It's Official (almost), We Are Oregonians Again!

 
Here I am, sitting in a Starbucks, enjoying my coffee and their WiFi, and then I remembered that in a previous life, I had a blog! I checked to make sure and yes, it was true. I have not checked in for a while but we are alive and still kicking! I hope that you are all enjoying your summer! Ours has been eventful, in a good way!

We arrived in Oregon on Saturday the 14th, which makes it almost official that we are residents of Oregon, again. 

We hit the road that morning at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at 11:37 p.m. That was a very long day, 19 hours and 7 minutes to be exact, especially after five hours of sleep the night before! We made a plan to take this trip a little slower than our usual trips. We decided that we would make more stops than we usually make. In hindsight, that wasn't the best idea we ever had. All of those hours spent on the road were almost unbearable. It broke our previous 'longest road trip' record of 16 hours and 32 minutes. Our doggies didn't complain but we sure did, or maybe it was just me that complained! Yes, it was just me!

We have been recovering this week as we are vacationing and will continue with our vacation through next week. I'm not sure if I remember how to cook and bake any more or if I every want to again. Being waited on is definitely a great way to live! Now being serious again, I will get back to blogging soon enough, and until that day arrives, I will post when/if I have a free moment. I have kept my camera close, so I have been taking lots of pictures, I just need to be in the same room with my USB cord so that that I can download! For now, we are traveling and vacationing and having a great time!

I'm guessing that we will be official Oregon residents after we take the drivers test. Hopefully we will pass the test and have our Oregon drivers licenses reinstated! I think that might be what makes it official. Either that or paying taxes to the State of Oregon.



I hope that you are enjoying your summer!

We Are Family

Our daughter and her family have made their way up north and are now occupied with starting their new life in Oregon. I have a few parting shots!

 

 

 
It was hard to see them go, but as they were leaving a beautiful angel named Lori arrived to support me with help sorting, packing, and our Saturday moving sale organization (including signs and pricing)! And most importantly, she supported me by willingly listened to my endless "gramma" stories!! We were very busy working but, we had lots of fun together at the same time. I'm so happy that I have had Lori here to bridge that loneliness gap and to keep me on track. Her support was amazing! We accomplished everything I had hoped for and more!

  I am sad to say that she flew away today! 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I love you Lori!

I am now focusing on wrapping up our life here in California before we make our move north next week. I will try to check in here every few days!

A big thank you to my other three sisters and two brothers that would have helped me if they could have made it down/up here.

If you love family and sisters, click here!

Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats

Things have been very busy around here. Our daughter and her family are all moved out of their home and will be heading for Oregon very soon. I have spent a lot of time with the grandsons while their mom has been taking care of moving details and I have enjoyed every minute of it! We have been to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Lunch with Gramma Barb, Aquarium of the Pacific, swimming and last, but not least, the beach! Lots of fun memories have been made during their last week in California!

We attended a great summer party last weekend and I made Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats that I saw on Brown Eyed Baker. No baking needed. There was a lot of great feedback and everyone loved them.

I didn't get a picture of them with the milk chocolate drizzle on them. My camera battery died so I didn't get any pictures of the party either!

The finished treats!

Another view!

Enjoy!

Great Grandma Paulsen's Peanut Butter Cookies

I recently got a note from my niece Cindy, reminding me about great grandma's favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. I'm so glad that she did, because I had forgotten about it and now I'm posting it. With only four ingredients, it couldn't be easier. Our kids liked to make great grandma's cookies when they were younger and I'm glad that I can pass this recipe on to her great-great-grandkids and beyond.

Mix together:                      

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Egg

Dip a fork in water to make the criss-cross on the cookies and put them in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Thanks, Cindy!

Enjoy!

Things are Changing Around Here!

Sometimes changes are good. Sometime changes are bad. Sometimes changes are happy. Sometimes changes are sad. Sometimes changes are big. Sometimes changes are small. Sometimes changes are exciting. Sometimes changes are scary. Sometimes changes are overwhelming, especially when they include all of the above! That what's happening in our family right now. 

