Friday Fragments- July 31. 2009

Friday Fragments are those bits and bobs from the week that aren't enough to constitute an entire post but interesting enough to want to share!

I've been going shorter and shorter recently with my haircuts... but I think the cut I got on Monday maybe went a -wee- bit shorter than I wanted. It doesn't look bad, but it's probably shorter than I'll go next time.

I ate lunch in a windmill yesterday.

One of the ladies from the North American Women's Club is moving back to the US. I'm bummed about it. It's hard making friends here because there is a huge chance that they're going to be gone in a couple years.

Martijn replaced the backwards movement in our cute little key case and we installed it on the wall in the hallway! I think it's adorable.

My biceps feel like I've been trying to bench-press buses in my spare time. I'm not entirely sure what has caused that because I don't think I've been making any wild movements or bench-pressing buses.

I spent a good portion of my Tuesday fixing two spokes on my bike. One of them was rather simple, but the other was on the "bad side" (behind the chain guard) and I had to disassemble and twist and bend the spoke. Hopefully it won't snap next week because then I'll cry.

Now there are TWO Friday memes to link up to, so check out the Mr Linky's on both. You might meet a new friend, or two!.

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I'm going to be participating in Operation Organization over the next few weeks. The idea is to make a goal each week for reorganization and decluttering and post about it! I'm not sure if I want to post a picture of how scary the laundry room is right now, though it'll give me good incentive to go through it! I'll be posting before & after photos next Friday along with my goal for the next area!

Extra Moist and Tasty Potato Salad

I had a hankering for potato salad but every time I make it I'm disappointed... until now! I read on someone's Tempt My Tummy Tuesday last week that if you soak your potatoes in vinegar for your potato salad it will make it magically delicious. I can't find that blog entry though, so if it was you I am eternally grateful! I used pickle juice and mustard instead of vinegar but it worked very very well.

You will need:

1 kg potatoes (around 2 pounds)- cubed, cooked* and drained well
1/4 cup sour pickle juice
1 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 cup chopped pickles
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/4 cup mayonnaise (you can add more if you want your dressing saucier)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, diced

Spread your warm cooked potatoes out on a baking sheet. Mix the mustard and half of the pickle juice (2 tbsp) together and drizzle over potatoes. Toss until they're evenly coated. Cool in the fridge for about a half an hour.

Mix the remaining pickle juice, pickles, salt, pepper, celery seed, mayo, sour cream, red onion and celery in a large bowl. Add potatoes and eggs and mix gently. Chill for an hour or so and enjoy!

*I like to use a steam bag in the microwave for my potatoes, but you can also cook them in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. If you boil them, add a little salt to the water when you do.

Be sure to check out Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace for more yummy recipes!

Car Boot Sale Loot

Martijn and I hopped in the car and headed about 50 km due north of here to a car boot sale. A car boot sale, for those not in the know, is exactly the same thing as a flea market only it has a silly British name.

A view of part of the car boot sale.

The weather was perfect, and we were right next to the beach.

We managed to walk away with some pretty good scores too!

• A new Fiskars paper trimmer- €2
• An external CD burner for €3 (we had plans for this, but they didn't quite work how we were hoping... who knew that CD and DVD burners weren't a standard physical size?!)
• A pizza pan set for €2
• Tupperware popsicle molds for 25 cents (they're orange so they match my existing ones)
• A Canon flatbed scanner for €6 (it's a bit older, but it works perfectly for what we need and was way cheaper than buying new)
• A cute key holder cabinet for €5 (we'd been searching for something like this since our current arrangement of "throw your keys anywhere" isn't working very well for us)

The hole in the front of the key cabinet had a clock in it- a very odd clock. It liked to tell time backwards, and not very well for that matter. So in true Martijn-like fashion, he had it whipped apart and dismantled in no time flat. We're going to install a new movement and hopefully it'll work like new!

It really was a fun day spent with the person I love and some GOOD DEALS!

In other somewhat related news- I found this Print Gocco kit a few weeks ago at a flea we went to, and I can't decide if I want to keep it and use it or sell it on for a rather tidy profit. I'm torn because I think it would be fun, but supplies are getting harder to come by... and if I sell it on I'll have more money to put towards the sewing machine I want! Decisions decisions!

Late Friday Fragments- July 24, 2009

I know it's Saturday. I'm still going to do my Friday Fragments, BECAUSE I CAN!

