Random Update, Pictures Included!

First...

Weekend before last... We went down to Manti, Razor in tow. It was BEAUTIFUL, 70 on the valley floor.

Evan and his AUNT Megan playing:

Then we took the Razor up the canyon... It was still rather cold up there!

Next, my birthday. Yikes. I'm getting old. I don't really like my birthday all that much... not because I'm ashamed of my age or anything like that. (By the way, I just turned 31), but because it reminds me of how far away from my family I am. That is why I didn't broadcast the fact it was my birthday at work... and I made it alllllll the way to 3:30 when THESE:

showed up. Special delivery from my family in Montana. They even remembered the yellow tea roses. I cried. lol. The best, most thoughtful part: They are potted... in little individual pots. I'm going to get some little pots this weekend to plant them in. One for my office (just cause my Dad suggested it) and the beautiful Ivy can go on one of my huge ledges in the vaulted living room. I think one of the roses would look beautiful on the edge of my garden tub.... and well, I'm still thinking of ideas for the others!

And last.... my trash find:

Someone actually THREW this out at work. I was walking by the recycle bin, and LOW AND BEHOLD! The employee that I was walking with thought I was completely nuts. How is a the broken spine of a three ring binder a cool thing?? WORTH digging out of a trash pile???

When I've been trying to come up with a fun "In Progress" album for my scrapping, and trying to figure out if I should make it a 12x12 or 8.5x11, this just screamed, "TAKE ME AND MAKE IT NEITHER and BOTH at the SAME TIME!" This weekend, I plan on making a cute 12x6 front and a 12x12 back cover out of chipboard, adding a few fun envelopes and a few boring old page protectors, and calling it MINE. I promise, pictures to come.

Oh, the beautiful weather I mentioned from weekend before last... It didn't last for very long. We've had two snow storms since then... BUT this weekend is suppose to be in the 60s again, so I think we MIGHT be on the road to summer recovery FINALLY.

Thought Process of a 5 Year Old.

Mark let Evan have an old bluetooth. It didn't really work very well, so it was added to Evan's growing collection of broken down phones.

Yesterday we were driving home from the store, and Evan got mad that it wasn't staying on his ear, and actually RIPPED it in half.

I told him that it was very very wrong. And he started crying.

Now, I wanted him to feel BAD, but I didn't want him to feel THAT bad!!

Between sobs, he told me that he was "so sad" because he was going to miss me when the police took him to jail. I tried to explain that the police only took the really bad guys to jail, but the sobs just kept on.

Then the killer, one of those times as a mom when your heart breaks at the same time as the giggles bubble up in your throat...

"Am I gonna be on that show?" Evan asked.

"What show?"

"That 2 News at 10 show, where they tell what all the bad guys did."

Build a Bear and Tea Parties

On Monday, for Evan's birthday, my sister Sara took him to Build a Bear. And he created Evan Bear...

Evan Bear roars like a Dinosaur. AND he has a cool space shirt with all the planets. AND sun glasses AND a cell phone and back pack and tent and sketcher shoes. (Oh, and he also has spiderman pjs complete with slippers.

Grandma was in town for a few days and that night, we all had a tea party... including Evan Bear.

Grandma and Evan

Me and Evan Bear

Sara and Evan Bear (notice she was given the honor of using the Star Trek Mug)

Indian Night

Last Sunday (sorry it took so long) was Book Club at my house. The book we read was "The Hindi Bindi Club", which is a great great novel that I blogged about here: http://carriesaid.blogspot.com/2008/01/hindi-bindi-club-monica-pradhan.html .

SOOOOOOOO we had Indian food.

I made a really simple veggie curry using Trader Joe's Curry Simmer Sauce (it was really easy and really yummy). And I also made from scratch Chicken Tikka Masala. It was SOOOOO incredible good! I also made Roti and Naan for the first time, and some yummy Cilantro Chutney and Cucumber Riata to dip then in! (Pictures and Recipes at the end!)

