A Visit to the Pacific Islands: Kelaguen

Because of my husband's job as a hospital food service director, he goes to a lot of food blogs. And he comes into contact with a lot of different recipes.

Recipes he rarely brings home!

So imagine my surprise when he gave me this recipe a couple summers ago!

He says the guy who posted the original recipe on the blog is from the Philippines. I Googled the dish, and learned that it's found all over the Pacific Islands.

Originally, it seems the islanders used this recipe to ferment seafood - basically "cook" it in acid and salt. When other meat sources were introduced to the islands, the recipe was adapted to include them. Even Spam! Although one of the sources said the Spam version is only popular among beer drinkers.

Draw your own conclusions :)

The version I make uses cooked chicken.

Kelaguen

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

1 hot pepper, diced

1 small onion, diced

1/4 cup lemon juice (or juice of 2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut - dried or fresh

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for at least two hours. Serve with warm tortillas or with a green salad.

Since this is an ancient recipe, pretty much anything goes.

Use whatever meat - or even tofu - you choose. I use diced, cooked chicken breasts. You can also use seafood, beef, canned tuna...whatever!

Use whatever pepper you want - or even none. I like the zing a hot pepper gives the dish - although I don't like too much of it. I used one of these - I think it's a Serrano?

Green Bell Peppers would work well, too.

And, of course, for the coconut I used some of the huge bag that I dug into last week to make my Delightful Coconut Dreams (recipe here).

Paired with a green salad, this makes a wonderfully quick, nutritious cold dish for summer!

Someone else thinks so, too!

What's your favorite go-to dish for hot summer days?

Heart Smart Dried Cherry and Almond Granola

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have a tasty recipe that just might be good for us. (Shocker!) This year I made several resolutions (yeah, yeah, I know) and one of them was to eat healthier. The writing life is not a particularly active one unless you have one of those treadmill desks and I don't think I'll ever get one of those because then I would never do any work at all. So, I must eat healthier! All this sitting is adding inches to my writerly bottom.

I think there are several deadlines looming over peeps in the cafe and I am no exception. I'm weeks away from turning in a project I've been working on since 2011. And that feels... scary. But I made a conscious effort not to fall back on my comfort foods, like cinnamon rolls, although I still wanted something sweet. I found this book at our local library and it had some great comfort dishes that were heart healthy. (Because if I do all this work, die of a heart attack and don't get to see my book in print, I'm gonna be TICKED.)

Preheat the oven 300F. Line a pan with foil.

 Ingredients (which I doubled for mine because I knew lots of my kids would love this one):
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 wheat germ, (skipped it because I forgot to buy it)
1/2 cup almond slices
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 maple syrup
1 tbs milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried cherries
1 tbs orange zest

 Here are the oats, cinnamon, almonds.

 The maple syrup. MMMMMM. Smells divine.

 Toast in the oven for 30 minutes, turning/tossing every 10 minutes or so.

 After the granola is toasted, add the cherries. (Not before, like I did, and then realize they would just burn in the oven.)

 You can use this on anything, even a bowl of cereal to add fiber and flavor, but I love Greek yogurt in the mornings, so I added it to vanilla yogurt.

 I had some fresh raspberries on hand (YUMMY) so I added those in.

This book said that if you serve the granola over yogurt you'll get 9 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, vitamin C, and calcium. That's a big difference from my usual large coffee with lots of sugar.

Here's to eating healthier so we can keep meeting those deadlines and showing up in the cafe! My family and I will be gone for a while on vacation but I'll try to pop in when we have service. some parts of Oregon are still relatively untouched by technology/internet service. I think it's a healthy (in a whole different way) to unplug once in a while, especially for kids.

  I've got my bag of heart healthy dried cherry and almond granola, and I'm headed for adventure! Until next time, my friends!

When Deadlines Loom

Missy, here. I'm deep in a deadline fog with a book due June 30th. Down to the wire!

