Cousins

It's cousins week, which means that Sara is hosting 9 cousins ages 7-15 for 4 days at her house. The Blairs drove from Denver arriving yesterday evening. There was screaming and jumping for 10 minutes. They have an incredible week planned and meanwhile we get to hang out with Oscar, Betty, Gabby and Ben.





-- Post From My iPhone

Grand Canyon

We live 2.5 hours or less from 3 national parks. When we moved to St. George, we traded in our annual membership to the Natural History Museum for a year membership to Zion National Park. We love taking a day, or half a day to drive up, do some hiking and drive home. On Tuesday we met the Urquharts for some hiking and swimming in the river. There is a section of the river that flows over a smooth long rock that slopes down like a slide. Even though we didn't have swimsuits and the river was COLD, the kids jumped right in to slide.

We were feeling a little bad for ourselves that we didn't have anywhere fun to go over Memorial Day weekend, so at the last minute we decided to drive to the Grand Canyon (North Rim). We stayed at a "rustic" cabin:
This picture kind of says it all about Colin lately. He's obsessed with Batman (loves playing Lego Batman), wears a cape 24/7 (yes, even to bed) and has started carrying this orange bat everywhere with him (his "batwing"). He also gives the peace sign whenever he poses for pictures.

While there, the kids got their Junior Ranger badges. This involved attending a program (we chose one about geology) and filling out some pages in the junior ranger handbook. We went on a hike and observed the layers, the older kids wrote haikus about the Grand Canyon and they used their senses and described what they were experiencing. They were questioned about the whole experience and then sworn in (seriously) by a real park ranger. They pledged to protect the Grand Canyon and learn all they could about it.


Here are a few pictures from Bright Angel lookout.

may days

We walked the kids to school a few mornings ago. I love, love, love living 2 blocks from the school. In the morning, if we are outside we can hear the bell ring and the morning announcements. Included in the morning announcements? a daily joke. From our house, the voice on the loudspeaker sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher, but we ask Roxcy and Jonah when they come home to tell us the joke. During the day we can hear voices of the kids at recess; talking, screaming, laughing, playing.

Don't you just love those shoulders?


Colin still wants to wear his jacket every time we go outside. If I tell him it's really warm (85 degrees!), then he's even more sure he needs his jacket. I know I should just trust that he knows when he is hot or cold, but it drove me crazy, so I hid his jacket.

Lemon Blueberry Tart

A few weekends ago Liz and Henry came to visit. The weather was very spring; warm and sunny and a little windy. Things were starting to bloom and so of course we thought about lemons. I searched for the perfect lemon tart. There are so many variations! Most begin with a lemon curd or custard, but some you bake and some you don't bake and some you bake just a little. Some recipes use the whole lemon, peel and all, ground up and some use just lemon juice and some use a combination of juice and zest. And some you top with sugar and carmelize it or you top it with meringue or with fruit. My muse, (is this a strictly feminine word? what's the word for a boy muse?) Josh described the perfect lemon tart which led me to this recipe from Martha Stewart: Lemon Blueberry Tart. It starts with pate sucree (and since you only use half of it, you can put the other half in the freezer for another tart, another time), topped with lemon curd (with both juice and zest), and then topped with blueberries and whipped cream (which we used in place of the creme fraiche). It really was perfect; tart and creamy and sweet and rich and very lemony. Liz went home and made one with raspberries for Jared, look how gorgeous it is:

I can't wait to make it again.

White Loaves

I've made lots of bread in my lifetime and found that different recipes are good for different reasons; some stale slowly and slice well for sandwiches, some are rich like rolls, some are eggy and great for bread pudding, BUT this recipe is just all around the best. The texture is light but substantial, the taste is full and the crust is crunchy and slightly crisp. The ingredients are simple: flour, sugar, salt, yeast, but there is a secret. After kneading the dough in the mixer you add 1/2 cube of soft butter. That's it. I promise you'll love this bread.

