Recipe: Baked Jalepeno Popper Wontons

Thanks to Pinterest I've been able to accumulate a variety of recipes from breakfast to the late night snack. This week I tried out a new snack. 

>>------------- > Baked Jalepeno Poppers AKA Poppers < -------------<<

Photo Via As A Verb

These work really great for appetizers, finger foods at a party, or a just a little snack around the house. You can find the recipe HERE . 

* Instead of Cream Cheese try Pepper Jack Cheese

* Add some spicy Italian Sausage instead of the bacon

*Try Green Onions instead of Cilantro

This recipe is a lot of fun because you can make it your own and adjust it to your own liking. 

Cory's 26th

Cory's Birthday could not have been nicer! The weather was gorgeous (high of 77!), and we had a blast doing whatever he wanted. 

Started the morning with coffee out on the lawn:

Then we went for a bike ride around the neighborhoods of the west hills:

We then were going to head to Sasquatch Brewery for lunch, but good thing we checked first cause they don't open on weekdays until 3pm. So we went to Papa Hydn instead. We got Fondue to split (mostly I ate it though), Cory got the Halibut and I ordered the Cobb Salad. All SO delicious: 

After lunch there was more sun to enjoy and books to be read: 

While lounging out in the back we found some mint: 

Our natural tendency was to make some Mojitos ! Overall I think Cory had a great day and I of course enjoyed every minute of it. My biggest gift to Cory was the day off. I had asked his boss (aka his Dad) a while ago if he can have it off and thankfully he said yes! Over the last week I've been giving him little gifts: Ghost Pepper Chili Sauce, BBQ Tongs, we got some new pipe tobacco, a new beer mug, and some hand-made cards. (Guys are hard to buy gifts for and so I usually try and give him lots of random things he'd like.)

Happy Happy Birthday love! 

Summer Drink: Mojito

During Cory's birthday we sat outside and enjoyed the summer (ahem, I mean spring) sun. While walking around the yard we found mint; what a pleasant surprise! During our dating years Cory made me a lot of mojitos (we fell in love during summer, what can I say). We quickly decided that we would make some mojitos. 

Here is the quick and dirty of a simple mojito (serves 1):

Ingredients

1 Lime

2 Shots Bacardi Rum 

4 Shots Club Soda

10 Mint Leaves

2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar

Step One: Gather Ingredients 

It is helpful to have a muddler.

Step Two: Cut Lime in half. Squeeze juice from whole lime into mason jar (or any other fancy glass). 

Add Mint Leaves and muddle for about one minute.

Step 4: Add 2 T Powdered sugar and continue to muddle for several seconds

Step 5: Add 2 Shots Rum and 4 Shots Club Soda*

*I personally like it more sweet so I added one extra shot of Club Soda and 3 tsp Raspberry Torani Syrup

Step 6: Stir with fancy straw; add a few ice cubes and enjoy!

A birthday letter to my Husband

Happy Birthday love! 

What a blessing it is to be celebrating your 26th birthday with you! Your life is such a blessing to me. You are a great friend. You stick up for me and stand by my side even if I'm in the wrong. As a husband you are loving, caring, affectionate, and loyal. 

It wasn't love at first sight. But I can honestly say that I'm glad it wasn't. I fell in love with your soul first. Who you were, where you were going, and how you acted around me. You were open then and are open now to me; about your dreams, your fears, your plans, and your hopes. I am more in love with you everyday. And I plan to be in love with you more and more each day.

I love that you want so much out of life. You try so much and you don't stress if things don't happen out the way you want. You keep me calm. You keep me positive. You bring light and funness (yup thats a word) to this life. 

I love how you whistle during random times of the day. I love that you take like an hour to cut vegetables just cause it relaxes you. I love your green eyes. 

I want to do life with you. I like that we've already started. 

Here's to you my love! Happy Birthday! 

Love, Frances

(Totally photo-bombed him this morning, sleep face!)

Farmers Market: Portland

This Saturday we went with our good friends Pam & Joe to the Farmer's Market at PSU, on the park blocks of downtown Portland. Sad to say, before yesterday I did not even know this existed. Nonetheless, I'll be going way more often. The fresh fruits and veggies, the gorgeous flowers, interesting Portland people to watch (hey it's Portland), and yummy food carts, made the day so worth it. 

Cory got some Raspberry Meade! I preferred the Ginger flavor:

Cory's first taste of a Tamale: 

After the Farmer's Market we headed to Rich's Cigar Store for some tobacco for the guys: 

There was some lusting over new pipes: 

We ended the day at the Portland Outdoor Store. Cory got a new beenie. Let me say, this store is so cool. Lots of Pendleton items, Woolrich, and Minnetonka. If my wallet was bigger we would have gotten more: 

Happy Sunday!

