I bought a big bag of pears at Sam’s last week because every time I buy two or three at the store the kids fight over them. I *thought* if I bought more they’d go fast, but at the end of the week, there are still plenty around. So, I made a pear torte. According to the Culinary Institute of America this is not an official torte, but whatever…it’s a pear pastry desserty thingy, OK? And it’s pretty.

I used pre-packaged pastry sheets because I’m not THAT ambitious and altered the recipe quite a bit because of my husband’s aversion to sugar. Basically I layered the sliced pears onto the pastry sheet (diagonally) and poured the altered creamed mixture(below) onto it. I cut strips and folded the ends over the top and baked at 350 for 20 min. Then I decided I wanted a bit more brown and put it in the broiler for a couple minutes and it got TOO crispy. I should know better.

2 tbsp organic turbinado sugar
3oz cream cheese softened
1/2 egg (yeah, that was tricky)
Vanilla, Cinamon and Nutmeg(I didn’t measure any of them)

Can’t wait to try it tonight and see if it’s still too sugary for Ken. Of course, he’ll probably call the pastry dough poison anyway. More for me!

I love reminding Ken that he let me wait around all day on Valentine’s Day in 1998 *thinking* I was going to get a ring that day, only to go home empty handed and thoroughly confused. The next day he proposed. Who proposes on the day AFTER? My husband. Good thing he’s cute!

Obviously we aren’t big on frilly fluff for Valentine’s day – or any other holiday, for that matter. But I did happen to have a big chunk of dark chocolate in the cupboard and strawberries in the fridge. Kelsey and I made a bunch of chocolate covered goodness to show our love (maybe just of chocolate). We covered Ken’s with whipped cream (who doesn’t like chocolate? My husband.) and we all had a yummy after church snack. I grabbed my phone and snapped a few bad shots for a layout. Some high contrast adjustments and creative cropping made for a half way decent page!

And…in case you have some sweet shots that need a great digital collection to match, I’m adding my kits back into the shop slowly! The Viva Valentino Collection is up and it’s only $2 for the rest of the month of LOVE!

I know I’m not the only one who has this issue because I googled it and lots of people are asking the same question…how do you get hard boiled eggs to peel nicely? Some do and then others look like they’ve been run through the garbage disposal once the shell is completely off. SO, I did a little testing and I think I found the way that works for me.

First, I cooked the eggs like THIS: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/005251how_to_make_perfect_hard_boiled_eggs.php

I peeled the first one warm and it was perfect! YAY! I thought I was home free! BUT… then I put the remaining 11 eggs in the fridge and I was back to scraping it off when I peeled one the next morning (two, actually because of all the white I lost on the shells). So, I thought, what was the difference? Temperature.

I ran another egg under warm water before cracking it and continued running it under warm water while peeling it and the shell came off quickly and nicely! A fluke? An older egg? If so, the next 4 were just as old and flukey(so not a word!!)! This morning, in a hurry, I used cold water thinking maybe it didn’t need to be warm, just wet. Nope…ripped up egg. Conclusion…hard boiled eggs cooked with the above technique peel best when run under warm water!

Google announced it’s new BUZZ social networking features today and I’m looking forward to seeing how these will work with my current google favorites. Facebook just made some very unpopular changes and I can see this announcement resulting in a rise in gmail registrations through the week. Right now, only gmail users will be included in the network, so I’m not sure where that leaves the rest of my friends and family. I use gmail for everything but so far, only my mom has joined because I asked her to.

I’ve had a few questions lately on just HOW I use gmail for everything so here’s a little rundown. It’s not JUST gmail, it’s a whole suite of useful gadgets I can access from pretty much anywhere. I have a google Android based phone (T-Mobile g1) so that makes my data even more accessible to me.

The feature I use the most is google calendar. I used to use Outlook, but in order to use my calendar on my phone, too, I had to sync my phone and desktop often. And I’m not good at ‘often’. With gmail and my G1, wherever I enter an event, it is entered online and instantly available anywhere I have an internet connection or cell service. Even the library public computers. No software to install, no user account to create on other machines. Just send it to the ‘cloud’ and it’s there.

I use google calendar to schedule everything. I can create new calendars for anything and turn them on and off as I please. My kids each have their chores on google calendar in different colors. They come home from school, have a snack and check their gmail/google calendar. If I forgot to add a chore, I can enter it on my computer or phone seconds before they finish loggin on(happens all the time ). I can be as detailed as I need to be in the event details section (i.e. Chore: Clean Room, Details:UNDER YOUR BED, too!) I can have chores repeat, such as garbage every Monday. I can set reminders for them as well.

I also use the calendar to do my meal planning. I can drag and drop meals we have often to the next week. If I have beans or a roast on the schedule I set an email reminder for 4 or 5 hours before so I remember to get them on early. I keep some of my recipes in google docs and link to them in the calendar event details so I can pull it up when I’m ready to cook. If I’m cooking one of Molly’s Soups I include the link in the event details and it takes me right to the web page when I’m ready. (I put my phone in a plastic ziplock bag when I use it for recipes while cooking!)

From my meal plan, I create a grocery list using the tasks feature. I think it should be called lists, but that’s just a name. It works like lists. I create one for groceries and fill out the list before I go to the store. While at the store, I pull out my phone and pull my list from out of the ‘cloud’ and check off each item as I get it.

This is just the beginning of the google home management possibilities. My google home page has all the blogs I keep track of, current TV listings, movie showtimes, news. I’m still exploring google voice, picasa, youtube and google books…and more. I really am a google/Android girl and I hope they keep coming up with tons of features for me! I’m a tech mom and it makes me happy to organize and run my home with fun programs and features. My next step is to get a touch screen netbook to hang on the wall like a calendar where we can go to check everything, enter events, pull up recipes, add items to a list etc. WITHOUT SITTING DOWN at a computer! Quick and efficient! GO, GOOGLE!

A couple weeks ago I went to see my grandma, in Oregon. I hadn’t seen her in a few years because we moved far away and we’re the only family here in Utah on this side so there aren’t many events to bring her out here. Sad, but true. I love her to pieces! At 94 she’s still sweet and funny and SO loving. I’m pretty sure I got a bunch of my creative spirit from her. She used to bring us handmade dolls and clothes and stuffed animals all the time as a kid. So glad I got to see her and give her big hugs!

While I was in Portland, I was also able to visit more family. Mom and my brother Ryan and his wife Lisa and their girls Cami, Lily and Maya. Super cute girls. So fun. They love to play games where you get to know people. Things like writing down 5 things that you love and having people guess what they are. And a game called WhooNu where you guess what things someone likes more than others. It was fun getting to know them better.
It was also great to see my cousins we called “The Portland Girls” growing up. Here’s a quick phone pic of me, Karmen and Dionne.

AND…I got to see my friend and former editor Molly Newman and her family. It was so great to see her in her natural habitat (as opposed to trade shows and meetings). I accompanied the whole family to the Portland Spelling Bee – yep, an adult spelling bee – and had the privilege of a basement photo session with her talented husband Jim. I stood in same kitchen she makes her awesome 365 soups in! I even caught her with a slotted spoon in hand. Winter has been mighty cold and my kitchen and my family thank her for her genius idea. For her it’s 365 but for us it’s yummy warm goodness a couple times a week and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve never used a bouquet garni before, nor have I used so much bacon in so many soups. I am loving it and since James and Ken call bacon “Man Candy” and “The King of All Meats”, they have no complaints either. Soup for all! (Or potage if you’re fancy!)