Sooo…not much cooking going on other than the regular recipes I've already shared here. So far this week I've made:

Pasta Bolognese (shared it here) and have eaten it leftover already. I have to admit this one isn't all that quick. But it's worth a little effort. And I needed a short break anyway. :)

Fettuccine Alfredo (shared it here). This is amazingly quick!

Are we seeing a trend here?? Yes, I love pasta! And it's a comfort food as I near deadlines. :)

I've also been making salads. And went crazy with buying produce at the grocery store over the weekend. Don't you love it when so many fruits are in season?! I even took a photo to share.

Yes, I probably went a little overboard. But we're eating lots of fruit and salads! One of the things I love right now is peaches. And since I don't like the fuzz, I like nectarines even more.

Here are white and yellow fleshed nectarines.

And here are something unusual, black velvet apricots. They're actually an apricot-plum mix. You can read about them here. Hubby and I decided they look and taste more like plums. And boy, they really do feel as if they're coated in velvet!

Oh! I just remembered I also got a seasonal special. It's time for Vidalia onions! (usually pronounced Vie (with a long i)-dail'-ya) I wrote a post about them (here). They're yummy grilled with butter and salt and pepper. Yes, just eat them by themselves as a side dish. :)

What are you favorite fruits and vegetables? Anything unusual like the apricot-plum hybrid?

Ruthy's No-Bake Triple Berry Cheesecake

It all started with THIS:

I bought it for Father's Day and the family went a little bit crazy over the blueberry version... It was marvelous!!!!

But as I ate it, I noticed two things: First, it didn't have the normal cheesecake consistency, and second: the creaminess was unmatched by any baked cheesecake I've ever consumed or made... ergo:

UNBAKED.

Instantly my analytical mind went to "How To Best This Recipe????"

Well, okay, not instantly, after eating a lot of good stuff and deciding it was really, really SO STINKIN' GOOD!!!!!

Basically, we're looking at three steps:

1. Cookie crust (or graham cracker, but I like the Vanilla Wafer version better)
2. Cheese filling
3. Fruit filling
4. Whipped Cream Topping

I got out my favorite ceramic cheesecake/pie pan, nice deep dish that you'd spend $20 or more for at a specialty store and I got for $5.99 at Walmart....

Cookie Crust:

40 Vanilla Wafers, crushed completely
4 Tablespoons melted butter
6 Tablespoons sugar

Mix those thoroughly in bowl and then press FIRMLY into the bottom and slightly up the sides of your pie dish/cheesecake pan. Pushing firmly (and you can use the flat of a bowl or cup to help) makes the cookie crust stay together once baked. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool.

I used a rolling pin and a countertop to crush these bad boys, but if you want to wash a BLENDER or FOOD PROCESSOR, well... go for it!!!!

This is the consistency you want, "fine crumb".... and think of the arm-wallow-flab you tightened doing this by hand!!! GO YOU!!!!  :)

And here's the crust pressed into my pie pan, baked at 350 for about 8 minutes, and now cooling on those cute crocheted trivet thingies that I've had forever...

Cheese filling:

2 8 oz. packages Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 cup powdered sugar

Blend cream cheese and sour cream until really smooth. Add powdered sugar. Mix until smooth and then refrigerate until ready to layer pie.

TASTE TESTING IS CRUCIAL!!!!!

Whipped cream topping:
1 pint whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar

Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

Fruit filling/swirl:

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
Mix sugar and cornstarch together in 2 or 3 quart saucepan.

Mash together:
1/3 cup water
3 cups of triple berry blend, blueberries, strawberries or raspberries, your preference (if berries are frozen, mash them once they thaw.

Add berries and water to sugar mix and then heat over low heat until berries are thawed and smushed and the consistency thickens to a thin pie filling texture.

Cool fruit filling.  (I tucked it in the freezer because I was short on time, SHOCKER!!!! and that way it was cool enough about an hour or so later...)

Spread cooled fruit filling onto amazingly delicious cookie crust. Then spread cheesy-deliciousness filling over the fruit filling.

Swirl the edges to give the "fruit and cream" ambiance we love... And then swirl the whipped cream on top and freeze until firm.

