Getting Back to My Roots

I have been trying to get back in touch with my creative side lately. I have been doing some crafting (but need to do MUCH more) and a little bit of baking. Hubby's birthday was last week so I made one of his favorite desserts. Cream Puffs! Very easy and I was quite impressed with the outcome! I have been asked to make them again, and I will. I have made a note to bake a little longer next time - until a little more brown.
I have included the recipe from www.lafujimama.com  in case you would like to give it a try.

Fuji Cream Puffs

Makes 10 large cream puffs (or 20 medium, or 4 dozen mini cream puffs)

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter (4 ounces)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

3. Bring the water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the butter.  When the butter has melted, add the flour mixture all at once and stir vigorously.  Cook and stir until the mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate.

4. Remove from the heat and cool slightly (about 1 minute).  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one until the dough is smooth.

5. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough about 2-inches apart onto a greased baking sheet.  Or transfer the batter to a pastry bag with a round tip and pipe circles about 2-inches in diameter and about 1-inch apart onto greased baking sheets.  Bake the puffs for about 30 minutes until they are golden brown and puffy.  If the puffs are medium-size, bake for about 22 — 25 minutes, and if the puffs are mini-size, bake for about 17 — 20 minutes.  Remove the cream puffs from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.

• Almond Cream Filling
• 2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• I teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
• Mix together vanilla instant pudding mix, cream and milk and extract. Cover and refrigerate to set.

Recipe Box

I made this for my son Matthew for Christmas but actually just finished it. I know it's June but don't be too hard on me. He actually ended up moving back home for a while so he hasn't needed it recently. Hayley has requested one too. I liked this project!

He is always asking me how to make this or that and I realized most of my recipes are in my head and not on paper. I really had to think hard on how to make a recipe box for a guy. I wanted to make it fun and not too feminine. I also wanted it to be something that he could share with his wife someday. - I loved this paper!!!!The background looks like recipes and clippings you would find in your grandma's kitchen. There are even a few food stains thrown in for fun. I sanded & painted the $3.00 box inside and out and then added the paper to the ends, "recipes" to the front and mod podged the whole thing. I wanted it to wipe clean easily in case it gets dirty. The mod podge achieved that. I bought some chipboard dividers and had to trim them just a little and covered them with different colored papers and used my label maker for the tabs.

I used lined large index cards for the recipe cards and ran them all through my printer to personalize them a little. I added several favorite recipes and had his aunt add some as well. I think it's important to have them in our own handwriting to make them a little more special. I have one recipe that my mother hand wrote for me years ago and I have it preserved in a zip lock bag because it is beginning to deteriorate. I have a special feeling when I see it in her own hand writing. I need to give some blank cards to his great aunts so they can do the same. I printed plenty of blank cards so he can add to it as needed.

I hope you like it!

Night in Downtown San Antonio

Last Wednesday night Matthew talked Hayley & I into a trip downtown to see the newly opened extension of the riverwalk. I believe it was 102 degrees that day so I wasn't too eager. But since Mike was sleeping and going to work in a few hours I agreed. We started out by having dinner at Josephine St. Cafe. If you haven't ever had a meal there, you should. It is nothing fancy but they have excellent steaks. There is always a coupon in the Entertainment Book so it is a reasonable meal. Then we drove next door to the old Pearl Brewery and parked there. They are renovating that area so nicely and it makes me happy to see some of the buildings I remember from childhood getting new life. We parked there and walked right down the stairs to the riverwalk. Now, for those of you that are from San Antonio, don't think it is anything like our famous stretch of river with restaurants & shops. It is so pure and clean, I love it. People were riding bikes, walking dogs and sitting on benches enjoying the beautiful night. It was amazing how cool & breezy it was! The kids did give me a hard time because they said I had to say "hello" to every person that passed us. I have no idea why they have a problem with that, I have always been that way and see no reason to change at this point in life. It was a fun evening. We got home just in enough time for me to pour Mike some coffee & kiss him goodnight. I want to take him next time.

My cute kids.

Lots of neat artsy type features line the banks. This is the top of a waterfall/cave feature. I took the kid's picture (above) inside it but it was too dark to pick it up well.

These sunfish lights are under the IH35 bridge. You need to see them in person to appreciate the art. They sway in the wind and are like nothing else I have seen in our Fiesta oriented city. This is also the location that the Mexican Free Tail Bats fly out of at 8:45 pm. We missed that but I wasn't sad. If you've seen one bat you've seen them all.

We will be taking this in again soon. From what I understand it will eventually extend further north to the zoo. The Pearl Brewery has recently started having a Farmers Market on Saturdays and several friends have said it is worth a visit. Condos and office space are in the works.

Good job San Antonio. I am happy to see a pet & family friendly environment where people can take a peaceful walk and not worry about the congestion and chaos that has taken place in our city. We do hope you have restrooms planned for the new future down there though!

Happy 90th Auntie Jean

Saturday we met at Tomatillo's to surprise Mike's Auntie Jean for her 9oth birthday. I personally don't think it's a great idea to surprise someone who is 90 years old but Jeannie handled it all just fine. She shed a few tears but quickly joined us for a fun afternoon with family we just don't get to see enough of. She even had 2 margaritas!

These are all the cousin's kids. and one grand kid that snuck in the photo.

Mike's sister, Debbie & her husband Bron.

Matthew & Brent. These two are trouble!

Paula helping her mama in for the big surprise. She cried when she realized it was a party for her.

Mason, giving his Nana (great grandma) a birthday kiss.

The Neels

Jeannie, the only living sibling with her daughter, Paula and her nieces & nephews

Me & my boy, Matthew

Debbie reading Jeannie her cards. She was just over whelmed!

Me & my man!

Jeannie & Paul. They are so sweet!

