Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan field trip

I will be writing a couple posts about the recent field trip to the north - Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan.  I can now cross Minnesota and Wisconsin off my list of states I hadn't been to yet.  We spent the week looking at rifted sediments on the Lake Superior shoreline.  We saw everything from the basalts when the rift began, to the shale, conglomerates, and sands deposited following the opening of the basin, to some igneous extrusive rhyolite, related to a volcanic event that changed the bed dips of the sands/conglomerates in the basin.  The rift formed the basins for several of the Great Lakes, and they were subsequently carved out during advancement of the glaciers, and filled in with freshwater after retreat of the glaciers.   It was a pretty nutty field trip, I haven't ever been on one that can compare in quirkiness.  The saving grace was our SUV, filled with other young people.

Glacial striations on the basalt flow (that's what gives it the sheen/lines)

Hanging out with an anchor outside the hotel.

The early sunrise and the lighthouse

Fall trees

A waterfall over the conglomerate sequence.

A sharp contact between the conglomerate and a sandier unit. Most likely due to migration laterally and vertically of the alluvial fan/delta sequence



Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt

I love frozen treats.  Since we got an ice cream maker, I've been trying lots of new flavors.  I found a frozen yogurt cookie dough recipe here, and I decided to modify it to make it simpler.  I don't feel like making cookie dough when I'm not making cookies.  So, I used premade cookie dough, mixed it with yogurt, and had some frozen yogurt in no time at all. 

Recipe:
1 tub vanilla yogurt
1 package cookie dough, refrigerated

Mix together, put into ice cream maker as per instructions.  SIMPLE!!!! 

Here is a photo from when I just removed it from the ice cream maker - the "soft serve" version.

This is from the next day, after it had frozen solid.  Sooo creamy and still good for you!

The secret to getting creamy ice cream/yogurt without the ice crystals is simple - get it cold FAST! 



Christmas Decorations: Dining room

Christmas is my favorite.  Here are some images of what I did this past year in my dining room.  I had the help of some adorable glasses courtesy of miss Maria V. 

Painted vases

I made some vases to go with my decor as an accent color.  I had some candles I liked, and wanted to match the color with these.  So, I mixed up some paint and got to work. 

Then, I swirled it around the vase to cover everywhere

Finally, added the finished product to our built-in bookcases.



Flowers

Last weekend, Adam came home from the store with a gorgeous bouquet for me.  What a sweetie!  My favorite, lilies, plus some pink daisies.

Cute Wreath

I needed some door decor, so I went to Michael's and got some ideas and some supplies.  I wanted something a little more modern that could also translate into winter/spring.  I wanted something simple and clean.  I love the way it turned out. 

I started by gathering my supplies together.  A grapevine wreath, flowers, ribbon and a W.



Next, I cut the flowers off of their long stems, to the size I needed to attach them to the wreath.

Then, I hot glue guned the flowers to the wreath.

Finally, added the W with hot glue, and tied a green ribbon on to hang.

Chicken Gyros

For a quick weeknight dinner, I threw together some gyros.  I had some pre-grilled chicken strips, some pita, and then cut up some tomatoes, onions, and had some leftover cucumber sauce and feta. 

I made a little conveyor belt to make the gyros.  I heated the pita on the griddle, put it on some aluminum foil (to hold in all the goodies when it was picked up), and started adding my insides.  Grilled chicken, onion, feta, tomato, and topped by some tzatziki sauce.  Rolled up, and served with a side salad. 

Ingredients:
Grilled chicken or lamb
tzatziki sauce
feta
tomato
onion

Chop tomato and onion while chicken is heated on the griddle.  Remove from heat.  Warm pita on griddle, and assemble wrap on tinfoil adding desired toppings.  Serve warm

My assembly line

We ended up on the back porch for dinner, with the nice weather and good conversation.