Halloween 2009

After a long absence, I'm back. My husband started working from home and took over my study which has my computer in it. Between that and many many kids sports activities I've been busy and just lost the habit of being on the computer.

Halloween was like normal at the Bowcutt's this year. Jeffrey talked us into a strobe light and a fog machine this year. Our front door was a lot of fun. Here is our friends that came over for our traditional chili and cornbread before tricks and treats.

Michael did a fabulous job on the pumpkins this year. I just have to brag.

I hate carving pumpkins. I'm glad we have kids old enough to do it all by them selves.

Except Sara and Eric. We helped them.

This picture is too small to see but here's the list.....Jeffery was a rapper, Emily was a diva, Adam just had a sword through his head with blood dripping down on to his shirt, Eric won best costume as Harry Potter and little Sara was a pink Poodle. She finally let me put the costume on her. Before this she would just carry it around hugging it. She was of course the funnest at Trick and treating. As soon as she understood what was happening, it was all over. She almost ran to every house. She made it all the way down our long street before she pooped out.

I love Halloween. Until next time.....and it will be sooner I promise.

Costa Rica

Michael and I had so much fun in Costa Rica. We just returned last weekend. There is a lot of pictures so just go through them quickly. Above is one of many different flowers around most of which I've never seen before.

Michael and I did a zip line down from the top of a mountain. It was the coolest thing I've every done. We are zipping down ten different lines from tree to tree until we finally reach the bottom. Here is Michael getting off a line.
Here he is just coming in to a platform.

This is the view. You can see the ocean in the distance. This is my uncle Mark. We are waiting our turn for the next line.

You can't see the end of the line but this is the longest line of the ten. You can't even see the platform we just came from. But if you look close you can see a guy coming in and follow the cable into the trees.

Michael is getting ready for a run.

Here we are in our gear.

This is a restaurant that we ate at. It had a cargo plane in the middle of it. This is only the front of the place. The patio is where we ate at the top of a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The food was good too.

This is one of the beaches we swam at. Monkeys tried to get into my bag. I had to shoo them away.

This is the beach right down from our hotel in the town of Jaco. The sand was black and full of beautiful colored rocks and shells.

Michael and Gary(one of Michael's employees) are having fun in Jaco shopping.

This is Gary and Suzie. We spent most of our week with them. We just finished lunch.

And this is the view from my seat!

We took a boat ride right into the mangrove forest. This is off the main river that dumps into the ocean.

Here is a crocodile. It is estimated to weight about 800 pounds and is around 12 feet long.

Our boat driver went on the banks of the river and pulled out some chicken and lead the crocodile out of the water. Right when he opened his mouth, he dropped the chicken in.

I must say, this man has some serious issues to do this everyday. He did admit that he has been bite before.

Here he is before the croc came out for lunch.

This is a picture i dedicate to my brother Ryan whom I bought this camera from and gave me lessons on how to use it. The camera is more sophisticated than I and I was proud of this sunset picture.

Our company party was at a beautiful, exclusive restaurant overlooking the ocean right at sunset.

It was a magical night.

We took a horseback ride up to a lookout and then hiked down to a beautiful waterfall. It was hard work but worth it.

This is me on the horse. He was very nice to me. But I was still sore the next day.

Iguanas were everywhere. Even all around the hotel grounds. They ate any food that fell on the ground. The waiters had to shoo them away.

There was a marina in walking distance from the hotel. It was the largest in the area. This isn't a good picture of all the boats but a pretty one of the mountain range behind the hotel.

This is a view from the stairs coming down from the main floor to the pool area. The hotel was called "Los Suenos" golf and marina resort by Marriott. It was unbelievable. The food was picture perfect art every time a plate was brought in front of you. You know how much I love to cook so I took extra note of the care, work and creativity that went into each dish. I was never disappointed.

This is a view from the balcony of our room.

We had a wonderful vacation. It was like a dream. We have some special friends that were willing to watch my children so we could enjoy this trip. I just want to again say thank-you to them.

So if you are contemplating a vacation......DO IT! It is worth every dime.

