Baby album - 1

I can finally post the baby album I made for Julie's baby shower yesterday. This is the first of two blank baby albums I made.

This was the card I sent with the album.



Here are few of my favorite pages. You can see the whole album here.

Blog 1 year Anniversary!

Time has flown by... I actually missed the 1 year anniversary of my blog on November 8. So much has happened over this past year and it has been a lot of fun sharing it. Thanks for all of you wonderful comments...I'd love to see some more this year. I never thought of myself as a "blogger" but with over 2300 views, someone is looking at it besides me. Hopefully I will get a job soon but don't worry I will continue to post the laughs, crafts and animal costumes.

I have a bunch of posts "on hold" as I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise.

Phone For Fish - txt to 30644

I just read about the greatest thing I have seen in a long time in Sunday's Parade. An easy way to make an eco-friendly decision about which fish to eat. There is a pocket guide you can carry but has anyone actually used it in a restaurant?

BUT now there is an even easier way to make a good decision about what fish to eat. All you have to do is text the word "fish" followed by "the name of the fish you are considering".

For example: Fish halibut. (Text to 30644)
(This is the response I got back within 10 sec- Pacific Halibut (Green) few enviornmental concerns, MSC certified sustainable; Atlanitc Halibut (RED) significant environmental concerns.) Now I can ask my waiter (if it isn't already clear) where the halibut came from. If Pacific Ocean - we're good, if Atlantic - i'll find something else.

This service is provided by the Blue Ocean Insitute. Unfortunately I could not find anything about this service on their website but it does provide really good information about the fish (both normal seafood and sushi grade).

To this note, a local sushi restaurant, Bamboo Sushi, has gone 100% sustainable. They only serve sustainable fish so this service would be moot when visiting their restaurant. Here is a recent article about the restaurant from The Oregonian

Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge

After days of rain, the sun has made an apperance and it couldn't be more perfect. Lavi and I took advantage of this gorgeous day and went for a hike at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge...literally 8 minutes from our house. I bought a book yesterday - The Best Easy Day Hikes - Portland, OR. Again, perfect timing.





Hopefully we can try another hike before the rain comes again sometime next week.

Persimmons

It is now officially persimmon season in the Alexander household. After buying a 5 lb bag of fuyu persimmons, I needed to put them to good use. I learned a useful tip that you can put them in freezer overnight and then when you defrost them they become soft...much quicker than waiting for them to soften naturally...I don't have that kind of patience.

I decided to start of with an easy cookie recipe. It called for nuts and raisins but I omitted them since I didn't have them in the house and I don't really like them in cookies all the time.

2 ripe persimmons
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup unrefined sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup chopped walnut (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Peel and core persimmons. Blend until purreed and pour in small bowl.
2. Dissolve baking soda in persimmon pulp and set aside.
3. Sift flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt together, set aside.
4. Cream together butter or margarine and sugar until fluffy, beat in egg and persimmon pulp. Stir in dry ingredients. (Optional - stir in nuts and raisins).
5. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto silpat and cookie sheet. Bake for 14-15 minutes.

They are wonderful. Not too sweet, you can add more sugar if you really need the extra calories.