OH MY STARS, THIS IS THE BEST CHEESECAKE/PIE EVER!!!!!

It's like having cheesecake ice cream, and it is MARVELOUS.

I kid you not, and you know I love to kid you!!!!!

And did you know that princesses LOVE cheesecake?????

Of course they do!!!!

This was totally considered a kitchen SUCCESS!!!!!

Power Pesto Obstacle Course

I love my farmer's market. I visit friends who retired and inherited family land. They turned it into an organic farm. Other vendors sell flowers my black thumb can't grow, grass-fed beef, eggs and shrimp from the coast. Half the time I don't know what I'm getting til I get there. My ingredients determine the recipes for the week ahead. Every week is an adventure but I didn't expect the adventure to turn into an obstacle course.

This week's Farmer's Market haul.

At the top of my list of how to use this week's haul was pesto. I love it. Not only is it full of flavor but it is so versatile. A dab makes a plain sandwich into a gourmet lunch, squash noodles more than a paleo substitute for egg noodles, and ramps up any sort of salad dressing.

My ingredients

Obstacle #1: I bought some basil this week but realized I didn't have enough for all the on-line pesto recipes I was reading. What to do? What to do? Hmmmm, I had leftover power greens from last week. And sure enough, I found plenty of recipes featuring power greens like kale, chard and spinach. So I threw a couple of those in for good measure AFTER I made sure to remove the bitter stems.

Obstacle #2: Pesto traditionally is made with pine nuts and healthier versions are made with walnuts. And this girl who is allergic to everything is also allergic to the omega packed walnuts. ManO is not a nut person. Again, what to do? Parmesan cheese is an ingredient already so I added some more to make it a bit thicker.  I added more flavorful olive oil. If you aren' t allergic to certain nuts like I am but don't want the nut texture, you can use a tablespoon of nut flavored oils. They are all over the marketplace now.

Obstacle #3: ManO is not a garlic fan and pesto without garlic is my nightmare. So I just added one clove. Sniff. I really want to protect ManO's immune system with a bunch but he doesn't believe me for some reason. And he was around to make sure I didn't sneak in more than he could stand.   

Obstacle #4: I forgot to buy some meat for dinner. In reality, it was more "forgot." I'm really trying to reduce our meat, especially red meat, consumption. But I remembered turkey spaghetti sauce in the fridge.

Obstacle #5:  I also "forgot" to buy spaghetti.  Poor ManO, now he doesn't even get gluten-free rice pasta. I go for veggies as the base of the sauce. YAY! I grabbed my Farmer's Market golden zucchini and made "noodles."  Just slice any kind of squash with a veggie peeler, lay on paper towels to drain, and saute for a few minutes. I added a dollop ( a very technical cooking term, ya know) and stirred. Perfection.

      
Well, I made it through the obstacle course and this is what we had for dinner:

Power Pesto (Nutless version)

2 cups basil with stems removed
1 cup power greens (or spinach) with stems removed
1 clove (or more) minced garlic
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon (or to taste) sea salt
1/2+ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon flavored oil (optional)   

1) Place garlic in food processor and mince or mince beforehand.
2) Add salt.
3) Add greens and mince fine.
4) Add Parmesan. Do not mince yet.
5) Put on processor lid and pour oil (including flavored oil if used) slowly through opening while processing.
6) Check consistency and add more cheese or oil if necessary.
7) Put in container, cover and refrigerate.

Bonus tip: You can apparently freeze pesto by covering small containers of it with olive oil. I am such a fresh fan but may try this idea. If you are overwhelmed by basil this summer, I can totally see putting some pesto up to remind you of summer in the cold, dark winter.

Are you a pesto fan? Have you tried to make alternate types of pesto? What is your best necessity-is- the-mother-of-invention substitution when it comes to recipes? Have you every tried to make a meal and find yourself running an obstacle course?

 

Time to Celebrate!

It's party time today in the cafe. 

Why?

Because Tina Radcliffe and I are Carol Award finalists!

Hmm... What a coincidence that they both have "Doctor" in the title. 

And both stories take place in Colorado.

