Pioneer Woman Wednesday #3!

I missed PWW the last few weeks because of the road trip and it's posts, so here's Pioneer Woman Wednesday number 3!


Today's Pioneer Woman Wednesday is her Fettucine Alfredo.  This is probably the easiest alfredo recipe I've ever made, and I've made a lot of them.  It doesn't even really seem like an alfredo recipe, because there are just so few ingredients. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of this recipe, but maybe when I make it again I will add some to this post!

After reading her recipe again I've realized I've been doing it slightly differently than she calls for, but it works just the same.

First, I melt 1/2 stick of butter (hers calls for a full stick, but I really don't need that much for just the 2 of us!), into 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  (PS this recipe is not high on the healthy foods list..).  As long as the butter and cream are equal parts, I think this can be adjusted for any serving size.  I add a dash of pepper and some salt to it, and that's it for the sauce.  I've made this recipe at least 5 times now, and every dag-gum time (currently listening to Farmer's Daughter by Rodney Atkins, I apologize for it's influence on my vocab. J/k. #sorrynotsorry), I make the sauce way too fast and have to wait 10 minutes for the pasta to cook.  It doesn't seem to matter, as long as I keep stirring the sauce every now and then.

Once the pasta is cooked, I stray from her recipe just slightly. I don't measure out the parmesan, but I put in enough to cover the bottom of the bowl. Then I pour in the drained pasta. Then I pour the sauce over the top and toss with tongs, as the recipe says.  I put more parmesan on top, and mix it again.  Ben and I add more parmesan to our individual bowls if we think it needs it.  Then it's time to dig in!  This dish is SO yum, and SO quick and easy!

Overall impression of this recipe: EASY and delicious. I make it about every other week. I also love that it is versatile, you could use organic heavy cream* (see my note below about this) to make it healthier, or maybe a healthier butter, and you can definitely use any type of pasta you have around.  Whole wheat, gluten free, whatever.

Challenges: There aren't any, except maybe being patient and not making the sauce too soon before the pasta is cooked.  Have I mentioned in this blog that I am impatient?  It's a problem.

Things I will change next time: The only thing I would do differently is to add something to it. Maybe chicken? Or peas? Or bacon? Or all of the above. That would be awesome actually, chicken, bacon, and peas with alfredo.  Mmmm mmm. I might even use prosciutto because it gets so crispy and is very yummy in pasta. (I know about prosciutto because I also love Giada de Laurentis. I love the way she says prosciutto-and a ton of other words- with the Italian pronunciation.)

Do I recommend this recipe?  Yeah! Especially if it is a night when you are super busy and need something quick and filling, or for company!



*I used organic heavy cream last time I made this....it tasted fine, but when I opened the carton, there was a solid block of cream.  Does anyone know why? Is it the organic thing? Was it in the fridge too long? It wasn't expired, and there was liquid cream under the solid block, which is what I used.  I tasted a bit of it and it tasted fine, and the recipe turned out fine. Idk why it was solid, but it was super weird!

Thanks for reading!

Kate and Lauren Make it West!! Day 7 & 8-San Francisco!

Day 7 
   We left Las Vegas around 7 am and headed for San Francisco.  We decided to shoot over to the PCH and go up that way, while avoiding Los Angeles and it's traffic craziness.  It was actually kinda cool because we elected not to use the GPS for the first few hours, and planned out our route on an actual paper map. It made me feel like a true explorer. :) We drove through the Mohave Desert and saw a LOT of random things. I can't remember what they were at the moment, but I know there were some strange things going on there. We stopped in Bakersfield, California for lunch...at In n Out of course! I had In n Out when we were in California in 2008, but I didn't care for it at the time.  Good news, I like it now.  It was SO delish, even if I did drop my root beer everywhere. (Me drop something? Never.)  We were lucky to get a table there, it was SO crowded!

We missed the California sign, so this had to do..

So yum! 

After we left Bakersfield, we made a plan for getting over to the PCH.  It took several hours to get to it, but the drive was neat.  We drove through a bunch of orange groves, and then through miles of vineyards, and then over glorious green mountains.  It was really beautiful.  We got on the PCH at Cambria, California.  We were SO excited to be on that road! We stopped at a park to see the ocean.  

Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.

We continued our drive up the PCH for about 2 hours.  It was beautiful and amazing, but very intense. It was twisty, and curvy, and cliff-y.  We pulled off several times to let cars behind us pass, because we were on the slow side for sure. Good news, we were jamming to the Beach Boys the whole time, getting in touch with our Cali side. :) 

Beautiful and slightly terrifying.

