Something's In the Water!

UPDATE:: This post had two errors.  First, my sister is due in March, not April.  Sorry Meggo!  Also, a sweet friend of mine (and Mr. Whimsy) is also due. Stephanie and her hubby just found out they will be having a little boy.  Woohoo!  Stephanie is due in February and we can't wait to meet him.  Sorry Stephanie!  

A couple post ago I linked to my sisters new blog announcing she is pregnant and due in April.  

Since her big news, my cousin Kristin (of the re-booted Blue Jeans and Boots) announced she was pregnant.  Actually, her son (my Godson) Colt did - and not just in the picture on her blog.  Right before my Mallie was dedicated and we were waiting in a quiet room Colt sweetly piped up with a "Lindsey, my mommy has a baby in her belly".  Everyone but Kristin and her husband Jared heard and immediately turned to them awaiting confirmation.  It was a priceless moment that I believe Kristin had hoped would happen a little later.  Nonetheless, congrats Kreneks!!!

I also just found out super cute Heidi of Reese's Pieces is pregnant with her second baby.  Heidi's daughter Reese is adorable (frankly the entire family is good looking!) and I know the new addition will be just as sweet.

Me, Heidi and Reese at my wedding 

Mascaras Packed

This morning my cheeks have been a bit tear stained... had to leave this sweet girl and head back to work.  

Sleepyhead Mallie just before I left

Thankfully she gets to stay with her Daddy, and my Mr. Whimsy, but leaving was still pretty hard.  Now its noon and I'm, doing better... so long as no one asks me how I am doing!  I've got my mascara and a set of glasses packed just in case though.

I've been praying for strength and have been blessed with works of encouragement and humor from friends and family.  Thank you.  5 hours + travel time till I'm back home with my love.

Mallie's First Road/Overnight Trip

This past week Mallie took her first road/overnight trip to my parents home in Brenham.  Mr. Whimsys had some meetings that had him driving through town so me and the baby hitched a ride with him.  It was a great trip and Mallie got to meet some people that are super special to our family.  

One of the first trips was to visit my Grandma who was super happy to see her.  She would ask everyone the came through the room (she is currently staying in a retirement home for rehab) if they met her granddaughter - and when I say everyone, I mean everyone from the nurses to cleaning crew to other patients visitors.

Mrs. Maurer and McKenzie stopped by the house to say hello

Mallie also got to meet the Wilke clan.

Mallie and Sweet Macey

Morgan (my BFF) will be a great babysitter for Mallie

 Future playmate Colt

 Aunt Kristin and Mallie

Is that a smile?  

And had her first visit to Silver Wings (my parents business)!

Mallie and Kelcie (Kelcie has to be Aunt Jamie's stand in until Mallie gets to meet her and my brother Kyle)

 Mallie and JP

Mallie and Tyler

And of course she got to see her BeBe and Grandpa!

Pesto time... finally!

First I must apologize for the long delay in pesto instructions.  I finally made the pesto myself this afternoon.  It takes about an hour to make plus any freeze time you need.  I apologize in advance that I will sound a bit like your grandmother giving you recipe instructions - nothing is exact, its all about the look and taste and texture.  I know there are precise recipes elsewhere with specific instructions but this is not that recipe.  

My "Italian family"... 6 years later (this picture was taken while they vacationed in Norway)

I was blessed to have the amazing opportunity to spend the summer as an au pair in Italy in 2004.  While there I lived with a great family and I got this recipe from my Italian mom, Mara.  I fell in love with her pesto while I was there so about a week before I left them I finally got her to teach me how to make pesto for myself.  Ever since then, I have made pesto just about every summer - for the summers that I did not make it I ALSO regret it about mid January.

I used to make my pesto and keep in in 1 bowl in the freezer and I would chip away enough for my meal.  This was inefficient at best.  Since then, I bought a silicon ice cube tray with small holders (they are about 1/3 the size of regular ice cubes).  I then freeze my pesto in the ice cube tray and store them all together in one freezer safe tubberware container.  When I am ready for pesto, I pop out one pesto cube, pour some olive oil on it to help it defrost then add my pasta... wala, you are left with fresh tasting pasta outside of the growing season.  

