Ag Family

Teaching is the family business.  Especially teaching agriculture.  Both of my parents, as well as my older sister, are full-time agriculture teachers.  My younger sister will also be co-teaching with my dad during the coming school year.  I guess I'm the odd one out!

Last week was the annual conference for South Dakota Ag Teachers.  We had the rare opportunity to have all five of us (plus my new baby nephew!) together for the banquet and auction on the last night, as some of the proceeds of the auction were to go towards my dad's medical expenses.

It was so nice to all be together for an evening with not only my "Ag Family," but also the "SD Ag Family."

Wine tasting with Papa Rist

Since we already went to McWay Falls and the Monterey Bay Aquarium on this trip, and I had done the touristy San Francisco things with Papa Rist on his last visit, our last obligatory Bay Area must-do was wine tasting in Napa Valley.  

The boys really had to twist my arm to get me to spend a whole day wine tasting.  Ha.  I really enjoy wine, so a day dedicated to trying many different wines and finding my favorites is pretty much a perfect day.

We tasted at three wineries in the St. Helena and Oakville areas and had a wonderful time.

The first was one of Tall Dark and Nerdy's favorites:  V. Sattui.  They have a really cool story of being an Italian-family-owned winery from San Francisco before prohibition shut them down.  They also have some wonderful wines.  Before we even started tasting, TDN told me that I would love their Gamay Rouge and that we would be bringing a bottle home with us.  Like usual, he was correct.  It's light and sweet without being too much like those candy-sweet wines I used to love.

Next, we went to Silver Oak Cellars.  They specialize in cabernets, and since Papa Rist really enjoys Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, this was a no-brainer for today.  The people in the tasting room here were so much fun.  We were talking about wine and welding and everything in between.  Definitely a great stop!

Number 3 was a place we had never heard of, Cosentino, but had great curb appeal on the way up to V. Sattui, so we decided to stop by on the way home.  This was a great little discovery.  The tasting room was much smaller than at the other two we visited, but the wine was great.  As an added bonus, they had purse hooks along the counter, which is a plus for any woman carrying a bag :)  We will definitely be stopping here again, too!

Staring at fish

Tall Dark and Nerdy and I are both, well, nerdy.  We like to "nerd out" about a lot of different things, both individually and together.  One of the things we have been nerding out about together recently is fish...well, more coral than actual fish.

TDN has a large aquarium in his house with incredible coral everywhere and some really cool fish.  

We had just spent a few days getting everything nice and cleaned up after he had been out of the country for a few weeks, and we got an awesome new fish, when Papa Rist came to town.

We decided that in addition to going to McWay Falls at Big Sur, we would go to Monterey while we were down south.  In case you don't know, you can't go to Monterey without visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  It is really freaking cool.

So maybe we goofed around a little bit too :)

Papa Rist was done with his tour through the aquarium in about an hour...we, on the other hand, were a little rushed finishing in 3 hours.  We had so much fun talking about the fish, looking at the different corals and anemones, and dreaming of what we could try to get for the aquarium at home next.


The aquarium has a great jellyfish exhibit.  One of my favorites are these guys that has bacteria that make them glow like this.

McWay Falls

Tall Dark and Nerdy has been tempting me with a place called McWay Falls since we were first just becoming friends.  It's a picturesque waterfall in Big Sur that spills out onto a beach with waves crashing in all around.

Just hearing about it and seeing other people's pictures could almost take my breath away.

But, because of all my knee surgeries and his traveling for work, we still hadn't been there and I hadn't seen it in real life.

That all changed when Papa Rist came out to visit for Christmas this year!  On the day after Christmas, we got up early, hopped in the car, and drove down to Big Sur, not stopping until we were at the path to McWay Falls.

It really is beautiful.  And getting to experience it with two of the most important men in my life made it even better.

When the waves roll in, the waterfall is suddenly running right into the ocean for a few seconds.

I could just sit and listen to waves crash along the shore for hours and hours.  In the early morning, with hardly any other people around, this was a magical place and moment.

I love Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is one of my favorite places.  It's the place in California that makes me feel like I'm back home in some of the ways that I miss.  I absolutely love all the weekends I get to spend there with my Tall Dark and Nerdy, like this one in June. 

We get out of the car when we first arrive on Friday night and I spend my first several minutes in Tahoe just staring at the stars.  I spent countless nights growing up lying in a pasture or yard and staring at the stars, so it's nice to get that feeling again.

 

 I also love being near water.  I think I can blame that on my time rowing for Stanford, and on my water-loving roomie Mik.  Lakes don't get much prettier than Tahoe.  This trip was my first time being in Tahoe in the actual summertime, and it did not disappoint!  The water was cold, but it was beautiful, with three distinct colors of blue in layers.








Something about Tahoe makes me want to be adventurous.  I get there and I want to snowboard, hike, kayak, paddleboard, and do anything else I can try!

TDN also planned for us to watch the sunset at Emerald Bay, which has special sentimental value for me.  I saw a photograph of Emerald Bay last year over graduation weekend when TDN, Grams, baby sister, Papa Rist, and I were looking through a gallery.  I looked at TDN and said I wanted to go there - and had no idea where it was!  Over my birthday weekend (3 months later), he planned for us to spend an afternoon at Emerald Bay, and when I looked confused about what that was, he reminded me of the photograph.  He is so thoughtful.  That makes every visit to Emerald Bay special to me.