Everyday use white bread recipe

I had a few of you ask me for my white bread recipe. A good loaf of bread is over two dollars now. Unless you find a coupon or buy something that you cant even put peanut butter on, bread is not worth the price when you have a family of seven that eats east 1 to 2 loaves a week. So I started making my own bread. I have posted my honey wheat bread recipe which is good but my kids whine a little about it. They would eat it if I made them but if I was going to boycott store bought bread all together I needed to find something else. I made up this recipe from my many years of baking and came up with a winner. It slices well for sandwiches and has great flavor. So here it is:
(I'm going to type exactly what I do and put the ingredient list last for those of you who aren't big on baking then you'll know the tricks I use)

First put two cups of flour in your mixer(I use a kitchen aid)
then put 1/3 cup sugar, 2/3 powdered milk, 2 tablespoons instant yeast and a half cube butter
pour 2 and 1/2 cups HOT tap water on top and start the mixer right away. Use the batter hook first if you have a kitchen aid. The temp. has to be hot. I just turn the tap on and let it run until I have the hottest water possible. By the time the water mixes in with the yeast it is the right temp. especially because you've added all the other ingredient with the yeast so it will mix well.

Add 2 teaspoons salt and let mix. Change to the bread hook and add 4 more cups of flour.
Let the mixer do the rest. When dough is soft and sticky cover with a towel and let rise for 1/2 hour. Put the hook down again and mix for a few seconds and cover again. Let rise for 1/2 hour. Punch is down and roll out into a ball on table with a little flour. Cut ball into two and place in greased bread pans. Let rise another 1/2 hour. Cook at 350 for 20 mins only.

It seems like a lot of steps but the mixer does all the work. I just takes a while for the rising but it is worth it. I've been making this recipe every two to three days. My kids have really enjoyed it. There sandwiches fill them up more. I still sneak in a loaf of honey wheat bread every now and then. I love not having to run to the store just for bread when I run out. Enjoy



1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup powered milk
2 tablespoon instant yeast
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups hot tap water
6 cups flour
350 for 20 mins

Sara and some sugar!

I was just stepping out of the room for a minute from making strawberry jam and look what Sara found......my sugar bucket. She was licking her lips and enjoying herself. What a mess. Notice the sugar on ALL four fingers.

Bowcutt update for Feb.

I'm such a slacker. Here is an update for the Bowcutt family.

I love to craft as you may know. I had a friend tell me about a fun Easter craft. This tree is made of blown out eggs. (I didn't make the bunny)

As some of you may know, Eric had an accident two weekends ago. He was hit in the mouth with a golf club. He lost one of his front teeth and had 8 stitches in both lips. He is doing just fine now. He was such a trooper.

This is another craft idea I had for the front door. Not sure I like it but it will do for now.



Today was so nice. We went to the park in our neighborhood. It is warm and beautiful outside this time of year here. Sorry to brag to the Utah folks but this is why I love living down here. The weather will be great for the next several months.

As you can see his stitches healed just fine.

One day I was talking on the phone in the living room. I could hear Sara playing with my drawers in the kitchen. This is her favorite place now that she learned how to open the doors. I couldn't hear her anymore and when I turned the corner this is what I found. I you look close, she even has her thumb in her mouth.

Last month we went to Austin for a Heart of Texas Wrestling Tournament. Adam had so much fun. Right now he is in El Paso for state finals. Now we are switching to baseball. I'll keep you posted with pictures of the boys playing ball.

We miss all of our friends and family that we don't get to see often. Our prayers and love is always with you.

Something to sooth me during the cold winter months

Confession.
I'm addicted to Pero.
It is a hot instant drink that is made of Barley. I love hot chocolate but there is something different about the taste and smell of Pero. Postum was a drink that made by Kraft that was very similar but they stopped making it. You can find a jar on ebay for over twenty five bucks sometimes. Pero isn't in the stores here in Texas but I found it on thedrugstore.com. If you enjoy hot drinks and don't drink coffee or tea this is a great product.

Heart Plate?????

I was addicted to my pumpkin plate so much I just have to keep going.

So what do you think?