Street Tacos

I love tacos.  Did you know, or have I told you?  I think I could eat them every day of my life, and be as happy as a bug in a rug.  I will admit though that the tacos I fix now for my family are quite a bit different than the ones my muther used to fix me when I was a kid.  You know the ones.  Hard taco shell, ground hamburger, shredded lettuce, orange cheese, and a few tomatoes.  Don't get me wrong.  I will eat one of these tacos too, especially if it's the cheap ones from Taco Time, but I love the ones I make at home today.

For quite a few years my Jimmy and I would travel to Mexico, to a lovely little place in Mazatlan, every January.   Way before the threat of drug lords kept us from going.  We were always careful what we ate and drank since we didn't want to get sick though.  My mom and granny have horror stories of the yuckies they've come down with while on a trip to Mexico.  At first I wouldn't eat anything.  I was too nervous.  Especially a street taco.   Meat on the street.  Who knew what they might be plagued with.  (James has since shared he ate way more scary things in Taiwan.  Meat parts that were hanging from the ceiling donned his noodle bowl daily he has said.  He had a gut of steel I'm sure!) Every vacation the most wonderful food would be paraded past us as different vendors would walk down the beach selling their stuff.  Sunglasses, sombreros, toy, homemade doughnuts, fresh fruit, and tacos.  Finally one day I told James I was buying something.  I watched as a few people bought fruit from the vendor, and sat down and enjoyed their little cup of happiness.  Being Lisa, I walked right over to them and asked them how the fruit was.  I asked if they had ever become sick.  Low and behold the folks I talked to had been coming to this same place year after year, and year after year they would buy a cup of fresh fruit everyday from the vendor.  Not once had they been sick, so I decided I too was not going to be held back by my fear of sickness.  I was going to enjoy the most beautiful cup of fresh fruit on the planet.  Enrique was the fruit salesman.  For $2 I would get to pick a large cup full of the most tasty fruit.  Ripe mango, pineapple, watermelon, jicama, cantaloupe, and cucumbers usually filled my cup.   I would get it "Mexican style"  which included a hearty squeeze of lime juice, and a sprinkle of salt and chili powder.  Oh yum!!!  I was a street food convert.  If you can believe it I converted my family as well.  We all indulge in the Mexican street food now.

Hollie enjoying her lovely cup of fruit, selection, Enrique the fruit man, Jed and a fresh made doughnut, Seth with his roadkill coconut that Jimmy cracked open for him.  Not a single tummy ache from the bunch.  Actually that's quite amazing!

These tacos are along the lines of some you may find from a street vendor.  Whether on the streets of Mazatlan, or Washington Blvd.   As long as there is some fresh salsa, guac, and cilantro.  Maybe even some pickled onions and sliced radish would be awesome.  Corn tortillas are a must for me, but I do have a child or two who prefers a flour tortilla.  I found this recipe in my Granny's ward cookbook.  Thank you dearest Alana Harkness whoever you are.  They're delish!  This was a beautiful Sunday dinner for us yesterday.  Light and fresh, and good for us.  You can use any kind of shredded meat.  They all taste wonderful.  So no more pussy footing around street food.  I actually think this stuff would be well worth the tummy ache if that happened.  Happy Monday!!

Street Tacos

1 4-5 lb. beef or pork roast or 4-5 chicken breasts

2 c. salsa ( I used a tomatillo sauce.  Green.)

2 small cans El Pato  ( 7 3/4 oz. Yellow can. A spicy Mexican tomato sauce.  You can find it in the Mexican food aisle)

1/2-1 c. sugar

1 T. salt

Place all ingredients together in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Shred meat and stir into sauce.  Serve meat on warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, pickled red onions, fresh salsa, cilantro, and guacamole.  These are to die for!

Pickled onions:

1 large red onion sliced

1/2 c. vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

a pinch of salt

Place all ingredients together in a sauce pan and heat until the onions are limp and the sugar is dissolved.  Serve on tacos.  Especially good on fish tacos.

