Indoors S'mores Party

Game called on account of rain.

Sheesh.

We hadn't really intended this to be an indoor party.

  

We had EVERY intention of having this

fire-breathing gooey-ness outside.

But, alas, the weather had other ideas.

As soon as we got all the stuff outside...it started to pour.

Luckily, I hadn't planned to use the patio fire bowl to roast our mallows.

See the pots at the top of this photo?

Gel pots from my chafing dish.

We surrounded the pots with river rock to withstand the heat.

Hey...those are the straws from this post. :)

Worked like a charm.

Don't worry. It's safe.  I checked.

And...we tested some first to make sure there was no funky taste.

Did someone say {fire}?

:)

I'm not sure McKenzie would appreciate this picture.

Here's a happy face.

I used the flash here so you can't see the flames.

It's not like teenagers need treat bags.

So I just made them up some portable

S'mores snack bags to go.

No roasting necessary.

Honey Maid has mini graham cracker snacks.

They are sooooo cute!

They're about an inch square and perfect for this mix.

I kinda eye-balled it, but I'd say it was

just about equal parts the mini graham crackers,

milk chocolate morsels and mini marshmallows.

Yummy.

If  you can't find the mini grahams,

Golden Grahams cereal would work just as great.

Or Teddy Grahams would be adorable!

And if you would like the bag toppers...here you go.

I know...I'm a little morbid. :)

I used the print wizard thingy on my computer.

I think I put it in the 3.5 X 5 size (4 copies per page).

Make sure you un-click the "make picture fit to frame" box.

So...once they were all running on sugar...

they decided to play twister in the living room.

You saw the pretty party chairs in this wildy popular post.

It's so crazy I can't believe it!

17 - 21 year olds playing twister.

Pretty funny.

But I guess it wasn't challenging enough.

They invented EXTREME Twister.

See the numbers on the circles?

{P.S. Do NOT try this move at home}

They marked the circles with numbers...then they

would roll a die then spin for the color.

Hilarious.

Sometimes it's all about perspective.

Yep.

Wanna do S'mores indoors?

Here's what we had:

Wooden BBQ skewers. {Who'da thunk it?}

Marshmallows

Honey Grahams broken into squares

Milk Chocolate Bars

Fire :) ~ make sure you don't use anything

flammable to put your fire in and be sure to insulate with rocks.

Reese Cups make a yummy gooey alternative to plain chocolate.

I've seen this done with gourmet mallows...in flavors.

Any good melty chocolate candy would work.

Double chocolate: use chocolate grahams if you can find 'em.

Cute displays and serving containers are a MUST!

Ready for indoor s'mores?

Summer's not over yet!

Go on...get gooey!

Send me pics!

Have a fabulous day!

©Kelly



Sharing here:

DebbieDoo's

Pepper Steak For A Crowd

Okay, maybe a small crowd.

Like 3 or 4.

Or 2 if you're really hungry.

Finding something humorous to say about pepper

steak is much harder than you might imagine.

So I guess I'll just skip the funny business for now.

Pepper steak is SO easy to make and yummy to eat.

I had about 3 1/2 bell peppers.

One of them was half funky on the inside.

I don't use green...supposedly {whether it's true or

not I don't really know for sure} the green ones I'm

told are not ripe and that's what causes an unhappy tummy.

Pull out the middles and make long slices...maybe 1/2 an inch thick.

Do the same with at least one LARGE onion.

I didn't take pictures of the onion...

I'm going to say because I didn't want to make you cry.

Not because I forgot.

I started sauteing my veggies while I sliced the meat.

Peppers and onions need more time to

soften than it takes beef to cook.

Heat oil {olive or toasted sesame} in a big honkin' skillet.

You could even use BUTTAH if you so desire.

Just stir around those virtuous slices to get 'em cookin'.

Then, we'll pretend I cut up all this skirt steak into strips also.

But I really didn't.

I bought it already sliced.

I was being lazy.

It was close to 2 lbs.

Add it to the peppers and onions.

Sprinkle in some salt to taste.

This is a LOT of stuff...so probably at least a teaspoon.

I switch between sea salt and regular just because of the iodide.

Sea salt has less sodium, but I haven't found course

salt for my grinder that contains that necessary nutrient. :(

Here you can see that the steak is just starting to cook

but the veggies have already started to get soft.

