Overnight Oats

When I think of overnight oats I think of a Barney Song. Specifically the one that goes "I like to eat eat eat apples & bananas" and then you sing the same lines over and over but with different vowels. When you get to the "o" sound the song sounds like "I like to oat oat oat opples and bononos." I like to think that to myself when I make this for breakfast.

Anywho, if you haven't heard of overnight oats, I'm glad you're here. They're one of the easiest summer breakfasts to make and is really delicious. Also, if you feel like cooking at 9 pm but don't feel like eating (which happens to me approximately once a year) you can just whip these up.

The game players:

• Old fashioned oats, pick your serving size. I like about 3/4 cup
• Milk of some sort. About the same amount as your oats (mix this up when you decide how much milk to like leftover in the morning)
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon
• Fancy stuff (I went with raspberries & agave this time)

The method:

1) Mix your oats and milk in a bowl, the one you want to eat out of in the morning. This is the best because you can honestly pick ANY milk. I've done with soy, almond and cow. Almond is my personal favorite.

2) Add a dash of cinnamon and vanilla. Now, mix in whatever sounds good. I usually do a bit of sweetener and some dried fruit. Depending on what you have on hand you can wait until the morning too. (I'll sometimes add a bit of peanut butter and banana)

3) Cover and stick that delicious bowl of goodness into the fridge

4) Let it sit overnight, when the oats absorb all the milk & flavor. Pull it out in the morning and eat it! Add whatever delicious treats you want now too. Enjoy!

Observation Tuesday: Volume 21

Oh, this cute place? It's my new home (or will be on September 1).

However, our place is in the basement. We got a 2 bed/2 bath daylight basement apartment to rent and I  am so excited to have a place to decorate again. So this Observation Tuesday is all about my recent 

home decor inspiration

How gorgeous is this kitchen?

I mostly love the giant EAT on the wall! It would definitely not work in my new place (i.e. we have a small kitchen) but maybe later.

This color inspiration from Better Homes and Gardens is gorgeous. I'm thinking bedroom. And I would/will/might do a brighter green and make the "moody" blue a touch brighter as well. 

I also adore this room. If I could steal it, I would. The paint job (starting a bit below the ceiling) is so neat. And I would wear those boots everyday. 

Snapshot Sunday: August 12th

I'm back in Texas for the wedding of my brother-in-law & sister-in-law. They just started dating before our wedding & we were there for their engagement (for which I made this cheesecake) in April. I couldn't be happier for them! Here are the pictures of my week. 

This precious girl rolled over this week. It was exhausting.

We got this sign in at work, I appreciated it.

This little man is a delight. 

I think he may have been saying "no water in it" (it being his mac and cheese)

I love the library.

I brought my brand new sister-in-law coffee this morning of her wedding (Friday)

It may have been weird when the barista called this out....

Two of my favorite people: (Grand)Nana and my other adorable niece (Rahel)

The fantastic groom's cake at the wedding (like his actual van)

Breakfast this morning with some cousins & an uncle! I love family

I'll leave you with this gorgeous picture of the bride & groom. Love them 

Book reviews: Alice, Dave & A Lost Boy

Whew! I'm finally caught up on book reviews. Now you probably won't get one for another month or so, seeing as how I'm moving in a week! Enjoy :) 

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

This was on my to read list and I have no idea where it came from but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was written in the 1950s about an Englishwoman, Jean Paget, who lived through World War II as a prisoner of war in Malaysia. She ends up inheriting a large sum of money and goes on quite the whirwind adventure (travels back to Malaysia and Australia). It's told from the perspective of lawyer turned friend which adds an interesting point of view and aspect of the story. I feel like I can't say much more because I'll ruin too much. I really did enjoy this book and feel like you should read it if you like books written in the 1950s (which I realize is a sweeping generalization about books written in that time period, but it's late and I'm not sure how else to sum it up). 

