The {Life Changing} Guacamole Recipe

A few years ago, Dan and I had some people over on a Saturday to watch his Boilermakers play some football. We always made some sort of appetizer, and our friends would bring over other delicious goods. Our friend Randy, was notorious for bringing over interesting choices. Like, once we made burgers, and Randy brought over tamales from HEB. The next time, we had a "mexican" themed menu, and he decided on the world's largest pumpkin pie from Costco. Always made for a good laugh. During this mexican themed menu, Dan and I made homemade guacamole. Our friends raved about it, and one friend said that it changed her life. Ha! What a compliment. Ever sense, it has been some what of a {Moore} Zaleski staple food item. It is our dish, and here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

3 Haas Avocados 

Onion (I prefer white, the husband likes  yellow, do what suits your fancy.)

Jalapeno 

Tomato 

Cilantro 

Garlic 

Salt 

Tostitos chips (we prefer the multigrain scoop kind...always.)

Steps 1, 2, and 3

Step 1

Cut Avocados in half and put in a bowl.  I mash them with a potato masher.

Step 2

Add onion to your liking.  We like onion, so I don't cut it into super small pieces, and I add a lot.  Add more or less, small or big, however you want.

Step 3

Add jalapeno.  In Canada, the jalapenos are not spicy, at least not the ones I have bought and tried, so I leave all the seeds.  I always put in the onions and jalapenos in first since they are firmer in texture, then mix.

Step 4

Cut up a tomato and the cilantro.  I like the ones that come on the vine.  I just got these fresh from the farmer's market on Wednesday.  However, I have also used roma tomatoes as well, which means I would use 2 tomatoes, since they are typically a bit smaller.  I LOVE cilantro, the husband, not so much.  I add enough to give the flavor at the color.  Not the whole bunch, which I totally would, if I was eating it by myself.  

Step 5

Add about 1/8 tsp or less of salt (remember the chips will be salty too!) and a spoonful of garlic.  If you don't have garlic on hand, you could always use garlic powder or garlic salt.  If you use garlic salt, then obviously, skip the salt part.  Then just mix with the masher (don't mash !), if you don't want to do more dishes, or get a spoon if you do.

Step 6

Serve with your favorite chips.  We love the Tostitos multi-grain scoops.  Delish!

My mom always used to buy the packet that you just add to avocados, but I think this is so much better!  

--E

DIY Doormat

So, D and I recently tied the knot, and now my last name is Zaleski.  Zaleski.  Yep.  Totally Polish.  Totally unpronounceable by those who have never been exposed to it.  Even the DJ at our wedding couldn't get it right.  I can't imagine what will happen when I get back in the classroom.  Pretty sure I will be "Mrs. Z" to those cute little 6 and 7 year olds.

Zaleski.  Z.  Zed (to those Canadians).  It is the LAST letter of the alphabet.  My poor future children...they will forever be at the end of the line.  And poor us...I mean, think college graduations.  I pray they go to a small school because I might have to take a little nap between A-Y if it is a huge public institution.

Z.  Do you know how hard it is to find things that are monogrammed with a letter Z?  You know those cute block letters?  Have you ever seen a Z?  Nope.  What about those cute towels all my friends have in their bathrooms with their initial sewn perfectly?  Not the Zaleskis.




While I was back in Houston, I noticed a few friends had these great doormats from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  I went to a few to scope it out.  Can you guess what happens next?  I didn't find one. UGH!  So, I decided to make my own.  Of course, HGTV, has decorations on how to make your own here.  I used this as a guide, and it was pretty simple, however I did have some variations.

Materials:

Sisal doormat

Square cardstock (HGTV had a circle around theirs, and used plates)

Initial Stencil

Sharpie

Acrylic Paint

Paint Brush

1.  I cut my cardstock to be 10x10 for the outer square, and traced on the mat with Sharpie

 after measuring equal distances from the sides and top so it would be centered. I was thinking the Sharpie would come out darker than what it did.  I thought I wouldn't be able to see it, but I could...

2.  I then cut the cardstock 9.5x9.5 for the inner square, and traced on the mat with Sharpie.

3.  I freehanded my Z on the remaining cardstock, and cut it out.  I traced it on the doormat with Sharpie.

4.  I then used black Acrylic paint and "colored" it in.  Don't be scared to get a good scoop of paint on your brush...it takes a lot!  After I got it all filled in, I went back with my paint brush and filled in some spots using a blotting motion.

Can you see the outline of my Z?  It is pretty light, but still there!

After filling it in with a blotting motion.

