Pictures from Japan

Hayley came home with 944 pictures! She also took some videos. So I'm just posting the highlights from her trip. I should mention that the Japanese like to give the peace sign when taking photos so you'll see alot of the people doing that.

View from the bus on the way to the hotel in Toyko

View of Mt. Fuji from the hotel

Hayley in her new frog hat and her roommate

Courtney in front of Mt. Fuji.

The whole group in front of Mt. Fuji.

Otaki Castle.

Banners advertising something.

I wish our billboards looked that cool!

A man working in his rice field.

Lavender ice cream.

I thought that was a scent not a flavor.

Hayley's first touch of the ocean.

More rice fields.

Hayley's first meal.

Chicken, some kind of sauce, and salad.

Big Buddha Statue.

View of one of the rooms in the host family's home.

Hayley's new cute little brother.

Hayley's bed.

She said it was very comfortable to sleep on the mat.

Playing Wii with the family.

Hayley playing with her new brother, Riki.

Ready for school!

Courtney, Shiho and Hayley.

Host Dad putting his son Riki on the bus for school.

Decorations at the school.

Hayley's Homeroom at School.

Kids from the grade school they visited.

Hayley's escorts around the grade school that they visited.

School lunch.

Musical performance at her school.

Learning how to play some new instruments.

Hayley and Courtney in Judo outfits.

Hayley in a wedding kimono.

Beautiful Japanese dress.

Sightseeing in Tokyo. A Statue of Liberty replica.

Dance and Welcoming Ceremony.

Another picture at the dance.

Shiho, Courtney, Mr. Clarenbach, Host Dad Nobuyuki, Hayley, other kids from the school.

Hayley and Courtney cooking dinner for their host family.

Host family.

Back row: Grandpa Haruo, Shiho, Courtney, Hayley, Mom Naoko.

Front row: Riki, Grandma Yoshie

It rained the last day, but Hayley had to take her first swim in the ocean.

On the way home to Wisconsin.

Hayley loved the experience so much that she said she plans to go back some day.

Spaghetti Dinner inspired by Julie/Julia Project

Let's get this straight right off the bat. I'm definitely not a chef. I wouldn't even characterize myself as a cook. I can bake some nice cookies and I can even make a mean chocolate cheesecake, but that's where it stops. I'm the type of person who likes to dance to the beat of her own drum. (Although I really can't dance either.)

So when I was in school I took all the Tech Ed classes with the boys instead of Home Economics. I wanted to work with tools and make things with my hands. I had no interest in standing in front of a stove and waiting for something to brown. I loved working with a robot, wiring a wall, making a windchime and even putting together a rocket. I had a great time routering the edge of my pig shaped cutting board. Although the teacher did put his hands over the top of mine. I guess he thought a girl couldn't handle that tool. Boy, was he wrong! Some of my current tools include a soldering iron, grinder, vise, drill press, tile saw, kiln and wet belt sander. You should see the glass fly when I'm working.

Well, back to the subject of cooking. I loved watching the movie "Julie and Julia". Although I don't have a love of cooking, like the Julie character in that movie, I wanted to make some meals from scratch and see how well they could come out. I figured I could document my process and people could either share in my joy of a job well done or laugh at my complete and utter failure. I should clarify that "by scratch" I mean not a meal from a box. I probably will take a few shortcuts, but the overall goal is to cook something that isn't a "just add chicken/meat" meal.

Tonight I attempted to make my own marinara sauce. I found a recipe online that was inspired by a woman's visit to the Olive Garden. Well, the Olive Garden is my most favorite restaurant. My husband even proposed to me at one, but that's another story. So I'm reading through the recipe to make sure I have all the ingredients when I see that I have to saute onions. Is it lame that I had to google "how to saute onions" to figure it out? This should give you a clue of how little I know when it comes to cooking.

Here is the recipe I used.

