Cherry Picking in Cherry Valley

Cherry picking has turned into an annual tradition with my kids and my parents. We always meet at the same place and eat at the same restaurant afterwards. The kids enjoy u-pick place but there just isn't enough of them around us. Cherry picking goes well, the fruit isn't too small where it takes forever to fill our container (like blueberries) and we can eat quite a bit before we get full (unlike apples), and yeah, they taste great!

Need a ladder Sage?

Look at all those cherries!

Climbing the trees is part of the fun. ^_^

Speedy Blueberry Refrigerator Jam

I know jam's supposed to be pretty easy but I have yet to make a successful batch. Even when I follow the recipe on the pectin box they just haven't come out quite right. I needed a jam for this recipe I was making and was happy when I found this one. So simple, how could I go wrong? So here I went, and they came out pretty good! Maybe a little too sweet but overall I'm quite happy with the results. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com. Foolproof, I tell ya.

Tamales, ole!

The first time I tried making tamales they didn't turn out so well. And after all that work I was bummed and didn't think I'd try tamales ever again. The masa part just tasted horrible. But the other day I found already prepared masa at the Mexican market and decided to give it another try. I cooked some pork in the crock pot with some garlic, bay leaves, and onions, and after it was tender enough I mixed them with some enchilada sauce.

I had some helpers this time so it only took a couple hours to make 50 tamales.

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The tamales came out much better this time. The filling tasted a little light with the masa, but with a little salsa all was good!

Yeay, Buttons!

I had some buttons madefor our expo this Saturday, but since the stars didn't align for that one they'll probably end up on Etsy and the kids' bags. They're 1" buttons, I wasn't quite sure if the images would look too small but they came out pretty good.

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The line up: Pedal 1 Long bike, Creepy Dave, Marmu, Evil Abby, Peace Bike, and LoPan.

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There are so many photos of Abby making funny faces, there could be a whole series just on her. ^_^

Homemade Menma

I'd have to say one of my favorite ramen noodle condiment is menma. Menma is a Japanese condiment made out of dried bamboo shoots, often served with soup noodles. This is one item I cannot find in the Asian section of the grocery store. Even the Chinese stores carry something close, but it's usually seasoned with chili oil, so I have to get this at a Japanese store. My last visit to my parents house they gave me a bag full of unseasoned sliced bamboo shoots and told me I should try making menma. They were easier to make than I thought and came out quite tasty.

Here is an English recipe with general directions. I used a recipe from a Japanese site, here's the link with the step-by-step photos, and my translation:

Homemade Menma

300 grams bamboo shoots

1 T. sesame oil

500 cc water

1 T. dried chinese stock

1/2 T. sugar (to taste)

pinch salt (to taste)

1/2 T. soy sauce (to taste)

Slice the bamboo shoots into thin strips. (If using shoots from a can, boil in hot water for approx. 2 minutes first to get rid of the smell.) Saute in sesame oil, once coated with oil add the water, stock, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer until half of the liquid has evaporated. Add soy sauce and cook till most of the liquid is gone. (I added a little more sesame oil at the end for that added flavor.)

Not only is this good on top of noodles, it's good in fried rice and makes a good beer snack.

Applesauce Doughnuts

I know fresh donuts are good but something about that rolling out thing just turns me off. But donut holes...they're another story. So easy to make and tastes like donuts, can't beat that. This one had applesauce in it. Any little edge to make something that is obviously not healthy into somewhat healthy gets a big thumbs up in my book! (although I couldn't really taste it.) Only alterations to the recipe is that I omitted the ground cloves and halved the nutmeg amount. These tasted good rolled in sugar and also plain. Maybe next time I'll try a maple glaze. That sounds goooood!

Abby's 8th B-day

We took the kids to Knott's Soak City in Palm Springs for Abby's birthday this year. Wanting to avoid the weekend crowd, the kids missed school and we went on her actual birthday. It had been cold where we live, cloudy and in the 40's so I wasn't sure how the weather would be but was glad to see it was sunny.

Sage liked this one, he rode this one many times.
The wave pool, kinda like the beach but with pool water. I'm not sure why but my kids hung out here a lot.

Sage and Abby chickened out in this one so Emi and I rode it together. They make you climb up all those stairs carrying your huge innertube, but it was worth it.

This one must of been Abby's favorite. A huge loop, you just drift. A relaxing, calm "ride."

Her birthday cake, a chocolate layered cake with marshmallow frosting and "magic" candles. ^_^

One of her gifts, a shoulder bag. I had her draw a picture and then I screenprinted it on it. That's Marmu. She loves bags, she's going to turn into a bag lady!

Bouldering up South Ridge

2009 Idyllwild 5k/10k

Time for the annual 5k/10k run in Idyllwild again. Emi ran the 5k again for the 4th straight year. She's been running at school and we squeezed in a little training afterschool when we could. She did VERY well, finishing it in 26:49, winning first place in her category.

At the start line with her friends, who also placed 2nd and 3rd place.

Getting that prime spot at the beginning of the start line.

Abby ran the kids 1/2-mile fun run. She barely made the age cut by 3 days.

Sage ran the kids run just for the fun of it.

Emi and her friend ran along also.

Emi getting her prize, a cool glass mug. Her third one so far.

Camping at Black Mountain

The family went camping up Black Mtn with some friends. It was just an overnighter but it's always fun to get away. It's great that places like this are so close we can just go when we feel like it. We had been to several yellow post sites (primitive camping) but not to this one yet. This one was really nice. Although we don't have the conveniences of a bathroom, we are all alone on this site. Camping isn't the same if you have a lot of neighbors around you. The kids had fun climbing on boulders and just hanging out.