Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

Tonight I made one of my favorite things, ever for dinner...bacon-wrapped sea scallops! The bacon I used is made by Hempler's, a local company that has been around since the 30's. Their meats are nitrate and nitrite free, contain no hormones, and no antibiotics. Aside from all that, this bacon is delicious! I like to offset bacon's general saltiness with a little drizzle of agave nectar.

The stuffing on the side is my traditional Thanksgiving day recipe. It has organic bread chunks, organic vegetarian stock, (some of my friends are veg, and I use this so that everyone can enjoy my stuffing. too bad I haven't found any good gluten-free bread...that would be next) onions, mushrooms, garlic and a small amount of diced tart apple. I use liberal amounts of butter in this one, and a dash of olive oil.

The meal is rounded out with an organic baby greens salad. I usually make my own dressings, but when I don't I am addicted to Drew's Greek Olive dressing; I could seriously drink that stuff...tangy, creamy, delicious.

Banana Bread

I just made some banana bread yesterday, and it turned out great. I've been using this recipe for about 7 years now. I originally found it somewhere, but I have made so many changes and adjustments to it,I think I can claim it as my own! It has lots of bananas in it, so it always turns out very moist. Noticeably absent are walnuts. I know I am odd, but I do not like nuts of any kind in my baked goods; in salads and for snacking, I love them!
With that, here is my recipe:

Kristin's Banana Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon real mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup applesauce
2 1/3 cups (approx 5 bananas) mashed, over-ripe bananas

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees c). Lightly grease a 9X5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs,mashed bananas, applesauce and mayonnaise. Scrape sides of bowl, and mix thoroughly. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture. Mix gently, just enough to combine ingredients and moisten flour. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, and check at that time. Toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. This mix is very moist and may need a bit more time, depending on your oven. If so, lower oven temp. to 320 F, and continue to bake for approx 10 more minutes.

Here She Comes!!!

I am so excited...Shanon will be here tomorrow night. Today is Shanon's last day at work before vacation, but I still have to work tomorrow. She is flying in to Bellingham, arriving around 9:30. We have big plans, too. Let's see...nail appointments, coffee, Vancouver on the train, more coffee, sightseeing, socializing...this is going to be so much fun!
I am busy now, cleaning, organizing, tidying, etc. I want everything to be just perfect when she gets here. I am also trying to come up with some wonderful dessert to have waiting when Shan gets here. I have a couple of ideas, but they will be posts unto themselves!!!

New Bathroom

I just painted our bathroom, "Riviera Blue."  I am so happy with how it turned out.  It is just the perfect shade of blue, like a gumball.  The ceiling is the same shade, with some clouds added on.  I took advantage of the shape of our vent fan, and painted it to look like the sun!  This was a bit of a pain, since we have a really high ceiling, and some hard to reach areas, but I am pleased with the results.  It is surprising what you can accomplish with a paintbrush taped to a pole...

Farewell, Miss Duchess

A year ago tomorrow, March 29th, it was hard to believe that I would ever breathe again, smile again...It was a year ago that we lost our precious Duchess. 

Eric and I walked out of the emergency animal hospital, stunned, blinking in the early morning light.  Who could have imagined a few hours earlier that we would leave that place without our girl? The doors to the Jeep remained flung open, just as we had left them.  We were frantic to get Duchess into the hospital, hopeful that she would be OK.  After some tests and time, it was determined that no, Duchess was not going to be OK.  The doctor on duty and his assistant were very kind, and Duchess seemed fairly comfortable with them, which in turn comforted us, too. 

Duchess spent her last few hours on this earth surrounded by Eric and me, Dr. Johnson and Kimberly.  When the time came, and her heart beat its final beat, she was wrapped in my arms, Eric's hand was stroking her forehead, and she breathed a little sigh.  She had a tiny, peaceful smile on her face, and I could tell that she was not in any pain or even discomfort....Looking back, I am proud that I was able to put aside my own fear and anxiety to be with this magnificent creature, to provide her with the comfort and security of my mere presence. Though this was the hardest experience I have ever gone through in my life, I wouldn't trade having been there with my Duchess as she slipped the surly bonds of this earth, and reached up to touch the face of God. 

Duchess, wherever you are, we miss you and will love you always...you are forever in our hearts. 

  

Extra Day Off!

My, it has been a while...here I am. No, I did not fall off the face of this Earth!

Lots of things have happened since I last published an entry. Let's see...We did go on that Alaskan cruise, and boy was it fun. I think this was my favorite cruise, so far. Eric's younger daughter, Irene had a baby girl in December, on the 15th. Her name is Jade, and she is beautiful and healthy.

Eric's older daughter, Dawn joined the Army in May, and is currently stationed at Ft. Riley, KS. Dawn is being deployed to Iraq tomorrow morning. Hopefully we will be able to keep in contact with her while she is there. We all have joined Facebook, now, and think that will help.

Oh, one more big thing...Eric and I finally tied the knot on November 14th of 2008! It wasn't a big event, but it was so much fun, and perfect for us. We were in Las Vegas, celebrating Eric's dad's 80th birthday, and we got married while there in our city of lights. My best friend in the world, Ida was there to be our witness, and no one else. What a fun night it was! We really wanted something like this instead of some huge, fancy affair with hundreds of people...how nerve wracking, not to mention expensive. We plan to take a proper honeymoon to Europe as soon as our schedules will allow.

Also, my co-op opened a second store on January 15th of this year, and I work there on Mondays and Tuesdays. It is a very nice store, modern and gorgeous. Hopefully, we will continue to get busier and busier.

Today is an extra day off for me, and I intend to enjoy it to the max. I will head to Starbucks, and watch part of an "Ace of Cakes" marathon that starts at 11 (I do know how to live it up, don't I?). Who knows what else the day may bring, but I am happy to have this little extra time off.