Marinara Sauce Recipe #58246

A trip to the Olive Garden inspired me to create this recipe. This is a quick, easy and versatile Marinara Sauce with a delicious fresh taste. Serve over cooked spaghetti, ravioli or other pasta; sprinkle with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Or chill and serve as a salsa with garlic bread sticks or tostitos. by BeachGirl

35 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 6

• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons sugar (to taste) or 1/2-3/4 teaspoon Equal sugar substitute (to taste) or 2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute, granules (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. In a saucepan, saute the onions, but do not let them brown.
2. To the saucepan, add the liquid drained from the diced tomatoes. Add the basil, Italian seasonings, sugar (or sugar substitute) and crushed red peppers. Simmer liquid and spices for about 30 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes and cook just until heated, about 1 minute.
4. If you prefer, you can used whole tomatoes and dice them, saving any tomato liquid for Step 2.

I think the sauce turned out wonderfully. I skipped adding the red pepper flakes this time, but I might add them the next time I make this recipe. My husband was very happy with the meal as well. While I was cooking the sauce he took one look at it and said, "I'm actually excited about eating spaghetti for once." I'm an italian girl at heart and could probably eat pasta most days so my husband is probably a little tired of it. We also had breadsticks with the meal, but I have to admit that they were not from scratch. I basically just warmed them in the oven. After my husband cleaned his plate he said that this sauce was WAY better than anything you could buy in the store. What a compliment for a girl who didn't even know how to saute onions. So my first attempt at making a meal from scratch was a SUCCESS!

Ingredients

Saute the onions

Added herbs and liquid from tomato

Pasta

Crushed and diced tomatoes added

Yummy Breadsticks

Bon Appetit!

Vinyl for Mother's Day

I decided to give my mom some Vinyl Wall Decals for Mother's Day. She had been asking for two particular decals so this wasn't a huge surprise for her. Luckily, I know someone who sells vinyl decals.... My husband. So I got a great deal on them. Wink, wink.

We also included free installation with her gift and of course she picked one of the hardest places to put the large decal. Normally, vinyl wall decals are fairly easy to install, but my mom wanted it above her computer desk. So picture a desk with a large hutch on it. Then picture my husband and I standing on chairs with one foot on top of the computer desk reaching over the hutch trying to rub the decal onto the wall. It was an interesting install to say the least. But I think it turned out wonderfully.

The second decal was put on the door leading to her kitchen. That was a much easier install and we were done within minutes. My mom loved the decals and was very happy with how they looked on the wall and door. Mission accomplished!

I love you Mom!

Hayley's Japan Trip

My daughter Hayley left for Japan on Saturday. She went with a group from her school and will be there for 10 days. They'll be touring Tokyo, visiting Mt. Fuji and attending school as exchange students.

Hayley is an aspiring photographer and promises to bring back an enormous amount of photos. I can hardly wait to see them. I'll be posting a bunch of them when she gets back. I'm a little worried that Hayley will come back skinnier than when she left. She's a little bit of a picky eater. Most of her second suitcase was filled with cereal, teddy grams, pop tarts and granola bars. She promised to at least try a little of everything.

Courtney (Left) - Hayley (Right)

Hayley and Courtney will be staying with a host family together.

This is the bus that they rode down to Chicago and that's the bus driver.

Here is the whole group. Hayley is fifth from the right in the back row.

Gifts for my Dad's Birthday

I thought it would be hard to find a handmade gift for my Dad's birthday. Usually I end up getting him a gift card to Fleet Farm. Fleet Farm = "The Man's Mall". I happened to be looking through some treasuries on Etsy.com and saw a guitar shapped cutting board. The cutting board caught my eye because my husband is really into music and plays the guitar. So I clicked on the guitar cutting board and saw a bunch of handmade wood items.

My dad likes working with wood. He can make just about anything out of wood. For me.... he's made a bookcase, changing table, shelves specifically to hold my glass sheets, stands to hold my 3-d stained glass birds and a bunch of other things. So when I saw the clock and coasters I thought that they were perfect for him.

I didn't want to buy something that he could easily make himself. These items were great because of all the different types of wood. I bought the clock and coasters a little too close to his birthday. So they didn't come in time for his party, but I did show him a picture of what was coming. When they did arrive it was really fun watching him open the package. The clock now hangs above his desk and the coasters are in the living room for all his beverage needs.

To tell the truth about why I didn't purchase his gift earlier was because I wasn't going to include the "boy" gifts in this mission. I didn't think I could find handmade gifts for boys, but I was proven wrong. So I'm very excited about continuing on this journey for everything handmade.

To find your own unique wood gifts go to Taunton On Green.

Picture of the Clock hung up.