a sitting duck

have a great weekend!

taking it outside

i've been getting to know my little buddy for the last year and i have learned that you can cook almost anything on a grill.

yeah anything.

i love it. and so does my family (see that love in her eyes? it's all for the grill baby!)

currently my faves are corn on the cob, roasted sweet peppers, chipotle burgers, and pizza.

sweet wonderful pizza!

pizza is awesome because you can throw as little or as many things on it and it will always taste wonderful.


what i really love is that i have some great herbs growing just a few steps away that get tossed on with it. mmmm.


Hearty Pizza Dough

1 c. warm water
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 1/2 - 3 c. flour (half whole wheat half all purpose)

Mix one cup of flour with water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil with bread hook scraping sides of bowl until it's all combined. Slowly mix in the rest of the flour watching the dough. You will know it's ready when the dough leaves the sides of the bowl and climbs up the hook. Oil your hands a little and slide the dough off. Cover it and let it rest in the bowl for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare your toppings.

When the dough is ready slap it down on a floured surface and roll it out. Sprinkle a cutting board with cornmeal and flour and carefully transfer the rolled out dough to it. Let this rise again for about 20 min.

Heat up your grill on medium and when you are ready slide the pizza onto it. Keep an eye on it now because this can go quick. When the underside is nice and brown give it a flip (I have yet to master this. I use two spatula's and it has on occasion landed on my feet.)

Go ahead and top it with tomato sauce, fresh herbs, garlic powder, s&p, veggies and/or meats and generous amounts of mozzarella.

When the cheese is melted you. are. done!

To all my peeps,

This is where we will be all summer. Because it's going get hot up in here.

Please join us.

xoxo,

H (and the gang)

brothers, birthdays, and 1982

Lewis Kids Dec, 1982

Yesterday was brother Matt's birthday (lower right).

The thirtieth will be brother Jeremy's (lower left).

The first will be mine (center female that looks identical to Roo).

We three have always shared huge cakes and summer parties (I know, my poor mother, right??) I've always been grateful to have them close to me.

Jeremy introduced the Lewis' to rap. I remember him coming home and teaching me the running man. We memorized the lyrics to Mr Wendel and Ice Ice Baby. I always admired him because he was a natural leader. He seemed to do no wrong. Not because he was afraid of punishment or because of ignorance - he just made good choices because he knew the value in it - it's like he was a step ahead of everyone else.

I was Matt's little sidekick, always trying to keep up with him - following him everywhere. He was mischievous and would coax me into all sorts of things, like crawling under the house with him, catching wild cats, climbing onto the roof, and then of course, jumping off the roof. Matt did take care of me though and he always included me. He was never mean or hurtful, but he also knew just how to push everyone's buttons.

Happy Birthday's Brothers!

Loves,

H

Summer Prep

It's going to get hot.

Soon.
I don't want it.
It makes me cranky.
It makes me feel like I can't breathe.
It's sticky, sweaty, and literally melts and kills everything.

I'm determined to keep the air off until June.
So far so good.
Lib seems to keep us fairly comfortable inside when it's in the 90's outside.
Maybe I'm just afraid of turning on the ac unit that is 15 years old.
That bill will probably also make me feel a little breathless.
Yes, best to keep it off as long as possible.

AZ heat is a hot hard blow to the face after the beautiful winter and spring we have had.

But I think we are pretty ready.

So bring it on.

The sunscreen's been stocked.
I painted the citrus tree.

The pool has been filled.
And new sandals have purchased for the chickies.

Oh, and the ice machine on our new fridge is fully functioning.
Score.

Yummy Baby

My rad friend Amelia had her baby last week.

Lucky me, I got to take some pictures.

Oh Presley Belle, I could just eat you!

at 7am.

Tomorrow, I'm going to L&D.

photo

To hopefully see a birth (cross your fingers!).

And massage a real fundus.


Eeek!

settling in

i think we are all unpacked...

at least until i find another box, or realize that something else is missing.

we hope to close on the house in a few weeks.

yep. we are buying her.

it's pretty crazy as we are doing this all on our own (no realtors to advise). easy has taken it all under his wing and could probably pass the Real Estate Exam with flying colors after all is said and done.



i'm pretty grateful for him.

so she has been inspected inside and out and has a strong foundation, good bones, and a lot of room. there is much to be done though as her make-up is pretty smudged.

*notice the nicely painted switches behind our heads? yep. they are all like that.

but we are glad to call her home.

rocking roo

dear mother,

i always wanted to be like you.

happy mother's day.

-h

Killer Wheat Bread

i didn't know that i could bake bread.

i thought it was a miserable process - one that took all day long and rarely had promising results.

i thought this up until i learned a few invaluable secrets from a relief society meeting years ago, but even then i was still intimidated by it.

back in march, i was determined to succeed at the whole bread baking idea. so, i dug through my recipe books, found a great one, modified it a little, and tried it out.

holy smokes! it was a hit!

2 loaves gone in hours.

breakfast.
lunch.
snack.
dinner.
done.

so needless to say, these secrets should be shared.

and so should this recipe.

here are the first two:



1. use bread flour
2. use a little gluten flour.

i'm serious it makes all the difference.

3. don't overwork the dough. please don't. i know we all think that we need to knead, knead, knead it, but you really don't. instead, enlist in the help of cute little chickies and let them knead, knead, knead their little bits of dough all they want:

they might even pose for you.

Killer Wheat Bread
(i usually half this recipe)

5 c hot tap water
1/4 c veg oil (canola, please)
2 T gluten flour
10-12 cups flour (i do half bread flour and half whole wheat)
1 T salt
3/4 c honey
2 T yeast

Using a bread mixer (not machine), add the water, salt, gluten flour, oil, honey, and half the flour. Mix this until blended then add the yeast and the rest of the flour. Add just enough flour so the dough climbs up your bread hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. The dough will be sticky. Let it knead there on low speed in the bowl for a few minutes then remove the bread hook and cover for 10-15.

Oil (not flour) cutting board, hands, and loaf pans (a little pam works wonders) and slam the dough out onto the board. Really, slam it another time! You can even do it a third if you have a little more aggression. Feel better? Then divide and pat the dough into loves. Let rise once more for 15 minutes and bake in standard loaf pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Feel free to drool a little as the scent engulfs your home. Makes 5 loaves.

Eat it.

Go ahead.

All of it.

Ah yes.

These are the days.

me again.

yesterday i ventured off to the grocery store with a smile on my face and a list in hand to fill our new fridge with fresh produce and mouth-watering beverages.

i felt like me again - excited to cook an amazing anniversary dinner for Easy.

i felt organized. something i haven't been in weeks and what i always long to be.

later, the girls and i headed over the anthropologie to treat myself with the rebate card that has been burning a hole in my purse. i felt like me again - toting my girls with me to where ever i please causing a raucous the whole way and trying to keep calm about it.

dinner was fantastic.

steak
baked sweet potatoes
grilled corn on the cob
a fresh salad
sparkling cider





and of course ice cream for dessert.

but, the best part?

eating alone at our dining room table that has been in storage the last year. and just talking with my man.

it was just like me again.

7 years.

Happy Anniversary to Us.