Thai Chicken Pizza On Studio 5

Sorry!  I didn't tell anyone except my mom that I was going to be on Studio 5 today.  I didn't find out until Tues. and you know how it goes.  So for anyone who cares here's the recipe I did today, and also a link to the segment.  Sorry grandma!  She always wants to know, and I just didn't tell today.  I hope you still love me:)

Studio 5 Cooking Segment


Original Post



One of the best weeks of the year is when my little family spends a few days on the shores of Jackson Lake in Teton National Park.  It has become a tradition over the last 7 years.  It started in a canoe with a lot of portaging and paddling, and has evolved into packing the ski boat down with all sorts of camping gear and buzzing off to a remote back country camping site.  For years James and I would stuff one canoe with four kids, and all our gear and canoe up String Lake and then have to unload everything and portage across to Leigh Lake to finally paddle to a beautiful little camp site at the base of Mount Moran.  It still is the most stunning camp site on the planet, but after I shared it one year with a cute grizzly bear I asked if we couldn't find a way to evacuate our camp site a little easier than paddling our canoe back three hours to the car.  Bears can swim you know.  So now our lake of choice is Jackson Lake where motor boats are permitted.  We are usually the only boater on the lake.  Actually I feel like the only humans on the entire planet most years at Jackson Lake.

I have never seen more beautiful water than Jackson Lake.  The trip is magical.  The kids laughing, and getting along, and playing non-stop Uno.  Fishing, and whittling, and eating camping treats.  Roasting marshmallows, and drinking unlimited hot chocolate on each chilly morning, and just staring at the most beautiful surroundings in the world.  The trip is perfection.  Do you ever get that feeling, where you don't think you could be any happier than right at that moment in time?  I have that every year.

The annual camping trip has evolved over the years.  I first tried to do some pretty fancy camping meals, but over time I've realized that simplicity is key to a fabulous trip.  And I've also realized that there is the best little pizza joint right on the lake and it's only a 10 minute boat ride to get there.  It's become the highlight of the trip.  We play hard all day, jump in the boat and enjoy the water as we head to Leek's Marina on the North end of Jackson Lake.  There they have the best pizza on the planet!  Really!  We always get the Thai Chicken Pizza, and the Margherita Pizza as well.  We eat to our hearts content and then jump back in the boat to head back to our campsite for smore's or eclairs.  Nothing can beat this.  So if you're traveling to Yellowstone by way of Jackson Hole you'll go right past Leek's Marina in Teton National Park.  Tell them I sent you.  Just kidding.  They won't care.   But I promise the pizza is superb, and your tummy will be happy all the way to Old Faithful.

Thai Chicken Pizza

Pizza Dough

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

FOR THE CRUST ( I actually doubled the recipe and have a Ziploc filled with extra dough.  It lasts a while.  It probably makes about 10-12 individual sized pizzas.)

1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast

4 cups All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It's best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

Toppings:

Shredded cooked chicken

fresh bean sprouts

shredded carrots

sliced red onions

cilantro or basil

Mozzarella cheese

chopped peanuts 

drizzle of peanut sauce

I roll out the pizza and drizzle it with Olive Oil.  I then top it with all the good stuff and bake in a 500' F. oven until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.  Drizzle the peanut sauce over the pizza right before eating.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/4 c. peanut butter

1/8 c. fish sauce or soy sauce

sugar to taste

Thai chili paste

water to thin

Stir all these together and taste.  Add a little more sugar or fish sauce to adjust to your taste.  Thin with a little water and drizzle over your pizza.  You'll love it!

Jackson Lake Pizza

Top to bottom, left to right:  Family portrait, E paddle boarding on Jackson Lake, little boys fishing, family portrait on Signal Mountain dock, friendly neighborhood moose, pizza at Leek's Marina, Jimmy the ski boy (the lake was a tit bit nipply this year), pulling out, Seth the boat driver, sling shots, family portrait, 5 kids!, Thai Chicken Pizza at Leek's, morning fishing, Jimmy paddle boarding, traditional dock jump

One of the best weeks of the year is when my little family spends a few days on the shores of Jackson Lake in Teton National Park.  It has become a tradition over the last 7 years.  It started in a canoe with a lot of portaging and paddling, and has evolved into packing the ski boat down with all sorts of camping gear and buzzing off to a remote back country camping site.  For years James and I would stuff one canoe with four kids, and all our gear and canoe up String Lake and then have to unload everything and portage across to Leigh Lake to finally paddle to a beautiful little camp site at the base of Mount Moran.  It still is the most stunning camp site on the planet, but after I shared it one year with a cute grizzly bear I asked if we couldn't find a way to evacuate our camp site a little easier than paddling our canoe back three hours to the car.  Bears can swim you know.  So now our lake of choice is Jackson Lake where motor boats are permitted.  We are usually the only boater on the lake.  Actually I feel like the only humans on the entire planet most years at Jackson Lake.

