Afternoon Baking

My sister is traveling to Philadelphia this weekend for a Memorial Day party with her in-laws and volunteered to bring a dessert to add to the party spread. However, somewhere between her volunteering and Wednesday night, I guess she decided that she really wasn’t in the mood for baking because I received this text message from her:

Lucky for her, she knows that I am always up for baking and gladly agreed to help her out.

The only problem came this morning when I realized I didn’t have any idea of what I wanted to make and I wasn’t sure what ingredients I had in the kitchen to even use. After some surveying of the situation, she will now be stocked with three separate desserts when she gets to PA tonight!

First up was some no-bake Reese’s Dessert Bars that I had the mix for in the pantry, just waiting to be put together.

They were a piece of cake to make since everything needed except butter and water was in the box and ready to go.

Next up I grabbed the lone box of cake mix in the pantry and made some pretty awesome cookies which are the main attraction in this afternoon’s post.

And last but not least, some of Chocolate Covered Katie’s peanut butter sandwich bread. I made this bread in Korea and Brian and I both instantly fell in love with it – Especially served warm with vanilla ice cream or frozen with vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two half pieces. A-ma-zing!

The only differences that I made this go-round is that I added chocolate chips to the bread and a sprinkle of halved peanuts on top for a decorative touch.

Someone isn’t going to her party empty-handed!

Strawberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 box strawberry cake mix
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup raw original oats

Directions:

Combine cake mix with oil and eggs and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips and oats. Bake at 350°F for 12-14 minutes – until slightly browned on top. Cool and serve!

I may have gotten a little carried away in the kitchen this afternoon but hopefully everyone at the party enjoys the outcome of it! :)

Question:

Are you going to a Memorial Day party this weekend? What are you taking to share with the crowd?


Daddy-Telli Time

Yesterday afternoon Brian and I took Telli for a trail walk at a local reservoir for some exercise.

It was our first official family outing since we had gotten back from Korea and Telli loved the extra attention and was so well behaved throughout the whole walk.

Such a good boy!

After our walk, we went to my parents house to see how our little buddy felt about the pool.

He loves to get in the water at the reservoir and prance around so we were anxious to see how he reacted to the pool full of water.

At first he was extrememly tentative but eventually gave in to having his feet on the top step (all in the pursuit of a tee ball).

When we finally got him completely in the water, he wasn’t such a fan but was an extremely good doggie-paddler and made his way back to the steps and out of the pool in a hurry.

After some more Daddy-Telli time running around outside followed by a bath, he passed out hard last night! Poor little guy was exhausted from all of the run!

The extra play time with Brian and Telli was definitely needed since this morning packed luggage once again decorated our kitchen.

After two days at home with our family finally together again, Brian is back off on his next baseball adventure and Telli and I are stuck at home without him. Womp Womp!

I’ll be meeting up with him again soon but Telli has to hold out until July to get more Daddy play time. He’s going to be one sad pup when he realizes it!

Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was again the common theme since getting back home. An English muffin egg sandwich with an over-easy egg, turkey bacon and cheddar cheese.

When I sat down to eat, I, of course, forgot that it was an over-easy egg and not a fried one on the sandwich and bit right into the runny yolk. I lost have of the delicious gooey-ness all over the table. Whoops!

Telli has doggy school this morning and then I’m hoping to hit the gym for an afternoon workout.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone!

Question:

If you have a dog, do they like water and swimming?


Girl Time

Workout

After a day of travel and a day of being crushed with jet lag yesterday, I finally made it to the gym this morning for a workout.

I kept the complete workout to running only and covered a little over 5 miles on the treadmill. The difference in humidity between here and Korea is crazy and the difference in my running because of it was crazier. I felt so heavy and couldn’t breathe for the majority of the run. For as in shape as I felt on my runs over there, I felt even more so out of shape today. Wow!

After the gym, we had a very important stop to make.

My first Dunkin Donuts coffee since being back. I forgot just how good American DD tastes and downed this large iced coffee in no time. Perfect post workout treat!

The rest of the morning was filled with girl time. Manis and pedis for my best friend, Jeremy, and me courtesy of Brian.

It was so nice to just relax and chat away with a girlfriend for a bit and it continued over lunch as well.

Lunch

We grabbed lunch after our appointments at Qdoba.

A naked ground beef burrito. I don’t order ground beef in my burritos/Mexican meals often but whenever I do, I remember just how much I love it!

Now it’s time to head out for his and hers haircuts before taking Telli for a walk and running errands. We have a busy evening ahead of us!!!

Question:

Chicken or beef in Mexican Meals?


Turning the Page

From what I understand, my post titled, “One Bad Apple”, was published on a Korean website which brought a ton of publicity to the negative comments that Brian and I were receiving prior to leaving Daejeon. In response, there has been an outpouring of apologies for how we were treated and the things that were said to us and for that we are beyond appreciative.

There was absolutely no way that I could reply individually to each 100+ comments and emails received so I wanted to address everyone here that expressed their sincere apologies, support and well wishes to us. Those individuals will help us to remember the good about our trip to Korea and not the few negative people who had hurtful things to say. So thank you to the good apples! You are the people that we met and valued our encounters with in Korea and we thank you for making us feel welcome and for helping us to experience your country in a positive light.

Lastly, before closing the door on this past chapter of our baseball life, I would like to address those who have expressed concerns that Brian did not care about his job in Korea and believed he was only visiting the country to sight-see and have fun. Just to make it clear, once Brian was sent to the minor leagues, he still went to practice every day just like the other minor league players. He worked out, strength and cardio trained, pitched and watched every big league game on TV to analyze pitchers and try to learn from their pitching techniques, strategies and pitch sequences (if those are comments understandable to non-baseball people). Just because he spent time eating or exploring did not mean that he wasn’t working out and focusing on baseball as well. Each day has 24 hours to it and MY blog does not highlight each and every one of them. Not to mention, MY blog is just that, MY blog – it also doesn’t focus on Brian’s workouts, career, etc. If I would have known the outrage MY blog would have caused some of you Eagle fans, I would have made sure to document Brian’s training schedule for you as well. My apologies. And I will make sure that going to the zoo or playing Jenga is never in our schedule in the future as I wouldn’t want it to interfere with his baseball playing ability as you all have so nicely informed me that it may do.

With that being said, as we move on to the next chapter of our baseball life, we again want to thank the supporters and the nay-sayers alike. Because of all of you and our few months in Korea, we will move on as stronger individuals. Best of luck to the Hanwha Eagles in the remainder of their season. I hope they can pull it together for the loyal, dedicated fans they have.

And finally…we get back to life at home with our family, friends and this guy…

Who is beyond happy to have his Dad home and baseballs around the house again.

He sure does fit in nicely with this family, right?!


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