Mazatlan, Mexico Vacation - October 2009

A few quick snapshots from our trip to Mazatlan, Mexico.

For the full photo album of my photos click here. Ivan's fantastic photos of the trip are here, and his pix of Dios De Los Muertos here.

Bryce's 3rd Birthday Party - September 2009

We held a joint birthday party for Bryce and his cousin Sylvia, who shares his birthday.
Sylvia's mom Sarah (on the left below) was responsible for lots of aspects of the party, including.....

... the awesome Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes...

...and the fun and games....

Note to self: 3-year-olds apparently are not old enough to "get" Hot Potato (the younger kids are looking around in confusion while the older ones are saying, "Just pass it on!") Bryce had a great time, esp. with his buds Devin and Arnav.

Hopefully Sylvia had fun too!As for presents, for some reason Bryce thinks it's funny to do this (he still does this all the time.) Oh yeah, there were other people at the party too.

Love,

Susan

p.s. For the full photo albums, check out my photos or Ivan's photos.

Lindberg Family Reunion - June 2009

In June we met up with all of Scott's siblings and families, and stayed in a huge house his Dad rented by the beach in Aptos, CA (near Santa Cruz.) The whole group comprised 23 people, including 12 adults and 11 kids.

We had a great time just hanging out with everyone, and the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. The house had a hot tub, and I think Bryce and Aedan quite possibly would have stayed in it the entire time if allowed.

While the kids played, the adults could catch up, like these two Lindberg brothers (and with 4 babies under a year, there was a lot of baby holding going on.)

The boys (Aedan, Evan and Bryce) were finally big enough to really play together, and formed their own little group, separate from the babies and the older kids.

On the last day, we went to Roaring Camp Railroad near Felton and road a steam train through the redwoods. Bryce and Aedan really enjoyed it.

We also went to the beach several times, as well as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. With all the fun, food and company, it was a great time and a great week. Thanks a lot to Randy and Sue!

May 2009 Videos

In May we went to visit Ah-mah and Ah-gong and celebrate a belated Mother's Day. It was HOT in Sacramento, so we went to visit the swimming pool and its fun fountains.


Cooper got to spend some quality time with Ah-gong.

Making Buddha's Hand Marmalade

So I am not the most domestic of people, but one thing I do enjoy is cooking. And one of the few "homemade" things I can make is marmalade, thanks to Catherine, who years ago taught me a relatively simple way to make citrus marmalade. So behold: one of my last domestic projects before having Cooper, way back in February. (Yes it's taken me this long to post pix.)

First of all, what the heck is a Buddha's hand? It's a type of yellow citrus that is all rind, with no juice or real fruit (imagine a lemon that is all peel.) The distinctive thing is the shape: like a cluster of fingers. Hangar One makes vodka flavored with it. We inherited a little tree in our backyard, and I couldn't figure out anything else to do with the fruit except make marmalade. Here's the big one I picked off our little tree - I had another medium-sized one, and they made 7 jars of marmalade.

Step 1: I cut the fruit into separate "fingers" - they look a little disturbing like this.

Step 2: Feed the fingers (!) through the Cuisinart. (I used the slicing blade, which is what I usually do with other citrus like oranges or lemons, but since the buddha fruit rind is so thick, a lot of the pieces were too big and I had to chop some by hand. In retrospect, I should have used the shredding blade for this.) Add enough citrus juice to cover (I used orange juice and lemonade.)
Step 3: Use a measuring cup to measure how much fruit and juice you have, and add approximately the equivalent amount of sugar. I tend to cut the amount of sugar a bit, e.g. with about 9 cups of fruit+juice I only added about 6-7 cups sugar, BUT you have to be careful here because messing with the fruit/sugar/pectin ratios can screw up either the setting (gelling) or the sterility of your marmalade. (Oh, I didn't mention pectin: most jams/marmalades require you to add store-bought pectin, but not citrus marmalades made this way because there is so much naturally occurring pectin in citrus.) Put it all into a pot and cook until it thickens and starts to set - at least 30 minutes (for details on checking marmalade readiness, google "spoon test".)

Step 4: Ladle the hot marmalade into clean jars, then wipe the rims, screw on the tops, and invert immediately (the heat from the marmalade will seal the jars.) Let them cool. After cooling, the lids should have sealed tight to the jars and if you were listening you'd even hear each one "pop" as it sealed. To check, press down on the center of each lid and make sure it stays down - if so, you have an airtight seal. If not, you have the option to either: process it in a boiling pot of water (google traditional marmalade-making methods), or else eat it right away!

Voila! The finished product. Since making these in February, we have eaten one jar and given most of the rest away. But there are at least 3 little buddha hands growing on my tree now for next year's crop....

Bryce and Soccer

Bryce just finished his first soccer class. He liked it OK, though he didn't always listen to the teacher correctly. For example, I'm sure this is NOT a regulation soccer move.
Maybe we'll try soccer again when he's a little older - I think next up is more swimming classes.

Cooper and Mommy