Welcome to the Food Channel...

What? Is this becoming a food blog? You know, one full of wonderful recipes, step by step directions for said recipes, witty commentary and of course, pictures?

Well...not on your life. I just chose two photos that are pretty darn tasty looking. Although, I'm not sure there isn't witty commentary on every blog post. Its a little hard to be objective.


I've been working on really making a good homemade pizza over the last year or so. Not there yet, sometimes the crust isn't cooked, sometimes it sticks really bad to the pizza stone, sometimes it really tastes good, just doesn't look so good. But every once in a while, I make a pizza pie that really shines, and here is the proof. I honestly can't remember if the pizza even tasted good, but boy, it looks great. I just had to snap a picture.



And you say, what is on the cake? Is that really fondant? Well my friends, I'm happy to report it is. And, I'm even happier to report that the above cake is Amber's first attempt at decorating with this smooth, shiny frosting.

She decided she wanted to learn to make fondant for a YW project. I have to admit I wasn't completely on board. Fondant cakes look so cool, and even though the website she was looking at assured its reader's that fondant isn't hard, I was skeptical. So, on a quiet Saturday, she undertook the project, and the cake is her finished product.

And, in case you are wondering, it was a pretty painless project. Of course, you can't factor in the messy floor, sticky refrigerator handle, dirty bowls in the sink and powdered sugar all over the place. Those are just casualties of war when it comes to fondant. Especially since all of that can be cleaned up. :-)

All joking aside, I'm very proud of her for tackling this challenge and coming off the victor. I'm always in awe of my children when they do something that either I'm too chicken to try, or that I think is hard, or that I think someone their age isn't capable of pulling off. Amber sent me straight to AWE with her pretty polka dot cake. Simply lovely.

An ode to Allison

Okay, not really an ode, but the next best thing. A post all about Alli!

After Allison did this at the end of May...



















...she spent the summer -

- Working at Taco Time (No photo available)

- Playing at the river














-


-Getting her Young Womenhood Recognition

















- and finally, going off to college.






She was ready, she pretty much hasn't looked back, and she loves the college life.






She did take a break from Social life/School work and help Sena plan a bridal shower for her sister, Chelsie at Thanksgiving.














And most important of all, she turned 19!!! Where in the world did those 19 years go???














She has been a busy girl. Getting to know new people has given her all kinds of opportunities. Who knew she would hang out with a group of people who take her hiking, and who knew she would take a snow boarding class and love doing both of those outdoorsy type activities!

And just because she's so darn cute, here are a few more pictures of her with her friend, Erin, and family.

We love you Alli, and miss you, but wouldn't want you to be anywhere else!


































(Anyone know how to get rid of the underlining? This was not for emphasis, just an errant typing snafoo!!!)

back on the proverbial horse

Wow, its hard to get back on the horse after such a long absence, but restarting is what the new year is all about right? So, back on I go. I'll start slow so I don't hurt myself or those around me.

The 4th quarter of 2010 was busy! That being said, it was all good things that made it so busy, so I'll just start off my new resolve to blog with a few tidbits from my trip to Philadelphia in November. Thanks to Ashley and Brandon having baby #2, Tanner Jameson Peay, ("So tute", says big brother Talmage), I got to travel the farthest East I've ever been and hang out in Philly for 2 weeks. Now, being the country mouse that I am, I'm always a little unsure how I'll do in the big city, but I think I did just fine, thank you very much. Maybe there is a little city mouse in me somewhere! :-)


Here is the new little guy, brand new in this picture - now he's over 2 months old!


















At the top of the steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum, made famous in the Rocky movies. And, no, we did not run up them. Downtown Philly is our backdrop. Very pretty.












Of course, we had to pose with Rocky! He's wearing a jersey because the Philadelphia Marathon was the next day. (I overheard several female tourists complain that they wanted to see it without the jersey! Ha Ha!)











Here I am with Talmage in front of one of the famous LOVE statues that are found all over the "City of Brotherly Love". This one is on the campus of the University of Pennsylvannia, where Brandon is a Grad. student.









There wasn't a lot of time for sight-seeing, but one afternoon, we did squeeze a little in. Here I am in front of the famous Reading Terminal Market. So much food, so little room to walk around. Definitely not a place to bring a stroller. This will have to be better explored on another trip.












To celebrate my birthday, Brandon and Ashley took me to get an authentic Philly Cheese steak. Yum. Talmage and I posed so Brandon could document that we were really there.







Here is a guide for ordering. Study up, you don't want to get yelled at!












And if you are in Philly, you better go see the Liberty Bell. Its hard to describe how it feels to be close to such an historical artifact.











I saved my favorite picture for last. Here we are taking a little reading break. We were happy to be doing it next to one of the great readers of all time. (Our book was pretty good, I wonder if Ben's newspaper was as entertaining. :-)

(This statue was also on the campus of Penn. There are quotes from Ben Franklin in the cement all along the walkway. Cool!)



It was a great trip!

The Applesauce Factory

Every summer, for a day or so, our home transforms into an applesauce factory. I didn't realize this until this summer, when Trevor informed me that when he has children, he'll be able to tell them he worked in an applesauce factory. As his mother, I'm happy I could supply this opportunity for him. I'm sure it will look well on a future resume. :-)

Since a factory is always a fascinating place, I thought I would give you a brief tour of our little operation.
Here is a sample of the raw materials. This year, most of our product was supplied from our very own yard. Our trees were full, and somehow the worms didn't find most of them. It was a lovely crop. We did have a few supplied from our friend's tree, but the lion's share were home-grown.