Ingredients - 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fresh Basil Leaves - around 3 big handfuls

about 4 oz. Pine Nuts

a small handful of shelled pecans (or walnut)

Rock Salt (about 2 pinches... is pinches a word?)

about 3-4 cloves of garlic

Parmesan Cheese - the block kind, not the grated kind... enough to make the pesto have the right amount of whiteness.  (I know these ingredients are not precise but you are just going for the right color and texture)

First pick your basil leaves - take off the stems and any flowers that are on your plants

I take about 2-3 big handfuls.  When I put them loosely in a 12 cup bowl, the leaves filled about 3/4 the bowl

Rinse - sand loves to stick to basil leaves so give them a good rinse 

One the basil leaves are free of stems, sand and flowers put them aside.

Cut your garlic cloves and parmesan into a couple pieces to make them easier for your food processor to chop

Add them to your food processor

Add some olive oil - probably about 2 tsp, I just turn my jar over twice.  You just want to make the ingredients wet.

Start the food processor.  You want the ingredients to get to the consistency of... hmmm.... smaller than crushed ice from Sonic but bigger then boxed bread crumbs.  

Add the nuts, basil, and rock salt. You will probably have to use a spatula or knife to get the basil to mix in... if you see it not chopping, just stop it, use a spatula or dull knife and push the basil down.

Chop it until it's a consistent texture.  You do not want to puree it, but it should be like a paste.  If its too crumbly add a little olive oil until it is a thick paste.  

The color should be about 50/50 green and white. If its too green as some parmesan.  If its too white add some basil.

This is too crumbly and too green.  Add some oil and parm.

Just right!

Taste it and make sure you like what you mixed.  If you need to add anything do it now.

You could either eat this freshly made over pasta with a little olive oil but I prefer to freeze it and eat it over winter.  

I think the very best way to freeze it is to use a silicon ice cube tray (do not use hard plastic, you want to be able to pop these guys out easily).  I only have 1 tray so I freeze in at least 2 phases, sometimes three.  Place the tray in the freezer until its hard, add the cubes to a freezer safe tubberware container (it can be pretty small).  

Pesto Cubes!

Then its the yummy time!  When you are ready to eat some just pop one cube out, add a little olive oil and it should be soft by the time your pasta is done boiling.  

I personally love to eat my pesto with cheese ravioli (I buy the cheap frozen bags at WalMart) or plain pasta with tomatoes.  Sometimes I add that imitation crab or lobster meat but not usually.  The husband is not very into meatless Mondays (or anydays for that matter) so I through grilled chicken breast into his when I make a super easy dinner for us.  

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!

PS - Thank you so much Mara for the DELICIOUS recipe! 

7.9.11 :: I now pronouce you husband and wife

July 9, 2011 my beautiful baby sister transformed into a beautiful bride. It was a special day for all family and friends that were able to attend. The Hafner's welcome John into our family with arm open wide.

Cheers to the new Mr. & Mrs!

Too busy to blog!

I have officially not blogged in over a month... pretty pitiful! Tons have been going on, I have just been busy, enjoying outside more than inside (i.e. posting on the blog), and have been travelling a bunch. Seriously I think I have been gone 3-4 days out of the week for the past several weeks. Combine that with the sun going down at 8:30, we typically don't come in until sunset. This results is late nights and short weeks. I am looking forward to spending time with friends and weekends at home. That being said, there has been lots to keep me busy lately.

Some of the highlights of the past month have included:

1. My sweet and smart sister graduated from Texas A&M. Whoop! I am so proud of her.

2. We have found 4, yes FOUR, snakes outside of our house. My resident snake expert (my cousin Jason) says they are harmless water snakes but I am not a fan of ANY kind of snake. They have all been disposed of property. They have all been about the size of an unused pencil and their tail is red on the underside. The scary thing is I have not seen one of these snakes until Joe has pointed them out and they all all is areas that I regularly walk around (outside the front door, my flower bed, under my old red metal chair and just inside the garage). I am working on improving my attention to detail. Joe is looking for a outside cat we could have to keep these nasty critters away.

3. Joe built me 2 big shelves in my laundry room. I needed more pantry/kitchen storage space so Joe added some big shelves above my washer/dryer for kitchen electronics, big platters, and canned goods (to accommodate my couponing habit). This fulfills that need nicely and I am loving the additional space that I have in my regular cabinets.

One shelf down, (err, up), one to go!

