Berry Salad

I found this delicious salad and dressing via. I threw in some raspberries as well, YUMMMM!

Can I tell you how easy and DELICIOUS it was?!?!?

We loved every little bite!!!

How Do You Eat Your Pretzels?

Ms A loves to eat pretzels. She also loves guessing games and she's very creative. For the past few weeks she's combined these to loves. When I checked on her, I discovered her making shapes and letters out of her pretzel knots.
For those not versed in Pretzels shapes and letters they are as follows (left to right):
"f", half a heart, "a", "B" and "G" or "6". If I'd given her more, she would have spelled out her name. She likes to make fishes as well.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

I remember when I was younger, my family went on a pie crusade. We tried out all sorts of fruit (Fresh Raspberry with fresh mint was my favorite), pudding and pumpkin pies. Sara made and still makes a killer pie crust and her pies are fabulous! One of the favorites was Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. Unfortunately it didn't quite cook all the way through. So sad!!! Fast forward to this morning and my discovery of this gem. It was so simple and I had all ready made crust in the fridge. It was as delicious as it looked.

Thanks Cindy Lou of Skip to My Lou!!

Pinch Proof

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

Ms A loves to ask "What holiday is next, mommy?" So when it was time for St Patrick's Day, she was very excited to finally wear her St Patrick's socks. (last year they were a little big and who wants to wear BIG socks?!?) I scoured the internet looking for a cute idea for clothes to wear and I came across this. I {{LOVE}} the saying. Ms A and I went out to purchase the paint, glitter and tee-shirt. My dear friend, Lisa, gave me some of her stash of freezer paper and we were ready to create. (Thanks L!!)

After my Silhouette finished cutting out the template, we had a little "girl" time, we painted and sprinkled *glitter* all over the image. {What girl doesn't LOVE GLITTER?!?} Ms A giggled and loved every creative moment. I tried not to control the painting, :) We had a great time together. Sadly, no pictures of the process, but here are a couple pictures of the final product.


In my search for fun St Patrick's Day clothing, I found this and knew we had to try it out. Instead of pistachio pudding or Oreo pudding, I chose cheesecake pudding and colored it green. I also used peanut butter cups in gold wrapping instead of the Dove and Oreo goodies. Ms A and I assembled it after school today.

Showing off dessert.

Summer is Here

I went outside this evening to check on our raspberry bushes and was pleasantly surprised by these juicy, sweet and delicious beauties.

Summer has come to the Nelson backyard, now if only the weather can figure that out!

And yes, they were good and they are GONE. I did notice quite a few that will hopefully ripen in the next couple of weeks.

Dinner Tonight

I found a DELICIOUS looking dessert that I HAD to try out. It was calling my name, SERIOUSLY!! Tonight I took dinner over to a sweet friend of mine which gave me an excellent opportunity to share the treats. The Shamrocks were done in green chocolate. It took a few tries for me to finally get the right shape. I opted for whipped frosting, but I think next time I'll try cream cheese. I chose yellow to be the gold at the 'end of the rainbow' and it was! I was so impressed with the way they turned out, I ended up taking several pictures as I giggled and patted myself on the back.

We also had a favorite dish I love to make and eat. Pampered Chef's Cheesy Chicken Tortellini. We had our "St Patrick's Dinner" (not corn beef cabbage, just green food) a week early and it was delicious!

Thank you Pleasant Home for the FABULOUS treat idea!!!

Square Ice Cream Cones

We had a tradition growing up that every time we visited the family farm in Victor, we'd stop for Square Ice Cream Cones. The store has homemade ice cream which they scoop up with a square shaped scoop.

When Reed and I were planning a trip to Yellowstone, almost four years ago, I had built the experience up quite a bit. I was so DISAPPOINTED when we arrived after the store had closed for the day. Fast forward two more years with my sisters and their families. We wanted to introduce the in-laws and grandchildren, but arrived again after the store had closed again for the day. :( After the second failed attempt, I figured that the tradition was one that wouldn't be repeated.

