my adorable little niece
Originally uploaded by J.Fields

I've been really trying to hone in on my photography skills lately... Ha ha! Yeah right! My sister-in-law Jen is so talented and she took this. I love her work! If you look at Franny's eyes, you can see Jen and Bobby's reflection.

Saturday is a special day

On Saturday Bobby and I were outside testing our new double jogging stroller when we ran into our neighbor Tommy. His wife and daughter are out of town and so we asked him if he'd like to join us for dinner. He said he had tons of meat and offered to grill some up and we could combine forces! Score! I shamelessly suggested we have it in has backyard so that we could make good use of their playground. (They have the coolest backyard!) So this is what we were able to throw together without a trip to the store. I go grocery shopping WAY too much.

Fresh garlic croutons on a green salad with a creamy Italian vinaigrette

A special request from Bobby for Pilsbury Funfetti Cupcakes with Duncan Hines Strawberry Mist frosting. (I like how I can even make a cake mix sound sexy.) Aren't they pretty?

I think we were too excited to eat to remember to take a picture of the main course, which was grilled marinated pork with raspberry chipotle sauce. (The raspberry chipotle sauce is fabulous and can be purchased from Costco if you're lucky enough to live by one.)

Saturdays are always fun for me and the kids because I usually don't bother with housework and let everything go so we can just play and make the most of Franny's day at home. Tommy was lucky enough to see what happens to our house on Saturdays when he helped us in with the dishes. Yikes. I'm sure that will change as the kids get older and I need their help with Saturday chores, but for now I like this arrangement.



Pool pictures are my favorite. This is Sophie's first ride on our new floatie! She liked it a lot more than Franny did. I was trying to get a shot of Sophie and Abbey calling out their names (SOPHIE! ABBEY!) and Franny got in there and said to me: "FRANNY!!!" Apparently she was not to be left out.



Bobby and I noticed a big improvement in her speech on Saturday. When she'd had enough of the pool, she came up and very clearly said to me, "Let's go." She had been sort of acting like she wanted to leave, but I was holding her off because I was having fun chatting with my friends. But after she said that I was so impressed I said, "Yeah, let's go!!"

Tomato, Pesto, and Mozzarella Panini

Okay, this is one of my better finds lately. We have been eating these quite often and this is the recipe I submitted for the June/July edition of the SAA newsletter, but I was excited to share it with you, so I sent it a little early. If you're part of SAA, consider it a little "sneak preview." I'm just joking around. Sort of. I'm fully aware that I take food a little too seriously.

I found this recipe in Barefoot Contessa at Home. If you don't have a panini grill, don't worry about it! We don't either and we love what our George Foreman does with it!

This is a great sandwich, but make sure you use good-quality ingredients. I like to use the fresh Italian peasant bread that Hyvee is selling now with fresh mozzarella (also can be found at Hyvee).

2 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes
1 (16-oz) ball fresh mozzarella
12 slices bakery white bread, sliced 1/2-inch thick
about 1 cup prepared pesto
kosher salt
butter, at room temperature

Preheat a panini grill machine.
Core the tomatoes and slice the tomatoes and mozzarella 1/4-inch thick.
Place the bread slices on a work surface. Spread each slice evely with pesto. Place a layer of mozzarella (about 2 slices) on half of the bread and cover with a layer of tomato. Sprinkle the tomato with salt. Place the remaining slices of bread, pesto side down, on top. Spread the top and bottom of each sandwich with softened butter. Grill the sandwiches in batches on the panini grill for 2-3 minutes, until the mozzarella starts to ooze. Cut each sandwich in half, and serve warm.

On a side note, I was grocery shopping late last night and was thrilled to learn that after the construction is complete on the only grocery store we have in town besides Walmart, the store will be expanding and will include a health food section! There's some more stuff they're adding- I can't remember what, but more space will surely mean more products and more ingredients that I can find! Hooray!

Me and Bobby McGhee

Today Bobby and I celebrate our 6th anniversary! I thought it would be fun to write about how we met. I'm sure I have it written in a journal somewhere, but it will be nice to write it again from this perspective after being married for six years.

It was probably sometime in April 1997, and Bobby was my second cousin Aaron's roommate. My roommates, Janelle and Manna, went by Aaron's to pay him a visit. He was on his way out with some friends and Bobby was one of them. I remember noticing how goodlooking he was, but there was no time for introductions. Then after Spring semester ended and my cousin Aaron had left, we were at this dance club in town called The Underground (hee hee), and we saw Bobby and his roommates there. Again, we never spoke but I remember thinking how cute he was and how a guy that cool would never go out with a girl like me.