I was cycling home from an appointment yesterday and got pooped on by a bird. Martijn took great delight in telling me that the birds had decided to start giving me crap.

We bought a couple of new plants. They are cacti, and we named them Francis and George. We haven't named any of our other plants, but maybe if they have names then I will bond with them and not let them die (plus, they're cacti for pete's sake, they probably won't die if I forget to water them for 3 months a few days).

My cute sister in law is headed to backpack through Argentina! I hope she has a good time.

I have found my dream sewing machine on Marktplaats (The Dutch version of eBay mashed with craigslist), but the woman hasn't e-mailed me back yet to tell me if it A: works and B: how many billions of euros she wants for it. I'm on the edge of my seat here people! I REALLY REALLY WANT IT.

I was featured on Traveling the Blogosphere!!! TTB features bloggers and their homes or places they've visited around the world. It's quite a lot of fun, you should check it out and add your places to be featured.

I went to my Tupperware party last week and splashed out on a new breadbox. It better be as cool as they claim it is. If it's not, then I'm going to start mailing my moldy bread to their headquarters in protest.

Now there are TWO Friday memes to link up to, so check out the Mr Linky's on both. You might meet a new friend, or two!.

Pick Your Own Produce

I went blueberry picking today at a local blueberry farm.

I did a little pricing and it seems like blueberries are going for an average of €1.50 per 125 grams, which puts them at about €12 per kilo. I don't know about you, but at that price I cannot afford to eat blueberries... unless I pick them myself! The "you pick" blueberry farm here charges €3 per kilo if you do the hard work yourself!

I found this Pick Your Own website which looks like a fantastic resource for finding pick your own farms. I'm going to submit a couple that I know of in The Netherlands and see if I can do a bit more digging around to find others local to me here.

Picking your own Works for Me! What works for you?

Lemon Sponge Pie

The first time I made this pie, I fed it to Martijn's dinner group and it was SO SOUR that it was almost not good. Large quantities of whipped cream helped things out a little, but the next time I decided it really needed more sugar. I think 3/4 of a cup is just about right, but you can add more if you prefer things to be slightly sweeter.

You will need:

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
2 lemons, juiced and rind grated
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 large egg whites
Pie Crust, frozen puff pastry works well for this too

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200ish C).

Mix together the sugar and the flour. Add the lemon juice and grated rind, egg yolks, butter and salt. Mix well and then mix in the milk.

Beat the egg whites until firm.

Fold egg whites into the batter and pour the mixture into the crust.

Bake for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 350 F (175ish C) and bake for another 30 minutes, or until golden brown. You'll know it's done if you touch it lightly and it springs back. Cool the pie on a rack.


Be sure to check out Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace for more yummy recipes!

Menu Plan Monday- July 20, 2009

I skipped on making the Garbanzo and Tuna Salad and made a Sizzling Sausage Salad instead. That recipe, and the Bistro Dinner Salad recipe have been permanently added to my make again file! The Chicken Cobb Salad was alright, but unremarkable so we'll probably skip on it in the future.

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

Pesto Pasta with Green Beans- This recipe calls for potatoes, but I think potatoes+pasta= carb overload. I'm going to ditch the potatoes and maybe add a bit of chicken.

Stuffed Burgers- I have some of these from a few months ago stashed away in the freezer.

Crockpot BBQ Ribs

Potstickers- I haven't made these for a while and I should have most everything to make them. I do need to make a stop at the butcher and get some ground pork.

Something with zucchini, I haven't decided yet!

We have a winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered for the Poffertjes Package giveaway! There are some really yummy recipes in the comments on that post, so if you have a minute go take a peek.

I recruited Mr Jummy to help draw for a winner.

And since he tries to eat everything...

Finally he handed me the name of the winner...

I unfolded it to reveal...

The lovely Vonlipi! The funniest part about this whole thing is I won her giveaway this week. The stars must've been aligned JUST right. I'm in the process of constructing the SUPER SECRET thing that'll go in the box, but it should go out later this week.

Friday Fragments- July 17, 2009

Friday Fragments are the little leftover bits kicking around in your head that don't really warrant having their own post! Join in by clicking on the links at the bottom of this post.