I would also like to mention that the lovely Tina is also a finalist for ACFW's Mentor of the Year.

How about a round of applause.

I'll to have to let Tina chime in with her story, but when I got the call about being a finalist--then had to keep my mouth shut for several agonizing days--I decided I needed a celebration. 

Just me, myself and the treat of my choosing. 

So what did I choose?

Ta-da!!

Why a cupcake, you might ask.

Well, first of all, cakes and celebrations go hand in hand. Then there's the fact that it classifies as a soft food.

But I mostly chose a cupcake because the heroine in my WIP is having a Cupcake Mania event at her restaurant. All that thinking about cupcakes had me craving one.

So I visited a cupcake bar just down the road from me. Yes, I said that right. A cupcake BAR.

You pick your cupcake, then your frosting and they prepare it right in front of you.

When I went in, I was craving my favorite--white cake with buttercream frosting. But the strawberry cake looked so good and when they said it was made with fresh strawberries, I couldn't resist.

As many of you know, Jan and I have been following the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan and have cut sugar out of our diets. However, that doesn't mean we can't let ourselves have fun every once in a while.

So, I parked myself at one of cupcake bar tables, feeling only the slightest bit guilty for allowing myself such a treat. I carefully peeled away the paper. Then, using my fork, I snagged a bite of both icing and cake.

Mm--Wait a minute. 

This doesn't taste like it's supposed to.

After going so long without sugar, my cupcake didn't taste the same. It was WAY too sweet. 

Especially the frosting. And I LOVE buttercream frosting! 

The cupcake alone, however, was very yummy. Definitely made with fresh strawberries. 

In the end, though, I ate less than half of my $3 cupcake. Still, it was a valuable lesson.

As a sugar addict, I never imagined that I could cut sugar from my diet. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy. The first week and half were pure torture. But I did it.

And now I'm a Carol Award finalist?

No doubt about it. With God, ANYTHING is possible. :-D

Delightful Coconut Dream

There's more to life than your favorite candy, isn't there?

(I mean, except for chocolate. That isn't candy. Chocolate is its own food group.)

Here's a confession: One of my favorite candies is the Mounds Bar. Or Almond Joy. There's just something about that chocolate covered coconut goodness that calls to me.

But when I'm trying to cut sugar out of my diet, there goes my occasional chocolate/coconut treat.

Or does it?

When we were at my favorite store in May, I bought this huge bag of coconut. This is dried, flaked coconut, but it's unsweetened. My thought was that I'd use it for a chicken recipe we like in the summer (coming soon!), but that really is an awful lot of coconut. So I started looking for another recipe...and guess what? Chocolate covered coconut bars!!!!

You know me. I fussed and fixed and experimented, and changed the recipe to what I call my Delightful Coconut Dreams.

A great thing about these is that you can make them with or without sugar.

Without sugar they're a low-carb treat (an S in the Trim Healthy Mama world!)

So here we go.

You'll need one cup flaked coconut. If you can find it, use the unsweetened. Look in health food stores or places like Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Or if you're near Shipshewana, I know E&S Sales has it!

Measure the coconut into a medium sized bowl. To make it without added sugar, add 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 teaspoon Truvia.

If you aren't too concerned about added sugar, you can use this:

I used a Tablespoon of this sweet coconut syrup (used to make Pina Colada's and such) to 3 Tablespoons heavy cream for hubby's version.

Mix the coconut and cream/sweetener together. It should be a nice, sticky mess. Put it in a dish, shaping it into a rectangle roughly 4 inches by 6 inches, and between 1/2 and 1 inch high.

Stick it in the freezer for an hour or so. That makes it easier to handle!

A few minutes before you take the coconut goodness out of the freezer, you need to make your chocolate coating.

Use coconut oil for your base. Coconut oil melts at 76°, so it's perfect for this application. (This mixture also makes the perfect - and healthy - chocolate "shell" for your ice cream!)

Mix 3 Tablespoons liquid coconut oil (if your kitchen is less than 76°, you can melt it in the microwave for a few seconds), 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon Truvia (or sugar) in a small bowl.

