Plum Crisp

I mentioned in my previous post, that my current obsession is Plum Crisp.

I went over to my friend Meg's house last night and she shared this absolute deliciousness.

So, I decided to share it with you.

I apologize in advance for the mouth watering you will experience while reading this post.

Here is what you need for Plum Crisp:

Crisp:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Plum Filling:

4 plums thinly sliced, pit removed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 by 8 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. To make the crisp, mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl.

Stir in the melted butter and mix until mixture is moist. 

Press half of the crisp topping into the prepared baking dish.

3. For the plum filling, put the plums, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir until plums are well coated.

4. Spread the plums evenly over the bottom layer of the crisp.

Sprinkle the remaining crisp over the plums. Gently pat the crisp topping down.

5. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes, or until the crisp is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for extra deliciousness.

Our house smells delicious.  Like brown-sugary-cinnamony-plums.

Enjoy!

If you try it out, let me know what you think!!

Take Luck,

LP

Fill in the Blank Friday

It is time to link up with Lauren at the litte things we do for another Fill in the Blank Friday!

[1] My current obsession is plum crisp.

[2] Fridays off make me happy.

[3] My greatest strength is being a hard worker.

[4] Feeling anxious, nervous and overwhelmed are my greatest weaknesses.

[5] My life is beautifully wonderful.  I can't wait to add to our family. 

[6] In high school I was a three-sport athlete. 

[7] When I'm super tired my pigeon-toed-ness comes out full force. 

Well, that was easy!

Take Luck,

LP

Day 15: High & Low

Day 15: What were your highs and lows of this past month?

I have to say I surprised myself by making it through this whole challenge, and unscathed.  Blogging everyday is not easy.

Highs
- Hosting Ryan's Aunt Debbie, Uncle Dave and Izzy
- Hearing news that our friends are expecting their first baby
- Ending a long string of traveling for work
- Knocking down week after week of Stats
- Counting down days to our trip to St. Louis

Lows
- My team lead at work lost his son, 21, in a motorcycle accident.  The remarkable thing has been seeing our team come together to support him and his family.
- Feeling unmotivated at work

Overall, I would say that this month has been a good one.

Any other lows I might list would be insignificant and selfish.  Right now, I feel really lucky and happy to say that I (and we!) had a great month.

Take Luck,

LP

Day 14: Grow Up

Day 14: What did you want to be when you grew up?  What are you now?

Growing up, I had ambitions to be many things.

Of those, some were more entertaining than others.

[First] I wanted to be a boy.  I idolized my big brother and was a rough-and-tumble, always messy and dirty, little chub-a-lub.  I remember repeatedly asking my Daddio and Bubba, "Why can't I be a skin?"

[Second] After I started realizing I just wasn't going to be a boy.  I shared Sar's yearning for being Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  However, I didn't get all cute and dressed up like Ariel.  My longing to be a beautiful red-headed mermaid went as far as singing "Part of Your World" in the bathtub, and I would push myself up on the side (like Ariel did on the rock).  Then I would ask Mom why I couldn't sing as good as Ariel.

Dreams crushed.

[Third] I got over being a Disney Princess quickly and moved onto wanting to be a comedian.  I've mentioned before that my "jokes" were so bad, that my parents bought me a joke book.  I'm not sure if that was successful in helping that bad-joke-telling.  I wouldn't be surprised if I still thought I was funny, despite the bad jokes.  It is still my dream to appear on SNL. 

Today, I lead a super exciting life as a Logistician.

Most of the time when I say, "Logistician."  People respond with, "A what?"

I'm basically a logistics specialist.

But it is not special.

I deal primarily in configuration data management.  I won't go into the boring details of what we manage the configuration of, but I work for the US Navy and support our fleet everyday.

Did I ever think or dream that this would be my job/career?

Hell no.

Will it do for now?

Absolutely.

I'm still holding onto my SNL dream.

Take Luck,

LP

Dear Monday

I just can't resist another link up opportunity.  This time, with Megan at Happy Day.

Dear Monday, Not going to lie you kinda sorta sucked.  The mood at work was pretty somber, and I thought I was going to go a little coo-coo if I sat at my desk any longer.

