The Adventures of a Calamari Queen – Page 52 – Christian, Wife, Mommy, Homemaker, Retired nurse, Fur-mama,living a simple and minimal life!

Apple Picking!

I’ve always wanted to experience Apple Picking for the last couple of years since I’ve been here in WA, but for whatever reason Zach and I didn’t do it. This year I was determined to do it as part of our “fall bucketlist” and we are so glad we did, because it was so much fun. It’s safe to say it’s going to be a fall tradition for us. Zach found a family owned farm in Sedro-Wooley WA (Jones Creek Farm) and their apples are organic too. We had to travel for almost 2 hours just to get there, but it was worth it. It wasn’t that bad and Riley was so good the whole time. We are so proud of him! He loves it whenever we bring him with us. He had so much fun at the farm, sniffing everything, running around and helping us pick our apples. We picked 20 pounds of Apples, and we already baked some (we just made Apple Pie Cake last night) and we are thinking of making apple sauce also, and will probably juice the rest of our harvest.

Slow-Cooker Beef and Potato stew!

It’s officially fall here in the Pacific North West, with the rain and the wind out there, summer is gone. With the weather like this, I for sure will make a lot of stew and soup dishes in the coming weeks. I subscribe to Rachael Ray’s magazine, ‘Everyday with Racheal Ray’ and this recipe looks so easy and has basic pantry ingredients. The Hubs thinks the dish was okay and didn’t care for the stew so much (he likes thicker stew) but I liked it and will most definitely make this again. I used my Le Creuset instead of my crockpot. I had a busy day yesterday and it was just too late to use the crockpot.

Recipe from Everyday eith Rachael Ray (october 2013) — Recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray (october 2013)

Seattle Sounders!

A couple of weeks ago the Hubs and I watched The Sounders vs Chivas USA soccer game in Seattle. Zach used to play soccer but not anymore. Before the game, we had dinner with Zach’s co-workers at this yummy beer and sandwich joint ( I can’t remember the name now, but it was a really tasty place). It was our first time to watch a Sounders game and it was so much fun. We totally had a great time and we decided to watch another game next month. I wish we still had the NBA/ Sonics playing here. I would be watching their games for sure! Basketball is my favorite sport to watch. BTW, Sounders won!

Thank You to Zach’s co-worker that gave us this sounders scarf!:)

celebrations after the game — celebration after the game

Washington State Fair!

Washington State Fair (formerly known as The Puyallup Fair) is the biggest fair and the busiest fair in the state. We always try to visit every year, and it’s always so much fun every time. We made it a family affair with my In-Laws. It’s always nice to do that kind of thing with them because they enjoy walking around the exhibits too. As usual, we ate too much fair food for the day! We watched some dog and horse shows (dogs were too cute, too bad Riley couldn’t join us). Until next year WSF!

Today

It was a beautiful summer day today here in the PNW, and I spent some time in our small garden, and “harvested” some of our tomatoes, kale, strawberries, and basil that I plan to use this week. This is my second year in gardening and I’m happy with how my tomato plants are producing (last year was a fail). I don’t eat raw tomatoes but I don’t mind eating tomato based dishes (weird I know!). I plan to use it for pasta or mixed it in salads for my husband.

The Hubs and I went to the seafood market today and got some crabmeat, blue marlin and my fave umami sauce (mixture of mayonnaise,sriracha,lemon,soysauce). It was one tasty dinner we had!

Grilled blue marlin reminds me of the Philippines so much. We eat a lot of this fish back home (malasugue in bisayan)

Summer 2013!

I finally have the time to blog after the crazy and fun filled summer we’ve had here. I had my sisters visiting us from New Zealand and Hawaii (different times though), with their visits we also travelled but I’m not complaining because I like to travel. We went to NYC, Vegas, and Canada. I’m so glad my sisters were able to see Seattle with some beautiful weather, it was sunny and blue skies. I will be sharing more of our family vacations in the coming weeks. I miss my family so much, so it was great to be spending some quality time with them. I thank God for the opportunity that our families were able to travel and get to hang out with us.

Wicked with my sisters! Love the show so much:)

Our family from HI also visited us, we went to Leavenworth and Vancouver Canada!

Mothers Day 2013

We celebrated Mothers Day with my Mom In Law’s side of the family. We had hotdogs and grilled chicken/fruit kabobs(that I forgot to take pictures). Every mothers day we go to my husbands grandmother’s house. I love her yard, so spacious and lots of pretty flowers like Lilacs tree. She said if we want we can get as much as we can,so of course I asked the hubs to “pick” enough to bring home with us. He didn’t disappoint! The house looks like a florist shop right now but I love it..hehe..smells so good right now because of the lilacs. Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there, especially to my Mom and MIL Kathy, both whom I admired and look up to.

Riley thinks it's pretty too — Riley thinks it’s pretty too

Another pretty flower from Grandmas garden

Birthdays

Last week we celebrated my Parent In-Laws birthday’s (they decided to combine their b-day celebrations). We had hamburgers and a yummy cake. It was a relaxing time. I’m truly blessed in the In-Laws department because we honestly get along very well.

Gardening

Nursery date with MIL,she helped me picked these pretties

The weather here in the PNW is just gorgeous! The last couple of weeks I’ve been into gardening because of the weather and I really enjoy growing our own food. We did it last year and I think it was a success. Lots of herbs and veggies like broccoli and zucchini. I will take more pictures once I’m done because I’m just starting and I still have plans to buy more herbs and veggies. Are you going to have a garden this year?

Lots of spinach here,looking forward to have spinach in my scramble eggs! — Lots of spinach here,looking forward to have spinach in my scrambled eggs!

Mexico Trip!

Hubby and I vacationed last year in Mexico (Cozumel and Playa De Carmen). It was our first time to see Mexico and we both loved it. Sunshine and white pristine sand beaches, what more could we ask for? We mostly stayed in our hotel and just relaxed on the beach and snorkeled everyday, drank margaritas, lounged in the pool and ate nonstop:) We got spoiled during our stay there and we plan to be back this year. Here are my favorite pictures from the trip:

happy hour with my hubs! — happy hour with my hubs

yes for starbucks! — yeah for starbucks!

Bye Mexico!waiting for our boarding.. — Bye Mexico! waiting for our boarding..