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During our recent trip to Idaho my bro and sis-in-law invited us over for a fresh trout dinner at their place. I hadn’t had trout for a really long time and was looking forward to it. The day before, my bro had gone out fishing and caught lots of fishies. So anywho, on to the pictures!
Mmmmm……makes me want to go fishing (as long as someone else kills the fish!).
This is a long one! Thanks for reading.
We took a trip to Idaho earlier this month to spend some time with family and to go to our baby’s ultrasound. Luckily, all of this fell around the 4th of July so we were able to celebrate up there and got the chance to light some fireworks.
4th of July
Fireworks are really expensive these days but I love to set them off. When our little guy gets older I’d like to visit a state that allows fireworks because I enjoyed them so much as a youngster.
On the 4th we enjoyed some BBQ (put on by my Bro) and then watched my brother and his friends try to blow each other up. Once it got dark outside Chanin and I set off some fountains, ground bloom flowers, etc. We also helped the kiddos with their sparklers. Later in the night my bro and his buddies lit a bunch of mortar shells off, which looked pretty cool.
I don’t really have any good pics but I did take some video with our new videocamera. BUT, that won’t be up for a while.
Mark’s Birthday
While we were up in Idaho it was also Mark’s birthday (July 6th) so my Mom threw a little BBQ party. It was nice to get to hang out with the family and have some good eatin’. Mom made an angel food cake and Chanin decorated it all fancy. Mmmmm…
Lucky Peak and Idaho City
Since this was Chanin’s first chance to spend some time in Idaho I really wanted to show her some of the scenery. My Mom and Mark recommended the drive to Lucky Peak Park and Idaho City. We headed up there and made our first stop at Lucky Peak State Park. Just as we were driving in we saw a deer running around looking really scared. Then, as we pulled in we saw another and we were able to snap a picture. That was really cool, especially for us city folk.
The park had a nice little lake for swimming and a park area to hang out in. We strolled around a bit and Chanin shot some pictures (below) and I shot some video (again, won’t be up for a while). We’d love to head back to this area again the next time we’re up in Idaho.
We continued our drive to Idaho City along a road that followed the river. The scenery was beautiful and changed from dry rolling hills to very green mountains with lots of trees.
In Idaho City we stopped at a restaurant for a little bit to eat. On the outside it looked pretty normal but when we walked in we discovered that it was really small and very much a locals hangout. Initially, we felt a little uncomfortable because we didn’t know the routine. But, once we sat down and ordered our food we settled in just fine. Luckily, we never heard any banjos playing!
Here’s the route we took. I had the GPS record our path.
Grandma’s House
No trip to Idaho would be complete without a visit to Grandma’s house for some good ol’ home cooked Mexican food.
Grandma made:
- - Chile Verde
- - Chile Colorado
- - Beans
- - Grandma’s Special Macaroni
- - Homemade Tortillas
- - Salsa and Pico de Gallo
We hung out at Grandma and Grandpa’s house for a while and picked some fresh fruit from the trees. We’d love to have a bunch of fruit trees like they do but we just don’t have any room!
Mmmmmmm…..
I love this salad and Chanin makes it really well! But, then again, she makes everything really well!
Here are the basic ingredients:
- - Romaine Lettuce
- - Red Cabbage
- - Green Onions
- - Mandarin Oranges
- - Nuts (I think almonds this time)
- - Toasted Ramen Noodles
- - Chicken
- - Chinese Chicken Salad Dressing (or Oriental dressing) - Sometimes Chanin makes it and other times we use the bottled stuff.
This past Mother’s Day we took a little trip to Idaho to visit with the family. It was really nice to see all of the bros, our sis-in-law Rebecca, niece and nephew, my Mom and Mark, and the grandparents. We spent some time hanging out and Chanin finally got to see a little bit of Idaho.
Unfortunately, shortly after we arrived Chanin developed a really bad toothache! Luckily, we were able to find an emergency dentist and she got a partial root canal done (the rest to finish later). To make a long story short she now has an empty spot where that tooth was, but feels much better now.
Even though Chanin wasn’t feeling great we still had a good time and had a nice BBQ on Mother’s Day. Also, my Mom surprised Chanin with an early birthday party including a birthday cake and some gifts. That made Chanin a happy camper.
Below is a little slideshow of some of the pictures. The funny looking guys are my bros (I’m the handsome one).
And below is a video of one of my bros playing guitar in a coffee shop. We’re proud of the little guy.
This past April yours truly turned the Big Three-Oh. Yep, I’m now 30 years old. Time sure flies. I feel like I was just in college not long ago, but it’s been 8 years since I’ve graduated. On the plus side I don’t really feel any older. Sure, I’ve already had two open heart surgeries, which are usually reserved for those about 35 years older than me, but I’m feeling good. I think I’ve got at least another good 50 birthdays ahead of me.
