Cincinnati Zoo with Melissa, Emory & Ivy!

This eagle was the first thing we saw when we walked into the zoo.  It was CRAZY.  He (she?) was perched right outside of this little "room" you walk into.  HUGE crazy cool bird thank you for hanging so close for us humans!

 

Sleepers!  Cat naps for both "babies"!

The polar bears were awesome!  They walked up right next to the window! 

UDF ice cream!  Only the best for us - strawberry - we all shared 1 scoop!

Such a sweet pciture of mom and son!

Lia LOVES Emory and wants to hold his hand a lot!  We see Emory and Ivy at CFEC every week these days, it is so awesome for our kids (and us moms)!

Little Ms Lia taking care of Baby Jax!

TURKEY eggs!

Thank you Karla for these beautiful and delicious turkey eggs!  I made a delcious egg salad with them!  YUM!

White Cheddar Polenta with Roasted Kale & Garlic Roasted Portobello Mushrooms

So the picture may not be perfect but this meal is AMAZING.   I've been making this meal for almost 10 years.  Tonight I mixed it up and roasted the kale, vs. sauteeing.  It was absolutely delicious!  Thank you beautiful food and wonderful recipe!!!

Chocolate Cherry Cookies!

A new favorite in this house - especially for Frank who doesn't usually like chocolate combined with fruit.  I revised these from Cooking Light, added more chocolate & chopped the cherries - DELISH!

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

1.75 ounces all-purpose flour
1.75 ounces whole-wheat flour
1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 t baking soda
½ t salt

6 T unsalted butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup dried cherries, chopped fine
1 t vanilla extract
1 large egg

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I chop the chips)
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh flours and combine them with next 3 ingredients in kitchenaid bowl. Stir together.
3. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add cherries, vanilla, and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate.
4. Using pampered chef tablespoon scoop, scoop out 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Yields about 42 cookies.

Pork Liver

Here are some pictures of something I have NEVER cooked before...liver.  It's from a pig that we bought raised locally.  The recipe called to soak the liver in fresh lemon juice and then bake/braise it with cooked apples and onions topped with bacon and paprika.  The flavor was good but we were not huge fans of the texture.  Although we both ate it for dinner tonight.  We are glad to say that we tried it although and up next is cow's liver from our friend Karla's cow Rufus.  I am going to cook that one medium rare, per Karla's recommendation and hopefully we will enjoy it!  :)

Mousse - chocolate!

Patti came into town for a friend's wedding and we were lucky enough to enjoy her company while here.  She got in late so we didn't get to enjoy the family dinner we hoped for, but still enjoyed this home made chocolate mousse...made with ghiradelli chocolate, rum, espresso, heavy cream...topped with home made whipped cream....double yum!!!  :)

Happy Easter!

Lia enjoyed her Easter egg hunt in the back yard!

After Easter at home, we went to the ZOO!  It was awesome, the weather was beautiful and there were not many people here this morning!  Frankie LOVED the peacocks!  They are beautiful and there were several around!

Lia got to touch a baby aligator!  We learned that they do not grow nearly as fast in captivity as in the wild, for one reason, they do not over feed them.  She liked this guy!  She also liked the peacocks and hand fed one a couple times with her Dad!

New tile in the Living Room

Since we got beautiful new wood floors in our Living Room I really felt like we needed new tile around the fireplace.  It was ugly when we moved in and I painted it.  It was fine for a while but with new floors it was not fine at all.  Frank and I did this project together, with him cutting more than half of the tiles, I layed them in and he grouted.  What a team!  A very easy project that really helps finish off the fireplace.