Portland on Dwellable

Seattle Trip

Last weekend I visited my sister up in Seattle again. I always love these visits. This time was special though, I met her boyfriend! (Interesting fact: they met on match.com) The weekend was filled with lots of laughs, trying some new things, meeting new people, and of course just enjoying each other's company. 

The first night we walked around downtown, I met her bf at his hockey game, and then we went out for dinner at this amazing Arabian food joint, Mamnoon. I am totally, TOTALLY recommending this place. Such great food, informative and helpful wait-staff, and a real nice environment. 

The following day was filled with adventures at Pike Place Market , stops at coffee shops, and a homemade dinner by the sis. 

Can I have this book shelf w/ the ladder in my home please?

After dinner we chatted and took her puppy Charlie for some walks. We then wanted to get dressed up and go back to Mamnoon, but it is closed on Mondays. So we decided to try out a new pizza joint, Via Tribunali . I would recommend this place if you like your pizza thin, and well modern I guess. We had to eat the pizza fork-n-knife style, and I ended up doing it brooklyn style. Yummy but just too thin for me. 

I was able to drive home with Charlie (my parents are watching her for the week), not like this of course though. Oh my sister is crazy at times :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend/week!

Seattle on Dwellable

Cupcake in my glass

I'm not a huge wine drinker. But when there is a sweet one, I mean really sweet, please fill my glass. My favorites are the Pink Moscato's. Recently I tried some new ones and I have to share. 

#1. Roscato Rosso Dolce 

I'm not a huge red wine drinker, actually I don't like any red wines....except for this one. It is a red sparkling wine. Chill before you serve and have large glasses available. These bottles are available at World Market. 

#2. Cupcake Moscato d' Asti

Now this one is sweet! I would say it tasted like a mix between a Moscato and Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. Honestly, one champagne flute full was enough for me due to the sweetness. I found myself mixing 1 part Moscato and 1 part guava juice...now that = yum. These are available at Fred Meyer. 

Enjoy!

Spring Dresses

I've never bought from this site, ASOS , but I know a few friends who do. The dresses are all so pretty! Here are some Spring Dresses that I would love to wear this spring. 

Floral Print

Midi Dress with Scoop Back

Hi-Lo Floral

Sundress in Spot

Lace & Bead Cowl

Should I keep dreaming or just splurge a bit? 

Vacation: Redmond & The Painted Hills

Wow, this week was such a blessing. Cory and I had an amazing time (once again) in Central Oregon. This time we stayed the whole week at my parents time share at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond Oregon. The resort is nestled right outside Redmond, in between Sisters and Bend (the perfect location I'd say). 

The drive up was really nice. We didn't expect to see a lot of snow over the pass, but Hood still had some. Always a pretty surprise. 

Mt. Hood National Forest is so beautiful. And even though I've driven through it nearly 100 times, it is always just as breathtaking. 

We spent the first day with my parents, my brother and a few of his friends. One thing I really like about staying there is even though the house may be packed, you feel like you have a ton of space because just outside there is so much open land. We went on a nice hike and enjoyed a night of games and movies. 

My parents and I:

Allie a.k.a "Cheeky":

After my family left we had a couple of days of sunny weather. Yes it was cold (wake up to 21 degrees, highs of maybe 60), but when you have a hot-tub to lounge in, it makes it feel real warm.  We had a ton of fires at night and went on lots of walks. There is something about the Central Oregon Air that is so refreshing and calming. 

After a few relaxing days we headed to see the Painted Hills. 

Side story: We always choose to take the back roads. Who doesn't think the windier road is more fun? Looking at our maps, the mapquest only said an extra 30 mins. Great! Won't even cut into our day that much. Well...try 2 hours. Yup. The mapquest didn't show that it was a gravel road. Also, losing service it didn't show exactly where we were. The road didn't even have road signs. So we ended up getting lost twice, had to move rocks and fallen tree branches out of the way, and go off our guts of where we were headed. All in all though, it was fun, and some of the views we had made it totally worth it. 

The WAY back way:

And we even got to meet Donkey:

Our vacation was filled with lots of relaxation, site-seeing, doing things we enjoy and seeing new things. These types of trips always make me appreciate my husband and the relationship we have. I love how he shares with me the love of trips, spending quality time together, and just enjoying what this world has to offer. It also makes me super excited to take our future kids on road trips and show them the beauty of nature.

Cannot wait for our next trip!

Eagle Crest on Dwellable