After reading my post yesterday about my magical Tupperware mixing bowl, Martijn said "I didn't know you bought that JUST to make pancakes... don't you think that's a bit silly?" NO! No I do not think it is silly! It's the best pancake bowl in the universe, and I had many comments to that effect. I told Martijn and he shouted "That just means you're ALL bonkers!"

I bought a bunch of carrots this week and while I was sorting some out to peel and eat, this teeny teeny one fell out. I had to take a picture and then I couldn't stop giggling because I was imagining it was normal sized and I just had REALLY BIG HANDS! What can I say, it was a slow week.

If you have the opportunity to watch "Hogfather," I highly HIGHLY recommend it. It is a movie based on a Terry Pratchett novel and it is absolutely brilliant. One of my favorite lines is when Death says "Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom?"

We had less rain this week than last and I didn't get soaked to the bone every time I went outside!

I'm going to a Tupperware party tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll buy anything because I don't think I'm willing to sell a kidney to pay for it. I think that Tupperware prices in the US are a bit steep, but here they're astronomical!



Martijn and I tried some new salad recipes this week. The two keepers are the Sizzling Sausage Salad and the Bistro Dinner Salad.

I need to keep a notebook on me at all times because I always think of clever things to blog about and then promptly forget them. I can't be the only one with this problem, can I?

Be sure to check out my GIVEAWAY this week! There are only 17 people entered so far, so you have a pretty dang good chance of winning.

The Secret to Good Pancakes

A few months ago I tried to make pancakes and they were NOT GOOD. In a fit of rage I got on eBay and ordered myself an old Tupperware Mix 'n Store because that's what my mom and grandma always used to make GOOD pancakes. Logically, the bowl I mix these in should have no impact on the quality of my pancakes, but I swear they've been better since I got this!

Here's a shot of the other side.

Of course, I can't show you my pancake mixing bowl without giving you a recipe, can I? This is a slightly modified version of the pancake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

You will need:
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
Vegetable oil

In your fabulous pancake mixing bowl mix your milk, egg, and a glug of oil (1-2 tbsp). Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into the milk and mix GENTLY until the flour is just moistened. It's okay if it's still lumpy. Don't overmix it or you'll have hard hockey puck pancakes and be very sad.

I find cooking pancakes in an electric skillet to be far more simple than on the stove, but use what you have. Heat a bit of oil in the pan. Pour the batter by 1/4 cupfulls onto the hot griddle. Cook until the pancake is bubbly and the bubbles start to pop. It'll also start looking dull when it's ready to flip. Turn the pancakes and cook until the other side is a nice golden brown. Repeat until all the batter is used. I find this makes 8-10 pancakes.

Serve with jam or syrup and enjoy!

P.S. I do use this for other things, but I bought it specifically for those dang pancakes!

Free Audiobook Resources

Summertime can bring road trips and the best way to make a long car ride pass quickly is to listen to audiobooks! I always use my mp3 player when I'm riding my bike too. For some reason it distracts me enough to disregard the rain, wind, or stifling heat when I'm outside! I posted this list last year, but I figure it's a good one to share again.

Here are some great resources for FREE audiobooks.

• Overdrive - You can do a search here for titles and see if your public library offers the service. Lucky for me I still have a Davis County Library card. Downside to these is they do have DRM on them and you can only "check out" the books for a limited amount of time. You -can- burn some, but not all, of these books to CD if you won't get them entirely listened to within 3 weeks.
  
  
  
• NetLibrary is another website some libraries use. You need to contact your local library and see if they offer this service. Davis County Utah uses both this service and Overdrive. Netlibrary works similarly to Overdrive, but does have a downside if you use an iPod or a Zune- neither of those devices will work due to DRM restrictions.
  
  
  
• LibriVox "provides free audiobooks from the public domain." This is a great place to get the classics. Files are available in both ogg vorbis and mp3. Another cool thing is this service is completely volunteer based and there are books available in multiple languages.
  
  
  
• Literal Systems- They have a small selection of audiobooks and short stories.
  
  
  
• LoudLit.org "is committed to delivering public domain literature paired with high quality audio performances. We pair together great literature and accompanying audio." This website has a few novels, some poetry, short stories, and children's books. Some books have embedded text which is kinda neat too.
  
