Rainy!!Crazy!!Spidey!!

Oh! How hot it is!!! 100+ 

It feels like Yuma all over again! (not that I dont like Yuma AZ, but the weather! Summer is SUPER HOT!)

But how can I even complain warmth is always a blessing.
Its a good thing!
Besides that's what the umbrella, fan and ice-cold drink is for.

While we experience the hot summer here in US, the other side of the world is suffering from moonsoon.

My country, the Philippines has just been hit by hard rain and flooding.

While we are all dry here they are all getting wet. rain is pouring hard. 

No one could go anywhere. 

Roads are not passable. 

Before & After: This is one of the wet market near our area. (well now its literally WET!)

This is the general area of where hubby stayed when he visited me in Philippines. That is the underpass of Ayala, Makati.

This is Pre-school next to the Covered Basketball Court                    This is the covered basketball court and is just 4-5 houses from  where                                                                               I live in Philippines. That is a friend of mine on the pic.                                                                           

Even if it is fun walking in the rain (I have many memories of it with friends).

I remember what it is like to be trapped in your house hoping the water will not rise and sink your house.

Just like what happened to my Home Church back in Philippines.

They basically were trapped in the 2nd level of the bldg.

Their front porch is about 2 ft high from the front yard.

View from the 2nd Level (the 2nd Level is the Church)

Church members came to help and built raft so they can go home. Though soaked Pastor's wife and kids managed to still smile for a shot after evacuating their stuff.                                                                                            

The mess the flood left after the water subsided.........                                         And a SNAKE! YIKES!

I even experienced walking in  the rain with the water thigh high (it is unsafe and nasty), but you gotta do what you gotta do to get home.

 I heard the sun is out now for them to dry off......

Anyways!!!! Enough with my weather report!

Today is Crazy hair day at DVBS..

I didnt want to spray my daughter's hair with crazy colors.

I remembered seeing an interesting haircut and I used that for an inspiration.

I think that is crazy enough. dont you think?

So this is what I did to her hair.

 She got a prize for having the craziest hair!

 I hope your day went well.

I cant believe it is almost weekend!

did you do something crazy this week?

Meatloaf Muffins and Hasselback potatoes

Its funny how Pinterest can make you feel so creative, but all you did was sit infront of the computer pinning hundreds of stuff.

I myself am guilty of that.

There's enormous crafts and DIY's that I wanted to do but couldnt find time yet.

But ofcourse I dont want to forget about those tips and recipes and all that good stuff so I spent hours pinning.

Its amazing how I have more followers (not that I have hundreds) on Pinterest than blogger.

Once in a while I check my list and find something I can possibly make. Like tonight.

I always end up browsing recipes (who wouldnt!! they all look delicious). I picked two for tonights dinner.

I made MEATLOAF MUFFINS with BBQ sauce. (Recipe courtesy of Rachel Ray, food network)

Total Time:

30 min

Prep

10 min

Cook

20 min

Yield:

6 servings

Level:

Easy

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin(1 used ground beef)
• 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
• 2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces (I dont have it and substituted it with 3 tbsp sweet relish)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs (I always use regular bread when I make meatloaf, just slice it in cubes)
• 2 tablespoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
• 1 cup smoky barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup tomato salsa
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Put ground beef into a big bowl.
 Put onion and celery into a food processor.
Cut the bell pepper in half, rip out the seeds and throw them into your garbage bowl.
Cut the pepper into a few pieces and add to the food processor.
Pulse the processor blades to finely chop the vegetables into very small pieces then add them to the meat bowl.

Add egg, beaten with milk, bread crumbs and grill seasoning to the bowl.
Next, mix together the smoky barbecue sauce, the salsa and the Worcestershire sauce.
Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up.
Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2-cup each) with vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil.
Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into a each tin.

Top each meat loaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes.

Cut open 1 muffin to test that the middle is cooked through.

She matched it with mashed potato....

I made HASSELBACK POTATOES to go with it....Recipe courtesy of Seasaltwithfood

Ingredients

6 Medium Size Potatoes
2 - 3 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
30 g Butter
Maldon Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 220˚C (425˚F). Put the potato on a chopping board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at about 3 to 4 mm intervals.

Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert the garlic in between the slits. Scatter some butter on top of each potato. Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.

The Gang LOVEs it! They finished it all up!

What is your latest pinterest project/creation/copy-cat?

ERASE-ABLE SPOTS!!

Hiyah there!
I feel exhausted today. Lack of sleep is kicking in.
I need to catch-up on my sleep again so I can do the many things I need to clean and organize.

Hubby and I discovered something amazing the other night.
Like his usual daily routine, he'd gather up quail eggs in the afternoon and some just before dark.
He'd put it on the counter so I can wash them before it goes in the fridge.
This time he did the washing.
Some eggs has dirt on them so he had to clean them good.
So he tried rubbing them lightly......
And did you know that those spots come right off when you rub rub rub??!!
I know right! I thought the same! All the while I thought those spots are right there like tattoo on the shells.
BUT NO....cuz look...here's a picture of my husband rubbing off the brown spot on the surface of that quail egg.

When you do hard-boiled quail eggs you would think that those spots should come right off cuz of the temperature and the bubbling of water.

This is how it looks after removing all the spots..

It looks just like chicken egg but super small.

That would certainly make candling the eggs a lil easier. We tried to put one in the incubator to see if it will cause any harm on the eggs (eggs have pores and that is how they breathe).

I'll let you know if that egg hatches!

Goodnight! Sleep tight! Dont let those bedbugs bite!

LEFSE (Norwegian Flatbread)

This week is packed with crafting for me. 

