Russian Submarine

My father in law, Scott, has been in the area the past two weeks on business.  So, Jarod and I have been making a few commutes down to Long Beach for nice dinners and some hang out time. 

Last weekend, we walked to the waterfront and toured a 1950's Russian Submarine.  Scott spent several years in the Navy on submarines and why not go on a tour, when you have an expert on hand?!  Crazy to think how many men they squeezed onto this boat - pretty tight quarters!  And besides Scott sticking his foot in his mouth and insulting a Russian tourist, it was a good tour :)  Haha. 

The Russian Sub in the Long Beach Harbor



Jarod & Scott in the torpedo launcher room (I'm sure that's what the Navy calls it)

Us in the torpedo launcher room. 

I'm not sure why that big grey bar is at the bottom of our photo... I feel like it should be scrolling with breaking news headlines or something.

Busted!

Came into the living room and noticed that somebody had made herself quite cozy in the Love Sac.  This now explains the dog hair we were finding in the Sac....

In her defense, however, it does look like a giant dog bed.   

Silly Girl.

Crustless Spinach Quiche & Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits

Quiche.  It's what's for dinner.  Well, here at the Sickler home, at least.

Wednesdays should just be relabeled Maddashday.  I get home from work around 4, totter the dog outside (it's my pregnant walk), throw together a hot meal, then race to campus to share a 20 minute dinner date with Jarod before he heads to a night class. Then I usually sit at the empty table and recover for awhile before packing up the picnic.

But tonight however, was nice, that is, while I was sitting at the table with my two loves (Jarod and Taiga).  The weather was perfect.  We sat outside the Talbot Building, watched the sun drop behind the palms, shared a meal and rested for a few minutes before parting our separate ways.  Ahh, it was lovely.

Anyway..  tonight, dinner, recipe.

So... I threw together a quiche, and it was super dee dooper good!  It's a pretty basic recipe that you could alter with your particular whims, tastes and fancies.  But I'll share what I assembled today.

Crustless Spinach Quiche


olive oil (for sauteing)
1/2 large chopped onion
3 big handfuls of fresh chopped spinach (6 cups?)
1/3 cup chopped green olives [optional]**
1 chopped chicken sausage (precooked kind) [optional]**
7 eggs
several dashes of fresh ground pepper
dash of sea salt
two dashes of garlic powder
2 cups fresh grated parmesan
1 cup grated mozzarella

1. Heat oven to 350.  Prepare a 9" pie plate.
2. Saute onion in olive oil.  Add spinach to pan for the last 1-2 minutes.
3. In large bowl, mix eggs, olives, sausage, cheeses and spices.  Add sauted onions and spinach.
4. Pour in pie plate.  Bake 30 minutes, until eggs have set.  Let set 10 minutes before serving.

**I think mushrooms or tomato or zucchini or broccoli or artichokes or jalapenos or peppers could all be added in fun combinations too.  Also, I think as long as you use 3 cups of cheese, you could vary the kind of cheese depending on your 'add-ins' theme.


Whole Wheat Drop Biscuits
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 TBS (or so) milled flax seed
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk

1.  Heat oven to 450.  Prepare cookie sheet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Stir in butter and milk until moistened. Drop large spoonfuls on cookie sheet.
3.  Bake 8-12 minutes.  Serve warm!  **Especially good with apple butter, cherry preserves or lemon curd)

My August Birthday

Jarod left for a nine day climbing trip the morning after my mom and my aunt boarded a plane to go home. While I was catching up on rest and recovery from a pretty big past month, Jarod was in Central Cal climbing the Sierra's.

Unfortunately he was gone over my birthday :(  However, I did get this photo in my inbox that day.

My wild flower birthday bouquet.  Happy Birthday to me.

After Jarod got back from his trip, we did celebrate with dinner and my first 3-D movie experience.

Summer Slacker - Part 3

The day after we returned from our 3 week long venture over all of God's green earth in July, my mom and my aunt arrived here in LA.  What a FUN time we had!  My mom and Aunt Suzanne were here an entire 7 days and we packed it with all that Southern California has to offer.   A few pictures of our favorite things from our time together:

Mom & Aunt Suzanne at the Beachcomber in Crystal Cove.  We had an early morning Sunday breakfast right on the beach.. complete with blankets and a clear view of the dolphins.  

 See how where it says Crystal Cove on the beach shack?

 Beachcomber Cafe

27 weeks preggo.  Baby Girl's first picture with Grandma Kelley :)

Crystal Cove (between Newport & Laguna Beach).  So so so pretty in the mornings.

Mom and a succulent on steroids :)  Outside of "Seed: The People's Market", Costa Mesa

 A really terrible picture of Jarod and I after biking along Huntington Beach.  We both look a little wind blown :)

Mom and Aunt Suzanne.  This was our rest stop during the bike ride.. it served chocolate covered frozen bananas.  Mmmm.

 Bike Ride complete!  

Jarod and I peddling our bikes back to the car.  Cant believe I went biking 6 1/2 months pregnant!  Baby Girl was not happy about it either, she kicked me the whole time!!  

 Surf City - Huntington Beach, CALI

 Baby!

Last photo of their trip here!  SO MUCH FUN!  I'm so glad they came out :)

Summer Slacker - Part 2

July Summer Fun - After Colorado, we were back in California for about a week, before heading on our 3 week adVENTURE of the Pacific Northwest, the West and closing the loop back to Cali.

A few highlights of the trip, well let me clarify "highlights".  These highlights are really just times that we remembered to take out our camera and snap a shot.  We had LOTS of great moments that went un-photographed.  Carrying on, Highlights:

Driving Highway 1 up the coast of California.  Beeeeeautiful.

Us. 

Beardy Jarod. Preggo Brooke.

 Crater Lake, Oregon

Us at Crater Lake, Oregon... freezing.

Pumice Desert, Oregon.  Complete with real pumice stones, imagine that.

Coffee roasted at 3:15am of the day we bought it.  It was like cotton candy coffee, the kind that melts in your mouth.  Portland.

Who is that disgruntled preggo?  Get her a latte and a foot massage.  Portland.

6 months pregnant at Grandma Georgia's house.  Couer d'Alene, Idaho.

Tasty dinner with the Hoag's in Littleton, Colorado.

Sunset from the Schultz's rooftop.  Laramie, Wyoming.

Climbing. Vedawoo, Wyoming.  Bonus points for proper pronunciation.

Summer Slacker - Part 1

I'm embarrassed.  TWO WHOLE MONTHS since my last blog post.  That's a crying shame.  The last two months was were(?) even summer break (key word, break) and I didn't even have time to blog.  Pa Thet Ic.

Well, a little recap might do us all good...  to remind myself where my summer vacation went and to remind you that I'm not a flippant blogger.

Ahem.  Here we go.

June Summer Fun - 11 days in Durango, Colorado.  I stayed in a comfy cabin at Camp Kivu, while Jarod took a group of teenagers to close by Moab, Utah for some outside, sand in your sleeping bag, rock climbing.