I have never seen more beautiful water than Jackson Lake.  The trip is magical.  The kids laughing, and getting along, and playing non-stop Uno.  Fishing, and whittling, and eating camping treats.  Roasting marshmallows, and drinking unlimited hot chocolate on each chilly morning, and just staring at the most beautiful surroundings in the world.  The trip is perfection.  Do you ever get that feeling, where you don't think you could be any happier than right at that moment in time?  I have that every year.

The annual camping trip has evolved over the years.  I first tried to do some pretty fancy camping meals, but over time I've realized that simplicity is key to a fabulous trip.  And I've also realized that there is the best little pizza joint right on the lake and it's only a 10 minute boat ride to get there.  It's become the highlight of the trip.  We play hard all day, jump in the boat and enjoy the water as we head to Leek's Marina on the North end of Jackson Lake.  There they have the best pizza on the planet!  Really!  We always get the Thai Chicken Pizza, and the Margherita Pizza as well.  We eat to our hearts content and then jump back in the boat to head back to our campsite for smore's or eclairs.  Nothing can beat this.  So if you're traveling to Yellowstone by way of Jackson Hole you'll go right past Leek's Marina in Teton National Park.  Tell them I sent you.  Just kidding.  They won't care.   But I promise the pizza is superb, and your tummy will be happy all the way to Old Faithful.

this is the pizza made at home

Thai Chicken Pizza

Pizza Dough

Courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

FOR THE CRUST ( I actually doubled the recipe and have a Ziploc filled with extra dough.  It lasts a while.  It probably makes about 10-12 individual sized pizzas.)

1 teaspoon Active Dry Or Instant Yeast

4 cups All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

TO MAKE THE CRUST:

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you need it. ***It's best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.

Toppings:

Shredded cooked chicken

fresh bean sprouts

shredded carrots

sliced red onions

cilantro or basil

Mozzarella cheese

chopped peanuts 

drizzle of peanut sauce

I roll out the pizza and drizzle it with Olive Oil.  I then top it with all the good stuff and bake in a 500' F. oven until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.  Drizzle the peanut sauce over the pizza right before eating.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1/4 c. peanut butter

1/8 c. fish sauce or soy sauce

sugar to taste

Thai chili paste

water to thin

Stir all these together and taste.  Add a little more sugar or fish sauce to adjust to your taste.  Thin with a little water and drizzle over your pizza.  You'll love it!

Pineapple Salsa

I am on vacation, and a lovely one at that.   I have my handsome Jimmy with me and all my little kidlets, and I'm never going home.  Actually........I'm starting to miss my dogs, and my kitties, and my garden (which is still alive if you can believe that!) and just the general feeling of fall.  I'm starting to want some hot soup on a chilly night, and to wear capris with flip flops and long shirts.  I'm not ready for the big step to long pants and boots, but that will come.  I'm sure when I get home the leaves will all have turned, but we Clawson's are truly enjoying our last big Hurrah!  Can I just tell you that the pineapple here in this paradise is lovely.  Perfectly perfect, and wonderful, and I've eaten 6 of them.  6 whole pineapples.  I just cut the 6th pineapple minutes ago, and yes it was as good as all the other 5.   It's the pineapple salsa I'd like to talk about today.  We've had fish this and that, and nothing is better with fish than pineapple salsa.

I used to make mango salsa, and I still love it, but this pineapple stuff is yumm-y!  It is great served with fish tacos (that's what we're having tonight!) grilled fish, pork roast, chicken of the BBQ and served straight up with a spoon.  You know another good thing about pineapple salsa is that you can make it even when you aren't in paradise.  Sam's and Costco sell amazing pineapples for a great price all year round.  Oh I almost forgot this salsa is great with chips.  Enjoy it at your next Mexican night.  Tortilla shells, shredded chicken or beef, guacamole, regular salsa and some pineapple salsa.  Dang that sounds good!

Pineapple Salsa

fresh pineapple

red onion

cilantro

serrano chili

tomatoes

a little lime juice

sugar

salt

Chop all ingredients into small bits, and mix together.  Add a squeeze of lime and a little sugar and salt.  Taste it.  See what else it needs.  You may want a little more salt or a little more sugar.  Adjust to your taste.  Serve over fish tacos or with a pork roast or just by the spoonful.  It is wonderful!