I finally found a church and next thing you know I am involved in decorating! (EXCITED!!)

This coming week is our DVBS. God opened-up a chance for me to give back my talents. 

I immediately jumped to that opportunity ofcourse!

After the long search....long wait....lots of prayer's.....God answered me! 

The church feels like home. The people are warn and welcoming.

I have a feeling I will stay here (Well as long as we dont move out of state again!)

After two (almost) sleepless nights, crazy clutter in our house. 

I'm done with the project.

Boom-box: Made of insulation sheet, milk jug caps, tuna can, cardboard, tissue paper core, left-over pipe insulation, left-over drawer liner.

Headphones: Made of scrap barstool cushion, insulation tube left-over, insulation sheet left-over.

Turn-table: Made of insulation foam sheet, pizza plater from dollar store toy pieces laying around the house, tuna cans, milk jug caps. Microphone: Made of balloon (that I had to paint black bcoz I didnt see black ones) and poster paper, ribbon.

I had a blast doing this project!

I feels wonderful to do something I love. And being able to offer it back to the Lord!

Pretty busy blessed week eh?!

 This is especially for you Scandinavians out there!!
Today I am going to share with you a recipe that came from hubby's Norwegian roots.
You probably have to be Norwegian or Sweedish to understand what I am talking about.
He's been dying to have it for a long time. It is one of the many things that reminds him of his mom.
He lost his mom when he was six, thats why every bit of his memory about his mom means so much, like this recipe.
He remembers eating Lefse when his mom made it and always remembered, but never knew what it was until recently.
All this time he thought Lefse was thin pancake. He'd make one put butter and it didnt taste the same.
It's been about 30 years since he last had Lefse.

LEFSE

Lefse, it is a Norwegian flatbread that looks like a Mexican tortilla, but sure does not taste like it.  It is simply made with mashed potatoes and flour. Lefse is made out of potato, milk or cream (or sometimes lard) and flour, and cooked on a griddle.

Ingredients

• 10lbs potatoes
• 2 sticks butter
• 2/3 cups half and half
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 6 cups flour

Instructions
Boil, drain and rinse 10lbs of peeled Russet potatoes, but be very careful not to over cook them.
That’s the key the perfect rolling. Wet potatoes give you sticky lefse!
Rice the warm potatoes and add 2/3 cups half and half, 2 sticks of butter, 1 TBSP salt and 2TBSP of sugar.

Blend well with an electric beater.

Place this bowl of potatoes in the fridge overnight covered loosely with a piece of wax or parchment paper to allow them to evaporate some of the moisture.
In the morning, add 6 cups of flour and mix well. (I usually have to mix it with my hands.)
Now, roll dough into palm sized balls and return them to the fridge, taking them out a few at a time as you roll them.

Cold potatoes are easier to roll than room temp. Flour your lefse surface well, roll it out thin.

Grill with your griddle at 400 degrees. (don’t grease the griddle!)
You definitely need a lefse stick to get the rolled lefse from the rolling surface to the grill.
You can buy one, or make your own.
Last is the most important part. As you remove them from the grill, place them in several layers of towels to sweat until they are cool.
This takes several hours. I use a flour sack towel with a folded bath towel under it, and on top of it.
Once cooled, store in saran in the fridge, or freeze in freezer bags.
Enjoy with butter and sugar!

 OR

 Ingredients

• 10 pounds potatoes, peeled
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

1. Cover potatoes with water and cook until tender. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer. Place into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt, and sugar into the hot riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Stir flour into the potato mixture. Pull off pieces of the dough and form into walnut size balls. Lightly flour a pastry cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8 inch thickness.
3. Cook on a hot (400 degree F/200 C) griddle until bubbles form and each side has browned. Place on a damp towel to cool slightly and then cover with damp towel until ready to serve.

 OR THIS FOR INSTANT POTATOES

(THIS IS WHAT WE USED BECAUSE WE ARE TRYING TO FINISH UP OUR BOX)

Ingredients (for instant potatoes)
1 batch = 24 lefse
ADD to: 3 cups boiling water: 
1 ½ teas. salt
¾ cup margarine or butter 
2 1/3 cup canned evaporated milk
 ¼ cup sugar

 Heat all until real hot.
Now ADD: 
4 cups Idahoen instant potatoes (you can use any brand)
(2 lbs 4 oz makes 6 batches)

 
Mix like for eating. Chill.

Then ADD: 
1 ½ to 2 cups flour when ready to roll. (Mix with hands until flour is absorbed)

Instructions

Form lefse dough into golf ball sized (or larger) portions. ROLL out flat with Lefse rolling pin using flour as needed (so it won’t stick) turning often with lefse turner until thin. 

Use lefse turner to lift from pastry board to griddle. Bake on Lefse griddle at 410-435 degrees until golden brown bubbles appear. 

Flip with lefse turner and brown other side. Stack lefse on towel and cover with another towel until baking is finished to prevent drying out. Once cooled, lefse freezes well.


FLAVORING
There are many ways of flavoring lefse. The most common is adding butter to the lefse and rolling it up. In Norway, this is known as "lefse-klenning". Other options include adding cinnamon and/or sugar, or spreading jelly or lingonberries upon it. Scandinavian-American variations include rolling it with a thin layer of peanut butter and sugar, with butter and white or brown sugar, with butter and corn syrup, or with ham and eggs. Also quite good with beef, and other savory items like Ribberull and mustard, it is comparable to a thin tortilla. Lefse is a traditional accompaniment to lutefisk, and the fish is often rolled up in the lefse.

I prefer mine with JELLY!

Happy Monday!!