5.  Put on your doorstep!

See Sadie Cakes in the window??  Ha....I love her.

I am pretty happy with the result.  It was so much cheaper too!  I think I paid less than $10 for the doormat, and had all the other materials at home already. HOLLER!

--E

Sadie Cakes

So when we moved to Nebraska, and I did not have a job, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get what I we always wanted.  A puppy.  Meet Sadie Cakes Zaleski.

This was a video from the first day we got her.  How cute is she?!

Sadie is now 27 weeks old, and I love her even though she eats everything including my rug and her own feces.

--E

6 months and 2 moves later...

Wow...I am not good at keeping up with things!  So, in the last 6 months?! (really...that is soooo bad!), D and I have moved.  Twice.  Yep...we left Newfoundland and drove around 3,100 miles back to the good ol' USA!  This included the 10 hours to get the ferry, and the 8 hour ferry ride. Take a peek at some of the sight seeing we did along the way...

Our room on the ferry.  It left around midnight from Newfoundland, and we made
landfall around 8 am in Nova Scotia. The ferry was GINORMOUS.  It had numerous floors full of cars and semis, and then plenty of cabins for passengers.  It was our first "cruise"...

Have you ever heard the song "King of the Road" by Roger Miller?  In that song he
says, "Third boxcar, midnight train, destination, Bangor, Maine".  Yep...that was
our destination after we got after the ferry.  Stephen King is actually from Bangor,
Maine, and this is his creepy house.

Our next stop was in Boston.  We stayed here for 2 days.  The first day we walked the Freedom
Trail, and took in some night life at a local pub.  We also ate at the Union Oyster House,
which is the oldest restaurant in Boston, and the restaurant with the longest continuous
service in the United States.  Also, the Red Sox were in town so we stopped by Fenway
 for a game.  I loved Boston, and D and I will definitely go back. 

Our last stop before D's hometown in Indiana was Niagara Falls.  We stayed on the America side,
but would not recommend it.  The Canadian side has so much more to offer, and it is so much
nicer.  Also, the view of the falls is a lot better if you do not plan to take the Maid of the Mist
tour, which we did, and it was well worth it.  Check out the amazing pictures D took!  

 After New York, we went to Indiana for a few days to rest at D's parent's home.  We went jetskiing, hung out at his parent's pool, and just hung out...not in a vehicle!  Amazing!  We made it to Omaha on a Friday, and moved into our corporate apartment Saturday morning...and I took D to his first Husker game Saturday night.

You think that would be it...we could settle down, and just chill, buttttt we went to visit my family for a few days in "western (but really central)" Nebraska.  My car and our TV were there...definite necessities in order to function in an actual city.

The Moore family goes skeet shooting in the middle of a field to bond as a family.
Cue the redneck jokes...

We finally made it back to Omaha, Dan started work, I volunteered at a nearby school till I got hired as a substitute, we played co-ed soccer and sucked, annnnnnnnddd we got a puppy (next post!).

So blessed that we got have so many adventures and experiences on the way to our new home.  Now you might have noticed earlier I said we have moved twice...yep...that was not a typo.  In January, we moved to Sherwood Park, Alberta, where we are currently residing.  However, that is another post for another day...hopefully not 6 months later!

--E

Wedding Websites

Here are some websites that are making this wedding planning a lot easier.

Postable - Once you create your own address book, all you have to do is send this link to friends and family.   They enter their information, and wala...you click the button that says export, and it gives you several options...my personal fav is the Avery labels option.  Easy.  Plus, if you have guests that do not have a spouse, you get some pretty humorous responses...my favorite was Ms. Notquite Sureyet.  I went back and added Guest in the spouse information for those people.

The Knot - Obvious, I know.  At times, this website has TOO much information.

Pinterest - A continued obsession.  A great way to get inspiration for the upcoming nuptials.

Myregistry.com -  This website makes creating and maintaining your registry so easy.  You have access to a lot of stores on one website, then it makes one registry for you!  We went to Target and Kohl's and did the whole scanning thing, then synced it with the website and added things we wanted that those 2 stores did not have like luggage and tools...  Plus, so convenient for guests to access, AND saves paper!

--E

BIG Decision for the BIG Day.

Usually every little girls dreams of her wedding day, you know, what she would wear, flowers, shoes, makeup, shoes...  This is all extremely foreign to me.  I have never really been that girl.  When D proposed, I had NO IDEA where we would get married.