Now take your coconut bar out of the freezer, and cut it into 8 pieces. Since it's frozen, it's much easier to cut.

Take the pieces, one at a time, and dip them into the chocolate mixture. As each one is dipped, transfer them to a piece of wax paper to cool. The chocolate hardens almost immediately.

These might not look as finished as the commercial product, but they sure are tasty! 

And guilt free! :)

Here's a recap of the recipe:

Delightful Coconut Dream 

Sugar Free version:

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon Truvia

3 Tablespoons coconut oil, liquid

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon Truvia

Version with sugar:

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

1 Tablespoon Cream of Coconut (optional)

3 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon sugar

3 Tablespoons coconut oil, liquid

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sugar

Mix coconut, cream and sweetener together. Shape the mixture into a 4" x 6" slab. Freeze for 1 or 2 hours. Remove from freezer and cut into 8 pieces.

Stir coconut oil, cocoa powder and sweetener together. Dip the coconut pieces into the chocolate and let cool.

Store in the refrigerator, and try not to eat it all at one time!

*If you can't find unsweetened coconut, go ahead and use the sweetened coconut flakes you can find in any grocery store. There is a lot of sugar in that coconut, so don't add any more to the coconut mixture. Add just enough cream to make the flakes stick together, and continue with the recipe as written.

The town of Deadwood, South Dakota today.

And in between chocolaty treats, I'm working hard on "A Home in Deadwood", my newest Love Inspired story. I don't have a final title yet, and I don't have a release date, but I do have a deadline!

One thing I love about writing historicals is the research. Deadwood is a fascinating place. It splashed onto the stage of history with a gold strike in 1875, a gold rush in the spring of 1876, and earned its notorious reputation with the murder of Wild Bill Hickok in August, 1876.

By the time Wild Bill arrived in Deadwood, his reputation was wide-spread. Everyone in the country knew the legends - true or not - that surrounded him. He and his companions - Calamity Jane, the Utter brothers (Colorado Charlie and his brother, Steve) and Bloody Dick Seymour - rode into the mining camp in mid-July, 1876, "mounted on good horses and clad in complete suits of buckskin," according to eyewitness Richard B. Hughes in his book, Pioneer Years in the Black Hills.

Wild Bill soon took up his current profession of gambling (poker was his game of choice), while the Utter brothers started laying the ground work for a pony express mail service between Deadwood and Ft. Laramie, Wyoming. The brothers' plans were put on hold, however, when Jack McCall shot Wild Bill in the back while their friend was playing poker in the Number 10 saloon on Main Street.

I won't go on - I could talk about history all day (just ask my family!) - but I have to share this picture with you!

You're looking at the Beaver Creek Valley in Weston County, Wyoming. That trailing road there at the bottom is the route of the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Line...and the Utter brothers' mail route between Deadwood and Ft. Laramie. (They got the line started after Jack McCall's trial).

There is history all around you, wherever you live. You just need to look for it. Your local library is the best place to start :)

Meanwhile, enjoy chocolaty goodness!

Jane Austen's Lemon Cake and Life As We Know It

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have a fun little recipe to share, but first... I got my husband a Ninja Prep Master for Father's Day. That's not as weird as it sounds. Or maybe it is. But he got me a blender for my birthday when we were dating so I say turnabout is fair play!

 It was neat to hear all the recipes on Julie's Confessions of a Half-hearted Juicer and Jan's Trim Healthy Mama smoothie recipes. With all these excellent fruit/veggie ideas, I was primed to buy this as soon as I saw it in Walmart...

OK, they wouldn't sell it if it wasn't good, right?? At least, that was my theory.

 Looks a little weird. Sort of like chicken pot pie before the crust and without any chicken.

 Ahhhhh, okay. Looks like slimy mulch. But it's not slimy and it's like a green slushy. Husband declared it delicious. Score!

 I also bought this bag because it looked good. Definitely can't go wrong here.

 Mr. Ninja doesn't even blink at this kind of job. SUPER blender!

