Fall Campin'

So excited to get a last camping trip in this summer - and kind of bummed we only camped twice this whole summer. BUT we headed to one of my favorite camping spots - Cassini Ranch at the Russian River.

Here are some photos to highlight the trip....

Riley and his new friend, Jodi frolicking in the river.

Brian and I floating on a raft in the river....just like old times. Too bad Brennan jumped off Brian's back when the camera was pulled out - would have made for an even better photo.

Group family photo snapshot - last day of camping and in huge need of a shower.

Of course, Brennan couldn't be serious for a nice photo for 2 seconds, but it's still a cute picture.

My boy looking cute in a visor.

Top 5 Memories from the Weekend

1. Riley being such a good boy

2. Jumping off the rock into the river

3. Playing Racko (brings back old memories!) and Pusoy Dos

4. Jodi getting on the table, sticking her head in the bag of Tostitos and eating as fast as possible

5. The ratio of 4:1 dogs to people at the beach on Saturday

I Scream, You Scream...

We all scream for ICE CREAM!

A few weeks ago I was inspired to put our Ice Cream Maker to use, since we've only used it once since we got it as a wedding gift and the ice cream didn't turn out so well. I searched the Internet high and low for a good recipe, but settled on an Alton Brown recipe from an episode of Good Eats which I watched a while back.

First, I melted the chocolate with the cream (yes, this was not a light recipe) and the malted milk powder (mmmm!).

Then, I mixed up the custard (egg and sugar).
After that, I tempered the custard with the chocolate cream and cooled it in an ice bath until it was at least 40 degrees. Why was I so specific and diligent with this? I think the first ice cream attempt a couple years ago was a failure because I didn't let the mixture cool enough.

Then, I turned on the ol' Ice Cream machine...but not until the freezing cylinder sat in the freezer over night.

After about 20 minutes, the ice cream started to form and that's when I put the chopped Whoppers in....I love Malts and so I tried to recreate the flavor. Yum, yum!

We quite enjoyed the homemade ice cream. Next, I'm looking for a good frozen yogurt or low fat ice cream recipe....any to share?

Gobble, Gobble

I'll apologize in advance, but I have some much delayed foodie blogs to post...but had some technical difficulties with losing the camera USB cord and our card reader on the laptop isn't working properly....

......and we're off!

I'm whipping out some of the yummy Fall comfort food recipes and a couple of weeks ago I made my favorite Turkey Meatloaf recipe - compliments of Ina Garten. This meatloaf is healthy and flavorful. If you're in the mood for some comfort food, but are trying to cut back on the red meat, I highly recommend this recipe! Brian loves it, too - but he calls it Turkey Onion Meatloaf Mound.

Recipe can be found online here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/turkey-meatloaf-recipe/index.html

BTW, I cut this into fourths since I don't typically feed an army of people and because most ground turkey at the store comes in 1.25lb packages.

The leaves are a-changin'...

..well, not really, but it is the first day of Fall. Although we don't have things like SNOW and changing ASPENS in San Francisco, we still have lots to look forward to as we move into Fall.

Gina's Favorite Things About Fall

1. The beautiful leaves

2. Hoodies and fleeces

3. Comfort food

4. Beating men who care about fantasy football way too much at their own game (and by putting in very little effort)

5. Indian Summer

6. Starbucks holiday drinks

7. Thanksgiving

8. TV Premieres

9. Christmas shopping

10. Flea season ends

Brian's Favorite Things About Fall

1. Snowboarding season kicks off

2. Paid holidays at work

3. Football

Denver or Bust!

Oh, Denver - we came to visit and you made us MISS YOU!

This weekend was spent visiting friends from D-town - and boy was it time well spent. We miss our life in Denver - easy commutes, very little traffic and very few crowds, affordable housing, cheaper gas, fantastic weather, our condo, our neighbors, Riley's dog friends, the dog park, Super Target, Hobby Lobby, and most of all our Denver friends.

Weekend Agenda:

Flew in Thursday night, where our weekend chauffeur #1, Katie was awaiting our arrival at DIA....headed to Super Target for pretzels for pretzel necklaces for Friday's Beer Fest. Ordered pizza, had a few beers and great conversation with Katie, Brian and Susan...

Friday, got a full day of work in at the Denver office - while Brian slept in and lunched with an old work friend. Had yummy Spicy Basil with Charlie and Lisa for lunch, got to see the old office mates, including Sarah and her super cute baby bump, and then got ready to walk to The Great American Beer Festival. Ordered sandwiches from Snarf's for dinner, ate them in line for GABF with Katie, Brian, Michael, Lacey, Austin and Charlie. Had SO MUCH FUN at GABF

We had to get our "big Brian" and "not as big Brian" photo in, of course.
Charlie and Austin, looking as adorable as always - adorned with super heavy pretzel necklaces.

