This is the Place Scrap and Share

Tooele is the New Park City

Stephen and I have a great tradition. It is called the "Secret Surprise" (it got that name because it properly describes the event and I like alliterations). Each summer we take turns planning a surprise special event for us to do as a couple. Usually we leave the kids with a grandma and we spend the night somewhere then pack our days with fun childless activities.

This past weekend was the big "Secret Surprise." Stephen planned it, so he knew the secret and I was surprised. We dropped the girls off at his wonderfully kind mother's house (THANK YOU SHERRY!) And then we headed west. I was a little nervous as we kept on driving west all I could imagine was we were going to Wendover or Reno, and I wasn't too sure about wanting to go to those places.

At this point in the car ride west I was thinking, "Where are you taking me?"

To ease my nerves, as we drove we played a little yes and no question game. From that I was able to guess that we were going to stay the night in Tooele and race the next day at the Miller Motor Sports Park. Cool. Both were new experiences for me. And both turned out to be wonderful.

We stayed at a nice hotel in town, enjoyed the view of the Great Salt Lake, were far too childish at the pool, and thoroughly enjoyed being together and childless for the night. Who knew Tooele could be so much fun? I guess it's the new Park City for us. Maybe.

I included this picture, because that was EXACTLY the way I felt as we entered our hotel room.

Don't let looks deceive you. The one who is nervous doesn't look it, and the one who isn't nervous looks it. I think that was part of his winning strategy.

The next morning we headed to the races. We met up with Stephen's boss and his girl friend, and Stephen's co-worker and his father and brother. We had a nice group to race. Stephen satisfied his need for speed and was the fastest and won the race. I, on the other hand, was the slowest and totally lost. Since the track was a loop, I watched everyone pass me two or three times. Great fun was had by all.

Good looking and fast.

As we drove home to get the girls I couldn't say that I was well rested and relaxed after the night away. In fact, I was ready for a nap. But I could say I felt totally loved. Thanks, Stephen. I love you too.

Kickin' Up My Heels- Once again

I decided it was time I started dancing again. I danced all through my childhood, in high school and through college. Since then I have been trying to fill that void with exercise classes, yoga, running and tae kwon do. But, none is as enjoyable to me as dance. A few weeks ago I was dreaming of how wonderful it would be to take a dance class. I didn't know of any adult classes around, so my thought was just a dream. Then a week later I came across a write-up in a local magazine about DansAgain. It offers jazz dance classes for females 18 and over. I called and signed myself up. Last night was my first class and it was wonderful. I am so excited about it. I loved the atmosphere. All the other women seemed nice and normal (no skinny-ninny prima ballerinas, thank goodness). We are all moms in our 20s-40s.
I am so excited about moving and dancing again. I love choreography and performing. I think this is going to be wonderful. Our big concert is in May and you are all invited. Though the thought of dancing as an adult in front of adults does embarrass me a little. Oh well. It's all for fun and for the love of dancing.
If any one is interested (Becky, Shaunell, Abby- think about it) I will gladly give you all the details about the program. The instructor's name is Lacy Seegmiller, 427-2115. She offers classes Tuesday nights and Thursdays in the daytime. The classes are held in PG. Classes are just $30 a month.

4 Fabulous Things for Friday

#1 Saw childhood best friend Becky in the parking lot of Target. Hi Becky. It's always fabulous seeing you.

#2 Had afternoon nap then decided I should take a nap every Friday afternoon. Fabulous idea!

#3 Opened the door to get mail and was greeted by a large FedEx package. Addressed to "Jeana Ward," that's me but, mystery box, what could you be? Opened box with knife and used knife to stab the mystery contends under the packaging peanuts for safety (there could have been a decapitated human head in the box, you never know). Instead of mystery body parts, I was pleasantly surprised to find the words "congratulations" written on the box inside. It turns out I won a Good Housekeeping sweepstakes and won 14 bottles of various gourmet all natural cooking sauces. I vaguely remember entering the contest on Good Housekeeping's website. I entered every contest that seemed interesting to me. Fabulous! I won. So, that leads us to fabulous item #4.

#4 We will have salmon tonight in keeping with our "Fish Friday" schedule. And tonight's fabulous meal will be marinated in a soy ginger marinade. Just a little something I whipped out of the mystery box.

4th of July Scrap and Share

Spinach Pesto

If you are like me, you like spinach and you like to buy the big 2.5 pound bag of it at Costco because you like the cheap price. But, you don't like letting some of it go to waste and you don't like eating spinach for every meal until you have consumed all 2.5 pounds all by yourself.

So, I thought I would share one creative way I use the spinach to make a quick pesto for pasta dishes for months to come.

Spinach Pesto (I make a variation of this depending upon what ingredients I have on hand. The original recipe came from Real Simple Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup walnuts (I sometimes use pecans)
  
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 pound baby spinach (about 10 cups)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I've used feta or mozzarella before)
  
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:

• In a food processor, pulse the walnuts and garlic until chopped. Add the spinach, oil, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Puree until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor bowl as necessary.
  
• Pour mixture into ice cube an tray. Put in freezer.
  
• Remove when thoroughly frozen. Pop out of ice cube trays and put into zip lock freezer bags. It can be stored up to 3 months.
• When you are ready to use the sauce, cook pasta according to the directions. Meanwhile, take 1 or 2 cubes out and let them melt in the serving dish you will use for your pasta (you may want to microwave the cubes to speed up the process). Cook and drain the pasta and pour into the serving dish over the pesto. The pesto doesn't need to be cooked and the heat from the pasta is enough to melt the pesto into creamy green sauce. Toss and combine the sauce. And serve. Add salt to taste and sprinkle with cheese.
  

I hope you enjoy this recipe. I know we always do.

Summer Visitor

This summer we were happy to welcome Chiara back to Utah. She stayed with us two summers ago as a foreign exchange student from Germany, and we all became fast friends. We were so glad that she wanted to come back. This time around she stayed with some of our neighbors because with the addition of Eva, our house and mostly our car, had less room. Luckily, the Meeks (with more room in their house because their son is on a misson) took her in. We were lucky to have her stay a week with us, while the Meeks were on vacation. That was an awesome week. Stephen and I felt like we had a sleepover party all week long. We loved the late night chats and games. I can only wish my daughters would be as "wunderbar" as her when they are her age.

Fresh from Germany, via non-stop from Paris.

Pancakes: German translation - Sehr Gut!!!

Chiara is always a good sport and joined us at This is the Place.

Sadly, we had to say auf wiedersehen too soon. Though, thanks to email, IM, mail and Google Voice, I think we will be keeping in touch for years to come.
Tschüß, Chiara.