Travel Plans

I extended my stay in Seattle by 1 whole day! hah. So now I'm flying to Dallas instead of New Mexico to meet EZ for the LSU vs. Oregon game in Cowboy stadium. It's going to be a fun labor day weekend! This also keeps me out of NM for an extra couple days woo! (sad it keeps me away from EZ and Kahlua for that much longer.) Can't wait for LSU football to start up again!! Too bad Jordan Jefferson won't be joining us due to a felony charge. We never can get our quarterback situation straightened out.

Mustache Madness

Rosita got this adorable mustache necklace from a fellow vendor at an art fair...I wonder if she'll notice if I steal it.

Summer Reading

I've been reading nonstop since the beginning of August.

Here's my summer list:

"Eragon ("The Inheritance Cycle") by Christopher Paolini: a series of 4 books (the 4th to come out in November) about a boy who finds a dragon egg and is destined to become a famed dragon rider and steal back the empire from an evil ruler.

"Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" by Emily Griffin: Two hilarious but sad novels about a Maid of Honor who steals the Groom. I'm not a fan of the infidelity in the books, but they are too funny to not recommend. And I had to read it before I watched the movie.

The "Evernight" series by Claudia Gray: 4 books about high school vampires. Not as great as the "Twilight" Series, but a good alternative.

The "Bridgerton" Series by Julia Quinn: 8 books that don't necessarily need to be read in order. These a cheesy romance novels the remind me of a scandalous version of "Pride a Prejudice."

"Austenland" by Shannon Hale: A story about a middle age women obsessed with Mr. Darcy who inherits a trip to an estate designed to be and immersion in the time of Jane Austen.

"The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale: A cute, quick novel about a princess who's betrothed to foreign a prince.

"Heart Mender" by Andy Andrews: A love story and a history lesson about the German U-boats.

Amazing BBQ Sauce Update

Rosita's friend that we BBQ'd with last weekend was nice enough to share her bbq sauce recipe! I'm excited to document it so I can reuse it all the time!! hehe...The ingredient list is super extensive, but believe me it is completely worth it.

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

3 medium jalepeño peppers, seeded and minced

1 cup packed brown sugar (our hostess toned this down to about 1/2 cup and tossed in some golden raisins)

1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup chili sauce

1 cup bottle bbq sauce

1 tbs mustard powder

1 tbs paprika

3 tbs fresh lemon juice

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs hot sauce (our hostess added a bit more hot sauce to make it spicier!! ok by me!)

2 tbs molasses

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Melt butter and oil in a Dutch oven on medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, cloves, and jalepeño peppers and saute for 5-6 minutes until onion is tender. Stir in brown sugar and remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Pour ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Recipe says to strain out the solids and discard, but our hostess informed us a blender works just as well and saves you from wasting all those tasty ingredients. I absolutely despise onions (their texture makes me gag), but the sauce was smooth so they were completely undetectable.

New Mexico

I finally made my way down to New Mexico to visit with EZ for a week before I head out to visit my sister up in Seattle. Here are some pics I took while driving (eek! sorry, I know that's not safe) between Louisiana (sunsets) and New Mexico (clouds and turbines). I've always been fascinated by the wind-turbines in East Texas and had to snap some pictures. I also can't believe how endless the sky is here compared to Louisiana. I am definitely missing the trees!