Yesterday was my Dad’s birthday so I spent the afternoon with him. We did a little shopping–the Grocery Outlet, and Reser’s Fine Foods factory store in Beaverton, Oregon. Then we went to Azteca Mexican Restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner. We got there at around 4:00, and we were practically the only ones in the place! I have always gotten good food there, but this meal was just OK. For Mexican food, it actually was a little bland. Even the salsa was too mild for me… Then we went back to my Dad’s house, and I got a few clothes that I had stored there (I have a lot of clothes that I didn’t want to get rid of, but did not have room for in the coach, so I am storing them at his house), then came home. Kevin said the cat had been meowing all day to go out, so I took him out a couple of times. That was about it for the day.
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Today was another rainy, cold “inside” day, so I decided to do some baking. I had found this recipe, so I thought it would be fun to try it. I made one batch, just like the directions stated, but they were just not quite right. Plus I think my flour was a bit old, so the flour flavor was very strong. After reading some of the comments of the recipe, I made a new batch with fresh flour and some of the tips from others who have tried this recipe. I added about 3 tablespoons of butter to the liquid ingredients, and let the dough proof for 2 hours, instead of 30 minutes. There was a vast improvement in the taste and the texture of the pretzels. The dough came together easily–the hardest part was rolling out the chunks of dough into thin ropes. As you can see from the picture, they came out a little fat–they should be thinner to be more pretzely. I would definitely make these again, though, with the changes I made the second time around.
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I don’t have much to say about today, since we did nothing but go to Wal-Mart all day. I have not talked much about my little jewelry shop for awhile, so I thought I would mention it again. Here are some samples of my early work, but there are lots of designs on my website Expedition Jewelry. I have necklaces and bracelets for sale. They are all my own designs, and hand made, by me. I use lots of Czech glass, other glass beads, lots of freshwater pearls, and some genuine stone. I make them mostly for fun, but I have made more jewelry than I can possibly ever wear or give as gifts, so I sell them for very reasonable prices–just enough to cover the cost of the materials so that I can keep buying more beads:)
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Well, we had a couple of days of fairly nice weather, but it is raining again now…and it has been cold. We are paying electricity above our site rental, so we are trying to conserve. We aren’t exactly freezing, but it is definitely colder than we would like. It is probably normal weather for this area, but we are ready for spring. We want to do some day trips to see the area we are staying in, but the rain keeps us inside, so we haven’t seen much of the area outside of the town of Woodburn even though we have been here for almost a week now.
In this park(as well as most of those we will stay in), pets, including cats, must be on a leash if outside. I have been taking the cat out every day a few times a day to get him some exercise and some fresh air. Sometimes he does really well, sometimes he doesn’t. If I just take him out the door of the coach, he just wants to stay near our site and sniff. If I take him somewhere(like the pet area here), he usually does fairly well, unless he is scared by someone or something. The only thing is he does not know how to get back home if I carry him too far, so he does not like to be carried back home. So what do I do? Let him just sit, or make him walk. I really think he needs some exercise, but if every time he goes out he is terrified, it seems kind of mean. I tried to tie him on a rope so I don’t have to stand outside for so long, but he just runs under the coach and jumps up into the machinery. Then I am worried he will jump down the other way and choke himself. I worry the whole time he is out by himself, so I might as well be out there with him…
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My grandmother lives in Tigard, about 20 miles north of Woodburn. Today I spent the day with her. I picked her up at about noon and we went to Costco. She doesn’t have a Costco card, so she likes to go when I am around. We then stopped at a few garage sales. We did not find many–I guess it is a little early in the season, plus it was raining off and on all day long. I did find a decent cork board for 50 cents, and a cook book for a quarter. After awhile, we went to Applebees for dinner. She had gotten a gift card from someone and wanted to use it up. She had baby back ribs, and I had their riblets. It was OK, and not too busy because we went very early–like around 4pm. We visited for a little while more, then I took her home. I haven’t spent a day alone with my grandma for a very long time–usually my Mom is with us, too, but she is still in Arizona for another month or so. We had a very nice day, and we are planning to spend a weekend at her beach house in a couple of weeks.
When I got home, Kevin said the cat had been meowing to go out for a long time, so I took him out, but he seemed frightened, so we didn’t stay out very long.
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A while back when we were at the RV show, we saw someone demonstrating this salsa. I tried it, and it was really good, so I bought a can for $20. I bought the hot, but it is also available in mild. The first time I made it, I followed the directions on the can–one can of petite diced tomatoes and one scoop of mix. Then I decided to adjust it a bit for my taste. I only use about 2/3 scoop of mix, some powdered garlic, some fresh cilantro, and some lime juice, along with the can of tomatoes. It is very tasty salsa, and fast and easy to make. Plus it makes a fairly small amount per batch, so there is no waste. I would definitely buy it again.
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We did a lot of cleaning and organizing in the coach this morning. Then my Dad came down to visit. We walked over to the Factory Stores mall and wandered around for awhile. Kevin got a couple new hats, Dad bought some shirts, and we also got some pretzels from Auntie Anne’s. Overall, we weren’t that impressed with the outlet aspect of the factory stores, although the mall itself is very nice. Then we went to Izzy’s Pizza for their buffet dinner. We then followed my Dad back up to his house to drop off some of the extra stuff that we have been carrying around for months.
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