Night of Nights: Raccoon

While on vacation, I had some mind altering revelations.

1. Hey, I can stay up as late as I want.

2. We are up in the woods.

3. Raccoons hang out in the woods.

Number 3 was a real eye opener. I became obsessed with seeing a raccoon. The people around me made fun. I laughed in their faces. I knew I could snap a picture of a raccoon.

Picture this: it's late at night, and I hear something out on the deck.....BLAM-O there is a raccoon out there! I quick grab the camera and prepare myself for some incredible raccoon shots. Well, I couldn't figure out how to get the camera to work properly and my photos turned out all blurry and worthless.

The very next night I committed myself to the cause. I grabbed a good book, and went down to the basement of the cabin. Basement porch had great lighting. SO great in fact, that I was able to read by the light of the outside light. I pulled the couch as close as I could to the basement sliding glass door and got my read on.....I waited.....and waited. Around 11:30 I still had hope.

Around 1:00 am, I gave up. I thought "this fat raccoon has me beat. there is no way he'll ever show up for the nice little pile of orange raspberry scones that someone left out there." I ended up turning off the porch light and going to bed. Lucky for me I only had 30 pages left of my book and referred back to revelation number 1 "Hey, I can stay up as late as I want". I finished my book, and I made the decision to check out the porch one more time. Jackpot.

welcome to the world

We have a new niece! Juliet Ellen was born on August 21st and is just beautiful and perfect!

















Welcome to the world little one!

squirt update

The length of an English cucumber


Doesn't he look radiant?? Just positively glowing if you ask me.



Ok, so here are the real ones.

Blueberry Dream

This is super yummy, but pretty rich. I had a hard time finishing my bowl. Give it a try! It's pretty to look at too!

Blueberry Dream
adapted from Food Network Magazine

2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
powdered sugar
vanilla
shortbread or wafer cookies for serving

Make the blueberry sauce: heat 1 1/2 cups blueberries, sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until blueberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, remove from heat, stir in the remaining blueberries and let mixture cool to room temperature

Beat the heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer until soft peaks form. mix in powdered sugar and vanilla (I never measure, I just eye ball it) Gently fold in the blueberry mixture. Divide among bowls and serve with cookies.

Enjoy!

what I did on my summer vacation

We just spent 10 glorious days on vacation. At the cabin. It went by way too fast, as all vacations do, but we are thankful for the time away.



This is after seeing Planet of the Apes




















No summer vacation would be complete without a rope swing!

squirt update

The length of an ear of corn






The bambino is growing like crazy and wearing me out! Some days I feel just as tired as I did in my first trimester. Here's to hoping I actually have enough energy to start and complete the nursery project!

strange date

I finally got my date at the hospital. Dave wasn't as excited about eating hospital cafeteria food as I was, but he was a good sport. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out this post.



The grilled cheese was great! Just how I remembered it. I even treated myself to a fountain coke. I have been craving one for months! But we learned something very valuable that night: don't let Jessica get over hungry or there will surely be tears.

Janet, this next bit is for you. This is a picture of one of our favorite places. Rustica. I NEED to take you there. I keep thinking of all the places I need to take you or that we need to try together. I can't wait!!

opera in the park raspberry bars

These bars are fiercely delicious. So fresh and summery.

Opera-in-the-park raspberry bars
from the penzey spice catalog

Crumb Layers:
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp, baking soda

Filling:
3 1/2 cups raspberries (I just used two pints - it came out to about 3 cups)
2 Tb. raspberry enlightenment (found at Penzey's)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tb corn starch
1/3 cup oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a mixing bowl combine the ingredients for the crumb layers. Mix until crumbly. Press about 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.
For the filling, combine the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool until only slightly warm. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Top with the remaining crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 until the topping is golden and the raspberry filling is bubbling near the center, about 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

besties photo shoot

Our friend Amanda is a talented photographer, and when they were visiting a few months ago, she took a besties photo shoot with Dave and Caleb.

Behold:

squirt update

butternut squash


It's really supposed to be spaghetti squash this week, but the spaghetti squashes at the store are gigantic right now. Butternut squash is actually in a few weeks but that seemed the more appropriate size, so I just did a little squash swap.

It feels good to be a little over halfway now. It also feels good to be obviously pregnant instead of just excessively chubby.

Here are some outtakes from our little photo shoot.







Doesn't she look like Ed, the crazy hyena from Lion King?? HA!