Sam ______

Sam runs like Phoebe on Friends.  I love it.

Sam is carrying a "J" today.  I have no idea why.

Sam is wearing Crocs.  At one point, Ben and I were both adamantly opposed to Crocs.

Sam loves them.

Sam hates socks.

Sam's shirt while darling, looks terrible up close.  The navy collar and arm bands bled when I washed it.  The yellow is kind of ugly green now in some spots.

Sam is wearing pants that are size 18 months.  Sam just turned 29 months last week.

I need to do laundry.

Sam used to ignore the camera.  REFUSED to look at it.  Now he poses and smiles.

Sam also runs towards me anytime he sees the camera in my hand.  Not because he loves me.  Because he wants to attack it.

Sam likes the numbers and the dials on the back.

Ben Cookies

Not long after Ben and I started dating, I decided to make him some cookies.  Okay, I may have just baked some Otis Spunkmeyer dough and called it good.

Anyway,  I had to work that night at Ann Taylor in Park City so my cookies sat on the seat of my car waiting for me to get off work so I could deliver them to my new boyfriend.  Imagine my surprise when I got to his house and he had also made me cookies (such a one-upper sometimes).  He bit into one of my cookies and I think I heard a tooth break.  They were slightly frozen as it was winter in Utah.

Being the cute boy that he is, he said, "Oh! These are so good!  They're just like little clouds."

Smart-alleck.

That day I vowed that I would never make him cookies again.  I even held to it for a year or two.  One of the reasons I held out is because Ben makes AMAZING Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They are famous in both of our families.  In fact, when we went home for Christmas, one of the first things my brother Kent said was, "Is Ben going to make some cookies while you're here?"

The reason every one loves them, is due to the fact that no one can duplicate them. Ben's dad worked on them all through his mission but they aren't quite the same.  Sorry Duane.  His siblings insist that there is a secret ingredient.  My attorney sister-in-law Kristy informed me that I have spousal privilege so I will not be addressing these claims.  Maybe at Ben's funeral, we will share all of the secrets of Ben cookies.  Or maybe we will pass the recipe on to Sam and it can be handed down father to son through the generations.Until then I will give you the recipe as printed our family cookbook, "In the Kitchen with Ben and Kristy"

Now I'm going to go eat one.  Or five.




Ben's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Combine the baking soda, salt, and flour and stir into creamed mixture. Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 1 1-15 minutes.

NOTE:  I just noticed this recipe lists bitterweet chocolate chips.  I don't allow anything but milk chocolate in my kitchen so that's what we use.

Idaho

Today Ben and I worked on building an end table.  Before you get too excited, I'm not posting pics.  Yet.  I'll give you a full photo breakdown when it is painted and residing in my living room.  Instead you are getting a photo of our very high quality (HA!) lumber.  I thought it was funny that both the wood and the muscle both came from Idaho.

You might be wondering why we are building a table.  First, I rearranged our living room and needed a new end table.  Our $10 Lack tables from IKEA have been abused by our two year old and it is time to send them to the IKEA in the sky.  Second, I had a very specific size of table in mind. Our couch and chair are super deep so I need something that would fit between them.  I really wanted something that was 35 inches x 35 inches standing at 18 inches.  Not an easy size to find. Third, my husband is a post-doc.  Not a super high paying position. I needed something somewhat cheap but sturdy.

I decided it was time to build one.  

My friend Shannon introduced me to a website about a year ago.

  Ana White Furniture.

Ana, posts free plans for knock off designer furniture.  We decided to build the Square Farmhouse Table and cut the legs down to 18 inches. 

I'm thrilled with it.  As soon as it is painted I will post photos.  

If you are thinking about undertaking a similar project, I will share with you a couple of things we learned during the in the process.

Lesson #1: Make sure your boards are straight.  We bought white wood since this is our first project and I didn't want to ruin good lumber.  All in all, this has worked out fine.  A couple of the boards aren't super straight but for the most part I have been able to fix this with Lesson #2.

Lesson #2:  Buy an orbital sander.  I got an early birthday present to go with the eShakti dresses I ordered (that's a whole other post). I love love love my sander.  I foresee many projects in our future.  I evened out the planks and now I have a lovely level table.

Lesson #3:  Use dry wall screws AND when the guy at Lowe's says you won't need to pre-drill your holes, do it anyway.  It made things SOOOOO much easier.  

Hopefully by Monday I will have something competed to share!

Torchy's Tacos

When Ben came to Austin for his interview, he ate at a place called Torchy's Tacos.  I'm pretty sure Torchy's contributed to his desire to get his job.

When we came out together to find a place to live, Ben took me to Torchy's.  It was a sign.

Tonight we went there for dinner (we eat here regularly) and let me tell you, angels sang again . . . as always. Or devils in this case.

Here is what we had for dinner.

I had the Green Chile Pork.

Slow-roasted pork carnitas simmered with green chilies and topped with queso fresco, cilantro, onions (but not on mine) and a wedge of limes.  Served with TOMALTILLO SAUCE on a corn tortilla.

Heaven. I had it the first time I ate here and I'll have it every time.

Ben and I both had a Ranch Hand.

Tender strips of grilled beef fajita with scrambled eggs and shredded cheese.  Served with DIABLO SAUCE on a flour tortilla.

Steak and Eggs for dinner.  On a taco.  Perfect.

Ben also had their Taco of the Month.  The Double Wide.

Are you ready for this?  

Hand-battered chicken-fried steak with chopped bacon, topped with Green Chile Queso, cotija cheese and pico de gallo.  Served on a flour tortilla.

Ridiculous but apparently amazing. It has been the taco of the month twice.

PS -Their cups don't lie.  They are that good.

Note on Chicken-fried teak.  I wasn't sure what makes Chicken-fried steak different from Country-fried Steak.  Well here it is as explained by Andrea Lynn at About.com.

Chicken-fried steak - Most popular in Texas but also served big in some neighboring states.  It is served with peppery white gravy and typically has a crispier coating.

Country-fried steak is usually served covered with brown gravy.  It is apparently more popular in the rest of the South.  

About once a year . . .

About once a year, I have my photo taken.

That isn't entirely true.  It is taken more often than that.  I just don't post it.  Anywhere. Which is really kind of funny because I am constantly telling people that they need to have their photo taken for their loved one's.

I colored my hair last night without my darling Parker.  I haven't colored my own hair in something like 7 years.  But I didn't want to find someone here and I knew my hair wasn't going to make it until our next trip home in June.

My friend Shannen suggested I send her a pic when I told her I thought it might be too dark. I don't do self portraits.  They stress me out.  I'm incapable of taking a photo using a mirror. I always angle my face in a weird way.  Plus, I usually have a crazy expression that makes my eyes look crazy. Oh, and I'm super self-conscious.  Now you see why this only happens once a year.

So here it is.  The single timer shot that worked out. Possibly only photo you will see of me during the entire 365 days.