Darin, Charlene and the kids come for a visit

Darin and I grew up in the same small town in Iowa and he was in Adriene's class (a year behind me) but we didn't really get to know each other and become friends until we went to college. We saw each other more frequently when I lived in the midwest but since he and Charlene moved back to our home town, I hope to see them more often. They decided to vacation in Colorado this year and spent most of their time in Estes Park but they came down to Denver and had dinner at our house one night. We mostly caught up with each other and discussed all the flooding that had just happened in eastern Iowa (more on that topic later). See photos of them and Zach, Adam and Penelope below.

Dan's trip to the 2007 World Series

As luck would have it, I bought 2007 Colorado Rockies season tickets for Dan for Christmas the year before. He's really a Cleveland Indians fan but he had to make do with the local team. Incredibly, the Rockies were a team on fire in September as the season wound down. So, we made it into the playoffs and then the World Series. Season tickets holders got first crack at it and we decided to buy four tickets for all the home games. On a whim, I called my sister and asked her if she and her husband would like to come out for one of the games. Considering I gave her less than a week's notice to make the plans, find some where for my nieces to stay (thanks Mom and Dad!), and drive 500 miles. They arrived late Friday night and she and worked a Craft Fair on Saturday. The guys hung out during the day and then got ready for the game which started at 7. My brother in law appears below. They had a good time even though the Rockies lost and it was a little chilly that night.

Gazpacho - one of my summertime favorites

Gazpacho is a cold soup originating in the southern region of Spain called Andalusia . It descends from an ancient Andalusian concoction based on a combination of stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar — a cold breadsoup.
Today, in the United States , most gazpacho recipes include tomato, cucumber, bell (sweet) pepper, onion, garlic, and celery. Some also include olive oil, bread, vinegar or lemon juice, fresh herbs, sugar, canned tomato juice, or hot sauce. Gazpacho is sometimes pureed until smooth, and sometimes served with small or large chunks of vegetables.

Try this one:
http://www.recipezaar.com/60897

More of Chrissy's artwork

Dijon Marinade for chicken or pork

A few weeks ago I concocted a new marinade recipe for grilled chicken. Dan, as always, had a good suggestion to make a few tweaks and here's the final result.

1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
garlic powder to taste (probably 1-2 tsp)
black pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and marinate your meat of choice for at least an hour.

I made the chicken version for Girl's Night and we marinated a pork loin when Dan's dad was here.

Speaking of cupcakes

Lisa brought some delicious Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes to Girl's Night from a local bakery (Happy Cakes) and we all loved them. Thanks Lisa! I promptly requested 4 or 5 cupcake cookbooks from the library. For photos, my favorite cookbook was "Hello Cupcake" and for recipes, my favorite cookbook was "Crazy About Cupcakes."

Last night (good thing we have air conditioning) I decided to make and decorate some cupcakes. I used a yellow cake mix since I had it on hand and truthfully, I was more interested in the decorating than the baking. Of course, I enlisted Dan's help. He gets dragged into a lot of my little crafty projects...

The frosting recipe was a simple Vanilla Buttercream from "More from Magnolia Bakery" that we divided and colored these soothing pastel shades.

Girl's Night

Dan left town a few weeks ago to fly back to Ohio and drive the jeep back to Colorado. I took the opportunity to host a Girl's Night with a few friends. Chrissy brought her henna and we all got tattoos.