Dorothy Jorgensen Wallin

If I could only be half the person she was....

Don't ever mistake
Silence for ignorance,
Calmness for acceptance,
Kindness for weakness.

 

Dorothy Jorgensen Wallin-Display from courtney wallin on Vimeo.

Summer Revisited

I've been waiting for a rainy day to put this together... 

Today was perfect.

And, for better or worse, I now have closure on summer.

2014 Summer from courtney wallin on Vimeo.

100 years

One hundred years ago today an amazing man entered the world. He was fun and loud and bossy and passionate and generous. The ideal Italian. He has been gone a long time, but his legacy lives on. I see him in the eyes of my little girl. She has his eyes, and his sweet wife's namesake.

He was so proud of his Valentine's Day birth day. I spent Valentine's Day at his house each year with my cousins celebrating him. As I baked cookies yesterday in his honor, I decided I needed to do something more. I wanted to share a little piece of him. So, I compiled old photos that I have of him. 

Lewis Bleggi 100 years from courtney wallin on Vimeo.

Also, when I was in junior high, I interviewed him. Some of my questions are silly. My very favorite part of the interview is at the very end when he says my name. I can still hear him calling for me in his boisterous voice, "Oh Courtney." I only wish I would have known him more.

Lewis Bleggi Interview circa 1989 from courtney wallin on Vimeo.
(Be patient with this. The sound will begin 30 seconds after you press play.)

Happy Birthday Grandpa Louie. Hope you are enjoying a fun celebration with all those you love. I love you. Till we meet again.

Wow, wow, wow!

We said "I do" 15 years ago. I know it's cliche, but it feels like yesterday. Wow!

We headed to the mountains to celebrate. I pedaled to what felt like above the clouds. Wow!

We were then pampered at Stein Eriksen Lodge. Wow!

Girl Scout Cupcakes

Find out how to make these yummy little morsels here.

just another ordinary miracle today

I was delighted when a dear friend of mine invited me to photograph the surprise arrival of her husband following a 6 month deployment. Wow! What a moving experience. I am so happy for this family to be reunited with one another after such a long time. Their happiness is contagious. I've been smiling all day. I hope this puts a smile on your face too. :)

Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are our favorite "egg free" cookies. I have even (successfully) substituted half whole wheat pastry flour into these. ;) Don't over cook these tasty morsels. Error on the side of chewy.

1 ¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

pinch Salt

¼ cup butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

½ cup honey

1 cup chocolate chips (or a mixture of pb chips, m&ms, reese’s pieces, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix dry stuff (flour, baking soda and salt) together in a big measuring cup or a small bowl. 

In a medium bowl, blend butter, sugar and honey together with a rubber spatula or a mixer on low speed.

Mix in dry ingredients. Add chips and mix until everything is all creamed together.

Use a couple of soup spoons or tablespoons to drop blobs of dough onto a greased cookie sheet or parchment paper.

Happy 1/2 Birthday

We have a fun tradition in our family. We like to celebrate half birthdays. You pick your favorite dinner. Eat a little treat. Sing a birthday jingle. Well, today just happens to be cause for celebration. This little tike is 1.5 years old. I can't believe that it has been 18 months since she made her debut. I was just remembering the day she was born earlier today. It was awesome..... and painful. It has been worth every minute. 

Saluto Cappana Bleggi

My parents have found bluer (and warmer) skies. We will miss your glowing fire, strong beams, cozy beds, sunny loft, and lazy decks. May your new family enjoy you as much as we have.

Time flies

This was a fun project that took me exactly 1 year to complete! :)

I love looking at this, but it makes me already miss this sweet "baby cakes," as she's known around here.

Patience is a Virtue

I must be super virtuous after waiting for Trader Joe's to come to Utah for over FIVE years.  Here are some of my favs (among others) that I have been importing and now can purchase within my own state lines!!! My husband gave me a $22 dollar budget. Ha! I only exceeded it a little (by about $100.) Budget, smudget. The good news is that our pantry is fully stocked (as well as our bellies.)

Thanks Trader Joe's for making my life as a "label reader" just a little bit easier and humoring my endless location request emails. (And, just for the record, I realize that some of these labels may not be virtuous. Maybe they are just the lesser of the evils.)

The Windy City

For six months, I planned my trip to Chicago for November. My husband would be in meetings for 3 days. I would sleep, read, eat, photograph, and shop. It would be three entire, glorious days to do whatever whenever. I was mostly excited to dine like an adult. No leftover bread crusts, no worries about allergens, no spilled milk.

Flashback to Halloween.... Dex gets a horrendous case of the stomach flu. It lasts for 6 days! Followed by Maddie. Then, Millie. I managed to escape the dreaded disease... Or, did I?

Oh no, I did not! Twelve, yes 12, days later, while on my long-awaited sabbatical, the symptoms manifested themselves violently. There was no dining, no reading, no photography, and very little shopping (much to my husband's pleasure.) However, there was plenty of sleeping.

I did manage to take 4 random photos with my phone which don't really even resemble the vacation.