Dear God, You are frustrating me.

Dear Brock & Sonny, Your jumping and tail wagging picks me up and out of any funk.

Dear Platelet Count, I am seriously hoping you will be cooperative tomorrow.

Dear Writers of Grey's Anatomy, I hate to say that I feel our relationship may be fizzling.  Deep down I know you will always have my heart, but let's just say that I need some affirmation that this is a give-and-take understanding.

Dear Hubby, I just love you completely.

Take Luck,

LP 

Day 13: Fifteen

Day 13: If you could go back and tell your fifteen year old self something, what would you say?

After I calmed myself down and explained that, "Yes, this is what you look like at 25" (I'm sorry!) and after I assured myself that, "Yes, this is real..." I would tell myself a few things.

[1] Don't sweat the small stuff.  What matters to you today will not (I repeat, will not!) matter to you later.

[2] Cherish being an adolescent and not having true responsibility.

[3] Love your family with all that you have.  Appreciate them.

[4] You should wear your retainers.  You will appreciate your diligence later.

[5] Push yourself harder each day to be a better student, better athlete, and better person.

[6] You will meet the man of your dreams at 22.

and [7] The rest will take care of itself.

Take Luck,

LP

Day 12: Day in Bullets

Day 12: Bullet your whole day.

 -Woke up at 8am (slept in - woohoo!)

-Put $1 in the bucket

-Ate breakfast

-Got a delicious Soy Vanilla Latte

-Felt bad about not going to church

-Dropped Mustang off for oil change
-Grocery shopped at WalMart

-Put groceries away

-Wondered why bad things happen to good people

-Cleaned the house (I'll spare those bullets)

-Did laundry

-Talked to my brother, sister-in-law and nephew in Hawaii

-Ate lunch

-Made Ryan put his clothes away
-Started a Goodwill pile

-Gave Brock and Sonny baths

-Took Ryan's suit pants to be hemmed

-Continued to wonder why bad things happen to good people

-Watched Grey's Anatomy episodes from Thursday night

-Did STATs homework
-Made dinner
-Talked to my little sister

-Ate dinner
-Cleaned poop out of Brock's paw (awesome)

-Typed out this bulleted blog

Next up:

-Shower

-Crawl. Into. Bed.

Take Luck,

LP

Day 11: Dirty Dancing

Day 11: What is your favorite movie and why?

Hands down. 

Dirty Dancing.

This is my favorite movie because it doesn't matter how many times I have watched it (a lot) I still get emotional and get sucked in.  Also, I will always watch it when its being aired on TV.  And I get excited about it.

The music is great.  The dancing is smokin'.

It's all about love and loving who you love.

My favorite part (although it is hard to choose) is when Johnny (Patrick Swayze) is saying goodbye to Baby (Jennifer Gray) and he says, "I'll never be sorry."  And she says, "Neither will I."

Tear jerker.  Heart wrencher.  Everytime.

Take Luck,

LP

Day 10: Favorite Famous Folks

Day 10: Give a picture of your 5 favorite famous people and explain why you like them.

[Ellen]

Who doesn't love Ellen?  She is so funny, charming, and just overall wonderful.

[Oprah]

Again, who doesn't love Oprah?  This woman has ungodly amounts of heart and compassion.

[Tom Hanks]

 My favorite actor.  He is so versatile and every movie he's done has been fantastic (at least everything that I have seen). 

[Reese Witherspoon]

She is my favorite actress.  She is funny, but can play a dramatic role... And I just love her.  She seems like a person that you could be friends with. 

[Dan Brown]

I have read all of Dan Brown's books, and each one of them sucks me in more than the others.  If you haven't read his stuff (Digital Fortress, Deception Point, The DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol) - you should.

Take Luck,

LP

Fill in the Blank Friday

Linking up with Lauren at the little things we do again for another Fill in the Blank Friday!

[1] The best thing I did all week was take an evening walk with Ryan, Brock and Sonny.

[2] Knowing we will see Ryan's friends and family in a few weeks make me super happy.

[3] Pets are perfect snuggling/cuddling buddies.

