A Trip Home

Just about every year my siblings all make a trip back to Washinton to visit my parents and Ashley. Several times Jaren and I have been the only ones missing. This year I decided I was going to make it as well. It also happened to be the week of my mom's birthday. Unfortunately, Jaren was not there because he had Army stuff as usual. He was gone for the two weeks before then got home the same day I left. We just missed each other because I left in the morning and he got home that night. He couldn't fly out because he had to go back to work. So I spent a week out in Washington while he was home alone. I have no idea what that's like!

Us girls spent nearly everyday at some store shopping or exchanging or going back for something we saw earlier. All of us agreed how nice it was to be able to shop with someone. We had family home evening at the park playing softball and Frisbee with the kids. We then got ice cream cones and ice cream at Walmart for our refreshments. Lily and Logan haven't quite learned how to eat it without getting it all over their faces. After relaxing, shopping, hiking, and visiting other friends in the area...we took a trip to the beach on Thursday. It was beautiful! We found this cute little cove that surfer's mostly use. You have to hike down to the cove which was about a half mile or so. It doesn't seem that long unless your arms are full of "beach stuff". Scott and I made it down before the family to get a spot. We waited for another 15 minutes just basking in the sun before they showed up. As soon as the came down to where we were the clouds rolled in...typical. The water, as always on the Oregon coast, was frigid. The kids didn't seem to mind that and spent quite some time playing in it.

We had a couple of boogie boards and Logan was using one of them to try and ride the waves for the first time.

Though the boogie board was rather big for her to carry, Lily wanted to do the same thing her big brother was doing. She grabbed that huge boogie board and started walking out to where Eric and Logan were.

These kids are just too cute!

Logan wanted to be buried so Scott obliged. After he piled a huge mountain of sand on top of Logan, he began sculpting a muscle-man body with Logan's little noggin as the head. It was really funny.

Friday (mom's birthday) mom did everyone's laundry and finished the huge pile of hemming and mending that we brought. That just isn't right, I know. That's just my wonderful mom. Us girls really should learn how to sew so we can hem things ourselves but we know that mom will do it exactly how we want it. I just don't trust myself. As for the laundry...she just started doing the laundry and asking for our clothes! That's not all she did either. We had been asking her all week what she wanted for dinner and she never could come up with anything. That morning she decided she needed to use the green bell peppers from her garden and she made Philly steak and cheese sandwiches for dinner. She also baked the cake because I was at the doctor having the screw removed from my foot (that post to follow later). I did make the chocolate mousse filling and ganache to finish up the cake. Thanks for all you still do for us mom! Saturday we all made our way back home and after three weeks of being away from each other I finally got to see Jaren. Wahoo! I know three weeks doesn't compare to a year but any time apart is miserable. All in all, my trip home was great! I loved being with my family and hope it won't be too long before I get to see them again!
If you would like to view the full album, click here. I did realize after the week was over that I basically only took pictures of Lily and Logan. Probably because I didn't bother to get the camera out except when I thought they were doing something cute. Sorry family!

Perfectly Peanut Butter

So, I made Peanut Butter cookies for the very first time today. I have had them before but was never a really big fan and since Jaren doesn't like P.B. I never had reason to make them. My neighbor is a big fan though and I promised him some for helping me out with some things while Jaren has been gone doing Army training. Anybody that knows me and baking knows I can't leave a recipe as it is. I ALWAYS have to tweak it, enhance it, and make it my own. That's exactly what I did today. So for all of you followers out there that want to try a scrumptious Perfect Peanut Butter cookie with a surprise center...this is for you.



I thought that plain peanut butter cookies would be boring and wanted to add something to them. You can never go wrong with chocolate! I couldn't decide between trying the Dove chocolate with peanut butter center or plain Dove chocolate so I just had to try both.



I took about 1 Tbsp. of dough and shaped it around the chocolate piece then rolled it in granulated sugar before baking.



See how yummy these look! The verdict between plain chocolate and chocolate with a P.B. center is that they are both delicious! I, being a huge chocolate fan, like the plain chocolate better. These do require a big glass of milk!



Perfect Peanut Butter cookies:

3 Tbsp Crisco
5 Tbsp Coconut oil (refined or non-flavored)
1/2 c peanut butter (I used reduced fat)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
25-30 Dove chocolate squares (or Dove peanut butter filled squares)

In stand mixer cream Crisco, coconut oil, peanut butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until fluffy. Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined. Take approx. 1 Tbsp. dough and shape around each chocolate square. Roll each cookie dough ball/square in granulated sugar and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 7-9 minutes or until edges get small cracks (Do NOT over bake). Immediately remove from cookie sheet by sliding parchment paper with hot cookies onto cooling rack so cookies do not continue to bake on bottom. Once cooled enough to move, remove cookies from parchment paper directly onto cooling rack and parchment paper can be used for another round of cookies.

