Homemade hot cocoa

I've stopped buying hot cocoa at the store.  Yep.  We've been making homemade hot cocoa this winter and I hope you will, too, (because it's easy and delicious and cheaper and probably better for you):

• 1/3 C cocoa powder
• 1/3 C sugar
• 4 C milk (you can use cow's milk, almond milk...whatever)
• vanilla extract, if you want
• top with whipped cream...extra yummy, but not necessary (I haven't bought marshmallows in a long time, as I think real whipped cream is much better)

So, first you'll mix the cocoa powder, sugar and a half cup of the milk in a pan on the stove over medium heat, just until it comes to a boil...stirring with a spoon.  Stir in remaining milk and vanilla.  Pour into 6 mugs and top with whipped cream...enjoy!  ♥

Chickens, concert, the Cutchens and chocolate covered cheesecakes...

 Summer evening concert in the park.  I ♥ all the folks dancing the two-step.

Hannah practicing the guitar.  She's getting very good at playing "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."  And Olivia is getting better at doing handstands!

I woke up to see the chickens on the deck by the back door yesterday.  They're so funny, but we also are not happy with how many tomatoes they've taken.  So, we're keeping them in the coop.

We're trying to weave with a hula hoop.  Maybe you've seen the project on Pinterest?  It inspired me, but oh man it's harder than it looks!  I actually used yarn to make the weft and am using an old pink t-shirt that I cut up into strips to weave.

Yesterday, we had some friends from Hawaii come for lunch...the Cutchens!!!  We had a really nice time and wish we could've spent more time together, to play a game of Life or chess.   I wish I'd taken a picture of their license plate!

Making chocolate covered mini cheesecakes with a friend, Maryna.

 And her darling little baby boy, with his icon of St. Timothy.

Sunrise...sunset

We woke up at 4:30am Pacific Time (felt like 1:30am Eastern Time) to watch the sun rise over Crater Lake in Oregon.  It came over the horizon about 5am, but before it did the sky changed so much. Horrible mosquitos there!  BUT it was worth putting up with.

Rob standing by Crater Lake midday.  Clear and beautiful.  From there we drove down to the Redwoods in California.

 Hannah caught a tadpole in the Smith River...and let it go.

 The Redwoods at Jedediah State Park and National Park.  The girls earned a Jr. Ranger badge here and at Crater Lake!

 I got that striped skirt in a shop called Mia's in Portland, just a walk from my sister and her husband's place...when I saw that it was "made in USA" I had to get it.  Their green tent.  We had an orange one.

 

 

 

In the distance you can see the Battery Lighthouse.

We took a tour of the inside of the lighthouse and got up in the top.  $3/adult and $1/children.  The times for the tour depend on the tide.  It is inaccessible when there is high tide...an island.

Grilling hamburgers with Oregon's Tillamook cheddar atop...and onions and pepper cooking in the cast iron skillet on the side. 

Me and Theodore (often called "Theobeans") in our checkered Vans.

Then, a few days later, we watched the sun set at Crescent Beach, California. And roasted marshmallows over the fire and ate them with Seattle's organic salted toffee Theo milk chocolates and graham crackers.  Best kind of s'mores!

Almond milk...and sweets!

Did you notice the new tab atop?  It's a recipe index, a work-in-progress, as I sprinkle recipes that I have been making throughout my blog posts.  I will keep adding to it as I sift through old posts.

I made a batch of almond milk over the weekend.  I followed this recipe:
Almond milk
 (you'll get 2-3 cups)
1 cup almonds, soaked 8-12 hours beforehand
3 cups water
6 dates or 1/4 cup agave (I used 1/4 cup maple syrup)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Rinse off your almonds and discard the soak water. Add the almonds and the other ingredients (water, sweetener, vanilla) to a regular blender or food processor. Blend them on high speed.  Then, simply put a cheesecloth or strainer over the top of a jar (and put a rubberband around it to make sure it stays) and scoop the milky pulpy almond over it and let it sit, give it a good 15 minutes.  I took out the almond pulp and put it in a bowl...

...and made cookies (SO many awesome recipes on this blog) with it!!!  By the way, the almond milk turned out wonderfully.  We poured it over homemade granola this morning.

Almond chocolate chip cookies

1 cup dried almond pulp “flour” (I didn't dry mine, so I added about 1/2 cup flour to the mixture)
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
6 tablespoons raw almond butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
dark chocolate chips, as needed

Mix all ingredients well, except chocolate chips.  Scoop onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  My daughter pressed 3 chocolate chips on each one.  Bake 8-10 minutes in an oven heated to 350'F.  Allow to cool (or eat warm, as we did, and the melted chocolate chips are gooey) and enjoy!

We also made bird's nests over the weekend.  We used:

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted in a pan
1 bag of marshmallows
6 cups crispy rice cereal
5 jelly beans in each one (we got a 15oz. bag of natural color and flavor ones at Trader Joe's for $3.99, made in Ireland, ironic, because on Saturday we old calendar Orthodox Christians celebrated St. Patrick's day!)

After the marshmallows melt, mix in the rice crispies well and form by pressing into bowls, using wax paper, then add jelly beans to look like eggs.  My girls wrapped them in bitty bags and wrote "Happy Easter" on them, put 6 in each of their baskets and passed them out to some of the residents at the nursing home where Rob's Grandma lives....

Doesn't she look cute in my purple sunglasses?  We stopped at Long John Silver's and got some lunch and rootbeer.

Rob played his mandolin at the cemetery, where we spent time at the Grandpa's graveside.  Playing and singing "Amazing Grace," as Grandma holds his music...