darcy and the cone of shame

If you've ever seen "Up!", you might remember the above title.

The dog got spayed - FINALLY. And THANK YOU GOD that He answered my prayers and it was free! The only problem is my 50 lb. puppy kept ripping open her incision so it's taken twice as long to heal, with an extra helping of antibiotics, a bandaged torso, and diarrhea...yeah being a dog owner :) But I'm very glad the vet's been nice and not charging to see her post-surgery. Thanks Guadalupe Vet Clinic! (and for being right down the street from my house!)

Now Darcy's pretty much all healed up, and I wanna take her camping on this, my last weekend of summer. (I can't believe training starts next week!) So now I'm at a loss as where to go!!!

This is where I actually want to go:
[thanks to longest acres for the pic]

But that doesn't exist in Arizona.  Any ideas on where I could go?  I don't wanna drive all the way up to Flagstaff, and I wanna end up somewhere coolER with water so the dog and I could go swimming.  Please give any and all ideas! 

the decadent cake

It came out looking very beautiful and moist. I was going to top it off with some powdered sugar, but forgot :) I like the brown cake on that plate, though- huh??

this one's my fav

FYI, it's not a super sweet cake. It tasted great, but when I paired it with the dulce de leche, it was almost bland. Great on its own or with coffee...mmmmm

Camping with the community

I love my church. They are my family...along with my family. A great camping extravaganza was planned, got diverted when the mountain closed down because of fire danger, but actually happened when they reopened the mountain again.

So up to Mt. Lemmon we went! I actually didn't stay the night (didn't know if the dog would play with others calmly), but did end up getting a lovely nap amongst some pine needles.


Cute moment with Ronamaki



Jesse thinking intently



Ahhh mighty Settlers



Steve notices but Eric doesn't



None of the Brunson children can get married soon enough :)



It was a lovely time with games, watermelon, great salsa, and dear friends. Listening to Karen and Jeremy tell stories was an absolute delight. They're very laid back people but the go-back-and-forth as they tell stories is HILARIOUS. Also, a small group of us hiked up to the ridge near our campsite (thanks H & S for making me go!) to watch the sunset. Of course, I forgot my camera, but it was GORGEOUS! And then I actually felt COLD - really! I couldn't believe it. The drive down at night accented the cool air, making it one of the best moments of the summer.

for a sweet craving...

Yesterday I made dulce de leche by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk (see yesterday's post on "Banoffee" for the specific recipe. Well I boiled two cans, instead of one and thought it'd be fun to try on chocolate cake :) Ahhh summer...how I will miss you when you're gone and can't make random chocolate cakes in the afternoon.

So thanks Food Network for the below recipe! I made the following changes: I didn't have Dutch process cocoa so I just used regular (which apparently there are some chemical reasons for the recipes calling for it :/), Cloves & a little Cinnamon instead of cardamom, no currents or chocolate chunks, and instead of instant espresso (which NO ONE should ever buy or have)- I put in actually grinds. Which I now realize wasn't what they intended and I should have made espresso with my Aeropress and added that to the cocoa. WOOPS. We'll see how it is...

Decadent Chocolate Cake on the Food Network

Baby Banoffees

Baby Banoffees

I made this today...mmmmm....

They were REALLY amazing and really rich. I topped them with nutmeg instead of cocoa.

Try it! It's so easy!

...for the rainy evening

Summer Survival in the Sonoran Desert

Make your own horchata pops! :) It's perfect for the summer...

A commercial break

While I'm waiting for my pictures of the housewarming party to load, I wanted to mention this blog that I LOVE:

I Married An Irish Farmer

A woman from the US (I think Minneapolis) married an Irish farmer, moved to Co. Limerick, and posts about her life...but mostly about her cooking. She makes the most delightful things! Sometimes a few of the ingredients are a little hard to find, being that the US doesn't carry the same things as the UK, but most things are standard.

I'm getting ready to make her latest post about dulce de leche and bananas...mmmmmmm....

Also, speaking of cooking, I needed to use up some of the leftovers from the party. So I called on my inner Midwesterner and made a leftovers casserole! Sort of a variation on enchiladas...
The following ingredients were included:
Mini corn tortillas
Salsa Verde
Garlic chicken
Great Northern Beans
Spaghetti squash (that I baked in the oven with cumin & cinnamon)
Topped with Panela queso fresco

Housewarming Party

A history according to Wikipedia:
"The term, housewarming is descended literally from the act of warming a new house, in the days before central heating. Each guest would bring firewood, and build fires in all the available fireplaces, offering firewood as a gift. The reason being - aside from warming the house, was that it would repel evil spirits by creating a protective atmosphere of warmth. Uninhabited houses were considered targets for vagrant spirits, and therefore required a certain level of cleansing before a house was safe to be occupied by young children."

I find this FASCINATING. Well the firewood thing is cool background and makes sense, but it always intrigues me how even just 100 years ago there was a spiritual aspect to pretty much everything. We keep trying to get away from that now-a-days, but it's there. But since we already prayed over the house, now all's we need is the people...and you don't need to bring firewood. :)

So if you actually know me, and somehow didn't receive an invite to the party, call for directions and COME ON OVER!

So below is not my invitation, but I found it online and thought it was cool :)

INSANE video

VIDEO: Dust storm blankets Phoenix

I'm not a huge fan of Phoenix, but bummer for them...

Oh Etsy

I ordered something from Etsy, and it took forever to get here, but look at the cool reason why!




All the way from England!


And out came this lovely bracelet with the letter Captain Wentworth writes to Anne Eliot in Jane Austen's Persuasion.

It's the little things...

There's a Chinese restaurant a mile from my house.
La Bella China.

I often drove by laughing because it looked a little trashy, but secretly hoping it would be awesome, because having a good Chinese restaurant close by is like winning a prize for a contest you didn't know you entered. If you didn't win, it's ok, because you didn't even know you were in the contest...but if you do win, it's friggin sweet and loads of unadulterated bliss follow...partially because of the sheer surprise of the situation.

Last week I decided to try La Bella China. When I try new Chinese places I have a little test that I always use, which is a little pricy, but is generally a good gauge for me. I order my favorite things and see how they stand up: chicken lo mein, beef and broccoli, egg rolls, and egg drop soup. If those are generally pretty decent, I'll be back!

So I ordered, waited 5 minutes, and received this spread:

Sorry it's a little dark- I had the shades drawn for a movie with the Chinese :)

Overall, I'd give this place a 4.5 out of 5! So good!

The Detailed Review:
The lo mein used udon noodles, which are better than the really skinny chow mein noodles that some places use, but second to my favorite which are the medium width ones (that I can't think of the name of). But it had great flavor and good veggies in it. The broccoli beef was a little soupier than I prefer, but again, awesome flavor, and they gave white rice to go with it so the soupiness made more sense. I like that they used the egg yokes in the soup (places often leave out more of the yokes, making the soup appear more whiteish-clear in color, and I think it tastes very bland), but I'm not a fan of corn in my egg drop. The egg rolls used rice paper, so they were smooth in texture instead of rough (which I like a little more), but they had a good flavor and came with homemade sweet and sour sauce :) And it all came very nicely packaged with no spill possibilities - extra awesome. The menu also had a variety of Mandarin and Cantonese dishes, which is exciting. So much more to try!

So next time you're near 12th and Drexel, check out La Bella China! Or come over and we'll order some, because they deliver! Oh happy day :)