pepper jack cheese and jalapenos in my olives.  In other words, I like a little bit of kick, but I don't like my mouth to be on fire.  Make it how you, and your guests, will like it!  If you do not like spice buy a mild cheese and a mild taco seasoning packet.  If you're all about the spice, get spicy cheese, spicy olives, and add paprika and chili powder to your taco seasoning.  Tailor it to your taste!
Do I have to use the same size dish that you use? 
No, you don't have to use the exact same size.  Here is an easy way to find out if your dish will be big enough: the measurements on my 2 liter/2.2 quart glass dish are 11" x 7" x 2".  If I multipy these three numbers I get 154.  So go measure your dish in inches.  Multipy those numbers.  If you come up with a number that is close to 154 (i.e. the 144 to 164 range), you're golden!  If not, be aware that your taco dip will ride very high, or very low in the dish. 

Let's get started!
Preheat oven to 335 degrees.

In a frying pan brown meat with 1/2 chopped onion.  If you use a packet of taco seasoning follow directions on seasoning packet.  I use Taco Bell Taco Seasoning* (Gasp!  The bunny is out of the bag now!).  The directions for the Taco Bell Taco Seasoning tell me to drain any excess fat from the meat.  I recommend that you do this.  The taco dip will be too runny and greasy if you do not.  When meat is done, set aside.

Spray your 2.2quart/2 liter dish lightly with non stick spray.

Now, we layer!  Spread the refried beans on the bottom of your dish.  Spread your seasoned meat on top of refried beans.  Spread sour cream on top of seasoned meat.  On top of sour cream spread 2 cups of cheese OR enough to cover the sour cream.  On top of cheese scatter your olives and thinly sliced green onion (I completely forgot to buy green onions when I made this batch! Grrrrr, this illustrates the importance of making a grocery list!)

Bake in the oven at 335 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  The cheese on top should be thoroughly melted and the corners of the dish bubbling gently.

Voila'!  You're done!  Let this dish rest for a few minutes before serving with your favorite tortilla ships. 

 

~xoxo J.M.Riley