I made this for dinner last night and it was really yummy! Nicole, from my ward, made this for a Book Club. I wasn't there for it, but I got the recipe and tried it. Even Dave loved it and he hates eggs and quiche, so that's saying something!


CHERRY TOMATO AND BASIL PIE
Serves 6 to 8 - From The Oregonian

To Prep: 15 Minutes
To Cook: 26-28 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt
1 tsp dried basil - I love basil and the recipe
originally called for fresh, but I like dried better
here. See tips if you want to try the fresh version.
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream or whole milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Open the package of crescent roll dough and separate it into 8 triangles. Arrange the triangles in a 10-inch tart
pan or pie pan with the long points toward the center so that the bottom and side of the pan are covered with
dough. Press the edges of the dough triangles firmly together to seal them. Bake the crust until it is lightly
browned and puffed, 8 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half (slice cherry tomatoes crosswise and grape tomatoes lengthwise).
4. Remove the tart pan from the oven; leave the oven on. Press down on the crust with the back of a spoon to
flatten it. Arrange the tomatoes, cut side up, on the bottom of the crust, completely covering it. Drizzle the
olive oil over the tomatoes, sprinkle them with salt, then scatter the basil evenly over the top. Crack the eggs
into a small bowl, add the cream and mozzarella cheese, and whisk to combine. Pour the egg mixture over the
tomatoes.
5. Bake the tart until the custard has set and the crust is a deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the tart
from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool, 5 minutes, then slice the tart and serve it.

Tips:
• 1/2 cup finely sliced fresh basil or parsley - The most efficient way to slice basil leaves is to stack them, roll
them into a cigar shape, then slice them crosswise. This creates basil slivers, or a chiffonade.
• You can add slices of garlic to the tomatoes if the mood hits you.
• If you use half Parmesan and half mozzarella cheese, the tart will have a richer flavor and the top will be browner.

Motherhood = Servant

Lil and I were cleaning out her closet today, I was asking her- "do you want to keep this?" and "let's see if this still fits" and "let's organize this a bit better". We were enjoying our time together and getting her closet sorted out. Then the conversation went a little like this:

Lils says to me, "Mom, you're kind of like a servant."
Me: "What do you mean?"
Lils: "You, know, like a princess that has a servant that does things for her and gets her whatever she wants."
Me: (after a moment of reflection) "Well, I guess I am."

(I put a picture of Ariel up, because if Lils could be any princess, it would be Ariel.)

Wicked!

I surprised Dave with a weekend getaway to San Fran to see "Wicked" last weekend for his big 30th Birthday Bash! It was such a fantastic weekend! His parent's and brother were so great and watched our kids for us and we were able to stay the night in San Fran... and actually SLEEP IN! I was so mad when 8 am rolled around and I couldn't sleep anymore. Oh well, my body clock is all kid-ified now.

But we drove out around 2:30 on Fri and headed off to San Fran, Dave still not knowing where we were going. We made a gas/bathroom pit stop and as we got in the car to drive off, I told Dave he had something in his teeth (romantic, I know!). He looked in the rear view mirror to see, and I said, "No, Dave use the visor!" (b/c I had hidden the Wicked tickets up there), he opened the visor and out tumbled the tickets onto his lap! he was so excited! He is a manly man, but loves his musicals, too OK! So, we got to San Fran, went to an amazingly fancy restaurant, delicious! Then went to see "Wicked". Dave and I didn't know anything about the show, so we were absolutely blown away! I am obsessed with the music now. Then Dave sweet-talked the lady at the hotel to give us a free hotel room upgrade- so we got one of the best rooms in a 4 star hotel in San Fran for $70, not bad! (Orbitz)

The next day we drove back home and had a BBQ with family and cheesecake for dessert! I love you, Davey! Happy big 30!

Old Pictures

Oh doggy, here are some old pictures of me and my siblings growing up. I'm the one hiding behind my Dad's leg in that one.

Gibbs, Dad, Orin, Mom, Lorel (baby), Cora, and me

Awkward stage!! That stage lasted a little too long- that's me on the end. I won a $500 shopping spree to "The Limited" when I was 13, and I WASTED it on bad taste, Limited sweatshirts, and khaki pants with pleats! Oh man, to have that chance again, right? (Not the chance to be 13 again, no thank you!) I guess I was lucky I was ugly for so long, it kept me out of trouble. New parenting strategy: keep your kids ugly until they are at LEAST 16, by then they'll know enough to be good! hopefully :)

Gibbs, Cora, Mom, Dad, Orin. Bottom Row: Cordell, Me, Lorel.

Crawling!

Lil Rose just crawled for the first time! She's 10 1/2 months old now. My favorite is E's reaction, he really CAN be sweet! We have proof!

Wolf

Guess who we ran into at the Las Vegas airport! Wolf from "American Gladiator"... dude! The guy was huge!

We went out to Virginia last week! What a wonderful trip! We got to play "Rock Band", go to the best BBQ place ever, "Buzz and Ned's", feed the ducks, play with baby goats and bunnies at Maymont, get a sundae at "Friendly's" with Orin, play "Catch Phrase" and laugh like crazy, have precious Easter family time, hang out with my Mom and sis, kiss baby Ella about a million times! That girl is PRECIOUS!!!!... have a blast with Cordell (he's hilarious!), play zilch and laugh SO hard because we were all rolling horribly, go to an awesome bouncy house where the kids went crazy, laughed with my Dad and watched him wrestle with the grandkids, laze around the house during a stormy day, start Dave's 30th birthday celebration (don't worry, the actually birthday isn't for a few weeks), watch Lils babysit Ella and dote on her every whim, tickle Rose, go to Lorel's cute place in C-ville, play at the park and watch E launch rockets into the air!

These photos are in no particular order, but they are my favorites from the trip!

Cordell and Ella on the merry-go-round.. more like barfy-go-round since Lils was on there for a half hour, got a headache and puked in the car on the way home! Good times...

Feeding the ducks

Papa and Ella

Ella Easter egg hunting

Lorel and Ella

Lils

Peep wars showdown!
Before...

After. The peeps and toothpicks got more and more elaborate as the night went on!

Feeding the baby goats at Maymont

Easter Sunday in my parent's front yard

Grammy and "Baby No", as E calls her!

Me, 'rel, and Rose

Easter Rose

Love you Grammy!

Rose loved getting flipped around by her Papa! What a great time back home in Virginia- I miss you guys and love you all so much.