And Her Name Will Be....

XENA!!!!

the name Xena (yes, as in Warrior Princess) won the vote which is just perfect because we were planning on that and already calling her that for awhile now! We'll be going and getting her Saturday morning and then we will have a Puppy Party at our house that afternoon. Mike's family will join us for the festivities as we welcome her into her new home!

How our lives will drastically change in just a few short days...long gone are the days of little to no responsibility for anything other than ourselves!

1 year Old

Happy 1 Year Blogiversary to "they call me 'YaraRoots!''

I posted my first blog post exactly one year ago today. Over the last year I've posted 80 times and included lots o' pictures- hope you've enjoyed keeping up with what is going on in my (and hubby Mike's) life. Keep the comments coming, I love them! Also if you have any suggestions for my Culinary Adventure Series please let me know and maybe I'll try them out.

Thanks for visiting! Happy long weekend!

This Week's Pupdate

Our puppy at 5 wks old

less than 2 weeks until she comes home!

Culinary Adventure Series Begins

As previously posted I am obsessed with all things foodie. Somewhat inspired by the idea of Julie & Julia (blog turned book turned movie) I have decided to partake on my very own Culinary Adventure Series. I'm doing this because I think it will be fun and I do like to challenge myself every once in awhile. This venture series will consist of me, myself & I alone. I'll be taking on out of the ordinary recipes (or things you wouldn't make every day) just to see if I can do it and more so if I'd ever do it again!

Culinary Adventure Series

Part 1: Bagels

time it took from start to finish: 2.75 hrs for 10 total bagels

taste: delicious, comparable to Bruegger's Bagels I'd say.

verdict: not as difficult as expected

best part#1: coming up with all the fun toppings

best part #2: enjoying them still warm from the oven

would I do it again?: yes, on a lazy Sunday

after combining and kneading the dough (thank you trusty beautiful Kitchen Aid) and the dough rose for an hour, 10 balls were formed and patted flat

after forming into bagel shapes and left to rise a bit longer I made it to the 'water bath' step where the bagels are simmered for one minute before topping and baking

this is my toppings assembly line which included from left to right; cinnamon/sugar mix, kosher salt, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese with garlic powder, shredded onion & grill seasoning (my idea of a ready made 'everything bagel' seasoning)

the bagels were then seasoned and baked for 25 minutes- you were supposed to flip them halfway through for optimum roundness but that would have ruined my beautiful topping so I skipped that part. Ta-dah! My fave turned out to be the Swiss (duh, bread and cheese combo always wins) and cinnamon/sugar came in second.

PUPdate

3 weeks and counting until our new little puppy joins our family- we can't wait! The breeder we are getting her from updates us weekly on how she is doing and with pictures of how much she is growing- here is how she has changed since we first met her at 2 weeks (see previous post)

3 weeks old:

4 weeks old:

If you haven't yet voted for your favorite name please do at the right side of this blog. Stay tuned to see what we pick!

A Golf Weekend

2 weekends ago Mike & I took off to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a long weekend of golfing- 72 holes to be exact (one practice round and a two day tournament). We met Mike's Uncle John and girlfriend Donna there for a 2 day couples tournament held at Porto Cima (a Jack Nicklaus “signature-designed” golf course). This course is so beautiful and we are so lucky to get to golf this course almost every year with Uncle John! Mike won the 'long-drive' contest and Uncle John & I both landed our balls on a par 3 one after the other almost equally close to a hole in one- check it out!