Flashing Back to Spring Break: Iced Tea with Popping Boba

Soooooooo it's been a while.  Which is not to say there wasn't anything going on over here.  There was...a lot.... More than I could handle really.  And it didn't really put me in the mood for writing, or sharing, or doing much of anything.

But let's back up a bit, to where we left off.  Which would be spring break - back in April.

As usual, we used the opportunity of Thatkid's school break to visit ToxicEsq in Scottsdale.

We stayed at a new hotel that Thatboy was not thrilled with, as it was basically an homage to the influencer lifestyle which he considers the lowest common denominator.  

I, however, used the opportunity to capture some fun shots.

While in Scottsdale we took advantage of some of our old favorites.  Like the train park.  We've really gotten into the routine of letting the kids sit inside the boxcars while the adults enjoyed the kid-free open air cars.

And of course, there was daily swimming.  (It's not really a vacation without pool time, is it?)

And a stop at the Sugar Bowl for ice cream.

But one of my absolute favorite parts of our trips to Scottsdale, is that ToxicEsq always takes the reigns on the planning, finding the absolute perfect activities for us.  I mean, she's the one who introduced to the train park AND Sugar Bowl after all.  This trip she suggested visiting CrackerJax, a "family fun and sports park."  It was a surefire hit.

We played a couple of rounds of mini-golf, although Thatbaby decided it was not his favorite part.

Go-carts for the big and little guys.

But their favorite were the bumper boats.

We also tried out some new restaurants this time around.  One of the more...interesting was Hash Kitchen.  It was one of those places that you probably don't need to go to more than once, but was certainly fun.  

The breakfast offerings were those oversized plates no one can finish.  I had the Huevos Rancheros Hash, with carne asada, black beans, potatoes, and eggs. 

Thatboy had their avocado toast.  Which definitely had more than avocado.  It also had braised pork, bacon jam, and eggs.

Thatkid had smores pancakes, while his brother stuck with regular chocolate chip.

We also started with some really fun drinks.  Like  Thatboy's coffee in a cone.

And the boys continued their smores themed breakfast with smores hot chocolate.

And I had strawberry mimosa with strawberry popping boba.

The boys and I are suckers for popping boba.  It's one of those things we always get on top of our frozen yogurt.  So of course, they were all over trying to share mine, from the drink, with me.

Which made me realize it would be just as easy to make boba-filled drinks at home.  They're easy enough to order online as we discovered during Thatkid's Shrek birthday party.  And they work really well for a lot of summer drinks.  Add them to your lemonades, or fruit punches, or in my case - ice tea!

I always have a pitcher of iced tea in the fridge during the summer, because it's easy enough to make and for me it's the perfect summery drink, cold and refreshing.  As a quick note - I have made the mistake of trying to pour the boiling water into a plastic container.  It was, to put it simply, not a good idea.  Make sure you use glass, metal, or some heatproof material I'm not aware of.  I like to use growlers we pick up from breweries.  You can transfer it to something prettier once it cools.

Iced Tea with Popping Boba

1 gallon water

sugar

6 tea bags

popping boba

1. In a kettle or pot, bring one gallon of water to a boil over high heat.  Pour the boiling water into a heatproof container (one that won't melt).
2. At this point, add your sugar if you wish.  This is one of those "to taste" things.  Sometimes I add no sugar at all.  Sometimes I make sweet tea, by adding 1/4 cup of sugar.  If you like it lightly sweetened, somewhere in between would be your best bet.  Remember, you can always add more sugar later, but you can't add less. 
3. Place the tea bags in the hot water.  Personally, I wrap the tea bag strings around a wooden spoon to make them easier to remove, but this isn't necessary.  Let tea bags steep for about 5 minutes, until the tea looks nice and dark.
4.  Remove tea bags and let cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
5. When ready to drink, grab a spoonful of boba and place in the bottom of a glass.  Pour ice tea over.  You shouldn't need any ice since your tea is already cold!

Crave Wednesday: Chocolate Orange Sauce Sundae

Whew y'all.  It has been a busy week.  Busy enough that I'm going to split it into two separate posts. 

You see, now that Thatkid is in school, we need to plan our travel around his school breaks.  Which means our annual trip to see Toxicesq had to happen during Spring Break...which coincidentally fell on the same week as our annual Easter trip to see Thatboy's family.  Sheesh you guys. 

So the first half of the week found us in Arizona!

We checked into the Saguaro Hotel, which had a cool mid-century vibe that I'm sure my children didn't appreciate.

As usual Toxicesq planned a lot of fun things for us to take part in.  Like the OdySea Aquarium.

When the ticket-taker found out it was our first time at the aquarium, she urged us to check out the restrooms.  We thought that was a little weird, but it was well worth it for the great view into the shark tank.