After my grandfather's burial, it was decided to try again. Surprise of surprises, the store was open and under new management, but the homemade ice cream and square shaped scoops were still an integral part of the store/gas station. It was DELICIOUS and loved by the three generations that were there! :)


Thanks Sara for the picture and proof - maybe now Reed will believe me. :)
I love the expressions on each of their faces. That was some good ice cream. :)

Froggy Treats

We were introduced to a wonderful preschool curriculum that has been fantastic. (Thanks J)









This month is all about Spring (my fav season) and Blueberries (another fav).

The other day we talked and learned about frogs. It was fun to watch Ms. A make her little frog friend, hop around the house and play a fun froggy game.

My favorite part was when her reaction to my suggestion of eating Froggy Snack ie, worms (pretzel sticks), bugs (raisins), flies (chocolate chips which disappeared rather quickly) and fish (Goldfish crackers). She didn't like the alternate names, but she enjoyed eating them. :)
pictures from How Stuff Works and National Geographic

Another Trifle

After my great success, I decided to try another recipe out for my trifle bowl. Lemon Blueberry Trifle. We invited some friends over to share since there was so much to eat. We loved the company and enjoyed the yummy treat. It was delicious, not as sweet and rich as the Chocolate Raspberry Trifle, but still good. It felt like summer had entered our home. :)

Here's the final product.

Here's the directions revised but originally from Pampered Chef.

2 Lemons
1 Pound Cake, frozen for easier cutting

8 ounces of Sour Cream
8 ounces Whipped Topping, thawed and separated in half
1 1/2 cups milk
2 small packages of Instant Lemon Pudding

18 ounces fresh Blueberries, put 10 aside for garnish
2 ounces White chocolate, grated, I used Ghiradelli's

Zest one lemon, put zest aside. Squeeze juice from the zested lemon. Gently toss lemon juice in with cubed pound cake.

Mix sour cream, milk and half of the Whipped Topping, Lemon Zest together until well blended. Mix in pudding. Stir until it starts to thicken.

Add 1/4 to 1/2 of the grated White chocolate to the blueberries.

The layers are as follows:
1 Pound Cake with juice
Blueberries and Chocolate
Pudding mixture
Repeat two more times

Garnish with remaining whipped topping, blueberries and chocolate.

Chocolates and Snow

As a child we used to make chocolates at Christmas time. When I found out about my mom and Sara coming for Christmas, I decided to introduce Ms. A to the tradition. :) Sara and her kids came up the day after my mom arrived and we started to make candies. We had a great time, the kids had a hard time with the concept of sharing. They finally picked a friend and made a plate for them.

The next day we received eight inches of snow with a half inch of ice on top. We had a great time playing in the snow and taking pictures. We are hoping to play some more tomorrow with friends. :)

The beaded ice picture was taken by Sara.

Gingerbread House

We had a fun evening decorating our Gingerbread House. Ms. A was so excited when she saw all that CANDY!! After the pictures were taken, she ate the snowman. We'll see how long the house stays intact, especially with my two sugar addicts. :)

Dessert Tonight

Reed's former manager from Penang is here for a visit, so Reed invited him over for dinner.

Check out we're having.
I went into sugar overload from trying a taste of the raspberry chocolate ganache and the cheesecake pudding/whipped topping mixture. Would it be bad to start with dessert and eat the lasagna afterwards? :)

And yes it was totally, sinfully delicious! :) And we have leftovers. I'll be paying for this for a while!

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate-Raspberry Cookie Trifle

1 cup milk
1 pkg. white chocolate instant pudding
1 16 oz. container cool whip
1 12 oz. box of Nilla wafers (broken in half)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 12 oz. jar seedless raspberry jam
1 12 oz. bag frozen raspberries (not in syrup)

For filling, combine milk and pudding mix;whisk until it starts to thicken. Reserve 1/2 cup cool whip and gently fold the remaining cool whip into the pudding mixture. Cover and refrigerate. For ganache, combine chocolate chips, 1/2 cup cool whip and half of the jam and microwave for 40-60 seconds, or until melted. Stir until smooth. Place remaining jam in bowl and microwave for 30-60 seconds, or until melted. gently stir in thawed raspberries. Set aside 16 whole cookies for garnish.

