Father's Day Fun

Last Sunday on our way to the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington, we stopped off at a rest area for a picnic lunch.

The entrance to the lodge is really fun with huge wolf carvings and lots of rustic touches everywhere.

The lobby has huge vaulted ceilings with a clock tower that expands three stories tall.


Here is the check in counter...it was just like Disneyland...waiting 30 minutes in line. Fortunately, although check in wasn't until 4 pm, we got to play in the water park while we waited for our room.


Here is the other side of the lobby. Through the windows you can watch all the action in the water park.

For the price of a regular room (4 person occupancy) plus the extra person charge ($30) , I was able to reserve the kid cabin room with beds for all three kids in a cute cabin.

The kids were so excited to see that inside our room was a little cabin just for them with bunk beds and their very own tv. Natalie was sure to call dibs on the top bunk!

Our room also included a log cabin bed for us and a fireplace in the corner.



So that concludes the first part of the tour...I'll be back to post some fun water park photos later.

Moroccan Valentine's Dinner

Before Christmas I went out to dinner with my girlfriends and we decided it would be fun to all go out to dinner for Valentine's day. We talked about the Meltintg Pot fondue restaurant, but then we changed our minds when we saw the Marrakesh was in the Entertainment book!

Dan and I; Scott and Debbie

Emma and Dan

What can be more fun than sitting on pillow stools, eating with your hands, with belly dancers and funny waiters to entertain?

We had a great time. The kids stayed over with Grandma and we got to go back in time to a world before kids where you could have grown-up conversations, stay out late, go to the store on a whim (and in a timely manner too) with out car seats, 5-point harnesses and an arsenal of diapers. Ahhh...it was nice while it lasted!

Dan got me roses and a sugar free truffle!!! I made him this.

Fabulous Food Friday

Do you still have turkey leftovers, are you getting tired of turkey sandwiches?

Well, let me come to your rescue! Today I'll be showing you how to use phyllo dough to turn ordinary leftovers in to an extra special meal that tastes as impressive as it looks.

Don't be afraid of the phyllo!!! If you've never used it before there are a few things to keep in mind.
• It's found in the freezer at the grocery store (near the pie crusts and frozen desserts)
• It will need to be thawed in your refrigerator overnight
• It dries out fast, so wrap up the unused phyllo and keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

To start out, remove enough phyllo dough (I used about 4 sheets) and store the rest in the refrigerator. Starting with the bottom layer, brush on melted butter (or use cooking spray) until you have layered all the layers with butter.

Next spread on your leftovers. I put mine in rows, starting with the mashed potatoes, stuffing and then turkey.


Over the leftovers I added a sauce too keep it moist. Sauce: 1 cup sour cream combined with 4-6 T Dijon mustard. I used Sara Lee Garden Pepper Trio Dijon Mustard with jalapeno peppers and it was yummy! Next, fold over top and bottom edge and brush on an egg wash over entire exposed surface. This will keep it from drying out while you are working and it will help "stick " it all together.

Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo starting at the leftovers all the way to the edge of the phyllo. Do this all the way down on both sides (about every inch to inch and a half). Now you have strips which you can fold over towards the center, alternating sides. (my camera batteries went dead, so I don't have a photo of this step!)

When all the strips have been folded into the center, brush over the entire top of the phyllo with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes and you're done...

Now pair with some leftover cranberry sauce and a salad and you've got dinner!

Thanksgiving Details

The Kid's Table

On Monday I got a wild hair and decided to make some fun kid's place mats. I had seen similar ones at Pottery Barn, but never could justify ordering them...On Tuesday as I was cutting them out, I realized I was crazy...then by Wednesday I was wishing I just ordered them from Pottery Barn. They turned out better than I anticipated...you can see a more detailed photo on my Paper Capers craft blog.

The Grown-up's Table
No cute place mats here, but lots of fun pumpkins.

The Thanksgiving Spread
Our Dinner
Warm Jalapeno-Artichoke Dip served with Whole Grain Mini Bread Rounds
Rolls with my yummy homemade Pumpkin Spread
Veggies and Dip
Green Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Andrea's homemade Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Gravy
Mom's homemade Stuffing with Cranberries and Apples
I tried Pioneer Woman's recipe for Sweet Potatoes (*highly recommended!)
Andrea's amazing Turkey
and what Roush holiday would be complete without Aaron and Tami's Pink Stuff!
Andrea also made a Pumpkin Pie and a Lemon Meringue Pie, but we were too stuffed to eat dessert.

Here is the yummy cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potatoes (photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Andrea made a really good turkey...mmmm!

The Roush Family Thanksgiving
When we all get together, there are 10 adults to squeeze around the table. Sadly, we don't own a very large dining table (and there is always about 3 different pairs of mismatched chairs), but it makes for a very cozy get together.
Mom and Dad (with his broken arm!)

Alyssa and Dan

Chucky, Tami and Aaron
John and Andrea
and their baby, Brandon's first Thanksgiving:
mmm...celery!

Toni and Chucky...oh, I mean Dan and Chucky. (Toni couldn't make it because she had to be to work at 3:45 am for the Black Friday Sales)

What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Up until last night the strangest thing I'd eaten was alligator...

However, that changed when we were invited to dinner by our friends the Mickle's, who were celebrating their 10 year anniversary. We ate at the Riverview restaurant in Troudale, which is owned by Mr. Yoshida, a local entrepreneur, famous four his delicious gourmet sauces.



The Riverview is a newer restaurant, so I was excited to try it out. Debbie and I checked out the menu ahead of time and noticed a few unusual items along with all the other mouthwatering selections...Wanna guess...

Okay, I'll give you a hint..."Outback Fillet." Still guessing? So, what is an Outback fillet exactly?
It hops around on it's tail and carries it's young in a pouch...If you guessed Kangaroo...you are correct!

Actually, we started with an appetizer of Wine Cured Ostrich which was sliced thin and wrapped around Gouda cheese (as seen top right) and was quite good. Then for the main course, Scott ordered the Kangaroo and we all got to try it (pictured bottom right). I thought it was similar to steak (no, not chicken). Actually I thought it was better than a steak, but I don't really like steak all that much. I ordered the Seafood Tower (pictured bottom left) which came with a yummy coconut curry sauce. Debbie got the Thai Curry Linguine and Dan ordered a steak. Every thing was really good. We had so much fun!