Spiced Apricot Crisp

On Friday afternoon the girls and I went apricot picking at our old house around the corner.  Brendan's family owns it, so we still reap the benefits of all the fruit trees there.  They were just right for picking, and so many!  I only picked one basket full, but there are a lot more ready to be picked.  I might dehydrate some or make some jam, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it.  We'll see.  The girls loved eating them, and I made some spiced apricot crisp.

I sat Hattie down next the basket and when I turned around she had already dug into the basket and was enjoying her fruit.

recipe

American Family

Provo is the best place to be for the 4th of July.  There are so many things to do with the Freedom Festival.  We decorated our family bike for the festivities and rode down University Avenue the night before where everyone is camped out.  I read online that they have over 300,000 spectators for the parade! Crazy.  The morning of the 4th we started out by watching all of the runners line up for the Freedom run outside our house.  Then later we biked down to the parade, but only towards the end.  The kids were up late the night before, so we let them sleep in for a while.  After watching the parade, we rode down to the festival.  We walked around for a bit, ate some food, got some free ice cream, and decided to head home because we were all hot, sweaty, and tired.  Later that evening we had a BBQ at our house with Brendan's family.  Brendan's sister Taryn and her family flew in earlier that day.  It was fun for the cousins to be together.  After the BBQ, we walked up to campus and found a spot on the grass behind the BYU Alumni building to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks.  To finish the night off, we all came back to the house for some dessert.

Had to have some patriotic food. 

Hattie loved chowing down on this corn.

Hattie and Miriam both dressed in their patriotic dresses.  Hattie is 5 months older.  Hattie kept trying to get away when we sat her down.

All of the Rowland cousins.  Hazel had already had an accident in her 4th of July outfit and had changed, and her hair was crazy with all of her rolling around in the bounce house.  

Great Show

I feel like Brendan and I have had so many dates lately.  We had our anniversary dinner, then our Park City stay, ward temple night, and then a show all within a week and a half.  It's been a lot of fun!  Brendan's parents gave us certificates for a few shows at the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley for Christmas one year, and we just hadn't used them yet.  I love the Sound of Music and grew up watching it since I was little.  On our trip to Vienna a few years ago, I even looked into doing the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and was disappointed when we didn't make it there.

  This was my first time seeing a show at the HCT in West Valley and they did such a great job!  I loved the setup of the stage with all of the props and floors moving up and down, and the acting was great.  I highly recommend going if you are in the area.  It will probably sell out soon!

Farm Fresh

While driving back from Park City, we stopped at Heber Valley Milk and Cheese.  It is a farm where they sell artisan cheeses and raw milk.  The cows graze right there on the the property, and they milk them and make the cheese right there all on the farm.  We bought both cheese and raw milk while we were there.  I've read a lot about raw milk and it's benefits (I also know people thinks it's risky to drink) and was so excited to buy it.  The owner himself talked to us in the store and packed our milk in ice for us to keep it cool.  It tastes SO good.  I just wish it was closer, so we could get it on a regular basis.

(picture from Heber Valley Cheese)

I made my own version of the ratatouille sandwich from Station 22 in Provo.  It is roasted seasonal veggies with  roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions, red peppers, mozzarella cheese, spinach, and pesto, on ciabatta bread.  I roasted my zucchini and squash from the garden, and made homemade pesto with basil from the garden, and made my ciabatta bread homemade.  It was delicious! 

Homemade ciabatta bread recipe. 

When we went out to eat at Log Haven, I had this simple but fresh salad and had to make it at home.  It is arugula, pine nuts, avocado, and puffed quinoa, with evoo, lemon, and sea salt.  I couldn't find any puffed quinoa, so I just used some cooked quinoa.

This tomato and cucumber salad is from the garden.  We recently started getting cucumbers, and they are so crunchy and good.  This was the first of our heirloom tomatoes with lots more coming!

(all photos from La Nay Ferme)

My friend has a CSA share with La Nay Ferme (a local organic farm in Provo), and she went out of town this week so I bought her weekly share.  You should go to their site.  It's very informative about nutrients in produce.  The pictures above are what I picked up today in my bags along with some dressing from the Heirloom Restaurant Group.  I'm excited to make some good food this week.  

Farmer's Market

Saturday morning we went to the Provo Farmer's Market.  Our friend's just started a new business called Waffle Love.  They have a waffle truck they will be driving around soon, but they will be at the farmer's market on Saturdays.  They are delicious.  We had a liege waffle with biscoff spread (also known as speculoos and absolutely delicious), strawberries, and whipped cream.  It was wonderful!  You should try them out if you're around.