Tuna!

The bathing beauty. My camera got wet this day, therefore the extra "soft" focus.

This is the keyword that was yelled from anywhere on a lake when one of my sibling or I had a fish on our fishing lines. It didn't matter is it was a big fat Brook Trout or a Sardine sized cast back. It was yelled out, and yelled out as loud as you could. We'd all go running to see what Josh, or maybe Marc caught. It was always a treat when Tuna was yelled. Maybe it's the fact that I don't think I actually ever yelled it in response to an actual fish on my line. I may have cried "wolf" a few times though. My dad always came up with something funny to say on these family outings. You should ask my brother Marc about the "double humpy with a blond wig". That's the code word for some kind of Salmon I'm told. I think it may just be the punch line for a nasty little joke.  

I had to write about Tuna since that's what J and I have been eating every afternoon for the past week. A beautiful week I may add in Kona............just the two of us, some good books, a large bottle of sunscreen, runs along the beach every morning and Tuna sandwiches for lunch. Yummy! It's what my Aunt Jone calls her Ironman training. You do all of these things everyday, plus add a nap or two and a dip in the pool and repeat. You'll be ready for the Ironman in no time:) I wanted to see if anyone else in this little world of our likes Tuna sandwiches the way I do. I love them with sweet pickles and of all things Doritos on top. Doritos you may ask. Heck ya!

I have a very dear friend Terri who had the stinkiest socks in gym at good old NOJH. By about Weds., she'd pull them out of her locker and we'd smell. They were a little crusty and they smelled of Nacho Cheese Doritos. I was amazed. I didn't have this talent. I never had Doritos socks like Terri. I tried, but I never did. You'd think with Terri's socks and all, I wouldn't like Doritos but I do. Only on Tuna sandwiches though. James thinks it gross. He watched my brother in law chum fish with Doritos years ago and won't touch the things. He's missing out I tell you.

So my Tuna sandwich goes like this:

Tuna (The white kind is best. Thanks Aunt Jone for leaving me plenty of this in the condo!)

Mayo (Miracle Whip is ok as well.)

Mustard (Just a squeeze.)

Dill Weed

Salt and Pepper

Spread the mixture on a roll. Take it to the beach and top it with Bread and Butter Stackers, and a big helping of Doritos. Crunch to your hearts content. I couldn't have thought of anything better for a beach side picnic..........except James, but that story is private and I'll keep it to myself:)

Should I Call Them Spring or Winter Wraps?

They're actually called Vietnamese Salad Rolls, Thai Spring Wraps, or Summer Rolls but maybe I'll just call them Winter Wraps since it seems to be winter around here. I think we've received close to a foot of new snow. What an April Fools. A few weeks ago James and I attended a convention for Great Harvest in Napa Valley. It is a beautiful place even if you don't drink, but a favorite part of the trip was being able to take a cooking class at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. It was fantastic!! The building is the most amazing old wine cellar that has been converted into the most beautiful cooking school and restaurant around. Our class was very intimate. Only about 19 people, and the class was on Vietnamese Salad Rolls. I asked the instructor what the difference was in Thai Spring Wraps and Summer Rolls and he said it just depends on what country you're in. All of the above are one in the same. I've wanted to learn how to make these for quite some time, but I've just never got the courage up to do it by myself. Well I'm never going to let those little wraps intimidate me again. They were so tasty and really easy.

There really is no cooking involved with making salad rolls, but we learned a lot about flavors blending together. Each one of us had a little tray with all the goods to make the salad rolls and a dipping sauce. It was amazing how everyone's dipping sauce tasted so different. We all started with chopped garlic, sambal chili sauce, sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. If you don't know what fish sauce is, it is exactly what the name states. Barrels are filled with fish and then layered with salt, more fish, salt and on and on until it's full. The barrels are then left in the sun for months. The liquid is then drained off and bottled. Wa-La! Fish Sauce! It sounds sick and it smells sick, but it tastes lovely. It is what countries like Vietnam, and Thailand use instead of soy sauce.

Each one of us was then asked to create a sauce using all of the ingredients and varying how much of one thing we used to balance with the other ingredients. I like my sauce sweet and James' was a bit more salty. I also thinned mine with a little water and James used his straight up. It was so fun and so tasty. I was so excited to try it out at home.