Celina and Cecila brought Bindis for everyone, and I made everyone try making the Roti and Naan. Evan LOVED the Rotis, so they will be added to our everyday menus (they are so easy and actually fairly healthy (at least better for you than tortillas!)).

Chicken Tikka Masala

Marinade:

1 cup plain yogurt

2 T lemon juice

2 t ground cumin

2 t ground red pepper

2 t fresh ground black pepper

1 t cinnamon

1 t salt

1 t ground ginger

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes.

Sauce:

1 T unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno chile, minced (seeds removed unless you really really REALLY like extremely (as in molten lava) hot food)

2 t ground cumin

1 t paprika

1 t garam masala

1/2 t salt

1 8oz can of tomato sauce

1 cup fat free sour cream (okay, the org recipe called for 1 cup whipping cream, but I changed it to reduce the fat)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. For marinade, combine all the ingredients, and refrigerate for at LEAST 1 hour.

2. For sauce, melt butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeno. Cook for 1 minute.

3. Stir in coriander, cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt.

5. Stir in tomato sauce, simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in sour cream, and stir until warmed through and sauce thickens. (I added a little milk to the finish product to make it a little thinner because I wanted it that way, and I was the cook!!)

6. Heat Broiler (on high). Place chicken pieces on a broiler pan (discard marinade), and place in hot oven, a few inches from heat. Broil for 4 mins, then turn and broil for 4 more. (Obviously, this depends on your chicken pieces and oven heat, just make sure the chicken is done. A few of the pieces had nice scorch marks on them, but it just made it better.)

7. Add chicken and cilantro to sauce, and serve with rice.

Chapati Roti

2 cups wheat flour

1 cup water

1 t salt (less or more to taste)
1 T oil (I used vegetable)

Kneed the ingredients into a soft dough. Allow to rest for at least 20 mins. Kneed for 5-10 mins, and let rest again.

Divide the dough into ping pong ball sections, and roll each one very thin (the thickness of a quarter) (or have your son do it, hehehe). While you're rolling, heat a cast iron skillet. It needs to be VERY hot.

Place one roti in the pan, and spin it with your hand (I promise, if you use quick light touches, you won't burn your hand, but if you're worried, use tongs or a spatula).

After about 30 seconds, if your pan is hot enough, little bubbles will start to form on the top, and if you flip it, you will see little brown spots sporadically on the cooked side.

Spin again for just a few seconds, then if you have a gas stove, slide the pan off the heat and throw the roti right on the flame. It will start to "poof" almost instantly, after just two to five seconds, remove it from the flame (I suggest using tongs at this point). If you're like me and have one of those high tech electric stoves the turn the heat off as soon as the pan is removed, you just have to flip it a few times to finish cooking. You won't get the poof like an open flame will give, but you will get little air pockets.

Now traditionally, you should spread the Roti with Ghee (clarified butter) but we skipped the step, and served it with Chutney and Raita (a yogurt dip). I'll post those recipes another time.

Five Years Ago

At this very moment in time, I was checking myself into the Hospital. My husband was on his way over from work, my mom was at the airport trying desperately to get on a flight during the middle of a snow storm, Mark's mom was getting in her car with my sister and brother in law for the 14 hour drive to Salt Lake. And Evan was about to make his way into the world.

Most of you know I had a difficult pregnancy. That morning, I had my weekly checkup at my doctor, only to find that the preeclampsia I had been fighting with had won. My blood pressure had sky rocketed, and now it threatened both our lives to the point that it was safer to induce early rather than to allow Evan to keep cooking.

The labor wasn't any easier. There were lots of complications, but after just over 12 hours, my beautiful baby boy took his first breath. Weighing in at just shy of 10 lbs, he was healthy despite the issues of the day, and the last 9 months.

I remember laying in the bed while the doctor continued to work on me, looking across the room and seeing my husband holding our son in his arms, just staring into his face. I will never forget the intense love that radiated from my husband, the awe and joy that shown from his usually reserved face.

During the last five years, life has gotten hectic and sometimes difficult, but I will never forget those few minutes when everything else disappeared, and I looked across the room at a perfect moment in my life.