Alaska Cruise

I had such a great time on the cruise to Alaska. I'm so happy I didn't get seasick. I didn't know what to expect since this was my first cruise. You don't ever have to worry about packing and repacking. There were nine of us girls that went.

On Sunday May 31st I flew into Seattle, WA with Heather, Jac and Janae. Donna met us at the airport with Jody, who took us to the port. We were on the Star Princess cruise ship. The next day we spend all day at sea. Then on June 2 we went were at Ketchican. We saw the lumberjack show. One of the lumberjack's we met went to the lumberjack show at Thanksgiving Point last weekend. We spent the rest of that day shopping and exploring the town. The following day we went to Tracy Arm. Unfortunately, there was an iceberg in the middle of the passage and we couldn't get through to see the glacier. Later in the day we were at port in Juneau. Donna and I took a tour to Mendenhall Glacier with Suzanne, Cheri and Candice. Then I took off to do a little shopping and headed back to the ship. Next day we were in Skagway, our last port in Alaska. Donna and I did a self-guided tour of the town, where Heather and Jac joined us.

One thing that amazed me about the cruise and Alaska's Inside Passage was how deep the water was so that the ships could come into port so close to the towns.

Finally, we had Friday at sea and then Saturday we spent a few hours in Victoria Canada to go to the Butchart Gardens. Our trip ended back in Seattle, taking a tour of the Space Needle and Pike Market.

I ate so much food. Here are pictures of just some of the food that we ate. My favorites, of course, were the desserts. The puff pastry with pear was amazing. I also loved the mixed berries that reminded me of a cobbler, but much better. Some foods that I ate that I never plan on eating again were the quail and veal pate (good, but not a fan of intestines), calf brain, and caviar (too squishy and fishy).

Here are pictures of my favorite scenes. There are better pictures that the other girls took that were much better than mine. I really enjoyed the hike we took to Lake Dewey when we were in Skagway. I'm proud of Heather and Jac for making the hike since they're not big fans of hiking. The guide information we had about the hike said it was half a mile to the lake, but it ended up being over a mile. I also loved the Butchart Gardens in Victoria. It was a great trip and I look forward to the next cruise.

Vacation Before The Vacation

Do you ever just need to get away and just can't wait till your planned vacation comes along? Well, Donna and I went to Mesquite with our friend Susan for a relaxing break.


We left Orem right after work last Friday and made it to Mesquite safely. The next day we went to Las Vegas to enjoy some of the sights. The first thing we did was take care of our appetite at Margaritaville. The food is really good there. Don't worry, we didn't drink any margaritas.

Next we went walking to Caesars Palace to check out the shops. Everything always has to be constantly changing in Las Vegas. The layout of the forum shops threw us off for a little bit, but we managed to find FAO Schwartz. They have the cutest stuffed animals. There was a giraffe that I was tempted to buy, but I was resolved to not spend money on unnecessary thing on this trip.


After Caesars Palace we went to the Bellagio. Our main goal was to get out to the fountains to watch the water show. We went through the hotel and found the arboretum. I never knew they had the arboretum. It was full of hydrangeas and other beautiful flowers. Above is a picture of me with flowers arranged in the shape of a snail. There was also flowers arranged as a lady bug.


I really liked this fountain. There's something about the sound of water rushing and splashing that makes watching water move relaxing.


Here is one of my favorites pictures from the arboretum...a frog! I love it!


We finally made it outside and watched to fountain show. Here are Donna and Susan enjoying the show. This is the first time I was able to watch the whole show.

On Sunday we got to see Victoria briefly. Six children are keeping her hands full. We also got to visit with Nephi.

It was a nice weekend and very relaxing. I hope I can face this week and get everything I need completed before leaving for the cruise. I am so excited and am looking forward to being able to share the Adventures of Donna and Cossette on a Cruise. :P

Mom's White Lasagna

I had a great time getting together with friends last Saturday for dinner and I made my mom's white lasagna. I got her permission to post this recipe. This is something different than all the desserts and sweet treats I usually post.

White Lasagna

4 cups white sauce:
1 quart half & half
1 stick butter
milk
flour (or corn starch)
salt & pepper to taste
nutmeg

Meat stuffing:
2 frozen pkgs of spinach (blocks), thawed and water squeezed out
1 lb ground beef, browned with garlic and onion
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
nutmeg

9 cooked lasagna noodles

First put the lasagna noodles to cook. Make your white sauce. Then move onto the meat mixture: mix ground beef with nutmeg, salt and pepper, Parmesan cheese and spinach. Set aside.

To assemble: put thin coating of white sauce on botom of 9x13 pan. Then layer:
1. 3 noodles
2. meat mixture
3. some white sauce
4. noodle
Repeat once to that you have 3 layers of noodles. Cover with the remaining white sauce. Put foil over pan. Cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes until sauce bubbles a bit on the sides. (Note: I usually make up the meat mixture the night before. The process goes quickly the next day with that step done ahead of time.-Rynell)

I have been told that this recipe can also have sausage added to the meat mixture. Also, if you want to make Canelones you can use the Manicotti noodles. Just be careful as you stuff the noodles so you don't break them. Enjoy!

Repaired Quilt

My cousin asked me to do some work on this quilt that was given to her. It is a very beautiful appliqued quilt and some of the leaves were falling. So, I appliqued them back on. I'm glad I got to work on this project because I now want to learn how to do a quilt like this. I think it would be well worth the effort if I could make it turn out half as pretty as this one.

Naomi's Revel Bars

Here is the latest recipe. I really like using oats in my recipes, so you'll like this if you like oats as well. And, if you're wondering...they are Naomi's not NoemÍ's bars.

Naomi's Revel Bars

1 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, softened, divided
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups rolled oats, uncooked
1 pkg (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease 13x9-inch baking pan. Beat 1 cup butter and brown sugar in large bowl. Add eggs; beat until light a nd fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda in medium bowl; stir into butter mixture. Blend in oats. Spread 3/4 oat mixture in prepared pan.

Combine chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and remaining 2 tablespoons butter in small saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Pour chocolate mixture evenly over oat mixture in pan. Dot with remaining oat mixture. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are browned and center feels firm. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2x1 1/2-inch bars.

This is another recipe from my Chocolate Lover's Collection cookbook. Surprisingly I didn't do any alterations. It's pretty much follow the recipe. Enjoy!