The Saturday after we returned home we set up a wrap station in the kitchen for lunch and the kids went wild. I wasn't sure if the little boys would like the rolls so much. It's a ton of veggies, but they devoured about 10 wraps together. If you have all of your ingredients already chopped and ready to go the making of the rolls is quick. We made them again a few days later they were that good. I've been able to find all the ingredients for these wraps in my regular grocery store. An Asian market is always fun to visit as well. The picture below of the finished wraps is two wraps cut on a bias. Emma actually made one and I made the other. These little love nuggets are dang good and super duper healthy. Tons of raw veggies, some rice noodles (I added coconut milk and curry to mine.) and a protein of choice. We used shrimp in Napa, but chicken was perfect at home. You are going to love these babies!

Vietnamese Salad Rolls (AKA Winter Rolls)

1 (8 ounce) package rice vermicelli

8 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp, cut in half lengthwise (Or chicken)

8 rice wrappers (6.5 inch diameter)

(They are round disks that have a basket weave texture on them. You can find them just about anywhere.)

1 carrot, julienned

1 cup shredded lettuce (I used spinach)

chopped Napa Cabbage or purple cabbage (I used both. It was pretty.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or mint or cilantro

Directions

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Remove from heat. Place rice vermicelli in boiling water, remove from heat, and let soak 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Drain, and rinse with cold water. I then added a can of coconut milk, a little sugar, curry powder or paste and a dash of fish sauce. I cooked the noodles until they had absorbed the coconut milk.

Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip one rice wrapper in the hot water for 5-10 seconds to soften. You don't want them too soft. They'll be totally soft by the time it is ready to roll up. Lay wrapper flat, and place desired amounts of noodles, shrimp, carrot, lettuce and basil in the center. Roll the edges of the wrapper slightly inward. Beginning at the bottom edge of wrapper, tightly wrap the ingredients. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Serve the spring rolls with dipping sauce.

Dipping Sauce

Chopped garlic

Sambal chili paste

sugar

lime juice or vinegar

fish sauce or soy sauce

Add little amounts of the above ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste before using and add what you think it needs. I like it a bit sweeter. Experiement!

Lord Of The Onion Ring

Labor Day fun with the Clawson's is always a treat.  I think it takes a while for my toilets to get back to normal. After all, there are 40 extra people at my home for a few days.  The weather was beautiful, the company was lovely, and the food was delish!  Especially the onion rings!  I have to admit this post and pictures are compliments of J's brother Doug.  Thanks Doug!  I love your stinking guts!  

How about those lunker onions though.  I can grow an onion I guess.  We only used three of those babies, and it fed an army.  They were so yummy.  Maybe it's the fact that you slurp them down right out of the oil and there was lots of Ranch dip to dip them in.  Do you remember the part in Dances With Wolves where the greasy wagon guy is slurping hot bacon out of the pan and then toots and says, "Put that in your book!"  That's all right before the wild injuns stick an arrow through his buttocks, and his dies a slow miserable death.  That's what we were like.  Not the tooting and slow miserable death, but the slurping of hot greasy items and loving every minute of it.  I hope you get a chance to make these.  The batter was really good with zucchini too.

Lord Of the Onion Rings

2 large onions (peel and slice into 1/2 inch slices)

1 c. flour

2 c. buttermilk

1 T. sugar

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

lots of oil for frying

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl.  Dip each onion ring into the batter and place in hot oil.  Cook until golden brown and then flip.  Serve with ranch dip or fry sauce.  Making them outside, in the dutch ovens was perfect.  The mess was outside, and J was actually the Lord of the Onion Rings not me, but somehow I got all the glory:)  

Camping With Clawson's

We did a little bit of Huckleberry picking.  Jed only picked that one Huckleberry:)

Lots of fun and games with the cousins.

Another great use for Homemade Marshmallows!

Everything tastes better outside.

Clawson kids.

Cute girl cousins:)

Breakfast burritos are a new favorite camping meal.

Holy cow an actual pic of me.  Most family vacation photos don't include me.  I really have attended them all you just don't see me.  The price I pay to be the official photographer.

What a great week we had with the Clawson's.  We made our annual pilgrimage to our super duper campground for the Clawson camping trip.  Every day is spent riding bikes with cousins, swimming and boating at Bear Naked Lake, and eating wonderful camp food.  I have to admit though that I wasn't real social.  I had a nap or two and read a book or two too.  It was lovely, and the weather was just as lovely.  I think the night we left though the Clawson's that were left had quite an eventful evening of lightning and such. 

