Recipe: Cocktail Sauce

I've been thinking for quite a while that I ought to use our blog to keep track of recipes that turn out especially well. That way, if I ever want to make something when I'm anywhere with internet access, there's no hassle.

With that in mind, I decided to writeup the cocktail sauce recipe we tried out tonight. We've always especially liked the cocktail sauce at the Maddox Ranch House in Perry, UT, but haven't found any store-bought sauces that even came close. We did find a stronger version of Heinz' cocktail sauce that was ok, but I still wanted to try making my own

I started with this recipe from allrecipes.com and simply changed a couple of ingredients to, sadly, less-fresh versions to use what I had on hand.

• 1 T. horseradish (Recommendation: Beaver Extra-Hot Prepared Horseradish)
• 1 t. brown sugar
• 1/2 t. lemon juice
  
• 1/4 c. ketchup (Recommendation: Hunt's)

Whisk all ingredients together and chill before serving.

Easter SUNDAY!!

We celebrated Easter today with Mom and Dad. We got to their house 1/2 hour before church stared to we could change Tyler into his new suit. I had originally bought Tyler a cute sailor suit for the occasion, but it was too small and I couldn't get it in a bigger size, so I ended up getting him a navy blue pinstriped suit. He was so handsome in it and so grown up. I can't believe how much bigger he looks in it. We took a few family pictures with Dad's camera....we always seem to forget ours, and then, we were off to church at 1:30. Tyler did pretty good. He was a little tired and cranky due to it being nap time as well, but 4 adults can handle a 2 year old. After church we went to mom and dad's house and ate a wonderful roast dinner. Tyler loved the side of asparagus. He had never had it before, or refused to try it and he loved it this time. We hung out for the rest of the night and dad played us songs on his guitar and mom and I kept hiding empty plastic eggs for Tyler. I really love the quiet night we have with mom and dad just talking and hanging out like we did today. It was a perfect Easter. It was so great to be with family just enjoying each other's company.


Here is our handsome boy in a plain black suit. We had to take this one home to see what size to get. We don't have any pictures of him in his blue suit...I left the camera on the desk and forgot to grab it before leaving to go to Mom and Dad's.


We've taught Tyler to smile with his teeth recently. If you ask him to show you his teeth, this is what he does. I love it. I think he is so cute and handsome.


The pants are a little long, so I'll have to hem them up. I think they will last a lot longer than the rest of the suit, but that's what we get for having such a big boy.

Easter morning

What an awesome haul. It's everything a 2 1/2 year old could ever want.

Candy...or as Tyler says, "CANNNNNNY."

I found this Peeps coloring book at the $1 store. I think it's perfect for Tyler.

The Easter bunny made it to our house again this year. Tyler really didn't know that it was a different Sunday than usual today. He woke us up at 9:00, by 9:30 we were all downstairs looking at Tyler's basket with him. He was really interested in the sidewalk chalk and coloring book. His new favorite thing to do is color. Well, it's mostly him watching me color. He likes it when I color in the lines. He is a funny boy. He also loves, loves his new shoes. I wouldn't be surprised if he wears them to bed. He has had them on pretty much all day except for when we went to church with Mom and Dad. We've always wanted to get him a pair of these shoes, and we finally found his size....well, kind of. They are a size 9 and are a little long, and they are a little narrow. I'm afraid if I get any bigger, they will be way too long. I guess we'll see how he does the next day or so.

Dying Eggs.....

Look how serious Tyler looks while watching the egg turn colors. I think it's pretty funny.

After our Easter festivities yesterday, we still decided to dye eggs. It was so late and the kids were all pretty tired by then, but it was still fun. Tyler was fascinated by the whole egg dying business. He really like dropping the egg in the dye and watching it come out a different color. He also liked drawing on the eggs with crayon. I'm glad we did it. Tyler hates eating eggs, so I'm hoping that he might, by some miracle, eat a colored hard boiled egg tomorrow. I guess we'll see what happens.

Easter Egg Hunt!!

Here are the kiddo's waiting to go down the stairs to find the eggs.

Tyler running from egg to egg.

Looks like he found a few.

Why, my belly is shaped like an Easter egg.

Ty and Allie doubling up to find some eggs. And below, Allie showing me her stash.

Yesterday we had an Easter egg hunt at Cory's parents house. Tyler loved it. His two cousins Allie and Makayla were there too. Tyler had a blast. At first he kept opening the eggs and eating the candy out of them, but after encouraging him to get more eggs, he took off. He had fun finding all the eggs. A lot of them were just on the ground and not hidden at all, but he liked that. He would laugh and giggle. After words, we emptied all the candy into a ziploc baggie and Tyler still loves to play with the plastic eggs.

Finally, some truth in advertising!

By flicker user rochelle, et. al. via Serious Eats

Blessing outfit

After much thought and debate, I finally decided on a blessing outfit for Joaquin. It took me a few times looking at patterns online and at JoAnns. This is it. It will of course be white, but, collar is going to be navy blue and so are the trim on the sleeves. I thought about trim on the legs, but I am not sure yet. I don't like the pockets for the blessing, so those will be left out. I'm also going to add a few navy blue buttons on the chest. I'm so excited. Since the blessing will probably be in July, i thought the navy blue would be cute. Joaquin will wear like knee high socks with his shoes and the cute outfit. I love the little hat too. If I make it, I will do it white with a navy blue button on the top. I'm so excited to get this project started. I want Tyler to wear a navy blue suit too. They will look so cute together for pictures.

This outfit is going to be oh so cute!!!!

I think all of the patterns on here are pretty cute.


Should Tyler wear a sailor outfit or a suit with shorts. There is also a suit I can get that has suspenders instead of a jacket. Or I can go with just a traditional suit for Tyler with long pants. I just love the shorts with long socks and cute shoes. What do you think? If I got the outfit below, it would be in navy to match Joaquin. The light blue is pretty cute though. But, the sailor would be cute because the blessing will probably be 4th of July weekend. I just don't know what to order. There are so many cute outfits.

Darling Shoes

So many shoes, what a great deal. I got a variety of sizes from 1-4

I'm so excited about these blessing shoes. Tyler didn't wear any when he was blessed, so, for $1 I thought Joaquin needed them.

I ordered these shoes on December 31. They finally arrived two months later. Yeah. They were super cheap. I got ten pairs of shoes for like $18. That price does include shipping. The shipping was outrageous, but, it still made the shoes like $1.50 a pair. They are all for baby Joaquin. Tyler never wore shoes his first year. Well, I guess he had a few pair of Robeez, but these are so much cheaper. I love the boots for next winter. I'm so glad they finally got here. What a good deal.

Kelsey's wedding

Last week we had the opportunity to attend Kelsey's wedding in Idaho Falls. She was married on Valentine's Day. The wedding ceremony was quite short and then we headed over to a different building for the luncheon. Kelsey looked so nervous during the ceremony, but then at the luncheon the were smiling and excited. We were glad we were able to support Kelsey on her big day. I hope you all like the pictures.

A new style

Cory and I are always looking for the one and only belt Tyler has. It always just seems to be lost. Well, Cory came up with this fabulous idea one day while I was at work. He took one of his old belts from his mission and poked a bunch of new holes in it. He called me at work and told me of his idea. I really didn't think twice about it until I took Tyler to Scouts with me and he had this weird thing sticking out if his back. Well, it was the belt all folded together. I thought it was pretty funny.