At first I thought Indiana.  D's ENTIRE family lives in Indiana, so it would be very convenient for them.  My family is scattered throughout the Midwest, so no matter what, someone would have to travel.  I searched on the internet, and nothing really gave me that "feeling" everyone talks about.

Soooo, D and I went on a weekend fishing trip to Port Aransas.  Sunday morning, we went to a little cafe, had some breakfast, and as we were finishing up our coffees...I had a thought...why not Texas?  Texas is essentially where we really started our lives together.  I mentioned this to D, and he liked the it, but being the great guy he is, he said "whatever you want."

The fish we caught while on our little expedition.  Sand trout and sheephead...yummmm!

In April, I traveled to Austin solo (D was living in Edmonton, Alberta) to scope out some places, and D and I returned in May together to look at the top contenders.  However, I felt bad for making everyone travel (can you say people pleaser?!?) and spend a lot of money to get there (anyone who really knows me, knows about my money issues), so I was back at square 1.  Here are a few places I looked at.

Spicewood Vineyards in Spicewood, TX

Duchmann Family Winery in Driftwood, TX

Thurman's Mansion @ Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX

Mercury Hall in Austin, TX

View of Lake Travis from my hotel room @ Lakeway Resort and Spa during my solo stay.

I threw around the idea of Omaha and Colorado, and settled back on Indiana.  While D and I were there in June for one of his friend's weddings, I dragged him along to every known place to hold a reception in Indianapolis...poor guy.  And again, none really made me swoon like a few did in Austin.


At the end of the day I was frustrated and tired.  I am pretty sure D was rethinking his decision to ask me to marry him...but thank goodness I was in that state of mind because I finally made up my mind.

I actually made a decision for me.  I picked what I wanted, what my vision was (as of February), and I am so thrilled.  We chose Pecan Grove at Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX.

The ceremony outside by Onion Creek...completely shaded.
However, we will not be using that space...especially in July...our guests would DIE!

Used to be an open air pavillion, but now it is closed (and air-conditioned!).

You feel like you are outside!

Bridal quarters and bathrooms in a separate building.

 I love it.  It is so us.  Very casual and outdoorsy.  Best part...Salt Lick BBQ caters...Man vs Food anyone??  They're open pit is famous.

How delicious does that look?!? 

I am pretty sure some family and friends were thinking that this wedding was going to be a total disaster if I couldn't make decisions.  I should have followed everyone's (parent's, future in-law's, friend's, even my fiance's) advice from the beginning...

"Do whatever you want to do.  It is your day."

Future brides...listen to that advice!  No matter what, you're not going to please everyone, so you might as well please yourself!

- E

Also, check out our wedding website!

Our latest adventure: Gros Morne National Park

So D and I decided to take a tour of the island.  The landscape was pretty breathtaking.  We went on a few hikes, a boat tour, ate fresh seafood, and I drank Iceberg (a beer made from 25,000 year old iceberg water, brewed in St. John's by Quidi Vidi Brewery).  Enjoy the pics!

Western Brook Pond

Western Brook Pond from the boat.  These cliffs are 2,000 feet tall.

Do you see the profile of a man's face?

Pretty cool, huh...

A rock from the Tablelands.

Love this picture!

This was supposed to be a jumping picture...whoops!

A mini waterfall.

Is it hot?  Is it cold?  I don't remember...

Fishing!!!  We didn't hook anything here....

D and his mackerel.

So colorful.

There were monarchs everywhere in this little grove.  So cool!

I wanted to play with the butterflies.  You can't tell but they were swarming all around me.

The Lighthouse at Cowhead that was kind of ridiculous to get to.  I was expecting so much more.

See the thing that looks like a desert?  That is the Tablelands...it is where the Earth's mantle is actually exposed.

I spy a starfish.  Do you??

Sunset at Rocky Harbor

Saw this little thing eating some bushes on the side of the road.  Moose are now my favorite animal.
I want to hug one, and keep it as a my pet.

We were going to stay Friday till Tuesday, but Monday morning it was raining...nonstop.  We decided to check out of our cottage (which had some pretty comfortable beds) a day early, and drive clear across the island to civilization aka St. John's.  It was either drive 7 hours back to trailer and have nothing to do for 3 days, or drive 7 hours and have plenty to do.  We saw Bourne Legacy (really good), went on an Iceberg Adventure boat tour (no icebergs or whales, but we did see puffins), and ate at The Keg (I had one of the best steaks of my life).

All in all, it was a pretty good little get away to see the island.  We got to sleep in, eat some good food, and not have to worry about doing any dishes (I LOATE dirty dishes).

Till we meet again,
- E