Coke Roast

Add another two reasons why we're very thankful for our parents:
      #1: Extremely good meat
      #2: Extremely good, tried and true recipes
Anyway, this morning I grabbed a roast out of our freezer and plopped it into our crockpot.  I added three ingredients, smelled it cooking for eight hours, and voila!  Supper's main dish was done. 

All you need!  (I know it's called Coke Roast, but really, any dark pop will do!)

Smother on the soup, sprinkle on the dry soup, & pour the pop right on top.  By the way, do you know how hard it is to pour a can of pop and take a picture at the same time?  Talk about a talented multi-tasker!  :)

Add some cooked carrots, homemade applesauce, and garden potatoes, and our midwestern fare was completed and devoured.  Here's the easiest roast recipe I've ever done!

Coke Roast
Beef or pork roast
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can Coke (or any dark pop)
1 can mushroom soup
Pour mushroom soup on; then dry onion soup mix; and then the can of Coke.  If frozen, cook in crockpot on high for 2-4 hours, then low for 2-4 hours.  I would give you instructions for a thawed version, but I'm never ambitious enough to thaw it first!  So use your own judgement!

Best.Pie.Ever.

From 4th-12th grade, I had the opportunity to be in a 4-H club.  During those years, I was able to try and learn many new things.  When I wasn't busy with my show calves, I was hunting for ideas for static exhibits.  During those nine years, I pretty much brought anything I could make: cinnamon rolls, a lamp, scrapbooks, quilts, purses, etc.  One of my favorite (and Iowa State Fair blue ribbon winner) food items I ever made was pear pie.  Grandma V. suggested I try to make this for the fair, and she was nice enough to be my teacher. 
When my husband came home a few weeks ago and mentioned that he volunteered me to make two pies for an upcoming event, I knew this was the best way to go.  Normally, I would make my own crust, but because I ended up making three pies and was somewhat strapped for time, I cheated and used the store-bought crusts.  But, just for the record, Grandma's crust is WAY better, and it would look much nicer if I had done a lattice top like she taught me.  Also, I need to mention that I didn't accomplish these by myself.  My mom was nice enough to come help me :)  Anyway, if you (or you and your mom...) are feeling ambitious, tackle this recipe!

*Warning: The picture doesn't do the actual taste and smell justice.*

Pear Pie
Crust (makes double crust):
    2 c. flour
    1 tsp. salt
    2/3 c. + 2 Tbsp. shortening (I use Crisco)
    4-5 Tbsp. cold water
Measure flour & salt into a bowl. Cut in shortening thoroughly with pastry blender. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until all flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. Gather a little more than half of the dough into a ball. Roll dough 2 inches larger than the inverted pie pan. Loosen and fold the dough into quarters; place in pan & unfold. Put in the pear filling.
Pear Filling:
    9 c. pears, sliced
    3/4 c. sugar
    2 Tbsp. Minute tapioca
    1/4 tsp. salt
    1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
    Butter
Mix pears, sugar, tapioca, salt & lemon juice. Put into crust. Dot with butter. Cut second, rolled-out crust into 1/2-inch strips for lattice crust top (or can roll out for a whole crust). Secure ends. Bake for 50 minutes-1 hour at 350 degrees. 

In my opinion, the best way to enjoy this is a-la-mode.  But since I don't get to eat these this time, I simply get to enjoy the torture of looking at them until tomorrow night.  :)

Wisconsin Dells

We left for the Ten Clay family vacation at 4 AM on Friday.  We were only at the Dells through Sunday, but we managed to pack many fun things into our trip.  I hadn't been to the Dells since I was about seven, so it was fun doing some of the same things I had done a long time ago and seeing all the new things around.  When we got there, we hit Pirate's Cove for the first round of mini golf.  I think the guys ended up playing about seven rounds while we were there!  We also rode the Ducks that afternoon.

I may or may have actually taken five putts on some holes.  Definitely not a pro!

After a hot afternoon outside, we went to the Chula Vista resort.  The resort has a very large indoor/outdoor waterpark.  We took full advantage of the racing slides, flume, water coaster, and tube rides.  I was somewhat unprepared for the giant toilet bowl that Dan & I encountered on our double-tube ride.  Then I got very disoriented when we entered the rest of the slide backwards!  It took my stomach awhile to recover from that one!
On Friday night we headed to the Tommy Bartlett Water Show.  I vaguely remember going to this when I was younger, but it's still amazing to see the crazy stunts and acrobatics the performers can achieve on water.  One of the best tricks was their famed skiing pyramid.  You couldn't pay me to do that, not that I would be able to if I had tried!  The show was at night, so none of my pictures of the performance turned out.

On Saturday, we all ate way too much breakfast at the Paul Bunyan place.  Then we headed to Timber Falls for more mini golf and some rides.

 While the guys were being extremely competitive, the girls had their own version of mini golf.  This could have possibly included us keeping each other's balls from rolling away, providing bumpers for the holes, and allowing a maximum score of three putts per hole (or just not keeping score at all!).  Not a very accurate way to play, but much more fun!

On Sunday, some of the family rode go-karts and then we finished our trip with another round of mini golf.  All in all, we had a very fun and busy week of traveling and vacation!  Thanks to both sets of our parents for the wonderful time!

Off to Omaha!

My family decided to take a vacation to Omaha at the beginning of last week.  We stayed at the CoCo Key Water Park while we were there.  We had lots of fun together, even though it was VERY hot!  Check out some of the highlights:

Part of the CoCo Key Water Park

On Tuesday, we spent a very hot morning checking out the Henry Doorly Zoo.  

Dan and the boys were big buddies here!

Our 3 1/2 year old tour guide...with an upside-down map :)

The black bear and Mer-Bear decided sleeping was the easiest way to spend the hot day!

A first: Merritt with a non-farm animal!

Obviously, Dan was pretty impressed with the shark tank.

The whole crew!

The penguins were by far the best and most entertaining exhibit.

On Wednesday morning, we went to the Omaha Children's Museum...to entertain Dan, of course. :)  The kiddos loved all the hands-on things to do.  (Dan had a fun time, too!)

Dan and Craig also had fun at the arcade, and they won the boys a little something:

The rest of the family left Wednesday afternoon, but Dan and I walked around the Old Market.  The best part of the day was eating at Old Chicago with our friends, Trista and Nolan.  It was a quick visit, but it was so great to reconnect!