Yep, it's been 4 years already!

If you read all of yesterday's post, you may have noticed that I was out of town. But I couldn't wait until I got back to tell you the brownie/cake story, so I made it magically appear. Do you know where I went?

Does it help if I tell you we were celebrating our anniversary (a little early)? We kind of have a tradition.

Here's another hint...


Ok, if that doesn't give it away and my bookmarks in the sidebar from the last week didn't give it away, I'm just gonna have to tell you.

Four years ago, the Hubs and I honeymooned in Sedona. Since then, we've gone back to that area every year for our anniversary. Each trip brings back memories, creates new ones and gives us a milestone to see how far we've come.

This year we set up camp in Cottonwood at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.


Despite the unromantic sounding name, it's a great campground. You have hiking, picnic areas and a river right there. Plus, flush toilets. (If you're at a campground, you're obviously not going for a whole wilderness experience, so you might as well have indoor plumbing.) We took advantage of our surroundings to get some walking in and take some time to pray about the upcoming year.



We also visited the Red Rock State Park in Sedona and did some hiking there, as well as checking out the visitor center and listening to a talk.



Yesterday we went to Jerome, walked around the town, enjoyed the views and the quirkiness, did some shopping and had delicious food at the Red Rooster Cafe.




So my legs were getting a little sore by the end of the day yesterday, and we got just a little sunburned. But, other than that, it was a great little trip.

*****

Photos by the Hubs and I.

Cake-to-brownie conversion chart?

Sometimes you just want a brownie. Friday night, for example. (Which you may have guessed if you saw my Twitter.) I was trying to suppress my brownie urge when the Hubs said "Do we have anything sweet around here?"

I said, "we've got some chocolate and some other random candy. Or were you thinking something more like a brownie?"

"Ummm...maybe more like a brownie." (Jackpot.)




I thought, hey, I'm tired, but I'm not too tired to whip up a batch of brownies from a box.

Problem #1: As it turns out, there was no brownie mix in the cupboard.

What I did have was a devil's food cake mix. I remember reading a brownie mix box one time that said something like "for more cake-like brownies, add another egg." Ergo, wouldn't it stand to reason that for a more brownie-like cake, you could just use one less egg than the box called for? Worth a shot, right?


I dumped the cake mix, water and oil into a bowl, then went to the fridge for the eggs.

Problem #2: There weren't any (usable) eggs.

How did that happen? We came back from Indiana, I realized that we need to use up our eggs ASAP, so I made scrambled eggs for dinner and hard boiled the rest. Then I forgot about it and didn't buy more. You can't make brownies with hard boiled eggs.


Hubs: Isn't there something you can substitute for eggs?
Me: No.
Hubs: I saw something in one of your cookbooks.
Cookbook: Egg, 1 whole - substitute 2 egg whites; 2 egg yolks; or 1/4 cup frozen egg product thawed.*
Hubs: Do you want me to go to the store?

I really didn't. We were supposed to be chillin' (like villains). Not running errands. If I was wanting one of us to go to the store, we could've picked up actual brownie mix in the first place. Or brownies that someone else made. (Hey, desperate times....) But I already added the other liquid ingredients to the cake mix. At that point, there's no turning back. Is there?

Me: ...yeah.
Hubs: Call your mom first. If she doesn't know of anything you can substitute, I'll go.

The thing is, I had already called my mom about an hour before about an incident involving some frozen chicken. (Yeah, you'll be hearing that story soon too.) But I called again.

Mom: ...you're having quite a day aren't you?
Me: Yep.
Mom: Well, your cake's not going to rise much without eggs. I guess you could try adding some extra water and a little bit of baking soda.
Me: Will it turn out more like fudge?
Mom: I really have no idea what it'll do.

I asked the Hubs if he felt like living dangerously.

He went to the store for eggs.

Once he got back, I beat it all together.



And stuck it in the oven.


29 minutes later, we had...



cake.

Maybe slightly less fluffy cake. Not brownies. But it did the trick.

*****

The Hubs and I are out of town today. But still feel free to comment - substitution suggestions, baking advice and guesses as to where we might be are all welcome. :)

*Brought to you by the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.


Photos by me.

Our Indiana trip

A week ago Tuesday my parents gave us a ride to the airport at 4:30 a.m. (I know! They're awesome!) for our trip to see my dad's family in Indiana. It was early, but the Hubs was able to sleep on the plane.

The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed spending time with my relatives. We sat on porches for meals with great aunts and great uncles,

we took walks (by the lake, to my dad's cousin's house, in the town where my grandma Betty grew up),

we heard family stories (inspired by photo albums, furniture, driving past my great grandparents' house),



and we even had time to relax (yep, those are my freshly pedicured toes on my Aunt Peg's back porch).

To my Indiana family: I'm so grateful for you and the way they opened your hearts and homes to us. Come out and visit anytime!

*****

Photos by the Hubs and I.

Ties that knot

Even close family ties have their tangles. Maybe the closer you are, the more potential you have for misunderstandings, unmet expectations and broken hearts.

"...isn’t family life a bit of a three-legged race?" notes Ann at Holy Experience, "Days tie us together, and schedules trip us up, and everything snarls. We stumble and fall and it hurts."

Her advice for both family life and three-legged races is the same: “It’ll get better if you get closer.”

I think there's something to that.

You can read the full "Untangling Family Knots" post here.


*****

Photos by me.

The persistence of memory (without the melting clocks)

Childhood memories are so powerful. Something about even the simple ones like seeing a toy you played with or revisiting someplace you went as a child just tugs at your heart.


Visiting Indiana last week brought back a flood of memories from childhood trips there with my family - sitting on the same porches, eating off the same china, driving through the same fields. Even if traveling with kids isn't easy, I am so grateful that my parents endured the are-we-there-yets and hauled my brother and I across state lines to visit the aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives I wouldn't have otherwise known. It was the beginning of a bond strong enough to bring me back.



*****

P.S. Stay tuned for more photos and stories from our trip!


Photos: Porch photo by the Hubs. Other photos by me.

Ready to talk baking soda

What does getting back from a trip have in common with using baking soda? Laundry. I keep a separate box of baking soda with my laundry stuff and sometimes throw a little in with a load of clothes.


When I realized my laundry-room Arm & Hammer was running low, I bought more baking soda - store brand this time. Looking at the two boxes side-by-side, I realized something. Both claim to be for "baking, cleaning and deodorizing," and both contain sodium bicarbonate. However, the Food Club brand has "nutrition facts" on the side panel and says there's 7% of your daily value of sodium in 1/8 tsp, while the Arm and Hammer has "drug facts" and lists its purpose as "antacid."


Does that imply you should bake with generic baking soda, but go with the brand name if you have an upset stomach? Just wondering.

*****

P.S. We're back now, so I should be posting trip pics soon. Also, I realized I forgot to mention it on some of them, but this post, this one and this one were while we were out of town. Sorry for the confusion!

Photos by me.

Nice if it gets cold where you are

In some parts of the world, forecasts for the first days of Fall do not include 100-degree temperatures. But, whether you're wearing a jacket this week or just dreaming about it, you have to admit this is a pretty clever product.

It's a fleece vest, called the Peekaru Original, that fits over a baby carrier. The vest is designed to keep both parent and child warm and is made out of 85% recycled Polartec fleece.

Not surprisingly, the mom who came up with the idea lived in Colorado - not Phoenix.

*****

P.S. We're in Indiana this week, but I wrote this up for you ahead of time.

Photo courtesy of TogetherBe.