We bought some local raw honey from Neighborhood Beekeeping, whom we are also friends with.  I used to work with Grant Ellis.  They also have some great skincare products like lip balm and body cream, which I have used and like.

And we bought some local farm fresh eggs.  No I didn't buy them from friends, but they are my friends now with one dozen eggs for only $2.  I was buying my other farm fresh eggs in Orem for $3.50 a dozen.

We were admiring my friend's stroller, and she was telling us the downfall was that it flipped over if a kid was in the back without a kid in the front.  What do you know, a few minutes later the stroller flipped over and Brendan caught my face.

On our way home from the market, we caught the end of the Freedom Festival Children's Parade.  There were so many cute kid's floats and bikes.  We didn't get to enjoy much of it, but Hazel did get a popsicle.  We will for sure be participating next year!

Deer Valley Biking

Brendan and I had SO much fun biking.  We hadn't been downhill biking together since we were first married and had season passes at Sundance.  It was great to be right next to the resort, so we could just ride back to our place and eat lunch and then get right back out.  Our favorite run had some manmade obstacles, which we loved.

The weather was perfect!  While it was in the 90's in Provo, we were enjoying weather in the mid 70's, although the wind did pick up later in the day.

Unfortunately, Brendan did have a bit of an accident.  We had been taking most all of our pictures with our phones, and I had the bright idea to take up our big camera to get some good shots.  I stopped my bike to get some pictures of Brendan going off a dirt jump.  I guess he decided to show off for me with some tricks, and had a little fall.  He came down on his head and cracked his helmet.  The helmet did it's job of protecting his head from the fall, but the visor on the helmet broke off and came down on the bridge of his nose and took a chunk of skin out.  Besides his cut, bloody nose, and stiff neck he was fine.  He just had to have a band-aid on his nose in the rest of our pictures :)  

5 Years......

6-23-12

was our 5 year anniversary.

We started the day out at our ward campout.  Brendan and I had already booked a little vacation up in Park City for a few days later, so I didn't think we would do much that day, but Brendan surprised me and had a dinner reservation for us up Mill Creek Canyon at Log Haven.  I had never been up there, but it was really pretty, and we had a great time together.

Then on Tuesday we went to Park City and stayed at the Goldener Hirsch Inn at Deer Valley.  We got an amazing deal on Travelzoo a few months before.  This was the first time we had ever left the kids overnight.  I thought I was going to be worried about the kids the whole time, but I was actually fine and enjoyed myself.  We left the kids with Brendan's parents.  Hazel slept both nights without waking up, and Hattie slept the second night without waking up.  I was impressed.

The first night we spent hanging out on Main Street and had some great food.

We had the grand suite at the Inn.

The Goldener Hirsch Inn at Deer Valley was made to be similar to the Goldener Hirsch Hotel in Salzburg.  It has hand painted European furnishings, with hand carved doors and chairs imported from Austria.  I loved all the authentic decor.  It's a small hotel with only 20 rooms, and was rated #2 Small hotel by Conde Naste Traveler. 

Don't you love the band-aid.

At the Goldener Hirsch restaurant we had an outstanding meal.  We started out with some cheese fondue with bread, apples, and broccoli.  Brendan had elk for his entree, and I had a vegetarian dish, and we ended with some chocolate fondue with berries, french macarons, shortbread with pistachios, homemade marshmallows, and apples.  Yum!

Good Times Together!  

We also enjoyed shopping together at the Park City outlets and found some good deals.  I was amazed at how many stores you can make it to without any kids.

Ward Campout

Brendan and I were on our ward campout committee, and it's wasn't just a one nighter.  It was three nights!  I've never heard of such a thing for a ward, but it was fun.  Wednesday night Brendan went up with the scouts (that's one of his callings) and did a bike ride, and then they met up at the camp site for dinner, but he didn't stay overnight.  On Thursday morning we both drove up so I could do the primary activity (my calling is in the primary presidency) and Brendan could set up our tent.  We went home for a few hours, and then went back up for dinner and to spend the night.  Friday morning Brendan left to go to work, and I stayed with the girls.  It was fun.  We did some crafts, and went on a hike to a waterfall.  Brendan came back up for our ward catered dinner and camp fire program.  We stayed the night again on Friday and had a big breakfast on Saturday morning.

Breakfast with just me and the girls on Friday morning.

Hattie taking her afternoon nap just fine.  (We scored a free pack n play in great condition from someone.  Don't you just love the 90's colors)

Big Hazel and little Hazel.  My visiting teacher's daughter has the same name and they love it.  They just had to be friends.

Hazel made a cute stick doll, and I obviously look like I've been camping for a few nights.

Brendan making the big morning breakfast.