So, anyway, to celebrate the occasion Chanin threw a birthday bash at our house. We had a good turnout and about 15 out-of-town guests were able to make it as well as our Maricopa friends (our neighbors).
Chanin planned a nice menu of tasty Mexican food.
Menu
- ♦ Pot o’ homemade beans
- ♦ Mexican rice
- ♦ Marinated carne asada for the grill
- ♦ Fresh fruit salad
- ♦ Homemade salsa
- ♦ Homemade pico de gallo
- ♦ Jalapeño poppers (mmmm…bacon wrapped)
- ♦ Birthday Cheescake (courtesy of my Mom and Mark)
- ♦ Margaritas
I kind of slacked off when it came to picture taking duties. Normally, I’m all about taking pictures of food but since it was my party I mostly just relaxed and hung out with everyone. I even took a dip in our pool, which was the first time I’d been in since the water has been way too cold.
The party was a hit and everyone had tons o’ fun. Next year I think I’ll throw Chanin a 30th birthday party so she can just relax and have fun!
Shout Outs
- ♦ Thanks to my lovely wife Chanin for all of the hard work and preparation. All of the food was yumtacular. I just made that word up, I’ll try to never use it again.
- ♦ Thanks to Eric for helping with the grill duties, the meat turned out perfect.
- ♦ Thanks to my mum and Mark for bringing that cheescake from The Cheescake Factory. That was a nice and unexpected treat.
- ♦ Thanks to Ruben and Karen for helping with the party supplies. That was some fancy decoratin’!
- ♦ And thanks to everyone for the birthday gifts and for just making the trip out here! We hope to see all of you again really soon!
I’ve always loved my Grandma’s chile (chee-leh as she says) but usually have to go long periods without it since we don’t all live near each other. I’m actually lucky enough to have two Grandmas who make excellent chile. So, on a recent visit to Grandma Becky’s we brought home a jar and promptly gobbled it up. We figured it was time we tried to make it on our own. After firming up a few details with the Grams we hit the store and bought all of the goodies. Chanin is an excellent cook/chef so she improvised a little to make it her own.
I roasted those bad boys on the grill as the first step.
The house smelled really good after bringing the veggies back inside. I’m not too clear on the rest of the steps but after much blending and seasoning Chanin produced an excellent chile. I know she wants to try a few more things to tweak the recipe but I’m sure it will become a family recipe.
Here are a few pictures from some of our recent grill experiences. These were taken a little while ago but I’ve been slackin’ on the website duties.
First up is our rotisserie chicken. This was actually our second attempt. Both times it turned out really good but next time we think we’re going to brine the bird first. That should give it some more flavor internally. The meat turned out really tender and juicy but just not a ton of flavor, except for the skin.
To accompany the chicken I decided to try grilling some artichokes. I was inspired by the recipe I saw in my new grilling cookbook (Thanks Phil and Angela!). Well, it didn’t work. They looked pretty good but were really rubbery and tough. Actually, I couldn’t even pull a leaf off to eat. Oh well, I may try again but cook them longer and make sure they have enough moisture in them.
Next, we have some beef and veggie kebabs. Chanin made a really good marinade for the meat (london broil) and we added different types of peppers, onions, and pineapple (Thanks Phil and Angela again!). They were “da bomb” as the kids say these days (do they still say that?).
We have some exciting news in our lives to share with our loyal readers (all 3 of you!). You won’t want to miss it!
Click HERE to see what all the buzz is about!
P.S. We’ll still be updating this site and have a lot of things to post, but we’ve been busy! OK, enough with the exclamation marks, but we’re excited.
To go along with our nice new backyard we finally went out and bought a new grill. After a lot of research I had the choice narrowed down to a Weber gas grill or one from Sam’s Club. They both had good reviews but the grill from Sam’s came with more features for the price.
I’ll get a picture of our grill soon but for now here’s a picture from the Sam’s website.
Here are some of the important “deets:”
To “break in” the new grill we bought some T-bone steaks, potatos, zucchini, and squash. I seared those bad boys on the infrared sear burner but wasn’t successful with the grill marks. I’ll have to keep working on that. I also grilled up the veggies to eat on the side. Everything was really good and it make a perfect first meal for our grill.
Since then we’ve cooked fish a few times, chicken, pork, and some more steaks. Everything has turned out pretty darn good and I’m having fun learning how to cook on a gas grill. In the past I’ve only cooked on a charcoal grill but cooking with gas is just so much easier. I’ll still go back to the charcoal for some things but probably not too often. I’ll post more about my grilling adventures as they happen.
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