  
  
• AudioBooksForFree.com- I wanted to like this site more because it appears to have quite a lot of content. There -are- free audiobooks, but you will pay for them in terms of it being highly inconvinient to download them and the low bitrate (8kbps). For example: You want to listen to Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This isn't a short book by any means, and is divided into 43 files. 43 files that you must download ONE AT A TIME. That paired with the low bitrate makes this probably one of the last sites I'll look at. You can pay to have them zip the file and you can also pay more to have a higher bitrate. I'm not so sure it's worth it with the other options you have available to you.
  
  
• Podiobooks.com has "serialized" audiobooks which are made in podcast format. You can download them via an RSS feed (using podcast software) or by directly downloading episodes from the site.
  
  
• Learn Out Loud is a directory of free audiobooks, lectures, speeches, sermons, and interviews. They also have free some free video content.
  
  
• Project Gutenberg has both human read and computer generated audio books from the public domain. This site also has a wide variety of languages.

The last two I am going to mention aren't free, but sometimes have free offers.

• Simply AudioBooks- A little bit like Netflix but for audiobooks. I used this service in the US for a little while and I actually really enjoyed it. It's about 15$ per month and they mail you the audiobook CDs. Right now they have a free download with no strings attached. I didn't like the book, but someone else might.
  
  
  
• Audible.com always advertises a free download, but this is usually if you've never been a member before and sign up with them. VERY occasionally they'll offer a free book with no strings attached. You get the most bang for your buck with their subscription service, but you can buy individual titles.

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While we're on the subject of free, be sure to check out my Poffertjes Package giveaway!

Poffertjes Package Giveaway!

Comments are now closed! Thanks to everyone for your entries.

Happy 203rd post to me!

I've been having so much fun blogging. Even if it was just my mom reading, I'd probably still blog... but I'm glad it's not just her because I've met a lot of other fun people in bloggyland (er, I hate the word blogosphere, but I'm not sure bloggyland is any better, what do you think?).

To celebrate, I'm going to do another giveaway, aren't you so excited?! I know it's always fun to get a little taste of life in another country, so I've decided to give away a little "Poffertjes Package."

Poffertjes look like wee little pancakes, but they're fluffier (and teenier) than regular pancakes. Traditionally, they're served with butter and powdered sugar, but I like to put cinnamon on mine too. They're also quite good with strawberry freezer jam.

So now I suspect you're rather anxious to see the goods!

Here's what you'll win-
A poffertjes pan -- As much as I searched, I couldn't find one of these suitable for an electric stove, so this will only work with a gas stove, sorry. I expect if you've got a little gas camp stove it would work fine there too.

Poffertjes Mix -- I'll even translate the instructions for you!

A squeezie bottle -- Now, I know this sounds a bit odd, but if you pour the batter into the squeezie bottle it's about 7000% easier to make these things. You can just squeeze a bit into the individual dips in the pan.

A SUPER SECRET PRESENT -- This is code for "I know what I want to put in here, but I need to be sure I can get a hold of it before I can commit."

Now what do you need to do to win this? Leave me a comment and tell me about a food that is common to your region (or a comfort food you remember from when you were little). If you leave a recipe for your yummy food then I'll add your name to the hat twice.

Giveaway is open to anyone who lives on planet earth (maybe I should limit this to people though, I'm not sure how safe it is to have a cat cooking poffertjes). Instead of using a random number generator, I'll toss everyone's name into a hat and have Mr Jummy Martijn draw a name on Sunday. This'll give you USA-ians and Canadians through Saturday night to enter.

No Roll Pie Crust

I'm not really much of a baker. When I make pies or tarts I usually use frozen puff pastry because that stuff is MAGICAL I tell you. But for the 4th, I thought I could expand a bit and make an authentic American pie (Dutch pies are good, don't get me wrong, but they're different). I started digging around for pie crust recipes and started remembering how much I hate rolling dough out with my rolling pin. I think I got spoiled when I lived at home by my mom's amazing marble rolling pin and these wimpy inferior wood ones are only good for chasing around your husband breaking up crackers. You can only imagine my happiness when I found a NO ROLL PIE CRUST!

This takes only about 5 minutes to whip up (then 15 to cook), so it would be perfect if you need a quick crust for a pudding pie as well!

You will need:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until they form a ball of dough. Press the dough into your pie pan and take care to make sure it's evenly spread. It'll seem really oily and slippery when you're patting it in, but when it's cooked it's not quite so greasy (though I think I'm going to try it out with 1/2 cup oil next time and see what happens.

