Spending our summer driving across the United States with 3 kids, 2 parents, 1 fifth wheel and a whole lot of excitement.
We drove over 2,100 miles last week before pulling into my brother Karl's driveway in Augusta, GA on Saturday afternoon.
See our camper peeking out from behind their front gate? We could hardly believe that it fit in the space. We very much appreciated spending this past week just relaxing with family. The family time is always priceless and the break from the road just made it even better this time.
We swam in the pool, played board games, and ate some tasty food, of course. Many thanks to my brother and his lovely wife, Heather, who were my taste testers last year in the midst of developing the recipes for The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook.
For this visit, I re-tested some new recipes that are in the works, as well as some older favorites.
For breakfast one morning, I made Green Chile Cheddar and Bacon Waffles topped with Sausage Gravy. (That waffle recipe will be on the site in the next week or two. I can't seem to make myself stop with the savory waffles, but truthfully, I'm not really trying to stop.)
After several savory breakfasts, we had Blueberry Pancakes for dinner one night along with my grandmother's waffle sauce. If you've never poured waffle sauce over blueberry pancakes, you're missing out on a seriously amazing pairing. The pancake recipe is in The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook.
For my favorite dinner all week, I made Slow-Cooker Baked Beans, Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork, and Tangy Memphis Coleslaw. If I'd remembered to buy cornmeal, I'd have made the Cornbread Waffles that I've been working on and piled them high with a BBQ Sundae. I'll be sharing that deliciousness with you soon.
Games, games, and more games were the order of our days and nights all week long. My whole family is BIG on board games and we packed a dozen or more to play along the way. Would any of you be interested in hearing about our favorite board games in another post?
One big perk to making the BBQ Sundaes is that I had a LOT of leftovers for both of our families. This means that I have another dinner stashed in the fifth wheel freezer with a meal's worth of pulled pork and baked beans.
I'll pick up hamburger buns and toss together some coleslaw one night while we're in D.C. and dinner will be ready in a matter of minutes.
Once again, cheeseboards ruled the day, because there just isn't anything easier for snacks and lunches. For the complete list of ingredients we love for cheeseboards, check out the How To Make A Cheeseboard blog post.
This simple melamine tray has turned out to be one of the handiest things I packed in the camper. It has been super helpful for carrying things from the camper to a picnic table. And it's absolutely perfect for cheese board meals with its high sides and handles.
The first time I tried to carry a cutting board full of food down the steps from the camper, it was a bit nerve-wracking. The tray keeps everything nicely contained.
My Aunt Judy's Almond Bars were the must-have treats this year for our visit. Those Scandinavian Almond Bars are one of the most requested desserts I make. If you haven't tried them yet, I recommend putting them on your baking list to try soon.
We've had so much fun this week and the kids went to bed absolutely worn out every day. (See photo above for proof of fun. It's hard to believe my "baby" is a gigantic eight year old already. Sean won't be able to carry him to bed for much longer.)
We are saying goodbye to Georgia today and driving to North Carolina. We'll spend a couple days there with my cousin's family before heading on up to Washington, D.C. I am so excited to share D.C. with my kids at last.
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