- TIJUANA TAQUERIA

Tonight I took Alyssa and Tyler and their friends Sahtara and Alax to dinner at Tijuana Taqueria, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants here in Placerville. Sahtara is on leave from the Air Force for a few weeks. She's been in Okinawa, Japan. Alax just got home from his mission in Colorado 3 weeks ago. Everyone came back to the house and played air hockey, table tennis and foosball. My kids have the nicest friends!

- BABY JACK AND HIS BIG SISTER ABBEY

Angie sent these photos today of Jack in his swing. She said he's doing better today and that his bilirubin count is down to 11. I talked to Kelsey on the phone today and asked her how Jack was and she said, "He's still not 1 year old." I laughed. They can't wait to really "play" with their little brother.

Close up of sweet little Jack.

- BUSY SATURDAY

This morning Tyler came over and he and I had a car wash in the driveway. My car was still pretty buggy from my trip to Utah and he hadn't washed his for awhile either. We sure love our Camrys!

Kurt and I planted the flowers and shrubs we bought last night. We planted Alyssum and Vinca in front of the dining room window and boxwoods down below the window. It sure looks nice to have some color there now. Thanks for the inspiration Angie and Greg!!!

This afternoon Kurt and I attended a session at the Sacramento Temple. Nathan Mackey went through for the first time. Several of our ward members came to be there with him. I sure love having a temple so close by!!!

Tonight Kurt, Alyssa and I attended Cherise Wehe and Arland Baker's wedding in Camino and then their reception in Diamond Springs. Bishop Gastaldi married them. It was a really fun night.

- RUSTY AND ROLLY

Rusty and Rolly have been with us for almost 3 weeks now. They've cleared away most of the poison oak on the hill below the house and are working on the blackberry bushes now. I'm amazed at what they'lll eat. I tease Kurt that they're the most expensive weed eater we've ever owned. The cutest, but the most expensive.

I walked down with Kurt tonight to visit them. They were so excited to see us. Rolly stands on his back legs and bleats when he sees us coming. (This is a 5 foot fence).

We gave them their nightly treat - a mixture of rolled oats, corn and molasses. They LOVE it.

- LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

Tonight was Enrichment Night for Relief Society. The theme was "Lazy Days of Summer." It was so much fun! We had dinner (fried chicken, salads, corn-on-the-cob, yummy fresh fruit, and homemade rootbeer). Great job Brenda and Laurie!!!! We also had a presentation on summer reading by Carrie Christensen.

This was the "pie" that I entered tonight. Chocolate Chip Pie - a Paula Deen Recipe (more like a big chocolate chip cookie that you cut into pie-shaped wedges.) It was pretty good, if I do say so myself. RECIPE BELOW:

Brenda and Denise - the official pie judges. Lynne was the winner with her yummy peach pie. Can't wait for that recipe!

Judy, from work, came with me tonight. It was fun to have her there. We ate until we were sick and got some new ideas of books to read.

CHOCOLATE CHIP PIE
Pie:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2-sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts, optional

Whipped cream:
2 pints (4-cups) heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) pie plates; set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix until fully combined. Fold in the 3 cups chocolate chips and, if desired, the walnuts. Divide the dough between the prepared pie plates and smooth the tops with a spatula.

Bake about 30 minutes or until pies are golden and slightly firm to the touch but still soft. If the pies begin to darken too much before they are baked through, cover with foil and continue baking. Let pies cool completely on a wire rack.

While the pies cool, whip the cream and confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form (tips curl). Fold in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate whipped cream until ready to use. Spread the whipped cream over the pies and serve.

- ZUCCHINI EVERYWHERE!!!!

So, our garden is producing zucchini faster than we can keep up. I'm serious when I say it grows 6 inches in one day! Kurt picked another basket of zucchini this afternoon when he got home from work. He sauteed some for our dinner with a little olive oil, onions and some bacon. It was SO good! I tried to do my part by making zucchini bread before I went to bed. I'll have to figure out what else to do with all this zucchini. Anyone have any good recipes????


ZUCCHINI BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil 2 1/4 cups white sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups grated zucchini 1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.	Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3.	Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4.	Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

- IT'S A HOT ONE!!

Temperatures were in the triple digits today. It's supposed to get even hotter tomorrow and Thursday. The heat doesn't really bother me. I prefer warm weather over cold any day. It obviously didn't bother Kurt either. He worked on the retaining wall most of the morning before work. He's having to break up the rock to lay the first row of blocks. Hard work for such a hot day! What a trooper.