[4] Loving Ryan completely and being completely loved in return is the best thing about my life.

[5] With the cooler weather I am looking forward to crisp air, fires in the fireplace, Halloween, and Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks.

[6] Something that is on my "wish list" right now is a 50-200mm lens for my DSLR.

[7] This weekend I am going to relax, clean house, and do STATs homework (which contradicts the original plan to relax!).

Take Luck,

LP

Day 9: Fascinate Me

Day 9: Describe someone who fascinates you.

Aside from loving hubby and family, I honestly cannot say that I am fascinated by one particular person.

Instead, there are types or qualities of people that fascinate or inspire me.  These tend to be areas in which I lack.

[Faith]

I am inspired by those with unyielding faith.

[Risk]

I am a risk taker to a small degree, but otherwise I like to play it safe.  I am fascinated by those who place big bets and take leaps of faith.

[Redemption]

I truly admire people who redeem themselves.  Whether they have had a rough time by their own hand, or just ran a course of bad luck... Those that make a change (or many changes) to turn their lives around for the better inspire me.

[Leaders]

Some people just have the leader quality embedded in their DNA.  I am fascinated by those who can lead, motivate and influence others.

[Rebel]

I am fascinated by those who rebel or reject the status quo or whatever it is they know to be wrong - even if they are standing alone.

[Mommas]

I am fascinated (and its debatable whether it is a good or bad fascination) by Mommas who have oodles of babies and still manage to keep it together.  I figure - if they can wrangle that many... I will survive with wrangling a few.

[Defying Odds]

Not surprisingly, I am fascinated by those who defy the odds or surpass boundaries that have been put on them.

[Intelligence]

I am fascinated by the intelligent.  I may not have a friggin' clue what they are talking about.  But the fact that they know so much about something I know absolutely nothing about - amazes me.

 I think that about covers it.

At least, for now.

Take Luck,

LP

Day 8: Dexter

Day 8: What is one of your favorite TV shows?  Explain.

Well, since my dearest Sar already explained her love for The Big Bang Theory (and much better than I would have, by the way), I will discuss my other favorite show - Dexter.

 

And what do ya know - Season 6 starts on Sunday, October 2nd!

Woot. Woot.

Dexter follows Dexter (duh!) Morgan, a blood spatter analyst with Miami Metro P.D.  

Dexter has a secret, or dark passenger.

He's a serial killer.

Don't misunderstand... He isn't a bad guy.  But a vigilante of sorts who goes after the bad guys (or gals) that continue to get away with crimes or somehow evade conviction.  Dexter follows a code that his father Harry taught him once he realized Dexter carried such a dark passenger.

Each season has featured one special guest bad guy - someone that Dexter has to (sometimes) get to know and stalk/track down by using his experience and access to information at Miami Metro P.D.  For example, the Ice Truck Killer, crazy Lila, Jimmy Smits was (District Attorney) Miguel Prado, The Skinner, John Lithgow was The Trinity Killer and last season wrapped with motivational speaker Jordan Chase.

Did I mention that no one around Dexter knows that he is who he is?

Not even his sister, Deb, who is a detective at Miami Metro.

Ca-razy!

This show is super addicting and suspenseful.  

Dexter has gotten himself close to being caught more than a lot of times.  But it seems like every time he just barely slips away without losing his secret.

I don't want to give up/away too many details, but you should totally start from Season 1 and catch up.

I can't wait for this new season to start!

Take Luck,

LP

Day 7: Mi Familia

Day 7: Describe your relationship with your siblings/parents

I love my family.

So this will be fun!

Meet my parents.

I wrote a lot about my relationship with my Daddio and Momma back on Father's and Mother's Day, respectively.

They are amazing people, and parents.  Together they have taught me how to work hard for the things I want in life, be respectful, be humble, and be gracious.

My relationships with Mom and Dad are definitely different.  But I am happy to say that although they are different relationships - they are each wonderful in their own ways.

I love it when my Dad laughs so hard he cries and his face turns bright red (usually when he's watching Blue Collar Comedy Tour).  I also love the way his face lights up when he sees his grandkiddos (both two and four-legged).