Our family roots are leading us north. After over 15 years away, our daughter and her family and my dear hubby and I with our two doggies will be moving away from Southern California and heading back to the Pacific Northwest! We are very sad to leave our SoCal family and friends and we will miss them all very much. At least these days we can stay connected between facebook and Skype.

Our home has been on the market for the past two weeks, so it has been "staged" for the five open houses that our Realtor has held. That also means that the house needs to stay in it's perfectly "staged" condition 24/7 for the times when our Realtor calls and says he has a cash buyer that wants to see our home in an hour! That happened this week. Believe me, that takes a lot of work! I don't want anything to get messed up or dirty because I don't enjoy cleaning constantly. Therefore, we have been eating only what can be thrown on the BBQ or warm up in the microwave and we are taking baths in the pool. Hey, it's hard to keep a glass shower spotlessly clean, dry and shiny 24/7, and the pool is 88 degrees! That's almost "bath water" temperature, isn't it? Think of all the water we would be saving if we were actually doing that!

I think you know where this is going. I don't have much free time right now and won't for the next three weeks. Between keeping the house spotless and packing for the move, I'm afraid that I won't be BBQing much of anything that you would be interested in reading about, but I will blog as often as I feel inspired and have the energy to type. I expect that there will be a few mishaps, hi-jinx and adventures in moving during the next three weeks that I won't be able to keep to myself. 

In the meantime, do you know of anyone who is looking to relocate to SoCal?

Blog Surfing

Herb Stuffed Red Peppers from Taste of Home that is cooked in the microwave. Here is another recipe for Pineapple and Mango Salsa. It's plum season, so here is a recipe for Streusel Topped Plum Muffins. They say that Raspberry Crumb Coffee Cake is the new food obsession. Here is the recipe for you to try for yourself and see if you agree.

Food.com previously known as RecipeZaar has a recipe for a Tomato and Avocado Salad. They are also featuring grilled seafood for summer meals.

Slash/food has information on the newest apple. It's a beauty! Check it out here.

Check out this kitchen of the future that looks like a box when it is closed. It's really cool! You will find it here. I found it at Treehugger.

Tablespoon has some really good looking Fruity Popsicles that would taste really good on a hot summer day! Here is a recipe for Plum Galette can be found here. I was so happy to find these recipes for kale. It is such a misunderstood green, but so good when used well!

Are you a Grape-Nuts lover? Here is a knock off version you can make yourself.  These are called Graham Nuts and I found them on CHOW.

I'm putting this here for safe keeping. When things settle down around here, I plan to try this Macaroon Granola recipe from Tasty Kitchen. They say that raspberry crumb coffee cake is the new obsession.


This grilled portobello burger with onion jam looks great and easy. From the Foodnetwork.


Do you have a problem with fruit flies this time of year? Many people have suggestions on how to get rid of them. From the Epi-Log on Epicurious.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream - hold the Cream

This is a very quick and easy frozen treat that you can whip up without an ice cream maker. I found the original recipe on Tasty Kitchen, but I don't seem to follow recipes that well. I like to put my own spin on a recipe that will make it, for me, even better. I know, it's a bad habit.

This recipe is completely dairy-free. You need three sliced frozen bananas, two tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1-2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter, a splash of vanilla and between 1/4 to 1/3 cups of almond milk. You put them all in the blender and push the blend button! 

Once you push the button, you will think that it isn't going to work! But don't worry, it will! It will stall out, so be careful not to burn out the motor on your blender. Keep repositioning the bananas with a spatula. Eventually it will all come together. Add a little more almond milk to help it blend better.

Eventually, it will look something like this: Very creamy!

This is messy because I had already taken some of it out to put in the freezer.

The thing about bananas, when they are frozen they become very creamy which makes a great base for pseudo ice cream! It does melt very fast so if you aren't going to have some right away, I would put it right into the freezer while it still has some form to it. The mixture below was put right into the freezer and then taken out about 20 minutes later for it's picture.

 This is the finished low sugar, low fat, non-dairy treat!

Enjoy! 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister-in-law, Dee! 

I hope that you have a wonderful day!