Auntie Jean, Norman (Mike's cousin) & Debbie

This cake was terrific! One layer for each decade and 90 candles. She managed to blow them all out (really)!

Wearing the Tomatillo's sombrero while we sang happy birthday.

Getting a hand back to her seat after all that work blowing out the candles.

Bambino Hueys Anyone??

Google has finally let me down. I am often called the Google Girl at work because if something or someone is out there, I can almost always find what I am looking for through Google.

There was once a restaurant in San Antonio called Boccone's. It closed the Blanco Rd restaurant maybe 7 years ago and eventually opened another on Embassy Row that they called Bambino Huey's. I never went to that restaurant and it has since closed as well. They made a dessert that would make you think you went straight to heaven from the first bite to the last. It was their Bambino Huey. It was served warm in a little ramekin topped with whipped cream that would melt into a gooey goodness - like I said, heaven in a ramekin. They were bambino sized because you couldn't eat too much without going into a diabetic coma. For awhile they marketed them and you could buy them in the frozen food section at HEB. Those have disappeard long ago as well.

I have always had an interest in replicating restaurant recipes and love to visit sites like CopyKat or Top Secret Recipes. A few weeks ago Hayley and I were eating at Apple Annie's and she asked me if I thought I could make the spread that they serve you when you are seated. She always asks for extra (which by the way is very OK at Apple Annie's. Although it is not advertised, you can always ask for seconds or thirds of your meal and they will bring it at no charge). I told her to ask the owner if he would give her the recipe. He made her guess all the ingredients but we eventually left with all the information she needed typed in her Blackberry. That was an easy one but sometimes more work is necessary to get a recipe or faux recipe. She has been asking for at least 6 months if we (meaning me) could make Bambino Hueys. I told her to search on line to see what she could come up with. She obviously doesn't share my gift of searching. I finally looked yesterday and found a few recipes that were all pretty similar but not what I was looking for. I googled until I could google no more and I wasn't able to find the real Bambino Huey recipe. We did try a recipe from Recipezaar.com that Hayley's friend Jessica & I tried to half heartily convince ourselves was close to the real thing. Jessica said if we put more sugar, more butter and more whipped cream we might have it. Doesn't THAT sound appetizing? Funny thing though. ...Between Mike, myself & 3 girls we ate almost the entire pan - all in the name of research - ha ha!

Google is still my friend and I realize it is a very good thing we didn't find the real thing because those bambinos are the last thing my diet needs. It was a fun adventure though.

We drove 100 miles for a steak!

Today Mike & I met Marty, Darlene and Horace at Hermann Sons Steak House in the big city of Hondo. Darlene has been telling us about it forever so we all decided to get together for lunch today after church. We all had the Pepper Steak -although we ordered various levels of heat. I was the wimp and ordered mine mild (I still thought it was hot). The salad bar was very good too. I will try the Pecan Chicken if we go again. Looks yummy! Being that the place is 52 miles from our house, it will probably be a while before we go again but it was a nice day for a drive and we had a good time. Marty even behaved!

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse

We attempted to go to BJ's for Mike's birthday in July but it wasn't open yet. Hayley has gone several times with her friends and wanted to go for her birthday. We had a great time and the food was very good. Mike had the California Burger & Wedge Fries. He said it was great. Hayley had the Turkey Cobb Sandwich and Wedge Salad (her usual she says), Steve had Chicken Strips and I had the Fish and Chips which I loved. I am not a beer drinker but they brew their own beers (root beer too). I would recommend the place for sure-but let me warn you, it is VERY popular. There was a wait at 1:00 today and Hayley says the evening wait can be over an hour.They do have call ahead seating & I will keep that in mind because we are definitely going back. It was exceptionally good. Some good info - their lunch menu states it is only M-F but they will honor the lunch prices on the weekend as well. We came home, opened presents and had Butternut Brownie Pie. Steve doesn't like nuts and that made Mike happy, he said there would be more for him! Who's birthday is it Mike????

This stuff is awesome!

In my venture to live a healthy life these days (meaning eat good food and do that awful exercise thing), I found this brand of cereal that tastes so yummy. It is called Bear Naked Medley-It is basically oatmeal with, sunflower seeds, barley & other healthy grains in it. I eat it in the morning and I am satisfied until lunch time. It is quick & easy to whip up in the microwave - sometimes I get real crazy and add a banana and a dash of almond extract! They also have a protein granola that is real tasty. I have put this challenge in God's hands and thankfully, eating healthy has been realtively easy, I am just waiting for God to give me the same enthusiasm about exercising!

Dinner for 8

This year we started a Dinner for 8 Group -we call it "Eight is Enough". We didn't do it through church because it was sort of a last minute thought. Mike & I have dinner monthly (except when all our schedules are too full) with 3 of our favorite couples. Stacy & Carrie Bond, Juergen & Becky Olson and Robert & Karen Rickman. We rotate homes and have an absolute blast. Juergen & Becky cooked an authentic German feast that reminded me of dinner at Grandma's house. As you can see in the photo, Channel, their adorable doggie loves Dinner for 8. I keep telling JO that I am going to put her in my pocket and take her home! Stacy & Carrie wowed us with a Chinese family style banquet complete with dishes they ate while in China for Hannah's adoption. (Stacy missed most of the meal because he was working so hard cooking!). We had a Mexican FIESTA! at the Rickman's house. Karen's decorations were gorgeous. The food & margaritas were just perfect. When we hosted, Mike & I prepared Beef Wellington, potatoes & salad with pears & feta cheese. Robert brought enough wine from the store to satisfy the whole neighborhood. It is our turn to host again. We have so much fun I know the menu doesn't matter but everyone set the bar so high with their first meals, I'm already trying to come up with just the right thing to make. (I will get bigger photos next time.) I gotta go, I'm hungry!