Thatbaby wanted to touch all the fish.  Which he couldn't.  But he could pet the sting rays to his heart's content.

Thatkid was super excited to see his favorite marine-life - Piranha.  Yeah, I didn't know about this affinity before either.

I did know about Thatbaby's love for penguins though.  He even brought his own stuffed penguin with him.  Which he showed to the aquarium penguins and they were very very interested.

We also did a repeat of last year's hit - the train park!  The boys made an immediate bee-line to the carousel.

This year they wanted to sit in the covered train car - no adults allowed.  Which Thatbaby yelled at me when I tried to take their picture.  I was worried he'd be scared in the dark, especially the tunnels, but according to him he laughed the whole time.

Afterward there was lots of playground time.

And of course, daily swimming in Toxicesq's pool.

Knowing the way to my children's heart is ice cream, Toxicesq also suggested a trip to the Sugar Bowl.  Which, was obviously as big a hit as your would imagine.

Ice cream is huge in my house with my boys. I'm less of a fan, but during Passover it makes for a nice, easy dessert.  Chocolate and ice cream are both Passover friendly!  And homemade chocolate sauce is so easy.  If you're not an orange fan, you could sub in raspberry or cherry liqueur and leave out the orange rind.

Chocolate Orange Sauce Sundae (From Cooking Light)

1 1/2 cups 2% milk

1/4 cup half and half

1 Tbsp butter

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tsp grated orange rind

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tsp Grand Marnier

12 cups fat-free frozen yogurt

1. Heat milk and half-and-half in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180 or until tiny bubble form around edge.  Remove from heat.
2. Add butter and chocolate, stirring until smooth.
3. Stir in rind, juice, and liqueur. 
4. Serve sauce over frozen yogurt, garnished with orange rind strips.

Surprise, Arizona: Shrimp with Ginger

Last year, Thatbrother and I decided to make a pact for a yearly visit to Toxicesq.  Basically like a yearly family reunion.

This year, we decided to plan our trip for March.  Which coincidentally is also when Thatmom's birthday is.  Her 60th birthday.   With that in mind, Thatbrother decided to plan her a surprise birthday party, in Arizona.  He sent out emails to the whole family, planned our itinerary, ordered a cake, and made reservations.  As far as Thatmom was concerned, it was a trip with just her immediate family, the weekend after her birthday.

We set out for Arizona, and at some point in the morning got a call from Thatbrother.  Something had come up and he wasn't going to be able to make the trip.  Which was a complete bummer given how much work he'd put into it. 

We arrived in Arizona around dinner time and met Thatmom and Toxicesq at a restaurant near the hotel.  After we ate, Thatboy, Toxicesq, and I raced to the hotel - where everyone was waiting, and Thatmom's boyfriend conveniently missed the turnoff to the hotel.

Toxicesq had picked up the cake for Thatbrother and it was waiting at the hotel for us.  We arranged it on the table and yelled surprise when Thatmom walked in.  We pretended that this was her big surprise.

But as we were cutting it, the real surprise came out - all our family, singing happy birthday.  Thatmom was so surprised!  It took her a minute to figure out, but once she did, she started crying.  Family means more to her than anything, and her birthday wish is always to spend it with family.

The next morning we all planned to head to Toxicesq's house for breakfast, but one impediment after another had us turning around and heading to a restaurant beside the hotel. 

We split up for the day.  Everyone went to watch a spring training game, except Thatmom and her boyfriend.  Thatkid, who adores his grandmother, wanted to stay with her, so we all went to Toxicesq's home for some swimming.

We all met up together for dinner, then went back to the hotel for some games.

The next morning we made it to Toxicesq's house for breakfast!

Then the rest of the group headed home, and we spent the day with Toxicesq.  More pool time!

The trip itself was really rough. Thatbaby was teething and sick and up all night every night.  But it was worth it to spend time with Toxicesq, and surprise Thatmom.

With all the traveling, I'm really phoning it in on the rest of my life.  I'm exhausted!  My house is a mess, and dinners have been complete throw-togethers.  Which doesn't mean that they aren't tasty, but I'm reverting to the basics.  Shrimp is my go-to easy meal since it cooks within a matter of minutes.  My basic stirfry sauce is fish sauce, ginger, and soy sauce, so that gets tossed in next.  You could add a lot of other vegetables, but I've been lazy lately, so onions it is!

Shrimp with Ginger

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp minced ginger

6-8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp chicken broth

2 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths

1 small onion, sliced

1.  Heat the oil in a wok or skillet.  Fry the garlic until golden brown.
2. Stir in the ginger.
3. Toss in the shrimp, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and broth.  Stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the scallion and onion.  Stir once and remove from heat.