We also drove through Big Sur. We saw lots of restaurants and hotels, but we are still not sure where the Big Sur was. Or what it is really..

We made it to Monterey Bay around dinner time and stopped for dinner. We ate at a pretty fancy seafood place.  I don't like seafood, but I do like coconut shrimp, so that's what I had.  It was awesome, just like all of the food I ate on this trip.  We had a view of the bay during dinner, and it was just lovely.  

Coconut shrimp with a mango dipping sauce,  and sweet potato fries. Mmm-mm. 

We got a rose with our dinner. So nice. :) 

After dinner, we still had 2 hours of driving, so we got to it.  

Sunset over the PCH.

We got off the PCH and headed in-land.  We finally arrived in San Francisco around 9:30.  We were SO happy to be there and SO happy that we made it to our destination.  We unloaded Kate's car (with the help of her nice new roommate) in about 10 minutes, which was awesome.  We set up some beds in Kate's new room and went straight to bed, happy to be in Kate's new home!

Day 8 

We woke up on the last day of our trip, happy and sad.  Happy that we made it, happy to be in San Francisco and doing some touristy things, but sad our trip and time together was coming to an end. That morning we went to downtown SF and grabbed some Starbucks.  The baristas at Starbucks were hilarious and fun, saying things like "Kate, it's Vanilla Latte time!" when her drink was ready.  This made us laugh and really got our day off to a great start.  We headed for Muir Woods after Starbucks. On the way, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge! This was a bucket list item for me, and I'm really glad we got to stop.  Unfortunately, we were at the Golden Gate at the same time as about 1000 Girl Scouts.  No joke, everywhere we looked was a sea of Girl Scouts.  Random.

The weather at the Golden Gate was cold and windy! 

We had to take a shuttle to get up to Muir Woods, because, as usual, the place was PACKED.  There was also a running (and maybe biking?) race going on on the road to the park. Odd.  

Bus selfies, my favorite kind. :) 

I don't know what I expected or what I was thinking, but I wore flip flops on this day.  So we did a mile hike through the redwood trees, in flip flops.  But it was great! I would have loved to hike further, but will have to save it for next time. Obviously, I don't always make the best shoe choices.

The trees were really awesome.  SO massive, and it was cool to be with nature.  After our hike, we got back on the shuttle and headed back to the car.  We went to Alamo Square next, the famous park from Full House! It overlooks the Painted Ladies, and was super neat.  

Had to take some Full House pictures! 

The streets in San Fran are just as crazy as I imagined. Straight uphill.  We even parallel parked on a rather large hill to go to the park.  I wasn't sure we were gonna make it without hitting something, but Kate did a great job. :)  Plus, we were desperate to find parking.  Parking is super minimal in SF.

After our photoshoot and exploring (we saw a dog park with no fence!) in Alamo Square, we walked a few blocks to a little place called Fly Bar for lunch.  We both had sandwiches and salad and it was quite yummy.  After lunch we went back to the car and drove to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood, which was really cool.  I would like to back sometime when it is less crowded and we can walk around. We also drove by the Full House house, which is now blue apparently.  Still fun to see! 

Full House house!

We drove down to Fisherman's Wharf next, which was really neat, but again, there were SO many people.  We didn't have a chance of finding parking, so we just drove through.  After Fisherman's Wharf, we drove by Kate's new office downtown.  Then we went back to Kate's and chilled for a bit. Kate needed groceries, so we did that, and grabbed some dinner while at the grocery store.  When we got back, Kate's roommate was having a pre-party for a costume party, which was funny.  There were probably 10-15 people in this apartment, but everyone was very nice.  We spent the last night of our trip eating Ben and Jerry's and watching Crossroads, of course.  If you've never seen it, Crossroads is a ridiculous Britney Spears movie about 3 girls and a guy who go on a road trip to LA.  We had to watch it, it was only appropriate. :) We went to bed pretty early, because my flight the next day was at 6 am.  The trip was over. :(

HIGHLIGHTS

Here were the highlights of the trip for me: 

-We saw 48(!!!!) of the 50 state license plates! Ah! We had an app and were keeping track the whole time.  The only ones we missed were Rhode Island and Delaware.  

                 

Awesome!