This may be my favorite picture of the two of us. It was taken by my roommate one morning when Bobby came over early and we spent several hours talking. I already knew I liked him, but it was the first time I thought, "hey, this guy might actually like me." Janelle took the picture really casually like it was no big deal, but really she was being a good friend because she knew how much I liked him and knew I would want a picture with him. If you look at the bottom of the picture, you can see he has his hand on my arm. :)

Well, the night we actually met came a few weeks after the Underground. We met at a Rick's college dance. His sister knew my roommates so we all started hanging out and dancing together. Before the dance, my roommates and I had filled water balloons with water and we were planning on hiding in the bushes and throwing them at people coming out of the dance. We asked Bobby and his friends to join us. And in case you're wondering, no, I am not at all ashamed on what we did. It was a lot of fun and we were only 18!! I think you can get away with a lot of stuff when you're 18 and still be considered a good person. :) On the way home from the dance, we were all walking together. At that time I was walking a lot for exercise, so I was really fast. I was up ahead of the group and my roommate Manna was explaining to Bobby that I had tripped over a 2 x 4 that was raised about 1 ft. above the ground for some construction they were doing in that area. Right as she was telling Bobby this story, I tripped over the SAME 2 x 4. Bobby thought that was hilarious. After that, we all hung out together a lot. There was definitely an attraction there between the two of us from the beginning, but we took it very slow and were friends first and you pretty much know the rest of the story. (Or if you don't I'll tell you really fast that we dated for a year, he served a mission for two years, I waited, and then we got married seven months later.) Bobby was as cool and funny then as he is now, but he was also very sweet and genuine and kind, not conceited or cocky like a lot of the guys I'd known or dated before. Bobby of course had me rolling with his hilarious and witty sense of humor, just as he does now. I was always sort of awkward around guys I liked, but I remember being really impressed with myself when Bobby and I first met. I remember thinking to myself, "Nice job, Katherine- what you said was actually funny!!" Or he was just being really nice and laughing at my jokes because he liked me. Either way, we hit it off right from the beginning.

To celebrate our anniversary Bobby and I are going out on a date. We're eating at a very fancy nearby restaurant and then we're going to see Ocean's 13. I'm so excited to have all that time with Bobby to myself! The medical school gave Bobby a gift certificate to this restaurant when he started and we've been saving it all this time. As for the movie, I think we're going to love it. We liked the other two and we're not really all that picky. I saw an interview with Brad Pitt and he said, "It's not any worse than the other two." Janelle wrote a post about celebrity look-alikes the other day and it just occured to me that this is Bobby's look-alike:

So, yeah . . . I'm pretty lucky.

Almond Ice Cream Terrine with Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles and Raspberry Sauce

Oh yeah, baby. You know what I like. Long wordy recipe titles.

This was my first attempt at an ice cream terrine. I first became interested in terrines about 3 years ago, when I made my first ice cream bombe. I've been collecting recipes ever since, and I've been holding on to this one for quite a while. I think they are awesome! This one is especially cool because there are chocolate truffles hidden inside and when you slice it, they look like cool brown polka dots!

I was only a little disappointed with the ice cream recipe, however, only because it calls for a cup of coarsely chopped almonds when it should have been no more than 1/2 cup. There were just too many nuts. So I will make that adjustment some day when I feel like making it again. I think next time I might try a white chocolate terrine, maybe with some almonds (1/4 cup only) and the truffles and raspberry sauce OF COURSE!

Wading Pools!

The weather here in K-ville has been LAME. A few of the parks here in town have wading pools open in the afternoons for the young kids to play in. Franny really enjoys it as do I, because people like Jayne are there to hang out and chat with while the kids are in the pool. Well, the pools have been open since Memorial Day, but we've only gone once because of the weather. It was an interesting afternoon! I'll spare you the swim diaper story, but I'll share another story about our up and coming social butterfly Franny. There are some public restrooms near the pool and I saw Franny run off past them and around the corner. I thought I better follow so Sophie and I quickly walked to catch up to her. As I am telling you this story, I am sitting here deeply regretting that I did not run to get to her, so I could have spared both Franny and I from what happened next. There were three boys and a girl who were, let's see... what's a nice way of saying white trash? The grass where the kids were standing was flooded and there were large puddles everywhere- Franny loves to splash around in puddles. They were standing around one larger puddle and giggling in a suspicious way. I don't know for sure, but I can only guess by some comments that were made that the boys were practicing their "aim." I could be wrong, it all happened so fast, but then the boys ran off and Franny followed, right after stomping her bare foot right in the afore-mentioned pee puddle! Oh Franny.... One more dip in the over-chlorinated pool and we headed home for the bath tub.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP

It doesn't look like it, but the title of this post is actually a quote from The Office. I found this recipe idea for a yummy and easy ice cream sundae in my Everyday Food cookbook. I was excited to make them mostly because I thought the green ice cream looked so pretty. I went to the store and picked up a carton of Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip. I love how the soft store-bought ice cream gets on the way home from the store, so I ALWAYS open the carton and have a spoonful before moving it to the freezer. I was disappointed because Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip isn't green- it's white!

Stupid all-natural Breyers without any artificial colors or preservatives.

We served these with oreos instead of chocolate wafers. I thought the chocolate sauce was decent, but not fantastic. Certainly very easy.

Chocolate Sauce:

1/4 cup light corn syrup
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken or cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan, combine the corn syrup and chocolate. Stir over medium-low heat until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Whisk in the heavy cream until smooth. Serve right away, or let cool to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container.