Hello Blogland!!!! a personal update w/ a bit of food

Hello blog land.. Sorry to have disappeared on ya'all.. Everybody is healthy- I just got out of my little blogging routine. I have been a bad blogging buddy- not updating or commenting. Thanks to those who came back to check on me.. You guys are awesome! It is summer time in Alaska! Here is Emma roasting a marshmallow at the beach. In other news my oldest daughter Amber graduated high school a year early. My best friend Kari came down for the ceremony. Which is so awesome because not only was it great to see her but, Kari was w/ me when Amber was born.. ahh the milestones... she is the closest thing to a sister I have.. (I grew up w\ four brothers - and no sisters).
Eli started t-ball- what a hoot! It is so funny to watch the little ones learning how to play. Here is Eli taking a practice swing.
Eli has also kept us busy w/ dancing. That's him between the two taller boys. The kids and I have a tad bit of Tlingit in us and when Eli was in school they had a Tlingit unit in school he decided that he wanted to dance. So, we signed him up and he really enjoys it. Every Sunday his group puts on a show for the tourist. And a big kudos to Daddy for making his blanket! He did a wonderful job! I crochet, I bead, I cook but, I don't sew.
Now on to some food.. I have been taking pictures still every night despite not blogging.. some highlights from the past few months....

From the Quick-Fix Vegetarian cook book -The sesame-spinach salad w/ mango and the from the same book the linguine w/ edamame pesto. Good eats! I put the left over edamame from the noodle recipe in w/ the salad. I made the salad again for a potluck and got rave reviews!

From Vive le Vegan- the Hummus tortilla pizza. Love this!
My absolute favorite- fresh spring rolls! Inside is fresh mango, cilantro, mint, mung beans, bean thread noodles, carrots and mango tofu from Vegan w/ a Vengeance. The mango tofu was one of the best tofu dishes EVER!! but, the flavor got a bit lost in the spring roll- next time it will be served over rice as suggested.
One of my honeys favorites! Beefy seitan from La Dolce Vegan - He likes slice it thin and put in the toaster oven to make it more jerky like. He thinks if I ever should dare to open a restaurant this sandwich would by far be the best seller! I am afraid though Juneau is very far from accepting/supporting a vegan restaurant....
A long time ago I came across this recipe and it just called out to me! But after going to three different stores looking for some decent portobello mushrooms that didn't cost an arm and a leg....I decided to try some dried shitake mushrooms instead and it worked great! I soaked them w/ a vegetarian beef bullion cube which added a nice flavor. Nice and chewy. I used my standard 'cheese' sauce recipe.
Now see this will teach me to be a better blogger!! This was by far my best homemade pizza ever! and I have since lost the recipe. I found the sauce recipe and crust recipe on the internet and I usually keep a binder of internet recipes but, I guess it didn't make it into the binder this time... I also NAILED the seitan - frying it up w/ some sausage seasonings.

Okay now I will leave you w/ a picture from a walk the kids and I went on near the glacier this week.. yep on the trail we encounter this bear up in the tree happily munching on the leaves.

Ya, my zoom is not that great we did have to walk right underneath that tree to get back to the parking lot. Luckily the momma bear was not around!

Hopefully I will be back to being a more regular blogger again.. some time soon... w/ that said...

I am sure I won't be blogging until next week.. My oldest will be here on Tuesday for the Fourth and his 21st birthday... OHHH that is soo hard to say.. but, really I can't wait to see him!!

Happy fourth of July.. Be safe! and take care!