-Seeing so many friends and family members.  It was absolutely amazing that we didn't have to stay in 1 hotel (okay sorta 1 motel but that doesn't count!), because we have such great friends and family that let us stay the entire way.  Plus, the people we saw are not people we get to see often, so it was just wonderful to spend time with everyone!

-The Grand Canyon

-Las Vegas



The whole trip was, in a word, amazing.  We didn't have any trouble, we got along the whole time, and saw some really incredible sights.  I am so grateful Kate invited me, and so grateful I was able to go.  It really was a trip of a lifetime, and one that I will never forget!!

Kate and Lauren Go West-Days 5 & 6 (Grand Canyon and Las Vegas)

Day 5
  On Day 5, we got up early, (after an awesome night of sleep on flannel sheets!), and headed for the Grand Canyon! The drive to the Grand Canyon was just beautiful.  We even drove through a Navajo Reservation which was pretty neat.  My phone didn't know what time it was the whole time we were driving through it, we must have been between time zones or something!

Artsy fartsy photo that actually turned out kinda cool! 

Grand Canyon-bound! 

We got into Grand Canyon National Park, and pulled into the first Visitor Center.  While Kate was off taking care of a few things, I made a plan for our .7 mile hike.  We had to drive another 25 miles to the main visitor center, but it was SO worth all the driving. The hiking path we took was great.  It was paved and provided wonderful lookout points.  Two words to describe the Grand Canyon: Mind-boggling, and selfie sticks. (Okay 4 words).  Seriously, the Grand Canyon didn't even look real to me, it was just so....insane. And beautiful.  Oh, and EVERYWHERE we looked were selfie sticks.  Everywhere. So random.   The park was really busy.  This surprised me because it was a Wednesday at the end of April.  Who knew so many people traveled this time of year?  Everywhere we went on this trip was busy I think.  Weird.  Anyways, the Grand Canyon was absolutely fabulous.  People were being ridiculous though, going out on places they weren't supposed to and just not being very smart.  There aren't a ton of guardrails, (another thing that surprised me), and people are just stupid.  That didn't take away from our experience though, I loved every minute of being there.  Apparently I have been to the Grand Canyon before, although I don't remember it, and apparently I cried the whole time.  

I took this picture to remember what happened the last time. :) 

Amazing. Just amazing.

I was proud of my panoramic skills! 

This picture is probably my favorite of the entire trip!

After we left the Grand Canyon, (it took us FOREVER to get out. Another thing that surprised me), we headed for Las Vegas.  The drive to Las Vegas was beautiful, (we really did see so many BEAUTIFUL things on this trip), especially crossing over the mountains.  We saw Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.  We had planned on stopping at the Hoover Dam, but we missed the last tour by about 10 minutes, so we decided to wait until the morning.  We arrived in Las Vegas around dinner time.  

Our first sighting of Vegas.

I was seriously SO excited to be there.  Vegas was the place that I was anticipating the most, and the place I was most excited to see.  It did not disappoint.  We arrived at Kate's aunt's house, and she welcomed us with wine and snacks.  :) Oh, and one of those snacks was guacamole again, and guess what? I liked it.  I guess I like guacamole now. Hehe.  Anyways, we freshened up a bit, (I took a shower in the most amazing shower I've ever been in in my life.  Awesome.), and then Kate's Aunt took us out to dinner at a very delicious Italian restaurant.  I wish I could remember what it was called, but man it was good.  The food was up there with cruise ship food, which, in my opinion is the best food ever.  Yum.  

Again, I bit into it before I took a picture. Oops.  This was a pomodoro spaghetti with pesto on top.  SO delicious.  Did I mention this trip was all about the food?  

After dinner, Kate's aunt dropped us off on the strip!  The only way I can describe Vegas is this: If the very best parts of a cruise ship and the adult parts of Disney World had a love child, it would be Las Vegas.  What a COOL place. I wish we would have had more energy to party hardy, but we really enjoyed just walking around all the themed hotels and taking it all in. We saw the Bellagio and it's fountains, and a Japanese garden exhibit inside, as well as The Paris (my FAV), Margaritaville, (I won 25 cents on the slots!) and The Venetian with it's amazing river and gondolas.  Very awesome place. I loved how all the hotels kind of felt like malls on the inside with the big fancy stores, but also like cruise ships with all the beautiful decor, restaurants, and things to do.  We also watched a volcano show outside of Treasure Island (I think..) which was neat.  I can't wait to go back to Vegas again with Ben.  I love it there.   