Thanks to ma and pa Clawson for arranging the whole adventure.  This trip ranks right up there with Christmas and the 4th of July for my kids.  We loved it.  

Garner Family Reunion

Lizzy the mermaid

Spencer on the newest additon.  Airchair!

Our favorite new addition.  Jessica!

What a fun grandpa!  

Lovely girls!

What a fantastic weekend we had with the Garner's.  Every 24th of July weekend we head up to Bear Naked Lake with my fam and everyone comes.  Hollie comes from the land up north and Marc and Suz even come.  It is dang fun.  We always enjoy every minute.  We got a new addition to our family this year.  Well it is unofficially official.  Jessica "soon to be Garner".  I have to take full credit for this match up.  Jess worked for us at the bakery and when Eric returned home from his mission I told him I wanted him to meet this cute girl.  Well the rest is history.  They've dated, she's been on a mission, and now the next step is marriage.  They'll do great together.  

Of course the food is always a main attraction at the reunion, and nothing disappointed us.  I love you all and thanks for the great weekend.  Ma and Pa you're the best!  Thanks for all the shakes too!  I'm posting the recipe for Guacamole.  We make it a little more on the salsa side.  Lot's of tomatoes, and cilantro.  It made a great burger!  

Pioneer Guacamole

Avacadoes cut and in chuncks.  I don't like it smooth.

tomatoes

red onion

cilantro

jalepeno without seeds

lime juice

salt and pepper

Cut up everything and keep it chunky.  Place on your favorite burger, sandwich, tortilla soup, or just naked with chips.  Takes you to Mexico without the swine flu:)

It's What Fun Is

All of the kids.  

James is generous when we go to Lagoon.  I would never spend the extra to drive these cars, but Dad always does.  He's the best!

Seth loves to get wet on Rattlesnake Rapids.

Smiles before Wicked.  They were even bigger smiles after.

I am feeling a bit blue.  I had a hard time running this morning and as soon as I got home James took off for the Priest's High Adventure activity for a few days.  I hate it when he is gone.  It is the one time I just can't shake that feeling of sadness.  I must really like him.  Anyways, I figured these wee early hours before anyone else is up is a great time to get caught up on the blogging. Summertime is the best and we have crammed a ton of fun into our slim few weeks of summer.  

Lagoon has become a tradition with us over the last few years.  My friend Tricia always hooks us up with some great Lagoon deals and off we go for some serious fun.  Usually it is just 3 mom's and a ton of kids, but this year we were going for the polygamist look.  So off we headed, 1 dad (that would have been James), 3 moms (me, Erin and Tricia), and a boatload of kids, for the annual Lagoon day.  

When I was a kid, my parent's would take us to Lagoon, and then set us loose.  We'd meet back at a certain time, but I don't remember my mom or dad ever riding a ride.  Not us.  We three muther's are dragging the kids on everything.  Usually it involves a few tears, and some serious bribing, but we get the kids to do it all.  Even the littlest ones are troopers.  We usually stay together the whole day and have such a great time.  Thanks again Tricia for the good deal on tickets, and Foster's for the super fun day.  I look forward to it every year!

Where Are You Josh? We Miss You!

James learned a lot at his ski class.

Happy kids in camp catching tadpoles.

Emma vs. the burning hot marshmallow.  She didn't win.

Jackson Lake Enchiladas.

Cousins just happy to be together.

Jed can fly.

Even chubby gals can ski!

Jake the rock collector.

Cute camp girls ready to boat.

The view from our campsite.  You can see the boat in the cove.

Happy James!

This years family photo.

No bears to be seen yet.  We are having a blast except for the man eating mosquitoes!  We wish you were all here.  Can you believe I am sitting in my boat in the middle of Jackson Lake in Teton National Park and I can update my blog.  Life is good.  Here are just a few photos so far.  The only casualty yet is Emma's hand.  She tried to grab her homemade marshmallow as it was slipping off of the roasting stick.  So I am now posting a warning to the marshmallow recipe.  They are exceedingly hot when being roasted.  And I would personally like to give a big huge thank you to Hollie's friend Sonja.  She created the recipe for the lovely enchiladas we ate last night for dinner. They are great made ahead of time and placed in a dutch oven.  I'll provide the recipe when we get home.  #1 camping food.  We miss you all and wish you were here.  Love, James and Lisa