You could cook the peppers and onions even more

if you want the beef to cook less.

Don't put a lid on it.

This will help keep your steak from getting tough.

Stir until the meat is no longer pink.

At this point you can taste and see if it needs more seasoning.

If not,

remove from the stove and serve over rice.

Feel free to add soy sauce.

We are trying to cut carbs here at our house...

so we ate it just like this...no rice at all.

It was really good...and even better warmed up the

next day after all the flavors had a chance to mingle. :)

To Recap:

2 lbs skirt steak or other thin beef, sliced rather thinly

3-4 bell peppers, cleaned and sliced

1 very large or 2 medium onions {I like sweet}

cooking oil

salt

rice

soy sauce or terriyaki optional

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.

Slice peppers and onions and dump into hot oil.

Stir until beginning to soften and caramelize.

While those are cooking, slice beef {or buy already sliced :)}

Add to the veggies and salt to taste.

Cook until meat is done.

Spoon over cooked rice.

Enjoy with your crowd be it small or large.

With rice, I'd say this should serve 6 or so moderately hungry people.

I hope you are all enjoying your long holiday weekend.

Did you do anything fun?

We had a weenie roast and a bonfire with some friends.

Simple and fun.

I hope you have a fabulous week ahead!

©Kelly

sharing here:

Carole's Chatter

Trail Ridge Road ~ On Top Of The World

Or:

"How I spent my Saturday: A back to school picture essay."

As you might have guessed...this is a very picture heavy post.

We took a drive up Old Fall River Road to Trail Ridge Road through

Rocky Mountain National Park this past weekend.

You CAN take the paved road the entire way to the summit,

but how much fun would that be?

 

Please just sit back and enjoy this photo journey

as my witty repartee is a little lacking today. :)

I went with this guy.  :)

See this curvy ONE LANE dirt road?

It is only one way - UP.

Here it looks pretty tame.

Even this isn't bad.

But we haven't gained much altitude quite yet.

Is this gorgeous or what?

Looking back toward the valley we came out of.

We certainly weren't alone on the mountain.

Here you can see how sometimes there were huge

drops from the side of the road. :)

Here's a better picture showing the distance and depth we could see.

I swear this little guy posed for me.

He climbed right up on that rock and just WAITED for me to take his picture.

I was happy to oblige.  Especially since he's about all the wildlife we saw!

See that white stuff?

Yep.

That's SNOW!

You can see the summit house in this picture...we're almost there.

If you look closely, you can see the dots on the road that are actually cars.

Some of these pictures below...I did nothing to alter the skies.

A little contrast adjustment and levels...it was just that blue.

These two pictures look similar...but this was turned facing the other direction.

Do you know what these are?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Bueller?

They are snow poles.

Do you see those red ribbons?

Just imagine having that much snow to deal with.

Trail ridge road is only open a few months in the summer.

It's no wonder, huh?

Okay, SO, we did see some elk. Kind of.

In the center of this picture you see a whitish dot.

That's actually two bull elk sparring.

There's another lounging nearby, I won't make you play I Spy.

I would have loved to show them to you closer...but...

...that was as far as my camera could zoom.

We were actually looking at them from this distance.

See the yellow circle?

That's the elk.

The only reason we knew they were there was that by some

miracle someone spied them through the viewfinder thingy.

 

Someone remarked that there needed to be little oxygen vending machines around.

 

 

It was about this time that the ugly doll that lives

in my car decided he wanted his picture taken, too.

World traveler that he is.

 

Definitely on top of the world.

 

We stopped at the picnic ground here to eat our lunch.

 

Then took the trail around the lake.

 

Oh, look...there's that guy again.

I think he's following me.

 

Beeeee-u-tiful!

 

Well, after this we started down the mountain.

It was getting late and we wanted to do some walking

around the tourist town of Estes Park before heading home.

 

So here is a parting shot from Scrammy...he sends his love.

And wishes he weren't afraid of heights.

 

Did you enjoy this picture tour?

 

I know my photos are not all great...

but,

if you are interested in any of them for personal use,

please email me and I will be happy to send you a non-watermarked copy.

 

Have a great holiday weekend!

Go find some adventure!

 

©Kelly