Happy 24th Nathan!

Yesterday was Nathan's 24th birthday, so we celebrated with a nice dinner here at home with friends.  We started on the patio (the sun finally showed up about 5pm) while Randy barbequed the flank steak.  It was a beautiful evening and the company was relaxing.

When I asked Nathan what he wanted for dessert - I pretty much had guessed what he wanted - but he confirmed it with..."the usual" :)  I don't know if I've ever posted our family birthday dessert but I don't feel like going back and looking through the last 3 1/2 years of blogging.  So if you've seen this before - I apologize!

Oreo Dessert

16 oz Pkg Oreos

8 oz. Pkg Cream Cheese

Lg. Instant Choc. Pudding

1/4 c. butter/melted

1 c. powdered sugar

1 16 oz. Cool Whip

Crush oreos well (I use a food processor) and reserve 1/2 the crumbs for the topping.  Add remaining 1/2 of crumbs with butter and press into 9x13.  (At this point I put it in the freezer to firm it up good).  

Blend softened cream cheese and powd. sugar, add a little milk to make it spread easily, and spread it over the crust.

Spread 1/2 the Cool Whip over the cream cheese layer.

Mix choc. pudding according to pkg directions and pour it over the Cool whip.  Top with remaining cool whip.  Sprinkle with reserved oreo crumbs.  

Refrigerate for several hours before serving.

(PS I don't use the whole pkg of oreos because it just seems like too much on top for me.  I use 1/2 the pkg for the bottom and then use about 1/2 of what's left to put on the top.)

Busy....................

Yes - again - no blogging!  At least I am consistently inconsistent :)

Lots of shrimping and boating trips.................

 One Saturday Nathan and Miranda came out to Eliza Island with us.  Is this an adorable shot or what?!?! I am again amazed at the miracles God gave us 2 years ago (and continues to give us)  when Nathan was in a motorcycle accident. As I see my son strong and healthy once again - I am in awe of God - the ultimate healder!

Going back out on the boat tomorrow and Saturday.  Heading to Boise next week for Spencer's Grad.

Love that boy!!

My girl

She is growing up................

Friday and Saturday was LC High Schools' Pop Concert.  I went both nights (of COURSE I did) and watched my talented girl!  She accompanied herself as she sang a song she wrote...................LOVED it!  So proud of my baby girl!

Each section picked and theme and did costumes.................

The Sopranos chose Mario Cart - Em was the cloud

She also had a solo in one of the choir songs...............

With her boyfriend - the one she wrote the song for..............(daddy was teasing her saying he knew she wrote it just for him ;)

With Grandma Brim after the concert

Love my girl!!

It was kind of weird as I was laying in bed last night thinking about the fact that we have one more year until she graduates.................it's gonna fly by fast!!  Totally savoring the moments with my girl! 

A Day in Seattle

This last week was Spring Break for Em's school and so she headed to Arizona with the school choir on tour.  She turned 17 while she was gone (first one of my kid's b'days I've missed ;{ ), and on her b'day they sang the National Anthem at the Diamondbacks game.............................

Em on the right with her friend Lily

 

 

 

 Since Randy and I were temporarily empty nesters we decided to have some fun too, so on Wednesday we spontaneously headed to Seattle for the day.  We checked out the Marina there............definitely planning to take the boat South this summer.  The Marina is right downtown at the waterfront...............

Fried Macaroni & Cheese - our appie

 We had an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - My most favorite meal ever is from there....it's the Chicken Madeira and I didn't get a picture cuz I was so excited to dig in when it arrived!!

 

We ended up by going to the Ballard Locks and arrived just as a tug was bringing a barge through - very cool!  I hadn't been there before and the park is absolutely breath taking right now with everything in full bloom.  Definitely want to go back on a warmer day (don't you love my afghan?)

More to come later on what else we did.

My girl gets home late tonight - can't wait - it just wasn't the same without her around!

A Staycation

In February we had a Staycation here at Korthuis Manor.

We had done this once before -but it had been too long.  Our bedrooms upstairs have their own bathrooms in them, so it's kind of like a hotel room.  So our Dinner Group friends came for the weekend.

It started Friday evening with a Barbeque Rib dinner that Randy and I prepared.  Then after dinner we watched a movie, and then, before going to bed we begin preparation for the next day's event.  We came up with 3 meats, 3 vegetables and 3 starches and put them in a bowl to do a drawing the next day.  Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast (a recipe from Pintrest - Creme Brulee French Toast) and LOTS of coffee we sat down to draw our ingredients for our first ever "DINNER GROUP COOKOFF".

Here's the ingredients that we pulled......................(can't get the pic to turn)

 Then, we all went into a planning session......................................it was boys

 .............against girls!

After planning we all headed to the grocery store and got our ingredients and the cooking began!!  We had 3 couples coming as judges at 6pm.  Stacy came over and set a BEAUTIFUL table (as usual), that girl has a gift!!

There were 2 lead chefs..................................

............and a whole LOT of prepping and tasting going on!

The judges arrived and they were whisked upstairs to enjoy appetizers.........

  while the food was plated........................................

PLATE "A"

PLATE "B"

Dinner was fabulous ........................and the Boys team won :(  The meals were judged by each dish: meat, vegetable and starch, and also by plating.

The evening was finished off with Marla's AMAZING Lemon Meringue cupcakes, (filled with fresh homemade lemon curd) - the BESTEST cupcake I've EVER had, with a small scoop of Raspberry Sorbet.

Fun was had by all and NO ONE went home hungry!! :)

P.S. Parsnips are good!!

Our Family's Favorite Dessert!

It came to me the other day - in my lack of blogging moments - that I have never shared with you the favorite dessert here at Korthuis Manor.

My dear friend Audrey made this for us over 20 years ago and I HAD to have the recipe.  It's your basic "go to" dessert.  It has ingredients that one usually always has on hand..............and the best part is (besides it's FABULOUS) is that you don't have to have eggs to make it. 

BAKED CHOCOLATE PUDDING

1 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp butter, melted

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 c. milk

3/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp baking cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

In 2 quart casserole dish melt butter, then add remaining ingredients and stir until well mixed.

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

5 Tbsp. baking cocoa

Mix above ingredients and pour over cake mix in pan.

 Pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water on top - DO NOT STIR!

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Sorry I didn't get a picture before we dove in - I made it for company and simply forgot.  What you end up with is a cake on top with hot fudge on the bottom.  Serve with vanilla ice cream and ENJOY!!

My newest craftiness.....................

So as I've gotten more and more addicted to Pinterest I've added MANY pins to my "crafts to do" board. 

During the snowstorm we had in January I spent WAY to much time on Pinterest, but one good thing did come out of all the time wasted invested.  I started making these......................................

I do love to crochet, and since I'm not very good at just sitting, it's a great thing to work on visiting with friends, watching tv, or just enjoying the fire.  I've been selling them at Grandiflora. I've made them in lots of different colors.  Some have crocheted flowers like the one above, and some I put felt flowers on.  I always put a button in the middle of the flower, which I realize I took the above pics before I put the cute red button in the middle.

Today Susan and I ran to Joann's for some fabric and the yarn was on sale so I picked up these colors for some new bright colors for spring....................

Can't wait to pick up crochet hook and get started.