The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebowitz 

By now you know my affinity for food & travel books. Since this book is about a famous dessert chef living in Paris I figured, "what could be wrong with this book?" The answer: so much. Lebowitz's recipes may be outstanding but honestly his writing is not. He write trite chapters about how life in Paris is either horrible (the protests out side his window on a weekly basis) or awesome (the cheese). He ends each chapter with a redundant, rhetorical, "humorous" question in the most predictable way. I struggled through it in the worst way possible. I would definitely recommend other books instead (Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle perhaps).

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

I actually read this because it kept popping up in my search results for another book on my to do list (The Long Walk, which I still haven't read, if you are wondering). It's a young adult novel, based on the true story about a Lost Boy from Sudan named Salva. Park writes about Salva's life in a simplistic way while telling an excellent story. While I didn't love it I think it would be a great book to give to kids/teens to introduce them to the war in Sudan. Also, there is an excellent redeeming end to the story that is quite inspirational. Verdict: doesn't take long to read but isn't entirely compelling. 

Sunday snapshots: August 5th

Another wonderful week!

Monday: picked cherries & raspberries. Enjoying the spoils

Tuesday: my niece. looking shocked, like usual.

Wednesday: my favorite smoothie.

Plain greek yogurt, blueberries, bananas and spinach

Thursday: Reading Real Simple. 

Thursday: my sister made this cute/delicious cherry pie

although I realized I don't like cherry things in general because they're usually paired with amaretto, which I don't like

Friday: cake batter ice cream. awesome town.

Saturday: Indian Paintbrush while hiking Siyeh

The spoils of the hike. huckleberries.

Only two weeks left!

The view from the mat today. 

Brown Butter & Cherry Ice Cream

Generally, I'm not much of a creative cook. I find a recipe, follow it (usually exactly) and then move on with my life. Not much to it. However, I was inspired by the 11 pounds of cherries we picked the other day and thought of the cherry and brown butter combination for ice cream. I've never actually used brown butter before but I've heard good things. I didn't find any recipes after an extensive google search so I just decided to make my own using about four different recipes and inspiration.

 And I'm not one to toot my own horn but my family said this was the best ice cream I've made all summer. Its a bit labor intensive but so worth it. Make sure you have someone to share this with. Or not.

Brown Butter & Cherry Ice Cream

• 1 stick of butter (8 tbsp)
• 1 lb of cherries, pitted
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup regular sugar
• 2 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5 egg yolks

1) Brown that butter! Cut your butter into pieces for more even melting, put into saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally and watch for butter to turn amber and have flecks on bottom of pan. Check out this simply recipes link for more detailed instructions. It took longer than I expected but oh boy is it worth it. Once it is browned, set aside and let it cool completely. (the picture is mid melt and it gets much darker)

2) While butter is browning or cooling, pit the cherries. If you have a cherry pitter, good for you. I don't so I just cut them in half and popped out the pit with my hands. After which it looked like I had murdered someone. See exhibit A. Now toss the cherries with the lemon juice and try not to eat all of them while you make the custard.

exhibit A:

3) Now mix the heavy cream, the butter and the brown sugar together. Put these in a saucepan over medium-low and heat until warm.

4) Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until well creamed, which may take a few minutes. Slowly drizzle the butter/milk mixture into the creamed eggs. This is done so you warm the eggs slowly instead of cooking them. Once it's all mixed put back into the sauce pan and stir slowly while warming the mixture until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon (your custard).

5) Once thickened, dump the cherries into the custard. I kind of smashed a few of the cherries while I stirred them in as well. Let this mixture sit for about ten minutes, or while you wash a few of the dishes.

6) Now blend the mixture in batches. If you have an immersion blender that also works. Once mixed/blended, strain the mixture into a bowl and cool for a few hours or over night.

7) Once cool turn into ice cream. I always like mine extra frozen so I leave mine in the freezer for a few hours after this as well.

Enjoy!

Cherry Picking

I love cherry season in the Flathead Valley. The Rainier cherries you can pick up at stands on the way to Glacier are the only reason I started eating cherries to begin with when I was 14. Now I'm a die hard fan. 

Assisting the little guy with picking his own

The fruit of our labor. literally. 

Evidence. And no he didn't cut himself.