TDT

Do you remember that sneak peek I gave you guys a while back?

Well, you're not going to find out what it was all about here. You'll have to go check out Tasha Does Tulsa to see what I was working on!

That's right folks, I'm guest posting at TDT today! I know, I can't believe it either but it's true.

Check it out here and come back and let me know what you think!

Winterfest 2011

Or Embrace the Camera - Winterfest Edition (with Emily).

Or, How to Wear Out your Child

Any of those titles work for today's post.

The BOK Center, in downtown Tulsa, puts on Winterfest every year. I don't know how long they've been doing it but it's a pretty big hit. They have live music, an outdoor ice skating rink, food vendors and a gigantic Christmas tree. It's really pretty at night but it's also pretty fun during the day.

Last Saturday the weather was gorgeous so we took Sweet P down to check it out. So, this pregnant lady not going to ice skate, the husband has ice skated once and hated it and there was no way we were going to attempt getting a 16 month old to wear skates - if they even had her size!

So what do you do? Well, aside from people-watching and just being out and about?

You pose for some pictures and laugh when you come home to notice the wipe-out in the background...



You find the hill next to the stage with live music and have a dance party.





You get lots of kisses.



And you watch your husband and daughter run/slide up and down the giant hill until they're both about ready to collapse!



Oh, and don't forget about getting a family picture next to the gigantic Christmas tree!



You can find out more about it here.

Oh How We Love Fall

Happy Thursday!

crazyjoy = crack (revealed)

I hope you had a fantastic weekend! Mine was full of excitement. OSU beat Kansas State in an absolute nail-biter of a game! Go Pokes!

Then, just as we were starting to calm down from the rush of the game, a record-breaking earthquake hit Oklahoma. It was the first earthquake I've ever felt and it also happened to be the strongest in recorded history for Tulsa! It was nuts!!

And since earthquakes cause structural damage, I thought it was fitting to include this photo for this week's crazyjoy challenge word: CRACK.



Don't worry, the quake didn't cause that, it was like that before.

Check back for Anna's photo in a little bit.

If you joined in or plan on participating, you have until noon on Thursday to link up with your blog post showing off your interpretation of crack. Link up below.





Have a great week!

Woolaroc Oklahoma

Yesterday I shared one of the pictures from our visit to Woolaroc, today, I'm posting more.

The place is gorgeous. If you've never been, you should check it out sometime. There are tons of animals walking around. Sometimes you have to stop your car so a buffalo can walk by, other times you have to stop your car to hear an elk bugle and watch it chase after a female! It's pretty awesome. I'll stop rambling and let you see for yourself.













I included the car in this one so you could get an idea of how close they really get.









That's just a few of the sights but there's a lot more to discover at Woolaroc.

Oktoberfest Feasting

As I've mentioned, Oktoberfest was this past weekend here in T-town. The plan was to save money by going during the free-admission time and not eating anything while we were there because we had a German feast to come home to. Such was the plan anyway. We made it inside the gates with seconds, and I mean seconds, to spare. We didn't plan on the traffic and had to run for the gates. Sweet P and I made it through, then Eric and then the ticket-takers started moving out saying time was up and everyone needed a ticket. My mom held her phone up with the time showing there was still one minute to go as she pushed on through. They ended up letting her through - along with a drove of others!

It was a fun start to the event. We walked from tent to tent, hearing various sounds of music and cheering and smelling all kinds of tempting treats.



We hadn't been there 20 minutes before the beer (the husband's beverage), potato pancake and Ludgar's Bavarian cream cheese cake had been purchased.



With full bellies it was time to work a little of those calories off with a little chicken dancing. Sweet P once again wooed the crowds and had everyone around her clapping and smiling.



It was a good time. I think I need one of those German hats for me and Sweet P next year.

The rest of the weekend was filled with family, a lot of football watching and more German feasting. Last week I mentioned a few recipes I wanted to try and I made all but one. I also added one I didn't mention so here's the reviews...

First up, the Wiener Schnitzel and German potato salad.