White Loaves (adapted from Baking with Julia)

Pour 1/2 c. warm water (like 100 degrees, think really hot bath water. It's hard to get it to hot if you are getting it out of the tap.) into mixer. Add 1 T. active dry yeast and 1 T. sugar. Let sit until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add additional 2 c. warm water.

Add 6 c. white flour and 1 T. salt. Mix with dough hook, slowly at first and then on a medium speed once flour is incorporated. If the dough does not come together, add more flour, 1 T. at a time. (I usually end up using 6 1/2-7 c. of flour total). Mix for 10 minutes. Add 4 T. butter, a tablespoon at a time. The dough will come apart as you add the butter, but keep beating, it will come back together. When butter is fully incorporated, remove bowl from mixer, cover with a towel and let rest for 1 hour.

Punch down dough, divide into two pieces. On counter roll into a rectangle about 9x12, roll up and place, seam side down into bread pan. Place in cold oven and let rise 1 hour.

Turn oven on to 375. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Remove from oven and immediately remove from pans. Let them cool on wire racks so crust crisps on all sides (if you set it on the counter it will sweat and the bottom will turn soggy).

Once completely cool, keep bread in brown paper bag or wrap airtight and freeze.

Snikerdoodles

I think I make these once a week. They are a favorite with everyone, especially Josh. It's not just the kind of cookie, it is this particular recipe. It's really, really tasty. I like to cook mine just until the middle looks dry (before they even start to brown) so they are soft and chewy. Josh likes his light brown around the edges so they are crispy. The recipe calls for refrigerating the dough for an hour. They really are better if you can spare the time. We can never wait so I always cook one sheet right after making the dough and then put the rest of the dough in the fridge. We cook a sheet at a time whenever we're in the mood, but the dough doesn't last more than a day or two. Also, the recipe calls for butter and shortening, which I usually don't cook with. I've tried using all butter but really like the result I get with the half butter, half shortening combo. If you decide to use all butter your cookies will be crisper but will still have great flavor.

Snickerdoodles (from Great Cookies by Carol Walter)

In mixer, with paddle attachment beat:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening

Meanwhile, in another bowl whisk together:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
2 t. cream of tartar
1/2 t. salt

Once butter and shortening are mixed and fluffy, slowly add:
1 1/2 c. sugar

Mix until fluffy. Add:
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract

With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients. Mix just until combined. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour. Roll into small balls, coat in cinnamon sugar and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Cloud Puffs

Think tiny cream puffs (subtly flavored with hints of orange and lemon) deep fried, rolled in granulated sugar and dusted with powdered sugar. Need I say more?

You can use your favorite cream puff recipe, or this one:

Cloud Puffs (from Dessert Circus at Home by Jacques Torres)

1/2 c. water
pinch of salt
pinch of granulated sugar
grated zest of 1/2 an orange
grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
3 1/2 T. butter, cubed
1/2 flour
2-3 large eggs

granulated sugar and powdered sugar

Heat frying oil (vegetable or canola) to 330 degrees in heavy bottomed 4 qt. saucepan. Meanwhile:

Place water, salt, sugar, zests and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in flour all at once and incorporate thoroughly with a wooden spoon.

Return saucepan to heat and cook for about 3 min. to dry out the paste. As it cooks, push paste from side to side with wooden spoon. It is dry when it begins to leave a thin film on the bottom of the saucepan.

Transfer contents to a large mixing bowl. Mix with an electric mixer on low for 2 min. to release some steam. Continue to mix and add eggs one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. After adding two eggs, check consistency. It should be pale yellow, smooth, moist, slightly elastic and sticky. If it's to dry add another egg.

Place batter into a pastry bag with no tip, or a large freezer bag (snip off the tip to make a 1/2" opening). Pipe small amounts of batter (about the size of a dime) into hot oil. Use a chopstick or skewer (dipped in oil) to detach dough from tip of bag. You can also use a spoon to scoop small amounts of dough into oil. Turn them as they cook to ensure even frying. Fry until they are golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Remove from oil onto paper towel. Roll in granulated sugar. Just before serving dust with powdered sugar.