The Bourbon Room from Rock of Ages! Ben loves that movie, so I must take him back there! 

Note: I was really running out of room on my phone by this point, so pictures for me became minimal about this point in the trip..:( 

We took a cab back to Kate's aunt's house that night.  We didn't last super long on the strip unfortunately.  We were super exhausted from driving and hiking, and I also did not wear good walking shoes.  They were cute though! :) 

The next morning, Kate's aunt fed us breakfast, and we headed to the Hoover Dam. It wasn't too far from Vegas, and although we got there early, it was already packed.  It was neat to see, and is another place I would like to take Ben.  My favorite part was going down the elevator into the mountain, and walking through the tunnels.  Super neat.  

It was HOT in Vegas and at the Hoover Dam.  

Even at night it was hot.

After the Hoover Dam, we met up with my cousin Sam, who lives in Vegas! It was so great to see her.  We went to lunch at Smashburger, which apparently is a chain, but it was SO good. Ben would love it. Then we all went back to the strip! We wanted to take a picture with the famous Vegas sign, and to do that, we had to park and wait in line.  I thought this was hilarious and kinda weird.  The line was not bad though.  

Me and Sam! 

After we took some pictures, we went to the New York, New York.  Another thing I love about Vegas-the parking at the hotels is FREE.  Brilliant.  We parked and went inside the hotel, and it was REALLY cool.  Looked just like NYC inside. The size of these places blew my mind. All the hotels and casinos are just massive. And beautiful.  Kate and I rode the roller coaster at New York, New York.  It was $14 to ride but SO worth it.  I loved it. Kate screamed her head off the entire time, but the ride was so much fun.  The views of the city were awesome.  They also had a New York skyline built on the side, which was cute and cool.  

I just loved this.  SO much fun. 

After New York, New York, we took a tram to the Excalibur, Mandalay Bay, and the Luxor.  Mandalay Bay was so beautiful.  We went and peeked at the pool area, which looked so awesome.  They also had a wine elevator, which was so awesome.  We sat down in Luxor and had some VERY yummy beverages.  They must have been top shelf.  Mmm.  

When our tour of Vegas with Sam was over, she took us back to Kate's aunt's house. I am SO glad we go to see my cuz, we really had a great time with her!! She isn't a cousin I get to see all the time, so it was wonderful to just spend quality time together! Family rocks. :) 

When we got back to Kate's aunt's house, we left right away for Kate's 2nd cousin's little league game! It was really fun, and a nice way to relax and enjoy time with Kate's family.  The bleachers had giant umbrellas over them which I thought was SUCH a good idea, considering how hot it is there.  The weather at the baseball game was actually really pleasant.  After the game, we went to dinner with Kate's aunt and uncle and cousin. We had pizza, beer, (I tried Peroni for the first time, it was good, but tasted strangely like olives..), and amazing gelato.  Mmm mmm. 

We had an AMAZING time in Vegas, and I am so grateful for Kate's family for letting us stay, and to Sam for showing us around.  I really can't WAIT to go back again! :) :) 

Up next: We hit California!! 

Kate & Lauren Go West-Days 3 & 4 (Tucumcari and Flagstaff)

  On day 3 of our epic road trip west, we got up and headed for Tucumcari, New Mexico.  First things first, breakfast at Whataburger! We were in Texas, we couldn't resist!

  We hit our first traffic jam in Dallas, but it wasn't too bad, and didn't last very long.  

The big D! And I do mean Dallas! 

After Dallas, the weather was terrible.  The radar looked like this: 

Not cool.  That blue stuff is snow.  Not cool.

At one point, we stopped to get gas, and snowflakes were actually hitting my face while I was pumping gas.  It was also freezing.  

From East Texas to West Texas, the landscape changed a lot. East Texas was hilly and more wooded, where as West Texas was FLAT and we could see for miles.  At least until the rain started.  One awesome thing about Texas is that the highway speed limit is 75. That was nice.  

Flat, flat, flat.  We were watching for twisters! 

I drove some of the way through West Texas and the only time I was truly uncomfortable was when we were driving through Amarillo.  Pouring rain, huge trucks, and traffic, aka the worst possible combination on a highway that I didn't know.  Not cool.  (This drive may have been my least favorite part of the whole trip).   Outside of Amarillo, we planned on stopping at the Cadillac Ranch, but when we passed by it was SO muddy.  Not worth it, so we waved at the cars and carried on. Eventually, we crossed into New Mexico.  