 And the result? I added some Greek yogurt and it looks a bit like chunky ice cream.

 Sooooo good. I made this in the 48 ounce pitcher and between all the kids, it was almost gone! This is a much better set up than the old blender.

 I don't like to sip anything cold unless I have a straw (hurt my teeth) so I decided to blend blueberries, two bananas and some yogurt. Ummmm... Looked and smelled good. VERY SLIMY. I think it was blending the bananas.

 So, I mixed a bit of the fruit slushy into mine and it was just right!
                                        
Now, just as we were being so healthy, something came in the mail. Someone (who just might be named TINA) knows that I have a soft spot for Miss Jane Austen.

She'd seen a book called 'So Jane' by Hollie Keith and thought I might want to try the Lemon Drizzle Cake. Well, of COURSE!

 I was up to my eyeballs in tasks that day, so my dear 12 year old decided to try her hand at making the cake. (Here she is guarding the lemon drizzle until the cake comes out of the oven.)

Since she'd already made chicken pot pie and some other deliciousness, I thought it would be fine to let her try the Austen cake. And from then on, I knew nothing until it came out of the oven. I didn't even know she took pictures! Pretty soon, I'll just turn over the blog posts to her. You'll never even know I'm gone...

So, ingredients are thus:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup lemon juice
GLAZE
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

 Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a loaf pan and set it aside. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.

 Combine the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well.

 Hm. This pictures gives me pause. But the finished product was good, so I won't worry about it now.

 Add dry ingredients alternately with lemon juice to the butter/egg/sugar mix.

 Mix until smooth.

 Aha, this must be the glaze.

 As we brought the cake out of the oven, we all exclaimed about how it looked so much like the art from one of our favorite fantasy series, Here There Be Dragons.

James Artemis Owen is an incredible human being, along with being a stellar artist and writer. When I ordered a set of his books, he'd signed and drawn in each one. My kids were thrilled to pieces!

By the way, James took our lemon cake comparison very graciously and didn't point out the fact that it looks hardly anything like his noble dragons. That's the kind of guy he is. :)

 After the cake had come out of the oven (around 50 minutes later) we let it cool for 15 minutes, then turned it out onto a plate. Then the drizzling happened. YUM. I decided to chop it into little pieces and put it under a cute cake dome I found at our local thrift store. I'm pretty sure these two pieces don't actually go together, but they looked pretty good with lemon cake inside.

 I do believe Jane would be pleased...

 These are the vintage milk glass that my friend Christalee sent me for my birthday. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.

 Another reason I love milk glass... It glows in the light. Fabulous!
So, that's the tale of the Jane Austen lemon cake that arrived in my mailbox. It was perfectly delicious and lasted approximately 10 seconds.

 I have another project or two coming up and I'll post a few pictures here. I found this old coffee table for a few dollars at a yard sale. I really wanted a coffee table but HATE sharp edges. We always have had little babies around, and so for the longest time I didn't even have a coffee table sicn I couldn't find one with rounded edges. Ta-dah! But it's all banged up.

 Helper!

 And more helpers...

It's a light cream color and I really, really want to stencil some Jane Austen quotes in pale gray around the edges. I know, sounds weird. But I've seen something on Pinterest and it's calling to me! I'll let you know if it's a total fail... Here are some images of stenciled tables and I think they're just adorable!
  I also got this old dresser a few weeks ago and it's been raining too much to work on it. It's pretty beat up, but I have high hopes!

Projects, projects! And just a few more photos... the very best of all. 

 Emma, Mr. Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs is coming out in a few weeks and I got my author copies! Hooray!! Now I'm  busy throwing them at anyone who stands still long enough...

AND the uncorrected proofs of the last of the trilogy, Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Carcklin' Cornbread!  It will be out in November and it was such a thrill to hold this book in my hands. I had a wonderful editor (Beth Adams) and assistant editor (Katie Sandell) who helped make this book something special! 

Ok, so THAT, my friends, is life as we know it here at the Munoz household. I hope your summer is just as full of sweetness, projects, and excitement!

Until next time!