If you're making a pie that needs to be baked then you can just go ahead and add the filling and bake. I recommend wrapping foil around the edges so they don't burn. If you need a pre-baked crust, then bake at 425 F for about 15 minutes.

Be sure to check out Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday @ Blessed with Grace for more yummy recipes and for more helpful kitchen tips see Kitchen Tip Tuesday @ tammysrecipes.com.

Menu Plan Monday- July 13, 2009

I didn't manage to get to everything on my list last week. We had lots more food from outside sources than I expected (thanks to my mother-in-law!). This week, rather than doing any carryovers I think I'm going to start a fresh list consisting mostly of salads.

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

Leftovers from Saturday & Sunday

Sausage and Potato Pie- Martijn is cooking this for his weekly dinner club, we'll need to come up with a good veggie side dish.

Chicken Cobb Salad

Garbanzo and Tuna Salad- I think I'm going to use this as a starting place. I'm not sure if I love parsley quite enough to use an entire cup.

Bistro Dinner Salad


I'm going to make a big pot of white asparagus soup to serve with this throughout the week as well.

Friday Fragments and Freewrite Friday- July 10, 2009

Gotta love Dutch weather. We went from the 90s last week to the 50s and low 60s this week. With rain. Everyday. It likes to start raining as soon as I get on my bike and stops as soon as I get off.

Last week, when it was a thousand degrees outside and NOT raining, we decided to go to a movie since the theaters are one of the few establishments here that have airconditioning. By the time I got there I was soaking wet so I was glad the airco wasn't on. We saw The Proposal, and while the story was a little ridiculous, I laughed pretty hard throughout. I think the actors were what made it work, they played off each other pretty well. I do wonder how Sandra Bullock managed to walk in those heels without killing herself though.

I made taco salad again this week.

I used spinach instead of lettuce, but made sure to counteract any possible health benefits by using nuclear orange cheese covered tortilla chips. It was delicious, by the way.

I found the worlds most amazing socks on eBay, but I can't decide if it's worth the cost of shipping from Australia. They're fuzzy striped knee-high socks. Seriously though, I could make THE cutest sock monkeys the world has ever seen if I had those socks.

We changed our internet service provider and telephone service and updgraded our cable so now we have a DVR. There isn't a huge cost savings involved, but it shouldn't cost so much to make phonecalls anymore, and our upload speed has tripled. Whee!

I haven't made much more progress on the Mrs Yummy project, but I talked to my mom and she had some good ideas on how to do the mouth properly so hopefully I'll get some more done on her in the next few days.

If you haven't already, and want a headache, go read my post on how to tell time in Dutch.

This is to be my 198th post. I have been kicking around some ideas for a giveaway to celebrate breaking the 200 barrier, but I don't want to be conventional and do it on post 200 so I'll wait until post 203.

Did I mention that it's been raining a lot?

Hoe Laat is Het?

Hoe laat is het? means what time is it, or quite literally "how late is it?"

Telling time seems like it should be a pretty straightforward process. However, as I am finding with a good many things here in The Netherlands, it is not as straightforward as you might think! One might even call it ingewikkeld (I learned this word today so I'm going to use it as often as possible- it means "complicated").

If it's 4:30 and someone asks the time, in English you would respond with "half past four" or "four-thirty." In Dutch, you would say half vijf (literally "half five). So, 3:30 would be half vier, 2:30 would be half drie and so on and so forth. That's not really SO bad once you get into the habit of remembering that the time is actually the number BEFORE what is said. After that point it seems that things get progressively tricky. If you look at the picture of the clock, it's 11:25. In Dutch you would say "vijf voor half twalf" (five before half twelve). The area of the clock the minute hand is in will determine the terminology used to tell the time. It can really get a little hard to explain, so I have made you this nifty chart. Pretend it's the face of a clock!

I'll go through the hour every five minutes to show you how it works.

10:00- tien uur (ten o'clock)

10:05- vijf over tien (five past ten)

10:10- tien over tien (ten past ten)

10:15- kwart over tien (quarter past ten)

10:20- tien voor half elf (ten til half eleven)

10:25- vijf voor half elf (five til half eleven)

10:30- half elf (half eleven)

10:35- vijf over half elf (five past half eleven)

10:40- tien over half elf (ten past half eleven)

10:45- kwart voor elf (quarter til eleven)

10:50- tien voor elf (ten til eleven)

10:55- vijf voor elf (five til eleven)

11:00- elf uur eleven o'clock

Clear as mud, eh?