The gals hanging out at GABF - Apricot Lager was our fave.

Katie and Brian got on the beer shot-ski bandwagon at the Rock Bottom Brewery booth.

The best group photo we got of the four of us - but still missing Charlie and Austin!

Then, on Saturday morning we headed to Racine's for breakfast with the crew - Lisa, Sienna, Jeff, Katie Green who was in town from Atlanta coincidentally, and Katie and Brian. Next up, Katie drove us up for a walk thru of our condo. The condo is in GREAT shape with responsible tenants who are keeping it super clean. Phew! Katie (the other Katie!) and Erik then took the hand offs and played the part of chauffeur #2. Katie, baby Brenden and I spent the day leisurely outlet shopping, while the boys ate Marco's Hot Dogs and watched football ALL DAY LONG (and all night long, too!). Katie and Erik cooked a tasty feast and Sara came down from Boulder for dinner, too. One of the best parts of the trip up to Longmont was the QT with Brenden! What a precious boy - we love him! Nothing beats a happy, smiley baby. This feeding escapade was much easier than the baby food and rice cereal I fed him for dinner and for breakfast, which mostly ended up on his face or on his bib. Brian enjoyed standing behind me telling me how to feed him....little did Brian know, which he realized once he got his turn, it's not as easy as you'd think!

A's vs. Red Sox

Jess had free tickets to the A's vs. Red Sox game on Friday night (thanks, Jon!) so we headed out to the Oakland Coliseum after work on BART to meet up. AMAZING seats! 20 rows behind home plate. Although, I have to say, I spent most of the game chatting with Jess vs. watching the game. Oopsies....but Brian enjoyed the view.

Of course, when you try to get some good photos, the boys have to be funny men. This would make for a great Christmas card.

Surprise, Surprise

Wednesday was brother man's birthday - the big 2-6. His girlfriend, Lindsay threw him a surprise party at Rocco's Pizza in the WC. I hear he was quite the pain in the you know what in getting him to agree to go to Rocco's for dinner, too.

I tried to capture the surprise on film - it's kind of a close up, but he looks happy and surprised...and 26.

Here he is blowing out the fake candles on his cake. Yep, we staged this.

I snapped a photo of the two brothers and an unofficial brother from another mother.

Labor Day River Fun

I am behind on the blogging but I figured better late than never. We've been busy beavers this past week and a half.

Our Labor Day weekend was pretty laid back - went shopping for some work clothes for Brian - great sale at Mens Wearhouse. He got two sportcoats, two pairs of slacks and two dress shirts - gotta love BOGO. Hung out with some friends - got to drink some wine with the girls, Jess, Cat and Andra at Cat and Andra's new pad - super cute place! BBQ'd with Josh and Kristen where they grilled up some delicious kababs - chicken, steak, bell peppers, yellow squash, brussel sprouts, green onions, etc. - yum, yum.

Best of all, we rented a canoe at the Russian River and took Riley on an 8 mile trip down the river. Our friends Lisa and Adam (and their dog, Banjo) came, too!

Here are some snapshots of our fun day.

Riley chilling on the front of the canoe - very tired after swimming down the river, running on the shore, and soaking up the sun on the canoe.

Here we are on our canoe - Riley was just getting used to it, still staying close to us. About an hour into it, he took off and was in and out of the boat all day, no longer afraid of the scary canoe.
Here's the Lazarus fam, enjoying the sun. Riley and Banjo were the best of dog friends back in Colorado so we were excited for the doggie reunion after 3 years.

Finally!

Finally, a good summer read! Another recommendation from the old Denver book club. I have never read anything by Jonathan Tropper, but I thoroughly enjoyed This Is Where I Leave you. So much so that I've already picked out two more of his books for my Amazon Wish List.

The book is hilarious, but also has a dark undertone...it's a great family dynamic read.

Delish!

Yesterday, Brian and I attended an impromptu Labor Day barbeque at Josh & Kristen’s. We were tasked with bringing dessert and since we were at my parents’ house and not our own house, I wasn’t sure what to make and didn’t want to bring something store bought. I remembered the lone bag of Granny Smiths on the counter…asked my dad if he’d peel and core them….and decided on a twist to Jayme’s Apple Crumble Recipe….

Apple Crumble

For the filling:
5 - 6 cups sliced peeled apples
½ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tspn cinnamon
½ tspn nutmeg

For the topping:
1 ¼ cups Bisquick
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup melted butter
½ tspn cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie plate or an 8x8 Pyrex dish or another similar sized oven safe dish.

Combine the sliced apples with the other filling ingredients – stir well until all ingredients are incorporated. Pour apple filling into baking dish.

In a small bowl, mix Bisquick, sugar, egg and cinnamon until combined. Drop crumbles of dough onto the apples until well covered. Drizzle melted butter evenly over crumble.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or cold, with or without ice cream. Yum, yum!