Ode to my Father's Crepes

Since today is Father's Day, I thought I would pay a tribute to the time honored tradition of crepe making my Dad passed to me.

Before leaving on my mission my Dad gave me a crepe making tutorial.  Crepes, thin hot cakes, or thinnies have been a long standing Miller tradition.  We have all enjoyed warm, buttery crepes with syrup for breakfast on Sundays and special occasions.  My dad wanted to make sure I carried on the legacy so he handed off all his techniques.  I'm not sure if I ever once made them on my mission - I'm fairly certain I never did.  I have made them a lot since being home from Brazil, and marriage has morphed the tradition slightly.  I know, I know...Modifying the Miller crepes borders on blasphemy.  However, Leisy and I have eliminated the butter and instead we fill our crepes with fresh fruit, nutella, sweet cream cheese spread and top with a dusting of powdered sugar.  Yummy!!  Ike likes his the traditional way and Zeb - the most picky eater ever - is starting to warm up to a taste here and there.

So the other day my blasphemous perversion of tradition went to a whole new level.  Leisy's friend gave her a gift card to Mimi's cafe.  We rarely go there.  I had a chicken crepe dish and thought - I could totally pull something like that off at home.  I looked up a bunch of different recipes and melded them into one that I knew would be amazing.  Chicken Florentine Crepes!  Crepes stuffed with chicken and spinach smothered in a creamy white wine sauce paired with sautéed zucchini and squash .  It was basically amazing.

Thanks Dad for passing on not only your amazing crepe skills but for teaching me how to be a good husband and father.  I can only hope to be the kind of Dad that you have been for me!  Love you Dad!!

Talent Show

I was trying to avoid this year's ward talent show but the boys got roped into doing a 'talent' with their friends.  I know it sounds like I'm being pessimistic about the ward talent show but I feel I have good reason to be:  The last year's talent show was so painful to sit through and went on for so long I wanted to rip my eyeballs out.  The boys ended up sobbing because dessert wasn't served until the very end. The cookies were taunting them until well after their bedtime while the arguable 'talents' kept on going and going and going.  I'm sorry but singing along to your favorite song on the radio without first practicing is NOT okay for a talent show.  And a 10 minute garage band improvisation is NOT okay for a venue like this.  Last year we had to leave before it ended with the boys crying for cookies.  I vowed not to go back to this year's talent show and Leisy agreed!  I was a little bit grumpy when I found out Zeb and Ike wanted to participate with their friends because I couldn't tell them no.

Luckily the talent show was much more organized this year.  They asked talents be kept to 2-3 minutes which only a few people ignored.  There were only 2 horrible radio sing alongs and dessert was served at intermission.  We were home shortly after bed time and the boys had a blast.  Ike insisted on wearing his bike helmet through the entire activity. :)   The song says:  WALK, GALLOP, TIPTOE, RUN!!

Romeo And Juliet

I'm not sure how many times I've read Romeo and Juliet - more times than Leisy would ever like me to admit.  I picked it up again over my vacation and couldn't put it down.  I get sucked in from the start:

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

And it's all downhill from there.  I think Shakespeare is a master at using a wide variety of emotion, comedy and fantastic poetry to set the scene and establish characters. And then one thing happens that sets events in motion to unravel everything he took such care to establish.  I was excited to see a preview of a new version coming out this Summer!!  Who wants to see it with me?  I can guarantee Leisy will not be as excited as I am.

Conga!!

The boys can't get enough of Metta.  They love her and play well with her.  Sometimes too much and they drive miss Metta bonkers!  Zeb, for whatever reason, decided Metta should start a conga line.  Ike joined right in and they laughed and laughed.  (And ignored mom who wanted everyone in the car).

Why does Ike have a bike helmet on?

