Friday Night Book Club

 Since, I have had kids it's hard for me to finish a book. I start a book but never finish. Rachel asked E and I if we would be interested in a book club. Of course, I jumped on it. Now, I actually will have to finish a book!

Last night was our first book club. Rachel hosted the first one. We are meeting once a quarter. There are six girls, my sisters and three of our friends. We read the book by Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter. I thought the book was ok. Don't get me wrong, I like Maya Angelou. This book was short stories about her life experiences. It was an easy read.

The best part of the book club was getting together with the other ladies, just discussing life, kids, growing up, etc, etc. Of course, there was great food and wine. We did not leave Rachel's until after 10:30pm, way past my bedtime. 

We did not decide on another book for next time we meet. We are suppose to make suggestions in the next week. So, if you have read any good books lately please let me  know.

Have a great weekend!

Mexican Monday

If you are like me, Sunday I start to think about what I am going to prepare for the week. That is meals, of course. I love trying new recipes but have a lot of old favorites also. After the curry incident last week,  I'm a little insecure with my cooking. 

So, I decided to make quesillada's for dinner last night. I have not made them for along time, in fact I can't remember the last time. They are so easy to make and you can really make them to your own liking. I started out with onion and green peppers threw in some spices set that aside. Then I lightly cooked corn and black beans with spices. Then cooked up some chicken. I used pepper jack cheese and there you go. It was great to let the kids choose what they wanted in their tortilla. Serve it up with rice, salsa, light sour cream and fresh avocado!

Well, it was a hit at the Buckman household last night! Everyone thought that mom made a great meal! In fact, Ron said that we need to have these at least once a week. Whew, I still got it!

Curry or not to curry

I love to cook and to try new recipes. Throughout the week, I try to make yummy, tasty meals. Cooking is a stress reliever for me. As, you know my mother is a fabulous Indian cook. So, of course, I have tried several times to make curry at home. For whatever reason, my curry does not taste like the curry that she makes. 

I have been craving some good curry and so has T-buddy. He LOVES curry and would eat it for breakfast if you let him. I found a recipe for Kashmiri Chicken it looked simple and delicious.  I attempted to make it Wednesday night for dinner. It looked good and smelled like my moms house when she cooks Indian. 

As, I served it up for the family, everyone was excited. It looked so good and tasty. Well, it wasn't! No one liked it, even my master curry taster T-buddy.  Mr. B ended up making a frozen pizza!  I was so upset, I told the family they need to go to Ammachi's for curry or we will have to go out to eat. Mom is done attempting to make Indian food!

I am understanding, that you cannot just whip up curry after work. It does take all day long to prepare! I now understand my moms words "I have been cooking all day". Because she really has been cooking all day! 

I guess, I will be at my mom's soon for Indian cooking 101. I hope that I can learn to make fantastic Indian meals, as my mom does. 

Valentine's Date

Saturday night, we went to Forepaughs with the Young's for our Valentines dinner. It was FABULOUS! Everything was perfect - from the drinks to the desserts. It is such a beautiful place with a nice intimate setting. It was a nice change of pace from the usual place we go on Valentines - which I also love!

We started out with drinks, Ron ordered a MN beer and I had the Hearts Desire. The Hearts Desire is Presceo with cranberry juice, lemon and edible flowers - very tasty! We split an appetizer -Poutine. It sounds weird but very good, french fries, cheese curds in a spicy sauce with gravy. All four of us had the Waldorf Salad, so good. The honey that was in it was amazing. I know that's weird but that was my favorite thing about the salad. I had the beef short ribs and Ron had the pan seared walleye. Once again, very tasty! We finished with an interesting dessert of a  meringe shell filled with chocolate mousse topped truffles, candies and a pomegrante essence that you drizzled on top.

It was a great evening filled with wonderful food, ambiance and great conversation. Oh, and to top it off we received yummy Valentine treats from my sister! Thanks! 

I forgot my camera so you will have to check out my sisters blog for all the fancy pics of the evening. I hope that each of you had a wonderful Valentines with your special one.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I'm so excited that it's Saturday and even more excited that it's  Valentines! I just love Valentines because of all the yummy baking that I get to do( its like christmas again) and of course spend time with my loved ones!

 I just LOVE red velvet cake! I wanted to do something with it besides cake or cupcakes. I found a great recipe on Foodnetwork - Red Velvet Cookies! So easy and yummy! Mira and Ron just loved them! Tyler does not have a sweet tooth.

Tonight, we are going to Forepaughs for dinner! The last few years for Valentines we have gone with Rachel and Brian to WA frost. We are changing it a bit this year. More to come on our Romantic dinner.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Mira lost her first tooth!

Well, yesterday morning Mira woke up and she lost her first tooth! How exciting! She has been such a sport about the whole thing. For weeks she has been wiggling it and on Sunday she let Ron try to pull it out. Well, it did not want to come out. Finally, it just came out yesterday morning. She was so excited! We put it in a baggie and under her pillow. We will find out this morning how much $$$ the tooth fairy brought her.

Rain Man

As we settled in for the evening last night we were flipping channels. PBS was featuring Rain Man. I have not seen that movie for about 20 years. Nor, I have seen it since I found out 7 years ago that my son, Tyler was diagnosed with Autism. Ron and I started to watch the movie. I watched Rain Man with such a different perspective and emotion than I had 20 years.

 Now, I am the one who has a child like this! If I allowed myself, I would have cried throughout the whole movie. Of course, there were parts that we laughed at and could totally relate. The one thing that made me so sad was in the movie when Charlie was saying to himself, I know you are in there Raymond, I know who are in there somewhere. Then Ron, piped in and said there are so many times when I say that about Tyler, where is my son?! That broke my heart.

Please don't get me wrong, I am not trying to have a pity party. I am thankful each day, that I have a healthy child, that can walk, talk, enjoy life, laugh, cry, loves music, school, sports,  plays with his sister and cousins. It is just moments like last night, where I see my son's life just a little different then someone elses. 

I wonder what the future holds for Tyler? Each day we see such progress! We are thankful for the school that Tyler goes to, the resources through the community and the support of our family and friends.

Eleven years ago, we were given a beautiful baby boy. Who has grown up to be almost as tall as his mother and still growing! His idol is Bono of the band U2, he loves sports, computers, video games, etc. He has 2 parents that love him and advocate for him every day! Tyler you are amazing and know that you have the biggest fans cheering for you everyday - mom and dad!

The Weekend

I am so happy that it is Saturday.  And we have nothing going on this weekend!! I feel as though we have been busy since the holidays. Wasn't it just New Years now Valentines is around the corner? Tyler actually is the busy guy this weekend. He spent last night  at his Aunt Trisha's house (Ron's sister). They are going to go bowling and then out to eat for his bday. He is lucky to have such a nice auntie.  Both Ron and I have wonderful sisters who love to spend time with our kids!

Of course, Mira is feeling left out that her big brother gets a special day with his aunt. So, yesterday she asked me - can we do something special? So, someone will be going out to lunch today with her parents after we get an oil change.

I hope that this weekend is refreshing and relaxing for all!