A Little Outing in the Mountains

We finally went up to the mountains for a little fishing and campfire fun.  This was the first time this year, totally not the norm for us, but we have been quite consumed with the backyard bonanza that we haven't made time to relax a whole lot.  So at Mackenzie's begging request we took her fishing.  The fishing was horrible - didn't catch a thing, which made her quite upset.  But we did a little 4-wheeler riding and made a campfire and had hotdogs and smores and they were quite happy about that.

Putting on her modeling look.  She LOVED wading around in the water.

This kid just loved checking out the flowers.  Too funny!

And the trees!

This kid just loves entertaining the rest of us!

One Of My Favorites!

We're talking recipes here...out of my comfort zone completely.  I don't ever claim to be a good cook.  I don't follow food blogs ever, never watch Food Network, never have time for things like that, but it would be cool for sure. 

But I have this one recipe that I love.  I don't make it very often, but when I do, I always love it and think I should share it since its pretty easy (I'm all about easy cooking).  In my book this is completely worthy of Cheesecake Factory menu.  I always think that's where it belongs.  So here it is:

Balsamic Pork Chops

4 bone-in pork chops, 1" thick
4-5 slices bacon
1 small red onion, 1/4" slices
4-6 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms (optional - but really makes it delish)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 heaping Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. fresh thyme minced
1 c. chicken broth
2 t. chicken demi-glace (I usually use 1 tsp. chicken base)

This works best in an electric skillet at 350 degrees.

Salt and pepper pork chops.  Heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in skillet and brown chops on both sides (they don't have to be cooked through).  Transfer to a plate.  Cook bacon in skillet until crispy, remove and dice or crumble.  Pour off grease except about 1-2 Tbsp. from pan.  Add in onion.  Partially cover pan and saute about 10 minutes until carmelized.  Add in mushrooms about half-way through cooking the onion.  Once carmelized, add in garlic and saute 30 sec.  Then stir in brown sugar, vinegar, thyme and bacon bits.  Saute on medium and cook liquid off until reduced by half.  Then stir in the chicken broth and demi-glace and bring to a simmer.  Add the pork chops back in.  Cook, uncovered, coating chops with sauce for about 10-12 minutes.  Serves well with mashed potatoes or new potatoes.

I love these and I always follow the recipe to a T and it works about so yummy every time and really isn't that hard at all nor takes very long.  It doesn't have a strong balsamic vinegar taste, I promise.  Give it a try and enjoy!

Sleeping with the Owls and Birdees!

Finally, I finished another room in the house.  I'm actually close to finishing a lot, but it makes no sense the way I go about it.  And if it wasn't for my indecisions about paint color, I would make much faster progress and make A LOT less work for myself. 

So now I finished Mackenzie's room and it turned out adorable I think.  She loves it!  At least with this room, I got the color right the first time after all the test colors.  :)

 Before...

And After...

Her name alone was a huge project, taking 11 hours just to wrap the fabric around all the letters.  I was really wishing she didn't have such a long name at that point!

A MidSummer Night's Dream

Mackenzie had her year-end dance performance last week and she did awesome.  This was her second year of dance and she has learned quite a bit and made some cute friends.  She will often practice all her moves at home and tell me all the french names, of which I know nothing about.  I'm actually impressed!

The dance company incorporated all the classes in A MidSummer Night's Dream.  Mackenzie was a fairy, a mighty cute one too.  She did awesome!

Mackenzie is 2nd from the left here.

Sitting pretty after the first night's show.

Night 2's performance.  This time I got much better seats and got a semi-decent picture.  Picture taking is frustrating at things like these!

After the show on Night 2!  She was just so ecstatic that her dad made it back from Scout camp in time and brought her roses!  She's 100% a Daddy's Girl!