San Francisco 2013

This past weekend Drew and I headed out to San Francisco for a little vacation.  Drew has an annual conference in San Fran for the product he uses called VMware.  It is a huge conference and Drew loves going.  In the past I have never been able to join him because August is not a good time to take off work when you are teaching. 

So this year we decided it was the year for me to join.  We flew out together and spent a long weekend exploring the city together.  Then I came home and Drew remained for the rest of the week for his conference.  I enjoyed the city so much next year I may just stay the whole time. 

Drew had been to San Fran before but has always been busy with his conference.  So this year we strapped on our tennis shoes and did all things tourist.  The first day we arrived, after I got in lots of shopping, we headed down along the bay for a Giants baseball game.  The stadium was beautiful and just beyond the outfield is the bay.  There were kayakers in the water ready to retrieve any homerun balls.  We were both really impressed with the stadium and had a great time despite the fact that it was really cold! 

 

The next day we headed down to Fisherman's Wharf.  We spent the day exploring the sites all along the bay.  From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Ghirardelli chocolate factory.  We took a boat tour that took us all around the sites.  It was a very windy ride but such a fun way to see everything. 

 

 



It was a fun day exploring all the sites.  The only down side of this day was when we got back to the hotel I became very sick.  Turned out I got food poisoning!  Not a fun way to spend a night in the city but what can you do!? 

The next morning after nursing me back to strength we checked into a new hotel where Drew would be spending the rest of the week.  We ventured out to explore the Ferry Building.  It had beautiful views of the bay and was less crowded.  It also had an indoor market filled with tons of fun food to explore. 

Overall it was a great trip to San Francisco!  We had so much fun exploring the city together and seeing new things.  I can't wait to go back again!

Corn Time

This weekend Drew, Heber and I went out to Gothenburg to put up corn with my parents for the winter.  Growing up my family always put up corn.  It was an August tradition as sure as extracting honey! 

I have many memories of being "put to work" husking corn in the backyard of 1615 Lake Avenue.  It was a family affair.  Over the years my parents created quiet a system for this yearly project.  Each year they improved on their designs and now they have one very effective set up. 

As us girls got older (therefore less interested in corn for the winter) Grandma Ellen would rope us back into the process.  In my later high school years I remember husking corn for hours with her in her garage listening to NPR.  That is my family joke about putting up corn...... if you put up corn with Grandma you listen to NPR and if you put up corn with Dad you listen to old country.  This year it was all old country.  However, I would give just about anything to get to sit in Grandma's garage and husk corn again.  She is so missed!

It wasn't until I moved to Omaha and met "city people" that I realized that not every family puts up massive amounts of corn for the winter.  I had so many friends ask about the process.  So this year I took my camera along and took pictures of the whole process for anyone interested!  Be prepared for lots of pictures of CORN!!! 

The first step in the process is to buy the corn.  Living in Gothenburg we have an endless supply of corn.  This year Mom and Dad bought 200 ears or a 1/4 of a pick up load.  This is a MAJOR scale down from growing up.  Normally we would have a WHOLE pick up load. 

After the purchase of the corn is complete it is time to husk the corn.  This is a long process and a fairly dirty one.  Drew enjoyed perfecting his corn husking skills. 

The end product is some really nice looking corn.  If only it stopped here.  :)

While the husking of the corn takes place Dad is busy at work setting up everything else.  We have two burners to boil the corn, two tubs (one with cold water, one with ice water) and a carving station. 

When we are ready to go it is a process that goes for hours.  The corn boils for 3 minutes, soaks in cold water for 3 minutes, soaks in ice water for 3 minutes and then heads to the carving station. 

In case you are wondering this is what Heber did the whole time we worked.  We did learn that he LOVES to eat corn.  Cob and all! 

Once the corn has been cooked it moves on to the carving station.  This is an invention of my parents.  It make the process so smooth.  I remember back in the day doing it other ways and this takes the cake. 

The corn goes on the nail and one person cuts off the kernels with an electric knife.  Another person scoops the corn to the hole and down into the bucket.  Brilliant! 

Finally the corn is scooped into freezer bags.  We flatten the bags for quicker flash freezing and also they are easier to store.  When placing them in the freezer they need to not overlap until they are completely frozen.  This means you need lots of freezer space. 

Overall it was a fun weekend with my parents back home.  I love walking down memory lane and having good corn in the winter is PRICELESS!  Here is a final picture of Drew and I.  Don't mind my hair or outfit.  It was very cold (first time putting up corn in the cold) and on corn day no one does their hair! 

July and August Cooking Club

Since I am so behind on my blog I have both July and August cooking club pictures.  :)  We are three months into our cooking club and we have had so much fun together.  I love getting new recipes, having wonderful girl time and getting to travel to each of our houses.  Each month I look forward to the first Tuesday of the month! 

In July Bethany hosted a Christmas in July night!  She had the table set with beautiful Christmas china.  It was so fun to come in from the heat of the summer and think cold Christmas time. 

We all got out our Christmas comfort food recipes and got to cooking.  We had a dinner with all the fixings from lamb to a desert cookie trey!  It was a super yummy dinner! 

This month Diane hosted a pinterest night!  All of our recipes had to come from pinterest.  We all love pinterest so the hardest part was picking one recipe.  Diane had the table beautifully set with flowers and candles.

It was such a fun theme and it made for some great recipes!  Bethany made a chicken parmesan main dish and it was so yummy.  I was super excited about it because I know I could get Drew to eat it!  You can click any of the pictures to get all of our recipes and pin them yourself! 

Lydia brought a yummy passion fruit and lemonade tea.  It was super yummy and uses Starbucks tea.  

 

Brianna made perfect cucumber sandwiches for an appetizer to munch on while we cooked.  I love appetizers because we always come hungry but have at least 45 minutes of cooking before we eat.  These would be perfect at a party or shower.

 

 

Carrie and I were in charge of side dishes.  She brought a really good asparagus and tater toss.  It had bacon, potatoes and asparagus.  I can see myself using this recipe lots! 

 

 

I made an avocado, corn and tomato salad.  It was easy and great for the summer when produce is good.  I also showed the girls how I learned to cook corn in the microwave and easily get it out of the husk.  I found it on pinterest and it has changed how I cook corn forever!  Be sure to pin this!!!

 

 

 

Finally it was on to my favorite part of any meal... dessert!  Vanessa brought two delicious desserts.  One was a peanut butter cheesecake cookie.  Seriously could you go wrong!!?? 

 

She also made peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies.  These seriously melted in your mouth.  So good!  Added bonus there are only six ingredients. 

Overall pinterest night was a HUGE success!  This may be a night we repeat a few times in the year!  I am already excited about next month.