Any day that ends in s'mores is a great day for me, and this was no exception!

#tbt - July 4th 2009

In honor of the holiday happening to fall on a Thursday this year, I thought I'd dig out a July 4th throwback.  This is from the summer after my freshman year f college when I went back to SD for the summer.  Papa Rist and I rode the motorcycle up to Watertown and spend the day on Lake Kampeska with my godparents, family, and friends.  This photo was snapped near the end of the night, sitting on the dock watching the fireworks.

#tbt - Baby sister way back when

This throwback features two of my favorite people in the world:  Papa Rist and baby sister.  This picture is from the same family reunion-type event that last week's beautiful picture of my cousin Les came from.

She was such a cute little peanut!  This girl means so much to me and I don't know what I would do without her!  Although I haven't always showed it in a "normal" way - I did encourage her to eat a mud pie once upon a time - I couldn't have made it through a lot of the challenges in my life without her constant support.

I'm a Bronco!

I love teaching, and I also love learning.  After graduation, I knew I was ready for a break from school.  The break has helped me realize that I don't want to be a full-time student again, but I do miss being in school.  I just found out last night that I got accepted to Santa Clara University for their Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction, and I couldn't be more excited!

Santa Clara is a great school with a beautiful campus.  It reminds me a lot of a "little Stanford" which makes me love it even more!  Plus, the Caltrain station is right at the edge of campus, so I will still be able to bike commute on school days and not have to fight traffic.

True to form, of course I'm already stressing myself out about scheduling and making work and school and everything else I'm doing fit together.  TDN's wonderful advice for me was "yeah, you shouldn't do that stress thing."  Sounds simple, so I'm gonna give it a try.

I had 3 wonderful people write recommendations for me, Papa Rist helped me proof my personal statement, Margo gave me my first tour of Santa Clara University, and TDN has been supporting me every step of the way.  I couldn't ask for a better support system starting this journey!

Coffee mug cookie

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a wicked sweet tooth.  And sometimes it just NEEDS a baked treat, but it doesn't have the patience to wait for me to bake a whole batch of cookies or brownies.  This little guy has come through for me on many occasions, and while it's not a real cookie, it's pretty delicious and does the trick.

Also, it only requires one measuring spoon, which is an awesome bonus!  Plus, I get to use the wonderful latte mugs Papa Rist gave me for Christmas.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 2-3 Tablespoons chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch salt

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a coffee mug.  Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.


I have been in a peanut butter mood lately, so I like to do half chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips to get all the cravings satisfy.  Add a little vanilla ice cream on top and life is great.

Pecan pie cheesecake

As a child, my dad always insisted that pecan pie was "gross" to try to keep my sisters and I from trying it and liking it, since it was his favorite dessert and he wanted to keep it to himself.  His strategy worked for a little while, but now I find myself employing it since I share his favorite.

Pecan pie says Christmas to me almost as much as pumpkin pie says Thanksgiving, so I knew I wanted to keep this tradition alive, but I also wanted to give it my own twist.  I had also promised Tall Dark and Nerdy that I would make him a cheesecake (his favorite) sometime soon.  When I came across a recipe combining the two, I knew I had to try it!

My kitchen doesn't have a 9" springform pan, which the recipe called for, or a 9" round pan, so we used an 8" square cake pan.  With the small pan, we realized that we had way more cheesecake filling than we needed, so we quickly made another crust (this time using 1 3/4 cups of wafer crumbs for a thicker crust) and ended up with one pecan pie cheesecake and one plain cheesecake, both were absolutely delicious.  

Ingredients:

Crust:

Plain cheesecake on left, pecan pie cheesecake
on right.  Pyrex of water to keep crust from
getting mushy on bottom rack.

  1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
  1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  1/3 cup butter, melted

Pecan filling:

  1 cup sugar

  2/3 cup dark corn syrup

  1/3 cup butter, melted

  2 eggs

  1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cheesecake filling:

  3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

  1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar

  2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

  4 eggs

  2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine wafer crumbs and brown sugar.  Stir in melted butter.  Press into bottom and up sides of a 9" springform pan (or double crust recipe and use two 8" pans).  Bake for 6 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Pecan filling:

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour into crust and set aside.

Cheesecake filling:

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy.  Add brown sugar and flour and beat until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.  Stir in cream and vanilla.  

Pour over pecan filling.

Fill pyrex dish with very hot water and place on bottom rack of oven.  Bake cheesecake in middle of oven for 1 hour.  

Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 1 hour. 

Remove from oven and run a knife along the outside edges to loosen cheesecake from sides of pan.  Let cool.  Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Don't be dismayed by how many steps there are in this recipe, it is totally worth it!  Having my sister beside me made this quick and easy, while she made the pecan filling, I made the cheesecake filling, and we were done in a jiffy, all while dancing to Aaron Carter Radio on Pandora.  

The dark brown sugar in the cheesecake filling gives it a beautiful color and taste, and left people unsure of which cheesecake was better!

Adapted from Heidi's So-Called Life