New Mexico! 

We were about 30 miles from our destination when Kate made me stop at the mid-point of Rt. 66.  I got out of the car for a minute but ugh, it was freezing and windy and the rain/snow was hurting my face.  Did not stay out there very long! 

 She had to get over there and take a pic.

This is how I felt about it.

We finally arrived in Tucumcari about 4:00 in the afternoon.  Why Tucumcari? Well...a friend of ours from high school is married to a guy whose family owns a motel (The Blue Swallow Motel) on Rt. 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and we got to stay there! Her and her husband and in-laws take turns running the motel.  I tell ya, it was one of the coolest places I have ever stayed. Everything was SO retro but in a very classy, well-done way.  I loved it there, and again, it was awesome to see friends! 

We had a garage next to our room that was painted on the inside. Very cool! 

The inside of the room.  I slept SO well that night! 

Kate and I with Jessica and Cameron. Thank you all again for your hospitality, we loved it there! 

The Blue Swallow has a webcam, and my sister saw us on it! Fun! 

Kate walking to our room after a very yummy dinner.  

We went to dinner at a place on Rt. 66 called Del's which was so delicious. We also had sopaipillas  and honey, which is a New Mexico thing. They were great.  (We may have had these in Texas too, but I can't remember!)  

After dinner, we got the tour of Tucumcari.  Much of it is abandoned these days, a far cry from it's hey day in the 50's and 60's.  Here is an old park, that apparently used to be a hopping place, but is now completely overgrown and empty.  This place reminded me of somewhere an urban photographer would go.  (If you don't know what those are, they are people who take photos at old and abandoned shopping malls, cities, parks, etc. I find their work fascinating.)

After dinner and our tour, we hung out in the lobby for a little while.  The Blue Swallow was at full capacity that night, (as they are most nights it seems!), and yet there were still a few people who stopped in looking for rooms.  It was really neat though, to get to talk to people from all over, and hear their stories.  If you are ever driving on Rt. 66, don't miss The Blue Swallow. It's fantastic! 

Day 4

We got up early again on day 4 (time zone change probs),  and headed for Flagstaff, Arizona.  

Back on Rt. 66! 

It wasn't a long trip distance wise, but we took our time getting there, and got to see a lot of neat things on the way.  The landscape continued to change as we went West.  

Our first sighting of mountains! 

    The first stop we made was in Old Town Albuquerque.  VERY cool place.  Lots of Indian shops, restaurants, and beautiful Southwestern buildings.  We shopped some and bought some souvenirs and then had an "authentic" New Mexican lunch.  I don't know what qualifies food as New Mexican, but I can tell you my meal was SPICY.  So yummy but my mouth was on fire.  I had a bean and cheese burrito.  It was awesome.  Oh and we had soapaipillas again! 

I was starving apparently, excuse the fact that I had already eaten the rice when I took this! :)

The first church in Albuquerque, built by the Spanish settlers. (I think..)

Old Town selfie! 

After Albuquerque, we crossed into Arizona! 

 We made our next stop at The Petrified National Forest.  What an AWESOME place.  I was a bit skeptical, but Kate convinced me, and it was definitely worth the 2 hours of extra time that we spent there.  I can't even really describe it, but here's a couple pictures that might help.  They don't fully do it justice.  If you are ever close to this, you should stop.  It's awesome.  

 There are beautiful colored mountains all around, it is just glorious.  

    After the Petrified Forest, we made our way to Kate's Aunt and Uncle's vacation home in Flagstaff.  Flagstaff was not at ALL like the Arizona I remember visiting in childhood.  When I was a kid, we went to Tucson, which was desert-y and full of cactus and very HOT.  Flagstaff is wooded, full of pine trees and chilly.  Very odd. But very beautiful.  The home we stayed in was just lovely, in a beautiful neighborhood in the woodsy mountains.  Kate's Uncle George took us to a really cool restaurant for dinner.  It was a steakhouse, but all the servers were musical theater students at Northern Arizona University, and they all sang show tunes! It was so neat.  They even took requests, and sang Kate's favorite song from Les Mis.  Very cool place.  

I had this awesome prickly pear drink. Yum.

Our server was the tall one in the middle. So fun! 

After dinner we toured Flagstaff some.  When we got back to the house, we went straight to bed. It had been a VERY long day.  Next we were off to the Grand Canyon and VEGAS!! (My fav place).  Stay tuned!