4. I have tried canning. My incredibly generous aunt Marilyn is a great gardener and on one of my trips to Brenham, she gave me a giant box filled with tomatoes and a cooler filled with other fresh veggies from her garden. In order to keep these from spoiling, I canned fresh tomatoes and homemade salsa. The tomatoes were relatively easy but a bit more watery than I expected. The salsa tasted great but after working on it for about 3-4 hours, I only got 4.5 cans of salsa. It was definitely not a good investment in terms of time but totally worth it for the experience. I would eventually like to can pasta sauce with some of my fresh basil but that will have to wait. Also, my Aunt Gay Nell said should would have me over to can pickles. I am pretty excited about it.

Box full of tomatoes awaiting their fate

Canned tomatoes

5. Joe and I have been talking a lot about creating an outdoor living area. We have spent a lot of time planning/brainstorming where things could go and what would look best. Will update you with how this progresses over the months to come.

The outdoor area will be at the back of the house around the covered porch

6. I got a Cricut! I am super excited about it even thought i haven't really used it yet... but I will!

7. One of my chickens mysteriously died. In preparation for Aprilfest this year we started building a big bonfire with tree and shrub branches. Due to the burn ban, the bonfire hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, we noticed that the dogs moved the branches around to make a tunnel going through the pile. During the day the dogs lay in here, their dog house, or in their kiddie pool. When the dogs aren't in their tunnel the chickens take it over. When I got home this past weekend Joe said something must have died in the pile because it was stinking. I jokingly said it was a chicken. Sadly, I found I was correct when I went to count my chickens and found one missing. We shortly spotted the chicken in the pile and got it out. When examining it, it was obvious it had been dead for a couple days but it showed no outward signs of injury. Not sure what happened but maybe a snake bit it? Any ideas?

RIP (the chicken, not the dog)

The bonfire now has tunnels through it and is the (literally) cool hang out spot for my dogs and chickens. This is where we found the dead chicken.

7. We (mainly Joe) have completely re-done our rabbit area. Due to the heat, we have expanded the covering over the rabbit area, installed fans and a misting system in an attempt to keep the rabbits cooler. This seems to be working but it was a LONG processes.

When its in writing it really does not seem like much but it really has been. My sister is getting married in July and that should cut done on some of my traveling (I've been in Brenham a bunch for her showers bachelorette party). I am hoping things will slow down, but honestly, who knows.

Post Wedding Spotlight :: Megan

I have been putting off updating the blog because of the subject of my blog post. Not because I do not like the subject - the exact opposite is true - I just know that anything I say or write will not do her justice. This is a much delayed wedding spotlight on my (not so) baby sister Megan.

Meggo came into my life when I was about 6.5 years old. I was so excited to hear I was getting a little sister... at the time I did not realize that I would also be getting a roommate for the next 12 years - or, a best friend. As roommates, we fought, we played, we blamed each other for a messy room. Since our days as roommates, Megan has become a confidant, an encourager, and a role model.

She is loving, loyal, supportive and has a fantastic listening ear. Megan is absolutely beautiful on the inside and out. She is the type of friend everyone needs, and the type of daughter every parent wants, and the best sister in the entire world.

Post Wedding Spotlight :: Kristin

In my rush and stress the week before the wedding, I missed highlighting two amazing women that were the matron and maid of honor at my wedding. I absolutely love both of these girls so they are each getting a post wedding spotlight.

My Matron of Honor was my cousin Kristin.

Kristin is more like an older sister to me than a cousin. We have always been close but have grown especially close over the past 5 years or so. Kristin always goes above and beyond in everything she does - especially when it comes to being a friend and supporter. She is a vigilant defender and protector of people she cares about - thankfully I am one of these people. Kristin is the type of person you can call the 5 minutes before you get to her house to hang, and by the time you get there, she has a bottle of wine open, snacks on the table and Jared (her hubby) outside grilling dinner. She goes above and beyond in everything she does and is 100% reliable. Not only is Kristin a dear friend, she is the wife of super cool Jared and mother of adorable Colt (my Godson). Jared also always go the extra mile for people he cares about and was a HUGE help with wedding stuff. Colt, Kristin and Jared's son, is a 2 year old stud that looked A-DOR-A-BLE at the wedding as the ring bearer (but he always looks pretty stinking cute). I love this entire family and am blessed they are such a huge part of my life.