Notes:
* The dough is pretty soft. If it is too soft to shape around the chocolate then chill for about 20-30 minutes.
* These cookies are great even plain. If making them plain, roll dough into balls then dip in sugar. Bake same amount of time. You do NOT need to smash the dough down, it will flatten on it's own. You could also just add 1 cup of chocolate chips and scoop dough onto cookie sheet to bake as another variation.
* The secret ingredient in this recipe is the coconut oil. It is what causes the cookies to flatten on their own and makes them a little more soft and chewy than regular P.B. cookies. The refined coconut oil (non-flavored) can usually be found at Walmart on the baking isle. It will be on the top shelf above the Crisco. The brand they sell is called Louanna.
* I baked my cookies for exactly 8 minutes and they always came out perfect.
* Always use parchment paper when baking cookies. It keeps the cookies from over baking on the bottom and they are much easier to get off the cookie sheet. Parchment paper can be found in the same area of the grocery store as the aluminum foil, Ziploc bags, etc.

Enjoy everyone!

Amish

Here in Sparta, Wisconsin is one of the many areas that the Amish live. We have seen them riding down the street in their horse-drawn buggies. These are members of the Old Order Amish because they still use horse and buggy. We have also seen New Order Amish driving down the street in mini-vans and doing their grocery shopping at Walmart. I couldn't help but snap this picture as we were driving down one of the country roads here.



There is an Amish community here that will allow you to come take a tour through it for a cost of $50 per person. Jaren and I didn't take the tour but we did meander through the small cottage like shops they had and even purchased a few things.





Because the horse-drawn buggies are considered a slow-moving vehicle, they are required to display an orange reflective triangle on the back of the buggy. Signs are posted in areas where the Amish live to show the buggy crossing.



I haven't spoken with any Amish folk and am too chicken to go and ask them questions so I just did some research about them online. In the 18th Century Amish Mennonites migrated to the United States from Germany and Switzerland. To this day many traditional descendants of the Amish Mennonites speak Pennsylvania German (or Pennsylvania Dutch). As you probably know they are mostly known for their plain dress and simple living (without modern conveniences). Jaren and I wondered what their retention rate was and in my research found that they have a steady increase of about 4% a year. From 1992-2008 their numbers increased by 84%! That's more than I thought. I really like my modern conveniences but I do wonder what it would be like to live a quiet life without the distraction of so many worldly things around us. The Amish people seem to be such hard workers and very nice neighbors. I enjoy that there are so many living in this area because it means all of this beautiful farmland will be sticking around!

Sparta, WI

The new town that Jaren and I live in is called Sparta, WI. It is "known" as the "Bicycling Capital of America". This statue is of Ben Bikin' which sits on the corner of two of the major streets/highway in Sparta. Apparently he's the largest Ben Bikin' statue in the world.



Sparta isn't very big. We do have a Walmart (which I thankfully live only 2 minutes from), a Walgreens, a small Sears, and the Piggly Wiggly. These are pretty much the stores in town. There are other small shops in the downtown area but a lot of the stores on the main road are closed down. The biggest concentration of shopping is 30 minutes away. I just couldn't resist a picture of the Piggly Wiggly. I didn't even know this was a grocery store for the first week we were here.



We've got some very nice neighbors. We found one place to rent that was nice and available...everything else was for sale. We have now named our street "Military row" because just about everyone in these town homes are either soldiers temporarily stationed at Fort McCoy or are retired military now working as civilians at Fort McCoy.



This town home has the most space we have ever lived in since Jaren and I got married. It may not look very big in the picture but it has a whole basement too. It has 3 1/2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I say 3 1/2 bedrooms because the 1/2 is a very small room without a window. It serves as my food storage room. The over-sized furnace/utility room has all my other storage. And we even have a 2 CAR GARAGE!!!! Jaren now has room to do his building projects in the garage instead of in my living room as he did before. He also has his very own room downstairs for all of his Army stuff, trains, and other misc. hobby items to go. I thought a whole room of his own would be plenty of space but alas, it is already spilling out into the open area downstairs. What a mess...don't guys appreciate organization? I threatened Jaren that if the mess ever got to me to badly, I WOULD go down there and do some "organizing". This means he may no longer be able to find certain things whether it be because they are actually put away or because they accidentally fell into the garbage. :) Though Sparta is a lot more remote than any other place we have lived, we love it! It's so beautiful here! There are definitely lots of places to explore and I will blog about some we've experienced soon!