To assemble trifle, place 1/3 of the cookies into bottom of the trifle bowl. layer 1/3 of raspberry mixture over cookies. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture and 1/3 of ganache. Repeat layers two more times, finishing with a smooth layer of ganache. Place the reserved whole cookies into top of trifle.

Recipe from Pampered Chef

The Number Three

Three has become a VERY important number in our house. Since our little angel turned three this year, she has become quite obsessed with the number. At mealtime, she likes to have her food in threes - three carrots, three cheese pieces, her sandwich cut into thirds, three pieces of fruit. I think you get the idea. She also loves to count the people in our family - three. When Aunt Sara comes for a visit - one, two, three girls - VERY COOL! We have to read three books when she goes to bed or wants to have a story read to her. The other day we made a quick stop at the library. She picked out her books - three, and when I asked if she wanted more - no was the answer. She loves to pick flowers in threes. At church we bring three My Little Ponies. It has been fun watching how the number three pervades throughout our life. What fun we will have next year!

I WANT CANDY!!!

Ms. A and I went downstairs this morning to discover our candy dish on Reed's desk. Ms. A exclaimed rather excitedly, "I want candy!" Much to her dismay, it was peanuts, not daddy's candy. I forgot something upstairs. As I was going, Ms. A started to do one of the things children are known for doing - whining. I reminded her that it was my birthday, so she had to be nice and she immediately stopped. (I'll have to remember that trick.) When I came back downstairs, the first thing out of her mouth was "I want candy," then she ran to the cupboard where that candy is stored. I called Reed at work to tell him about his little candy monster, when Ms. A stated that I had moved the candy. I gave the phone to her to talk to daddy while I checked out the cupboard. Apparently the candy had been eaten. When I told Ms. A she said to Reed, "Look at my sad face, daddy." We said goodbye to Reed and I explained to her that candy is not a something to eat when we first wake up. She was finally happy when I offered her some Dibs Ice Cream.

On another note, I've been kicked out of Ms. A's presence. She was eating breakfast this morning and had a cup of with a little bit of water. She loves to play in water and knows that I'm not a big fan of her watery messes. At least water dries and doesn't leave a sticky residue. Apparently, she wants to play with the water so she told me to, "Go, go, go!" Whenever I check on her I hear that same response. :)

A Few Random Events

It's been a busy week full of changes. Friday, August 8th, Ms. A and I joined Aunt Sara at the Portland Zoo. They have a new exhibit, DINOSAURS, which will be leaving the first part of September. Sara and I had a fun time watching Ms. A's reaction to the the dinosaurs. It varied from excitement to sheer terror (momma T-Rex roars). They had a dinosaur that spit water, which she didn't like. I had to run past it with her in my arms. :) We also visited the elephants, Ms. A's favorite part and the Polar Bears, my favorite part. We rode the train as well. Ms. A had a fabulous time sitting to Aunt Sara.

While we were at the zoo, my mom called to tell us our grandmother passed away earlier that day. We were so grateful we were able to see her on our trip to Utah. It was such a blessing to say our farewells. She is now at peace and can be with my grandfather again.

Saturday was a hard day for Ms. A. Aunt Sara packed up the moving van, thanks for the assistance everyone who helped, and moved to Springfield. She will be attending Law School and we could not be more happy for her and her children. They will be desperately missed. (Every morning Ms. A asks if her cousins and Aunt Sara are here!) Back to the move: I drove Sara's car down loaded with plants and other things. There were members from her new ward there waiting to until the van. It took two hours and they had to take the door off for the fridge and piano. Sara was SO EXCITED to have her piano!

Sunday was nice and relaxing. Sara went to church with us, then loaded up her car and children to go back to Springfield. Ms. A said goodbye only after the promise of going down to visit.

Monday, Ms. A and I went on a shopping spree. When Ms. A was younger, I checked out this great book by Nancy Tafuri called "Silly Little Goose" from our library. It tells the story of a goose looking for a place to build a nest. Ms. A loved the parts that read Silly Little Goose whenever the area was the home for another animal. I thought it would be a good addition to Ms. A's books, so we went to Powell's to see if they had it. Another store did, so they sent it over and we purchased it on Monday. Ms. A was so excited to pay for her book and then carry it in her own little bag. She 'read' it the whole way home. We did some other shopping and priced out a new tv console.

