Pretzels & Pottery

This morning Maisie and I met up with Kathy & Chani at The Pretzel Co.

It was too cute that just by chance both girls were dressed in pink & orange twirly tops with capris.  

The girls each got a cup of cinnamon sugar pretzel bites and decided that they were big girls and didn’t need Kathy or I so they headed off to enjoy private time at their own table.

Once they finished eating they played their electronic games while Kathy and I continued chatting. 

We then headed down the road where we all had fun painting pottery.

It was a fun morning/early afternoon and we’re looking forward to our next “play date.”  Maisie and I then headed home to wait on both the TV and AC technicians…no fun there. 

Staying home all afternoon wasn’t necessarily fun but I was able to post a new recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook for Red Curry Chicken which is really delish!! 

Check out that recipe along with some of my other recent ones including:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi and Mint Lassi.

Enjoy!!

Learning some new flavors

Thursday night I attended a vegetarian Indian cooking class which was so interesting and fun.  Though I cook Indian food and have tried many recipes, there are so many different regional and varied foods I certainly haven’t been exposed to even a fraction of them so I loved learning some new flavor combinations and recipes.   Everything that we made and enjoyed Thursday night was wonderful but one of the big hits of the evening and new for me, was the mint lassi which was served at the beginning of the class.  This summer I have been slurping down Mango Lassi, Melon Agua Fresca and Watermelon Frosties and now added to my sippy obsession is Mint Lassi.  This Tuesday night I’m attending another Indian cooking class, this time cooking with lamb.  I’m super excited and can’t wait to see what the big standout recipe of the night will be.      

I enjoyed the mint lassi so much on Thursday that the past few mornings I’ve gone out to our weed patch garden to pick mint so that I could enjoy the lassi again and again.  This mint lassi is just a bit sweet, refreshing, yet creamy and light, a perfect drink for a hot summer day.  I posted a recipe for the Mint Lassi on Cook Lisa Cook so make it and enjoy it on a hot summer afternoon.

This recipe along with many other delicious ones can be found over on Cook Lisa Cook.  Check out some of my other recent recipes: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies and Aloo Gobi.

Enjoy!!

100 days of posting

Today marks my 100th day in a row of posting to Moments with Maisie.  Thanks to M3 what started out as a 30 day challenge to post daily has kept me going and going like the Energizer bunny.  So to celebrate my little accomplishment I spent a bit of time this morning getting a hot stone massage mani/pedi. 

Okay so I had the mani/pedi scheduled already but when I realized what the day was I thought what a great little “reward” for doing oh-so well in posting to my previously neglected blog.  Not only have I been posting more to this blog but I’ve been much better about photographing and documenting my recipes and posting those over on Cook Lisa Cook so head on over there and find something new, delicious and a lot more appetizing and desirable than looking at hot stones between my toes! 

Recent recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies and Aloo Gobi.

Enjoy!!

Mill circle

The big skill on the bars for USA level 3 is the mill circle and Maisie has her mill circle, woohoo!  Now I just wish that I had remembered to bring my video camera to the gym, hopefully next week.

Take a big step over to Cook Lisa Cook as I’ve posted a new recipe for Aloo Gobi, a very delicious potato and cauliflower dish.  While there take a look at some of my other recent recipes, you may find something new and delicious for your table:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa and Math Book No Bake Cookies.

Enjoy!

50 Years

Recently my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Maisie enjoyed celebrating with bubbles…

and of course a cartwheel or two. 

Happy 50th Anniversary Mom & Dad.

Any excuse to make cookies

Maisie found a no bake cookie recipe in her math book and begged to make cookies telling me that it would help her with her math…yeah right!  I figured since we had everything in the house (sort of) and it had been two days since we last baked, we’d give it a go.  It took us all of maybe 10 minutes from start to putting the cookies in the refrigerator to set and then after a mere 15 minutes in the fridge Maisie was happily tasting her treats.  I had my doubts but the cookies were actually quite tasty and a bit candy-like.  Maisie enjoyed measuring out and mixing together the ingredients and we all got some tasty treats so a win-win.

Maisie and her Math Book No Bake Cookies. 

This along with many other delicious recipes can be found over on Cook Lisa Cook.  Check out some of our other recent recipes:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp and Laksa.

Enjoy!

Living the life of Maisie

Relaxing and floating in the pool before gymnastics practice this afternoon.

Life is sweet!

Also sweet are the Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting that Maisie made yesterday so if you want a wonderful, delicious treat check out the recipe details over on Cook Lisa Cook. 

Also a new recipe added today, Laksa, very different and wonderful.  More recent and delicious recipes to check out while you’re there include:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza and Rhubarb Crisp.

Enjoy!!

A Sweet 4th

Wishing everyone a happy, festive and safe fourth of July. 

This morning Maisie and I did a bit of cooking together as we were going to be lunching at the pool with some neighbors.  We made BBQ chicken wings, Potato Salad with Bacon, Asian Broccoli Slaw with Cashews, Guacamole and deviled eggs.  Then as a treat for a special friend, Maisie made Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting.

Maisie peeled the wrappers from the candies,  It’s good that I bought a big bag as she did just a bit of quality control sampling. 

Maisie did a great job mixing up the brownie batter.

And an even better job at quality control taste testing.  She just wanted to be sure and deliver a quality product.

And that she did.  Don’t these perfect little two-bite treats look scrumptious!

A perfect chocolate caramel treat for any dessert table.

Head on over to Cook Lisa Cook for the Rolo Brownie Bites with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting recipe details.  More recent and delicious recipes to check out while you’re there include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza and Rhubarb Crisp.

