Boterkoek/ Buttercake

“If you're afraid of butter, use cream.” 

Julia Child

Well this was a list item that was simple, learn how to make a dutch treat that I always enjoy, but probably never would find the time/ the recipe to make it.  I wanted to make Boterkoek, I know it's so easy.  I heard that a lot when I mentioned this idea, but I am not master in the kitchen and especially baking... being precise is not my strong suit. So, I found myself a great teacher and got to work! It was pretty easy too :) 

Here's how the lesson went:  Photo Credits go to David and Kara, don't mind a few heads cut off I think they were being artistic!

My Teacher, Jonna Lemstra ( We had some helpers too, Kasey & Kara)

 Let's start with the recipe:

Putting it all together: With your hands no less, well just one hand works best.  I found that out after!

Then split the dough and spread it evenly in a pie pan... See it's so easy.

 Here's the cream part.. I never would have guessed. Smooth the top with cream then bake:

 

 That's it! Thanks Lemstras, I had a great time!

 Eet Smakelijk and Good night

Tuesdays with Kara

I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one.... As you can see, I have been cooking, usually on Tuesdays :)  Slowly becoming that Pioneer Woman.  Note the slowly, there were some disasters, mostly on the angel food cake. I apparently didn't whip it enough or something, but I did sift the flour 7 times ( with a strainer, ha) . I would say that actually makes me more of a pioneer woman, improvising!

Status Update

PURPLE means CHECK!

BLUE means WORKING ON IT!

1. Do a tough mudder/ 5K

2. Snow ski and water ski in the same day

3. See the Grand Canyon (on a donkey)

4. NOSing

5. Go to a concert ( I am not picky)

6. Do a Bike race

7. Sing Karaoke

8. Go the Kentucky Derby ( ok, any horse race will do)

9. Learn how to bake boterkoek!

10. Go Camping

11. Learn to Salsa

12. Apply to a reality TV show

13. Figure out this blogging thing

14. Read the entire Bible

15. Visit Stars Hollow

16. Ride a Horse

17. Cook through an entire Cookbook

18. Put $100 on a hand of Black Jack

19. WILD CARD Friend's Choice

20. Leave the Country

21. Learn Spanish

22. Breakfast on the Beach

23. Do A Random Acts of Kindness

24. Paint

25. Crash a Wedding

26. Eat Authentic Spicy Indian Food

27. Shoot a gun

28. Volunteer a Day

29. Ride the Fastest Roller Coaster in CA ( 2nd fastest may be ok too)

30. Vegas

Traveling Plans

I really do enjoy traveling! Some, who know me well, would look at me with a puzzled expression and ask really? You?  I have enough traveling mishaps to write a book; and this last planned trip to Canada adds another chapter.  Although my trip did not go as planned, as I was not able to cross the border into Canada, I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great trip site seeing Seattle and the surrounding area.

So, why didn't I get to go to Canada? Well, because I left my passport at home.  I know that was dumb.  I even packed it in my purse the night before, but in the last minute shuffle of ' getting things done' before I left that morning I took it back out and left it on my desk.  Because obviously taking my passport back out was not in my memory as I was trying to retrace my steps in hopes of locating it before we got there. When we got to the BART station I called all the stops we made on the way to the San Fransisco Airport. I finally came to terms with my mistake just a few minutes before we got to the Hotel I accidentally booked for the previous night.  HA, luckily they had room for us, so we did get a room, and they had a bar next door!

The rest of the trip went great! We had an amazing Thanksgiving  dinner thanks to my Aunt Judy and just relaxed and ate way too much food! Friday Melanie and I explored downtown Seattle, checking out some fun restaurants, Pikes Place Market, the Seattle Space Needle and the Chihuly Glass Museum.

The Chihuly Glass Museum was my favorite, here is a link for you if you're interested in learning more about his work.

Saturday we took the ferry to Friday harbor .... We got so close to Canada ahhhhh.  A ferry ride is always enjoyable and it was great afternoon of shopping and eating seafood!

Hope you enjoy my experience through these pictures too!

Excited to get on the BART and head downtown and then... I realized I did not have the passport :)

Our thanksgiving table! mmmmmmmmmm

 

Pikes Place Market

 

The Space Needle!

Chihuly Glass

Friday Harbor

Sabbatical

According to Wikipedia, Sabbatical is defined as a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year.  So, I am labeling my little break from this blog a sabbatical, mostly just so I can feel professional and grown up.  I also needed a bit of a break from the posting so I had time to train for the race I was in two weekends ago!

 I marked another event off my list a couple weekends ago: Run a Race!  I signed up for the Color Me Rad 5k in Fresno, CA, and persuaded two friends to run along side me! ( Flo and Erin you're the best!!)  Ok, so I didn't train at all, and I still dislike running.  I was hoping this event would get me hooked on running, so I could get those runner highs, but no. I also must admit to telling a few lies of omission when some friends may of asked " How was your marathon?" and just replied, "Great!" Maybe I should put a marathon on my list?... probably not :)

Despite not training and struggling through parts of the race, it was a great event and a good, fun way to get some exercise! The color aspect of it was very distracting and fun! I hope you enjoy checking out some of the pictures!

Day at the Races

My inspiration for this list choice of going to the horse races was Miss Eliza Doolittle ( My Fair Lady), and though my experience was quite different than hers, as we did not join in song as we spent the day drinking tea. We did have a great time watching eight different races.

My day at the races consisted of eating way over prices burgers, scoping out the horses and jockeys, and picking losers. (The losing may have been a result of picking horse based on the name of the horse, I am not sure.) Even with no winnings I can still check it off my list!  FUN DAY :)

RAGBRAI 2012!

When I put this challenge on my list I did not quite know what I was signing up for! I knew it was more than just a casual bike ride on the country roads of Iowa, but now my bottom fully understands what RAGBRAI is!!!  It was a great experience and I have to say I might be hooked on riding!  I think next time I will just train a little harder.

 The race started this year in Sioux Center, IA and it was very fun for me to see the campus of my alma mater Dordt College taken over by riders from all over the country! It was a very festive environment, with tons of people and bikes walking/rolling the rows of vendors of bike equipment and local businesses! We enjoyed the expo Saturday afternoon and then 'carbbed' up on Pizza Ranch Pizza!  You can start the ride at anytime you choose, we chose along with many to start at early and try to beat some of the lovely, summer heat. I was very excited to share this experience with my while family, I think Mom got her Christmas card picture :)  We yelled 'biker on' (as that is what you do when you enter the sea of bikers) at about 6:30 am.  Learning the biking etiquette was part of the experience, basic communication was key as you are riding very close to lots of bikes!

The ride continued on to Orange City, Alton, Granville, Marcus then ending the 54 mile ride in Cherokee! We made it into Cherokee at about 1:00 pm, making our ride about 6.5 hours.  The time really went fast, the roadsides were filled with families waving in encouragement and businesses selling everything from watermelon to eggs on a stick!  We also enjoyed some relief from the heat on a homemade slip n slide!

While the distractions of slip n slides and eggs on a stick were effective the last 15 miles will brutal. The heat and the hills started to take the toll and Cherokee was a more than a welcomed sight!  While it may be a goal in the future to do the full 7 day ride, I am happy with my 1 day accomplishment and another check mark off my list.

Here is a link to some pictures from the RAGBRAI website if you're interested. It was a beautiful ride between the fields of corn and beans!!

 

DONE!!!

Suz, you are looking so skinny these days ;) Sorry this is the only family pick I have.

 

I was debating on riding this for the race, might have taken twice as long, but much less exhausting!