Later that evening, Reed joined us for another shopping run to look for consoles. We found what we wanted at Costco, thanks for the tip Mara.

Tuesday, I went berry picking in our backyard and found huge, (at least twice the normal size we have) sweet, juicy raspberries. They were delicious and were eaten before I could take a picture. :) After dinner, we borrowed our friends' truck, thanks Bells and purchased our new console. We had to recruit a couple of neighbors to get it out of the truck and into our home. It is now in it's new home along with the old entertainment center, speakers and receiver which we are trying to sell. The tv was sold within 24 hours of listing it on Craigslist! WOO HOO! I'll have to figure out how to watch the Olympics. :)

Peanuts and Ponies

We found this nice Chinese restaurant in Chinatown's Food Street where they served steamed peanuts as an appetizer. Reed opened up his chopsticks and Ms. A was instantly mesmerized. She had to try the chopsticks too. She did a pretty good job for a first timer, but decided that toothpicks were better. She grabbed the peanut, pushed it onto the toothpick, and then placed it on her spoon for her to eat. It was a delight to watch her methodically eat the peanuts.


We are staying at the Rider's Lodge, which used to be the Singapore Turf Club. It is a new hotel surrounded by trees and bushes. Yesterday Ms. A and I found Jimmy the pony in an enclosure. We were very excited that he was there for pony rides, but we didn't know where or how much it cost to ride him. As we were heading to our room, we met the hotel owner or manager. We asked him about the pony rides and he gave us 2 complimentary tickets! After our site-seeing, we discovered that Jimmy was there. Ms. A was tickled about riding Jimmy. She beamed the whole way around. We decided to let her use both tickets and she was even more excited. During her second ride, an employee told us to ask the front desk for more tickets if we want to tomorrow. I'm sure Ms. A will be more than willing to go again. As we were leaving, she said goodbye to Jimmy and thanked him for the ride.

Strawberries, YUM!

Ms. A and I found some delicious-looking strawberries at the store. She was so excited to share them with her daddy.


I love how she closes her eyes as she eats the berries. She eats blueberries and tomatoes the same way. She says: "Berries make my eyes close."

I have the sweetest niece and nephew

I received this email from my sister and her children:

"We (meaning Mr. P and Ms. E) just enjoyed the first raspberry of the season.
Ms. E wanted to send you a picture because it would make you "so happy!" The strawberries are just barely starting to ripen also. Enjoy" - Sara

I was so tickled to see YUMMY RASPBERRIES! We have several plants in our backyard. I'm hoping there will be some when we come home.

Mini Cornettoes

After a week of above 85 degrees, I decided to treat Ms. A to an ice cream cone. (I miss the more mild weather back home. The idea of nine months of summer and totally missing spring was a drawback for me coming to Malaysia. I like the rain! Anyways I digress.)
Our friends Sonja and Alan introduced us to a treat called Mini Cornetto by Wall's ice cream. The cone is the perfect amount of ice cream for Ms. A. We went outside to blow and chase bubbles, then came upstairs for a yummy treat.

Fruits of Southeast Asia, part 5

Here's my last installment of the Fruits of Southeast Asia. I thought I would end with a familiar fruit. The coconut. I love the way they served coconut drinks. Reed ordered one for his birthday. I also found this interesting site with a bunch of fruit pictures.

I also wanted to test your Bahasa Malaysia abilities. Here is a list of some fruits in English and Bahasa Malaysia to see if you could match them up. I added the answers in my first Southeast fruit blog.

We were out eating with a couple of Reed's coworkers from home and when one of them saw tembikai he jokingly thought it was pronounced 'Timbuktu'.

1. Orange a. kelapa

2. Coconut b. tembikai

3. Pineapple c. susu

4. Banana d. lobak merah

5. Watermelon e. oren

6. Carrot f. nanas

7. Milk g. pisang

Hope you enjoyed the fruit introduction.