Everyone knows how Leisy can't pass up a yard sale.  She has uncanny sense to spot great deals and has saved us a ton of money buying things second hand.  The other day she found unopened bike helmets for the boys for really cheap and Ike was in heaven!  He put it on right when he got home, rode his little scooter down the driveway like he was invincible, and refused to take it off.  He went to a soccer game wearing the helmet and people kept asking what happened to his head.  He even asked to sleep in it.  

Dairy Queen

For the final night of my vacation I celebrated by taking the boys out for ice cream.  They were so excited to go out with just me and they LOVE ice cream.  Ike just wanted a big cone and couldn't have been more excited when he got this:

Zeb looked on-line before going to DQ and had his heart set on the Oreo brownie earthquake sundae!  I relented and he was the happiest little boy in the world.  I have really good kids and they need to be spoiled rewarded now and again!

Columbus Zoo

Our trip to the Columbus Zoo was a blast!  The kids had a great time.  They were exhausted when we left because we had to see every inch of the place and get our money's worth.  It did, however, remind me why I'm nervous to take our kids to Disney.  It was a lot of fun but there was some whining, complaining, a half tantrum, and one complete melt down.  Fine for the zoo, but that would be completely unacceptable at Disney; I would be tempted to leave a child behind.

Zeb was our navigator for the expedition - he loves to follow maps and keep us informed of what we will be seeing next.

I gave Zeb and Ike the camera and told them to take pictures of their favorite animals.  Ike can't keep his little fingers out of the shots but Zeb is getting quite good.  Here are some of my favorites:

Ike's:

Zeb's:

Zeb had these chimps going crazy for a little leaf.  He had the crowd of kids (and adults) laughing.  In typical Metta fashion she assumed they were all laughing at her.  She is our most social creature yet.  She loves attention, always waves and says hello to everyone.

The gibbons were hysterical.  We had to visit them twice when we heard them from across the zoo.  They were so loud!!  We were amazed with the size of their necks when they make that noise.

Food!

This past week I have been on vacation. It was a badly needed rest from work - I had a long winter with too many hours spent away from home. With Zeb still in school and a recent loss of a bunch of money (for plane tickets to Utah), we decided not to do anything too big for my vacation. We decided to stick around Dayton and relax and find a few fun things to do.

My favorite thing about vacations is really good food! So for my stay-cation I decided to make a bunch of my favorite foods. I have lately been into trying new recipes and making things from scratch - no boxes, no mixes, no pre-prepared stuff. I started the week with those mini-German pancakes which were easy and delicious. I've also made:

Alice Spring Chicken - almost as good as Outback's - chicken, bacon and cheese baked and drizzled in amazingly sweet honey mustard.  I could eat the sauce by the spoonful (and I'm almost certain Leisy did).

Incredible cheddar scalloped potatoes - I don't remember eating REAL scalloped potatoes. Mom correct me if I'm wrong, but I can only recall eating packaged scalloped potatoes growing up.  They definitely weren't a staple food at my house and I haven't made scalloped potatoes since I've been married.  That will change for sure!!  These thinly sliced potatoes in a creamy homemade cheddar cheese sauce were to die for.  I'm a fan of any recipe that begins with a rue.

I've almost mastered my chicken tikka masala recipe.  Where has Indian food been my whole life?!?  I constantly crave good Indian food but it's so expensive!  I have been trying out different recipes and with Leisy's homemade naan we can pull off a decent restaurant quality Indian meal to stave off my need to drop a ton of money at a restaurant (which gives me more to spend on sushi)!

Homemade macaroni and cheese.  So much better than the boxed kind.  The ultimate southern comfort food.  Paired with a fresh salad with tons of vegetables makes one feel a touch less guilty about being so indulgent in the cheesy goodness.

Brownies - I'm not sure why I've never ventured away from boxed mixes.  I have a few cookie recipes memorized that I can throw together quickly.  Zeb always begs for Dad's "secret recipe cookies".  So why not a go-to brownie recipe for when you need something sweet on a Sunday afternoon - or any afternoon??  I found my go-to recipe that I've already made a second time this week!