Enjoy!   

Sunday delight

No words needed… 

It’s been a while

Between the busyness of the end of school, Maisie’s Elite Team Gymnastics Camp, VBS, horseback riding camp, swim lessons and 12 hours each week of regular gymnastics practice and K & A’s swim team, music lessons, tennis and other activities, getting together for playtime has been near impossible.  Today though everyone was home and the three friends were happy to watch a movie, have lunch and spend the afternoon together at the pool. 

K, Maisie and A waiting for me to hurry up and take a picture so that they could get back to watching their movie.

Tonight I posted a new, delicious and low-sugar (if you choose) recipe for Rhubarb Crisp over on Cook Lisa Cook so check it out.  More recent recipes on Cook Lisa Cook:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts and Blacksmith Pizza.

Enjoy!

The most comfortable seat in the house

Maisie adores doing oversplits and sits in them all.the.time and unbelievably finds it comfortable!!

She watches a movie.

Reads a book.

And even takes a rest.

My most comfortable seat has a foot rest but to each their own!

Blacksmith Pizza

Many, many years ago before Maisie and even before Eammon, I remember visiting right around Christmas time (because it was wicked cold up in Massachusetts) with my Blacksmith friend George Martell and his family.  George made a wonderful dinner of grilled pizzas and I fell head-over-heels in love with them and dubbed them Blacksmith pizzas in his honor.  Grilled pizzas in this country are said to have started at Al Forno restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island and while I have enjoyed them there many, many times, I honestly like my own better as I tailor them to whatever flavor profile strikes my fancy.  I have been making these pizzas ever since George introduced me to them and they really are quite easy to make.  Because a lot of the preparation can be done in advance and because they are individual portions that can be customized, they are perfect for when we entertain or have guests, both those who love and are willing to try anything as well as those that are fussy with their food.

Maisie adores Blacksmith pizza and this day she was eating one with tomato sauce and because it’s what I had on hand, Fiesta blend cheese. (That’s why it looks so orange)

What’s great about these pizzas is that you can really use whatever you have on hand which was what happened this time.  This tray contains pizzas for Maisie and I.  Mine are in the top row and have a light coating of Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, very thinly sliced prosciutto and a light sprinkle of Fiesta blend cheese.  Maisie likes basic pizza, tomato sauce and a good amount of the Fiesta blend cheese. 

This tray was Eammon’s with all his pizzas being topped with Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, some very thinly sliced prosciutto and a light sprinkle of Fiesta blend cheese.  The top row pizzas also have the diced fire roasted tomatoes, thinly slice red, orange & yellow sweet peppers and diced Vidalia onion. 

Maisie gives Blacksmith pizza a big thumbs up…as do Eammon and I.  Give them a try, they’re easy and pretty darn awesome.

Here’s some food p@rn of the grilled pizzas that I’ve blogged about in the past.Maisie’s favorite, tomato sauce and cheese.

My all time favorite pizza...Ever!  Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, figs picked fresh off my neighbor's tree (with their permission of course) and goat cheese.

One of my longtime go-to pizzas, pesto, caramelized onions, goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes.

Eammon likes more ingredients and this is one of his favorites, tomato sauce, olive tapenade, caramelized onions, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes and cheese.

The always delicious Roasted Garlic Onion Jam, prosciutto, caramelized onion and cheese

And just because I love her and think she’s stinkin’ adorable, Maisie eating her Blacksmith pizza way back in August 2009.

Head over to Cook Lisa Cook for all the detail on how to make wonderful, easy and delicious Blacksmith Pizza.

More recent recipes on Cook Lisa Cook:  Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts.

Enjoy!

Cool treats for hot little gymnasts

Taylor and Maisie enjoying a cool sweet treat after a great practice.

If yesterday’s post of Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies was a bit too decadent for you, check out today’s recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook which is a bit healthier.

And fresh from our garden.

Long Beans with Walnuts totally delish! 

Some other wonderful and some even healthy recipes can be found over on Cook Lisa Cook.  Some recent recipes: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty and Mango Gazpacho.

Enjoy!! 

Double Double Stuff

I know where she learned this little trick…

What’s better than a Double Stuff Oreo?  Mother and Daughter agree, a double-Double Stuff Oreo!!

We had Double Stuff Oreo cookies in the house today because Maisie wanted to bake and she made…Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies.  How’s that for a mouthful?

And a decadent mouthful it was!  Make these, grab a big old glass of milk and enjoy!!

All the yummy details and the super-simple recipe for Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies can be found over on Cook Lisa Cook.

Other recent recipes on Cook Lisa Cook: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty and my latest recipe Mango Gazpacho.

Enjoy!!

What a sky

Last night moments after Maisie drifted off to sleep I sat down on the sofa ready to plop my computer in my lap and I looked out the family room windows and saw a sky divided by a rainbow.  To the east and under the rainbow the sky was bright and white but to the west the sky was dark and sporting a second rainbow.  I quickly called Eammon down from his office, grabbed my camera and we stood in the back yard gawking in the rain at the beauty of the sky.   

If the view from our backyard wasn’t amazing enough, looking out our side yard we could see the full arch and the other side of the rainbow. 

The sky was just amazing in that inside the arch is was bright and white while outside the arch it was noticeably darker.  I’ve just never seen a sky like that before.

I’m a little bummed that I don’t have a camera lens that could capture the full rainbow as I doubt that I’ll ever see something like this again.  Just pretty amazing and beautiful so Eammon and I stood out in the yard, getting wet with rain, watching until the rainbow disappeared.