This past weekend.....

Hello everyone!

How has your weekend been? Mine has been hectic, but in a wonderful way, if you know what I mean. We had a birthday party for a very sweet friend of mine, and almost all of the 35ish people were crammed into our front room singing and playing music.

 

We had various instruments, Guitars, Penny whistles, Violins, an Accordion, a Bass, 

a Cajon, a Melodica, and a Tambourine. It was really really fun.

Kind of hectic finding a song we all knew and could all play in, and that was in the

 vocalist's ranges. =)

And then today I went out with some other friends to go walk around in Old Snohomish while our moms had their monthly lunch/catch-up talk.

We saw this on one of the bridges, 

 So we went to investigate. It's a house or some type of shack built under the railroad tracks.

                                     I decided that we really need to do a photo-shoot on the tracks. The tracks are disconnected, so there's no danger of trains coming, which is nice.

This is Gracie (The other one) from over at Gracie's Tasties

I love her website and cooking, it's soo de-lish-ous. I approve of it very much.

But in this picture, her sister Anna and I were going to walk all the way out into the middle of the railroad tracks to go down the ladder into the house. But she's smart and said that since the moms had said NOT to get arrested (I kid thee not!) we should wait until next time. So she persuaded us to wait. 

                                            Here's a herd of Herefords grazing in the field that we could see from on top of the bridge.

                             A fun thing about the streets of old Snohomish is that there are all of these old clocks everywhere.

 

 Then we went here for pie-before-lunch. Right after diagonally jay walking. Such rebels. =]

It was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it. I got Strawberry-Rhubarb, Anna got Cherry, and the other Gracie got Raspberry. We all agreed the Raspberry was the best.

 Afterwards we went here for our lunch, it was wonderful. These people make THE best BLTC ever. 

They toast sourdough, then layer tomatoes, caramelized onions, bacon, Provolone cheese, and mayo on it, then I think they toast it again very lightly. It is the best sandwich I've ever had in my life.

 And they include a pickle on the side, and their pickles are beautiful. They have a lovely crunch and are *slightly* spicy and just the right level of salt and sour.

We ate our lunch in this charming gazebo. (In case you were wondering...)

 And this week is actually Hanukkah, which we celebrate, even though we are not Jewish. We celebrate Christmas somewhat, but our family prefers Hanukkah. 

Tonight us kids exchanged gifts, and my little sister Emmy got some new lipstick. She's a budding beautician. I just know it.

And this is what I got. Isn't she just BEAUTIFUL????? It cuts everything like butter. I love it. I have a thing for sharp kitchen knives, I'm going to have so much fun cooking with it!

What in your your past week has been wonderful? Or at least nice?

 I hope that this next one will be filled with God's blessing upon you!

Happy Hanukkah!

~Gracie

Coconut Rose Sugar Scrub

Ok, this stuff is GOOD. It's tastes good, looks good, feels good,

and smells good!

So to make it, you need:

Step #1: Take your coconut oil and stick it in the jar, using your spatula to get it all even.

Step #2: Take your roses,

take the petals off and put them on top of the coconut oil.

Step #3: Take your sugar and pour the Almond oil on it. I used just enough oil to make it moist.

Step #4: Pour the sugar onto the rose petals.

                                                                             
                                                        Step #5: Pour a little bit more almond oil on.

                                                      
                                                           Step #6: Put the lid on and there you are! To use it you stir it all up and rub it all over yourself when in the shower. Let it sit for a few minutes and then just rinse off. The rose petal will break up into little particles, but they rinse off really easily. After you use this don't wash yourself with soap or all the oil will wash off. I like to use it at night so that way I can take a shower and use it, then just get in PJ's, go to sleep and wake up with moisturized, sweet smelling, lovely skin.                                                           

                                                             I hope you like it!

                                                                      ~ Gracie

Coffee Smoothie and Mozzarella

Do you like coffee? I like it sometimes, if it's made just right. I like to make it iced, and I decided I show you how I make it here.

                                  But before I show you how, isn't this pretty? It's a Mozzarella Cheese I made, and it has LOTS of tasty herbs and oils on in. I'll have to show you how to make it sometime.=)

Anyways, coffee. Here is the cast of Characters:

         

                                                                       
                                               Water, Chocolate syrup, Whipped Cream, Kalua, Coffee (Ground and whole) Chocolate Chips And (Not pictured) Ice and Milk. I don't know why I put the coffee maker and blender in there.....

                 1. Heat up your water. 

2.  While it's heating, pour your ground coffee into whatever you make coffee in. ( I didn't make much, so I used our French press.)

                                                     3. Pour the water over the coffee.Let it sit for awhile.

                                                      4. Now measure out the Kahlua, a little under 1/4 cup

5. Put it in the blender with the same amount of Chocolate syrup.

 6. Here is the ice, throw that into the blender too.

                                               7. Add milk.

                                                  8. Add the coffee, and enjoy the ombre effect. =]

                                                     9. Add your sweetener (I used stevia) and blend it all up.

                                     10. Chop up your chocolate and coffee beans, coarsely though, we want chunks!

                                               11. Pour coffee mix into glass, and put whipped cream on.

                                       12. Top with chocolate sauce, Chocolate chunks and choped coffee beans.

                                   I hope you enjoy it!

                                          ~Gracie

Mount Pilchuck hike!!!!

Hello My Dear Readers!

Ok, so we have a mountain near us that's REALLY fun to hike, Mount Pilchuck. We try to hike it annually, but we missed a couple of years, so last Wednesday we got some friends and hiked it! It was really fun, as a few of our friends have never hiked it before.

                                                 A pika

                                                                     Isn't it Beautiful??

                                                           This is probably my favorite pic of all.

                                      That arrow is where we're headed.

                                                       We haven't even started hiking yet!

                                                         The ride up.

It was sooo incredibly beautiful. I love the woods. When ever I go through one I can just see that God loves beauty.

Love,

~Gracie