Menu Plan Monday- July 6, 2009

I didn't actually do too much "cooking" last week because it was just too bloody hot. I'm a desert dweller, this humidity is for the birds! I did foil packets with fish one night and pork one night on our little electric grill. That seems to work really well, and it doesn't cause smoke and obvious signs that we're grilling something on our balcony (since -technically- we're not supposed to BBQ out there).

I made some minor adjustments to the Cold Spaghetti Salad- Black olives instead of green, salami instead of pepperoni, and ditched the second mentioning of the Italian dressing. It was very good, so we decided we could add it into the rotation.

click the banner and "Menu Plan Monday" for more menu planning ideas

It's supposed to be slightly cooler this week, but I'm still going to take things easy. Monday we're going to the in-laws for dinner. The rest of the week:

Taco Salad (again, it's just too easy to throw together!)

Spinach Salad and Drumsticks

Foil Fish Packets - I want to try something a little different than last week, but I'm not sure what yet. Any suggestions?

Lighter Sesame Chicken

Capucijners- These are "field peas." I wasn't familiar with them in the US, but they're pretty nice. There's a Maggi seasoning mix that we like to use with these. It's my backup meal for this week since the ingredients won't go off if I don't need to make it.

Happy Fourth of July!

There are a surprising amount of Americans living in and around Eindhoven. This means that we get together and celebrate American holidays (like the 4th, Thanksgiving, and Halloweenie things). Every year the North American Women's Club does a 4th of July BBQ. This year I decided to get really festive and bake a pie! In 9 billion degree weather with 9000% humidity! GO ME!

My crust got a little stuck to the foil so it's not as pretty as I would've hoped, but I thought the star looked pretty awesome.

Martijn contributed by being the MAD (as in insane) BBQer!

We had a really great turnout! There were about 75 people, and quite a few were new faces so that was fun.

Happy Fourth!

Friday Fragments- July 3, 2009

Happy July Everyone!

I spent the last couple of days in a friends pool. Despite my liberal and many sunscreen applications, my arms and legs are itchy and bumpy and red. Still, I had an awesome time and it was nice to be in the COOL pool instead of in the hot muggy death of my apartment.

Someone, who asked to remain nameless, was wondering if birds that ate cherry pits pooped out the pits whole. We mentioned it to someone else today and she said, "Haven't you ever heard a bird SQUAWK, that's why!"

I made a cherry blueberry pie for the 4th of July BBQ tomorrow. It has a big star shaped piece of dough for the top crust. I really really hope it tastes good. I used canned cherries with some extra cornstarch for thickening instead of cherry pie filling.

I mentioned last week in my fragments post that I'd had my eyes dilated. Well, I'd also had blood drawn and given a urine sample, which they then promptly lost. How kind of them.

In America when I'd needed to give a urine sample, I was given the specimen cup at the doctors office and just took care of it there. Not so here. You do it at home and then bring it with you. I always feel awkward cycling with a jar of pee on my bike. It's just not normal.

There's really not much else to report. I've not been doing much, it's just too hot and muggy.

Click on the Friday Fragments button for more fragmented fun at Half-Past Kissin' Time!

Road Trippin'

When I was in the US this spring, I had the fabulous opportunity to drive to Minnesota with my grandparents to see one of my uncles and his cute family. We took a slight detour from the "usual" route and drove past Mount Rushmore. It's pretty fantastic. We didn't go up into the visitors center, but I can't wait to go back and take Martijn! We also went past the Crazy Horse monument. That thing is going to be MASSIVE if they ever finish it. It's the entire mountain for pete's sake.

I asked Grandpa what route we were going to be taking to get to Minnesota, and he told me we'd be going slightly into Colorado, up through and across Wyoming. Once we got to South Dakota, we'd then drive approximately a million miles to the border of Minnesota. He wasn't kidding. That is one seriously wide state! It was such a pretty drive though.

Once we got to Minnesota I finally got to meet some of my family that I hadn't gotten to meet before! Right before Martijn and I were married, the twins were born. It would've been completely insane to travel with barely born twins and since I moved a short three months later, I hadn't had a chance to meet them. It'd been ages since I'd seen the other two boys, and I can't believe how big they all are... and BUSY. I also got to meet Tommy the 6-toed cat.