I do have to admit that it was better than the trip I took to San Francisco a few years ago when I had the swine flu. And, the saving grace of the trip was the restaurant we visited just before we flew home. Slurping Turtle was delicious. Since I was still adjusting to consuming food, I ordered "Slurping Noodles" which turned out to be perfect.

I tried to recreate the dish and came pretty close. It was a quick and easy dinner and all the kids like it. 

Slurping Noodles

Copy Cat from Slurping Turtle, Chicago

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup carrots, match stick or thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

½ cup broccoli florets

8 ozs straight cut rice noodles or vermicelli

Shrimp, use your preferred size

3-4 green onions, greens only slice on diagonal

¼ cup cilantro,

French Fried Onion, garnish

In coconut oil, sauté carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage for 3-4 minutes over med-hi heat.

Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add shrimp, broccoli, and rice noodles. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until noodles are soft. Stir in green onions and cilantro.

Garnish individual servings with french fried onions. Slurp away.

Summer Memories

With winter quickly approaching, I thought I would reminisce about summer. We had a pretty great one and made so many fun memories. Here are just a few...

Las Palmas Pool in St. George

Dex's 1st season of baseball

Maddie at the Spanish Fork Rodeo in Papa's box seats.

Millie and Maddie on a hot, lazy summer day.

Sunset on the 4th of July.

 Bear Lake in July.

 Morgan County Fair in August.

 Maddie and Jesse showing off at the Duncans.

Millie's 1st Birthday.

Avery and Dex on the 1st day of school.

School shoes on, summer ends.

 The end.

Miss me?

I really enjoy sharing updates and ideas within cyberspace with willing and interested readers. I've missed updating more frequently. I hope to rededicate myself to spending a little more time emptying my brain onto my computer screen.

I snapped this photo this morning on a nice, brisk run. It's the first bundled run of the snowy season. I LOVE the mountains!

The Subway, Yoga, Coconut, Family Recipes

One of my favorite things about Pinterest are the quotes, both inspirational and humorous. This is one I came across the other day and felt that it justified my unpredictable conversational and blog topics ;)

So, now I will explain how all the items in the title of this post relate, or at least I'll try.

Last weekend, I attended a yoga retreat. I would like to say it was relaxing, but rejuvenating would better define the experience. To start the weekend, we hiked "The Subway" in Zion National Park. It was simply incredible.

While on the yoga retreat, I had time to flip through some of my old, neglected magazines. I came across this recipe and made it for breakfast this morning. It was a very welcome change to our regular oatmeal. I used fresh peaches and skipped the sautéing. I think toasted, slivered almonds would be yummy on top.

Coconut Breakfast Pudding

Bleggi Family Recipes

A few months back, my sisters and I started working on a blog to share some of our favorite recipes with each other. I've posted a few things, but intend to keep adding my favorite recipes to the collection. Some are healthy, some are quick and easy, and others are just tasty. Sometimes the photos aren't always beautiful, but that doesn't mean that the food isn't delicious! If you have a recipe request, let me know and I'll post it.

1 year old

Lots of fun summer stuff came and went. I have so many images to share later. My baby turned one. I have lots of cute shots, but these capture some of her best features and personality. Black and white photos really speak to me. This may sound silly but, I feel that they have so much depth.

 

Marvin Wilford Wallin

Amelia's 1st Year

Crazy Fun

Here's a fun little project. I had never tie dyed until recently and now I think I might be addicted! 

 BEFORE

AFTER 

P.S. Look OVER HERE for a little project my sisters and I will be continually working on. If you have something you'd like us to include sent us a note.

Maple Syrup and Waffles

Around here we are total Maple Syrup snobs. We haven't bought a bottle of Aunt Jemimah in at least 8 years after discovering "real" maple syrup. Trader Joe's got us hooked with their real, honest to goodness Grade B Maple syrup. Then we moved away from TJs :(

So, we started buying Maple Syrup from Costco. It's Grade A. Not the same. Grade B is dark and thick and rustic. So, we turned to amazon.com or an occasional Trader Joe's import when we can get it. I think we are stock piled enough to last us until the Salt Lake City grand opening.

Now, I'm not ignorant to the fact that maple syrup is EXPENSIVE. I have a couple of ideas to help alleviate some of the extra financial burden that this may cause.

1. Buy a small, olive oil bottle (small because they tip over easily and you need to store it in your fridge.) The spout helps just a small amount drizzle out and doesn't leave a mess or waste dripped down the bottle. Even the smallest waffle-eaters can handle the drizzle. (P.S. I got this idea from Pinterest. Someone recommended coffee syrups in olive oil bottles. It's revolutionized breakfast time at our house.)

2. Use Grade A for baking and for the kids. Hoard Grade B as an adult-only condiment!

3. Bake the maple syrup into the waffles and convince your kids that it's already in there.

Here's our favorite waffle recipe and don't forget about these delightful Whole Wheat Oat Buttermilk Pancakes.

Maple Bran Waffles

adapted from the Joy of Cooking

Preheat a waffle iron. Whisk together in a large bowl.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup coarse wheat bran or wheat germ

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Whisk together in another bowl.

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)

1/2 cup butter, melted*

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Combine with a few swift strokes of the whisk.

*I often reduce this or sub with coconut oil. However the butter, makes them really tasty.