Meyer Lemon Margaritas

We squeezed (no pun intended) these in a few weekends ago at the very end of Meyer Lemon season. After a day at the Seattle Aquarium (post coming soon), Oscar and I relaxed with some Meyer Lemon margaritas. It was the perfect ending to a sunny day downtown. YUM!

Meyer Lemon Margarita

1/2 oz. fresh Meyer Lemon juice

1 1/2 oz. good quality Tequila
1 oz. Cointreau
Kosher salt for rimming glass

1. Rub the rim of a glass with a Meyer lemon slice. Swirl the rim through a small pile of kosher to salt the rim.
2. Put the Meyer lemon juice, tequila, and triple sec in a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake for 15 seconds.
3. Put a few cubes of ice in your glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass and enjoy!

Ozzie's First Art Work

Here is the first of many folks. He painted this shamrock at a St. Patrick's Day play date. He hated every second of it. Call him pretentious but he hates dirty hands. So immediately after touching the paint he wanted his hands cleaned. I had to force encourage him to paint his shamrock.

I can not wait to have a house filled with his artwork!

Mommy's Little Helper

In order to keep the house clean or clean enough, I've created a schedule for myself where I accomplish a few chores around the house everyday. It usually takes me no more than 30 minutes and I get to spend the rest of the day playing with Ozzie; not to mention my weekends are free to enjoy time with Oscar. I love my cleaning schedule, it basically keeps me sane.

Lately Ozzie has decided that he wants to help Mommy complete here chores. You bet I gave him his own floor duster and let him at it. After all, this will only last for so long; soon enough I'll be nagging at Ozzie to help clean house.

After our chores, we decided to have some whole wheat banana bread as a snack. Ozzie took his outside. I have no idea why he chose to eat it by the fence but I thought he was funny enough for a picture.

A little dirt makes banana bread taste even better.

Here he is coming to ask me for more. He realizes about half way to me that I will tell him to finish what he has on his plate first and quickly shoves it in his mouth. So predictable!

Sweeping floors makes a hungry helper!

Spring?

We have been extremely fortunate with a mild winter here in Seattle; or dare I say an early Spring? Now that I have said, err typed, that out loud it will probably snow buckets tomorrow. I am hoping not because I have so been enjoying the Spring weather.

Our plum trees bloomed in late February and Oscar caught a shot of a pretty little birdie sitting in one of our trees. He may just be staring right back at us.

Another sign that Spring has sprung in Seattle are the pussy willow branches that we picked up at the Farmer's Market last weekend. I am not sure what I will do with them yet but for now they are keeping another birdie company in the living room.

I can't tell you how happy these furry little buds make me.

Next up, planting Spring vegetables in our garden- I can't wait!

Play Dates

We have had a very busy March so far with countless play dates, trips to the aquarium, the Little Gym and a visit from my favorite nephew. Needless to say I have been ignoring my blog. My apologies. But when Ozzie is having this much fun, how can I turn these events down?

Jammin' on the piano at a play date

I promise to return soon with more pictures from our adventures.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

My Aunt Lori makes the best banana bread. Our entire family gobbles it up whenever she makes it. It is sinfully delicious but like every other dreamy treat, its not too good for you. So when she emailed me a whole wheat banana bread recipe I had to give it a try and made two loaves for our Valentine play date. The kids and mommies raved about it!

Aunt Lori's Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 cups mashed bananas, about 4 medium (I added one more for more moisture)
½ cups coarsely chopped nuts (I omitted the nuts because of the kiddos)
2/3 cup vegetable oil (try substituting coconut oil for a healthier treat)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp banana extract (this is Aunt Lori's secret ingredient- the extract really helps the flavor)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of 2 (8 x 4 in) loaf pans with cooking spray.

In large bowl, beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 45 seconds, scraping bowl frequently. Pour batter into pans.

Bake 50 to 65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool 2 hours before slicing.

Enjoy!

Aloha

I just finished booking our Hawaiian vacation for later this year. Sigh.

I will be sipping cocktails while enjoying this sunset view in just a few months....