Volcano in Iceland

Just found these fascinating photos online taken by Vilhelm Gunnarsson. It's horrible how many flying passengers are stranded, quite scary! Kristen and I are hoping everything calms down before we leave for France. They say it's a toss-up and are waiting for either all the snow to melt or the magma to run out. Apparently the combination of the glacier and the magma touching each other is creating this huge electric thunderstorm. I think I would find it more fascinating  if I knew I wasn't flying in 6 weeks. :( Please keep the people near the volcano and the travelers in your prayers and hope for less ash so we can all travel!

Tinginys

Tinginys: This dessert is from Lithuania and definitely one for the sweet tooth. It's a really simple recipe, just broken shortbread cookies that have a sauce (sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder & butter) dripped over them. It doesn't even require baking, just chilling in the fridge. After testing it out on my roommates and friends I realized you either love it or hate it. Overall a tasty recipe. 

Butter Tarts

Butter Tarts: This recipe is from Canada. My best friend from high school, Alex is actually Canadian (she is a citizen of the US and Canada) and her mom makes this all the time. They're quite sweet and filling. I was full after just one tiny one.

Bella Cucina

My parents got me a Bella Cucina for Christmas and it's finally warm enough to break it out! I'm a smoothie lover and when it gets warm I almost make them every other day. It's always really simple, just some spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt, oj & whatever frozen or fresh fruit I have on hand. Last night I washed off my "bella" and made a mango raspberry smoothie. It's so simple, I drink out of the same cup it was made in and then I only have to clean two pieces: the blade and the cup!

3 down 7 to go!

Avocado Smoothie: This recipe was from India. All it called for was an avocado, a glass of milk and some sugar. It didn't quite have much flavor but I think Mom managed to drink it! It proved very tricky to photograph the cup though!  

Pelau: This recipe is from Trinidad and Tobago, where my dad's secretary grew up. I actually received this recipe from his secretary and a friend from school so I imagine it's quite a popular dish. It's sort of like a rice stew with kidney beans, chicken and tomatoes. It's also up to the chef to decide on what sort of seasonings you prefer and how much, so that was fun to experiment with. 

Lis-san el qua-thi: This eggplant wrapped ground beef is from Iraq. I've never bought eggplant before and am embarrassed to admit that when looking for it in the grocery store I was searching through the lettuce heads. My sister laughed and pointed me to my right at what appeared to be a bloated brown cucumber. I planned to make it saturday before Easter, but ended up procrastinating this recipe.  Instead of baking what would be the 9th recipe we ordered Pagliacci pizza and took a break from the kitchen. Little did I know lis-san el qua-thi actually takes 3 hours!! My consequence for procrastinating was waking up early Easter morning to start it before we we went to service. Then after service I finished cooking before we headed over to Penny's for an afternoon/evening Easter meal. 

I have about 7 recipes left, four of them being dessert! The number seems to keep rising though, as I've still been receiving recipes. My goal is to have a recipe from everything continent (minus Antarctica). So far I have every continent except South America, but I'm still looking! More to come :)

Horseback riding and Tulip Fields

This morning I ventured about an hour north to Katie's ranch/farm in Arlington. At PLU she lives in the duplex connected to mine and will be moving in with Kristen and I in June! Katie invited me to go horseback riding with her parents for the day. I had such a fun time. I helped load all the saddles, bridles and blankets into their huge horse trailer and then brushed and cleaned the hooves of the horses to get them ready for riding. After a brief test ride in their arena to see if I felt comfortable with Chad (Katie's Dad's horse--the calmest one) we loaded the horses in the trailer and drove to the trailhead. We went riding for a little bit, some sunshine, some rain. It was fun, I haven't been riding since my camp days at Wilderness Ranch in Canada. It can definitely make you a tad envious of children who grew up on ranches. 


After riding and unloading the horse we drove to the Tulip Fields which are beautifully in bloom this time of year. Being a week day and slightly drizzly we were pleased the find the fields fairly vacant, minus the workers picking tulips. I've never seen that aspect and it was a little strange to see these migrant workers working while we're admiring the tulips. I almost felt bad like I should start picking and stop admiring. We each bought a batch of tulips and headed down the road to a little ice cream market where they make their own waffle cones. Despite the fact that it was windy and freezing we still got ice cream and hurried back to the car to eat it in warmth.  


Overall a very fun day up North :)