Valentine's Day and Ebelskivers

Hal writes:

First, a couple of pictures from a Valentine's Day breakfast that Anna made for me. Here are some heart shaped pancakes.

Maple pecan scones. Since Anna and I don't each HFCS and other preservatives, she made the maple drizzle and scones from scratch.

In addition to scones and pancakes, some breakfast potatoes and homemade blackberry jam.

When we were in Spokane I had some ebelskivers for breakfast at a European style bakery. Evelskivers are similar to small, round pancakes that have a variety of toppings and fillings. After some searching, I was able to find an ebelskiver pan.


Some of the ingredients used while making the ebelskivers.


Similar to crepes, the first batch does not cook evenly. But once the pan was heated there were some nice golden brown treats.


An example of some of the toppings: blackberries, creme cheese, maple syrup, and cinnamon apples. You can also back the various ingredients inside the ebelskivers. If you visit us in Washington, we'll make you some.

WA Capitol and Cheese Making

Hal writes:

We are a couple of posts behind, so I am trying to get in a couple while borrowing some Internet access from our friends. We're currently visiting Nils and Emily (Anna and Emily are making cupcakes for a friend's birthday) so I am using the opportunity to catch up.

A couple weekend's ago Anna and I went with our friend Molly to Olympia to get some ingredients to make change chesse from a local co-op. In addition to taking in some pizza from an 80s themed restaurant we decided to take a tour of the state capitol.



Poor George had a cold, so Anna was helping him out. You might be able to see the change in color on his nose from people rubbing it as they walk by.

Anna had many pictures documenting the cheese making process, but since I wasn't present during the creation, I only put two photos up. Molly and Anna decided to mozzarella for their first cheese making adventure.

Spokane

Anna writes:

Since our drive to Washington a year and half ago when we drove through just 60 BEAUTIFUL miles of the panhandle of Idaho, we have wanted to go back and explore the mountains. But it's about a 5 or 6 hour drive and we just haven't taken the time to do. So, when Southwest had a HUGE sale this fall and we could get tickets to fly to Spokane for $25 each way, we thought this was our chance! We had tentative plans to spend a little time in Spokane, and then go into Idaho for some skiing/snowshoeing/winter adventures. Until, that is, I fell downhill skiing a few days after Christmas and tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus of my left knee, and I resigned myself to no more adventures this winter. We decided to go anyway and just extend our time in Spokane. It was a gray, dreary weekend, so we may not have seen the city in it's full splendor, but we did have a good time relaxing. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Riverfront Park:



We also really enjoyed seeing Ali, a friend of Hal's from college, and her husband Tyler. We had a great dinner, and a great time catching up. Hope to see them again soon!

I have surgery for my knee scheduled March 31, as the doctor wants to let my MCL heal on it's own before doing the ACL reconstruction. He'll check out the meniscus when he's in doing the ACL and see what needs to happen with it at that point. For now, I am wearing a big brace on my left leg, and use one crutch to take some of the weight off of it, but am getting around well. I am still working, and modifying most of my activities pretty well for the kids. My right leg does get a work out though, as I am doing one legged jumping jacks ("half-jacks"), one legged hopping, and lots of on and off the floor with one quad doing the work! I will be glad to have the surgery, and even more glad after several months of rehab when I can get back to normal activities.