Here is the washing portion of the factory. Here my hard working employee is cleaning the apples in warm, soapy water before the next stage of the process. I particularly like his two-handed technique to really make sure all the apples are cleaned just right, ready to be transported to...







...the chopping block. Here another dutiful worker is quartering the apples. You may notice the peels and cores are still intact. I do try to make things easy on my employees, and this is just one way to lighten their load.








Step 4 entails boiling until the apples are just soft enough to grind up. It doesn't take long, and then the apples are ready to move on.









The final step in our factory is a two-man job. You can see that for the most part, my employees are happy to be employed. The apples are spooned into the hopper and then pressed through the handy-dandy kitchen aid attachment, no fancy name necessary, and out comes the delicious applesauce. A little additional sugar makes it not too tart, not too sweet.

The applesauce is then sealed into freezer bags, a la seal-a-meal, and frozen for later use. Voila!!!


You can see the applesauce factory is an efficient way to use the bounty of nature. I think I can speak for all the staff from my applesauce factory when I say, we don't love making the applesauce, but we really love eating it.

Don't be a Ditz - Vote for Rietz

Amber for Sophomore Vice President

Vote Rietz

Don't Vote for Pedro - Vote for Amber Rietz for VP

These are just a few of the clever and effective slogans that Amber used to get the word out that she is the girl for Sophomore V.P. The posters, made by Kristin (mostly) and Amber (some), as well as a very original speech (more on that in a minute) convinced her fellow classmates to make the right choice.

So what was the original speech you ask? Imagine a hearing a rainstorm in the auditorium, this provided by the audience, an umbrella and a pair of rain boots. Now imagine the candidate, umbrella open, puddle jumping on the stage. (Original doesn't even do it justice. ) Needless to say, the voters saw a winner and voted accordingly.

Amber is ready to serve her constituents to the best of her ability. She didn't disappoint the next day - it rained and she showed up in, what else, her rain boots!

CONGRATS!!! WE ARE EXCITED FOR YOU!

Just let me say...

we are not cat people.

We have never been cat people, and never plan to be. But, 5 little furry kittens found us the other day and adopted us. They came into our yard, and no amount of milk on the other side of the fence could convince them to go back to their original home. Although, the milk they got on our side of the fence (against this mom's admonition) could have something to do with why they thought they had found a new home!

The second day, we put them in a box with a note explaining that we are not cat people and Kristin tearfully marched them over to the neighbors. When I went to check on them a few hours later, confident that if the neighbors hadn't found them, that their mama would, or at the very least, that they would crawl out of the box. But...when I went to check on them a few hours later, there they were, all curled up around each other!!! Not one had attempted escape! Now, I was in tears!!! Again, let me say, "we are not cat people", but apparently, we can be moved by kittens.

The third day, we began to find homes for them. At least we made calls to find homes for them. There were a few hopeful options, and by the 4th day, one kitty had found a new home (I believe his/her name was Tiger. We are still not clear on any of the little buggers' genders.) Day 4 also brought good news that we had a home for them if we can just keep them for a week. We've already had them 4 days, what is a few more?

Day 6 found one more kitten with a new home thanks to a posting on a large company's website here in town (not sure of the kitten's name, I think it was Salt and yes there is a Pepper). So on Day 7, we are confident that we can hang on for 4 more days until the remaining 3 have a home.
Again...we are not cat people, but these kittens are pretty darn cute!!!

(There is one more gray one who is not in the picture.)

Graduation Day

We knew it was coming, but who knew it would get here so quickly!!!
Allison, who has had a case of senioritis for many months, finally was
put out of her misery when she graduated on May 30th! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The day before graduation, there was an open house to celebrate all of her accomplishments and wish her good luck. Cupcakes were the order of the day,
and we had plenty (thank you Grandma Solly!!! :-) Also, guests had the choice of different frostings and toppings. YUM! It was a pretty, and tasty treat. Grandma and Grandpa Rietz came to celebrate, as well, as Aunt Dawn and Grandma Solly (already mentioned above.)


Graduation day dawned and after a morning at church, it was time to head to the events center to grab our seats. We sat in just about the right spot, and had a great view of Allison receiving her diploma. She and Sheri, a woman from our ward, and a school board member are a little blurry, but its clear enough to know what it means!!! No more High School! On to bigger and better things.


Becky, Allison, Chelsie and Kaitlyn all marched in together. You can't see their feet in any of the pictures, but if you could, you would have seen them wearing these sweet shoes. Beautiful!














So, here's a memorable part of the day...
We were sitting in the events center waiting for the ceremony to start, and waiting for two friends who said they were coming. (That should have made me suspicious, who wants to go to someone's graduation who is not part of your family??? :-) Anyway, we were sitting there, and I happened to turn around, and who do I see coming down the stairs? Its our own Chelsie. In living color!!! Close behind was Dallin, who flew her up to Seattle for the weekend. They also spent a little time in Coeur d'Alene with members of his family, and then showed up at Graduation! It was a wonderful surprise, to say the least.








When asked for quote about her graduation weekend, Allison had this to say. "Yay!" Profound, don't you think?