He doesn't always listen so good.  But it is one of the things that I have grown to love and expect from him.  He is my protector.  Ever since I was a little girl, and even to this day, I know that my Dad will take care of me.  Along with Ryan and my Bubba.

I also love getting Mom all riled up and laughing hysterically.  This usually happens whenever Ryan and I are around her... And always happens when Rachy, Ryan and I are around her.

Just the other night while driving home from a wedding, Ryan and I told Mom that her car horn was lame sounding.  We then discussed my Subaru horn, and then Ryan's Mustang horn.  I declared, "Ryan, I don't think I've ever honked your horn."

Lots of laughter and tears followed as Mom said, "Well, you guys have been married over a year now.  I was sure you had honked his horn by now!"  Good grief.

I feel equally blessed to have wonderful in-laws.

Danny and Chris have accepted and welcomed me into their home and life since Day 1.

I feel very at ease around them, and know I can be myself.  I am thankful every day that they raised Ryan to be the man that he is today.

I am the third in a line of four.  Between my brother's marriage and Ryan's sister's marriage - I am the proud sister-in-law of another sister and brother.  One thing that I am completely proud to say is that all of my sisters and both of my brothers were a part of our wedding.

Moving on.

Haas Family Picture - 2009

Katie is the eldest.  Growing up I idolized her, and wanted to do everything she did, the way she did it.  Over the last few years, our relationship hasn't been what it once was - but I hope to change that.  She is raising her daughter, Jaiden to be a fantastic young girl.  It's hard to believe she will be 11 next month.

Joshy is next.  He is my Bubba, my protector.  Josh makes me laugh with his brutal honesty, and sometimes drives me a little coo-coo with how laid back he is.  He is a wonderful father to Mia, Kennedy, and Riley - and it has been so much fun watching him and Haley raise their kids, and see him turn into the family man.

I don't know where to begin with my baby sister, Rachel.  I need to write a post just for/about her.  But again, I wouldn't know where to start.  She is my best friend.  And our relationship has only gotten stronger as we've grown up together.  When we get together... Watch out.  Things can get a little crazy, in a show tunes singing, show tunes dancing, butt grabbing, hoot smacking sort of way.  We are completely silly, and like to drive Ryan crazy by singing  Super Troupers.

This is us together at Momma's birthday dinner.  We realized that both of our tops had little flowers or "blossoms" on them.  Since neither of us were blessed in that "region" we liked to think that the tops were a symbol of what we don't have.

Haley has been my sister-in-law for over 4 years now.  It is amazing how time has flown by.  I have really enjoyed watching her and Joshy grow their family (I say that like they are are growing a garden!).  Haley is so laid back, and I know that even though she usually has three kids running around her and asking her for something - I can talk to her about anything.  I only hope she feels the same.  I like to call her and ask how she's doing.  It usually takes her a second to process the question and then respond.  Understandably so.

Cara is my fourth sister.  She may be the newest to join my heart, but I love her just as much as the others.  I only wish we didn't live so far away.  I know that I can talk to Cara about anything, and she always gives sound, unbiased advice.  I can't talk to her and not laugh.  I know we didn't technically become sisters until Ry and I were married... But to tell you the truth, I felt like she has been my sister from the beginning.  She is housing a little nugget that should make his debut in mid-October, and I know she is going to be wonderful Mommy.  I can't wait to meet this little guy!!

Finally, meet Webb.  My lone brother-in-law (for now!).  This guy cracks me up, and we share a bond since we are the two in-laws to the Peters family.  I can't imagine a better guy to share that bond with.  He likes to use words like insufferable to describe waiting for us at a surprise meal, and he really loves the song Tonto.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of this guy bustin' a move to that song.  Like Cara, Webb is going to be a great dad when Baby Webb arrives.

All in all, I feel that I am beyond lucky and blessed to have the big family that I do.  They each hold a very special place in my heart and life, that I would not trade for anything.  I have learned so much in my relatively few years, but perhaps the biggest thing is to know that even though you can't choose your family - I wouldn't have mine any other way.

I love you, guys!!

Take Luck,

LP