Sunday, June 29, 2014

earls warm potato salad (dont let the name scare you)
im not that big of a potato salad person. so when my friend told me she had this amazing recipe for warm potato salad i was pretty skeptical. but i was wrong to doubt. very wrong. its more of a fantastic over-the-top loaded baked potato all mixed up into a bowl. so good.

earls warm potato salad
2 1/2 pounds small potatoes
1 1/2 cups white corn (i cut mine off the cob but you could use frozen)
3 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole

5 slices bacon, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh dill, finely chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried dill)
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt to taste

preheat over to 425 degrees. line baking sheet with foil. cut potatoes into bite-size pieces. in a medium bowl, mix potatoes, corn and garlic with oil. place on the sheet pan in a single layer, sprinkle with a little salt, and roast until the potatoes and corn begin to turn golden brown, about 45 minutes.

meanwhile, fry bacon to desired doneness and drain on a paper towel. reserve 2 tablespoons bacon fat.

in a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, dill, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and bacon fat. add salt to taste.

when potatoes and corn are done, remove from oven. remove cloves of garlic and mince them and add to dressing. pour potato and corn mixture into a large bowl. add bacon. add dressing and combine. serve warm at your favorite summer bbq and enjoy the amazing leftovers cold!
roasted potatoes and corn.

the insanely delicious final product. 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

end of school 2014
sully and tagg had a great school year. they both learned so much from their amazing teachers. the boys and i put together little 'thank you' packages to show mrs. judy, mrs. jessica and mrs. dearden how much we loved them.

its very hard to pick a favorite drawing or art project from the entire year. both boys came home with some fantastic stuff. but i liked these little drawings from sully's 'preschool dictionary', look at that mitt and zipper!

tagg's last day on the bus! he had such a fun year riding the bus (our new house is approximately 5 feet from his new school.... so no more bus :( ).  he made great friends and i'll never forget seeing his little head bobbing up and down as he ran from the back of the back each afternoon. yes. my kindergartner rode in the back of the bus. im scared.

on the last day of school the kindergartners had a performance for the parents. lets be honest. i cried a little when i saw tagg walking out with his graduation cap on (and also because he took of the nice sweater he had on when he left for school and looked like an orphan in that tshirt!) 

seriously the cutest little guy on the planet. and apparently, a future computer engineer! thats the award mrs. dearden gave him.

celebratory popsicles with his best friend, aidan.

again, hard to pick a favorite..... but i sure do love the antlers on the snowmen and his cool pigeon.

love this graduate so much.

Monday, June 16, 2014

tagg just finished up his first official baseball season. dang. he made one freaking cute baseball player.
 
quite the little hitter!

he had such a great little team and a wonderful coach. after the last game of the season we hosted a party at the family fun center. it was the perfect way to end a perfect season. go phillies!
last week i was lucky enough to run over to sandpoint for the weekend. the weather, food, and company were all pretty fantastic.

we rode bikes into town for shopping and lunch one day. it was so much fun!

on our last afternoon there, some women played bocce ball....

while my mom and i tried to soak up every second of sun we could! it was such incredible last minute trip and im very lucky to have a great mother in law and husband to let me run off. i cant ever say no to my favorite place on planet earth.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014


last month, craig and i attended the mamma's hands auction again. its always a fun night to get dressed up, bring a dessert for the dessert dash and most importantly, help the women and children at the house of hope.
i brought a smores cake for my dessert this year. it DID get chosen before megan's (my ultimate goal) but her actual cake was more moist. who cares. i still won, right?
this year was extra entertaining because alex and megan (and emily!) came. a very fun night.