I tried this chicken schnitzel recipe but used tenderized-boneless pork chops for the meat. The husband said it was the best schnitzel he's ever eaten and that it reminded him of the one he would order as a kid at Ursula's (Tulsa restaurant no longer in business). I thought it turned out pretty good.

Then there's the German potato salad recipe that I mentioned last week. Again, the husband loved it and said it was the best potato salad I've ever made. Personally, I prefer a cold, smashed potato salad but it went well with the dinner.

Next up is the recipe for apple strudel I also mentioned last week.



After I converted everything in her recipe, I decided to use puff pastry instead of phyllo dough. I like puff pastry, it's easy and I'll use the leftovers. Plus, I didn't feel like taking the time to do the whole buttering the 4-5 layers or phyllo. I'm lazy.



The puff pastry ended up working out really well and the strudel was amazing. Really folks, delicious. I used honeycrisp apples inside and topped the strudel with some icing to really take it over the edge in the healthy department.

And, last up, I tried this recipe for homemade pretzels.



They were a huge hit. I read a lot of the comments on the recipe and ended up going with 4 cups of flour and using my kitchenaid with the hook attachment to knead the dough. That thing made this recipe SO easy. The pretzels smelled amazing and were perfect right out of the oven.

The recipe calls for sugar but the husband didn't care for the sweetness of the dough. I didn't mind but will probably use less next time I make them. They were also really good covered sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and coated with melted butter. Such a great treat.

After all the German food cooking and eating I have determined that the German folk aren't too concerned with calories and I'm happy Oktoberfest only rolls around once a year.

More Park Pictures and Polenta

Here are a few more pictures from our visit to the Conservation park in Claremore.

The deer were really that close. It was awesome.



Sweet P giving her daddy pebbles along the walk.



Not sure what she's pointing to here, but we looked.



And daddy teaching his girl the art of hunting and stalking deer.



Now on to a totally different subject, I made polenta (basically cornmeal) for the very first time. I had it at one of the Biga wine dinners a while back and decided to try to make my own. Now that I know how easy it is, I will trying many more recipes.

I found this recipe and altered it a little. I didn't have fresh parsley or parmesan cheese so I used some dried parsley and topped ours with a little feta and fresh green onion.



It turned out pretty good but you have to eat it right away or the polenta gets a little hard.

Birthday Weekend Celebration

My birthday was last week and we celebrated all weekend. It was awesome, especially since the fair is always in town on my birthday weekend!

I took Sweet P to the fair on Thursday with my mom and grandma. We went early and since there weren't any crowds yet, she got to run wild.



Then I went back on Friday with the husband. When we got there MC Hammer was practicing with his dancers for the concert that evening. He was too legit to quit.



Then it was off to eat the fair food.

Corndog.



Followed by cheese curds and fried green tomatoes.



And then we shared a pineapple whip to wash it down but didn't get a pic of that.

Then we walked down the midway and headed for the petting zoo. It was a success.



Sweet P kept saying, "goa" (goat) and really wanted to get in the pin and play with them. She made pig faces at the pigs, mooed at the cows and pointed to everything. It was so fun to watch.

Then we had to get the annual fair pics and monster cookie before we left.



Last year's pic:

Last year's pic:

There was a surprise party that evening for me, but, since I didn't know it was coming, I didn't have my camera. :( It was tons of fun though.

Saturday we finished up the birthday fun by taking P to Philbrook's Fall Family Festival. It was free to get in so we had to take advantage of that!

We had to finish our coffees before going in and that's when we saw the squirrel.



Sweet P finally saw it and tried talking it down.



But, sadly, it ran away.



After walking through the museum, we headed out back to the gardens. I snapped a couple of pictures of P.



Then she found the band. They were playing up on the rocks but came down and surrounded her and started up again.



I was so surprised she didn't run away! Instead, she just stared up at them and then started walking around dancing and clapping her hands. Show-stopper, folks. SHOW. STOPPER.



And that takes care of our weekend. Too many pictures? Sorry. That's not even close to the amount I took!!